Coronavirus Australia live news: ADF member fined over hotel quarantine breach
A member of the ADF has been fined after entertaining a female guest while in mandatory quarantine in Sydney.
- Andrews rebukes ‘boot’ campaign
- NSW records 7 new cases
- Victoria has 42 new cases, 0 deaths
- Second wave sweeps Europe
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
A member of the ADF has been fined after entertaining a female guest while in mandatory quarantine in Sydney overnight. Daniel Andrews says he does not believe Victoria Police have a serious cultural problem following a series of violent clashes with the public. He also delivered an emotional response to ‘Give Dan the boot’ campaigners who targeted his late father. It comes as the Premier announced the easing of restrictions for regional Victoria from Wednesday night as the state recorded its first 24 hour period with no lives lost to coronavirus since July 13 — more than two months ago, plus 42 new cases. NSW has added seven new cases.
Damon Kitney 9.15pm: Victoria lockdown lesser of two evils: SEEK CEO
One of the nation’s most successful and respected chief executives has warned of the devastating consequences of a third lockdown in Victoria if the state’s economy is opened too quickly, describing the prolonging of current restrictions to control the second wave of COVID-19 infections as “the lesser of two evils”.
SEEK chief executive Andrew Bassat said while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews would be the first to admit mistakes had been made in the government’s COVID-19 response, highlighted by the hotel quarantine and contact tracing issues, the Premier was “acting on the data and science that tells him the likelihood of a third lockdown is X if we lift restrictions too soon, and trying to second-guess those decisions without the science or data seems harsh”.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.23pm: Covid weighs on BHP top executive pay
The coronavirus pandemic has trimmed the annual pay for BHP’s chief executive Mike Henry, but he still was paid more than $US6m ($8.19m) after half a year as CEO.
Mr Henry – who replaced former chief Andrew Mackenzie in January – said in the company’s annual report that COVID-19 continues to have “a devastating effect on lives, society and the global economy.”
It also hit longer term bonus payments for the miner’s top executives after BHP’s financial performance fell “slightly short” of remuneration stretch targets set at the outset of the year, the annual report said.
Jared Lynch 7.35pm: Victoria risks yo-yo lockdowns under roadmap
Victoria’s benchmark for easing COVID-19 restrictions is unrealistic, with no country with a significant outbreak able to reach the goal of recording fewer than five coronavirus cases across a 14-day average.
The state risks yo-yoing in and out of lockdowns or more permanent restrictions, with its goal of eliminating rather than suppressing COVID-19 based on flawed modelling, according to forensic accountant Steven Anastasiou, an analyst at Bell Potter.
It comes as regional Victoria is set to be released from stay-at-home restrictions from 11.59pm on Wednesday, with hospitality businesses able to open to up to 10 eat-in patrons, having reached the threshold set under Premier Daniel Andrews’s roadmap.
Rachel Baxendale 6.59pm: 20pc of new Vic cases from Moonee Valley
Almost 20 per cent of Victoria’s 42 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday were in the northwestern Melbourne local government area of Moonee Valley, where eight new cases were recorded - a net increase of seven active cases in the LGA, which has a total of 51 active cases.
Brimbank, in Melbourne’s outer west, and Moreland in the city’s north, recorded five new cases each, while Casey in the outer southeast had four new cases and Melton in the outer northwest three.
Wyndham, in the outer southwest, has the highest number of active cases with 144 on Tuesday, but only one new case and a net increase of zero active cases due to one new case.
Brimbank, with 133 active cases, is the only other LGA in Victoria with more than 100 active cases.
In regional Victoria Colac-Otway has the highest number of active cases with 22 - down from 23 on Monday, while the Gippsland LGA of Latrobe in the state’s east has seven active cases and Greater Geelong has four.
READ MORE: Melbourne restaurateurs slam Andrews’s ‘outdoors dining’ plan
Rachel Baxendale 6.56pm: Three figures reported for Vic aged care cases
The Victorian Premier, his Deputy Chief Health Officer and the Department of Health and Human Services have publicly reported three different numbers for the state’s active coronavirus caseload linked to aged care on Tuesday.
It is not clear which is correct, although the departmental figure is the most recent.
Tuesday’s DHHS press release states that there were 514 cases linked to aged care in Victoria on Wednesday, despite Premier Daniel Andrews stating during his morning press conference that the number was 515, and Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng maintaining it was 511 after being asked who was correct of him and the Premier.
This compares with 513 active cases linked to aged care on Monday.
As of Tuesday there have been 573 coronavirus deaths linked to aged care facilities in Victoria, although there were no new deaths in the 24 hours to Tuesday.
The 10 aged care outbreaks with the highest cumulative total numbers of cases as of Tuesday and deaths as of the previous Tuesday are:
• 249 cases and 18 deaths linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest (an increase of two since Monday);
• 219 cases and 35 deaths linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping, in Melbourne’s north;
• 213 cases and 44 deaths linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north;
• 166 cases and 17 deaths linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west;
• 139 cases and 20 deaths linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east;
• 129 cases and 11 deaths linked to BlueCross Ruckers Hill Aged Care Facility in Northcote, in Melbourne’s inner north;
• 127 cases and 20 deaths linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir, in Melbourne’s north;
• 124 cases and eight deaths linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North, in Melbourne’s west;
• 120 cases and 17 deaths linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Facility in Sunbury, in Melbourne’s outer northwest;
• 119 cases and 10 deaths linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast;
Non-aged care outbreaks on Tuesday with the highest numbers of active cases include:
13 active cases are currently linked to Bulla Dairy Foods in Colac in southwest regional Victoria (total cases: 20)
• 8 active cases are currently linked to Vawdrey Australia Truck Manufacturer in Dandenong South, in Melbourne’s outer southeast (total cases: 61)
• 7 active cases are currently linked to Footscray Hospital, in Melbourne’s inner west (total cases: 7)
• 7 active cases are currently linked to Wydinia Kindergarten in Colac (total cases: 13)
• 6 active cases are currently linked to Dandenong Police Station (total cases: 14)
READ MORE: Your school has a COVID case … what’s next?
Olivia Caisley 6.36pm: How federal domestic violence grants were allocated
NSW and Victoria are among some of the states and territories spending Commonwealth domestic violence funding on early intervention and behavioural change programs that include counselling and crisis support for perpetrators.
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic the Morrison government announced a $150m domestic violence response package to help mitigate an expected spike in assaults as health restrictions forced Australians to stay home.
The states and territories have already received the entirety of their $130m allocation with the remaining $20m to be spent on creating awareness of national helplines such as 1800 RESPECT and MensLine Australia.
Minister for Women Marise Payne said the government had ensured domestic violence services had the capacity to support women and their children during the lock downs and as the nation starts to open back up.
“Our response has enabled the states and territories the flexibility to respond to the situation as it has presented in a localised way,” Senator Payne said.
“Each jurisdiction is working hard to ensure these funds flow through to frontline family and domestic violence support services and target the areas where funding is most needed.”
Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said more than half of Australians had seen the Help is Here campaign that provides information on support services available to anyone affected by domestic and family violence.
NSW has received $39m in funding, Victoria $31m, Queensland $25m and Western Australia $14m.
Other states such as South Australia have been given a $9m boost, while Tasmania received $3m.
The ACT and Northern Territory have received close to $3m.
READ MORE: Natasha Stott Despoja: domestic violence must end
Imogen Reid 6.15pm: ADF member fined over hotel quarantine breach
A member of the Australian Defence Force has been hit with a $1000 fine after entertaining a female guest while in mandatory quarantine in Sydney overnight.
NSW Police said ADF officers were conducting a security check at the hotel on Hickson Road in the CBD around 12.45am on Tuesday when they heard a female voice in the room of the man who had recently returned from overseas deployment.
The woman was later escorted from the hotel’s quarantine area while the police were contacted.
“Following extensive inquiries, the 26-year-old man and 53-year-old woman, who was a guest staying at the hotel, were each issued $1000 PINs for failing to comply with noticed direction in relation to Section 7/8/9 - COVID-19,” police said in a statement.
The woman was directed to leave the hotel immediately and to get tested for coronavirus before self-isolating at her home in Hornsby.
The man will remain in hotel quarantine while the ADF conduct further investigations.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.00pm: Mid-sized businesses optimistic about recovery: KPMG
Medium-sized businesses across Australia are surprisingly upbeat about their future, but are concerned about the withdrawal of government COVID support packages and growing government debt, favouring a GST increase as the best way to reduce it, a KPMG survey found.
KPMG Enterprise’s annual pre-budget survey of its privately-owned, mid-size client base found that 52 per cent of respondents were optimistic about their prospects over the next five years while only 11 per cent were pessimistic – down from the 17 per cent who had a negative outlook this time last year, before the pandemic.
Less than half of the respondents said the pandemic had a negative impact on their business, while 37 per cent said the impact was neutral and 21 per cent said it had been positive.
More than half of the respondents said the most significant impacts were costs and margin pressures, lower demand and revenue, and shifting consumer spending patterns.
Less than 40 per cent of businesses said they could fully recover within three months of the global pandemic ending and around 30 per cent said it would take more than a year.
The biggest factor impacting businesses confidence was the withdrawal of government support measures for the economy.
Rachel Baxendale 5.05pm: Focus on spike in Melbourne multicultural communities
Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng says health authorities are engaging with multicultural communities in Melbourne’s outer southeast, after a spike in coronavirus cases and unknown source transmissions in the area.
The City of Casey - which takes in suburbs including Hallam, Narre Warren, Berwick, Cranbourne, Clyde and Endeavaour Hills - recorded 10 new cases on Sunday, 10 on Monday and four on Tuesday, although the overall number of active cases in the local government area fell by one on Tuesday due to previously reported cases recovering.
There are currently 83 active cases of coronavirus in Casey - the third-highest number of any local government area in Victoria.
Professor Cheng said health authorities including Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton were “absolutely” engaging with the affected communities.
“I think Brett gave some talks to our community leaders out there,” Professor Cheng said on Tuesday.
“There’s ongoing work, as there has been throughout all of this.
“There are pop-up clinics that have been stood up in the Casey region to just make sure that it’s easy for people to get tested if they’re unwell.”
On Monday, Professor Sutton said there was “certainly community transmission” in suburbs within Casey.
“We haven’t linked all of the households definitively, but they might be linked by a workplace that hasn’t been identified.
“They might be linked by going to a single setting that hasn’t been identified, so it is a call out to everyone in that local government area and those suburbs in particular to come forward for testing, because there will be other cases out there that we need to identify ... to snuff this out.”
Asked whether there was a demographic trend among those in Casey with the virus, Professor Sutton said: “Yeah, there is. These are multicultural community members.”
“It’s not different to how it’s been for our second wave in large part, and again, this is linked to the high risk workplaces in lots of ways, so it’s a community that are a priority for engagement, they’re a priority for testing for us.
“They do the right thing but they have some vulnerabilities in terms of where they’re needing to work and how they’re needing to work.”
Professor Sutton said he believed the message was getting through.
“I think it’s getting through well. I’ve made an offer to personally speak to that community, having been to Afghanistan a couple of times over the years, I want to be able to reflect on my cultural experiences and the fact I know that there are universal motivations that every family has to do the right thing to protect their own families and the wider community,” he said.
“That’s absolutely the case here and I know they’re motivated to get on top of this as much as anyone.”
Professor Sutton said he was not worried that rules were being ignored by the community.
“No, I don’t think so. I think there are genuinely structural issues about work, workforce that make transmission more likely,” he said.
Statistics from the most recent census show 56.2 per cent of Casey residents were born in Australia, while six per cent were born in India, 3.8 per cent in Sri Lanka, 2.9 per cent in Afghanistan, 2.8 per cent in England and 2.4 per cent in New Zealand.
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Rebecca Urban 4.58pm: Confusion in hotel quarantine over who provided PPE
Victoria’s hotel quarantine program was plagued by ongoing confusion around who was responsible for the provision of personal protective equipment as security staff blatantly ignored health and safety protocols, an inquiry has been told.
Email correspondence tendered as evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday have revealed how hotel staff were unsure about whether they were responsible for also providing PPE to security staff. There was also disagreement between key state government departments over the issue.
In one email dated May 18, Department of Health and Human Services manager Pam Williams responded to an earlier email claiming it was the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Region’s understanding “that DHHS was taking the lead as responsible party for arranging a central supply of PPE for agreed purposes in the Hotels Quarantine response”.
“Our understanding is the opposite of what you described to me,” Ms Williams responded to Rachaele May of the DJPR.
“The initial intent was for individual departments to ensure their supporting agencies (including contractors) were provided with suitable PPE.
In another email, dated May 29, a DHHS staff member posted to the Four Points Hotel queried the supply of PPE to security staff.
“I thought we were told recently that the security staff supply their own PPE,” they wrote.
A DHHS email sent the following day acknowledged that “it was apparent that there is not a clear understanding on who is provided DHHS PPE and training on PPE use has not been provided to all DHHS staff and non-DHHS staff”.
“I have advised Team Leaders that I spoke to today that we are providing DHHS PPE to all staff onsite which includes security and hotel so we have a consistent use of PPE,” the DHHS employee, whose name was redacted, wrote.
“This will remain until communication advises otherwise.”
Other emails tendered highlighted further concerns about the actions of security staff at the Stamford Hotel, which was responsible for sparking a large outbreak that helped to fuel Victoria’s second wave of the coronavirus.
In an email dated June 14, a DHHS employee stationed at the hotel wrote about witnessing a meeting of 70 guards in a room no bigger than 6 metres square.
“I spoke to head of security [redacted] to remind him about social distancing and rules of group gathering. He advised me his meeting was more important than the rule,” the worker wrote.
“The security have been observed to wear full PPE to the toilet, gloves in the bathroom, not washing hands after toileting (women and men), wearing gloves all day, touching their clothes, phones faces.
“Nurses also advised that as the 70 [guards] were leaving the hotel they were hugging each other.”
The inquiry continues.
READ MORE: Covid leads to ‘loneliness epidemic’
Remy Varga 2.53pm: Defence help ‘directly offered’ to Victoria
The Prime Minister’s Office directly offered Victoria’s top public servant Australian Defence Force troops to assist with the hotel quarantine program, according to emails released by the inquiry.
On April 8, more than a month before the infection control breach that would trigger Victoria’s coronavirus second wave occurred, Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Phil Gaetjens offered the support to Chris Eccles, Secretary of Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Mr Gaetjens said in the email “On the question of assistance with security, I am advised the only deal with NSW was in-kind provision of ADF personnel.
“I am sure the Commonwealth would be willing to assist Victoria if you wanted to reconsider your operating model.
Mr Eccles replied: “Thanks Phil.”
READ the full story here
Gerard Cockburn 2.48pm: Property prices fall as COVID bites
Australia’s capital city property prices have slumped, as coronavirus lockdown measures stifle buying activity.
Property price data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show residential housing prices for the June quarter went backwards 1.8 per cent compared to the prior quarter, with Melbourne and Sydney housing markets seeing the largest falls.
Residential property prices in Sydney dropped 2.2 per cent over the quarter, largely fuelled by house prices dropping 2.6 per cent. Attached dwellings, such as apartments and townhouses, only fell 1.4 per cent.
The Melbourne property market experienced slightly larger drops for the quarter. Residential property prices fell 2.3 per cent, driven by a 2.8 per cent decline in house prices and a 1 per cent fall in attached dwellings.
ABS head of price statistics Andrew Tomadinau said sales across the eight capital cities fell off a cliff during the June quarter, as COVID-19 restrictions inhibited buying activity.
“The number of residential property transactions fell substantially in the eight capital cities during the June quarter 2020, due to the effects of COVID-19 on the property market”, he said.
“All capital cities apart from Canberra recorded falls in property prices in the June quarter 2020.”
The value of Australia’s residential dwellings fell by $98.2 billion over the quarter to a total value of $7138.2 billion.
The average price for house after the slump is $678,500.
Brisbane’s residential market fell 0.9 per cent over the quarter and Adelaide housing prices dropped 0.8 per cent.
Perth fell 0.7 per cent over the period, while Hobart fell 0.4 per cent and Darwin prices dropped by 1.4 per cent.
Canberra was the only market to experience an increase with local residential prices increasing 0.8 per cent.
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Rachel Baxendale 2.20pm: Police Association calls for wider use of tasers
Victorian Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said the association was supporting its members following the police shooting in Lilydale, calling for tasers to be made more widely available.
“This incident yet again highlights the prevalence of mental health issues in our community and the crisis that our members confront almost daily, having to work in a broken system that fails to provide adequate support for vulnerable people when they need it,” Mr Gatt said.
“Police officers and PSOs, when responding to incidents like this, require access to less than lethal options.
“All frontline patrols need urgent access to conducted energy devices, or tasers.
“This is something we highlighted prior to the last state election.
“When police don’t have these tools, they possess fewer options, and fewer options can mean the risk of serious injury or death increases dramatically.
“This is a view we have expressed to the current Royal Commission into Mental Health.
“Ensuring people in crisis can get the help they need, when they need it, is essential.
“Ensuring police have the tools and resources they need to resolve incidents safely, when cases do fall through the cracks, is just as important.”
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David Ross 2.07pm: Albanese: ‘Use RAAF VIP fleet to bring Aussies home’
Labor Leader Anthony Albanese has called on the government to use its own VIP fleet to repatriate Australians stranded overseas by tight reentry limits on returned travellers.
He said these planes could be used in combination with commonwealth assets to set up a quarantine scheme similar to that used to repatriate returnees from Wuhan in the early days of the pandemic.
“There’s nothing to stop the government doing this practical measure. I’m saying to Scott Morrison: ‘do something because you are actually in charge’,” he said.
“Scott Morrison continues to hand off everything to the states and territories and won’t accept responsibility. He clearly is in charge of our national borders. He clearly is in charge of quarantine issues, and he clearly has access to the infrastructure through the RAAF VIP fleet that could be put in place right now.”
Mr Albanese said it was “absurd” that so many Australians continued to be stranded overseas and that the Commonwealth government continued to insist quarantine arrangements were out of its hands.
“The Commonwealth has passed off more and more responsibilities to the states. But it is common-sense which tells you that the states are not in charge of our national borders, and are not in charge of who comes into this country by aeroplane,” he said.
Mr Albanese branded the government all talk and no action, both in its quarantine arrangements and its announcements today around gas.
“This government is a gap between its announcements and actual delivery. And it’s good at announcements. It’s not good at delivery. And lots of the announcements today actually are pretty extraordinary,” he said.
“How many times can you announce the initial proposal with Bass Link. It’s been announced time after time after time. It’s in there again today.”
“ We need action now and the steps announced today, many of them very positive, but they are off in the future. What we need is job creation now and the Government has a test upon it in the leader to the budget to outline an immediate plan for job creation.”
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Rachel Baxendale 1.51pm: ‘No cultural problem with Victoria Police’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he does not believe Victoria Police have a serious cultural problem following a series of violent clashes with the public in recent days and weeks.
Mr Andrews’s comments follow the police shooting of a man with a knife in Lilydale, on Melbourne’s northeastern fringes, earlier on Tuesday, and the suspension of a senior constable from the Critical Incident Response Team after footage emerged of police striking mentally ill man Timothy Atkins, 32, with their car, before pinning him to the ground and stomping on his head, leaving him in a condition which resulted in him being placed in an induced coma on Sunday.
The two most recent incidents come after footage emerged over the weekend of a woman being dragged from her car by police after she refused to give them her name at a police checkpoint north of Melbourne on Saturday, and the arrest of pregnant Ballarat woman Zoe Lee Buhler in front of her children earlier this month over a Facebook post encouraging people to attend an anti-lockdown protest in the regional town.
They also come after Aboriginal Melbourne metro rail tunnel worker Korey Penney was allegedly pinned to the ground and called a “black c***” by police, leaving him with his arm in a sling and a written-off bicycle, after they apprehended him for riding his bike without lights on his way to work at 5am earlier this month.
The Australian Workers’ Union, which represents tunnellers on the project, has referred the case to the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission, which is auditing Victoria Police’s handling of complaints by Aboriginal people.
Asked how he felt about the footage of Mr Atkins having his head stomped on, Mr Andrews said the matter needed to be investigated.
“I think that officer being stood down is the appropriate step to take, and I’ll leave Victoria Police to comment in any further detail,” Mr Andrews said.
“They’ll obviously be in a better place to work out exactly what should be said and what shouldn’t be said in order to make sure we have a process that’s fair and that family members get answers.
“I’ll send my best wishes to that family. They’re obviously doing it very tough at the moment. To have their loved one in hospital, gravely ill, is a very, very significant thing.”
Asked whether Victoria Police had a serious cultural problem in light of the long list of recent incidents, particularly the treatment of Mr Penney, Mr Andrews said: “No, I don’t believe so, and I don’t think that police would concur with the way you’ve described that particular event.”
“They would have a different version of events. But that’s not for me to advance. That would be for them to advance and I’m not sure whether there’s a court process or any other process in relation to that.”
Mr Penney has appeared in media reports with his arm in a sling and his written-off bike.
Asked whether he was accusing Mr Penney of being untruthful about allegedly receiving physical and verbal racial abuse from police, the Premier said he was not “alleging anything”.
“I’m simply saying that police would be the ones to tell you whether that’s accurate or not,” Mr Andrews said.
“I think they might have a different view. You’re free to test that with them.”
“Whenever I don’t speak about a specific case, it will be for a good reason.”
Mr Andrews cited an incident last month which left a Frankston policewoman in hospital with head injuries after she was allegedly attacked by a woman who refused to wear a mask as an example of a case where he had communicated directly with the constable involved.
“I thought that was the appropriate thing to do. In broad terms, and in very specific terms - just so there’s no doubt - Victoria Police are out there doing very important work,” Mr Andrews said.
“They do it with professionalism, they do it with skill, they do with a genuine concern to keep the community safe.
“I’m grateful to them, but where an individual incident occurs, which I don’t think speaks to culture, where an individual incident occurs, it should be properly investigated and I have confidence that that’s exactly what will happen.”
Asked whether he was concerned that there had been numerous “individual incidents”, Mr Andrews said: “I haven’t got the numbers to hand, but pre-pandemic - and I don’t believe that this has changed - pre-pandemic, the percentage of incidents, the number of incidents as a percentage of the total daily interactions that members of Victoria Police have with Victorians, it is a low number.”
“Every one of those incidents is taken seriously, and that’s why I’d make, perhaps, a different judgement about police culture than the one that you put to me.
“People are free to have a different view, but I’m here to make it very clear on behalf of the government that we think, notwithstanding any individual incident that needs to be and will be properly and fairly and frankly investigated.
“Whether it’s COVID issues, or the youth gang push that was announced yesterday, I think Victoria Police have a very broad brief and they are working very hard to make sure that in the pandemic, and afterwards, that they’re out there fighting crime and keeping the community safe.”
Victoria Police are due to hold a press conference regarding the Lilydale shooting and their treatment of Mr Atkins at 3pm.
Police clarify Lilydale shooting statement
Meanwhile, Victoria Police have re-issued a statement regarding the police shooting of a man in Lilydale on Melbourne’s outer northeastern fringe on Tuesday morning, clarifying that it was police who fired their weapons, leaving the man with life threatening injuries.
An initial press release issued at 9:42am on Tuesday euphemistically stated: “A police firearm was discharged and the man received an injury to the upper body.”
At 1:47pm police re-issued the statement with what they described as a “slight amendment”.
The statement now reads:
“A man has been injured during a police shooting in Lilydale this morning.
“Police were called to Hutchinson Street following reports of a man armed with an edged weapon about 8.30am.
“Officers attempted to speak with the man who refused to drop his weapon.
“Police discharged their firearms, shooting the man about 9.10am.
“He is currently being treated for life threatening injuries.
“Detectives from the Armed Crime Squad will investigate the incident which will be oversighted by Professional Standards Command, as per standard protocol when a police firearm is discharged.
“Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppervic.com.au.”
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Paul Garvey 1.35pm: Use detention centres for quarantine: WA Premier
Western Australian premier Mark McGowan has called on the Federal government to consider opening detention centres and defence bases to Australians returning from overseas and moving from interstate as the state’s quarantining capabilities are stretched to capacity.
Mr McGowan on Tuesday said that the steady stream of Australians coming home, as well as an influx of fly-in fly-out mine workers who have decided to move permanently to WA, meant the state’s quarantine system was close to its limit.
Around 1900 people are currently in quarantine in WA, with the bulk spread across eight city hotels. Weekly arrivals from overseas are currently capped at 525 a week.
“We saw in Victoria when you overload your hotels, you can have very, very, very adverse consequences,” Mr McGowan said.
“That’s why we’d like the Commonwealth to use some of their facilities and I’m more than happy to work with them.
He said the assistance of the Commonwealth would help WA increase the numbers of people entering the state, flagging that the immigration detention centres at Christmas Island and Yongah Hill, near the regional WA town of Northam, could both be suitable.
“I’d like to work with (the Commonwealth) to get some of their facilities up and operational, and take some of these people returning from overseas,” he said.
“There are the defence bases with numerous accommodation facilities, both in Western Australia and all over the country, they could literally take thousands of people into those if they wanted to, and I think that would be a good backup to what the state is doing.”
Mr McGowan has used the coronavirus crisis to advocate for interstate-based FIFO workers to relocate permanently to WA, with both Rio Tinto and more recently BHP committing to only hire workers who live in the state or who are willing to relocate there.
The government has also offered financial incentives aimed at luring those FIFO workers back to the state.
WA has now had 160 days without a case of community transmission of coronavirus, which he said was an added attraction for people from Victoria and NSW.
“We live in unusual times so these are unusual measures, but overwhelmingly getting that workforce out of the east and living in Western Australia is great for our state,” he said.
“That’s one of the most significant positives to have come from it, that we get all of these people, these big incomes, these families, being spent and living here in Western Australia where there should be.”
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Mackenzie Scott 1.26pm: Melbourne rental availabilities hit all-time high
The availability of rental properties in the Melbourne CBD hit an all-time high in August, while vacancies nationally tightened as other capitals and regions flag recovery.
The impact of the pandemic on the property market in Victoria’s capital caused the rental vacancy rate to rise last month to 3.4 per cent from 3.1 per cent in July, with an extra 2145 vacant properties in the city as lockdowns continued, said data firm SQM Research. In the CBD market the change was pronounced, up 2.2 per cent over the period to reach a new all-time high of 10 per cent.
READ the full story here
Rosie Lewis 1.11pm: Returning traveller caps need to be lifted for more flights
Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram has warned hotel quarantine caps for returning travellers will have to be lifted before airlines consider more flights.
Mr Outram, who is responsible for approving exemptions for Australians wanting to travel overseas, also said doctors and nurses overseeing hotel quarantine were “pretty stretched”, indicating extra workers would be required if more quarantine beds became available.
The Northern Territory government has flagged using the Howard Springs facility, which can house up to 3000 people, as a quarantine base as pressure mounts on the states and territories to accommodate more returning Australians.
“Howard Springs in fact was primarily run by Northern Territory health,” Mr Outram told ABC radio.
“Whilst we put contracts in place and put in some arrangements to stand the facility up, we didn’t run the facility.
“Quarantine facilities can’t be run without medical professionals on the ground. At the moment the AUSMAT capability would be pretty stretched because of the need for the states and territories to be running their own health services and plus other things that are going on around the pandemic.”
Howard Springs was used to quarantine Australians returning from Wuhan in China at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Border Force was working with the states and territories, the Department of Infrastructure and airlines to “maximise capacity” but the number of available beds was dependent on state governments.
“We’re working to the AHPPC guidelines around 14-day quarantine in hotels. Of course the states and territories are providing that medical service and there’s a cap on the number of beds that are available, and each cap is about 12,000 (nationwide) at any point in time,” Mr Outram said.
“It’s not enough, if I’m being honest. As long as the caps remain with the hotel quarantine in place, it’s going to be difficult I think to envisage a situation where the airlines will start bringing more passengers.”
Mr Outram lashed the suggestion Border Force had approved an exemption for a high-flying businessman to go overseas to pick up a luxury yacht.
“In terms of rich people, we don’t approve people to go and get yachts,” he said. “People are approved to go and conduct business because they have business interests in other countries. And if in doing so that somebody went and collected a yacht, then so be it but the purpose for the authorisation, the exemption, wasn’t to go and get a yacht.”
Around 4000 international arrivals are allowed into hotel quarantine across the country each week.
There are 27,000 Australians registered overseas with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and more than 18,000 wanting to fly home.
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David Ross 12.48pm: SA keeps quarantine restrictions for NSW residents
South Australia will reopen borders to residents of the ACT but NSW residents will still be required to quarantine on arrival.
The 14-quarantine requirement for interstate arrivals to SA will be dropped for ACT residents from midnight tonight.
NSW has failed the test after recording continued community transmission, something SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said was a redline for quarantine restrictions to be dropped.
“I am optimistic about NSW, the advice I’ve been provided certainly suggests they’re on the pathway to eliminating community transmissions sooner rather than later,” commissioner Stevens said.
“We will continue to monitor the performance of NSW. Ideally, we’ll be looking for a 14 day period of no community transition in NSW.”
The ACT last recorded a COVID-19 infection on July 10.
READ MORE: RBA stands by as Aussie dollar surges
David Ross 12.38pm: NSW issues warning on school, flight
NSW Heatlth has issued a warning about a school in the Blue Mountains after a student tested positive.
Four of the seven new cases in the state were returned travellers in hotel quarantine, including one from Victoria. Two were linked to a known case or cluster and one case remains under investigation.
One new case is a household contact of a previous case linked to Concord Hospital.
One new case is a healthcare worker at Liverpool Hospital and the source of the infection is unknown. NSW Health is undertaking genomic sequencing to identify the source of the transmission.
One new case is a returned NSW resident from Victoria. All passengers on the same flight from Victoria into Sydney are in hotel quarantine.
An additional case not captured in the seven new cases today has also been confirmed in a student of Blue Mountains Grammar school, which has been closed for cleaning and contact tracing.
There were 8835 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period, compared with 9,316 in the previous 24 hours.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the declining test numbers in NSW were concerning and warned the pandemic was entering a critical phase as the state approached the school holidays.
“It’s important that we don’t have complacency and do our best effort to stamp out this virus. It’s critical before we become more active and mobile,” she said.
Dr Chant noted that the government had particular concerns about south-west and south-east Sydney as those areas had lower testing rates than other areas “We’ve seen some locally acquired cases not linked to known cases pop up in south-west and south-east Sydney,” she said.
“That’s reasonable because we’ve had a lot of our seeding events occur in that area.”
“We’ve then had some separate seeding events in the CBD we’ve had those clustered linked to south-east Sydney.”
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Rachel Baxendale 12.21pm: Victoria, NSW virus testing numbers on par
The 8803 tests processed in Victoria in the 24 hours to Tuesday compare with 8835 processed over the same period in NSW.
There have now been 4282 coronavirus cases in Victoria where contact tracers have been unable to identify a source of infection — a decrease of nine since Monday.
The total number of active cases in Victoria is 1040, down 35 since Monday.
This includes 43 active cases in regional Victoria, with no new active cases on Tuesday, down from 47 on Monday.
There are 158 active cases in health workers, including aged care and disability workers, down from 176 on Monday.
There are 511 active cases linked to aged care, down from 513 on Monday.
There are 10 cases linked to residential disability accommodation, including those in six staff and four residents — the same number as Monday.
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David Rogers 12.09pm: China economic data beat estimates
China’s monthly economic activity data for August have comprehensively beaten Bloomberg’s consensus estimates, helping the Australian dollar reach a 3-day high of 0.7312.
It also appears to be lending support to iron ore miners after their intraday retreat.
Industrial production year-on-year rose 5.6pc year versus 5.1pc expected.
Retail sales year-on-year rose 0.5pc versus expectations of no change.
Fixed assets ex-rural investment year-on-year fell 0.3pc versus -0.4pc expected.
Property investment year-on-year rose 4.6pc versus 4.1pc expected.
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Staff writers 11.43am: Leave my family out of it: Andrews
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit back at a campaign aimed at attacking his restriction policies which has targeted his family.
Asked about images of the ‘Give Dan the Boot’ campaign taken at the farm where his father’s funeral was held Mr Andrews said people were entitled to make their point but ”decency matters too”.
“I’m happy for people to make their points, provided they’re not doing anything to spread the coronavirus,’’ Mr Andrews said at his daily media conference in Melbourne.
“But I’ll just say this: having different views to me, that’s fine, it’s a healthy part of our democratic society. But decency matters too.
Premier @DanielAndrewsMP, asked by @andrew_lund about images of the ‘Give Dan the Boot’ campaign taken at the farm where his father’s funeral was held, “last time I was at that shed, was when I carried my father’s coffin out of itâ€...â€decency matters tooâ€. #SpringSt pic.twitter.com/CsgOirpxcg
— Tyson Whelan (@tyson_whelan) September 15, 2020
“The last time I was in that shed was when I carried my father’s coffin out of it. And I think that is ... I won’t use the words that my father would use to describe that sort of act. That’s just low. Low. And has no place. Have a different view to me but leave my family out of it, particularly the dead members of my family out it. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Shame, shame on him. Shame.’’
READ MORE: Andrews shaky as party counts numbers
Erin Lyons 11.10am: Seven new cases recorded in NSW
Seven new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in NSW to 8pm Monday.
Of those four are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, including one from Victoria. Two are linked to a known case or cluster and one case remains under investigation.
NSW Health said testing numbers have dropped during the past two weeks which is a concern particularly in areas like the southwest, southeast and western Sydney.
The figures come as South Australia’s premier hinted at opening the state’s borders to NSW and ACT residents.
7 new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 15, 2020
Of the seven new cases:
- 4 are travellers in hotel quarantine
- 2 are locally acquired and linked to a known case or cluster
- 1 is locally acquired and under investigation pic.twitter.com/5T4ZJkTOUI
On Monday Premier Steven Marshall said the Transition Committee would meet on Tuesday to discuss the data around coronavirus cases in NSW and the ACT, but had described case numbers as “looking good”.
An announcement on borders is likely to come after the meeting, later today.
“If they make a decision tomorrow authorising travel with the ACT or NSW that will be made immediately,” he said.
“We want to give as much of a leg up to people wanting to travel for business or family reunion as quick as possible so we won’t be delaying it.
“It could be tomorrow. I don’t want to pre-empt it because we still want to look at all the data.”
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Rachel Baxenale 10.55am: Regional Victoria set for release from restrictions
Regional Victoria is set to be released from stay-at-home restrictions from 11.59pm on Wednesday, with hospitality businesses able to open to up to 10 eat-in patrons, having reached the threshold set under the Andrews government’s roadmap.
Under the roadmap, regional Victoria needed to have a 14-day daily average of fewer than five cases, with no cases with an unknown source in the past fortnight.
As of Tuesday, Victoria’s 14-day daily average is 3.6 cases, with the last case with an unknown source recorded on September 1.
“I am absolutely delighted to be able to announce that regional Victoria, from 11.59pm tomorrow night, will be able to take the third step in our safe and steady road map to COVID normal,” Premier Daniel Andrews said at his Tuesday morning press conference.
Under regional Victoria’s next step on the road map recovery plan the four reasons to leave home will no longer apply.
There will be gathering limits of up to 10 people outside, infants under 12 months are not included, up to five visitors are allowed in the home from a nominated household and students will be staggered back to schools over the first couple of weeks of Term 4.
The Premier also announced on Tuesday morning hospitality and entertainment will be allowed, subject to gathering limits, and requirements around density.
Retail will be expanded to include personal services such as beauty and tattooing, where a mask can be worn and outdoor auctions will be permitted with a limit of 10 people for retail services.
All community sport will return for children, non-contact sport will be permitted for adults. Gathering limits for weddings will increase to 10 people, and for funerals to 20 mourners.
Outdoor religious gatherings will increase to up to 10 people, plus one faith leader.
Tourist accommodation will open for regional Victorians in regional Victoria, for them to travel and holiday within regional Victoria.
The “massive” announcement comes after Victoria recorded no new deaths overnight. The first fatality-free 24 hour period since July 13.
Mr Andrews described today as a “hopeful” day.
“It’s a massive thing. It is such good news, I am so, so pleased and proud of every single regional Victorian who has stayed the course, followed the rules, got tested,” he said.
Tuesday’s 42 new cases take Victoria’s total number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began to 19,911.
With no new deaths on Tuesday for the first time since July 13 - more than two months ago - Victoria’s coronavirus death toll remains 729, all but 19 of which have occurred as part of the state’s second wave of the virus, which was sparked by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
There are 118 Victorians in hospital with coronavirus on Tuesday, including 11 people in intensive care, of whom seven are on ventilators.
This compares with 112 in hospital on Monday (and 116 on Sunday), including 12 in intensive care, or whom seven were on ventilators.
Tuesday’s 42 new coronavirus cases come after 8803 tests were processed in the preceding 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests processed since the pandemic began to 2,506,513.
Tuesday’s positive test rate is 0.48 per cent - the highest positive test rate in a week, but well down on the record of 3.73 per cent on August 2.
—With NCA Newswire
Olivia Caisley 10.45am: Gas the centrepiece of recovery plan: PMs
Scott Morrison says gas will form the centrepiece of his economic recovery plan, declaring it will change manufacturing in Australia.
The Prime Minister said he had spoken with Andrew Liveris, the former Dow Chemical chief and a special adviser to the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, who told him gas was critical to Australia’s economic prosperity.
“An estimated 225,000 Australians work in manufacturing firms that rely heavily on gas as a feedstock or fuel source... In sectors such as chemicals, metals, bricks, cement, parts of food processing,” Mr Morrison says.
“When Andrew Liveris sat down with me at Kirribilli and working with me through the COVID Commission he said “You want to change manufacturing in this country? You’ve got to deal with gas.”
Mr Morrison says “whacking up taxes” is not an energy plan, it’s a “gouge” and to grow the economy there needs to be greater certainty to encourage energy investment.
He says greater private investment in the energy sector will lead to more jobs for Australians amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Just whacking people’s taxes up and hoping for the best is not a plan. That’s a gouge,” he says.
“Our plan is to grow the economy again, so we can meet all of those challenges in the future. It’s that economy, employing people, people being in work, that pays for that. Because the end result is investment. It’s jobs, it’s exports. And, above and beyond that, it is a confidence that Australians have in their future, to see over these difficult and dark times at the moment, to see past them.”
Mr Morrison says the plan, announced today will ensure Australia has greater control over its economic destiny.
“We will rebuild our economy, we will do it on the basis of a health plan that keeps Australians safe,” he says. “We won’t be taking risks with people’s health to rebuild our economy. We’ve said from the outset the two go together and we will build that economy with more jobs, underpinned by our JobMaker plan, for affordable, reliable and secure energy we’ve discussed today and a country with greater control over its economic destiny. That’s what sovereignty is all about and that’s our plan.”
Robyn Ironside 10.17am: Qantas mulls moving its headquarters
Qantas is looking at a possible interstate move in an effort to reduce the $40m cost of leased office space.
Despite being established in Queensland as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service, the airline has called Sydney home since 1938.
The group relocated to its current offices at Mascot in the 1990s, where it has 49,000 sqm of space.
READ the full story here
Olivia Caisley 10.09am: Pandemic keeping us from living, says PM
Scott Morrison has called for Australian businesses to reopen and for its borders to be dissolved, declaring that if the nation is shut the coronavirus pandemic is “keeping us from living.”
Delivering a major pre-budget speech in Newcastle, where he will position gas as the centrepiece of the economic recovery plan, the Prime Minister said he was determined to get businesses to safely re-open.
“As long as we are closed, we cannot claim success, as a country. If we are shut, we are not living alongside the virus, the virus is actually keeping us from living,” Mr Morrison said.
“So as we emerge from this second wave in Victoria... let’s now seize the opportunity ahead of us to safely and successfully reopen this country, reconnect this country, and stay open.”
Coal ‘to stay for years to come’
Scott Morrison says coal will continue to play an important role in the Australian economy for years to come.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday said that he understood not everyone shared his views on coal, but many livelihoods depend on the coal industry and it would continue to be part of the nation’s energy makeup.
However, the nation’s energy market would be diverse and the government’s technology roadmap would chart a path into the future.
“In Australia, you cannot talk about electricity generation and ignore coal,” he said. “For decades, coal fired generation has been a source of competitive strength for our economy - reliable, low-cost energy. This is still true.”
He cited a report from the Energy Market Operator that shows coal generation is still expected to comprise almost a quarter of the National Electricity Market by 2040.
“Coal will continue to play an important part of our economy for decades to come. So many of the livelihoods of this region, and so many other regions like it, depend on that. And not everyone shares this view. Not everyone shares our view on this.
“...Consumers are having a big say about where they want their energy to come from. Our technology roadmap is there to chart a path well beyond these immediate days.”
Mr Morrison says his government’s three main priorities for energy are protecting the long-term interests of consumers, creating competitive markets and encouraging private investment, and ensuring a “balanced mix” of technologies.
The Prime Minister says he hopes to expand the nation’s energy tools to “reduce their exposure to electricity bill shocks.”
“The task for the road ahead on the electricity system is clear,” he said. “Bring on firm generation capacity, better integrate renewables and overhaul the rules to create a modern and efficient market, and put more power in the hands of customers.”
Mr Morrison says he plans to finalise energy investment decisions to deliver 1000 megawatts of dispatchable energy, which will be lost in 2023 when Liddell closes, by April next year.
The Prime Minister says if energy companies cannot “step up and make investments” to make capacity his government will step in and fill the gap.
“So, this is the plan — if the energy companies choose to step up and make these investments to create that capacity — great! We will step back. If not - my Government will step up and we will fill the gap,” he said.
He will back a new Hunter Valley gas power plant to replace the Liddell coal-fired station if the private sector fails to lock in investment by April and inject 1000MW of new energy into the national electricity grid.
“And to this end, Snowy Hydro is already developing options to build a gas generator in the Hunter Valley should the market not deliver.”
Mr Morrison says he is pleased renewables are getting cheaper because it’s taking the pressure off households, however he won’t provide subsidies for the sector.
“Falling technology costs will help put downward pressure on prices and emissions over the decades to come,” he says. “They have also brought grid-scale wind and solar generation to economic parity with traditional sources of generation.”
“Renewables like solar and wind don’t need subsidies. What they need is integration.”
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Rachel Baxendale 9.56am: Andrews, Mikakos to address media at 10.45am
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is due to address the media alongside his Health Minister Jenny Mikakos at 10.45am.
The press conference is taking place earlier than usual because Ms Mikakos is due at a sitting of the Legislative Council of state parliament at 11.30am.
Tuesday’s scheduled sitting of state parliament is going ahead on the advice of the Department of Health and Human Services, despite a parliamentary security guard testing positive for coronavirus after working in the building last week, when parliament was not in session.
Speaker Colin Brooks and Legislative Council President Nazih Elasmar released a statement on Monday night, saying deep cleaning had taken place in the building during Sunday and Monday.
“If contact tracing uncovers any additional information that warrants a different decision, further advice will be provided,” the presiding officers said.
“The health and safety measures implemented during recent sitting weeks will continue to be followed. This includes wearing of masks, physical distancing and ongoing high-level cleaning.”
The Legislative Council will sit on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the Legislative Assembly on Thursday and Friday.
On the agenda in parliament this week is a government omnibus bill which includes extending a range of temporary coronavirus measures for six months, and introducing several new ones.
The new measures include broadening the types of people who can be appointed as authorised officers to enforce public health interventions, and clarifying powers to ensure people who test positive for coronavirus or are close contacts comply with a direction to self-isolate.
The bill also assists WorkSafe inspectors in enforcing compliance with occupational health and safety laws, to ensure employers are meeting their obligations to protect their employees from coronavirus.
Existing measures being extended include the ability to make procedural changes by regulation, judge-only trials in certain circumstances and the ability to extend interim family violence intervention orders and personal safety Intervention orders, and allowing courts to continue to be able to access electronic filing and execution of affidavits, and use of audio-video links, telephone and other technology to conduct proceedings.
The bill also extends legislation allowing virtual local council and parliamentary accounts and estimates committee meetings and grants a six month extension to the notice period for long term injured workers who are due to transition off WorkCover weekly payments.
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Shae McDonald 9.51am: Queensland records one new case ahead of border pressure
Queensland has recorded one new case on Tuesday, connected to an overseas arrival already in quarantine.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Twitter that it brought the tally to 31 active cases in the state.
It comes as a new testing clinic has been set up at the Westminster Warriors soccer ground at Redbank where ambulance paramedics will join the testing process for the first time.
Residents in the area are being urged to go for a test if they have any symptoms after a confirmed case was at a shopping centre for several hours while infected.
But the premier is expected to come under renewed pressure to reopen Queensland borders with South Australia expected to open its borders to NSW today.
Tuesday, 15 September – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 14, 2020
• 1 new confirmed case
• 31 active cases
• 1,150 total confirmed cases
• 1,030,765 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,111 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/bCggZJaZtz
READ MORE: Editorial — Blue Christmas as Covid threatens harvest
David Rogers 9.32am: ASX expected to weaken ahead of key events
Australia’s share market is expected to weaken slightly before key events today.
Overnight futures versus fair value suggest the S&P/ASX 200 will open down 0.1pc at 5893.
Focus then turns to RBA minutes at 1130am and China’s monthly activity data at 1200pm.
It’s also a big week for global central banks, with outcomes of Fed, BOE and BoJ meetings due Thursday.
S&P 500 futures are up about 0.2pc in early trading, suggesting the global mood remains positive after a strong start to the week.
Despite worsening second waves of coronavirus in the UK, Europe, India and Israel, the global risk appetite improved as Astrazeneca-Oxford trials resumed and Pfizer said it could deploy a COVID vaccine by year end.
Investors were also encouraged by corporate deals between Tik Tok and Oracle, Softbank and Nvidia, and Verizon and TracFone Wireless.
Volatility continued to fall, with the VIX back to 25.85 per cent, but the S&P 500 pared a 1.9pc intraday gain to close up 1.3pc at 3383.54.
FOLLOW our live Trading Day markets updates here
Wayne Smith 9.23am: NZ backs down on Wallabies’ quarantine
The October 10 Test has now become a real possibility after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern relaxed her country’s quarantine regulations to make it easier for the Wallabies to train while in isolation.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie had insisted that the NZ quarantine protocols left Australia with an “unacceptable” situation whereby the full team could not come together until six days before the scheduled Auckland Test.
But the situation changed dramatically overnight when Ardern contacted her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison to ensure that the two Tests will go ahead. The Tests were initially scheduled for October 10 and 17 in Queensland but, following the decision to move The Rugby Championship to Australia, fairness dictated that NZ be granted some international rugby this year.
READ the full story here
OLIVIA CAISLEY 9.00am: Canavan maintains push for coal-fired power station
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan is still pushing for a new coal-fired power station, insisting it was a key election promise.
Senator Canavan told Sky News on Tuesday that he would be disappointed if coal didn’t form part of the government’s energy plans.
It comes as Scott Morrison is set to deliver a major pre-budget speech in Newcastle on Tuesday, where the Prime Minister will position gas as the centrepiece of his economic recovery plan and commit to establishing an Australian gas distribution hub.
“I would be disappointed if that’s the case, we went to the election from coal fired power stations in North Queensland,” Senator Canavan said.
“The National party formed the coalition with Scott Morrison a couple of years ago on the basis that coal would be treated the same as all other energy sources.”
“I don’t think coal should be given some kind of leg up, or provided any kind of preeminence, what should happen is that we look to invest in all types of entities, if we’re serious about bringing energy prices down.”
Senator Canavan said he was a big supporter of gas, but Eastern Australia didn’t necessarily have the geological resources for affordable gas.
He also backed his NSW colleague and the state’s deputy premier John Barilaro after he spectacularly threatened to sit on the cross bench over koala protection laws.
“I one hundred percent support John Barilaro,” Senator Canavan said. “The state planning laws that have been put in place in New South Wales are a huge affront to farmers’ property rights across the board.”
He said if the controversial koala laws are overturned in the next few weeks Mr Barilaro would be vindicated.
Meanwhile, Labor shadow minister for climate change and energy Mark Butler has branded the Federal government’s gas plan announced today as “heavy on spin and light on substance” claiming it would not deliver cheaper prices.
“It’s hard to see where you get a single job from this plan in the time frame you need it,” Mr Butler said on ABC Radio National.
“There’s not much else to help a recovery pathway out of the deepest recession in almost a century.”
He said the plan relied on a code of conduct from a gas industry which had already shown it would not act in the best interests of Australians.
“We’ve learned over recent years that reliance on the goodwill of the gas companies will not deliver any price relief,” he said.
“There is nothing that would give any comfort to australian manufacturers that have seen gas prices triple.”
Mr Butler said the plan was lacking in any discussion about “the role renewable energy is going to play” in the future generation needs of Australia.
“Why didn’t Scott Morrison tell us what his new plans were for renewable energy?,” he said.
“The technology is there, it’s the cheapest and cleanest way to deal with new energy.” - with David Ross
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Rachel Baxendale 8.42am: Victoria records zero deaths, 42 new cases
Victoria has recorded its first 24 hour period with no lives lost to coronavirus since July 13 — more than two months ago.
There have been 42 cases of COVID-19 reported in the 24 hours to Tuesday — up from Monday’s two and a half month low of 35, but still down on a raw seven day daily average for Tuesday of 46.4, and a raw 14 day daily average for Victoria of 65.3.
#COVID19VicData: Yesterday there were 42 new cases reported and 0 lives lost. Our thoughts are with all affected. The 14 day rolling average & number of cases with unknown source are down from yesterday as we move toward COVID Normal.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 14, 2020
Info: https://t.co/eTputEZdhs #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/8HC6ZuhECE
The 14 day daily average is now 52.9 cases for metropolitan Melbourne, and 3.6 cases for regional Victoria.
In the past fortnight there have been 82 cases in metropolitan Melbourne where contact tracers have been unable to identify a source of infection, and one case in regional Victoria.
This single unknown source case is the only factor preventing regional Victoria from being released from stay-at-home restrictions, with hospitality businesses permitted to reopen to up to 10 patrons, under the Andrews government’s reopening roadmap.
The prerequisite for this reopening of regional Victoria is a 14-day daily average of fewer than five cases, with no cases with an unknown source over that fortnight.
In order for Melbourne to move to its next step of relaxing coronavirus restrictions by September 28, the 14-day daily average needs to reach 30-50.
This would enable public outdoor gatherings of up to five people from up to two households, the resumption of childcare, and a staged return to the classroom for Prep to Grade Two and VCE students.
For the third step, which would see Melburnians released from a stay-at-home lockdown and a curfew by October 26, the statewide 14-day daily average needs to fall below five cases, with no cases with an unknown source over that fortnight.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has on Tuesday begun publishing the 14 day daily averages and the numbers of unknown source cases for Melbourne and regional Victoria in its morning tweets of case and death numbers.
The earlier publication of the data follows a request from The Australian on Sunday, in light of the fact that the numbers are being used to determine the restrictions imposed on Victorians.
Previously the 14-day daily averages were not being made public until the Premier’s mid-morning press conferences, and the metro-regional breakdown of unknown source case data was often not revealed until the Chief Health Officer’s press release came out mid afternoon.
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Erin Lyons 8.35am: SA borders could open within hours
South Australia’s premier has hinted at the possibility of reopening the border with NSW and the ACT as soon as Tuesday.
On Monday Premier Steven Marshall said the Transition Committee would meet on Tuesday to discuss the data around coronavirus cases in NSW and the ACT.
An announcement on borders is likely to come after the meeting.
Mr Marshall said he would draw on expert advice before a decision is made.
“If they make a decision tomorrow authorising travel with the ACT or NSW that will be made immediately,” he said.
“We want to give as much of a leg up to people wanting to travel for business or family reunion as quick as possible so we won’t be delaying it.
“It could be tomorrow. I don’t want to pre-empt it because we still want to look at all the data.”
The premier said NSW numbers are “looking good” and is keen to allow people who need to travel for business or family reunions to do so as soon as possible.
“It’s obviously a decision that the Transition Committee needs to decide. But if they give us that advice tomorrow, we’ll be very quick to act on that,” he said on Monday.
There are no active cases in the ACT and 149 active cases in NSW.
SA reported no new virus cases on Monday and NSW recorded four.
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David Ross 8.13am: Border Force tackling 99% of outbound requests in 48 hours
Border Force commissioner Michael Outram has said his department was working hard to navigate approvals for entry and exit amid criticism of special treatment for some.
Commissioner Outram said he had instructed staff assessing applications that anyone who needed to attend a funeral or end of life scenario should be approved.
Speaking on ABC Radio National Commissioner Outram said the criticism that decisions were being made in favour of the wealthy or well connected was wrong.
He said the Border Force was making tens of thousands of decisions and resolving 99 per cent within 48 hours.
“We’ve had 47,000 outbound requests approved. The rate of approval request is significantly increasing,” he said .
“We’re working tirelessly to attend to these exemption requests, we won’t get it right all the time.”
Commissioner Outram said about 16,000 outbound requests had been refused.
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David Ross 7.48am: Gas policy critical for investment: Taylor
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has spruiked the government’s gas policy announced this morning saying its plan was critical for driving investment and bringing down emissions.
“We need to make sure customers have the power they need,” Mr Taylor told ABC radio’s AM program.
“This is all about making sure Australian gas is working for Australians.”
The Morrison government announced yesterday its intention to back a new Hunter Valley gas power plant to replace the aging Liddell coal-fire station if the private sector failed to lock in a replacement by April next year.
The government will also look to expand Queensland’s Wallumbilla site as Australia’s major new gas hub,and spend $28.3m on five strategic plans covering the Beetaloo, North Bowen and Galilee basins.
Mr Taylor said the move offered Australia “great potential for manufacturing and other for energy intensive business”.
“Getting those prices to a level for longer term contracts to invest and grow is critical,” he said.
READ MORE: Power up or we build gas plant
David Ross 7.36am: Restrictions likely to ease for Victorian regions
Victorians in the regions may be permitted to visit others in their homes and return to pubs and restaurants for outdoor dining after Premier Daniel Andrews flagged he could announce changes on Tuesday.
Up to 10 people would be allowed to meet outside, accomodation could reopen and attendee limits for weddings and funerals would be raised to 10 and 20 respectively, under the plans.
But residents of Melbourne will remain under strict lockdowns until at least September 28 despite predictions the 14-day average for new COVID-19 cases would drop below the government’s 50-case threshold by the end of the week.
This comes as the Victorian government is deliberating on a bill that would allow health authorities to detain someone if they believe they would be a high risk of negligently spreading COVID-19.
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David Ross 7.16am: Newmarch House case a false positive
A shock possible case of COVID-19 in a resident of the already badly hit Newmarch house in western Sydney has been confirmed to be a false positive.
The resident at the aged care facility returned a “weak positive” result on Monday after showing minor respiratory symptoms and was tested for the virus.
The resident was isolated and tested again with the result coming back negative.
A blood test was then administered and the resident confirmed not to have the virus.
Health authorities caution false positives are possible in those who contracted the virus.
Newmarch house was hard hit by the first wave of the coronavirus in Sydney, with 71 cases among staff and residents, which raged in the house from April 11 until June 15.
Nineteen residents at the facility died of the virus.
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David Ross 7.00am: Europe swept by second wave
A second wave of cases appears to be sweeping Europe as many countries re-enter lockdowns ahead of the cooler months which experts predict will worsen the spread of the coronavirus.
The United Kingdom is now entering its second day of new lockdowns, with public gatherings limited to six people, after the country recorded several days of record case numbers.
But despite surging cases in France, where 7,183 were diagnosed on Monday and 10,561 on Saturday, authorities are reluctant to reimpose lockdowns only a few weeks after lifting restrictions.
This same time last month France was recording around 2,000 cases a day.
The WHO recorded 267,257 cases and 4771 deaths across the world yesterday, but the true of the extent of the pandemic is muddied by uneven testing rates across the world.
Case numbers across India are now rapidly accelerating with the country already surpassing Brazil in case numbers to become the second worst hit country in the world.
Almost 4.8m Indians have now been diagnosed with the virsu, in a case rate that is rapidly approaching the United States where at least 6.5m have contracted the virus.
In a bid to combat rapidly ballooning case numbers Jordan will now reimpose some restrictions, with schools, places of worship, restaurants, and public markets to shut for two weeks from Thursday.
A member of Israel’s government has resigned over plans to reimpose a three week lockdown that would limit residents to within 500 metres of their homes.
This comes as cases in Israel have exploded.
Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has also gone back into partial lockdown on Monday after authorities scrambled to slow the spread of the virus across the sprawling city of 9.6m people.
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Staff writers 6.50sm: SA set to open borders with ACT, NSW
South Australia is set to ease border restrictions with the ACT and New South Wales, with a decision to be made as early as Tuesday.
Premier Steven Marshall indicated a decision could be made after the Transition Committee meets “first thing” in the morning.
“There’s no doubt Canberra will be the next most likely city that we open with and then more broadly in NSW,” Mr Marshall told The Adelaide Advertiser.
“We know that Canberra continues with its excellent record and NSW as well is performing better and better, [with] only four new infections in NSW [on Monday] and so I’m very hopeful that we can get a movement on the borders very, very soon.
“We know that there are going to be new infections discovered across Australia but when we can see NSW with no community transmission for 14 days, I think that will give us all great confidence that we can open that border safely.”
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Robyn Ironside 6.00am: Virgin to lose 250 head office staff
Virgin Australia has warned its recovery plans have been “severely impacted” by Victoria’s COVID-19 and ongoing border closures, informing staff the airline was likely to make up to 250 head office positions redundant.
In a note to staff on Monday, Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah said the aviation industry was “in the midst of the worst crisis” it had ever faced.
“Our cash management throughout this period is absolutely critical,” Mr Scurrah wrote.
“One of our largest costs is labour, and with much less transitionary work required as the administration process is coming to an end and without the revenue coming through the door, we simply cannot justify the number of team members who are currently stood up.”
The redundancies will be the second since the airline was purchased by private equity outfit Bain Capital after it fell into administration in April as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered airports and left planes stranded.
Virgin announced earlier this month it would make a third of its workforce — around 3000 people — redundant.
Mr Scurrah, who has remained the company’s chief executive through the Deloitte-run administration, said staff who had been stood down would likely remain so until March 2021, a position which would be reviewed in January.
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Courtney Walsh 5.45am: Tennis considers Open house for luxury isolation
Some of the world’s leading players travelling to Australia for the summer of tennis could quarantine in security-patrolled luxury private residences.
That is one of several options being considered by Australian Open organisers and one favoured by Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic for the recently completed US Open.
Tennis officials, who have engaged Aspen Medical to provide a comprehensive blueprint on security protocols, are planning for more than 2000 players, coaches and broadcasters to arrive in Australia for a long stint from early December onwards.
In New York, most players stayed in two hotels, but various arrangements are being considered for Australia, including accommodating participants in resorts, a model being used by the AFL in Queensland.
All players will need to abide by biosecurity guidelines being considered by federal and state governments, given some will travel from COVID-19 “red zones”.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said he was mindful the organisation needed to balance the protection of the community’s health with running a major tournament drawing participants from around the world. He discussed the plans with Roger Federer last week and is in weekly contact with the men’s and women’s tours as well as fellow grand slam bodies.
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John Lethlean 5.30am: Shady Lanes won’t weather Covid storm
What’s the old line about Melbourne weather? If it’s lovely, just wait a minute.
Citing Melbourne weather as just one of its many objections, the city’s hospitality industry has slammed the Andrews government/City of Melbourne “outdoors dining” recovery plan for the restaurant industry as both unrealistic and unviable.
“We live in Melbourne; there are famously four seasons in one day,” said Sorrento restaurateur Julian Gerner, revealing he was mobilising industry support for a legal challenge to the Victorian government’s harsh hospitality industry lockdown.
“Which genius public servant came up with this idea (of dining outdoors)?” he said.
“Is Dan Andrews aware we’re in the southern hemisphere? Is he aware that other than sport, hospitality and the arts, we’re also famous for our unusual and unpredictable weather?”
City restaurateur Mykal Bartholomew said he wanted the government and council to help Melbourne restaurants become drawcards again.
“Help us with licensing, with infrastructure, make bold moves like closing off Flinders Lane to make it like Las Ramblas (in Barcelona). (The money’s) a nice offer but it won’t allow me to do what I want to do,” he said.
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