Coronavirus live news Australia: Qld authorities back-pedal on Covid ‘party’; ‘Drug test MPs’: internal push for Parliament to go dry
With one new local Qld case, Health Minister defends department as police debunk officials’ claim infected man ignored advice.
- ‘I just didn’t get it’: Laming’s exit
- Qld authorities back-pedal on Covid ‘party’
- One new case, no lockdown
- Laming to quit politics
- ‘Drug test MPs’: Push for Canberra to go dry
- WA enacts new border controls for Queensland
Welcome to The Weekend Australian’s live rolling coverage of the coronavirus crisis and the day’s political events.
Police have contradicted a claim Brisbane man with coronavirus held a house party after being told to isolate. The state has one new local case of the virus overnight. Earlier, Queensland Health said it had a major task ahead to trace the movements of 25 people who attended the now-disputed house party.
Fed up Liberal MPs Sarah Henderson and Katie Allen are pushing for breath tests to MPs to combat Canberra’s hard-drinking culture.
Andrew Laming will leave politics after calls for him to go over his ‘outrageous’ harassment.
Joseph Lam7.30pm:NSW warning for those entering from Queensland
NSW Health has asked more than 20,000 people who entered the state from Queensland to get tested for COVID-19 after nine close contacts were identified as having already entered NSW.
NSW Health said on Sunday tens of thousands of people had received text messages and emails asking them to monitor for symptoms, get tested and to isolate if they have visited venues of concern in Queensland.
The nine close contacts have been instructed to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
Almost 4000 people filled out entry declaration forms, introduced on Saturday, upon entering NSW. Declarations are available to be signed 24 hours before entering the state.
NSW Health has asked residents to avoid non-essential visits to hospitals and aged-care facilities and disability care services as the Queensland outbreak is being monitored.
Anyone who worked in a hospital, aged-care facility or disability care service and has visited Brisbane or Moreton Bay are advised to monitor for symptoms and check Queensland Health for advice.
NSW Health response to Brisbane cases.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) March 28, 2021
Please see media release for more information. pic.twitter.com/sOpXwDDIRU
Greg Brown6.45pm:Cyber agency looking at parliament ‘disruption’
The federal government is seeking advice from the cyber security agency over a “disruption” to the parliamentary network which forced the shutdown of emails over the weekend.
Federal MPs were contacted by text message on Friday regarding a “high priority” issue with communications.
They were also sent text messages throughout Saturday saying the Department of Parliamentary Services was “still investigating” the issue, with it only being rectified on Sunday afternoon.
Gabriel Pogrun, John Collingridge6pm:How Greensil charmed his way into UK government
Lex Greensill was the odd one out. As then British prime minister David Cameron announced a new policy to business leaders gathered in Downing Street on October 23, 2012, he was flanked by three of his closest cabinet colleagues: Oliver Letwin, Michael Fallon and Francis Maude.
Sitting with them at the top table was Greensill, a charming but unknown Australian banker in his thirties. Fresh faced and wearing a jet blue suit, he was neither a minister nor a civil servant.
Still, it was Greensill’s day. That afternoon Cameron was making the Australian’s vision a reality. For almost a year Greensill had enjoyed a security pass to Downing Street, his own team of officials and access to the most powerful civil servant in Britain and the British prime minister himself. Now his plan to get small businesses paid on time was being presented as UK government policy.
Matthew Denholm4.35pm:Tasmanian Premier’s early election justification ‘sham’
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein’s justification for an early election — the loss of majority government — has been described as a sham, after an independent MP joined the Liberals.
In announcing the snap poll on Friday, Mr Gutwein insisted it was necessary because the Liberals had slipped into minority government with the resignation from the party of speaker Sue Hickey.
However, on Sunday Ms Hickey’s fellow independent, Madeleine Ogilvie, announced she had joined the Liberals and was now running as a Liberal in her seat of Clark.
Had she joined the party before Friday, the government would have had its one-seat majority restored and Mr Gutwein would have lacked his justification for calling an election 10 months early.
READ the full story here.
Richard Ferguson4.05pm:Nationals MP Anne Webster makes harassment complaint
Nationals MP Anne Webster made a complaint against someone who harassed her in Parliament House last week and hopes her experience will help to heal Canberra’s toxic culture.
The other person involved in Dr Webster’s complaint has apologised and committed not to harass anyone else again, and the Mallee MP says she is satisfied with the outcome.
Dr Webster was appointed by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack to lead the Nationals’ response to a major review of Parliament’s workplace culture and she told The Australian that her experience shows a way forward on dealing with harassment.
READ the full story here.
Greg Brown3.05pm:Politician, staffer emails interrupted after ‘security warning’
The emails of federal MPs and staffers were down over the weekend, after the Department of Parliamentary Services was issued with a “security warning”.
Federal MPs were contacted by text message on Friday regarding a “high priority” issue with communications.
They were also sent text messages throughout yesterday saying DPS was “still investigating” the issue, with it only being rectified on Sunday afternoon.
“DPS are currently experiencing an outage to several ICT services including interrupted updates to email, calendar and contacts on smartphones and tablets,” a text message sent yesterday to MPs.
“Email, calendar events and contacts that are already stored in your device should remain.
“Support teams are currently investigating.”
READ MORE:‘Cyber attack’ hits Nine Sydney broadcast
Richard Ferguson2.40pm:Laming confirms exit, admits ‘I didn’t get it’
Controversial Liberal MP Andrew Laming has confirmed he will exit politics at the next election, conceding he has not understood how his actions online and in person have affected women.
Dr Laming faced calls to go from his female Liberal parliamentary colleagues after it was revealed he took photos of a young Brisbane woman while she was bending over and her underwear was exposed. He had previously apologised in parliament for harassing two women online.
On Sunday, Dr Laming said he would start counselling and put an end to his 17-year-long career in Canberra.
“The common thread of the last week has been not demonstrating anything close to understandinghow my actions affect others. I intend to own those mistakes,” he said in a statement.
READ the full story here.
Brent Read1.35pm:Broncos to take private jet to dodge Covid dramas
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys is confident the season will remain on track despite the latest outbreak of Covid in Queensland.
V’landys told The Australian that the governing body would monitor developments over the next 48 hours, but they remained confident the Queensland government had things under control.
The latest developments in Queensland will, however, impact on the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos are due to play the Melbourne Storm on Friday night and in order to keep the Victorian government on side, they are expected to fly to Melbourne via private jet on Tuesday.
READ the full story here.
Anthony Keane1.30pm:JobKeeper has ended — so what now?
JobKeeper switches off Sunday, businesses will close and workers across Australia will be shunted into unemployment.
That’s a certainty, but much less certain what happens next for affected Australians and the overall economy after the $90 billion wage subsidy scheme ends.
Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy told a Senate hearing this week that up to 150,000 workers were expected to lose their jobs and about 110,000 small businesses on JobKeeper were still suffering from a sharp downturn in turnover.
The Federal Government has announced extra assistance packages for tourism, aviation and the arts in recent weeks, but sectors such as hospitality must fend for themselves while coping with ongoing COVID restrictions on customer numbers.
Economists say recent stronger-than-expected economic data should result in fewer people joining jobless queues than was first feared, while financial counsellors and business specialists say there is help available for those who need it.
Read our full guide to where to get help, next steps for workers and businesses.
David Penberthy1pm: Labor apologises for racist dirt sheet
Almost seven years after running a smear campaign targeting a female Liberal candidate over her Arabic surname, the South Australian Labor Party has finally apologised.
The apology came after the former Labor MP at the centre of the scandal Annabel Digance told The Weekend Australian of her remorse and disgust at the tactics used against Carolyn Habib in the 2014 SA election campaign.
Amid terror fears and after graffiti attacks on a local mosque in the Elder electorate, Labor sent a pamphlet to 16,000 homes that asked “CAN YOU TRUST HABIB?” and was designed to look like a wall from a Middle Eastern war zone.
SA ALP State secretary Reggie Martin admitted this weekend that he had signed off on the pamphlet as the state’s Labor chief at the 2014 election.
“I am sorry that the flyer we put out did cause distress,” Mr Martin told the ABC. “That was never my intention.”
However Mr Martin said he did not think the pamphlet was racist when it was presented to him.
Read the full story here.
Mackenzie Scott12.30pm:Auction numbers surge ahead of Easter
Auction clearance rates have held strong despite a record number of auctions over the weekend numbers which has proven buyers are still willing to compete for homes.
It was the third busiest auction week ever, according to property researcher CoreLogic, who began recording this data in 2008. After two years of lower than normal listings, volumes were the largest since the weekend ahead of Easter in 2018 when 3,990 homes were on offer.
Preliminary figures show that of the 3,791 homes scheduled to go under the hammer last week, 84.4 per cent were sold.
Sydney reported the strongest preliminary rate of 89.1 per cent from 1,392 auctions. Almost half of all auctions this week were held in Melbourne (1,899 properties), with 83.8 per cent selling.
In the smaller markets, Canberra had the strongest preliminary clearance rate of 86.3 per cent form 1,392 auctions, followed by Adelaide which recorded 73.9 per cent from 156 properties, Brisbane with a rate of 68.8 per cent from 191 properties and Perth (66.7 per cent form 32 homes).
The number of properties auctioned this week was more than 1,000 higher than last week as vendors looked to sell prior to Easter. CoreLogic’s executive of research Tim Lawless has warned the high numbers are likely to be a blip.
READ MORE: Buyers push prices to biggest jump since 1980s
Sarah Elks11.45am: Qld can’t rule out lockdown, but hopes to avoid it
Queensland’s chief health officer says she cannot rule out a lockdown, but she’s hopeful Brisbane will avoid it.
Jeannette Young said if people came forward and got tested when sick – even the mildest symptoms – she was “very hopeful” the state could avoid a lockdown.
“Of course I can’t (rule out a lockdown), this is a virus, it just spreads, we don’t always know how,” Dr Young said.
In January, there was a three-day lockdown after a hotel quarantine cleaner tested positive to the UK strain of the virus.
Two of today’s new cases are overseas acquired and detected in hotel quarantine. One further case is a close contact of a previously confirmed case.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 28, 2021
Sarah Elks11.37am: Queensland authorities back-pedal on Covid ‘party’
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has defended her department, after it emerged incorrect information had been released about a COVID-19 patient’s activities.
Queensland Health put out a release on Saturday night saying a man, who later tested positive for COVID-19, held a gathering with 25 people at his home after he was tested.
But on Sunday morning, that’s been debunked by the police.
“This is the information that was received from this gentleman himself … when he was first picked up by the health officials,” Ms D’Ath said.
She said she was not sure if the officials misunderstood what the man said, or if the man said the wrong thing.
The man’s four housemates have been placed into hotel quarantine.
Sarah Elks11.30am: Police contradict health department on Covid ‘party’
Queensland Police have dismissed health authorities’ suggestions that a 26-year-old Brisbane man who was later diagnosed with COVID-19 held a party with 25 other people at his home after he was tested.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the man had a “gathering” of five people at his home on Friday night, after he was tested and told to go home and isolate.
Mr Gollschewski said most of the people there lived in the house.
He asked the public to “tone down some of the language” around the man’s actions, and said calling it a party was “inflammatory” and wrong.
“There’s no evidence of any offences, but we’re still considering it,” he said.
Last night, Queensland Health said the man had held a gathering of 25 people at his home between getting tested and getting a positive result.
Christine Kellett11.27am: JobKeeper ends, ‘but government support continues’
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says struggling businesses and workers will continue to be supported as JobKeeper comes to an end today.
The Treasurer said Australia’s economy had weathered the pandemic shock better than expected and he was optimistic that would continue without the wage-support package.
Instead, he said targeted stimulus such as flight vouchers would help keep the tills ringing.
“We can’t keep spending borrowed money forever. It has to come to an end, but there are other programs in place,” Mr Frydenberg told a press conference on Sunday.
“There is no doubt that there will be some businesses that will do it tough when JobKeeper ends.
“But our support continues through targeted programs like the tourism and aviation program, like the arts program.
“We know that Australians have also accumulated some $240bn on their (savings) balance sheets that was not there last year.
He also said jobs figures had defied expectations.
“Australia has performed better on the health and economic front that many other countries in the world.”
Sarah Elks11.25am: One new local case in Qld overnight, no lockdown
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she’s “very comfortable” with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in her state, with one new locally acquired case overnight identified.
The state recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 overnight, the brother of one of the existing cases.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the brother – who is no longer infectious – could be the link between the previous cluster (connected with a doctor from the Princess Alexandra Hospital) and this current cluster.
“It’s good to see that despite the enormous increase in testing … we’ve not had any more cases, it’s far too early to relax,” Dr Young said.
Queensland recorded three new cases overnight, two in hotel quarantine, and now has 71 active cases.
Richard Ferguson11.17am: Laming to quit politics: Frydenberg reveals
Controversial Liberal MP Andrew Laming will quit politics at the next federal election, Josh Frydenberg has revealed.
Dr Laming – the Liberal MP for the Queensland seat of Bowman – has taken medical leave after revelations he took photos of a young woman while she was bent over and her underwear was exposed. He had to apologise this week for harassing two women online.
The Treasurer said on Sunday Dr Laming decided to quit politics after his second dressing-down from Scott Morrison over his behaviour.
READ the full story here.
Courtney Walsh10.35am:Brisbane AFL team stuck in Melbourne amid Covid outbreak
The Brisbane Lions remain stuck in Melbourne with Queensland’s COVID-19 outbreak causing concerns for the AFL.
The Lions had boarded a bus to head to Melbourne airport on Sunday for a flight back to Queensland, only to be informed they were not yet cleared to leave.
Brisbane is supposed to host Collingwood on Thursday night at the Gabba in a clash that is usually its biggest drawing home-and-away match for the year.
But the situation in Brisbane could yet force a change in where that match is played as well as for the Lions to remain on the road for a period.
The Lions AFLW team, which sits in second position heading into the finals, had left for the airport earlier on Sunday.
Richard Ferguson9.55am:Liberal MPs call for drug tests in parliament
Liberal MPs Sarah Henderson and Katie Allen has suggested MPs take regular drug tests in parliament, as women in the government take on Canberra’s hard drinking culture.
When asked if breath testing and drug testing was necessary in parliament, both Senator Henderson and Dr Allen both said it should be considered.
“We need to have the highest possible standards in our workplace,” Senator Henderson told the ABC.
“Alcohol is a problem … MPs and senators are not that special. We need to start looking at that issue as well.”
Dr Allen said parliamentarians should consider turning Capitol Hill into a dry environment.
“We need to have least responsible drinking. But there are people, even ministers, who have said to me: ‘You know, Katie, perhaps a dry environment isn’t such a bad idea.’”
Richard Ferguson9.50am:Andrew Laming must go: Liberal women
Liberal female MPs Katie Allen and Sarah Henderson have called on controversial colleague Andrew Laming to leave politics over his harassment of women in his electorate.
Dr Laming – the Liberal MP for the Queensland seat of Bowman – has taken medical leave and is considering his future after revelations he took photos of a young woman while she was bent over and her underwear was exposed. He had to apologise this week for harassing two women online.
Senator Henderson and Dr Allen on Sunday both said that Dr Laming should now consider quitting at the election.
READ the full story here.
Richard Ferguson9.15am:Minister says staffers are ‘hurting’ as PM’s audio leaks
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says staffers in parliament are hurting, as leaked audio reveals Scott Morrison conceded the government has failed to curb sexism and bad behaviour in Parliament.
Nine Newspapers reported the Prime Minister told a meeting of all Coalition staffers he wanted to tackle sexism and sexual harassment headed on but knew many staffers may be “sceptical” of his determination.
Mr Littleproud — who is also deputy leader of the Nationals – told Sky News that the government was “sorry” for the way staffers had felt let down in recent weeks.
“There’s a lot of hurt. My staff are hurt.,” he said.
READ the full story here.
Geoff Chambers8.35am:Party told to stand up to ‘cancel culture’
Nationals federal president Larry Anthony has called on the party to “stand for something” and be “fearless” in the face of left- and right-wing extremism “eating” into its heartland.
The former Howard government minister, who is leaving his post after six years, warned on Saturday that while the Nationals held their ground at the last two elections, winning a fourth term would not be an “easy task”.
Speaking at the Nationals federal conference in Canberra, Mr Anthony will say future success must be built on taking on the “alternative left agenda of the ALP, Greens and independents”.
“People want to see us fight. You have got to stand for something, and you can’t be all things to all people. You need to fight for what is right, that’s when we have a future,” Mr Anthony said.
“A future for those in the bush, for those communities and families on the coast or in the country. And we need to fight against extremism both on the left and the right, which naturally eats into our constituency.”
Read the full story here.
Christine Kellett8am:Qld Health releases updated list of exposure sites
Queensland Health has released an updated list of potential exposure sites in Brisbane linked to a Strathpine man in his 20s who tested positive for the virus yesterday. Officials have warned more venues are likely to be added as contact tracers speak with 25 people who attended a house party at the man’s house.
Anyone who attended the following locations must immediately isolate and get tested, Queensland Health says:
Saturday 20 March
Black Hops Brewery, East Brisbane 12.22pm – 1.51pm
Green Beacon brewing Co, Teneriffe, 2pm – 3.12pm
Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill, 3.44pm – 5.30pm
Monday 22 March
PCYC Lawnton, Lawnton, 7.16am- 8.10am
Bunnings Lawnton 3.15pm – 3.30pm
Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre, Strathpine, 3.43pm – 3.49pm
Tuesday 23 March
Zambrero, Lawnton, 12.51pm – 12.55pm
Lawnton Fruit Market, Lawnton, 1.57pm – 2.05pm
Nellas Gourmet Tucker, Lawnton 3.37pm – 3.47pm
Poolwerx Strathpine, Strathpine, 3.15pm – 3.57pm
Dan Murphy’s Strathpine, 7.26pm – 7.36pm
BWS Strathpine 6.15pm – 6.30pm
Wednesday 24 March
Hungry Jacks Strathpine 7.47pm (drive through)
Lawton Country Markets, Lawnton, 2.36pm – 2.43pm
Thursday 25 March
Ceres Pizza Café, Strathpine, 7.00pm – 7.58pm
Staff writers7.30am:Infected man threw house party
Contact tracers are scrambling, after a Brisbane man infected with coronavirus held a house party for 25 people while awaiting his test results.
The party guests have been ordered into isolation and 15 potential exposure sites added to a growing list of venues as Queensland Health tries to contain the outbreak.
The man, aged in his 20s, is a close contact of a 26-year-old Strathpine landscape gardener who tested positive on Thursday to the highly infectious UK strain of the virus.
The man in his 20s was tested and ordered to isolate but ignored the advice and instead hosted a party for 25 people at his house, the Sunday Mail reports.
A list of venues visited by the Strathpine man include Bunnings Lawnton, Dan Murphys Strathpine and PCYC Lawnton from March 20-25.
âš ï¸ Public Health Alert: Brisbane and Moreton Bay regions âš ï¸
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) March 27, 2021
Queensland Health is issuing a Public Health Alert following one new locally acquired case of #COVID19
For further details please visit: https://t.co/xrF1h6fRFypic.twitter.com/SYyCZEaHA2
Contact tracers are now working to update the list based on the movements of the 25 party guests.
A source close to the two infected men told The Sunday Mail both were partying in Fortitude Valley last Friday night, a day before authorities started tracking the whereabouts of the first man.
University of Queensland virologist Professor Ian Mackay said there was a good chance the virus had spread.
“I think there’s a good chance he’s shared it among 25 people, depending on what kind of party it was, whether it was indoors, whether there was some fresh air coming, whether there was a decent ability to remove aerosol,” he said.
READ MORE:Hotel industry desperate for government clarity
Nicholas Jensen7.15am:WA introduces new border controls
WA Health Minister Roger Cook has provided an update on the state’s revised border controls, as new measures were introduced today following Queensland’s two new cases of community transmission.
“If you have been to any of the locations identified in yesterday’s directions, you are required to get a test and isolate for 14 days with a day 11 test,” he said.
“If you’re just simply travelling from Queensland but have not been to those locations, you’re still required to get a test and to isolate until you return a negative result.”
WA receives approximately a thousand travellers from Queensland per day.
Speaking in Perth today, Mr Cook said “obviously thousands of people have arrived since the 20th of March, which is the initial date that we want people to isolate from after they’ve been to those locations”.
READ MORE:Could $150bn Covid cash splash have been better spent?
Christine Kellett7am:MP Andrew Laming steps aside
Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming will immediately step down from his parliamentary roles after being accused of taking an inappropriate photo of a woman bending over at work.
Mr Laming said he would undergo counselling and seek clinical support after the Prime Minister was forced to intervene twice in three days over his behaviour.
Brisbane woman Crystal White told 9News Mr Laming took a picture of her bottom while her underwear was showing as she bent down to fill a fridge with drinks at a landscape supplies business in Brisbane in 2019. The store’s manager allegedly witnessed Mr Laming taking the photo and asked him to delete it from his phone.
Read the full story here.
Agencies6.45am:UK PM sees ‘nothing’ in Covid data to stop lockdown easing
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed on Saturday to stick with his planned unwinding of a coronavirus lockdown, relishing the prospect of a pint and a haircut even as scientists warn of new variants.
Launching his Conservative party’s campaign for local elections in May, Mr Johnson said his government’s mass vaccination drive and pro-business policies would hasten economic recovery, “jab by jab, job by job”.
Wales became the first UK nation to lift travel restrictions on Saturday, since the latest round of curbs took hold to combat a deadly second wave of COVID-19 over winter.
From Monday, England’s stay-at-home order will also be relaxed to enable groups of up to six people to meet outside. The government plans to allow outdoors drinking in pub gardens, and non-essential retail such as hairdressers, from April 12.
Mr Johnson conceded that a third wave of COVID-19 was sweeping Europe and could well hit Britain in about three weeks.
READ MORE:Their finest hours — UK’s volunteer army
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