Politics live news Australia: Liberals claim election win in Tasmania
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says after a ‘convincing’ election win, it ‘appears increasingly likely that we will also govern in majority’.
Tasmanian Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein has claimed victory in the state election, saying it appears “increasingly likely” he will form a majority government.Here’s how election night unfolded:
Matthew Denholm11.51pm:Gutwein’s early election gamble pays off ... just
The gamble of an early election appears to have paid off for Peter Gutwein and the Liberals…just.
While not yet able to claim majority, the Liberals have at least 12 seats and most likely the magic 13 to govern alone in the 25 seat Assembly.
That result rests on tight tussle for the fifth seat in Hobart-based Clark, between one of several Liberals and the woman the party dumped on the election eve, independent Sue Hickey.
Read Matthew Denholm’s full election analysis here.
Matthew Denholm10.45pm: Liberal Premier claims victory in Tasmania
Tasmanian Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein has claimed victory in the state election, saying it appears “increasingly likely” he will form a majority government.
With more than half the vote counted in all electorates, the Liberals had secured 12 seats, Labor 8 to 9 and the Greens at least 2, with one independent, Kristie Johnston, in Hobart-based Clark.
“We have won this election convincingly,” Mr Gutwein said. “It appears increasingly likely that we will also govern in majority.
“Whilst there’s obviously some counting to be done, it’s an honour and a privilege to be given that opportunity by the Tasmanian people.
“Thank you Tasmanians for the trust and faith you have placed in my and the Liberal Party… I will not forget the faith you have shown and I will not let you down.”
Mr Gutwein said the government would prioritise clean energy, including hydrogen, while improving the health system, housing and education.
Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White earlier conceded she had “fallen short” of being able to form majority government.
“It is clear that we have fallen short of our goal of winning majority Labor government,” Ms White told the tally room in Hobart.
“A short time ago I rang (Liberal Premier) Peter Gutwein to congratulate him on his re-election and his impressive personal result.
“All around the country we’ve seen incumbent governments rewarded for their management of Covid-19 and there is no doubt that Peter Gutwein and our public health officials kept our community safe and tonight’s result reflects that.”
However, Ms White said the election result – with the Liberals still one seat short of majority government – was a “wake up call” for the Liberals, particularly in relation to public anger at failings of the health system.
Independent Kristie Johnston is expected to win a seat in Clark, where the Liberals are confident of picking up a further seat to reach 13, in a tight tussle with former Liberal-turned-independent Sue Hickey.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said her party was “back in town” after achieving a swing in Tasmania’s state election.
“The Greens have won back Clark and Franklin with strong swings and we are still in the race in Bass,” she said.
Ms O’Connor praised Ms White’s “guts” for “having a red hot go” and wished her and her “precious little baby” well, while congratulating Mr Gutwein for his strong personal vote.
Matthew Denholm10.24pm: Greens ‘back in town’ after achieving swing
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor says her party is “back in town” after achieving a swing in Tasmania’s state election.
“The Greens have won back Clark and Franklin with strong swings and we are still in the race in Bass,” she said.
Ms O’Connor praised pregnant Labor leader Rebecca White’s “guts” for “having a red hot go” and wished her and her “precious little baby” well, while congratulating Premier Peter Gutwein for his strong personal vote.
While both major parties have said they will not govern in minority, Ms O’Connor said the Greens remained committed to expressing the will of the people.
With the Liberals yet to officially win 13 seats - the number required for a majority, despite being confident of doing so - Ms O’Connor said she hoped Mr Gutwein could “find a way to make it work”.
Matthew Denholm10.03pm:Labor concedes defeat in Tasmanian election
Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White has conceded she has “fallen short” of being able to form majority government, as Liberal insiders say they expect to claim victory.
“It is clear that we have fallen short of our goal of winning majority Labor government,” Ms White told the tally room in Hobart.
“A short time ago I rang (Liberal Premier) Peter Gutwein to congratulate him on his re-election and his impressive personal result.
“All around the country we’ve seen incumbent governments rewarded for their management of Covid-19 and there is no doubt that Peter Gutwein and our public health officials kept our community safe and tonight’s result reflects that.”
However, Ms White said the election result – with the Liberals still one seat short of majority government – was a “wake up call” for the Liberals, particularly in relation to public anger at failings of the health system.
The Liberals have 12 seats – with insiders confident this will become 13, the number needed for majority, while Labor has 6 to 8 and the Greens at least 2.
Independent Kristie Johnston is expected to win a seat in Clark, where the Liberals are confident of picking up a further seat to reach 13.
Mr Gutwein is not expected to claim victory tonight but will speak later this evening.
Matthew Denholm9.39pm:Tasmanian election outcome unclear
The outcome of the Tasmanian election is unclear, with the Liberals at risk of being stranded one seat short of a majority.
Up to two independents could be elected in Hobart-based Clark, threatening to restrict the Liberals to 12 seats, while Labor has 6 to 8 and the Greens at least 2.
In Clark, independent candidate Kristie Johnston is slightly ahead of Liberal-turned-independent Sue Hickey.
Statewide, there has been a swing of almost 3% to the Greens, at the expense of both major parties.
Labor cannot form government in its own right, while the Liberals will need to pick up one further seat for a majority, with party operatives believing it is still a chance of doing so in Clark.
“I remain hopeful and confident that we can pick up that 13th seat,” Liberal senator Jonno Duniam told ABC TV.
Labor leader Rebecca White is expected to speak at the tally room in Hobart shortly.
Matthew Denholm 8.33pm:Liberals within striking distance of majority government
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission projects the Liberals are on 12 seats, within striking distance of majority government but not yet reaching the 13 required.
The TEC has the Liberals on track to win 12, Labor 6 and the Greens 2, with the remainder undecided.
However, the count - ranging from 7% to 44% in different seats - points to Labor winning up to 8 seats and the Greens with a chance of picking up seats in Bass and Lyons.
Matthew Denholm8.01pm:Positive early signs for key independents in Tasmania
There are positive early signs for key independents, with both Sue Hickey and Kristie Johnston in the top five candidates in the Hobart-based seat of Clark.
A win for Ms Hickey at the expense of a Liberal could cost the Gutwein government its majority, if the Liberals fail to pick up a seat elsewhere.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor has been re-elected, based on early counting in Clark, and is topping the vote in the left-leaning electorate.
Frances Vinall 7.26pm:Betting websites point to a Liberal win in Tasmania
Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell earlier today predicted a result returning Peter Gutwein to leadership in Tasmania, based on the COVID-19 state trend of voters returning incumbents — the result that occurred in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.
Betting website Sportsbet is also predicting a Liberal win, as of 7pm on Saturday, with returns of $1.07 for a Liberal government result, against $7 for Labor.
Sportsbet also predicts a clean Liberal majority with odds of $1.40, against a Liberal minority result at $3.75, a Labor majority at $21, and a Labor minority at $7.
Matthew Denholm6.58pm: Gutwein off to a good start
Tasmania’s Premier Peter Gutwein (Bass) and Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff (Braddon) have been re-elected, early vote counting suggests. Labor leader Rebecca White is also likely to be re-elected in Lyons, based on very early figures.
Editorial 6.53pm:Tasmanians need stability, growth
There are many reasons Tasmanians may want to send a protest message to Peter Gutwein and the governing Liberals. To name a few: a health system under severe stress, a housing shortage, and a failure to deliver sufficient infrastructure quickly enough to keep pace with population growth and urban sprawl. It is also true that several credible independents are running in the state election on Saturday, most notably in the seat of Clark where Glenorchy mayor Kristie Johnston traditionally has picked up Labor votes and where former Liberal Sue Hickey has broad appeal across the political spectrum.
However, the danger of a protest vote, particularly under Tasmania’s Hare-Clark electoral system, is a hung parliament and instability.
Minority governments have had their successes. Tony Rundle’s response to the Port Arthur massacre, David Bartlett’s improvements to transparency, and Lara Giddings’s attempts at reining in the state budget all spring to mind. They inevitably end badly, though, and the instability dents business confidence which, in turn, can stymie investment and jobs. When Tasmania — once the country’s economic basket case — is leading the nation on many economic indicators, this would be tragic.
Matthew Denholm6.02pm:Counting begins in Tasmania’s state election
Counting has begun in Tasmania’s state election, after a bruising five-week campaign in which polls suggest the incumbent Liberals lost ground to Labor and independents.
Polling booths closed at 6pm on Saturday, with counting beginning immediately, while the Tasmanian Electoral Commission reported a strong pre-poll vote almost double the last 2018 election.
The TEC aid it had received 105,711 postal and pre-poll votes across the state and Legislative Council elections, compared to 55,000 for the 2018 state election.
With two upper house seats being contested at the same time as the lower house election, some results in the northern seat of Bass and in parts of Lyons and Clark will be delayed, as the LegCo votes are counted first.
Both major party leaders gave a last pitch to voters earlier on Saturday, as they cast their ballots.
Premier Peter Gutwein, seeking a third consecutive term for the Liberals, said voters had a choice between “certainty, stability and a majority Liberal government” or “a minority government that will take us backwards”.
“The strong plan that we have outlined is working, Tasmania is safe, our economy has rebounded (and) importantly jobs are back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
Labor leader Rebecca White, who has campaigned hard on the failings of the state’s health system, accusing the Liberals of seven years of failure, thanked voters for their support.
“It certainly hasn’t been lost on me the support I’ve received from the community, and particularly women, who have felt really encouraged by the fact that I’ve continued to stand my ground and I’ve campaigned hard every single day,” she said.
She continued to dismiss any focus on her pregnancy. “There is no reason why a female leader who’s pregnant can’t be elected premier,” she said.
The Liberals effectively had 13 seats in the last 25-seat House of Assembly, Labor 9, the Greens 2 and independent Sue Hickey.
All eyes will be the Hobart-based seat of Clark, where Ms Hickey – dumped as a Liberal shortly before the election – is running as one of two independents, who could deprive the major parties of seats.
A win for Ms Hickey at a Liberals’ expense could strand Mr Gutwein’s party on 12 seats, one shy of a majority, unless the Liberals can pick up seats elsewhere.
READ MORE: Ghost in the machine says Premier’s wild ride is over
Paul Garvey 5.36pm: Perth hotel security guard tests positive
A hotel quarantine security guard in Perth and two people living in his house have tested positive for COVID-19, but WA Premier Mark McGowan will resist calling another lockdown for now.
The man, in his 20s, had recently received his first COVID vaccination shot and was waiting to receive his second injection.
Seven other people who were living or staying with the man in his house in Nollamara have been taken into quarantine, with two of those people - including one who shared a room with the man - has tested positive.
Mr McGowan said measures left in place last week after Perth’s Anzac Day weekend lockdown had helped reduce the risks that the man may have spread the virus into the community, but testing over the coming days will determine whether another lockdown is called.
“We are effectively in a holding pattern and I hope we can avoid going back into lockdown,” Mr McGowan said.
“But if we need to, based on health advice, then that is what we will do.”
Masks will again be required to be worn both indoors and outdoors, reversing an easing of mask conditions that had come into effect from Saturday morning.
Authorities believe the man at the centre of the latest outbreak became infectious as early as April 27. He received his required weekly PCR test yesterday, with the result coming back positive this morning.
Mr McGowan said the man had been responsible in the past few days, and was wearing a mask while out in the community.
The premier said the man’s limited movements during the days in question and the mask measures in place last week reduced the prospect of further community transmission occuring.
The news comes just five days after a snap three-day lockdown called after a man contracted the virus while in hotel quarantine and subsequently several days in Perth.
The recent infections prompted the government to stop using three quarantine hotels for returning overseas travellers.
The three hotels - the Mercure, the Four Points and the Novotel Langley - were identified in the wake of the infection in January of a hotel quarantine worker as being of “very high risk” of facilitating transmission through their ventilation systems.
READ MORE: WA Premier Mark McGowan unleashes on NSW
Frank Furedi 5.30pm: ‘Who made woke capitalists gods?’
When Scott Morrison raised the alarm about the rise of identity politics, was he thinking about its ascendancy in the world of business? For Australian corporations, like their competitors abroad, have decided that going woke is good for business. They are not simply attempting to gain a bigger share of the market but also vying with one another in the woke saviour stakes.
Finn Mchugh5.00pm: Price of beer could drop with tax breaks for small brewers
The price of a beer keg could be “shaved by a couple of bucks” with small brewers and distillers to receive up to $250,000 in tax breaks.
The federal government has announced a support package for the nation’s craft brewers and distillers, which Treasury estimates will see an average of $55,000 put into their pockets.
The changes, which will be unveiled in this month’s budget, will triple the amount of liquor producers can sell before excise tax applies.
From July 1, small brewers and distillers will be able to claim a full refund on any excise they pay up to $350,000 annually.
Read the full story here.
Rosie lewis4.30pm: PM stands by Andrew Laming amid new claims
Scott Morrison continues to stand by embattled Liberal National Party MP Andrew Laming following new allegations of inappropriate behaviour, saying he expects the Queenslander to serve his electorate until the next election.
The ABC’s 7.30 reported on Thursday night that Dr Laming made an academic feel uncomfortable during and after a domestic flight and on another occasion repeatedly asked local female staff on an overseas delegation for their phone numbers.
Another woman said she felt uncomfortable when the MP asked her if he could add her on Facebook, and proceeded to do so, when she was 19 years old. He also suggested through a Facebook message meeting up with an academic who liked skateboarding.
“I’m happy just to meet skaties one at a time – starting with you (wink emoji),” he reportedly said.
Dr Laming has undertaken “empathy training” via an online course and revealed this week he had been diagnosed with ADHD, which he claims could account for his social media addiction.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen4.00pm:Outrage over moves to block citizens’ return from India
One of Australia’s peak human right’s bodies has attacked the federal government’s threat of five years imprisonment for Australians attempting to return from India, saying the penalties are totally disproportionate and unreasonable.
Human Rights Watch Australia said the announcement, the first to specifically threaten jail for those breaching a travel ban, was outrageous and draconian.
“The government should be looking for ways to safely quarantine Australians returning from India, instead of focusing their efforts on prison sentences and harsh punishments,” HRWA director Elaine Pearson said.
“Australians have a right of return to their own country.”
Other prominent health commentators and politicians have also spoken out against the move.
Melbourne GP Vyom Sharma told the ABC the federal government said the system was not only disportionate but also inconsistent with responses to outbreaks in Europe and the US.
“It is incredibly disproportionate to the threat that is posed,” Dr Sharma said. “Of course, different people can have different assessments of risk and my concern is that the government is so sensitive to the risk that they can’t take in this increased load of people coming in.
“What strikes me as also bizarre is that the US, back in January, was returning to us Australians, in much higher quantities of people, who were testing positive and yet there was no talk of plan banning those flights then.
Jail time and fines for Australians wanting to come home? Seriously? I’m horrified that the Morrison government thinks this is an acceptable response to the humanitarian crisis in India.
— 💚🌠Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) May 1, 2021
This is a terrible and dangerous precedent. And needs to be called out.
“Our families are quite literally dying in India overseas. Many people are trying to come back.
Top epidemiologist Michael Toole said the decision to ban travel from India was a clear admission by the government of a “lack of confidence in the quarantine system”.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young took to Twitter to voice her dissent.
“Jail time and fines for Australians wanting to come home? Seriously? I’m horrified that the Morrison government thinks this is an acceptable response to the humanitarian crisis in India,” she said.
The government says breaches of the travel ban could result in five years’ imprisonment, a $66,000 fine or both.
Earlier today Treasurer Josh Frydenberg defended the decision, saying the surge in cases in India required “drastic actions” for the short-term.
More than 9000 Australians in India are registered as wanting to return, including 650 people registered as vulnerable.
Mackenzie Scott3.30pm:HomeBuilder puts tradies to work in smaller capital cities
Builders in the smaller states are under the pump after being inundated with work stemming from the federal government’s pandemic HomeBuilder stimulus.
South Australian residents lodged the highest number of applications per capita for the $25,000 grant over the past 10 months, accounting for 7.19 applications for every 1000 people in the state, according to figures from the Housing Industry Association figures.
It was a trend observed in several of the smaller states and territories as state government treasury offices were flooded by a higher than expected number of applications, with Queensland (5.08), Western Australia (6.67), Tasmania (5.66) and Canberra (6.59) each outpacing the national average of 4.73 applicants per 1000 people.
Victoria also clocked 5.25 grants per 1000 residents.
HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said the numbers were an indicator of future work for builders and tradies.
Read the full story here.
Anton Nilsson3pm:Quarantine bungle put hundreds at risk of HIV
Mistakes made when Victoria set up its hotel quarantine program exposed hundreds of people to the risk of contracting bloodborne viruses like HIV, an investigation has found.
Health officials took action in October last year amid concerns that finger pricking devices used to check the levels of glucose in someone’s blood had been reused on multiple quarantine guests.
They were used for guests who had diabetes, were pregnant, or “generally unwell”, officials said.
The blood glucose level monitoring devices should only be used for one person, because they can retain microscopic amounts of blood that could infect another person if there’s a bloodborne virus present.
But the hurry with which the hotel quarantine program was set up meant officials didn’t establish protocols that would have informed workers of this risk, a review by Safer Care Victoria has found.
Consequently, hundreds of people were endangered at the start of the coronavirus pandemic between March and August last year.
Out of 275 people who were referred for follow-up testing, no one was found to have contracted a bloodborne virus because of the failure, the review found.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen2.20pm:WA records one new case in hotel quarantine
WA Health has recorded one new case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine overnight.
The new case has been detected in an infant son of a recently reported infection from overseas.
The state is currently monitoring 23 active cases.
WA Health administered 2250 vaccinations yesterday, bringing the state’s total to 98,895 inoculations. 23,493 people have received both doses.
READ MORE: Trash to treasure — a dirty job bot to be discarded
Michael McKenna1.45pm:McGrath beats Stoker to win top senate ticket spot
Queensland Coalition backbencher James McGrath has secured the top spot on the Liberal National Party senate ticket for the next federal election in a win over rising conservative star and newly-minted assistant minister Amanda Stoker.
The vote of the LNP State Council in Brisbane on Saturday put Liberal Senator McGrath at number one on the ticket, followed by the Nationals Matt Canavan at number two and Senator Stoker at number three.
It means that Senator Stoker’s political future is under a cloud, with the LNP’s number three spot tougher to secure re-election, although it is still winnable on an analysis of previous federal election results.
Under LNP rules, devised ahead of the 2008 state merger of the two conservative parties, the one and three spots are reserved for Liberals and the number two position for The Nationals.
The predicted close contest between the Liberals didn’t eventuate, with Senator McGrath thrashing Senator Stoker for the top spot by 212 votes to 101.
It was the biggest ever turnout for a State Council senate vote in the history of the LNP.
Senator Stoker, 38, and Senator McGrath, 46, both went into the showdown with the endorsement of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who didn’t want to be seen to be taking sides.
But the defeat of Senator Stoker, who has been in the senate just three years, will be seen as a snub to Mr Morrison who recently made her Assistant Minister for Women after the recent rape and bullying allegations in parliament.
The Brisbane-based mother of three is a darling of the conservative right, which champions free speech and Christian values, and cheerfully courts controversy by speaking out against abortion, voluntary euthanasia and sex reassignment for transgender teens.
Senator McGrath, a one-time assistant minister in the Turnbull government, is understood to have travelled the length and breadth of Queensland in recent months rallying votes in LNP branches.
A former professional political campaigner, who helped Boris Johnson win the mayoralty in London, Senator McGrath pitched that the party should vote him into the top spot so he could concentrate on running the campaign to shore up “fortress Queensland” at the coming federal election.
Patrick Commins1.10pm:Pandemic pinch still affecting supply chains
Three in 10 Australian businesses say they are having trouble getting the parts or products they need, as the pandemic continues to disrupt supply chains around the world.
The latest special COVID business sentiments and conditions survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also revealed that operating conditions improved in April, despite the end of JobKeeper the month before. Fewer than one in five firms reported a drop in revenue for the month — the lowest proportion since the survey began last July.
One in 10 said they had hired staff in April and a similar proportion planned to hire in May, the latter matching the previous, pre-summer peak in December.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen12.40pm:Turkey retreats to full lockdown as cases climb
Turkey has registered almost 400 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, marking its biggest ever daily toll, according to data released by the country’s health ministry on Friday night.
COVID-19 data showed that 31,891 new cases occurred in the same period. Turkey now ranks fourth globally in the number of daily cases based on a seven-day average.
The capital Ankara has decided to tighten restrictions as infections and deaths surged to record highs after an easing of measures earlier in March.
On Thursday, Turks entered a nationwide “full lockdown” that is expected to last until at least May 17 in a bid to curb a surge in infections and deaths.
READ MORE:‘Dying like fish’: India’s frightening lesson to the world
Nichaolas Jensen12.12pm:NSW records no new local cases, four in quarantine
NSW has recorded no local cases of COVID-19, with four cases detected in hotel quarantine.
There were 5292 test results received across the state in the last 24 hours.
Health officials are currently treating 110 cases, with one case in ICU.
94 per cent of these cases are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in the Special Health Accommodation.
Sewage samples taken at the Allambie Heights sewage network on April 29 have detected no fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19. This follows positive results for samples for this network taken on April 22 and 27.
NSW Health said positive sewage results may indicate the presence of people who have recently recovered from COVID-19, “as they can continue to shed fragments of the virus for several weeks after recovery”. But they may also signal undetected community cases.
NSW Health said 4056 vaccinations were administered yesterday, bringing the state total to 653,954.
READ MORE:Canberra in Hunter Valley gas plant push
Liam Mendes12pm: Scientists ask for Wuhan records
China should allow world health investigators to conduct confidential interviews with Wuhan Institute of Virology scientists and to obtain laboratory records and biological samples from the earliest COVID-19 patients, according to an international group of independent scientists.
The group of 26 distinguished scientists has released an open letter to the World Health Organisation and its executive board outlining steps for a rigorous investigation into the origins of COVID-19 to determine whether the outbreak occurred from a laboratory accident.
The letter follows an extraordinary admission by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that his team’s inquiry failed to thoroughly investigate whether the coronavirus had inadvertently leaked from a Wuhan laboratory.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen11.20am:Pfizer, AZ side effects more likely in women and youth
Young people, women and individuals who have been infected with COVID-19 are more likely to report side effects after getting vaccinated with the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines, according to new research conducted in the UK.
The survey was published in the distinguished medical journal, The Lancet, with the research relying on self-reports and data from more than 600,000 people who received either one or two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca.
It showed that the majority of side effects occurred within the first 24 hours of getting the vaccine, with symptoms typically resolving within two days.
The researchers divided the categories of side effects into two types: local and systematic.
Local effects are those “near the site of injection such as pain, swelling, redness, itching and swollen armpit glands”.
Systemic effects are those that “affect the entire body and include symptoms such as diarrhoea, fatigue, headache, chills, and nausea”.
In total one in four people who participated in the Lancet study reported one or more “systemic effects”, with two in three reporting one or more of the “local effects”.
READ MORE:Angela Shanahan — PM just doing his Christian duty
Nicholas Jensen 10.40am:Frydenberg defends ‘drastic’ India travel ban, jail threat
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the federal government’s pause on travel from India — as well as the threat of a five-year prison term — saying the best way to support the country and protect our own quarantine system is to supply India with equipment and impose drastic, short-term rules.
“The decision that we have taken recently with the Biosecurity Act is because the situation in India is dire,” Mr Frydenberg told the ABC. “More than 200,000 people have died and there are more than 300,000 new cases a day.”
Asked whether the prospect of five years’ imprisonment for Australians coming home was justified, Mr Frydenberg said: “This is a drastic action, but designed to keep Australians safe … and it’s temporary, based on medical advice and will be reviewed on May 15.”
“We are in the middle of a once in a century pandemic.”
“When the national cabinet met, they received the most up to date briefing from our Chief Medical Officers and their advice is that we need to put in place these secure measures … so they are temporary, they will be reviewed on May 15,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg said the upcoming May budget would focus on “supporting health measures that we have seen Australia suppress the virus more successfully than any other country around the world”.
“The Morrison government is firmly focused on helping Australians get to the other side of this pandemic … we have avoided the fate of the UK and the US with those huge job losses, and the big falls in economic growth.
“Here in Australia we have outperformed all major advanced economies.
READ MORE: Chris Kenny — McGowan’s Covid paranoia infects Canberra
Nichaolas Jensen10.12am:WHO gives emergency green light to Moderna jab
The World Health Organisation has now listed the Moderna vaccine for emergency use, saying “the objective is to make medicines, vaccines and diagnostics available as rapidly as possible to address rising cases across the globe”.
WHO assistant director general Mariangela Simao said it was essential that more vaccines were available because of supply problems with other vaccines, including from India, which was a main source of vaccines for the global sharing program.
India has restricted exports because of a crisis of infections.
Earlier this week Moderna announced an expansion plan for its production network to boost its capacity to up to 3 billion doses by 2022.
In January, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation recommended Moderna’s vaccine for all age groups 18 and above.
Pfizer was the first vaccine to get a WHO emergency use listing at the end of 2020.
Since then the WHO has added vaccines including AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the list.
The WHO is still considering COVID-19 vaccines from Sinopharm and Sinovac following an extended review. A decision on both vaccines is due by the end of next week.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen10am:Labor backs India travel ban
Labor MP Jason Clare has supported the federal government’s decision to temporarily suspend flights to and from India, but warned the commonwealth that it would be a serious mistake to make it a criminal offence for Australians to get home.
Asked why flights from India had been paused and not from Britain and the US, Mr Clare told the ABC “the government had made the right call on this, based on sound and expert health advice”.
But he warned the Morrison government not to take restrictions too far, adding: “I think it would be a big crime, a big mistake to make it an offence for Australians to get home … we should be doing things to make it easier for people to get home”.
“I think it was also a mistake to allow 4500 Aussies to go to India in the first three months of this year … Why was that allowed to happen?
Mr Clare also urged the government to reconsider the use of Christmas Island as a potential quarantine location.
“We’ve taken Aussies out of China and taken them to Christmas Island before. We could do that now. What is Christmas Island being used for? The Australian Government has pushed all responsibility for quarantining onto the states, but when it fails they blame them.”
Mr Clare reiterated Labor’s call that hotel quarantine should be the responsibility of the commonwealth rather than the states, saying “the bottom line is until we make the quarantine system bulletproof, and until we rollout the vaccine to the majority of the Australian population, we will continue to have cities shut down and we will have to continue to shut flights to countries like India”.
READ MORE:India’s lesson is this virus is just getting started
Finn McHugh9.30am:Big tax cut to be announced in budget
Small brewers and distillers will receive a major budget boost, receiving up to $250,000 in tax breaks.
The federal government has announced a support package for the nation’s craft brewers and distillers, which Treasury estimates will see an average of $55,000 put into their pockets.
The changes, which will be unveiled in this month’s budget, will triple the amount of liquor producers can sell before excise tax applies.
From July 1, small brewers and distillers will be able to claim a full refund on any excise they pay up to $350,000 annually.
They are currently able to claim 60 per cent of paid excise, up to $100,000 annually.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the measures would spark investment in the sector, which currently employs around 15,000 people.
“Today’s announcement is great news for smaller brewers and distillers right around the country, from capital cities to regional towns,” he said.
“Australian brewers and distillers are world leaders in their field and this measure is going to assist them to continue to invest, grow and create jobs.”
There are 600 brewers and 400 distillers across Australia, roughly two-thirds in regional or rural areas.
Distillery numbers have exploded in Australia over the last decade, rising from 28 in 2014 to 400 today.
Treasury estimated the measures would be worth $255m to the industry annually.
READ MORE:Paul Kelly — Splashing the cash to repair the economy
Adam Creighton8.45am:‘Border can’t open until the world is vaccinated’
Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos has raised the prospect of indefinite restrictions travel in and out of Australia, suggesting the border couldn’t open until “the world is vaccinated”.
Speaking at an online event on Friday at the Washington DC-based Hudson Institute, Mr Sinodinos suggested reopening the border was an “economic imperative” but unlikely to happen soon, especially given popularity of restrictions.
“We have major industries like international education which require people coming in, immigration has been big driver of Australian growth and that’s really tailed off. For us there’s a real economic imperative to getting borders open,” he said.
“Because we’ve done well on community transmission there isn’t same pressure from the public to get the vaccines out … it’s not like the US and elsewhere where there’s been a real urgency,” he added.
Australia’s international border has been shut to foreigners since March 20 last year and returning residents subject to 14 day hotel quarantine, even if vaccinated, at a cost of $3000 per person.
“Until the world as a whole is vaccinated, and I’m thinking here of India, and other places, then we’re never going to be completely out of this.”
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Rosie Lewis8.30am:Hunt to block travellers from India
Health Minister Greg Hunt will invoke emergency powers from Monday to block all travellers from India, amid concerns that transiting passengers who have been in the coronavirus-ravaged country may still enter Australia.
Mr Hunt will use powers under the Biosecurity Act to stop people who have been in India during the past fortnight from arriving in Australia, after receiving advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.
The powers, which have never been used before, will come into force from Monday and people who breach them will face five years’ jail or a fine of up to $66,600.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan revealed on Friday he had been advised that 4500 Australians had travelled to India “for various reasons” in the first three months of this year. There are about 9000 stranded Australians in India wanting to come home, 650 of whom are considered vulnerable.
While Scott Morrison said a loophole letting people return from India to Australia via Doha had been “closed off” as of 7pm on Wednesday, government sources confirmed concerns remained that there were path into the country.
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Dow Jones7.45am:US to restrict travel from India indefinitely
The Biden administration will restrict travel from India beginning Tuesday the White House said Friday, as concerns mount over a record surge in coronavirus cases there.
“On the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the administration will restrict travel from India,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India.” An administration official said the ban on travel from India wouldn’t apply to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and other exempted individuals, such as humanitarian workers. But those individuals would still need to meet testing and quarantine requirements currently in effect for international travellers should they enter the U.S. The travel ban is indefinite until lifted by President Biden.
A spokesman for the Indian Embassy had no immediate comment. The announcement comes as India set a global record for new infections, prompting several countries to impose similar travel restrictions. The U.K., Canada, Germany, France and Australia were among the growing list of countries to ban most travellers from India in recent weeks.
India reported another world record of 386,452 new daily infections on Friday, bringing the country’s total number of cases to more than 18 million.
READ MORE:Modi leads India out of lockdown and into viral apocalypse
Agencies7.30am:Outbreak scuppers Ireland rugby tour of Fiji
Ireland’s tour of Fiji has been called because of a coronavirus outbreak in the Pacific island, the Irish Rugby Football Union announced Friday.
Andy Farrell’s men, who finished third in this year’s Six Nations, were due to travel to Fiji during the July international window.
The IRFU said in a statement that while planning for the trip was at a “very advanced stage”, a recent Covid outbreak and subsequent lockdown in Fiji has “increased the level of risk and it is no longer viable to proceed with the planned tour”.
The IRFU added it would be speaking to other national unions about the possibility of organising alternative Test matches in July.
READ MORE:Twiggy Forrest set to stake claim in rugby
Matthew Denholm7am:Tasmanians head to the polls
Tasmania’s election is headed down to the wire, as both leaders vow to plunge the state into a constitutional crisis or another poll rather than govern in minority.
With an apparent late surge to Labor and independents, odds shortened on a hung parliament being returned by Tasmanians.
Premier Peter Gutwein, who had hoped the early election would provide the Liberals with a clear majority for another four years, insisted his party would refuse to try to govern in minority.
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Free market path to lift Indigenous
Labor has handed its new tsar for Aboriginal business extraordinary powers that could make remote-community residents the owners of defence infrastructure and the funders of energy projects.
Call for origin labels on imported timber
About a quarter of timber tested in Australia last year had incorrect species or origin labels. The industry wants new laws to prevent it happening and to support Australian producers.