Politics live news Australia: WA Premier Mark McGowan fires up over NSW lockdown comparison
New Zealand has agreed to resume the travel bubble with Western Australia, 24 hours after grounding flights when three people in Perth tested positive for COVID-19.
- Perth avoids another lockdown
- Payne slaps down travel ban racism claim
- India travel jail threat ‘a deliberate distraction’
- ‘It’s easier to say no to brown faces’
- $1.7bn childcare package to get mums back to work
- India sets grim new infection record
- WA Premier resists lockdowns despite new Perth cases
- Liberals claim victory in Tasmania
Welcome to The Weekend Australian’s live rolling coverage of the day’s political events and coronavirus response.
WA Premier Mark McGowan confirms the state will not enter another lockdown, as Foreign Minister Marise Payne denies fines and jail terms for Australians trying to return from COVID-plagued India are racist policies. The federal government is facing a barrage of criticism over its refusal to allow Australians to return home and its threat of punishments if they try. As India broke a grim new infection record overnight, stranded Australians have called the decision ‘morally reprehensible’ and Labor has accused the Coalition of a ‘deliberate political strategy’ to distract from hotel quarantine failures.
Rhainnon Down, Agencies11.20pm:UK denounced over aid cuts
The British government has hit back at criticism for cutting its aid budget, citing the economic impact of the pandemic.
It comes as several UN agencies warned the cuts would lead to thousands of deaths in developing countries, as much of the world continues to battle COVID-19.
The UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said the plan would lead to 250,000 more deaths around the world.
The children’s charity arm UNICEF, as well as UNAIDS, also expressed concern.
“I’ve found the process of making those savings very difficult,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News.
“We’ve had to make this extremely difficult decision to reduce and find savings in the aid budget, that’s because of the impact Covid has had, the biggest contraction we’ve seen in the economy for 300 years.”
READ MORE: Who’s running White House? Meet President Klain
Rebecca Urban 11pm:Curriculum plan does a number on maths
Schools have been urged to ditch calculators and ensure mathematics teaching focuses on building students’ arithmetic knowledge and skills if Australia is to have any chance of catching up to high-performing nations.
University of NSW cognitive scientist John Sweller, an expert in the process of learning, has criticised a proposed new Australian Curriculum that emphasises problem-solving and inquiry activities in the teaching of maths, highlighting a lack of evidence that a “learn-by-doing” approach improved academic outcomes.
While the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has defended the push, highlighting Singapore’s focus on mathematical problem-solving, Professor Sweller argued that the Asian nation’s success was most likely due to high expectations and rigorous teaching of foundational knowledge and skills.
The Singaporean curriculum requires that, by Year 5, students multiply and divide numbers up to 1000 “without [a] calculator”. There is no such stipulation in the Australian Curriculum.
“Singaporean students are, on average, two to three years ahead of Australian students in terms of what they know and what they can do,” Professor Sweller said.
“Australian students need much more foundational work on their number facts and fluency.
Adam Creighton10.20pm:‘Outrageous’ lockdown secrecy slammed
The government has refused to release Treasury documents that spell out the assumed costs and benefits of border closures, lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions, a decision prominent economists have slammed as “outrageous”.
The federal government has classed 38 different estimates of the costs of various restrictions, including borders closures, school closures and Victoria’s series of extra lockdowns as “cabinet documents”, which excludes them from public access under Freedom of Information laws, The Australian has learned.
Economist Saul Eslake said it was “outrageous that the government won’t share with the public any of the basis for the decisions it has made”.
“Treasury’s Freedom of Information officer is almost certainly correct that the law does allow him to refuse access to documents which are prepared for cabinet … but that doesn’t make it any more acceptable,” he said.
UNSW professor Peter Swan said the decision was “absolutely outrageous”.
“The fact that not a single word can be revealed on the impact of Victorian COVID-19 restrictions on the Victorian and Australian economy even now, long after they have cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and forced thousands of Australian small businesses to close, indicates the damning nature of the contents of these documents,” he said.
“It would seem highly likely that the government has ignored advice from Treasury and elsewhere that lockdown is almost entirely unproductive and ineffective, as well as being economically crippling.”
Greg Brown9.20pm:We want a voice now: Langton
Marcia Langton says Indigenous people “want a voice now” as she warns against delaying creating the advisory body because there is not political consensus on constitutional enshrinement.
Professor Langton, the co-chair of the panel designing a proposed “voice to government”, praised Liberal senator Andrew Bragg for using a new book to push the Coalition to support the full recommendations from the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
She said legislating the Indigenous advisory body could convince “nervous Nellies” in the Coalition that there was nothing to fear by protecting the voice in the nation’s birth certificate.
Greg Brown 8.40pm:Turnbull accused of ‘very nasty’ attack on staffer
Malcolm Turnbull has been accused of a “very nasty” attack on a staff member of Brendan Nelson when the former Wentworth MP first became Liberal Party leader, with the exchange being described as an “execution after the revolution”.
Centre for Independent Studies executive director Tom Switzer, a speechwriter to Dr Nelson when he was opposition leader, said Mr Turnbull demanded to see him after the successful leadership challenge in September 2008.
“I wouldn’t want to work for him, I wouldn’t want to deal with him, particularly given the moment,” Mr Switzer told Sky News’s special investigation Men In The Mirror, which aired on Sunday night.
Laura Pullman8.05pm: Giuliani’s rude shock as son eyes run for office
The net appears to be closing on Rudy Giuliani, New York’s once lauded mayor and Donald Trump’s former personal pitbull lawyer.
Around 6am last Wednesday, the FBI swooped simultaneously on Giuliani’s Madison Avenue apartment and Manhattan office, as well as the Washington home of one of his closest allies. The raids marked a significant gear change in the investigation into his business dealings with Ukraine.
Trump stuck up for his staunchest supporter. “It’s, like, so unfair and such a double standard,” said the former president, praising his old friend as a “great patriot”.
Giuliani’s son Andrew was more impassioned. Hair slicked back and teeth flashing, he appeared outside his father’s home on the Upper East Side to rail against the dawn raids.
“This is disgusting. This is absolutely absurd. And it’s the continued politicisation of the justice department,” he told the gathered reporters. “And it has to stop. If this can happen to the former president’s lawyer, this can happen to any American.”
Giuliani Jr, 35, who is mulling a run for New York governor despite having never held an elected political position, was still fired up the following day.
Greg Brown, Richard Ferguson 7.35pm:Women’s security ‘a major focus’
Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar says women’s economic security will be a “significant focus” in next week’s budget, as the government unveils extra funding for childcare.
“I think it’s always incumbent on the government to appeal to every Australian and certainly women, being 51 per cent of the population, is a group that we have put an extraordinary effort into,” Mr Sukkar told Sky News.
“If you look at the gender wage gap where that has gone under our government as far as narrowing, whether you look at the recovered jobs since the pandemic disproportionally recovered for women.
So women’s economic security is going to be a significant focus, their broader security is going to be a significant focus.”
Josh Frydenberg on Sunday unveiled a new $1.7bn childcare package which will see working parents save up to $124 a week.
The government will junk the cap on childcare subsidies of $10,560, while half of Australia’s families with one child in childcare will have 95 per cent of their out-of-pocket expenses for any additional kids paid for by the government.
Michael McKenna7.05pm:Stoker to fight Hanson for Senate seat
The Coalition’s rising conservative star Amanda Stoker will face-off against Pauline Hanson for a Queensland senate seat at the next federal election.
Senator Stoker, recently elevated to Assistant Minister for Women by Scott Morrison, is now fighting for her political career after being relegated to the third spot on the Liberal National Party’s senate ticket.
Political pundits and LNP insiders predict that Senator Stoker will be contesting the fifth and six senate seats against the One Nation leader and a candidate for the Greens, based on previous election results and a likely recovery in the statewide Labor vote.
Senator Stoker was beaten by Queensland Coalition backbencher James McGrath — a veteran professional political campaigner — after a flood of support for him arrived from regional-based voters.
The vote of the LNP State Council in Brisbane on Saturday put Liberal Senator McGrath at No 1 on the ticket, followed by the Nationals Matt Canavan at No 2 and Senator Stoker at No 3.
AFP6.20pm:NZ resumes Perth travel bubble after Covid scare
New Zealand has agreed to reopen its travel bubble with Western Australia, 24 hours after grounding flights when three people in Perth tested positive for COVID-19.
Health officials said that following consultation with their Australian counterparts they determined the risk to New Zealand was not significant and flight could resume on Monday.
However, anyone who has been at “locations of interest” identified by the Western Australian government cannot travel to New Zealand within 14 days of exposure.
“While the public health risk is deemed low, we must all remain vigilant as we enjoy the opportunities quarantine-free travel has given us,” the director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said.
It was the second disruption to the ground-breaking travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia in the two weeks since it opened, ending more than a year since both closed their international borders due to the pandemic.
Flights between New Zealand and Western Australia were briefly suspended when the Perth and Peel regions were sent into a three-day lockdown after recording a case of community transmission on April 23.
Flights two other states and territories have not been affected. The bubble, which followed months of negotiations between the largely coronavirus-free neighbours, has been hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ MORE:Victoria goes it alone on climate
Sarah Baxter6.10pm:Who’s really running Biden’s White House?
The name’s Klain — President Klain. Washington insiders delight in assigning the White House chief of staff this mischievous title as the driving force behind the actual US President, Joe Biden.
The man himself, Ron Klain, would never describe himself this way, but his firm grip on the levers of government has enabled the 78-year-old President to cruise through his first 100 days in office without breaking sweat.
Everybody who is anybody in Washington knows Klain, although few people outside the Beltway — the ring road surrounding the capital — have heard of him. He is a powerful, confident operator who knows the business of government inside out. Trusted to exercise power and take decisions, he keeps his boss informed while lifting the burden of office from him.
Klain, 59, has recently emerged from the shadows as the surprising face of the administration on Twitter, where he touts Biden’s achievements with gusto under the handle @WHCOS, for White House chief of staff. His output is very different in style to Donald Trump’s but equally triumphal. Among his latest tweets was a Reuters/Ipsos poll showing 55 per cent of Americans approved of Biden’s job performance, as opposed to 38 per cent who disapproved. He also highlighted a Washington Post article headlined: “No wonder the President has a bounce in his step.”
That bounce, such as it is, is down to Klain, the ultimate enabler. For those who find the scale of Biden’s colossal $US6 trillion ($7.7 trillion) spending plans hard to square with the moderate politician who has been knocking around Washington for half a century, look no further than “President Klain”. He is determined to secure Biden’s place in the pantheon of presidents, with Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, who built the American welfare state.
Having achieved his life’s ambition by reaching the White House, Biden’s goal is to remain in office as long as possible — two terms, preferably. This means he is “pacing himself” in the job, as a seasoned official told me wryly.
Jade Gailberger5.30pm:Childcare help too late for ‘hurting’ families
An overhaul of the childcare system that will slash fees for working families with two or more children has been welcomed by the sector.
But some advocates are warning the ease to hip pocket pressure will not come soon enough, with the changes not coming into effect until July 2022.
The Morrison government on Sunday announced a $1.7bn package that will increase the childcare subsidy to a maximum of 95 per cent for the second and subsequent children in care.
Agencies4.45pm:More Covid aid lands in India
India struggled to contain one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks with nearly 400,000 new infections reported Sunday, as more international aid arrived in the South Asian nation to help end the crisis.
Surges in Brazil and Canada also highlighted the persistent threat of the pandemic, with the Covid-19 death toll approaching 3.2 million even as many nations ramp up their vaccination drives.
India expanded its vaccination programme to all adults on Saturday, but many of its states are struggling with shortages despite an export freeze for shots produced in the country.
Long queues were seen at vaccination centres in cities across India on the weekend, with people desperate to be inoculated against a disease that has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system and even crematoriums and graveyards.
Social media platforms have been flooded with desperate pleas from people looking for oxygen cylinders, medicines and hospital beds as the Covid-19 wave causes widespread shortages.
Jitendre K Gupta, Age: 52 is admitted in Sethi hospital, Gurgaon..His SPO2 is dropping sharply..His CT value 22
— Dr. Ragini Nayak (@NayakRagini) May 1, 2021
Oxygen supply in the hospital is extremely low..He needs an Oxygen Cylinder !
Please Help @srinivasiyc#SOSIYC
Kamal - 9810778611
India reported more than 392,000 new cases and nearly 3,700 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday.
The dire situation prompted many nations including the United States, Russia and Britain to dispatch emergency supplies including oxygen generators, face masks, and vaccines.
Aid from France reached India on Sunday, including eight oxygen generator plants and 28 ventilators, adding to the 120 ventilators from Germany that arrived on Saturday.
New Delhi, one of the hardest-hit parts of the country, extended its lockdown by a week on Saturday.
Anthony Fauci, the top US pandemic advisor, said in comments published Saturday that India should go into lockdown to fight this wave.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has resisted imposing a national shutdown but many states have imposed heavy restrictions.
READ MORE:Modi leads India out of lockdown...and into a Covid apocalypse
Evin Priest4.15pm:Victoria’s vaccine boost for over-50s
Every Victorian over the age of 50 will be able to get a COVID-19 jab from Monday as the state government opens a raft of vaccination hubs to support its six high-volume centres.
The AstraZeneca vaccine rollout for over-50s will be ramped up this week with a seventh high-volume vaccination centre opening on Tuesday at the Cranbourne Turf Club.
That will bolster the existing group of walk-in centres – the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the former Ford Factory, the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Sunshine Hospital and Mercure Ballarat.
The government will also open 15 vaccination centres at sites across the state from Monday, including at both city and country hospitals, bringing the total number of vaccine hubs in Victoria to 22.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said more vaccination centres would be unveiled in coming weeks.
“The best thing we can all do to support Victoria’s recovery from COVID-19 is to take the opportunity to be vaccinated as soon as we can – and the Victorian government is making it easier to do just that,” he said.
“We’ve worked hard to have 22 sites open to the eligible public by Monday, and there’ll be more to come.
“Initially, we are asking Victorians to phone up and book if you aren’t headed to a high-volume vaccination centre.
“We’re proud to work with GPs to support the commonwealth’s vaccination program any way we can.”
Several of the open access centres will also offer a pathway to the Pfizer vaccine for those eligible.
The Pfizer vaccine supply is limited and prioritised for eligible people under the age of 50 in the phase 1a and 1b of the commonwealth’s vaccination program.
Epidemiologist Hassan Vally, from Latrobe University, said if those eligible for the AstraZeneca had concerns about the risk of “extremely rare” blood clotting, they should discuss it with their doctor.
“All questions regarding how the vaccine may impact on your health should involve a discussion with your GP,” she said.
“It needs to be understood that since there are so few cases of this clotting disorder, we do not have a complete understandingof it and what the risk factors are.”
READ MORE:Victoria unveils its own climate change strategy, emissions target
Agencies3.45pm:How diving star Daley will combat Olympic bubble boredom
British diving star Tom Daley said Saturday he can handle the boredom of an Olympic bubble -- as long as he brings his knitting and crochet to the Tokyo Games.
Daley and partner Matthew Lee won the 10m synchronised competition on the first day of the Diving World Cup in Tokyo -- an event taking place in strict biosecure conditions as Olympic organisers prepare for this summer’s coronavirus-postponed Games.
Divers are mostly confined to their rooms, and are only allowed out to train or compete.
But British superstar Daley has taken it all in his stride, having packed plenty of craftwork to see him through the long hours.
“It is slightly strange, but I did bring a lot of knitting and crochet to keep me from getting bored,” Daley told reporters from the other side of a glass window.
“Having a kid makes you appreciate the time when you can even say that you’re bored. When I’m at home, there’s no time to be bored.” Daley, who had already secured his place at the Tokyo Games, added that diving partner Lee had “brought his colouring book”.
The Diving World Cup, which doubles as an Olympic qualifier, is one of the first test events featuring athletes from overseas to be held in Tokyo since the pandemic.
It features more than 200 divers from almost 50 countries but none from Australia, which last week withdrew over fears it was “not safe” to travel to Japan.
Tokyo is currently under a virus state of emergency, but Olympics organisers believe they can hold the Games safely and this week laid out updated rules for athletes, including daily virus tests.
A coach of one of the teams competing in the diving event tested positive upon arriving in Japan and was put in quarantine, the Japan Swimming Federation said Friday.
Daley said he had been tested twice before leaving Britain and again after arriving in Japan on Tuesday, then once every day since.
“We’re just very lucky that we can even have this event in the first place,” he said.
AFP
READ MORE:Olympics: Whatever they want you to do in Tokyo … just do it
James Campbell3.00pm:Rudd’s brother’s surprising claims about ex-PM
EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Rudd’s brother Greg has told Sky News Australia he believes the former Prime Minister needs to let go of his disappointment from his time in office, but fears it is not in his DNA.
Speaking to Sky News’s special investigation Men In The Mirror, which airs on Sunday night, Mr Rudd — who was forced to sell his business after he was banned by the former PM from lobbying the federal government — revealed his younger brother was obsessed from an early age with how to gain power.
The documentary by Chris Kenny examines similarities between former prime ministers Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Rudd said that on the wall of the bedroom he shared with the future Labor leader as a child there were posters of empires.
“He was always fascinated with the rise and fall of empires, how you get authority, how you keep authority and how to rise through those systems,” he said.
“How do you become a leader? With the absolute, 100 per cent belief, that if he got there, he would make the world a better place.”
Mr Rudd said he believed Mr Turnbull was similar.
He fears, however, that both men are struggling to move on from their time in public life.
READ the full story
Jill Treanor2.20pm:Ripple effect of India’s covid crisis will be felt far and wide
Nikhil Kapur thought life was back to normal. His restaurant in Rohini, northwest of Delhi, had bounced back after last year’s Indian lockdown. By early February, it was at pre-Covid-19 levels.
Then tragedy struck. The second wave of coronavirus gripping India has been particularly cruel, with at least 350,000 infections a day in the past week and more than 200,000 deaths in total. “My three employees have died, people are not coming to market and I don’t see things improving a bit,” said Kapur, 28.
In the usually bustling shopping centre nearby, only a grocer and two chemists were trading last week. It was a similar picture down the road at the metro station. Normally a queue of pedal-powered rickshaws would be waiting to pick up passengers, but on one day last week, only one empty vehicle could be spotted. The migrant workers who push the pedals have returned to their villages.
The humanitarian crisis ripping through India risks damaging the capitalist boom illustrated by the Netflix film The White Tiger, which tells the story of a lowly taxi driver who escapes poverty thanks to his entrepreneurial drive.
Lockdowns have financial repercussions, not just for India’s 1.3 billion population but also farther afield. Britain has a longstanding economic relationship with the nation, which was a colony until 1947.
Big companies as diverse as BT, caterer Compass and advertising giant WPP employ thousands in the country. Security company G4S said it was providing its 100,000 employees with “enhanced health, safety and wellbeing support”. Thanks to its millions of highly educated and English-speaking people, Indian call centres handle queries for many British companies, while back-office processing and increasingly complex IT functions are often outsourced there.
READ the full story
Evin Priest2.00pm:WA Premier fires up over NSW lockdown comparison
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has fired up over being compared to New South Wales in his decision to avoid a drastic lockdown for Perth due to several cases of COVID-19.
On Saturday, a hotel quarantine security guard – and then two of his seven housemates – tested positive to COVID-19 in Perth.
But on Sunday, Mr McGowan said a lockdown was not necessary despite suggesting it could happen if the situation worsened.
No new local transmissions of the virus were recorded overnight in Perth despite it being revealed the guard’s housemates who tested positive were food delivery drivers.
Perth had only just emerged from a snap lockdown on Monday, which was triggered after a man spent up to five days in the community while infectious with COVID-19 following a stay in hotel quarantine.
However, Mr McGowan was furious when asked by a reporter if he was taking a more relaxed strategy this time.
A reporter at Sunday’s press conference suggested it was reminiscent of NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian and her measured approach to containing COVID-19.
“I have explained it now three times and I will explain it again,” Mr McGowan hit back.
“Last week, we were already in the state of semi-lockdown.
“People (in Perth were) wearing masks, we had rules and various venues closed, and then coincidentally this (Saturday’s) case emerged while all those rules were in place.
“Had these three cases emerged two or three weeks ago, we would have gone into lockdown.
“You have to judge everything in the circumstances you confront.
“There is no hard and fast rule and every state has, I think, adopted a pretty precautionary approach by world standards.”
Mr McGowan then lashed out at the NSW government, claiming the outbreak that occurred on Sydney’s northern beaches in December was far more devastating economically than the recent lockdown in Perth.
“NSW, when they had the Northern Beaches outbreak, they shut down the northern beaches for weeks, which has a population of 500,000 or the best part of 1 million people, and parts of country NSW,” he said.
“Then they had rolling lockdowns and various restrictions in place for the best part of three months. It ended up costing the NSW economy, according to the NSW Treasury, $3.2 billion.
“(It was way higher than) the estimate of the cost of what happened as a consequence of the Mercure outbreak in Perth (last month). So they have their approach, we adopted ours.”
READ MORE:Labor has a problem with men
Jess Malcolm1.30pm:McGowan supports ‘harsh, unusual’ India travel ban
Mark McGowan backed the Morrison government’s decision to fine and jail Australians returning from India, saying it was “clearly a mistake” to let people travel in the first place.
“It is very harsh, it is very difficult, it is very unusual but we live in unusual times so yes, I do [support the Federal Government’s decision],” he said.
“We are obviously in a dangerous world and we want to make sure we prevent the importation and the spread of the virus within Australia.”
“As outlined the other day, I think we need to actually be very cautious about people leaving Australia... 4500 or 5000 people going to India in recent months was clearly a mistake and that has probably added to the pressure of people wanting to return from India and in fact it definitely has,” he said.
“I think you need to put everything we do, we need to be cautious but we need to have foresight about what could occur and leaving Australia, particularly going to COVID-19 ravaged countries at this point in time should be an extreme exception.”
The West Australian Premier also announced that all nightclubs will be shut immediately, in line with public health advice warning that crowds could spark another outbreak.
No crowds will be permitted to attend the Derby AFL game this afternoon either, forcing up to 45,000 people to stay home.
“We are not out of the woods now,” Mr McGowan said.
READ MORE:Border can’t open ‘until the world is vaccinated’
Agencies1.00pm:Hong Kong migrant workers alarmed by mandatory jab plan
Hong Kong migrant worker groups have criticised plans to make coronavirus vaccines compulsory for all foreign domestic helpers, labelling the move “discriminatory and unjust”.
Health officials said they were planning to roll out mandatory inoculations for the 370,000 domestic helpers in the city, mostly poorly-paid women from the Philippines and Indonesia.
Those wanting to apply for work visas -- or renew their current ones -- would need to show they had been vaccinated, officials said Friday.
If the plan goes ahead it would be the first time Hong Kong has directly tied working rights for foreigners to vaccines.
“This is clearly an act of discrimination and stigmatisation against migrant domestic workers,” Dolores Balladares Pelaez, chair of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, told reporters.
Labour groups representing domestic workers said they were angered other foreigners -- and locals working in environments such as care homes -- were not also required to get vaccinated.
“Again, we are being singled out and targeted,” Pelaez added. Health officials announced the vaccination plan after two domestic helpers were found to be infected with one of the more virulent strains of the coronavirus.
All domestic workers have also been ordered to get tested over the coming days -- a measure that did not extend to the families they work for.
Officials said domestic workers were deemed “high risk” both because they enter from overseas and often gather outdoors in large numbers on Sundays -- their one day off in the week.
They also tend to take care of elderly and vulnerable people. Hong Kong labour secretary Law Chi-kwong defended linking domestic worker visas to vaccination.
“Of course they can choose not to work in Hong Kong as they are not Hong Kong residents,” Law said.
Eni Lestari, chair of the International Migrants Alliance, described such comments as “unfair and shocking”.
“A lot of employers also do not get vaccinated because of health, personal or even political reasons, so they won’t force their workers to be vaccinated,” she told AFP.
AFP
READ MORE:Hong Kong and Singapore aim to start travel bubble in May
Paul Garvey12.40pm:Perth avoids another lockdown, Derby crowd cancelled
Western Australian premier Mark McGowan has confirmed that Perth will not be pushed into another lockdown in the wake of the latest leak from the state’s hotel quarantine system.
But he has confirmed that this afternoon’s Western Derby AFL match between the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers will go ahead without a crowd.
The news comes less than a day after Mr McGowan revealed a security guard from the Pan Pacific quarantine hotel had contracted the virus and passed it on to two of his seven housemates.
Those two housemates, Mr McGowan said on Sunday, had worked as food delivery drivers while potentially infectious but they presented a low risk to the community.
No new cases of local transmission have been recorded since then, with 16 “high risk” close contacts having already returned negative tests.
Some 17 potential exposure sites linked to the latest cases have been identified to date.
More to come
READ MORE:WA Premier Mark McGowan stands by lockdown call
Jess Malcolm12.25pm:Victoria unveils new climate strategy
The Victorian government has unveiled a new climate change strategy in a bid to position itself as a leader in tackling climate change.
Acting Premier James Merlino said Victoria will aim to reduce emissions by 28-33 per cent by 2025 and 45-50 per cent by 2030.
Government run operations such as schools, hospitals, police stations and metro trains will be powered with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025.
Job creation is at the heart of the new strategy, with investments into new technology, agriculture and transport.
Victorians will be offered a $3,000 incentive to buy zero-emission cars (ZEVs) in a bid to reach its target of 50 per cent of all new cars to be ZEVs by 2030.
The Labor government will also invest over $20 million to reduce emissions in the agriculture sector and work with farmers to make their farms more sustainable.
The government said it has also cut its emissions by nearly 25 per cent based on 2005 levels, achieving its 2020 target two years early.
“With strong action on climate change, we can position Victoria as a global leader – advancing new technology, ground-breaking innovation and driving the creation of new jobs for Victorians,” Mr Merlino said.
READ the full story
Evin Priest12.20pm:Coles, cinema added to Perth exposure list
Western Australia health officials have flagged a Coles and Event Cinemas among new public exposure sites after a Perth security guard contracted COVID-19 in hotel quarantine and spread the virus to two of his friends.
Since then, WA Health have announced a number of new sites the Perth security guard and the two others visited while infectious.
Anyone who was at following locations during the specified times must get a COVID test and isolate at home until you receive a negative result.
NOLLAMARA: Pharmacy 777 – 84 Hillsborough Drive, on Friday, April 30, between 4pm-5pm
MADELEY: Puma – 186 Wanneroo Rd, on Friday, April 30, between 11.45am – 12.15pm
BANKSIA GROVE: Liberty Fuel, corner of Porrecta link and Pinjar Rd, on Friday, April 30, between 10.00am – 10.30am
WANNEROO: Brookside Medical Centre, on Friday, April 30, between 8am-9am
NOLLAMARA: Pharmacy 777 – 84 Hillsborough Drive, on Thursday, April 29, between 6pm-7pm
SCARBOROUGH: Caltex – 74 Scarborough Beach Rd, on Thursday, April 29, between 1.15pm – 1.45pm
BALCATTA: Coles – Prime West Northlands Shopping Centre, on Wednesday, April 28, between 2pm and 3pm
VICTORIA PARK: All Night Pizza Cafe, on Wednesday, April 28, between 10pm-12am
MORLEY: Event Cinemas – Galleria Shopping Centre, on Wednesday, April 28, between 6.45pm-7.15pm
WESTMINSTER: Spudshed, Stirling Shopping Centre, on Tuesday, April 27, 5.15pm-6pm
It’s believed the security guard was infectious in the community for four days.
The man’s household included two guests from Canberra, Mr McGowan said.
READ MORE:New Perth Covid cases but Mark McGowan resists lockdown...for now
Greg Brown, Jess Malcolm11.55am:Childcare reforms a ‘missed opportunity’: Albo
Anthony Albanese has criticised the Morrison government’s $1.7 billion childcare package, saying it does nothing to address sky-high childcare costs.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney, the Opposition Leader seized on the opportunity to point out that the government had refused to acknowledge there was a problem last year.
“What we know is that childcare costs have been increasing this year by around about four or five times the inflation rate,” he said. “We have the least affordable childcare system in the OECD.
“Scott Morrison has missed an opportunity. He’s missed an opportunity to respond to fixing up the problems that his own personally created childcare policy has created.
The Opposition Leader said Labor’s childcare policy is “more comprehensive” aiming to provide universal affordable childcare.
“There is nothing there to regulate the costs that are at record highs under this Government.”
“This does nothing to move towards a universal, affordable childcare system. Something that Labor says we need to do because childcare is not about welfare.”
“Labor’s childcare policy will assist through the subsidy more than four times those people who will receive assistance from the government’s plan,” Mr Albanese said.
“Our policy is to move towards universal provision of affordable childcare. Just like Labor created universal healthcare through Medicare, just like Labor created universal superannuation, Labor will create universal support for affordable childcare because it’s an important economic reform.”
READ MORE: Women’s security ‘a major focus’ of federal budget as $1.7bn childcare package announced
Richard Ferguson11.45am:India travel ban ‘absolutely not in any way’ racist: Payne
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has denied new fine and jail terms for Australians trying to return from COVID-plagued India are racist policies, saying the move is based solely on medical advice.
The Morrison government has faced backlash from Labor, the Human Rights Commission and the Indian-Australian community for imposing fines and jail terms on people coming in from India - when the United States, Britain and European countries have not faced similar measures.
Senator Payne on Sunday that the policy was “absolutely not in any way” racist.
“The decision which has been made under the Biosecurity Act on the basis of the advice of the Chief Medical Officer is a temporary pause on returns. And it is entirely founded on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. That is what invokes the operation of the Biosecurity Act.,” she said in Canberra.
“What is most important is that it is temporary.
“We absolutely recognised the very, very difficult circumstances occurring in India right now. absolutely recognise that. For so many families. And indeed here in Australia, for Indian Australians who are so worried about their families overseas.”
Senator Payne also said Australians in India now faced tougher restrictions than those entering from other countries because India has been the biggest source of COVID-19 cases in state-run hotel quarantine facilities.
“ 57 per cent of the infections in quarantine had come from returned travellers from India. In contrast to just the month before, 10 per cent of infections,” she said.
“The burden that has been placed on the health systems in the states and territories, including particularly Howard Springs, is a very significant one.”
READ MORE:India struggles under an epic humanitarian crisis
Jess Malcolm11.30am:VIC records no new cases, WA exposure sites updated
Victoria has recorded no new local cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, following 12,284 tests.
There was one new case recorded in hotel quarantine.
Health authorities say there were 1,280 vaccines administered yesterday, bringing the state’s total to 211,522 shots administered.
Yesterday there were no new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ) reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 1, 2021
- 1,280 vaccine doses were administered
- 12,284 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/Nw9irEjJ9s
Victoria has also declared the West Australian list of exposure sites as “Tier 1”, requiring anyone who is in Victoria who has visited the following locations at the listed times to immediately quarantine for 14 days.
30 April: Mirrabooka Mosque (Masjid Al-Taqwa) between 1:15pm – 2pm
28 April: Agha Juice Café in Joondanna between 6:50pm – 8:00pm
28 April: Spudshed in Stirling between 1:30am – 2:30am
Perth and Peel are still orange zones under the state’s traffic permit system, and will be directed to follow the advice from health authorities upon arrival into Victoria.
READ MORE:Mistake in Victoria hotel quarantine program put people at risk of contracting HIV
Richard Ferguson11.25am:Treasurer defends ‘proportionate’ childcare policy
Josh Frydenberg has defended focusing his new childcare policy on helping families with two children or more, saying his expansion of subsidies are targeted and proportionate.
Half of Australia’s families with one child in childcare will have 95 per cent of their out-of-pocket expenses for any additional kids paid for by the government.
The Treasurer said all families — whether they have only one child or several — will benefit from the government’s move to scrap the cap of $10,560 on childcare subsidies, after which parents earning more than $189,390 have to pay 100 per cent of childcare fees.
“Our focus has been targeted ... on those families with two or more children in childcare who have an effectively higher marginal rate of tax,” he said in Canberra.
“This is not the first and last word we have had on childcare.
“Our focus has been on ensuring our families have choice and right now without this package, there would not be as much choice for families.”
READ MORE: Childcare policy to get more women back to work
Jess Malcolm11.20am: NSW records no new cases
NSW has recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours to 8pm last night, following 9,000 tests.
There were three new cases recorded in hotel quarantine.
NSW Health said there were 646 vaccines administered in the past day, bringing the total number of shots given in NSW to 667,889.
Authorities are also scrambling to contact returning travellers from Perth who may have been to exposed venues visited by a positive case of COVID-19.
“As these latest cases in Perth show, COVID-19 can re-emerge at any time,” the statement read.
“NSW Health urges everyone with the slightest of cold-like symptoms to immediately isolate and be tested, and to remain in isolation until a negative result is received.”
READ MORE:Gutwein’s election gamble pays off
Richard Ferguson11.15am:Payne rules out using Christmas Island
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has ruled out using Christmas Island to quarantine Australians travelling back from India, saying the immigration detention centre is not appropriate.
Scott Morrison is facing increased pressure from premiers including West Australian leader Mark McGowan to use Christmas Island and other facilities as an alternative to hotel quarantine.
Senator Payne on Sunday said Christmas Island is being used for “other purposes”.
“It is not suitable for the current cohort of returning Australians, because of that. And it is well known that it is in use for a number of other reasons - mostly Home Affairs immigration related reasons,” she said in Canberra.
“We have Howard Springs increasing its capacity. We have the states and territories endeavouring to take as many returning Australians as they are able to.
“They do change their rates from time to time, but we have used that process very solidly since March of last year, and we will continue to do that.”
READ MORE:WA Premier wants Christmas Island, detention centres used for quarantine
Jess Malcolm11.05am:Blocking citizens’ return ‘morally reprehensible’
Stranded Aussies advocacy group Free and Open Australia has criticised the federal government decision to ban Australian travellers from India, calling it “morally reprehensible”.
Free and Open Australia (FOA) spokesperson Deb Tellis said the decision is at odds with Australia’s international human rights obligations.
“Experience in other countries shows that it is absolutely achievable for governments to put in place sufficient and safe quarantine arrangements so that those of their citizens and permanent residents who wish to return home during the pandemic can do so, in a manner which is safe for the resident population and safe for the returning individuals,” Ms Tellis said.
“We call upon the Australian federal and state governments to greatly increase quarantine places and flights into Australia without delay.”
“FAO urges the government to amend its policy immediately and enable the safe and affordable return of all stranded individuals.”
There are over 9,000 Australians in India now stranded after all flights were banded, with 650 people considered vulnerable.
READ MORE: Frank Furedi — China will outflank us if we don’t get smart
Greg Brown10.40am:Budget to have women’s focus: Sukkar
Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar says women’s economic security will be a “significant focus” in next week’s budget, as the government unveils extra funding for childcare.
“I think it’s always incumbent on the government to appeal to every Australian and certainly women, being 51 per cent of the population, is a group that we have put an extraordinary effort into,” Mr Sukkar told Sky News.
“If you look at the gender wage gap where that has gone under our government as far as narrowing, whether you look at the recovered jobs since the pandemic disproportionally recovered for women.
So women’s economic security is going to be a significant focus, their broader security is going to be a significant focus.”
Josh Frydenberg will on Sunday unveil a new childcare package which will see working parents save up to $124 a week.
The government will also junk the cap on childcare subsidies of $10,560.
Mr Sukkar hinted there would be housing affordability measures in the budget,
“We’ll continue to support first homebuyers and the residential construction industry, absolutely, in the budget,” he said.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said the budget would be impacted by the bungled vaccination rollout.
“That international border will be closed for longer than it needs to be because Scott Morrison has bungled his two key responsibilities - to get the vaccination rolled out safely, and quickly, and effectively, and to manage the quarantine system,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News.
“The defining stuff-ups of this pandemic here in Australia are directly the responsibility of Scott Morrison, the incumbent. I think it’s entirely reasonable for us to point out that the economic recovery would be stronger were it not for those two defining debacles - quarantine and vaccinations.”
READ MORE:Peter van Onselen — Budget winners from pillar to post
Greg Brown10.25am:Pezzullo’s China ‘drums of war’ call not helpful: Labor
Opposition defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor says it was “not particularly helpful” for Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo to warn the “drums of war” with China are beating.
“Those types of comments are not going to assist,” Mr O’Connor told ABC’s Insiders.
“If there is the need to say such things, because there has been material change since the defence strategic update of last year, then they should have been said by a minister.
“If they are not said by a minister then what is the point of them?”
But Mr O’Connor acknowledged there was “not doubt” China had become more forceful in the region.
“We need to make sure that we play a role in the region to maintain peace and stability, that’s critical,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Therefore, we should be conscious of what’s happening, be aware of what’s happening, ensure through diplomatic means we maintain the stability and the peace in the region.
“But I think it’s also important that when we talk about these issues, we do so in a sober and cautious way, and we don’t create anxiety unnecessarily, which I think we’ve seen on display in the last week.”
READ MORE:Pezzullo warns ‘drums of war are beating’
Greg Brown10am:India travel jail threat ‘a deliberate distraction’
Labor frontbencher Brendan O’Connor has criticised the Morrison government for threatening Australians with jail time if they come back from Covid-ridden India.
The Opposition defence spokesman said the move to threaten jail time was a “deliberate political strategy” to distract voters from the government’s failures on quarantine.
“The focus should be returning Australians home,” Mr O’Connor told ABC’s Insiders program.
“I have to say I’m surprised that the government is looking to go down that path. I believe that the ban on flights would be sufficient to prevent people coming back to Australia, so I think in part that is a political distraction from the main focus, which should be finding whatever means possible to ensure that Australians are able to return home.
“In practical terms it is not relevant insofar as flight bans will prevent Australians returning home anyway, so to a large extent that is a deliberate political strategy to distract from their failure to build quarantine facilities that would have enabled Australians returning home more effectively.”
Mr O’Connor said the government should consider sending charter flights to India to bring Australians home.
“I think every avenue should be explored to ensure that we look after Australian citizens overseas,” he said.
READ MORE:Rudd’s brother makes surprising claims about ex-PM
Jess Malcolm9.45am:NSW issue spublic health alert for Perth
NSW Health has issued a fresh public health alert following the announcement that a Perth hotel quarantine worker and two of his household contacts tested positive for COVID-19.
NSW Health said anyone in the state who has been in Perth since April 27 should immediately check the West Australian health website to determine whether they have visited any venues of concern.
If anyone has visited the exposed venues, they must immediately isolate and seek further advice from NSW Health.
Health authorities have also redeployed screening teams to Sydney airport from 5.30am this morning to meet all new arrivals from Perth.
All entrants to NSW from Western Australia have been required to complete an entry declaration since the recent outbreak which sparked a snap three day lockdown last weekend.
“NSW Health is working closely with our counterparts in Western Australia and will update advice as necessary to ensure the safety of the NSW community.”
READ MORE:Amanda Stoker’s future under a cloud after senate ticket thrashing
Christine Kellett9.15am:‘It’s easier to say no to brown faces’
Mark McGowan’s landslide election victory on the back of popular hard border closures has likely influenced the federal government’s tough stance on blocking travel from India, former Labor president Meredith Burgman says.
Discussing the blocking of Australian citizens’ return from India and the threat of jail terms and hefty fines, Ms Burgman told the ABC Scott Morrison was now “playing catch up”.
“You really have to ask – why is it happening now with India rather than with the United States when their rates were very similar to what’s happening now, or the United Kingdom? And the answer isn’t just that it’s easier to say no to brown faces, and I’m sure that was part of their reckoning, because most of the 9000 Australians wanting to come home are Indian Australians.
“But I think it’s to do with the result of the Western Australian election, where that wipe-out of the Liberal Party would have been very searing to the soul of Scott Morrison and the Liberal leadership.”
Former leader of the NSW Liberal Party Kerry Chikarovski said the federal government was simply following health advice, which had served the country well so far.
“It’s an easy thing to say, this is all about politics … but I actually think it’s very much about the government wanting to be sure that we maintain our economy, keep it open, we allow people to come back in where they can go into quarantine,” Ms Chikarovski responded. “It’s kind of like those short, sharp closures we’ve had in the States to contain a problem, so I think on the 15 May we can look at it review it.”
READ MORE:India travel ban, jail threat ‘outrageous, hypocritical’
Christine Kellett8.40am:$1.7bn in childcare relief to get mums back to work
Half of Australia’s families with one child in childcare will have 95 per cent of their out-of-pocket expenses for any additional kids paid for by the government, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to announce today.
The government will also scrap the cap of $10,560 on childcare subsidies, after which parents earning more than $189,390 have to pay 100 per cent of childcare fees, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The $1.7bn budget measures are designed to ease the squeeze on working families and encourage mums to get back to work.
It follows the announcement yesterday that 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 MORE:Splashing the cash to repair the economy
Richard Lloyd Parry8.08am: Two months until the Olympics, why isn Japan vaccinating?
In all ways but one Japan’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has put its peers in the rich developed world to shame.
Without forced lockdowns or a prolonged closure of schools, a large, rich country with some of the world’s biggest and most densely populated cities has kept infections down to a level that would be regarded as a triumph in Washington, Paris or London.
Well-established habits of hand washing, mask-wearing, and the custom of greeting with bows rather than handshakes and embraces, have helped, as did the early decision to close borders.
With twice the population, Japan has experienced one-eighth the number of infections (570,000) and one-thirteenth the number of deaths (10,000) as Britain. But, having outperformed its fellows in the Group of Seven rich countries in most metrics, Japan is trailing miserably on the most crucial of all — vaccinating its population.
As people in much of the western world enter a new phase of the pandemic, with large scale vaccinations that promise a steady return to normality over the summer, Japan has hardly begun.
Read the full story here.
Agencies7.30am:Pope embarks on prayer ‘marathon’ against Covid
Pope Francis on Saturday launched a month-long prayer marathon to hasten the end of the coronavirus pandemic with a prayer at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican before some 150 believers.
The Argentinian pontiff gave the inaugural rosary prayer to kick off a series which will be streamed live each day this month from different Catholic shrines across the world.
They range from Fatima in Portugal and Lourdes in France to shrines in Poland, Nigeria, Cuba and South Korea as well as the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Francis, who said he was praying for “wounded humanity,” will conclude the series at a Vatican Gardens chapel on May 31.
The choice of the rosary prayer comes with May traditionally being the month the Catholic Church dedicates to the Virgin Mary.
AFP
READ MORE:Angela Shanahan — Scott Morrison walks the talk on his Christian duty
Agencies7am:India sets astonishing new infection record
India has recorded over 400,000 new Covid cases in 24 hours for the first time, the first country to do so in the pandemic, official data showed.
According to the health ministry, 401,993 new infections were registered taking the total caseload to 19.1 million. There were 3,523 deaths, bringing the toll to 211,853.
India is meanwhile due to open up its vaccination drive to all adults, but many states don’t have the stocks as hospitals reel from the vicious surge.
At least 16 Covid patients and two nurses have died in the latest in a series of hospital fires in India, after an April 23 fire on the outskirts of Mumbai killed 13 COVID-19 patients, a few days after another blaze left 22 people dead at another clinic.
The 20 million residents of the hard-hit capital New Delhi will also stay in lockdown for another week.
India should go into lockdown for several weeks to arrest the current devastating surge in Covid cases, top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci says.
“And if you shut down, you don’t have to shut down for six months. You can shut down temporarily to put an end to the cycle of transmission,” he says.
The United States will restrict travel from India starting May 4 with exceptions for US citizens, aid workers, students and others.
READ MORE: Australia’s India travel ban, jail threats spark outrage
Paul Garvey6.30am:New Perth Covid cases but Premier resists lockdown
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.
Read the full story here.
Matthew Denholm6am:Liberals claim 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.
Read the full story here.
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.