PoliticsNow: India travel ban to be challenged in Federal Court
A 73-year-old man challenging the India flight ban on the grounds it’s unconstitutional will have his case heard in the coming days.
- NSW man tests positive
- Vic official goes over hotel breaches
- IPL suspended, Hussey positive
- India surpasses 20m COVID-19 cases
- China ‘not hell-bent on global rule’
Welcome to PoliticsNow, our live coverage of the latest headlines from Canberra, plus developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Sydney man in his 50s who hasn’t been in quarantine has tested positive. A senior Andrews Government infection control manager reported for twice breaching quarantine hotel regulations has been stood down. Former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans says “things could go very badly wrong over Taiwan” but cautions that China is not “hell-bent on some kind of global domination”. And an array of incidents have been documented in confidential daily hotel quarantine reports published by The Australian today.
AFP 11.10pm: Facebook oversight board upholds Trump ban
Facebook’s independent oversight board has upheld the platform’s ban on former US president Donald Trump but called for a further review of the penalty within six months.
The board, whose decisions are binding on the leading social network, said late on Wednesday that Mr Trump “created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible” with his comments regarding the January 6 rampage by his supporters at the US Capitol.
But the panel added that “it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension” and called for the platform to “review this matter to determine and justify a proportionate response” within six months.
READ MORE: Inside ‘Facebook Jail’
Greg Brown, John Ferguson10.50pm:Unions ready to see ALP in court
The CFMEU has engaged prominent QC Ron Merkel as unions prepare a legal challenge over the ALP’s takeover of the Victorian branch.
The Australian understands a letter on behalf of aggrieved unions will be sent to the ALP’s national executive on Thursday, warning an injunction will be sought unless the Friday deadline on Victorian preselections is lifted.
The unions would then launch a legal challenge in the Supreme Court of Victoria against the national executive takeover of the Victorian branch.
Unions involved in the challenge include the Construction Forestry Maritine Mining and Energy Union, the Australian Workers Union and the United Firefighters Union.
The unions are furious with the “stability deal” struck between elements of the Right and the Left, as well as practical implications of the national takeover of the Victorian branch after former powerbroker Adem Somyurek was kicked out of the party for alleged branch stacking.
CFMEU national political organiser Elizabeth Doidge — a close ally of Anthony Albanese’s union nemesis John Setka — said unions were ready to take on the ALP.
“We are ready to lodge in the Supreme Court. We are just going to send that letter and give them one last chance,” Ms Doidge said.
“Albo’s actions explain the real reason behind the intervention, so he and his mates who didn’t have any real power or support could run things their own way from behind closed doors.”
The factional brawling has also raised questions about the role of the former National Union of Workers within the Victorian government.
Paul Garvey10.10pm: WA stays opens to NSW visitors
Western Australia has opted against shutting its border to visitors from NSW or introducing wholesale quarantine for returned travellers from the state.
A NSW man today tested positive for COVID-19, sparking concerns that WA — which in the past has been quick to close its borders to other states in the event of coronavirus outbreaks — may take similar action again.
Instead, the state’s chief health officer Andrew Robertson said on Wednesday night that only returned travellers who had visited any of the exposure sites linked to the man should go into quarantine for 14 days.
“We believe any risk to WA remains very low, but the situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to prevent the chance of any spread of the virus or community transmission in this state,” Dr Robertson said in a statement.
“We will continue to monitor the situation in New South Wales very closely and issue updated health advice if required.”
While WA has had two COVID scares in recent weeks linked to its quarantine hotels, the state has not recorded a new case of community transmission since Saturday.
The government will announce on Thursday whether additional COVID precautions will be extended beyond the upcoming weekend.
Carla Mascarenhas9.30pm:Sydney exposure list grows
More venues have been listed as exposure sites after a Sydney man tested positive to COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Some details from the venues have also been updated.
Anyone who attended any of these newly identified venues at the specific times is asked to immediately get tested and isolate. This applies to everyone including those who have been partially or fully vaccinated.
● Barbeques Galore, Parramatta Road, Annadale, Saturday, May 1, 2pm-3pm
● Screening of The Courier at Event Cinemas, Westfield Bondi Junction, Friday, April 30, 6pm-8pm
● The Meat Store, 262 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, Sunday, May 2, 3pm-4pm
● Barbeques Galore, 12B Parkers Farm Place, Casula, Saturday, May 1, 4pm-5pm
● BP Runway, Mascot, Cnr Butler Road, General Holmes Dr, Mascot, Saturday, May 1 4:30pm-5pm
● Barbette, 2 Elizabeth Street, Paddington, Friday, April 30, 1.30pm-2.30pm
● Figo Restaurant, 3/56-60A Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay, Friday, April 30, 8.45pm-11pm
● Joe’s Barbeques & Heating, 142 Silverwater Road, Silverwater, Saturday, May 1
● Tuckers Barbeques, 138 Silverwater Road, Silverwater, Saturday, May 1, 1:30pm-2:30pm
● District Brasserie, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney, Friday, April 30, 11am-12pm
● HineSight Optometrist, Philip Street, Sydney, Friday, April 30, 12pm-1pm
● The Stadium Club, Moore Park, Monday, May 3, 11.30am-12.30pm
● Azure Café, Moore Park, Monday, May 3, 12.30pm-1pm
● The Royal Sydney Golf Club, Kent Rd, Rose Bay, Monday, May 3, 5.30pm-9pm
● Rug Cleaning Repairs, Hand Rug Wash, 8/52-54 Sydnenham Rd, Brookvale, Tuesday May 5, 12.30pm-1pm
● Alfresco Emporium, 1021 Pittwater Road, Collaroy, Tuesday, May 4, 1pm-1.30pm
● Smith Made, 12/28 Roseberry Street, Balgowlah, Tuesday, May 4, 2.30pm-2.45pm
● Chemist Warehouse, 459-463 New South Heath Road, Double Bay, Tuesday, May 4, 3.45pm-4pm
● Woolworth, Kiaora Lane and Kiaora Rd, Double Bay, Tuesday, May 4, 4.05pm-4.15pm
In a worrying sign, NSW Health says fragments of the virus have been detected in the Marrickville Sewage Network.This catchment includes about 42,000 people and takes sewage from the following suburbs: Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Summer Hill, Lewisham, Ashfield, Haberfield, Petersham, Lilyfield and Leichhardt. NSW Health is asking everyone in these areas to be especially vigilant in monitoring for symptoms
Victoria Laurie 9.05pm:Premier caught in backlash from India-born voters
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and his government’s three Indian-born MPs have come under attack from Perth’s Indian community over their support for Scott Morrison’s ban on Australian citizens wanting to return from the subcontinent.
They say the local community has been exposed to racism since Mr McGowan criticised a Perth man who legally returned to India in December to be married and returned in April with his bride, both of whom later tested positive in quarantine.
The Premier also referred to India’s COVID testing regime as “dodgy”, and said he supported the federal government’s decision to threaten Australians who return from India with fines of up to $66,000 or five years’ jail.
Charlie Peel8.35pm:Vaccine to return to Torres Strait
The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Torres Strait will resume on May 17, but health authorities are working to convince locals of the safety of the vaccine after rumours circulating through the community.
A freezer capable of storing the Pfizer vaccine at below minus 70C will arrive on Thursday Island on Friday.
The region had been identified as a priority for the rollout because of the greater risk COVID-19 poses to Indigenous people and its proximity to Papua New Guinea, where cases have skyrocketed.
Geoff Chambers 7.55pm: Climate fallout too risky for investors
The Investor Group on Climate Change — representing institutional investors with total funds under management of more than $2 trillion — says trends across policy and financial markets driving the response to climate risk are “irreversible and intensifying”.
The three major trends identified by the IGCC as influencing institutional investor responses include the “clear and growing evidence of the systemic risks climate change poses to the economy, financial system and sustainable returns for beneficiaries and clients”.
In its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the prudential regulation of investment in Australia’s export industries, the IGCC said “emerging regulatory and legal guidance in almost all major global financial centres, including Australia” was that climate change poses “foreseeable, material and actionable risks that directors and trustees have a fiduciary duty to address”.
AFP7.10pm:Indian Foreign Minister at G7 exposed to possible cases
India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in Britain for G7 meetings, said on Wednesday he would hold his talks virtually after being exposed to possible coronavirus cases.
Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases. As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 5, 2021
“Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases. As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well,” he tweeted.
John Ferguson6.29pm:Victoria won’t revoke Sydney’s green zone status
Victorian health officials have so far retained Sydney as a green zone but will monitor plane passenger lists to determine whether returnees could have attended any high risk contact areas.
Carla Mascarenhas6.26pm: ‘Quite clear Victoria can’t run hotel quarantine basics’
The CEO of the Australian Industry Group has lambasted the Victorian government after a report in The Australian revealed major flaws in Victoria’s hotel quarantine system.
“Victoria gave us contact tracing with pens, paper and fax machines and now quite clearly they have proven they cannot run the basics with hotel quarantine,” Innes Willox told Sky News.
“We have had three lockdowns so they clearly have no confidence in their system and when you see reports like in The Australian you can see why they have no confidence.
“Their systems are hopeless. Victoria has proved it has no ability to handle these outbreaks.”
Mr Willox said the great concern for business is that the Victorian government will go straight to lockdowns as soon as there is an outbreak.
“These reports are deeply disturbing,” he said. “We hope the government stops making idle boasts and actually does the work.”
Max Maddison 6.20pm:$140k pay rise but rogue Lib Matthew Mason-Cox expelled
NSW Legislative Council president Matthew Mason-Cox has been expelled from the Liberal Party just hours after a bizarre stunt saw him ascend to the $300,000-a-year position at the expense of a female colleague.
An extraordinary series of events came to a head late on Tuesday night when Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s preferred presidential candidate, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, tried to claim the seat, which had been vacant since the previous president in the upper house, John Ajaka, departed on March 25.
Her attempt, supported by members of the Coalition, was met with uproar, as members of Labor and the crossbench shouted over the top of Ms Maclaren-Jones, accusing her of staging a “mini coup”. Just over an hour later, she was deposed by a no-confidence motion.
Remy Varga 6.15pm: Nebuliser man vindicated after ‘cover up’
The man the Victorian government accused of sparking the hotel quarantine outbreak that triggered a five-day lockdown in February says he’s glad the truth has come to light.
The man’s use of a nebuliser, a device that turns medication into a fine mist, was cited as the cause of the outbreak at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, and COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commander Emma Cassar.
Opposition Health Minister Georgie Crozier said the scapegoating of the man was an “absolute disgrace”.
“How he has been blamed for the outbreak in Holiday Inn, when in actual fact, this cover-up showed there was swabbing and other issues in the hotel quarantine program that were actually the cause of the outbreak,” she said.
The Australian reported on Wednesday that a review found the cause of the outbreak was the swabbing of an infected patient with the door open, which Ms Cassar confirmed was still the method practised by CQV.
Felicia Schwartz5.43pm: Netanyahu fails to form new government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed a deadline to form a new government, a development that would lead to the end of his 15-year rule if his opponents can patch together their own alternative coalition.
The country’s president is now expected to offer Mr Netanyahu’s rivals an opportunity to assemble a government, or hand responsibility for selecting a new prime minister to Israel’s parliament. If those efforts fail, Israel could be heading toward another election — its fifth since 2019.
Neither Mr Netanyahu nor his rivals had a clear path to power after the last ballot, in March. The prime minister — Israel’s longest serving leader — was given first shot at forming a government after his Likud party secured the largest share of the vote and received the most recommendations from other politicians.
Carla Mascarenhas5.11pm:Sri Lanka or Maldives likely route for cricketers
Cricket Australia says it is looking at the Maldives and Sri Lanka as options to repatriate cricketers and staff out of India after the IPL was suspended.
“The BCCI are working through the final details that are at the moment and we expect that movement will happen in the next two to three days,” interim Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley said.
“The BCCI are committed to not only the first movement to either the Maldives or Sri Lanka but they’re also then committed to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia.”
Hockley confirmed Mike Hussey is the only Australian in the group of 38 to have contracted COVID-19.
“He is in good spirits,” Hockley said. “His symptoms are relatively mild.”
Hockley said he had “no regrets” about the Australian team travelling to India for the tournament.
“Our hearts go out to everyone in India,” he said. “The IPL, you know, they put so much work, so much effort into putting on the tournament.”
Australian Cricketers’ Association CEO Todd Greenberg assured reporters there have been no requests for special treatment or exemptions for isolation or quarantine.
Carla Mascarenhas4.50pm:Sydney venues added to Covid exposure sites
More venues have been listed as exposure sites after a Sydney man tested positive to COVID-19 today.
The man aged in his 50s is not believed to have recently travelled overseas and he is not a health or hotel quarantine worker.
The eastern suburbs man experienced symptoms of COVID-19 and was considered to have been infectious since Friday April 30.
These venues include:
- District Brassiere, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney, Friday April 30 11am-11.45am
-Hindsight Optometrist, Sofitel, Sydney Wentworth, P2/61-101 Phillip St, Sydney. Friday April 30 12pm-1pm
-Barbetta, Paddington, 2 Elizabeth St, Paddington. Friday April 30 1:30-2:30pm.
Anyone who attended any of these newly identified venues at the specific times is asked to immediately get tested and isolate until NSW Health provides further advice. This applies to everyone including those who have been partially or fully vaccinated.
These venues are in addition to those announced earlier today, with the full list of venues available at https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/latest-news-and-updates.
The source of the infection is under investigation, with anyone who has experienced any symptoms urged to get tested.
Carla Mascarenhas4.35pm:Legal challenge man ‘wants to come home’
One of the lawyers representing a man who has launched a legal challenge on the Indian flight ban says his client has been trying to return since November last year.
Managing Partner of Marque Lawyers Michael Bradley said his client Gary Newman, 73, had been in India since March 2020.
When asked by the ABC’s Patricia Karvelas why he was launching a legal challenge now given Mr Newman had been in India since November and the ban is likely to last 10 days, Mr Bradley defended his client.
“I think you are missing the point,” he told Karvelas. “His situation is he would like to come back but obviously he’s prevented by law at the moment.”
“This decision that the government has made, the minister’s declaration is invalid. It’s not effective in law and it sets an extraordinary and appalling precedent, and that needs to be challenged. So that’s the purpose of the case.”
Bradley said given his client’s age he was “high risk”.
“I think everyone is pretty aware now of what the ... of how dire the risk is for anyone in India and, certainly, of course he is objectively in one of the higher risk categories,” he said.
Bradley said he expected the case to be dealt with “quickly”.
“The sort of more straightforward issues in the case have been separated out from the more complex ones and can be dealt with quite quickly,” he said.
Remy Varga4.25pm:‘Nebuliser man’ vindicated after Health ‘cover-up’
The man the Victorian government accused of sparking the hotel quarantine outbreak that triggered a five-day lockdown in February says he’s glad the truth has come to light.
The man’s use of a nebuliser, a device that turns medication into a fine mist, was cited as the cause of the outbreak at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, and COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commander Emma Cassar.
Opposition Health Minister Georgie Crozier said the scapegoating of the man was an “absolute disgrace”. Read more here
Staff Reporters4.15pm:How the latest Covid vaccination numbers look
Carla Mascarenhas4pm:NSW health officer issues testing request
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says even those who have had one or two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine must get tested and isolated, in light of the most recent Sydney case.
“I want to reiterate the fact that if you had your first dose or even had two doses of vaccine and you’re in the eastern suburbs or you have been to any of these venues of concern, you’re still required to go and get tested,” Dr Chant said.
The man in his 50s who has tested lived in southeastern Sydney and was considered to have been infectious since Friday, April 30.
A cinema, BBQ shopping outlets and a petrol station are among the locations which have been listed as exposure sites.
“We need to make sure everyone with the mildest symptoms is getting tested,” the NSW Premier said.
Nicola Berkovic3.45pm:Lawyer outlines challenge to travel ban
Marque Lawyers managing partner Michael Bradley said his client was challenging the Health Minister’s declaration on “administrative law and constitutional grounds”.
“We say on a number of bases it’s an invalid exercise of power and should be declared void,” he said.
It is understood the 73-year-old Melbourne retiree travelled to India to visit friends in March last year, just before COVID-19 hit, and intended to stay about six months.
He is believed to have been booked on a November flight to Australia, where he has family, but the flight was cancelled.
Olivia Caisley3.30pm: Court challenge against India ban to go ahead
The Morrison government’s controversial emergency declaration preventing people that have been in India from entering Australia will be challenged in the Federal Court.
Melbourne man Gary Newman, 73, who is stranded in India and unable to return home, has formally lodged a court challenge against Health Minister Greg Hunt’s determination, which prevents people who have been in India in the past 14 days from entering Australia.
The Morrison government has invoked the Biosecurity Act to stop travellers from India, which is being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, from coming to Australia with those that flout the rules facing potential penalties of five years in jail or $66,000 in fines.
At an urgent hearing on Wednesday Justice Stephen Burley made orders that a hearing date be expedited.
Mr Newman’s barrister, Christopher Ward SC, said he would argue the travel ban is unconstitutional and that his client desperately wished to return to Australia.
“His return is currently prevented by reason of the determination made by the Minister for Health and Aged Care dated the 30th of April 2021,” Mr Ward said.
“The claim seeks a number of grounds of relief ... two of them could broadly be characterised as questions on statutory interpretation and the third is a ground related to questions of proportionality and reason.”
Justice Burley agreed the first two grounds should be heard separately with the parties to be notified of a hearing date in the next 24-28 hours.
Mr Hunt on Monday said the government was of the “strong, clear, absolute belief” the ban was legal. Asked again on Wednesday he said the government always exercised laws “with absolute caution and full processes.”
READ MORE: Ban takes pandemic philosophy to point of cruelty
Adeshola Ore 3.10pm: Hawke: Travel ban breaches no human rights laws
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says the government’s India flight ban does not breach any international human rights law as a Federal Court legal hearing against the emergency powers begins.
An Australian man is challenging the government’s emergency powers in the Federal Court this afternoon. The laws means Australians trying to enter the country from India could face up to five years of imprisonment or heavy fines for breaching the restrictions. The order has sparked heavy backlash by Labor, human rights groups and the Indian-Australian community.
Mr Hawke said Australia’s border restrictions were “fully consistent with international human rights law.”
“The government does have the right for public health and public safety to restrict travel in and out of Australia in the context of a global pandemic,” he told Sky News.
“The government can only act on its advice and the government has to act for the public health and safety to protect Australia from threats.”
The man taking legal action has been stuck in India since March last year. His lawyers will argue the federal government’s decision is unconstitutional.
READ MORE:Hussey might be left behind
Anne Barrowclough 3.00pm: ‘Unconstitutional’ travel ban challenged in Federal Court
A Melbourne man is set to challenge the hard ban on travel from India in the Federal Court.
Gary Newman, 73, has brought the challenge after being stuck in India for over a year, the ABC reports.
Lawyer Michael Bradley and barrister Chris Ward SC lodged Mr Newman’s challenge in the Federal Court in Sydney before Justice Steph Burley this afternoon.
They argue that the ban, brought under the Biosecurity Act, is unconstitutional.
READ MORE: India ban takes pandemic philosophy to point of cruelty
Greg Brown2.50pm: Former Vic Labor minister to nominate for Hawke
Former Victorian Labor minister Kay Setches will nominate for the safe federal seat of Hawke, declaring she “cannot stand by and watch another safe seat go to the boys”.
Ms Setches sent an email to Victorian Labor members warning the ALP’s affirmative action targets would be at risk if the Victorian Right selects Sam Rae as the candidate for Hawke.
The 76-year-old, who with Joan Kirner established Labor’s women’s lobby Emily’s List, said “our affirmative action targets now appear to be under threat”.
“The Victorian Right has and continues to be recalcitrant regarding the preselection of women MPs,” Ms Setches wrote.
“They currently provide only 2 women out of 11 federal lower house MPs in Victoria. The frontrunner for the new seat of Hawke also looks likely to be dealt to a man under a deal signed by both factions.
“This means the Federal Labor Party would go backwards for the first time in history on all the gains women have fought hard for over the past decades. Preselecting a man for the Federal Seat of Hawke means the ALP is unlikely to meet its AA target of 45 per cent in 2022, and will struggle to make up enough ground to meet 50 per cent in 2025.”
Ms Setches, the MP for the state seat of Ringwood from 1982 to 1992, said it was important the party did not go backwards on promoting women in parliament.
“That’s why I am nominating for the seat of Hawke, and I’m encouraging all of you to nominate as well. I cannot stand by and watch another safe seat go to the boys,” she said.
Paul Garvey 2.45pm:WA to seek advice from CHO over NSW border ban
Western Australia will seek advice from the state’s chief health officer before it makes a decision on whether to close its border to travellers from NSW in light of the latest COVID outbreak.
There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW, many of which are open seven days a week. To find your nearest clinic visithttps://t.co/LmeATIQK4Z or contact your GP.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 5, 2021
A spokesperson for WA Health said there had been no decision at this stage.
“The Department of Health is aware of a community case in New South Wales. The Department is liaising with NSW Health on the details of the case and will provide advice to the State Government in due course, when all information has been considered,” the spokesperson said.
WA has typically been the quickest state to shut its borders in response to COVID infections in other states, although it has been grappling with two outbreaks of its own in recent weeks.
WA recorded another day of zero cases on Wednesday. Authorities will announce tomorrow whether the remaining restrictions in the Perth and Peel region will be extended beyond Saturday.
Yesterday’s case of a Collie man who had tested positive after leaving hotel quarantine in Melbourne was confirmed today to be a historical, rather than active, case.
READ MORE: NSW case snaps 17 day streak
Adeshola Ore2.30pm:Vax rollout ramped up from Monday
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the commonwealth will ramp up COVID vaccine doses to GP practices from Monday.
Smaller practises will be allocated 150 vaccine doses per week - tripling the current dose allocation of 50. Medium sized practices will be delivered 200 vaccine doses per week - doubling the current capacity.
More than 2.4 million COVID vaccine doses have now been administered across Australia. Mr Hunt said more than 70,000 doses were administered in the past twenty-four hours.
Adeshola Ore2.20pm: NSW contact tracing gold standard: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt says NSW’s contact tracing is the “absolute gold standard” after the state recorded a mystery COVID case.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian today confirmed one case of community transmission in Sydney, while CHO Kerry Chant said the man, in his 50s, had a high viral load - making him very infectious..
“Contact tracing is already underway. We know the strength of the New South Wales system, the absolute global gold standard. And that case will appear in tomorrow’s figures,” he said.
Chip Cutter1.49pm:Even the CEO of Zoom says he has Zoom fatigue
Some of America’s top executives, including the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase & Co and Zoom Video Communications, say they are souring on some aspects of remote work.
After more than a year of working virtually during the pandemic, executives in banking and technology are pushing back on the idea that workers should be able to do their jobs entirely from home in the coming months. Though some said they expect more flexible work arrangements to endure going forward, they say there are clear signs of burnout in an era of non-stop video calls.
Eric Yuan, the CEO of Zoom, told a virtual audience of The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit that he had personally experienced Zoom fatigue. On one day last year, he said he had 19 Zoom meetings in a row.
Rhiannon Down 1.20pm:Alerts for several Sydney venues
A cinema, BBQ shopping outlets, and a petrol station are among the locations which have been listed as exposure sites after a Sydney man tested positive to COVID-19.
The man aged in his 50s is not believed to have recently travelled overseas and he is not a health or hotel quarantine worker.
The eastern suburbs man experienced symptoms of COVID-19 and was considered to have been infectious since Friday April 30.
The following venues have been listed as hotspot locations with anyone who visited in the times listed urged to get tested:
- Westfield Bondi Junction, Screening of The Courier at Event Cinemas: 500 Oxford Street, Friday April 30 from 6pm to 8pm
- Figo Restaurant, 3/56-60A Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay: Friday April 30 from 8.45pm to 11pm
- Joe’s Barbecues & Heating, 142 Silverwater Road, Silverwater: Saturday May 1 from 1pm to 1.45pm
- Tucker Barbecues, 138 Silverwater Road, Silverwater: Saturday May 1 from 1pm to 1.45pm
- Barbecues Galore, G1/212-220 Parramatta Road, Annandale: Saturday May 1 from 2pm to 3pm
- Barbecues Galore, The Crossroads, Unit 12B, Parkers Farm Place, Casula: Saturday May 1 from 4pm to 5pm
- BP Mascot, 1077 Botany Road, Mascot: Saturday May 1 from 4.30pm to 5pm
- The Meat Store, 262 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction: Sunday May 2 from 3pm to 4pm
Ms Berejiklian urged Sydneysiders to remain vigilant.
“We just need to be aware that the virus is still around,” the NSW Premier said.
“Whilst we’re in a pandemic, we still have to maintain that level of caution.
“And I just hope that everybody takes this as a wake up call to make sure that all of us adjust our behaviour, it’s really easy to let down your guard, especially in a social setting.
“So it’s really important for us not to let down our guard make sure we do QR codes.”
The source of the infection is under investigation, with anyone who has experienced any symptoms urged to get tested.
READ MORE:PM’s faith in power to rally quiet Australians
Rhiannon Down1.10pm: Sydney man in 50s tests positive
A NSW man in his 50s has tested positive for COVID-19, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced. The man lives in southeastern Sydney.
The man presented for testing on Tuesday May 4 and returned a positive result today, CHO Kerry Chant said.
Ms Berejiklian says she was notified of the new case only an hour ago.
“I was advised that we have a case of community transmission in NSW,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The man and three close contacts are now in isolation, with urgent genomic testing taking place. The man is considered to have been infectious since April 30.
Ms Berejiklian said the man was believed to be active in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and used QR codes, and several venues have been listed as exposure sites.
“We need to make sure everyone with the mildest symptoms is getting tested,” the NSW Premier said.
“This man came forward to get tested and now he and his three close contacts are in isolation.”
âš ï¸NSW PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – COVID-19 CASEâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 5, 2021
NSW Health has been notified this morning of a new COVID-19 case in a person who resides in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway. pic.twitter.com/8vX7sIrjCB
Richard Gluyas 12.15pm: Westpac faces insider trading claims
ASIC has sensationally alleged that Westpac engaged in insider trading and unconscionable conduct during the controversial, $16.2bn Ausgrid privatisation in 2016.
In a Federal Court civil case lodged on Wednesday, the regulator says Westpac put in place the largest interest rate swap transaction in Australian market history on October 20, 2016 – the same day a consortium comprising AustralianSuper and a group of IFM entities agreed with the NSW Government on a part-privatisation.
ASIC alleges that by about 8:30am on October 20, 2016, Westpac knew, or believed, it would be selected by the consortium to execute the interest rate swap transaction on that morning.
This was allegedly inside information.
READ the full story
Jared Lynch11.55am:Australia Post hits back at Holgate’s demands
Australia Post’s board has taken the unusual step of demanding that details of a potential settlement with Christine Holgate be made public. Read more here
Adeshola Ore 11.35am:PM ‘not worried’ over relationship with India
Scott Morrison says he’s not worried the government’s India flight ban will damage Australia’s strategic relationship with the nation.
Labor has warned that the government’s emergency powers, that could see Australians returning from India jailed or fined, would damage the country’s relationship with India.
Speaking in Townsville, Mr Morrison said that “significant humanitarian support” for India, including oxygen containers, masks and respirators, had been flown to the country today.
“There is a partnership effort with India to support them as they deal with this terrible crisis,” he said.
Defending the flight ban which has sparked heavy backlash, Mr Morrison said the pause was already working.
“We are starting to see, as a result of the pause, the result of cases at Howard Spring is coming down,” he said.
“That means that the pause will enable us to get Australian citizens and residents and their immediate families back on repatriation flights,” he said.
“Without it, we would be eroding our capability to do that over the medium to longer term, so this was a necessary step to ensure that we could help more Australian citizens and residents get home, safely, in a way that did not risk a third wave in Australia. That is what we want to achieve.”
Mr Morrison said he was pleased that humanitarian support was already en route to India.
“India is a great friend of Australia. We formed many partnerships and, most recently, not just our own comprehensive strategic partnership which I signed with the Prime Minister last year, but also through our new Quad relationship at a leaders level.”
READ MORE:Lay off Aussie cricketers in India
Rhiannon Down 11.30am:NSW, Vic record zero new local cases
NSW has recorded zero new cases of local transmission and 10 cases in hotel quarantine.
Another case in a returned traveller which was omitted in previous reporting due to a “record update” has also been added to the official total.
NSW Health has administered 4588 jabs on Tuesday up to 8pm, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in NSW to 695,724.
Currently 108 COVID-19 cases are being treated in NSW, one of whom is in the ICU.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 5, 2021
Ten new cases were acquired overseas to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/IP9EhQHasL
Victoria has also recorded no cases of local transmission or acquired overseas.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 4, 2021
- 8,406 vaccine doses were administered
- 19,402 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/lDvvdOCxMc
The Department of Health said 8406 vaccine doses had been administered in the past 24 hours and 19,402 test results were received.
Adeshola Ore11.20am:Building resilience key plank of climate response: PM
Scott Morrison says the government’s new national resilience agency is a culmination of what Australia has learnt through multiple national disasters.
The government has moved to deliver a key recommendation of the bushfires royal commission by establishing and investing $600m in a new national agency to help communities respond to large-scale natural disasters and improve resilience in the face of climate change.
“These disasters we are seeing happen more frequently and building resilience as a key plank of our government’s response to climate change,” the Prime Minister said in Townsville.
Mr Morrison said the new agency would make a “big difference” for businesses, households and families.
“These disasters, sadly, are things that people who live in Northern Australia, particularly deal with. They understand that it is part of the cycle of what can impact on their businesses and livelihoods and homes”
“These are things we need to plan more for.”
READ MORE: $600m for national disasters aid agency
Remy Varga11.15am: Hotel quarantine model not fit for purpose: Merlino
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino says the hotel quarantine model is “not fit for purpose”.
Responding to the Victorian opposition leader during questions, Mr Merlino said improvements to the state’s system had been made but ultimately the model of using hotels was flawed.
“Hotel quarantine has never been a zero risk environment,” he said.
However Mr Merlino declined to apologise to a man whose nebuliser was blamed for the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport outbreak in February.
It comes after a leaked reporting attributed the outbreak to an infected guest undergoing a COVID-test with the door open.
Mr Merlino said during QT that he has consistently said the nebuliser was a “significant contributor” to the outbreak.
READ MORE: Staff defiant over rules
Remy Varga 11.10am: Quarantine report ‘shows government serious about safety’
The acting Victorian minister for hotel quarantine said internal reviews reported on by The Australian show the government is serious about ensuring the safety of the system.
Danny Pearson said the report, which the government kept secret, showed hotel quarantine was taken “very seriously”.
“I think it’s much better that there are these reports saying ‘if you see something, you say something’ as opposed to we don’t want to know about it,” he said.
Mr Pearson said Victoria’s hotel quarantine program was “strong” and “robust” as evidenced by 68-days without community transmission.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the Victorian government hadn’t learnt anything from previous failings in hotel quarantine.
“This is an outbreak waiting to happen, it’s another lockdown waiting to happen because the government hasn’t learnt the lessons and they still can’t get it right,” he said.
READ MORE: Employees defiant over quarantine rules
Remy Varga11.05am:Hotel guests ‘still swabbed with open doors’
CQV Commissioner Emma Cassar says hotel quarantine guests are still swabbed with the door open, despite the practice being linked to the outbreak at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport in March.
“Our swabbing process has gone through some improvements since February and residents are swabbed with the door open so that we can ensure the safety of nurses when swabbing,” she said.
“But the recommendation that the door is closed for swabbing was not supported by CQV, the Alfred and HCA due to safety concerns for our staff.”
A secret report into the outbreak said the virus escaped the room of an infected guest as she underwent a COVID-19 test.
Ms Cassar said a man using the nebuliser is still the working hypothesis for the February outbreak.
READ MORE: Litany of sloppy practices
Rhiannon Down10.55am:Women, migrants ‘more hesitant over vaccine’
Experts say that experiences of discrimination could be linked to an increase in vaccine hesitancy, according to a study into attitudes towards the jab.
ANU Social Research and Methods professor Nicholas Biddle said about 55 per cent of Australians said they would take the vaccine and 28 per cent said they probably would.
Meanwhile, about 17 per cent of the population said they probably wouldn’t even if a safe and effective vaccine was available.
“There were consistent groups across Australia who were more hesitant,” he told the ABC.
“Females have consistently been more hesitant about the vaccine. Those who speak a language other than English too.
“One thing we looked at is whether experiences of discrimination in the past were a predictor of vaccine hesitance and we did find that negative experiences for that group seem to be driving that hesitancy.”
Professor Biddle said safety emerged as the priority concern for those who felt hesitant about the vaccine, while others wanted more time to decide.
“One thing we asked about was the safety, whether you were, whether you think you needed a vaccine and we asked whether people wanted to wait,” he said.
“Essentially, safety issues really trumped all others.
“Of those who were a bit hesitant, about 63 per cent also said sided safety is there as a reason. There is a large proportion, 55 per cent who said I might wait a little bit.”
READ MORE: Push for cabins to house travellers
Rhiannon Down 10.50am: Warner’s children plead for his return
Cricketer David Warner has shared a letter written by his daughter pleading with him to come home.
The handwritten note penned by his three young daughters complete with a drawing of the Warner family, was shared with the cricketer’s 6.2 million followers on Instagram overnight.
“Please Daddy, come home straight away. We miss you a lot and love you,” the letter read.
It comes amid mounting pressure on the government to reverse its harsh stance on travellers returning from India.
Warner is understood to be isolating in India along with fellow cricketers Steve Smith, Ben Cutting and Pat Cummins.
Michael Hussey reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 this morning, just a day after the IPL tournament was called off.
READ MORE:Hussey tests positive to Covid
Evin Priest 10.45am:Arrests after cricketing legend MacGill kidnapped
Police have arrested four men and charges are expected to be laid in relation to the alleged kidnapping and ransom of former Test cricket great Stuart MacGill in April.
NSW Police alleged in a statement that on April 14, 50-year-old MacGill was stopped by a 46-year-old man near the intersection of Parraween and Winne Streets at Cremorne on Sydney’s lower north shore.
The pair were then approached by two other men, who allegedly forced MacGill into a vehicle.
Police say MacGill was then driven to a property an hour away at Bringelly in Sydney’s southwest, where the two men, and another man, allegedly assaulted him and threatened him with a firearm.
After an hour, MacGill was driven to Belmore and dropped off.
READ the full story
Remy Varga 10.40am:Victoria quarantine hotel vaper stood down
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said a staff member who vaped in hotel quarantine hotels has been removed.
“Vaping is not allowed in hotel quarantine,” she said.
“This is an aerosol generating product and that’s why when we were aware of that matter that staff member was removed from the program,” she said.
READ MORE:Employees showed defiance over rules
Remy Varga10.30am: ’Appropriate’ to stand down Vic official over breach
Acting COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Minister Danny Pearson has said he made the decision to stand down senior official Matiu Bush over quarantine hotel breaches after becoming aware of reports he refused COVID tests as well as an incident where he did not change his mask at a coffee break.
“That’s not what I expect from a senior leader, a senior manager with CQV and that’s why I felt the most appropriate thing to do was for Mr Bush to be stood down pending that review,” he said.
“Because we want to make sure that we set the right standards right from the top.”
Mr Bush, a senior government infection control manager, declined to undergo testing when asked on two occasions but was later tested at a different quarantine site, which EMV Commissioner Emma Cassar said was allowed.
“So my understanding is the staff member did make some comments about the fact that he didn’t need to be tested at that site but he was tested at a subsequent location and that was without any intervention from us,” she said.
Mr Bush has been stood down with full pay.
READ MORE: Shocking secrets of Vic Covid hotels
Peter Lalor10.15am: BCCI: IPL not cancelled, will take place soon
BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla has said the IPL 2021 would resume soon as he insisted it had been postponed indefinitely but not cancelled.
It was announced this morning the competition would be indefinitely suspended after reports
Australian cricket champion Mike Hussey had tested positive to COVID-19.
Super Kings bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji has also returned a positive test according to reports, along with a number of other players.
Mr Shukla said the decision on the resumption of the second half of the league stage will happen soon.
“I want to make it clear that IPL 2021 has been not cancelled. It has been suspended, it has been postponed, it has been deferred, so it will happen. The remaining part of this year’s IPL will happen. But in due course, when the covid situation improves, a decision will be taken about it,” Mr Shukla told Star Sports.
“Few players wanted to leave the country. They had spoken to their franchisees and the franchisees also confided with us. But not many players were willing to leave the country. But keeping that in mind, and obviously, there is a panic-like situation, if people are scared, we have to look at that aspect also and we have to take steps accordingly. So, that’s why keeping their concerns in mind, their families’ concerns in mind, we have taken this decision,” he explained.
READ MORE: Hussey tests positive for COVID-19
Rhiannon Down10.10am:Bandt stands by ‘racism’ allegations
Greens MP Adam Bandt has stood by his statements about the flight ban with India being racist, as the government’s policy to introduce penalties comes under further fire.
“We’re threatening people with jail time because they’re coming from a country that isn’t predominantly white,” he told Sky News.
“We didn’t take this approach of threatening people with jail time when it came to the US or the UK.
“We’re dealing with Australian citizens and residents and people connected to Australia that may well be of Indian descent or have got Indian connections.
“And to say to them for the first time ever, if you try to come home, as you’re entitled to do on your passport, we will threaten you with jail time is outrageous.”
Mr Bandt said that the government’s focus should be on improving the health system here, rather than punitive answers.
“We should have a health based response not a force based response,” he said.
“We’re very concerned that it gets to the point where having Australian citizenship means nothing and doesn’t entitle you to protection.
“That is a line the government is crossing in a way it has never crossed before.”
READ MORE:Insults and assaults all in a day’s work
Rhiannon Down10.05am:Canavan: Upgrade quarantine to bring Aussies home
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says the federal government’s move to criminalise arrivals from India as the “wrong call”.
Senator Canavan said the government needed to improve its hotel quarantine system to accommodate returned travellers, if the ban was lifted.
“Hopefully we can get rid of this as soon as possible,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“Because as fellow Aussies we pride ourselves on being mates and being mates means sometimes you’ve got to put yourself at risk to help others, to help fellow Australians.
“Yes, there would be higher risk having Australians come home, but I reckon we can manage that risk with appropriate upgrades to quarantine or some special arrangements.”
Senator Canavan said he did not support the controversial ban, which has sparked backlash for being needlessly harsh.
“I think we have made the wrong call,” he said.
“I mean, this is a balance of risk, I get that, it’s tough. We do want to keep coronavirus out.”
READ MORE:Quarantine system flawed on every level
Rhiannon Down 10.00am: Cutting: We feel safe in firm bubble
Cricketer Ben Cutting has shed some light on life inside the IPL’s bio-bubble, after reports emerged this morning that cricketing great Michael Hussey had tested positive for COVID-19.
Speaking from his hotel room in India, Mr Cutting said despite a rising number of cases inside the league’s bubble, he felt secure in India.
"We made the decision based on the best possible medical advice"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 4, 2021
Deputy Prime Minister @M_McCormackMP says the federal government's controversial decision to suspend flights from India is the "right one." pic.twitter.com/K2wP84bSWI
“It’s been an interesting 24 to 48 hours for us, but for me, and I can speak for the rest of my team, we still feel pretty safe,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“Disappointing that we’ve lost two of our teammates to COVID, but we’re so far so good.
Mr Cutting, who was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders before the league was suspended due to rising infections, said he was confident in the bubble.
“We’re in a firm bubble, we’re in four different venues with travel always on charter flights, staff on the airlines are part of the bubble, hotel staff live, breathe and do (everything) as part of the bubble like we do,” he said.
“They get tested every second day like we do, so it’s been a very tight bubble for the five to six weeks we’ve been here so far.”
Mr Cutting refused to be drawn on the debate raging over whether a ban on arrivals from India was fair to those stranded.
“Look, I can see both sides of the fence, you’ve got to keep the majority of the population safe in Australia,” he said.
“From what I gather, it’s not a permanent fix, it’s sort of a temporary thing whether or not it is to flush out the current cases in hotel quarantine before you start bringing us citizens back from India, but I can see both sides of the argument.”
READ MORE:Hussey tests positive to COVID-19
Damon Johnston 9.45am:Official stood down over quarantine revelations
A senior Andrews Government infection control manager reported for twice breaching quarantine hotel regulations has been stood down in the wake of today’s revelations in The Australian.
Matiu Bush was reported to authorities twice since March after defying a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breaching infection-control protocols.
The two incidents involving the general manager of COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria’s Infection Prevention and Control, are disclosed in confidential reports that also reveal how unvaccinated contractors have been allowed to perform hotel maintenance work in breach of government policy since the twice-suspended program resumed in April.
The acting minister in charge of hotel quarantine Danny Pearson said: “Last night I become aware of reports in relation to Mr Bush and I formed the opinion overnight that Mr Bush needs to be stood down pending a review.”
READ MORE:Shocking secrets in hotel quarantine exposed
Hotel Quarantine Incidents: Mobile users click here
Damon Johnston9.30am:Man blamed for Vic outbreak welcomes Oz reports
The man blamed by the Andrews Government and health chiefs for starting the Holiday Inn
cluster by using a nebuliser has welcomed today’s revelations in The Australian that he
was, in fact, not responsible for the outbreak.
“I am very glad this has come out,” he said in a statement to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.
“Though, it continues to show there’s systemic problems that need to be resolved.”
READ MORE:Breach that caused Victoria lockdown
Remy Varga 9.20am:Allan: quarantine system has undergone reset
Victorian Transport Minister Jacinta Allan says she hasn’t seen the contents of an internal review into hotel quarantine.
It follows reports in The Australian that revealed shocking infection control breaches in the state’s third version of hotel quarantine, including senior staff refusing to undergo Covid tests and vaping in the hotels.
“What I can say is our hotel quarantine system has undergone a massive reset in recent months following the board of inquiry report,” said Ms Allan.
“There was also an extensive amount of work that was undertaken following the incidents in February to look at the ventilation systems of the hotels that were in operation.”
Infection control breaches at hotel quarantine in 2020 sparked Victoria’s second wave, which claimed 801 lives and sentenced Melbourne to months in lockdown.
A $5.7 million inquiry headed by former judge Jennifer Coate established nearly every case was linked to hotel quarantine, with a final report released in December.
But infection control breaches at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport triggered a five-day lockdown in February.
READ MORE:Shocking secrets in Covid hotels
Rhiannon Down 9.00am:Hawke to meet Indian-Australian community leaders
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will meet with Indian-Australian community leaders today for a roundtable discussion about the situation in India.
The meeting will reportedly focus on calming rising tensions over the travel ban with India after the government announced a pause until May 15.
Some 9000 Australians remain stranded in the country and face five years prison and fines of $66,000 fines for returning before the ban is lifted, a move that has sparked anger and accusations of racism.
Tensions were further stoked this morning as reports surfaced that former cricketer Michael Hussey had tested positive inside the IPL bio-bubble in India.
Scott Morrison has maintained that despite the harsh penalties, the new laws were unlikely to be enforced.
READ MORE: Stranded Aussies let down
Rhiannon Down8.55am:Disease expert: Fear, not risk drives India ban
ANU infectious disease expert Peter Collignon says the India flight ban is driven by fear rather than actual risk, and called for an end to the sanctions.
“I think fear is a big element particularly when you see pictures around the world of people dying in India,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“But elsewhere in New York, the UK... Basically, my view is we shouldn’t stop citizens and residents coming back to Australia.
“Despite the flaws in the quarantine system, it worked well.”
Professor Collignon said the system had worked before when put under strain in the past, despite a number of breaches in recent weeks.
“It’s worked when we had high levels of positive people coming from the UK before, why don’t we believe it would be just as effective from now?,” he said.
“Yes, we can do better but when we vaccinate all the quarantine staff, or they should be vaccinated, that decreases the risk even further.
“Particularly learning from what’s gone wrong before, which is essentially infection control breaches with people not wearing masks, eye protection, air flow in the wrong direction.”
READ MORE: Airflow stopped ‘to save energy’
Adeshola Ore8.45am:Albanese: Restrictions, yes but repatriate stranded Aussies
Anthony Albanese says he supports restrictions on incoming commercial flights from India, but has lashed the government for not repatriating more stranded Australians earlier.
The government is facing calls from eight lower house crossbenchers to revoke emergency powers that could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home.
“Well, look, I understand absolutely that we should have restrictions on who comes to Australia, but we should have brought people home earlier when the government said that it would,” the Opposition Leader told the ABC.
Mr Albanese urged the government to use military assets to bring home Australians in India.
“We were able to use Qantas charter flights to get people home from Wuhan at the beginning of the pandemic, but we haven’t used the assets that are at our disposal,” he said.
“There has never been more aviation assets, more unused, than there has been in the last 12 months and Australia has let down our citizens by not doing what the government itself said it would do.”
Mr Albanese said he welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Malcolm McCormack’s assurance that no Australians who breach the India travel ban will face prison, but says the situation is a “shambles.”
“Why do you make an announcement in the middle of the night about threats of five years’ jail and considerable fines and then days later say that we won’t implement the law? There is a separation of course of powers... between law enforcement and lawmakers, but this is quite extraordinary.”
“This is a shambles. The government should be getting the vaccinations right and it should be getting quarantine right. Scott Morrison said that Australians would be brought home by Christmas and we know that more than 35,000 Australians remain stranded overseas.”
READ MORE: Quarantine failure exposed
AFP 8.40am:Singapore travel bubble at risk as cases rise
The planned travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore is under threat as infections rise in Singapore.
After a partial lockdown and rigorous regime of testing and contact tracing, COVID-19 had almost disappeared in the city-state with authorities in recent months reporting hardly any local transmission.
But cases rose last week with officials announcing several new clusters, and in the last seven days 60 locally transmitted infections have been reported.
A cluster at one of Singapore’s biggest hospitals has grown to 40 cases, including an 88-year-old patient who died on Saturday.
Travellers arriving from most countries will be required to quarantine for three weeks instead of two.
“The next few weeks will be critical for us,” said health minister Gan Kim Yong. He warned of another partial lockdown if the situation deteriorates.
A quarantine-free travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong was due to begin on May 26 after an earlier failed attempt.
READ MORE:Victoria quarantine system flawed on every level
Adeshola Ore 8.25am: Andrews: travel ban bringing quarantine cases down
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has defended the India flight ban, pointing to how it has reduced the Covid case load in hotel quarantine.
The Morrison government’s flight ban means Australians trying to enter the country from India could face up to five years of imprisonment or heavy fines for breaching the restrictions. But Scot Morrison and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack have insisted it’s unlikely anyone will face the penalties for breaching the restrictions.
The government said the ban was enforced to bring down the rate of Covid cases from India in hotel quarantine in Australia which increased by 47 per cent in the month before the travel ban was imposed.
“The number of cases is coming down. We are working with the states and territories as to how we can start to bring flights back into Australia, how we will start to repatriate,” she told the ABC.
READ MORE:Corridor swab ignited Holiday Inn outbreak
Rhiannon Down8.10am: McCormack defends ‘hardline’ India travel ban
Michael McCormack has defended the government’s travel ban with India, reiterating claims that new powers to impose fines and prison time for breaching the orders were unlikely to be enforced.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks come a day after cricketer Michael Slater took aim at Scott Morrison for having “blood on his hands” for abandoning Australians in India.
“I appreciate his concerns and the fact is that those fines and those jail terms are in the Biosecurity Act,” he told the ABC.
“They are actually written into law. But, look, the Prime Minister made it quite clear yesterday that nobody’s going to be jailed.
“Obviously, there needs to be a hard line taken as far as the overall act being in place, but nobody’s going to be jailed, Michael, at this time. The Prime Minister made it clear.”
Mr McCormack said the measures were temporary to stop arrivals from overwhelming hotel quarantine facilities.
“We have taken this pause. We have made it in the national interests,” he said.
“We have done it, based on the best possible medical advice. It’s until May 15. We review it constantly, as you’d expect us to do.”
READ MORE:Lay off Aussie cricketers in India
Rhiannon Down7.15am:Australian cricketing great Mike Hussey tests positive
Australian cricketing Mike Hussey has reportedly tested positive to COVID-19 in India.
Hussey was working as a batting coach for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League when he returned the positive result on Tuesday, according to The Times of India.
Super Kings bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji has also returned a positive test according to reports, along with a number of other players in the T20 league.
The IPL was last night suspended indefinitely, with Australian and international participants ordered into immediate isolation after more positive cases were detected and amid fears the virus may have spread more widely.
Hussey’s brother David, another former Australian cricketer who’s coaching at IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, last night tweeted “Shattered!” following the announcement the competition would be suspended.
Shattered!
— David Hussey (@DavidHussey29) May 4, 2021
It is the worse nightmare for the cricketers and organisers, with players or support staff from three separate franchises testing positive.
Australians players, coaches, officials and commentators face the threat of jail sentences if they return home immediately, although the Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed on Tuesday there was no intention to apply the measures his government announced late Friday.
The players — who have been in a strict biosecurity bubble — have been told they must go into isolation for four days and pass three negative tests before they are allowed to leave their hotels. Internationals have been told to go home to their families by organisers, but the Australians are stranded.
The government has banned any flights from India to Australia until May 15.
Read the full story here.
Gideon Haigh7am:Lay off Aussie cricketers, they’ve done nothing wrong
There are about 9000 Australian citizens in India. Not quite 40 of them are cricketers, coaches, commentators or officials involved in the now-suspended Indian Premier League. All have now been threatened with imprisonment should they seek to return home.
Yet the emotions they occasion are mixed. Many of the same people who feel some simpatico with the plight of Australians abroad are vehemently of the view that the cricketers have made their own enseamed bed and must lie in it. Why should sportsmen be special? Why should they seek preferential treatment?
Here’s the thing, though: they haven’t been. In fact, precious little had been heard from them until Michael Slater’s execration of Scott Morrison on Monday night.
If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It's a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) May 3, 2021
It was unsurprising when Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa took the option of leaving Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to return to Australia. Richardson has recently become a father; Zampa has twice had to cancel his wedding due to COVID.
What was surprising was some mischievous and tendentious reporting, including by the ABC, that the pair had “exploited a loophole” by flying home via Doha, as though they had done something sneaky or underhanded.
In fact, the pair were booked before Morrison’s border closure and travelled Qatar Airlines simply because of the general scarcity of flights. They are now serving fortnight isolations just like everyone.
Read the full comment piece from Gideon Haighhere.
Rhiannon Down6.45am:India surpasses 20 million COVID-19 cases
India has surpassed 20 million total COVID-19 cases in another grim milestone in the devastating outbreak that has gripped the country.
The pandemic has claimed 222,408 lives in the virus-ravaged country in the course of the pandemic, with the toll growing by 3,449 in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.
India’s health system has buckled under pressure with widespread oxygen and equipment shortages placing further strain on the health system.
Shocking scenes of people dying in hospitals, ambulances and cars parked outside hospitals fighting for breath have emerged from New Delhi, the epicentre of the outbreak.
The city has asked the federal government for 976 tonnes of medical oxygen daily but has received less than 490 tonnes, Reuters has reported.
It comes as political tensions flare between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the Delhi government, a rival party, over how to manage the crisis.
Calls for a national lockdown to slow the rate of infection have also been ignored by the Modi government.
READ MORE:Indian Premier League suspended after more positive cases
Ben Packham5.10am:China ‘not hell-bent on global domination’: Evans
Former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans says “things could go very badly wrong over Taiwan” but cautions that China is not “hell-bent on some kind of global domination”.
Amid strident rhetoric on China from senior Morrison government figures, including warnings of the threat of war, Professor Evans urged Australian policymakers to avoid “excessive zeal” in their comments on China.
“Partly it’s a matter of not digging any further holes when you’re in one and being very, very cautious about adding to the pile of things that, you know, Beijing has found it difficult to live with,” he told an Asialink podcast.
Professor Evans, who served as Australia’s top diplomat from 1988 to 1996, said China wanted “to assert its global role and certainly be far more of a rule-maker than a rule-taker”, but it was not “hell-bent on some kind of global domination”.
He said the days were gone when the US could confidently believe it would win anything short of an all-out war with China, but the economic interdependence between China and the West, and “the sheer unmitigated horror and misery”, meant a serious conflict with China was unlikely.
Ultimately, the US would win a major conflict with China “but my God, at what cost?”
Read the full story here.
Rosie Lewis5am:New push for cabin-style quarantine for travellers
Scott Morrison is facing demands from doctors and crossbench MPs to urgently build accommodation facilities to repatriate Australians stranded in India, as he pledges to “seriously consider” a cabin-style quarantine proposal from Victoria.
Crossbenchers Adam Bandt, Helen Haines, Rebekha Sharkie, Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie, Bob Katter and their upper house colleagues Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff agreed powers invoked by Health Minister Greg Hunt to stop all travel from India should be withdrawn. They also want the government to establish a “dedicated surge capacity quarantine facility” and repatriate Australians in India.
Mr Morrison was forced to defend himself against accusations he has “blood on his hands” and said the chances of Australians being jailed for up to five years or fined $66,600 for flouting the emergency powers was “pretty much zero”. “By the 15th of May, I’m confident we’ll be in a position to start resuming those repatriation flights,” he said.
He welcomed Victoria’s “very detailed” plan for a $200m, 500-bed quarantine facility or $700m, 3000-bed facility, but questions remained as to how much the commonwealth would invest.
Read the full story here.
Ewin Hannan4.45am:Exposed: the shocking secrets in COVID-19 hotels
A senior Andrews government bureaucrat managing infection prevention across Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has been reported to authorities twice since March after defying a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breaching infection-control protocols.
The two incidents involving Matiu Bush, general manager of COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria’s Infection Prevention and Control, are disclosed in confidential reports that also reveal how unvaccinated contractors have been allowed to perform hotel maintenance work in breach of government policy since the twice-suspended program resumed in April.
The Australian has obtained dozens of daily confidential reports spanning January to April that document an array of breaches and incidents, including a nurse trying to give a returned traveller a banned nebuliser and a frontline medical officer defiantly vaping inside a quarantine hotel despite being warned by health staff the e-cigarette mist could promote “viral spread”.
Responding on Tuesday night to questions from The Australian, CQV revealed Mr Bush had been “counselled” over the April 20 incident and had taken a COVID-19 test later that day. He had also been “counselled” for the earlier incident on March 1. The vaping medical worker had been removed from the program.
Read the full story, by Ewin Hannan and Damon Johnston, here.
Damon Johnston4.30am:Corridor swab ignited Holiday Inn virus outbreak
A secret report into the Holiday Inn COVID-19 outbreak that sparked Victoria’s third lockdown finds it first escaped into a corridor during the lengthy swabbing of an unmasked woman in an open doorway, not from the room of a man using a nebuliser, as originally claimed by health officials.
Identifying the “extended time” taken by a contracted health worker to swab the woman, the March report says the virus, “previously contained” in her room, was blown down the corridor by airconditioning before “pooling outside the door” of the room where the man with the nebuliser was staying with his partner and infant.
The COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Infection Prevention and Control report, obtained by The Australian, says one of the adults became infected picking up meals from outside their room door or putting out rubbish.
Within days, the trio all had COVID-19, with the nebuliser aiding transmission of the virus in the room and pushing it back into the corridor, infecting food and beverage workers delivering meals to residents’ doors.
Read the full story, by Damon Johnston and Ewin Hannan, here.
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Entsch stonewalls on taxpayer grant questions
The LNP’s candidate for Cairns, Yolonde Entsch, has repeatedly refused to answer questions about Morrison government grants her companies received when her husband was a federal MP.
Crisafulli’s $50m anti-crime canoe camps
Children who wag school will have their phones confiscated and be sent on taxpayer-funded camps to canoe and learn coding under a Liberal National Party plan to drive down youth crime rates in Queensland.