PoliticsNow: Third Australian, Sunil Khanna, dies from COVID-19 in India
Sunil Khanna, 51, an Australian citizen from Sydney, died in New Delhi after travelling to India to care for his elderly parents.
- Third Aussie dies in India from Covid
- Vaccine hub glitch books Pfizer for under 50s
- NSW ‘does heavy lifting on repatriation’
- Closed border ‘until mid-2022’?
- Treasury warning on spending
Welcome to PoliticsNow, our live coverage of the latest headlines from Canberra as well as developments in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
A 51-year-old Sydney man has become the third Australian to die in India from Covid-19. Australians aged between 40 to 49 have been booked in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in NSW despite no official announcement.
Scott Morrison says he’s looking forward to Victoria lifting its caps on returning travellers. A leading policy and economics researcher has warned that the current rate of vaccination must be dramatically sped up if Australia is to meet benchmarks for open borders. The news comes as Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy that government spending will need to be reined in to close a persistent $40bn gap between tax revenue and outlays.
Geoff Chambers9.45pm:Scott Morrison plots mandarins shake-up
Scott Morrison is preparing a shake-up of senior Australian Public Service ranks following the appointment of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson as South Australian governor, with key department chiefs expected to be named within six weeks.
Ms Adamson’s five-year tenure as DFAT secretary will end on June 25, setting the scene for major changes across strategic public service roles.
Her departure presents the Morrison government with an opportunity to reset its foreign and security strategy amid rising tensions with China and increasing geo-strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific region, which have placed strain on diplomats, consular staff and policy officers.
Ben Packham 9.00pm:Boris has no beef on tariff-free trade with Australia
After nearly 50 years in the cold, Australian meat is close to being allowed back on to British dinner plates, as Boris Johnson prepares to offer Australia tariff-free access to British food markets.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan is confident he can seal a free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom within six weeks, overcoming a backlash from British farmers and an internal battle within the government.
Australian food exporters say the deal will provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to sell premium products into Britain as Mr Tehan and his British counterpart, Liz Truss, “sprint” to the finish line with weekly talks to finalise the deal.
Rosie Lewis 8.19pm:Berejiklian wants no-limit domestic travel
Gladys Berejiklian says Australians should be able to move freely around the country irrespective of whether they have been vaccinated, putting her at odds with Scott Morrison’s plan for those who have had the jab to be exempt from COVID-19 restrictions.
The NSW Premier, who has consistently resisted border closures and sweeping lockdowns during the pandemic, said vaccinations should only be used to reopen the international border.
“There should be no internal borders. There should be free movement within Australia, vaccine or no vaccine,” Ms Berejiklian told The Australian.
“The vaccine is our way of dealing with international borders. There is no basis for states closing borders to other states.”
The warning sets up a new national cabinet stoush, after the Prime Minister suggested domestic vaccination passports could be developed to help entrench free movement in Australia.
Jamie Walker7.26pm:The unflappable Aussie humanitarian amid the Gaza storm
If there is a quiet place in Gaza, it is Jean Calder’s neighbourhood in Khan Younis at the bottom end of the crowded strip, 40 minutes’ from the Egyptian border.
Yet as the 85-year-old Australian knows too well, nowhere is safe. As we are speaking, an explosion booms outside, startling the normally unflappable Dr Calder.
“That sounded a bit close,” she said. “Not close close but nearer than we have had before.”
Sadly, the situation is all too familiar. In her three decades as a humanitarian worker and educator in Gaza, Dr Calder has experienced three full-scale wars, innumerable skirmishes, travel restrictions and the impositions on daily life that go with sanctions imposed by Israel in its longstanding conflict with Hamas, the Islamist militants who call the shots there.
As ever, the two million-strong population of Palestinians is the proverbial meat in the sandwich: at least 212 have died since missiles and rockets started flying on May 10, 61 of them children.
Ellie Dudley6.40pm:Third Australian dies from Covid in India
A third Australian has died in India after reportedly contracting COVID-19.
Sunil Khanna, 51, an Australian citizen from Sydneym died on April 29 in New Delhi after reporting to his family that he was suffering from the coronavirus.
He was in India caring for his elderly parents who are both Indian nationals.
His mother, 83, passed away from COVID-19 24 hours after he did.
DFAT is yet to confirm whether Mr Khanna had sought assistance to return home from the COVID-ravaged country, however, his migration agent said he had plans to return to Australia in June.
“He had become like a friend to us, and it is just so sad,” Sanjay Deshwal from Australian Visa & Migration Consultancy Services said.
“The plan was for him to return to Australia in June, but I’m not sure if he had booked tickets.”
The family alerted the Department of Foreign Affairs of the death 10 days ago.
Mr Khanna’s father, 84, has been “struck with” COVID-19 “very badly”, Mr Deshwal said, and the family are working to get him a visa to come to Australia.
Mr Khanna is the third Australian citizen or permanent resident to die from COVID-19 in India.
Govid Kant, a 47-year-old father of two died from COVID-19 in an Indian hospital on the weekend, after had returned to his home country as his mother had died.
A 59-year-old permanent resident of Australia died from COVID-19 earlier in May, as confirmed by DFAT.
Rhiannon Tuffield6pm:Nurse vaccinates one person in eight hours
A Victorian nurse who administered only one COVID vaccine during an eight-hour shift has aired her dismay as concern mounts around the public’s uptake of the jab.
The nurse, who works at a mass vaccination hub in the state, was left fuming after only being able to give one person the jab during a shift.
She said there had been no issues with supply, but people were just not walking through the doors to get the vaccine.
Reacting to the results, Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said he was “disappointed”.
“Disappointing to see such sentiments,” Professor Sutton wrote on Twitter.
“Low vaccination coverage is the greatest risk to health in Australia today.”
— NCA NewsWire
Robyn Ironside5.30pm:How Zoom has killed off business travel
Holiday travel is booming again, but Australian business travellers are going nowhere, fuelling industry fears that tech may be permanently taking its place. Read more here
Ellie Dudley 4.35pm:Wong slams PM for ‘harmful’ China rhetoric
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong has accused the Morrison government of stoking fear in the Australian public in regards to the country’s relationship with China.
Issuing a warning to Scott Morrison for the “harmful” use of rhetoric, Senator Wong lambasted the government for “fuelling people’s anxieties.”
“The Prime Minister’s willingness along with the rest of his team to talk this up is unnecessary and unhelpful and not in the national interest,” she told the ABC.
“I don’t think it is good for the country.”
Senator Wong said the federal government should be “pushing back” against trade sanctions China has enforced on Australia, and should go to the World Trade Organisation to address the “coercive behaviour.”
While she conceded “many” industries managed to pivot into other markets despite the sanctions, she said jobs had still been affected.
“It is true that many of our industries have been lucky enough to find other markets and that is a great thing … (but) there are some industries which haven’t,” she said.
“I am not sure it is good to dismiss it as theatrics.”
READ MORE:China welcomes business olive branch
Richard Ferguson 4.00pm:Senate backs press freedom shake-up
Prosecutors would have to prove news reports into secretive and sensitive national security matters are not in the public interest, rather than putting the onus of proof on the journalist, under recommendations of a Senate report sparked by a series of police raids on the media.
After 2019 raids on the home of then-News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the ABC’s Sydney headquarters, the senate launched an inquiry into how to improve freedom of the press.
The final report tabled on Wednesday has called on the Morrison government to launch a wide-ranging review into national security laws to ensure they take freedom of expression into consideration and meet Australia’s human rights obligations.
READ the full story here.
Ellie Dudley 3.00pm:90,000 vaccinations a day as demand grows: Hunt
Australia is administering 90,000 vaccinations a day, says Health Minister Greg Hunt.
Speaking at a press conference in Brisbane, Mr Hunt said the “ramp up” of the vaccine roll out is “really taking form”, after 95,530 jabs were given across the country on Tuesday.
“Our general practices and the Commonwealth have delivered over 60,000 of the vaccines,” he said.
“Our states have delivered 35,000 vaccinations, and all up we’re now at 3.278 million vaccinations in the Australian rollout, and those numbers are increasing by record amounts.”
Mr Hunt claimed the states and territories administering only 75 per cent of their vaccine allocations pointed to the success of the distribution.
“As we prepare to build supply and build demand, we make sure that doses are pre-positioned and then the states are able to draw on them and the territories are able to draw on them as that demand is met,” he said.
“What we’re seeing is demand growing.”
READ MORE:Australia’s only way to stay COVID-free
Joseph Lam 2.55pm:Vaccine hub glitch books Pfizer for under 50s
When NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian last week announced the official rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for residents aged 40 to 49 would happen “within weeks”, she had not taken into account what appears to be a NSW Health glitch which would shorten it to just one.
Australians aged between 40 to 49 have already begun booking Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines at the mass vaccination hub at Olympic Park, 13km from the Sydney CBD, despite Ms Berejiklian on Monday announcing vaccinations were only open to a select 16,000.
On Wednesday, rumours began to spread among Sydney’s media that the NSW Health vaccination website had begun accepting bookings. One confirmed booking seen by The Australian showed a Sydney resident was scheduled to receive their vaccine as early as Thursday, with their second dose scheduled for June 10.
Oh, helloooooo! Pre-register, folks. Get it in you. pic.twitter.com/aUt0U9lmK1
— Mark “Two Jabs†Newton (@NewtonMark) May 13, 2021
An invitation to book a Pfizer vaccination sent to a man aged between 40 to 49 asked that he not share the invitation publicly.
“This invitation is for you and shouldn’t be forwarded,” it read.
The booking portals for the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine were identical except for the names of the vaccine and that their URLs ended in either one or two.
In the 24 hours to 8pm Tuesday NSW Health administered its highest number of vaccines in a single day reaching a total of 11,720 doses, 5218 of which took place at the mass vaccination centre.
A Blueprint Institute analysis found that Australia would need to increase its rollout speed to match that of the US and the UK to fully vaccinate five in six adults by the end of December.
The Australian put questions to NSW Health and the Premier’s office on Wednesday. It is not yet clear how many in the age group 40 to 49 have been vaccinated so far.
Rhiannon Down 2.00pm:Wilson defends Coalition’s record on stranded Aussies
Liberal MP Tim Wilson has defended the government’s track record on repatriation stranded Australians.
Five charter flights from India will return some of the 9000 stranded citizens and residents to home soil this month, after a controversial flight ban was lifted on May 15.
“We’re working on it and there needs to continue to be work done to make sure we can get as many Australian homes,” he told Sky News.
“I’ve supported measures the government has taken, we’ve done things and there is more to be done.
“We’ve been making sure repatriation flights are available. We’ve expanded the use of quarantine facilities, all of these measures are all critically important to get Australians home. “And we’ve done them in the past and we’ll continue to do them because Australians overseas should be able to return home if they are able to.”
READ MORE:Tragic final post of Aussie killed in India
Rhiannon Down2.00pm:$600m gas plant will increase energy prices: Labor
Labor MP Josh Burns has criticised the government for investing $600m building a gas-fired power plant in Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley.
Mr Burns said the decision represented poor returns for taxpayers, that would only increase energy prices.
“Kurri Kurri is $600m of taxpayer funds that is going to drive up electricity, drive up emissions and it’s not a good deal for taxpayers,” he told Sky News.
“And it is not in the interest of taxpayers to be spending this, what we need is a national energy policy we need leadership from the Prime Minister.”
Mr Burns accused the government of not being supporters of the free market by sticking with gas rather than renewable energy.
“These people are not free market believers; they believe in fighting the market,” he said.
“The market has been desperate for energy policy in this country, desperate for a framework, desperate for some sort of policy leadership from this government so they can invest.
“If you want cheap and affordable energy, you need renewable energy firmed with some sort of dispatchable power. That is what we need in this country, to bring down electricity prices.”
READ MORE:PM steps in to keep lights on
Richard Ferguson1.55pm:Chalmers praises ACT’s stamp duty for land tax swap
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers has praised the ACT’s moves to swap stamp duty for land taxes as a model for other states, as Victoria’s Labor government hikes up stamp taxes.
The Victorian Labor government at the weekend announced plans to lift stamp duty on properties valued at $2m and above from 5.5 to 6.6 per cent — adding $20,000 to the price of properties at the bottom end of that range — and impose a windfall gains tax on developers of up to 50 per cent.
The Labor-Greens government in the ACT has instead moved to replace stamp duty with a land payment.
While he said Victoria’s tax system was a matter for Premier Daniel Andrews, Dr Chalmers on Wednesday said there was merit in looking at alternatives to stamp duty.
“I think there is something in the stamp duty land tax swap out. I have said that repeatedly for some time. And I think that (ACT Chief Minister) Andrew (Barr) in moving before the other states and territories, showed a lot of admirable courage in going down that path,” Dr Chalmers told the National Press Club in Canberra.
“The Victorian budget situation, every state makes its own decisions about
how they manage their budget.
“At some future point there is a lot of merit in a national scheme that swaps out in the way that Andrew is doing here stamp duty for land tax.”
READ MORE:When it comes to the budget, red is the new black
Rhiannon Down12.55pm:Budget a road map to services cuts: Husic
Labor MP Ed Husic has criticised the government’s federal budget, describing it as a road map for future cuts to essential services.
Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said on Tuesday that government spending would eventually need to be reined in to close a $40bn gap between tax revenue and outlays on aged care, disabilities and welfare that will leave the budget in deficit for a decade.
“The coalition painted itself as better economic managers and said they would reach a budget surplus in 2013, so much for that,” Mr Husic told Sky News.
“And on top of that the Treasury Secretary, I’m sorry but the treasury secretary has some degree of influence in the shaping of budgets.
“And what I saw today reported in The Australian is the Treasury Secretary saying there is a $40bn gap of what we get in tax and what we spend on aged care disability and aged care, what that says to me is those are targets to future cuts instead of the rorts and mismanagement of expenditure by the coalition.
“I don’t think those on disability support services, aged care support or the broader social security system should pay the price for mismanagement by the coalition.”
READ MORE: Treasury chief issues warning on spending spree
Oliver Wright 12.50pm: Boris backs tariff-free trade with Australia
Boris Johnson is prepared to offer Australia tariff-free access to British food markets despite warnings that it could put farmers out of business.
The prime minister is backing a plan to give Australian food exporters the same terms as those enjoyed by the European Union in what would be the first bespoke trade deal signed by the government since Brexit.
The plan is being resisted by farming groups, which believe that it would set a dangerous precedent for future trade agreements and could result in British farmers struggling to compete with cheap imports.
They have been backed by George Eustice, the environment secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, who have privately expressed reservations about the deal.
Liz Truss, the trade secretary, is understood to have the support of Johnson, who is keen in principle for a wide-ranging agreement to be reached as early as next month.
Australia pays tariffs of 20 per cent on all exports of beef to the UK. Under plans being negotiated these would be phased out over the next 15 years to zero, in line with the terms for the EU.
READ the full story
Robyn Ironside12.45pm: Business downturn thwarts air recovery
A lack of business travellers is thwarting the recovery of key air routes in Australia, with passenger numbers still well down on pre-COVID levels.
Domestic aviation data for March shows 2.8 million people travelled on commercial airline flights in the month, down 8.9 per cent on a year ago.
Although Melbourne-Sydney rebounded to be Australia’s busiest route once again, passenger numbers were 18 per cent below that of the same time last year, while Brisbane-Sydney was 16.8 per cent down on March 2020.
In contrast, leisure routes such as Sydney-Ballina, Melbourne-Gold Coast, Brisbane-Cairns and Melbourne-Sunshine Coast saw significant increases in passengers year-on-year.
Just under 45,000 people flew between Sydney and Ballina in March, which was almost twice as many than a year ago, and Melbourne-Sunshine Coast traffic increased 40 per cent.
The divide between the cities and regions was further highlighted by airport traffic data, compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.
READ the full story
Joe Kelly12.40pm:China welcome business olive branch
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has welcomed comments by Australian Industry Group Innes Willox who warned Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials that Australia needed to calm tensions with Beijing.
Mr Willox said that Australia faced a ”day of reckoning” between its security and economic relationships in an address to DFAT officials last Thursday, arguing that business was alarmed at suggestions of conflict.
Mr Zhao said that China had noticed “more and more visionary people in Australia” expressing their concerns over the direction of the Australia/China relationship and “calling on the Australian government to reflect on its China policy.”
Asked about Mr Willox’s comments, Mr Zhao said that Mr Willox was “putting forward very valuable suggestions.”
“We hope the Australian government will face squarely the crux of the setbacks of the bilateral relations, take China’s concerns seriously and heed rational voices. Australia should set aside the cold war mentality and ideological bias, and do more things that are conducive to mutual trust and co-operation and are in line with the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Mr Willox said it was important to ensure that negotiation, common sense and diplomacy did not fundamentally fail.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down12.00pm:Taylor: gas plant ‘good day for jobs’
Energy Minister Angus Taylor says the new $600m gas-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley will create jobs and ensure affordable energy.
Mr Taylor said the plant would ensure the supply of “affordable, reliable energy” for the east coast.
“And this is an important announcement of the government’s commitment to a 660-megawatt gas open-cycle generator which will be able to keep the lights on when it’s really needed and put downward pressure on prices when it’s really needed,” he said.
“Now, this is a good day for jobs. It will create jobs during construction of course and ongoing jobs.
“But importantly the jobs of all of those workers who rely on affordable, reliable energy for their living, for their businesses, a good day for households in having affordable energy, of course, a good day for having reliable energy that is needed at a time when we’re looking at the prospect in 2023 of losing 1600 megawatts of capacity when Liddell closes down not far from here.”
READ MORE:Tomago aluminium backs plant
Perry Williams11.55am: Tomago Aluminium backs Snowy gas
Tomago Aluminium, the biggest electricity user in Australia, has backed the decision to build Snowy Hydro’s new gas plant in NSW’s Hunter Valley after revealing it was forced to halt aluminium production three times in the last week due to skyrocketing power prices, which it blames on a lack of reliable generation.
The aluminium producer, which uses 950 megawatts or 11 per cent of NSW power demand, said huge price volatility during the early morning and evening, when demand is high, meant it had to shut down two of its three pot lines at the giant industrial plant.
The most recent interruption occurred on Tuesday night when prices spiked as households returned home and cranked up their heaters. When wholesale power prices jump up to 100 times their normal levels, Tomago is forced to cut up to 600 megawatts of its 950MW use as it can’t afford to stay online and pay market rates outside its contract with supplier AGL Energy.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down11.40am: NSW ‘gold standard’ on handling outbreaks
Josh Frydenberg has stressed the importance of avoiding major lockdowns to the country’s economic recovery.
“The key to maintaining the momentum of our economic recovery is to suppress the virus and when there are new outbreaks, to respond appropriately, not to have lockdowns if they can be avoided,” the Treasurer told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
"We've got to put the health of Australians first, we make no apologies for that"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 18, 2021
Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg talks the federal budget cash splash, resuming international travel and how the vaccine rollout will change the way Australia responds to future coronavirus outbreaks. pic.twitter.com/jOtLne98hq
“No statewide extended lockdowns, that is what we are seeking to achieve.
“In NSW, Gladys Berejiklian has been the gold standard because they have had outbreaks on the Northern Beaches, but they haven’t had a statewide lockdown. So that will be the key going forward.
Mr Frydenberg said the reopening of international borders was a decision yet to be determined by the government, after last week’s federal budget suggested borders could be open as soon as next year.
“The borders will open when it is safe to do so,” he said.
“We have an assumption, not a policy decision, but an assumption that the international borders will gradually reopen from the middle of next year.”
READ MORE:How virus may have spread at medi-hotel
Rhiannon Down11.25am:Fitzgibbon backs Hunter gas plant
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon has backed the government’s move to invest $600m into building a new gas-fired power station in the Hunter Valley, saying it’s “unequivocally a good idea”.
“Someone said to me yesterday, ‘Why is the government investing? Where is the market failure?’ There is market failure,” he told Sky News.
“Liddell is decommissioning in 2023, it’s a 2000 megawatt power generator, so we have an enormous gap.
“The market failure has been caused by earlier government decisions to interfere in the market to send the wrong signal to private sector investments and as a result the private sector investment has not been forthcoming.”
Mr Fitzgibbon said despite his support for the gas-fired power plant he also supported “ambitious” emission targets.
“I think Australia can commit to zero net emissions we’re almost uniquely placed to get there,” he said.
“The target will help us in our ambitions and help drive us like a weight loss target, you have one it helps you to motivate yourself and arrive at the place you want to land.
“So there’s no harm in Australia having such a target, but when countries like China talk about zero net emissions by 2060 it’s somewhat problematic, and the international energy agency laboured the point, but what the international community is committing itself to is very, very challenging.”
READ MORE: Davos of Asia falls victim to Covid
Geoff Chambers 11.20am:Payne praises DFAT’s ‘accomplished’ Adamson
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne on Wednesday has praised exiting DFAT secretary Frances Adamson as one of “Australia’s most accomplished and respected public servants and diplomats”.
Ms Adamson will leave the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s top post in October to become the Governor of South Australia.
Senator Payne said on Wednesday that Ms Adamson – a former Australian Ambassador to China – had lead the organisation through a period of significant global and domestic change.
“Her oversight of the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper was instrumental in guiding Australia’s foreign policy agenda,” Senator Payne said.
“Ms Adamson has led the Department ably during a period of considerable strategic challenge, including leading implementation of the Pacific Step-up; enhanced engagement in Southeast Asia; and a reorientation of the aid program towards regional recovery from COVID-19.
“Under her leadership, the Department has undertaken the largest consular operation in DFAT’s history in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. During this critical time, Ms Adamson’s support to her staff, including those posted overseas, has enabled them to provide continuing assistance to Australians abroad.”
The Australian understands Scott Morrison is yet to land on his final pick to replace Ms Adamson despite speculation among Canberra bureaucrats that veteran diplomat Paul Grigson was a leading contender to lead DFAT.
With Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens expected to retire, potentially by the end of the year, the expectation is the Prime Minister will authorise a wider shake-up of Canberra’s mandarins.
The shuffle of secretaries sparked by Ms Adamson’s move to South Australia and former Attorney-General’s Department secretary Chris Moraitis’ appointment as Office of the Special Investigator overseeing the investigation and prosecution of alleged Afghanistan war crimes could see Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo and Defence secretary Greg Moriarty shift roles.
READ MORE:No room for Covid complacency
Rhiannon Down11.15am: NSW records zero new local cases
NSW has recorded zero cases of local transmission and two new cases in hotel quarantine.
Some 19,281 tests were received on Tuesday up to 8pm, a significant increase from the previous day’s total of 8901.
NSW Health has again reached a new record for vaccines distributed in one day after it administered 11,720 jabs in 24 hours, including 5218 at Sydney Olympic Park mass vaccination clinic.
Health authorities have urged residents to remain vigilant and continue to monitor for symptoms and get tested if they arise.
“Anyone experiencing even the mildest of cold-like symptoms should come forward immediately for testing, then isolate until a negative result is received,” NSW Health said in a statement.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 19, 2021
Two new cases were acquired overseas in the same period, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,376. pic.twitter.com/4F8li0vvos
Rhiannon Down11.05am: PM: We’ll work with Vic over quarantine facility
Scott Morrison has confirmed the government is considering a Victorian government proposal to establish a purpose-built quarantine facility in Melbourne’s north.
“We’ve taken those proposals in good faith and we’ll work in good faith with the Victorian government,” the Prime Minister said.
“These are all things that you need to prepare for. But I want to be very clear with Australians – I will act in Australia’s economic and safety interests.
“That’s what I always do. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve protected lives and we’ve protected livelihoods. And we’re going to keep doing this.”
Mr Morrison, speaking from a plant in Melbourne, said Australia was in a unique position globally in terms of how it had handled the pandemic, and the government would continue to protect the hard fought gains.
“Australians are living in this country like few people in developed economies anywhere in the world today,” he said.
“And that’s been hard work by Australians. It’s been hard work by the people working in this plant here who worked through the pandemic, put Covid-safe practices in place and kept the trucks rolling out so the trucks could keep rolling around the country.
“Australians have worked so hard to achieve what we’ve achieved over the last 18 months.”
READ MORE:When the chips are down, Aussies pull together
Rhiannon Down10.55am:PM: Most Aussies want to get vaccinated
Scott Morrison has moved to calm fears over the rise of vaccine hesitancy, after a poll found that one quarter of Australians were reluctant to receive the jab.
The Prime Minister said despite the new statistics, the majority of Australians were still willing to receive the jab, and encouraged those who were eligible to book in.
“Seventy (five) per cent of Australians do want to get vaccinated,” Mr Morrison said.
“And I’m looking forward to them taking up that opportunity. I want to commend the Victorian government for the great job they’re doing here on the rollout of the vaccine.
“They’ve got another major centre opening up today and I thank them for that.”
“And the 70 per cent of Australians who do want to get vaccinated who are over 50 I encourage them to do that.”
READ MORE: Vax passport plan to beat restrictions
Rhiannon Down10.45am:Hunter gas plant investment ‘poor policy’
Opposition energy spokesman Chris Bowen has criticised the government’s decision to invest $600m into building a new gas-fired power station in the Hunter Valley as “poor policy”
“The decision by the Morrison government to invest taxpayer money in a gas-fired power station represents the result of eight years of policy failure,” he said.
“It’s a vote of no confidence from the private sector, which hasn’t been able to invest because this government has got energy policy so wrong.”
Mr Bowen expressed concern that the government’s own Energy Security Board chair Kerry Schott had criticised the scheme, saying it doesn’t “stack up”.
“Mr Morrison wants to spend $600 million of taxpayer money on a plant which his own experts don’t support,” he said.
Rhiannon Down10.35am:PM: NSW does heavy lifting on repatriation
Scott Morrison says vulnerable Australians in India will continue to be repatriated as long as it remains safe to do so.
The Prime Minister lifted a controversial flight ban with India on May 15, with the first of five charter flights touching down this week.
“We’re running five at the moment this month, and I want to particularly thank Victoria who will have one later this month, Queensland as well as NSW,” he said.
“NSW has been doing the heavy lifting on Australians coming back home for months and months and months.
“And I’m looking forward to Victoria lifting their caps in the future so we can bring more Australians home, but especially more Victorians home. A lot of people from NSW have been coming home because their caps have been higher, and they’ve done a fantastic job both with their quarantine and rings of containment with contract tracing and I think the Victorian government has really stepped up there as well.”
Mr Morrison said the charter flights will continue to operate and bring stranded Australians home, with safety as a key concern.
“We’ve got five flights in place at the moment and we will do that safely, we will bring people home safely,” he said.
Richard Ferguson10.20am:Adamson leaves DFAT to be SA governor
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson will leave the federal government in October to become South Australia’s new governor.
Ms Adamson’s move to be the Queen’s representative in Adelaide has long been mooted and the timing of her departure will give Scott Morrison five months to find a new DFAT chief.
Ms Adamson will replace current South Australian governor Hieu Van Le.
READ MORE: No room for Covid complacency
Rhiannon Down 10.15am:PM: Hunter gas plant essential for lower prices
Scott Morrison says the government’s decision to invest $600m into building a new gas-fired power station in NSW’s Hunter Valley was integral to securing the state’s energy supply.
The Prime Minister said the investment was essential to keeping power prices low in the country after the Liddell power plant was slated for decommission.
“If you don’t fill that gap Australian businesses, Australian households, will pay more for power just like we saw in Victoria,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the decision was a vital one to support Australians through affordable power prices, despite criticism over environmental impacts of investing in gas.
“I don’t want electricity prices going up, those in the electricity industry who like prices going up because their profits go up,” he said.
READ MORE: BHP: New mine to support growth
Rhiannon Down9.55am:Higher pay for aged care workers 'crucially important’
Labor MP Clare O’Neil has criticised the federal government for failing to increase the pay of aged care workers.
It comes more than a week after the government unveiled an $18b cash injection to bolster aged care.
“I think the bigger issue here is that there is nothing in the government’s package to provide for increased pay for workers in aged care,” she told Sky News.
“So before we get into any discussion about who is going to pay for it we need some commitment behind it.”
Ms O’Neil backed calls from the Health Services Union to increase the pay of aged care workers, which launched a landmark case to lift wages in the sector by 25 per cent.
“I think this is a crucially important issue because aged care workers are some of the worst paid people in the Australian economy,” she said.
“They’re doing some incredibly complex difficult work. They’re caring for people with a whole range of different illnesses and issues, it’s emotionally very taxing on them.
“But the broader issue is that we are going to have to recruit 700,000 additional workers into aged care up until 2050 to cope with the ageing population.
“There is just no way we are going to be able to do that when this is a job that has been so badly disrespected and undervalued by the Morrison government.”
READ MORE:No room for Covid complacency
Anne Barrowclough9.35am: No new local cases for Victoria
Victoria has recorded no new local cases again, and one case in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday. Victoria Health reports 8,363 vaccine doses have been administered.
Reported yesterday: No new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 18, 2021
- 8,363 vaccine doses were administered
- 20,568 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/72n47stOMF
Rhiannon Down9.20am: AMA: vaccine passport ‘direct benefit’
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid has backed calls for a vaccine passport system that would allow vaccinated Australians to travel freely between states.
“I think a direct benefit to each Australian who’s done the right thing and actually gone and got themselves vaccinated is certainly worth considering,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“The AMA is supportive of that. The domestic borders have been frustrating for a lot of Aussies trying to book holidays or travel for business with that risk hanging over their head that that border could slam down.
“If you knew that, having been vaccinated you wouldn’t be subject to those sorts of measures, that’s a pretty direct benefit I think will go a long way to assisting especially younger Australians and those planning travel to go out and get themselves vaccinated.”
Dr Khorshid also said that Covid would inevitably make its ways to Australian shores, while it continues to battle high infection rates.
Well, COVID is everywhere throughout the world. It’s present in some communities in extraordinary numbers,” he said.
“We are a very, very long way away from having a whole-world population vaccinated. For Australia to stay free of COVID, we have to keep our borders shut for decades.
I don’t think any Australian thinks that’s a reasonable thing to do, particularly when we do have a pathway out of this through vaccination.”
READ MORE:Graph shows rollout failure
Rhiannon Down9.05am:‘Marketing campaign needed on vaccine rollout’
Opposition early education spokesperson Amanda Rishworth says the government needs to act to combat misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, after a new study revealed that almost one-third of adults in Australian are reluctant to be vaccinated.
“There is a bit of confusion and chaos out there,” she told Sky News.
“I would certainly urge the government to provide some strong advice whether it is in a marketing campaign, Scott Morrison is quite good at marketing campaigns, to actually put out there a strong campaign which supplies clear concise information about where you can go and get it.
“How to go and get it and all the benefits of getting vaccinated, which I think would be a really smart move.”
READ MORE: Goal on jabs more than a year away
Rhiannon Down8.55am:Hunter gas plant ‘will keep price down’
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has spruiked the government’s $600m investment to build a new gas-fired power station in NSW’s Hunter Valley.
“This is a significant investment in making sure we keep energy prices down with the shut down of Liddell,” he told Sky News.
“It’s estimated that energy prices would go up by 30 per cent. That’s not just for households, it’s also for business and manufacturing.
“When there’s pressure on manufacturing we need more sovereign capabilities, this is about maintaining prices and keeping them low and making sure they’re competitive.
“So this investment is about making sure Australia can compete globally.”
Mr Littleproud defended the decision to invest in gas, in contradiction to international agreements on climate change.
“Australia will protect its sovereignty and be a global citizen, we’ve met Kyoto (targets), we’ve met Paris, all by using the smarts of the 21st century,” he said.
READ MORE:Snow targets 2023 for Hunter gas plant
Rhiannon Down8.50am:PETA: We’re not anti-farmer, it’s government’s fault
PETA has defended its position amid widespread fury over its plea for farmers battling the mice plague to practice humane eradication.
PETA spokesperson Aleesha Naxakis said her members were “realists”, calling for humane traps to be used so the pests could be caught and released rather than killed.
“I think I need to be clear that is our common advice when it comes to rodent control to avoid poisons that subjects these animals to unbearably painful deaths and poses the risks of spreading bacteria in water when carcasses appear in water tanks, aside from birth control and other methods,” she told 2GB.
“This situation has clearly become very dire and we at PETA are realists, we know what is going to happen.
“What we are angry about is that this hasn’t just happened out of nowhere; this is something that should have been taken care of by the government a long time ago.”
Ms Naxakis admitted that while there were no “quick fixes,” something else needed to be done to avoid the animals “suffer(ing) these horrible deaths” where they will be “choking gasping for air”.
“We are not anti-farmer, we believe the government is responsible for providing better, more humane, long term solutions for farmers and mice and anyone else who is affected by poisons or mice infestations,” she said.
READ MORE:PETA cops backlash over mouse plague plea
Anton Nilsson8.35am: PETA ’living with pixies’ over mouse plague plea
A global animal rights organisation has bizarrely pleaded with farmers not to kill the mice plaguing regional Australia, arguing the rodents should not be denied their “right” to food because of the “dangerous notion of human supremacy”.
The comments from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) during the height of a devastating mouse plague has infuriated farmers and prompted the Deputy PM to slam the activists as “idiots who have never been outside the city”.
The ongoing rodent infestation across eastern Australia is on track to cause up to $100 million worth of damage and has already worsened a mental health crisis in the regions.
Some farmers have lost as much as $300,000 each in ruined crops as the mice chew through anything they can get their teeth in.
But PETA is urging rural residents to consider the welfare of the mice and avoid killing them with poison, instead suggesting the mice be gently caught and released unharmed.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud also criticised PETA, telling Sky News: “This just proves that PETA lives with the pixies.
“These people are on the fringe of society and they’re there for a reason.
“There’s no way you can catch and release mice. I came home after a couple of weeks away and found them in my bed chewing my jammies, this is the reality people in regional Australia are facing.
Mr Littleproud also hit back at suggestions that culling and poisoning was the result of the “dangerous notion of human supremacy”.
“It’s a plague and it is human supremacy, that’s how we’ve evolved, otherwise we don’t and we don’t survive,” he said.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down 7.40am: Andrews: Border Force preparing for open borders
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews says Australian Border Force is already preparing for the reopening of international borders.
“Border Force is doing a lot of work to make sure that as soon as we get the medical advice, that it’s safe to open our borders, we will be in a position to do so immediately,” she told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“So one of the things that we’re doing is extending the program for airline liaison officers, so $7.6m in funding from the federal government.
“They will have responsibility for working with travellers who are seeking to come back or to enter Australia to make sure that they have the right documentation, they have everything that they need to be able to come back into Australia.
“That is on top of the work that they already do to make sure that people who are coming here have the documentation that they need, such as the right passports.”
READ MORE: Virgin chief’s bonus before Covid call
Rhiannon Down7.25am: Frydenberg continues to spruik economic recovery
Josh Frydenberg has spruiked the nation’s trend-defying economic recovery a week after the government handed down its federal budget.
The Treasurer backed the big-spend budget, saying that the trillion dollars in debt that was accumulated was still proportionate to the size of the economy.
“Again what we are starting to see is our debt, compared to the size of our economy, come down over time and the best way to repair the budget is to repair the economy,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“But there’s no secret to the fact that 1.3 million Australians lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero last year, and our economic recovery is stronger than what we’ve seen anywhere else in the world.
“Europe’s gone into a double dip-recession, but we now know there are more Australians in work than before this pandemic began. So both on the health front and on the economic front, you wouldn’t want to be in any other country in the world.”
Mr Frydenberg also said opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers was “absolutely wrong” when he said that tax measures in the budget won’t last post-election.
“We’re absolutely committed to the implementation of those tax cuts, but they are legislated. They’re law,” he said.
“And the Labor Party at the time said they supported the tax bill that went through the Parliament and now they’re trying to have a bet each way.”
READ MORE:Inflation dam about to burst
Rhiannon Down7.10am:Frydenberg criticises Hrdlicka’s ‘choice of words’
Josh Frydenberg has weighed in on comments made by Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka urging the government to reopen international borders despite the fact that “some people may die” from coronavirus.
“I respect Jayne Hrdlicka. I know her very well. Indeed she is a constituent of mine in Melbourne,” the Treasurer told Channel 9’s Today.
“But I think that choice of words, if she had her time again, may be a little bit different.
“What she was trying to say is that, over time, we need to open the borders.”
Mr Frydenberg backed the government’s tough approach on borders saying it was in the interest of protecting Australians.
“But what we make no apologies for — and the Prime Minister is absolutely right when he said this — is keeping people safe,” he said.
“Our job is to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak, because we’ve seen how costly that can be on the economic side, but also, what it can mean in terms of the loss of lives and livelihoods.
“It might surprise your viewers to know that if Australia had the loss of life that was equivalent to countries across the OECD, more than 30,000 Australians would have died. “And tragically, just over 900 have died, 90 per cent of whom were in Victoria, sadly, but we have done so much better than the rest of the world in suppressing the virus.”
READ MORE:Revealed — Virgin chief’s bonus before controversial comments
Rhiannon Down7am:Infectious diseases expert backs vaccine passport push
Queensland University infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin has backed calls to implement vaccine passports, allowing individuals who have received the jab to travel interstate without fear of border closures.
“I think it would enable us to know who is protected from the virus by being vaccinated,” Associate Professor Griffin told Channel 9’s Today.
“So we can allow them to move around with a greater freedom than those people that aren’t yet vaccinated. We do know these vaccines work.
“They do stop people getting infected, they do stop people passing it on to a degree at least and they’re very good at stopping people getting sick from this virus.”
Australians may have to use vaccination passports to travel between states in order to be exempt from any domestic restrictions during local COVID-19 outbreaks, under Scott Morrison’s reopening road map. Story via The @australian's @rosieslewis.https://t.co/F0oav6ah33
— Daniel Sankey 🎠(@Daniel_Sankey) May 18, 2021
Associate Professor Griffin said he was “comfortable” with the idea of requiring documentation to travel between states due to the medical necessity.
“Some kind of proof of vaccination, whether we call it a passport or otherwise makes sense,” he said.
“Being able to show you’re protected from this virus, whether it be a passport or what have you, shows that people have done the right thing in terms of being protected.
“They’re at much less risk with this infection and if they do, they’re at almost no risk of getting really sick from it.
“I think having something that shows you’ve done that and allowing people greater freedoms based on that is just common sense.”
READ MORE:Vaccine passport plan to beat interstate restrictions
Rhiannon Down6.30am:India set to resume exports of vaccines to the world
A major vaccine manufacturing centre in India will start giving COVID-19 jabs to the World Health Organisation’s Covax global inoculation initiative by the end of the year.
Indian authorities halted vaccine exports to prioritise home soil inoculations as infections spiralled out of control.
The Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest producer of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, making makes hundreds of millions of doses — is a major supplier to developing countries through Covax.
Important Information pic.twitter.com/M1R1P6rqUp
— SerumInstituteIndia (@SerumInstIndia) May 18, 2021
“We continue to scale up manufacturing and prioritise India. We also hope to start delivering to Covax and other countries by the end of this year,” Serum chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.
Before exports were halted, India had donated about 66.4 million doses to more than 90 countries under commercial arrangements or via Covax.
Infections in the country have begun to slow, with India recording 4329 deaths and 263,533 cases in the past 24 hours, down from its record high of 414,188 on May 6, according to Johns Hopkins University.
READ MORE:Lisa Sthalekar ‘wept for India and those left behind’
Natasha Robinson5am:Closed border until mid-2022 ‘not a crazy proposition’
Australia will not reach a target of having five out of six adults fully vaccinated until November next year unless the current rate of vaccination is dramatically sped up.
Analysis of the pace of the nation’s current vaccine rollout by the Blueprint Institute think tank has found that Australia would have to increase its rate of vaccination almost to the same level as the US and the UK to have five in six adults fully vaccinated by the end of December.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday that she wanted to see five out of six adults in the state vaccinated before the international border was opened.
But at the current pace of vaccination, the border reopening would be pushed out well beyond mid-2022, which is the time frame flagged by the federal government.
“The UK, US, EU and Canada are currently rolling out vaccinations around three times quicker than Australia,” said Luke Heeney, a policy and economics researcher with the Blueprint Institute who compiled the projections. “For us to fully vaccinate five in six adults by the end of the year, we’d need to match that pace by the second week of August.
“If we wait until the final quarter to do so, the rollout will blow into 2022, finishing in February at the earliest. Given this, a closed border until mid-2022 is not a crazy proposition.”
Read the full story, by Natasha Robinson and Michael McKenna, here.
Tom Dusevic4.45am:Treasury chief issues warning on spending spree
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy says government spending will eventually need to be reined in to close a persistent gap of about $40bn between tax revenue and increased outlays on aged care, disabilities and welfare that will leave the budget in deficit for a decade.
With Canberra’s spending running at historically high levels in coming years, Dr Kennedy said budget repair would be considered at “an appropriate time” as part of the Morrison government’s two-phase fiscal strategy. After last week’s budget handed down a record $161bn deficit and predicted national net debt would approach $1 trillion, Dr Kennedy said the underlying cash deficit was projected to be a hefty 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product after four years of projected economic expansion. But he warned cutting spending now could endanger the recovery.
“There is an increase in the spending as a proportion of GDP, settling at about 26 per cent,” Dr Kennedy said. “That is an area that, at an appropriate time, governments would need to be thinking about if they, as I think they should, retain the objective of raising revenue of around 23.9 per cent of GDP.”
Read the full story here.
Geoff Chambers4.30am:PM steps in to back Hunter gas power plant
Scott Morrison will intervene in the energy market by backing a 660 Megawatt gas power plant in the Hunter Valley to offset the closure of the Liddell coal-fired power station in 2023 and avoid a 30 per cent power price hike for consumers.
The government-owned Snowy Hydro will build the open cycle gas turbine, underwritten by a $600m equity investment from the commonwealth, in a bid to ensure 1000MW can be pumped into the National Electricity Market by the summer of 2023-24.
The project, forecast to create 600 jobs during construction and 1200 indirect jobs across the state, comes after the Prime Minister last year set the private sector a target to reach final investment decisions on replacement dispatchable capacity by April 30.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor, who will announce the gas plant in Kurri Kurri today ahead of Saturday’s Upper Hunter state by-election, said the investment was “responsible”, with strong returns expected.
Read the full story, by Geoff Chambers and Greg Brown, here.
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