PoliticsNow: Tourism to ‘put up white flag’ as borders remain shut
The budget has left the industry ‘high and dry’ the sector says, with predictions borders won’t open until next year.
- Victoria faces new restrictions
- New Victorian case after hotel quarantine
- No new local NSW cases
- Border confusion ‘crippling tourism’
Welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live coverage of the latest headlines on federal budget day as well as developments in the coronavirus pandemic.
Josh Frydenberg has delivered his third budget as the nation fights its way back to recovery from the pandemic.
Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond says the government’s plan to not re-open borders until the middle of next year will force businesses in the sector to “send up the white flag and surrender.”
Victorian health authorities have issued a list of possible exposure sites after a Melbourne man tested positive to Covid-19 after completing quarantine in South Australia. Three of the infected man’s close contacts have so far tested negative to the virus.
Ellie Dudley10.11pm:Budget ‘falls short of aged care reform promises’
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation has blasted the federal budget for “falling short” of reform promises following the royal commission into aged care.
While they supported the commitment to introduce regulated care hours for residents, ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the government should have gone further and mandated minimum staffing levels with a registered nurse on-site 24/7 – as the royal commission recommended.
“We question which generation will actually see the benefits of any action the government is taking to fix aged care,” Ms Butler said.
“This budget falls well short of what residents, their families and the community wanted to fix this broken system.”
In his budget speech, Josh Frydenberg has addressed the “shocking cases of neglect and abuse” revealed in the royal commission, confirming an additional $17.7 billion will be committed to the sector.
However, Ms Butler said the funding wasn’t enough.
“We need a plan. Why have a royal commission and then ignore so many of its recommendations?” she said.
“It’s clear that the government has failed to deliver on the crucial recommendations of the royal commission.”
READ MORE: Changes give aged pensioners options
Ellie Dudley10.04pm:Small business gives budget an ‘A-minus’
Small Business Australia Executive Bill Lang has said he gives the federal budget an “A-minus” when it comes to helping SMEs navigate the post-COVID economy.
Mr Lang said the improving employment rate and continued tax cuts for individuals will help to generate confidence and cash for Australians to spend in small businesses across the country.
He also commended the small business lending scheme for assisting businesses who were forced off JobKeeper to access greater cash flow.
However, he said the budget did not support small businesses in struggling sectors.
“Small Business Australia still has concerns over direct support for businesses in hard hit industries such as travel and tourism,” he said.
“Whilst it is pleasing to see some funding, the devil is always in the detail and we will hold judgment to see how easy funding is to access for business owners in these devastated sectors.”
He added small businesses need further support in their digital growth strategies.
READ MORE:Darkness behind this economic dawn
Ellie Dudley9.54pm:Universities ‘can’t sustain’ current loses
Universities Australia head Catriona Jackson has said the sector “cannot sustain” current losses under the promise of international borders reopening in mid-2022.
Under this evening’s federal budget announcement, more than $19 billion will be committed to university funding.
However, Ms Jackson said the sector is still reeling from the loss of international students.
“Governments across all jurisdictions need to come together with universities to develop a robust plan for the safe return of international students. The plan would mean the safe quarantine of students from low-risk countries,” she said.
“The sector took a $1.8 billion revenue hit last year. Universities Australia estimates another $2 billion will be lost this year – against 2019 actual operating revenue.
“With borders shut until mid-2022 the picture for universities will get worse – with significant flow-on effects for the nation’s research capacity and jobs, inside and outside universities.”
READ MORE:Our experts deliver their budget verdicts
Ellie Dudley9.42pm:NSW Treasurer backs federal budget
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has voiced the state government’s support for the 2021 federal budget.
Commending the $3 billion in funding for road and infrastructure projects in NSW, tax reliefs and training incentives, Mr Perrottet said the budget was “the envy” of many countries around the world.
“This is a budget which places people at its very heart, ranging from more childcare assistance, help for the aged care sector, medical support in the regions, $2.3 billion for mental health and suicide prevention as well as a billion dollar boost for women’s safety,” he said.
Mr Perrottet said the NSW government was currently working on its own 2021-22 state budget, which will be delivered in June.
“It is vital the commonwealth and NSW continue to work together. We have been handed the biggest challenge in a generation, but also the opportunity of our generation,” he said.
READ MORE:Tax breaks for Aussie patents
Ellie Dudley 9.27pm: ‘Their heart’s not in it’: Chalmers slams budget
Opposition treasurery spokesman Jim Chalmers has lambasted the federal government’s 2021 budget, claiming “their heart’s not in it.”
Dr Chalmers said the budget, which will leave Australia in a $52.7 billion deficit, was created for “political reasons” and that “people have learned not to take too seriously what the government announces on budget night.”
“There’s still important differences between Liberal and Labor when it comes to the budget,” he told the ABC.
“We’ve still got a higher priority on cleaner and cheaper energy, social housing, proper investment in goods and secure, well-paid jobs.”
Dr Chalmers credited the Australian people, not the Liberal party, for the slowly recovering economy, saying they “did the right thing” in limiting the spread of COVID-19.
“Our concern is that this government’s racked up $1 trillion in debt and they don’t
have enough to show for it,” he said.
“The Treasurer might want to talk about the economic engine roaring back to life, but Australians know that that engine has a number of gears and almost 2 million Australians are still stuck in reverse.”
READ MORE: Unions watchdog to get teeth sharpened
Ellie Dudley9.21pm:Government ‘deeply committed’ to universities
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has rejected claims the federal government didn’t invest enough money in universities after the sector was left reeling from the loss of international students.
He said the government was “deeply committed” to the sector.
“There is $19 billion a year going to our universities. We actually guaranteed that base funding from domestic students to universities through the pandemic,” he told the ABC.
“Tonight, I said in my speech that, as a result of our measures, we’ve announced through the pandemic an extra 30,000 university places.
“Last year’s budget... I announced an extra $1 billion for research. So we’re deeply committed to that sector.”
Mr Frydenberg called for closer collaboration between “our universities and our industries” to assist the sector in bouncing back from the recession.
READ MORE: Long-term deal gets more kids into preschool
Ellie Dudley9.15pm: Businesses ‘won’t be forced’ to repay JobKeeper
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the Australian government against calls it should force profitable businesses who accepted JobKeeper last year to pay it back.
He said the government would not “retrospectively change the legislation” to force businesses to return the subsidy.
“The rules and the law that passed the parliament was that businesses could access JobKeeper based on an anticipated turnover reduction of more than 30 per cent, or 50 per cent, depending on the size of the company,” he told the ABC.
“That was the rules in which the companies accepted that money. And it worked.”
Mr Frydenberg also praised the Morrison government’s decision to stop the subsidy at the end of March.
“In the month of April, more than 100,000 people come off income support, even as JobKeeper ended,” he said.
“Labor said they would spend more. They said the sky would fall in if JobKeeper ended. It hasn’t.”
READ MORE: Tax breaks for Aussie patents — that’s an idea
Ellie Dudley 9.09pm: Numbers ‘based on Aussies getting vaccinated’
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has conceded the 2021 budget is based on the assumption the Australian population will be vaccinated by the end of the year, that there will be no major COVID-19 outbreaks, and that international borders will be open by mid-2022.
Mr Frydenberg gave his budget address in parliament on Tuesday evening, seeing Australia commit money across the board, plunging the country into a $52.7 billion deficit.
While he admitted some assumptions had to be made for the spending to occur, he said: “Those assumptions are based on the best available evidence to us.”
“We know that more than 10 per cent of the Australian population has now received their first dose. We’ve seen 30 per cent of those aged over 70 or above receive a dose,” he told the ABC.
“We saw more than 400,000 doses rolled out over the course of the last week. More supply is coming.”
He said the assumption international borders will reopen next year is “conservative”.
READ MORE:‘Freeze’ ends but ABC, SBS face cuts
Adeshola Ore8.57pm: Tourism to ‘put up white flag’ as borders remain shut
Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond says the government’s plan to not re-open borders until the middle of next year will force businesses in the sector to “send up the white flag and surrender.”
Ms Osmond said the budget left the tourism industry “high and dry with nowhere to go.”
She said when Australia’s borders did re-open the country would be lucky to have a tourism industry to welcome tourists back.
“It also doesn’t recognise the extreme structural problems the industry is having from a skills point of view,” she said.
Ellie Dudley 8.49pm: Minimum income super requirement removed
The federal government has removed the minimum income requirement on the Superannuation Guarantee scheme, to “improve economic security in retirement”, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
“The government will remove the current $450-per-month minimum income threshold,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg also said they plan to make it “easier” for Australians to prepare for retirement.
“We will improve flexibility by no longer requiring older Australians to meet a work test before they can make voluntary contributions to superannuation,” he said.
“We will allow those aged over 60 to contribute up to $300,000 into their superannuation if they downsize their home, freeing up more housing stock for younger families.
And we will also enhance the pension loan scheme by providing immediate access to lump sums of around $12,000 for singles and $18,000 for couples.”
READ MORE: $20.7bn ‘tradie’ tax relief scheme extended
Ellie Dudley8.44pm:$1.1bn to help women who experience violence
A further $1.1 billion will be invested in women’s safety under the 2021 federal budget.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg used his 2021 budget speech to address the unsafe “reality” for women.
“One in four women experience violence from a current or a former partner,” he said “This must stop and we must do all we can to end all forms of violence against women and children.”
Mr Frydenberg said the government would deliver more emergency accommodation, legal assistance, counselling, financial support and targeting services for Indigenous, migrant, refugee and disabled women.
Speaking to the “unacceptable” nature of sexual assault, Mr Frydenberg said the federal government would commit to “strengthening laws, guidance and standards to prevent and address harrassment.”
READ MORE: $20bn tax break for business as new ATO umpire revealed
Ellie Dudley 8.40pm: Universities to receive $19bn funding boost
The federal government will commit $2 million to fund preschools, and more than $19 billion to fund universities, Josh Frydenberg says.
The Treasurer said the Coalition government has “already doubled” school funding since they came to office, but they are willing to do more.
“Our focus is on lifting student outcomes and better equipping teachers,” he said.
He added that “as a result of decisions made during this pandemic” there are 30,000 more places at Australian universities.
READ MORE:At last, a way to rate aged-care homes
Ellie Dudley 8.37pm: New measures to fight ‘tragic’ mental health statistics
As reported in The Australian today, the government will extend mental health and suicide support by $2.3 billion under the 2021 federal budget.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg used his budget address to reflect on the “tragic” statistics of poor mental health across the country, before announcing new measures to support Australians.
“Tragically, over 65,000 of our fellow Australians attempt to take their own life each year. These are not just statistics on a page, these are our family, these are our friends, these are our colleagues,” he said.
“[We will invest in] more Headspace centres to support more young Australians.
“Expanding this model to those aged over 25 with a new mental health national network of 40 centres.
“Increased funding for the treatment of people with eating disorders.
“Greater access to psychiatrists, psychologists and GPs through Medicare.
“Universal care and access for people who have been discharged from hospital following a suicide attempt.”
He also confirmed a royal commission into defence and veterans suicide will commence under the Morrison government.
Ellie Dudley8.28pm: How aged care sector will benefit
Josh Frydenberg has addressed the “shocking cases of neglect and abuse” revealed in the royal commission into aged care in his 2021 budget address, confirming an additional $17.7 billion will be committed to the sector.
The Treasurer said the federal government was committed to “restoring trust” in the system.
“We will fund another 80,000 new home care packages bringing the total to 275,000 home care packages that will be available,” he said.
“We will increase the time nurses and carers are required to spend with residents.
“We will make an additional payment of $10 per resident per day to enhance the viability and sustainability of the residential aged care system.
“We will support over 33,000 new training places for new personal carers and a new Indigenous workforce.
“We will provide retention bonuses to keep more aged care nurses in aged care.
“We will increase the respite care for nurses and strengthen the regulatory regime to monitor and enforce standards of care.
“We will upgrade essential aged care infrastructure in regional and remote areas around the country.”
The package will bring about a “record” investment in aged care to over $119 billion over the next four years, Mr Frydenberg said.
Ellie Dudley 8.25pm: Another $13.2bn committed to NDIS
An additional $13.2 billion will be committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme under the 2021 budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
A total of 450,000 people receive disability support in Australia, 100,000 of which have joined the scheme in the past year.
“The NDIS has made Australia a better country, profoundly improving the lives of people with a disability and their families,” he said.
“Our focus is on ensuring its sustainability and that it continues to deliver a high quality, essential service for those who need it. Under the Coalition, the NDIS will always be fully funded.”
ANALYSIS:Frydenberg’s budget speech decoded
Adeshola Ore8.20pm: Budget ‘fails to deliver for women’
Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie says the Morrison government has failed to deliver a gender-responsive budget.
Ms Goldie said the government had chosen to not increase the JobSeeker rate and lift single parents, predominately women, out of poverty.
“Tonight in this budget we see some substantial investment but we will need more in these essential services,” she said.
But she said the country had turned its back on families and individuals who “need support the most.”
She said the government had prioritised giving tax cuts to people already on middle bracket incomes.
“But not one single cent for people who are living in deep poverty,” she said.
Ms Goldie also said the government had missed a key opportunity to invest in social housing.
Richard Ferguson8.16pm:Coalition senator reserves right to vote against budget
Coalition senator Gerrard Rennick is reserving the right to vote against his own government’s budget, saying he is sending a message to Scott Morrison to more aggressively pursue reform.
Senator Rennick wants the government to make low-income tax cuts permanent, take responsibility for monetary policy off the Reserve Bank, and pay parents directly for childcare - saying the current policy discriminates against stay-at-home parents who hire nannies.
The Australian understands Senator Rennick - who entered parliament at the 2019 election - wrote to the Prime Minister and Josh Frydenberg outlining his policy demands before the budget on Tuesday, and received little reply from his party leadership.
“I reserve the right, subject to a division, to oppose the budget,” Senator Rennick told The Australian.
“I’m calling on greater taxation reform: making low-income tax cuts permanent, higher withholding for income held offshore, taking capital gain tax exemptions off foreign investors after the Tax Office ruled foreign investors did not have to pay CGT on the sale of water rights.
“The government needs to take responsibility for monetary policy. It’s been a disaster since it was handed to the RBA and we need an Infrastructure Bank. And on childcare, we need to pay parents directly as the current stance discriminates against stay at home parents and business owners who don’t pay PAYG.
“I’m sending a message to the government on the need to pursue monetary, childcare, and tax reform and standing up for Liberal values.”
Senator Rennick said he will not move to the crossbench and understands he may be frozen out by the Liberal leadership for his stance.
READ MORE: Coalition senators cross floor
Ellie Dudley8.09pm:Childcare to reap $1.7bn reward
Some $1.7 billion will be invested in childcare as part of the 2021 budget, Josh Frydenberg says.
The Treasurer said around 250,000 families will be “better off” by an average of $2200 per year, and result in more parents, especially women, receiving the opportunity to take on extra work.
“This will increase the affordability of childcare for low and middle income families,” he said.
READ MORE: Bumper housing market to slow
Ellie Dudley 8.06pm:New umpire to stand between small business, tax office
Small businesses will be given access to a new “umpire” to stand “between them and the tax office”, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
Labelling them “the heart” of every local community, Mr Frydenberg, and the tax system should “work for” small businesses, not against them.
“Small and family businesses are the engine room of our economy,” he said.
“Tonight we provide small businesses with peace of mind that an independent umpire will stand between them and the tax office when it comes to debt recovery actions.
“We will take these disputes out of the courts and let small businesses get on with what they do best.”
READ MORE: Iron ore price tipped to fall to $US55
Adeshola Ore8.02pm:AMA: More funding needed for health sector
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid says the federal budget has provided a clear plan to improve the country’s aged-care sector, but warned that further funding will be needed to bolster the fragile public health system.
He said the government had now delivered a plan that outlined its response to the damning findings of the aged care royal commission.
“We have seen today an investment in aged care enabled by the strong economic position Australia is in,” he said.
But he said Australia needed to prepare the public health system for when the country’s international borders re-open by investing in primary care.
“Right now our public hospital system is struggling. We are seeing emergency departments overflowing,” he said.
He welcomed the government’s additional spending on mental health care.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation federal secretary Annie Butler said the budget had made positive steps towards aged-care reform but disagreed with Josh Frydenberg’s claims that the package was a “once in a generation step up.”
She said the government’s delay of mandate staffing requirements would not tackle the urgent needs of the sector.
“We just can’t wait to do more for aged care right now,” she said.
READ MORE: Our experts deliver their verdicts on budget 2021
Ellie Dudley 7.57pm: More funding for those ‘doing it tough’
More funding will be targeted at sectors across Australia “doing it tough”, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
“This budget provides a further $2.1 billion in targeted support for aviation, tourism, the arts and international education providers,” he said.
“More than 800,000 half-price airfares, support for more than 200 productions, grants to English-language course providers and extending our small business loan scheme, which has already helped more than 45,000 businesses access low-cost finance.”
Mr Frydenberg added around 1000 small brewers and distillers across the nation will receive tax relief from the federal government.
ANALYSIS:Ticky Fullerton — How we missed a great chance for reform
Ellie Dudley 7.55pm: Instant asset write-off incentives extended
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced the instant asset write-off incentives created at last year’s budget will be extended.
99 per cent of businesses employing over 11 million workers will be permitted to write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase until June 30 2023, he said.
“Eight out of ten jobs are in the private sector,” he said.
“Tonight we again go further announcing the extension of these measures for a further year until 30 June 2023 so a tradie can buy a new ute, a farmer a new harvester and a manufacturer can expand their production line.”
Adeshola Ore7.51pm: Business urges reintroduction of migration scheme
Council of Small Business chief executive Peter Strong has praised the federal government’s budget for delivering more certainty for the business community, but warned questions remain about how vacant positions will be filled.
Mr Strong said the government needed to provide a roadmap for re-introducing migration.
“We need to find a way to bring them into the country, to quarantine them so we all feel safe,” he said.
Mr Strong said the budget would be well received by the small business community.
Ellie Dudley7.49pm: Tax cuts to help low and middle income earners
More than 10 million low and middle income earners will benefit from new and additional tax cuts, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
In a rousing speech presenting the federal government’s 2021 budget, Mr Frydenberg said the pandemic was “not over” and “as long as the virus persists, so will we.”
“So tonight we go further, announcing that over 10 million low and middle income earners will benefit from a new and additional tax cut,” he said.
Low and middle income earners will receive up to $1,080 for individuals or $2,160 for couples.
READ MORE: Big-spending budget to lock in recovery
Ellie Dudley7.47pm: $1.9bn investment in vaccine rollout
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has revealed the federal government plans to invest an additional $1.9 billion in the rollout of vaccines.
“Australians have already received over 2.5 million doses,” he said.
“This budget provides another $1.5 billion for COVID-related health services including for testing and tracing, respiratory clinics and telehealth.”
In total, the Morrison government has committed $20 billion to the vaccine rollout and to strengthen the Australian health system during COVID-19, he says.
READ MORE: Gottliebsen — Budget lights fuse on wages explosion
Ellie Dudley 7.44pm: Deficit confirmed, but lower than expected
This year’s budget deficit will be $52.7 billion lower than what was expected six months ago, Josh Frydenberg says.
“Net debt will increase to $617.5 billion or 30% of GDP this year and peak at $980.6 billion or 40.9 per cent of GDP in June 2025,” he said.
The Treasurer added: “This is low by international standards.”
Mr Frydenberg praised the work of the federal government in delivering a net debt which is half of the United Kingdom and the United State, and less than a third of that in Japan.
“Our plan is working,” he said.
Since the last budget, Mr Frydenberg said almost 500,000 jobs have been created, announcing the Morrison government will continue to make room for more.
READ MORE:Shanahan — Darkness behind this economic dawn
Tom Crystal7.41pm:Budget 2021 winners and losers
It’s not quite a case of everyone’s a winner, but there are plenty to be found as the Treasurer splashes the cash.
The elderly and women are winners, while future generations have not been so lucky
READ the full list of winners and losers here
Ellie Dudley7.37pm: Australia is coming back: Frydenberg
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has begun his 2021 budget address by saying: “Australia is coming back.”
Mr Frydenberg introduced the budget by reflecting on the past year, describing the “unprecedented” effects of the “once-in-a-century” COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have come so far since the height of the pandemic,” he said. “Treasury feared unemployment could reach 15 per cent and the economy could contract by more than 20 per cent.
“This would have meant more than 2 million Australians unemployed. It would have been the equivalent of losing the agriculture, construction and mining sectors.”
However, he said the reality was “very different.”
“Ahead of any major advanced economy, Australia has seen employment go above its pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
“The United Kingdom, France and Italy have all contracted by more than 8 per cent. Japan and Canada by around 5 per cent. Australia just 2.5 per cent.”
Ellie Dudley7.18pm:Queensland imposes restrictions on Victorians
Queensland has announced new restrictions for Victorians who have attended the exposure sites relating to a man who tested positive for COVID-19 today.
Travellers from Victoria to Queensland arriving from Thursday who have visited any of the venues of concern will be required to enter mandatory hotel quarantine.
Those who enter the state prior to Thursday must notify Queensland health officials, travel by private transport home or to accommodation and quarantine for 14 days.
READ MORE:Infection puts spotlight back on hotels
Fiona Friend 7.00pm: Frydenberg set to deliver roadmap to recovery
Josh Frydenberg is just moments away from delivering the Morrison government’s roadmap to post-pandemic recovery. Lockdown is underway as the Treasurer prepares to unveil his third budget.
A post-COVID jobs boom will slash the forecast budget deficit by $53bn this year.
The Australian understands the budget deficit for 2020-21 to be unveiled tonight will be $161bn compared with the $213.7bn forecast in the October 6 budget. This is a $52.7bn improvement driven by the strength of employment numbers, a reduction of the number of people on JobSeeker payments and a lift in company profit tax receipts due to higher commodity prices.
The budget recovery is set to fund a new round of COVID job-stimulus measures for affected sectors — including tourism and hospitality — as well as a massive boost for the funding of essential services.
The Morrison government has already announced a $10bn infrastructure package, $1.2bn digital economy strategy, more than $1.3bn for clean energy projects, support for single parents entering the housing market, $1.2bn for businesses and regions impacted by international border closures and a $600m National Recovery and Resilience Agency.
An $18bn aged care package will be introduced in response to the royal commission into the sector, while it is understood that Health Minister Greg Hunt has secured a funding increase of $500m a year for mental health. Single parents will get help with buying property.
The Australian last week revealed Mr Frydenberg would not bring forward stage three tax cuts for higher-income earners and would instead extend the low and middle income tax offset — worth up to $1080 — for a further year.
READ MORE:Talk of a November election back on cards
Adeshola Ore6.32pm:Two Coalition senators cross floor over India
Two government senators have crossed the floor to vote with Labor on an urgency motion about Australians stranded in India, dealing the Coalition another blow to its flight ban and emergency powers.
The motion, which was carried in 28 in favour and 22 against, moved that the Senate agree that helping Australians in India return home and not jailing them was a matter of urgency.
It also said fixing the country’s quarantine system should be an urgent priority.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan and Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick voted with Labor to support the motion. The motion was carried with 28 in favour and 22 against.
Last week Senator Canavan broke ranks to criticised the government’s emergency powers
which could see Australians trying to enter the country from India face up to five years of imprisonment. The restriction sparked backlash from the Labor, human rights groups, the Indian-Australian community and some Coalition MPs.
On Friday, DFAT officials revealed there 9,500 Australians in India wanting to return home, including 950 classed as vulnerable.
Repatriation flights, which will focus on bringing home the vulnerable Australians in India, will resume on May 15 when the flight ban lifts. Scott Morrison said the government anticipated 1,000 Australians in India would be brought home by the end of June.
READ MORE: Judge upholds travel ban from India
Ellie Dudley 5.48pm: Rules for entering NSW from Greater Melbourne
People arriving in Sydney from Melbourne must complete a declaration which confirms they have not attended a venue of concern relating to a new COVID-19 case which emerged this afternoon.
From 6am tomorrow, travellers who have arrived from the greater Melbourne area must complete a form from the Service NSW website which says they have not attended any potential exposure sites.
NSW Health have also urged all arrivals who have been in Melbourne since May 6 to follow Victoria’s health advice.
The Greater Melbourne area includes the following council areas: Banyule City, Bayside City, Boroondara City, Brimbank City, Cardinia Shire, Casey City, Darebin City, Frankston City, Glen Eira City, Greater Dandenong City, Greater Geelong City, Hobsons Bay City, Hume City, Kingston City, Knox City, Macedon Ranges Shire, Manningham City, Maribyrnong City, Maroondah City, Melbourne City, Melton City, Mitchell Shire, Monash City, Moonee Valley City, Moorabool Shire, Moreland City, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Murrindindi Shire, Nillumbik Shire, Port Phillip City, Stonnington City, Whitehorse City, Whittlesea City, Wyndham City, Yarra City, and Yarra Ranges Shire.
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Ellie Dudley5.43pm:Victorian authorities eye new restrictions
New restrictions could be enforced in Victoria if evidence of community spread appears, Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar says.
A Melbourne man tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, leading to a refreshed list of potential exposure sites, including his place of work in Altona North.
Mr Weimar said new restrictions could be enforced “if we find positive cases in his workplace or exposure sites.”
“I think at this stage this is all around what we find out in the next 24 to 48 hours” he told ABC radio.
“It always depends on the context.”
Mr Weimar also said there were between 30 to 40 people in the Curry Vault restaurant on the Friday night, but not all had checked in via the QR code.
READ MORE: Sloan — Pandemic proves ‘Big Australia’ a mistake
Ellie Dudley5.17pm:Canavan backs Howard Springs expansion
There is a “rationale” for the expansion of the Howard Springs facility, following a new case thought to have been contracted in hotel quarantine on Tuesday, Queensland Senator Matt Canavan says.
The case was identified in a man who returned to South Australia from India in mid-April, traveling to Melbourne on May 4 and testing positive for the virus on Tuesday.
“I think there is a rationale for looking to expand places like Howard Springs, working with state governments and other facilities,” Senator Canavan told ABC News.
However, due to the number of Australians still stranded overseas, he added: “I can’t see us ending hotel quarantine any time soon.”
“We have a backlog of Australians who want to return and if we are to take on other business or tourists as well, there might be a need for some level of quarantining for some time,” he said.
Senator Canavan also said he “would love” to see the international border reopen soon, but “there are some variables that are not in the hands of the Australian government”.
These variables include rising case numbers in India and global vaccination rates, he said.
READ MORE:Second Victorian health chief in quarantine breach
Ellie Dudley5.09pm:Labor calls for disgraced Laming’s removal
Disgraced Liberal MP Andrew Laming will maintain his role as chair of a parliamentary committee which sees him paid an extra $23,000 annually after Labor tried to pass a motion for him to be stood down from the position due to allegations of harassment.
Labor attempted to pass a motion in the lower house to see Dr Laming, who has been accused of harassing female constituents online, stood down from his role as chair of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training.
Mr Laming has been the subject of reports of online harassment of women, in addition to taking a photograph of a woman bending over.
Following the incidents six weeks ago, he took personal leave and said he would “resign from all parliamentary positions effective immediately”.
However, in parliament today Labor called for the removal of Mr Laming from the paid position of chair of the standing committee on employment, education and training.
Mr Laming claimed he was “misrepresented” by the Labor party as a “tax-payer funded troll”.
“An utterly, utterly, entirely appropriate and innocent workplace photograph with no offence found whatsoever after a police investigation has been characterised in here as lewd,” he told Question Time.
“To misrepresent the work that I’ve done on Facebook responding to comments of others has been characterised as harassment.
“To refer to me and misrepresent me as a ‘taxpayer-funded troll’ for my online work, with all posts remaining online and visible to the public, is a misrepresentation and a reflection on my character.”
The questioning of Mr Laming occurred while prominent members of the media analysed documents in a secure budget lock-up.
READ MORE: ASX takes pre-budget dip
Ellie Dudley3.52pm: Infected Melbourne man returned from India
The Melbourne man who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday was staying next door to another man who had the virus in a South Australian medi-hotel, Health Minister Martin Foley said.
“The gentleman next door to him tested positive and the day he was tested positive is the day he got relocated from that hotel to another hospital hotel,” Dr Foley told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The man returned from India, via the Maldives, then Singapore, finally landing in Adelaide on April 19.
He arrived in South Australia before the travel ban on India was put in place.
Mr Foley said he doesn’t “have enough toes and fingers to count the number of times that we’ve seen the virus leak out of hotel quarantine right across the country.”
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said it would be “unlikely” the health department would investigate the flight the man returned on as a possible exposure site.
As he developed symptoms on May 8, Prof Sutton said it wasn’t likely he was infectious on May 4.
“On face value the flight is unlikely to be something to chase up. The 4th is not a day we expect him to be infectious,” he told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Prof Sutton confirmed the Health Department would continue to interview the man, but said: “The onset of symptoms were on the 8th, so he was infectious for 48 hours prior to that.”
Ellie Dudley3.38pm: New venues listed as exposure sites in Victorian case
A series of new exposure sites have been released by the Victorian Department of Health following the detection of a positive case in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The following locations are ‘Tier One’ exposure sites. Anyone who has been to these locations at the stipulated times should immediately isolate, get tested and quarantine for 14 days.
Altona North – TIC Group (Front office) at 232 Blackshaws Rd, all day on Thursday, May 6
Melbourne CBD – Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar at 18-20 Bank Place, between 6:30pm and 9:30pm on Friday, May 7
Epping – Indiagate Spices and Groceries at Unit 14C/560-590 High St, between 5:00pm to 6:00pm on Saturday, May 8
Epping – Woolworths Epping, Cnr Cooper and High St in Epping, between 5:40pm and 6:38pm on Saturday, May 8
‘Tier Two’ exposure sites are listed below. Anyone who has been to the following locations at the times indicated should immediately isolate, get tested and stay isolated until they receive a negative result.
Altona North – TIC Group (rear warehouse section) at 232 Blackshaws Rd, all day on Thursday May 6
Epping – 7Eleven at 705 High St (corner Cooper St), between 6:30pm and 7:00pm on Thursday 6 May
Epping – 7Eleven at 705 High St (corner Cooper St), between 11:10am and 11:40am on Saturday 8 May
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the list was a “first iteration of exposure sites” as the health department awaits further information on the man’s movements.
“There will be judgements to when he was infectious and that will be based on the outcomes of the serology and genomic sequencing work that is under way, sharing that with what the South
Australian working hypothesis is...and then working backwards from there.”
Ellie Dudley3.30pm:Close contacts of Melbourne case return negative tests
All three primary household contacts of the Melbourne man who tested positive for COVID-19 today have returned negative test results.
The man returned a positive COVID-19 reading four days after completing hotel quarantine in South Australia.
He returned to Australia from overseas on April 19, travelling to his home to Wollert in Melbourne’s north on May 4 before developing symptoms on May 8.
The Victorian Department of Health was alerted to the positive reading on Tuesday May 11.
“We have urgently tested the three household contacts, and the good news is that all three primary household contacts have returned a negative test result,” Health Minister Martin Foley told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“Preparatory actions were well underway should any of those primary close contacts have tested positive, but as they have all tested negative, those preparatory actions are now being progressively stood down.”
A Citadel Health employee has returned a negative test, a spokesman confirmed.
Adeshola Ore3.26pm: Labor seeks to cast doubt over budget pledges
Labor has used question time to accuse the Coalition of under-delivering on its economic announcements, as the opposition seeks to cast doubt over pledges that will be unveiled in tonight’s federal budget.
Anthony Albanese asked Scott Morrison to confirm that its JobMaker program had not delivered 450,000 jobs as announced but just 1,100.
The Prime Minister told parliament his government was only focused on increasing the number of Australians in work.
“I don’t care, Mr Speaker, where it’s the JobMaker hiring credit, the boosting apprenticeships scheme, the JobMaker program, the cash flow boost, the JobTrainer program, I don’t care which of these programs deliver the result. Just so long as the result is achieved,” Mr Morrison said.
Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King said the government had underspent on its infrastructure announcements by “by an average $1.2bn every year for the eight long years it’s been in office.”
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack hit back, saying Labor had not delivered a budget for almost a decade.
READ MORE: Bramston — Election budget dumps reform in too-hard basket
Adeshola Ore 2.59pm: Porter makes his return to question time
Science and Industry Minister Christian Porter says the federal government has only received a small handful of applications from companies for funding to establish MRNA manufacturing to create COVID vaccines in Australia.
Opposition industry and innovation spokesman Ed Husic used question time to press Mr Porter on how many applications the government had received for funding to set up MrNA manufacturing in Australia. Australia does not currently have the technology to MrNA vaccines at scale. The technology allows vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna to be manufactured.
Mr Porter told parliament there were only a “tiny number of commercial entities” able to produce mRNA vaccines and said the government was already liaising with them.
“What the question seeks to lead Australians to believe, such a production facility could’ve been up and running, could’ve been imminently up and running, and it’s important for all Australians to understand the actual science and commerciality of this technology speaks totally against that proposition,” he said.
Today is Mr Porter’s first question time since he went on mental health leave following media reports which accused him on a historical sexual assault which he emphatically denied.
Mr Porter was shifted to the science portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle in March to avoid a conflict of interest with his defamation case against the ABC. Mr Porter’s lawyers argue an ABC article about an alleged historic rape by an unnamed serving cabinet was defaming because he was easily identifiable.
Earlier in question time Mr Porter congratulated Defence Minister Peter Dutton for now being the government’s Leader of the House and said “every cloud has its silver lining”, triggering interjections from Labor MPs.
READ MORE:ABC determined to publish, says Porter
McKenzie Scott 2.51pm: Rent hike likely as vacancies fall
Rents in Australia’s suburban and regional markets are expected to surge in coming months as the number of available rental properties nationally slipped through April to the lowest level in almost a decade.
Remy Varga2.44pm: Close contacts of Melbourne virus case self-isolate
A “handful of employees” at a medical business in Melbourne’s CBD are self-isolating as a precautionary measure after learning a staff member was identified as a close contact of a confirmed case.
A Citadel Health spokesman on Tuesday said a staff member had an “assumed connection” with a Wollert man who tested positive after completing hotel quarantine in Australia, but it had yet to be confirmed.
“In line with our COVID safe plan we’ve closed our Melbourne office and asked all staff to self-isolate,” he said.
Citadel Health is working closely with Victoria’s Department of Health and the staff member, the spokesman said.
READ MORE: Lockdowns ‘not reason for success’
Rachel Baxendale 2.37pm:Victorian health chief, minister to address media
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton are due to address the media at a press conference scheduled for 3:15 to 3:40pm, after news broke on Tuesday morning that a Victorian man in his 30s has tested positive for coronavirus after returning from overseas via South Australian hotel quarantine.
Earlier, South Australian Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier confirmed the man had been housed in a hotel room adjacent to a person who was moved to a health hotel on May 4 after testing positive for coronavirus.
This was the same day the Victorian man left hotel quarantine to travel back to Wollert, on Melbourne’s northern outskirts.
Professor Spurrier said she did not believe the man had been infectious when he flew from Adelaide to Melbourne on Tuesday May 4.
Victorian health authorities say the man noticed symptoms on Saturday May 8 and got tested on Monday May 10.
READ MORE: Editorial — PM knows his weakness
Adeshola Ore2.22pm: PM, Albanese pay tribute to Peacock
Scott Morrison has paid tribute to former Liberal Party leader Andrew Peacock during parliament, describing him as a man with “charismatic confidence that others were drawn to.”
Mr Peacock died last month, aged 82. He served as Australia’s ambassador to the US from 1997 to 1999 and was opposition leader twice, leading the Liberal Party to the 1984 and 1990 federal elections, losing both times.
The Prime Minister told the chamber that there had “never been bigger shoes for someone to fill”, noting that Mr Peacock later became a “generous mentor” to young Liberal candidates.
“Andrew Peacock said his life was an endless adventure and indeed it was. An adventure that saw him discover purpose in politics,” he said.
Anthony Albanese told parliament that Mr Peacock “certainly knew how to enjoy life” and “always gave the sense that he wanted you to be able to do the same time.”
Mr Albanese pointed to Mr Peacock’s passions which spanned horse racing and politics.
“He could fully absorb the triumphs and the defeats of the racecourse, the footy field and the political sphere alike. And he strove to keep perspective,” he said.
Mr Albanese also said Mr Peacock carried “inclusive warmth” into his roles in politics and as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.
READ MORE: Peacock lamented loss of respect across aisle
Debbie Schipp 2.15pm: New Victorian virus case tested negative in SA
South Australian health authorities say the Victorian man who tested positive in Melbourne after hotel quarantine in SA tested negative during all of their tests in quarantine.
SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier says the man tested negative on day one, day five, day nine, and day 13, before being discharged from a hotel on 4 May.
He returned straight home to Victoria, and developed symptoms on May 8 and was tested on May 10 (yesterday) returning a positive result.
Dr Spurrier says there is little risk to South Australians.
“We usually decide that the infectious period is two days before somebody develops symptoms, which would have been May 6,” Dr Spurrier said.
“So if people in South Australia are thinking, ‘Could this person possibly have been out and about here in South Australia?’ It doesn’t look like that is the case.”
She said hypotheses about how the transmission occurred include a long incubation period, longer than a 14-day hotel quarantine; a hotel quarantine breach or community transmission after release.
She said SA had been meticulous with its hotel quarantine.
“We know that Covid can be transferred through droplets, which are direct droplets between two people that are standing quite close to each other, but I think it’s very evident now that Covid can be, or the virus can be, transferred through smaller droplets – ie, aerosols – and that these droplets may hang around in the air for a period of time,” she said.
“What we’ve done in South Australia with our medi-hotel system is really look meticulously at the ventilation, both in the hotel rooms but also in the passage ways.”
Ms Spurrier said genomic sequencing may provide the answers, and SA will will obtain genetic information from Victorian authorities and compare it to a case in South Australia, which was in the adjacent room in hotel quarantine.
She said authorities reviewed CCTV footage and found no breach.
READ MORE: Boomer upside beckons for ‘downsizer’ scheme
Adeshola Ore1.40pm:Pandemic ‘more threatening’ now than a year ago: PM
Scott Morrison has warned his colleagues that the COVID pandemic is worse today than one year ago, as the government develops a roadmap to stagger the re-opening of the country’s borders.
Earlier today, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham conceded that the federal government did not know when it would open Australia’s international borders.
During a joint party room meeting on Tuesday, the Prime Minister told MPs that the pandemic is “more threatening” today compared to one year ago, according to a party spokesman.
Mr Morrison said COVID was now “racing” at an unprecedented speed, pointing to countries like India, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
READ MORE:Border confusion ‘crippling tourism’
Joseph Lam1.20pm:Academic raises concern for Australia’s Olympic athletes
The editor in chief of Australia’s prestigious peer-reviewed medical journal has raised concerns about Australian athletes attending the Olympics in Tokyo.
Medical Journal of Australia’s professor Nick Talley shared several tweets about the Olympics citing stories from the Japan Times and medical journals while posing the question: “Reconsider this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic games?”
“Olympic Games at risk. Japan’s daily COVID-19 cases top 7000 for first time since January,” read another.
The tweets arrived after Australian Olympics Committee president John Coates on Saturday confirmed the Tokyo 2020 games would go ahead.
“All of the precautions that we have been taking are aimed at the health of the athletes and the health of the people of Japan,” Mr Coates said.
Mr Coates said the AOC was working in partnership with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to ensure all athletes would be separated from members of the public.
“We’re working with him on all of the safety measures so it’s going ahead.”
READ MORE:Japan to extend Covid state of emergency
Rachel Baxendale12.50pm:Vic health authorities to speak on new virus scare
Victoria’s Health Department is expected to address the media this afternoon regarding the new coronavirus cases detected in a man in his 30s who recently returned from overseas via South Australian hotel quarantine.
Andrews government sources have told The Australian a press conference is likely to be held no earlier than 3pm.
READ MORE:Rotting food, filth and then there’s COVID
Adeshola Ore12.40pm:Beijing denies producing bio-weapons, claims ‘smear’
Beijing has denied it is producing bio-weapons in response to The Australian’s revelation its military scientists discussed weaponising SARVS coronavirus five years before the emergency of COVID-19.
The Weekend Australian’s exclusive reporting has raised questions about the origins of the pandemic. The reports were based on a document, written by People’s Liberation Army scientists and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015, obtained by the US State Department.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said the country did not develop, research or produce bio-weapons.
“China has always strictly fulfilled its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention,” she said.
Ms Chunying also accused the United States of conducting a “smear campaign” against China.
READ the full story here.
Adeshola Ore12.30pm:‘Defied tyranny’: PM pays tribute to Prince Philip
Scott Morrison has paid tribute to Prince Philip in parliament, commemorating his “remarkable life dedicated to service, devotion and commitment.”
Today is the first sitting day of parliament since the Duke of Edinburgh died last month, aged 99.
The Prime Minister said the Australian people sent “deep sympathy” to Queen Elizabeth II and gave thanks to the Duke of Edinburgh.
“For almost 80 years, Prince Phillip served the Crown, his country and the commonwealth,” Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said Prince Phillip was part of a generation that “defied tyranny” and “built a liberal world order that protects freedom.”
READ MORE:Philip’s life and the true nature of duty
Remy Varga12.15pm:New Victorian Covid case after interstate quarantine
Victorian contact tracers are frantically working to identify exposure sites after a man tested positive for COVID-19 after completing hotel quarantine in South Australia.
A Health Department spokesperson said the man, in his 30s, returned home to Wollert in Melbourne’s north on May 4 before developing symptoms on May 8.
The man returned a positive test on Tuesday morning and is undergoing further testing.
“The individual who was tested positive is isolating at home,” the spokesperson said.
“His household primary close contacts are also isolating, being interviewed, and will be urgently tested.”
“The Department is working with interstate counterparts to determine the likely source of this infection.”
Yoni Bashan11.50am:NSW Labor’s sneaky internet tactic backfires
NSW Labor has been forced to delete a prominent website it purchased in the name of Premier Gladys Berejiklian following a ruling handed down by the country’s internet domain name administration authority, just weeks after it attacked political opponents for engaging in the same tactics.
NSW Liberal Party officials engaged lawyers to reclaim the website and file a complaint with auDA, an organisation endorsed by the Commonwealth to administer the rules for internet domain names using the .au country code.
Documents obtained by The Australian reveal the website, gladysberejiklian.com.au, was registered by the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party and listed its chief contact as Tony Beuk.
Mr Beuk is the chief information officer and chief technology officer at the Australian Labor Party, according to his LinkedIn page.
A subsequent investigation concluded that the purchase of the website by the NSW ALP was in breach of auDA standards.
READ the full story here.
Rhiannon Down11.25am:Chalmers slams high income tax offsets
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers has criticised the government for prioritising tax offsets for higher income earners.
Ahead of the budget being handed down tonight, Mr Chalmers said the Labor position was that “the priority for tax relief needs to be people on low and middle incomes”.
“I think that Australians understand in the budget that Josh Frydenberg wants tax cuts for the highest income-earners to be permanent, but tax cuts for low and middle income-earners to be temporary, and that’s one of the things that will be a feature of the budget tonight,” he said.
“We’ve said all along that the priority for tax relief should be people who need it most and are most likely to spend it in the economy.
“Tax breaks for middle Australia and low income earners are a good thing typically.
“It made no sense for the Government to commit tens of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the highest income-earners years down the track without knowing what the Budget and economy would look like.”
Rhiannon Down11.05am:NSW records no new local cases
NSW has recorded another day of zero local transmission, and four new cases in hotel quarantine.
Some 7724 tests were received in 24 hours up to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 13,768.
The figures come a week after a Sydney man in his 50s became the state’s first positive case in weeks.
Health authorities believe the man contracted the virus from an unidentified community member through “brief contact”.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 11, 2021
Four new cases were acquired overseas to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,353. pic.twitter.com/7FtGKCDwgy
“Despite extensive investigations into the source of two locally acquired cases announced last week, NSW Health has not identified how the initial case was exposed to COVID-19,” the health body said.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said on Monday the eastern suburbs man who was infected last week likely had a “fleeting” contact with an unknown person described as a missing link.
They may have acquired the infection through brief contact with a currently unidentified person who was infectious in the community.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 11, 2021
Victoria has also recorded another day with no new cases, with just one case in hotel quarantine.
Reported yesterday: No new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 10, 2021
- 8,155 vaccine doses were administered
- 12,918 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/GUBNlJbUJ0
Heidi Han10.35am: Albanese launches WeChat account for Chinese Australians
Anthony Albanese launched his official WeChat account on federal budget eve, introducing himself as a potential next Prime Minister while engaging working class Chinese Australians and families with his personal experience.
“If the Labor Party is elected to the government, the leader of the Labor Party will become the next prime minister of Australia,” the Opposition Leader said in his debut post on the Chinese language social media platform.
In the post that was published in Mandarin, Mr Albanese condemned the “disrespectful remarks” that offend Chinese Australians during the pandemic and acknowledged the community’s “contribution to Australian economy, culture, and politics”.
“As the leader of the Labor Party, I believe that every Australian, regardless of race, colour, origin, or age, should enjoy fair work rights and benefits. These visions come from my life experience, and I will stick to them until they become reality,” he wrote.
The Labor leader also used his personal experience growing up with his mum and as “the only person in my family who has completed education” to highlight Labor’s value in good and affordable education and equal opportunity.
“I am also the father of my child, and I know the expectation of being a parent,” said Mr Albanese, “We hope that our children can grow up in a better and fair country. My son Nathan is also the driving force for me to change Australia.
The Opposition leader reflected his journey since joining the Labor Party: “From the small town, I have spoken out for the local residents and put forward the expectations and needs of the working class.
“Today, 24 years later, I still use this as my work motto: to fight for the rights and interests of every Australian.
“If you are also a member of the working class and believe that Australia should have an equal and fair education, medical care, housing, and aged-care environment, then please support us!” said Mr Albanese.
Major parties used the WeChat platform that is popular with Mandarin-speaking Australians in the lead-up to the 2019 election, while fighting against fake news and misleading information about candidates and policies.
The Australian had reported that Labor’s official WeChat accounts “Australian Labor Party” and “Bill Shorten and Labor” had not been updated since the eve of last Election Day following the party’s months-long campaign on the platform.
Scott Morrison has been using his official WeChat account regularly since the election to make key announcements and policy briefs to Chinese Australian communities, including a pre-budget message published last Friday.
READ MORE:Digital incentives a $10.5bn boost
Adeshola Ore10.15am:Kelly in fake trillion dollar debt stunt
Controversial MP Craig Kelly has used a budget day press conference to warn Australia that the country is approaching $1 trillion in debt.
Economists have predicted Australia is closed to reaching $1 trillion in debt ahead of Josh Frydenberg handing down the federal budget tonight.
At a press conference in parliament house, Mr Kelly stood alongside a pile of fake trillion dollar notes to represent government debt.
PRESS CONFERENCE - CRAIG KELLY MP – 9.30am Tues 11th May, Mural Hall, 2nd Floor Parliament House
— Craig Kelly MP (@CraigKellyMP) May 10, 2021
Wouldn't you love to have this much money ?
Well you do !!
This represents close to $1 TRILLION of Federal & State Government net DEBT that YOU & future generations need to pay off pic.twitter.com/ztKH5Wv9SD
Rhiannon Down10.10am:Blow as Novavax delays approvals for vaccine
Novavax has delayed plans to seek regulatory approval for its COVID-19 vaccine, citing a shortage of raw materials.
Novavax had expected to complete requests for regulatory authorisations of its vaccine in the US, the UK and other European countries by the end of June. However the company says it now expects to complete those filings by the end of September.
The announcement holds serious implications for Australia’s vaccine rollout, with pre-orders already made for 51 million doses of the vaccine.
The delay will also impact developing countries, many of which were set to benefit from the new jab entering the market, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“As closely as we tried to manage these materials, we have been running into shortages that caused us to delay production runs,” Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck said.
Novavax was originally expected to become available in the second half of 2021.
READ MORE: Second Vic health chief in quarantine breach
Adeshola Ore 9.55am:‘How will they fix aged care system on its knees?
Opposition finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher says tonight’s federal budget will be a “test” for how the Morrison government delivers a return for the Australian people.
The Australian revealed that a post-COVID jobs boom has slashed the forecasted budget deficit by $53bn this year. Tonight’s job-focused big spending will focus on essential services such as aged-care and mental health.
“How are they going to fix an aged-care system that is on its knees at the moment? Elderly Australians don’t get the care they need, in the place they need, at the time they need,” Senator Gallagher said.
She said the Coalition had previously lectured Labor when debt was “a quarter of what it is today.”
“We’ve now got a trillion dollars on the credit card – a political fix from this government,” she said.
“We’ve got a budget weighed down with waste, with companies that got billions of dollars in JobKeeper and returned a profit. And this government seemingly not caring about it after they pursued Robodebt, often sometimes to debt.”
“We’ve got these slush funds that exist in the budget, billions of dollars in slush funds that the government dole out as they head towards an election.”
Senator Gallagher also said the Morrison government’s focus on women’s safety and security in this year’s budget is a direct result of the sexual assault and harassment allegations that have plagued parliament this year.
“Do you honestly think the Morrison government would have had a women’s package if it wasn’t for the pressure they’ve been under during the past three months?” she said.
“I mean in last year’s budget we were told that women were lucky because they’d built an extra lane on the highway, on the Barton highway. That was their women’s package. And you told me the two things aren’t linked? Of course they are linked.”
READ MORE: Budget dumps reform in too hard basket
Rhiannon Down9.40am:Chalmers: iron ore helped turn economic tide
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has criticised the government’s claims that its COVID-19 measures have turned the tide on Australia’s economic recovery.
Mr Chalmers said the Coalition’s COVID-19 recovery budget, to be handed down tonight, had been given a significant boost from skyrocketing commodity prices.
“The iron ore price is substantially higher, some multiples of what the government assumed,” he said.
“So they got their forecasts wrong there. But obviously as the economy recovers from the deepest, most damaging recession in almost a century, the budget will recover as well when it comes to income taxes and social security payments and the like.
“So the budget is improving in predictable ways and in some instances the improvement in the budget has nothing to do with the government when it comes to the commodity prices we’re getting.
“We want the budget to recover strongly. We want the $1 trillion in debt to actually mean something in terms of jobs for people around Australia.”
READ MORE:Life of the party
Suryatapa Bhattacharya 9.30am: Indian variant joins WHO ‘variants of concern’
The World Health Organisation has classified a coronavirus variant first spotted in India as a global “variant of concern,” saying preliminary studies showed it may be more transmissible than some other variants.
The WHO didn’t report any evidence suggesting that currently authorised vaccines would be less effective against the variant.
The variant, known as B. 1.617, is being studied by scientists around the world as they try to figure out its role in the fast growing COVID-19 surge in India, which reported more than 366,000 new daily cases on Monday. The variant has already spread to more than 30 countries, according to the WHO, including the U.S., the U.K., France and Japan.
The surge in India rose rapidly last month, overwhelming hospitals in the country’s hardest-hit cities. Anecdotally speaking, “the pattern now is that one person in the family gets it, the whole family seems to get it,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, in an interview. “This is unlike the first wave. And so I think what we’re seeing is more transmissible.”
The variant became the fourth so classified by the WHO. The U.N. agency has also given the same designation to the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Southeast England, the B. 1.35 variant found in South Africa; and the P. 1 variant discovered by researchers in Brazil.
The Wall St Journal
READ MORE: Judge upholds travel ban from India
Rhiannon Down9.15am:Frydenberg, Birmingham spruik economy
Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham have spruiked the economy ahead of handing down the federal budget tonight.
Senator Birmingham said the budget was focused on jobs growth, at a pivotal time in Australia’s economic recovery.
“It’s a very important budget getting us through the pandemic, which is still a big threat,” he said.
“Of course, continuing to secure jobs growth for Australians and deliver those essential services which mean so much to the ordinary, and day to day lives of so many people.”
The Treasurer said the COVID-19 budget was primarily focused on “recovery” from the economic fall out of the pandemic.
“This budget tonight is all about securing Australia’s economic recovery,” he said.
READ MORE: Is the job of PM impossible?
Rhiannon Down9.10am: ‘More needed’ to fix aged care system
The peak body for age services have called on the federal government to fix the aged care system, ahead of today’s federal budget reveal.
Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Shaun Rooney said despite an investment of $18bn in aged-care reform which will be outlined in the budget, the government needed to do more to secure the future of aged care.
“This is the once in a generation opportunity to fix the broken aged care system,” Mr Rooney told Channel 9’s Today.
“And we’re looking to the Morrison government for a full and complete response to the Royal Commission’s findings where what they’ve recommended is a total overhaul of the aged care system.
“So in today’s budget, we want to see things that will create new opportunities to deliver better quality care and safer care.
“So that is reducing the home care wait list. It’s more workers, better skill and trained and better paid. Alongside financial support for financially distressed aged care homes.”
READ MORE:Fixing wreck of aged care could be PM’s legacy
Rhiannon Down 9.00am:Urgent appeal possible over travel ban
The lawyer representing an Australian man whose legal challenge to the India flight ban was rejected in court on Monday says an appeal may be on the cards.
“I haven’t had a chance to check in with my client overnight so I’m not sure what his intentions are from here, there is the possibility of an urgent appeal from the decision yesterday,” lawyer Michael Bradley told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
The federal government's controversial India travel ban has stood up to its first legal challenge - but it may face a constitutional challenge in coming days. pic.twitter.com/vk7jk1pxQX
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 10, 2021
“But as you say, these constitutional issues that are much bigger and more far-reaching questions remain undetermined.
“We will have to work out whether there is a purpose in continuing the case to deal with that.”
Mr Bradley, a partner at Marque Lawyers, said the ban set a dangerous legal precedent, amid broader concerns about the repatriation process.
“We really don’t know what the government is going to do, they have announced repatriation flights but obviously that is only going to help a very small number of people in the next little while,” he said.
“The large bulk of Australians caught in India are still going to have difficulty getting out. “There’s also the issue of the precedent it sets and what is going to happen next time the
the quarantine system gets overloaded.”
READ MORE:Judge upholds travel ban
Adeshola Ore8.55am:Plibersek: Vaccine rollout a great failing
Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek has warned that great uncertainty remains about Australia’s vaccine rollout and border closures, as the opposition seeks to frame tonight’s budget as crisis-management by the government.
Ms Plibersek said the vaccine rollout and border restrictions had been a “great failing” in the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19 over the past year.
“This would be a lot easier to manage if more than a year ago when the government was advised to build a surge quarantine facilities outside our capital city,” she told Sky News.
“Australians stuck overseas, thousands of miles away from the people they love, the country that they love, can’t get home. The government has let them down. And it’s not just let them down in the last week, they let them down because over the last year they have not planned and worked to bring Australians home who are desperate to get home.”
Ms Plibersek said tonight’s Treasury document would be a “Morrison keeper budget.”
“It will be all designed around short term spending big dollars to deal with political problems of the government’s own making,” she said.
READ MORE:More PM backflips than a three-ring circus
Tom Whipple 8.45am:Two Pfizer jabs offer 97pc protection against death
Two doses of the Pfizer vaccine offers 97 per cent protection against death and a single dose of either main UK vaccine offers 80 per cent protection, according to the latest real world data on vaccine efficacy.
The study by Public Health England looked at people who had been infected despite being vaccinated, to see if they had better outcomes. The analysis involved almost 50,000 cases of people aged 70 and over – of whom one in five had been vaccinated.
These vaccinated cases had been unlucky: data shows clearly that the vaccines stop two thirds of cases. However, the latest research, published before peer review, shows that although they were infected their prognosis was a lot better – they were around half as likely to die.
Among infected 80-year-olds who had not been vaccinated, 16 per cent died. With one dose of the Pfizer vaccine 9 per cent died, with one dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine it was 11 per cent. With two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, only 4 per cent died.
Among those in their seventies, 4 per cent of those not vaccinated died, compared with none who had received two doses. Combined with the fact that the vaccines also prevent you getting infected in the first place, this meant that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine appeared to offer near-total protection.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said that the evidence was “clear that vaccines provide significant layers of protection against this awful disease”.
It takes time to gather enough data to estimate the effects on mortality from the vaccines. Doing so requires enough cases in the general population, as well as following up people for long enough to establish their prognosis.
The Times
READ MORE:Experts reject PM’s transmission claim
Rhiannon Down8.40am:Frydenberg defends NDIS funding
Josh Frydenberg has responded to criticism that the government will move to slash NDIS funding, ahead of tonight’s federal budget.
The Treasurer, speaking to reporters in Canberra today, said the government will support the NDIS, despite concerns the disability insurance scheme will cost more than Medicare.
“In tonight’s budget, you’ll see additional funding for the NDIS,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“This is a wonderful program. It’s made a profound change to the lives of Australians with disabilities and their families. We all know stories of people who have been assisted by the NDIS, and under the Coalition, the NDIS will always be fully funded.
“We need to ensure that it continues to remain sustainable, but under the Coalition, we are deeply committed to the NDIS and we’ll always ensure that it is fully funded.”
READ MORE: Panademic proves ‘Big Australia’ is a mistake
Rhiannon Down8.30am:Canavan hails ‘amazing’ economic turnaround
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has praised the “amazing” turnaround of Australia’s economic fortunes, despite the country’s rising debt.
“It’s an amazing turnaround from 12, even six months ago, when we weren’t having a budget because of social distance and travel restrictions,” he told Sky News.
“Twelve months ago we hadn’t yet had the outbreak in Melbourne, and a lockdown there has happened, a lot has happened in the past four months.
“So, look, it’s been an amazing turn around, of course the deficit we’ll see grow to the hundreds of billions of dollars, we probably will still approach something like a trillion dollars in debt.”
Senator Canavan also expressed concern about inflation levels.
“I think we do have to be a little sad at the moment about how hot the economy is running now,” he said.
“No one’s talking about it, but I’m worried about inflation.”
READ MORE: Help for women to join business world
Adeshola Ore 8.25am:Aged care reform ‘a test for government’
Anthony Albanese says the Morrison government’s aged-care package, to be unveiled in today’s budget, must focus on improving regulation and funding transparency of the sector.
The Australian has revealed the federal budget will include a historic $18bn aged-care reform budget package that will focus on workforce initiatives to bolster the pay and training of the sector.
Mr Albanese has said the government’s funding boost for the sector will be a test for its ability to respond to the damning revelations in the royal commission.
“At the heart of the issue is our workforce, we need to make sure we have a better paid, more secure workforce,” he told the ABC.
“If your mom or dad or grandad or grandma is in an aged care residence, you want to know that when they press a buzzer, there’ll be a nurse or a carer whoever’s appropriate at the time to care for your loved one.”
READ MORE: Billions to overhaul aged care
Rhiannon Down8.15am:Clare: Still biggest budget deficit in Aus history
Labor MP Jason Clare has criticised the government for handing down one of the biggest budget deficits in decades in tonight’s budget.
“This is still the biggest budget deficit in Australian history,” he told Sky News.
“So hopefully it puts to bed tonight all of the rubbish that we’ve been hearing for more than a decade about debt and deficit disaster.
“This deficit that the government will hand down tonight is three times the size of the biggest deficit we used to get Australia out of the GFC to stop a recession and to save all those jobs.”
The Shadow Housing Minister said also criticised the government’s track record when it came to women’s equality, as highlighted by a serious of sex scandals that rocked the government this year.
“All of the criminal accusations, the smear, everything that we’ve seen over the last few weeks has forced the government to pull out some of the policies that they’re just rejected or neglected or refused to put in place for eight long years,” he said.
“Aussies aren’t stupid, I don’t think a wall of money can hide everything that has happened in this building over the last six months.”
READ MORE: Election budget dumps reform in too hard basket
Rhiannon Down8.10am:‘Look at what government does, not what it says’
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has criticised the government for not having a “long term plan” for Australia, ahead of the release of the federal budget tonight.
“This is a government that doesn’t have a medium or long term plan for Australia’s economic future,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra this morning.
“They don’t advance social reform, and they certainly don’t have a climate policy or an energy policy.”
Mr Albanese also accused the government of not delivering on its promises, especially on the vaccine rollout and in bringing home stranded Australians from overseas.
“There’s no way that that (failure is) more evident than in the two fundamental jobs that this government had to roll out the vaccine, and to set up appropriate quarantine facilities,” he said.
“This government said we’re at the front of the queue. And we’re way down the back.
“This government said regarding Australians who are stranded overseas that they’d all be home by Christmas, and we know there’s 30,000 Australians stranded.
“So you have to look at what this government does, not just what it says.”
Mr Albanese said though landmark spending on aged care, mental health and house affordability, already announced as part of the budget, were welcome, it came too late for many Australians.
“We welcome additional spending in areas that were awful areas like mental health reform,” he said.
“It’s good to, finally, having cut $1.7 billion from aged care, Scott Morrison is going to put some money back into aged care.”
Mr Albanese also criticised the government’s cuts to the NDIS, saying it had “ripped $4bn out of the NDIS previously.”
READ MORE:Boomer upside beckons for downsizer scheme
Adeshola Ore8.05am: Frydenberg: Economic recovery not down to luck
Josh Frydenberg has downplayed the element of luck in Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic, ahead of today’s federal budget.
The Australian revealed that a post-Covid jobs boom has slashed the forecasted budget deficit by $53bn this year. Surging iron ore prices have also boosted the country’s recovery.
“Australia’s strong position today is not the result of luck. Australia makes its own luck. And tonight’s budget will lay out the Morrison Government’s economic plan to secure Australia’s recovery.”
Mr Frydenberg also pointed to the spending priorities for the budget – infrastructure and skills to invest in businesses, the nation’s Covid health response, disability, aged care and women’s safety.
Mr Frydenberg conceded it was difficult to make precise predictions about the vaccine rollout and border closures.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty, globally and domestically with respect to the virus,” he said.
“But the key point is – we’ll always follow the medical advice and we’ll always do our best to keep Australians safe.”
READ MORE: Jobs boom to slash budget deficit
Rhiannon Down7.45am:Budget focus – keeping people in work
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham says a key focus of today’s Covid-recovery federal budget will be keeping Australians in work, which has driven a reduction in the budget’s bottom line.
It comes as The Australian reveals that a post-coronavirus jobs boom is set to reduce the forecast budget deficit for 2020-21 by 53bn to $161bn.
“There’s been a profound improvement in relation to the budget bottomline for the current financial year,” he told ABC TV.
“So, people will be able to see the details of that tonight.
“But what’s driving it is most important, and that is the fact that our economy has bounced back more strongly, and we have more Australians in work today than at any time in the nation’s history.”
Mr Birmingham said reducing reliance on welfare was also a central focus on the government to drive the nation’s economic recovery.
“That is as a result of the fact that the economy has been performing more strongly, particularly more Australians back into jobs, and we know that by getting more people back into jobs, we reduce the welfare wheel,” he said.
“We increase the taxation and the revenue coming in, and, indeed, just by having 200,000 fewer people on JobSeeker at the start of this year than had been forecast has delivered a $5 billion turnaround.”
READ MORE: Jobs boom to slash $53bn from budget deficit
Adam Creighton7.35am:20 years of improvement in US life expectancy gone
The coronavirus pandemic has wiped out almost two decades of improvement in US life expectancy, according to new research that finds the chance of dying over the last 12 months was the same as it was in 2001.
Before COVID-19 emerged an 80 year old man in the US had a chance of dying in the next 12 months of 5.82 per cent, according to JPMorgan analysis of official statistics, compared to 4.28 per cent for a similarly aged woman.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these probabilities rose to around 6.76 per cent and 4.83 per cent respectively, increases of 16 per cent, and 13 per cent,” said David Mackie, a JPMorgan analyst.
“This further widened the gap between mortality risk for males and females, because at all ages males have been more likely to die of COVID-19 than females,” he added.
Viewed another way, the increase in mortality risk for men aged between 75 and 84 of 1.15 percentage points was 64 per cent greater than the increase for women (0.71 percentage points).
“The mortality curve in the first year of COVID-19 looks to have returned to where it stood in around 2001,” Mr Mackie said.
“At younger ages, COVID-19 increased mortality risk by a very modest amount. For those aged under fourteen years, COVID-19 added almost nothing to the underlying mortality risk,” the JP Morgan research, released on Monday, found.
For a female aged 50, the pandemic increased the chance of dying by 0.04 percentage points to 0.39 per cent.
US life expectancy, as in most nations, has steadily improved over the generations.
“In 1900 a sixty year old male faced a 2.93 per cent probability of dying in his sixty first year. By the year 2000, this probability had declined to 1.27 per cent,” the bank’s analysis said.
The except is younger men aged between 20 and 50, whose chance of dying have been rising since 2001, owing to drug overdoses and other “Deaths of Despair”, so named by Nobel laureate economist Angus Deaton who recently drew attention to the phenomenon.
The US vaccine roll out in the US – 45 per cent of people have had at least one dose of the vaccine and 32 per cent are fully vaccinated – should see the rise in mortality risk almost entirely unwound, soon, Mr Mackie concluded.
“For an eighty year old female, the increased probability of death of getting one year older will be almost thirty three times larger than the additional probability of death from COVID-19 in the new steady state,” he said.
“Although the SARS-CoV-2 virus is likely to be around for some time to come, the remarkable success of the vaccines means that the additional mortality risk from COVID-19 is likely to be something that can be lived with,” he added.
READ MORE:Fixing wreck of aged care could be PM’s legacy
Rhiannon Down7.10am:Federal budget will be a ‘nothing burger’: Shorten
Former opposition leader Bill Shorten has criticised the government’s track record of helping working families, describing today’s federal budget as a “nothing burger”.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will tonight hand down his Covid-recovery budget, which will include $18bn in aged-care reform and funding for mental health and housing affordability.
“Of course it’s always observing the details,” Mr Shorten told Channel 9’s Today.
“I’m pleased if there is some money for aged care but it really is just fixing the problem which this government has had for eight years.”
Mr Shorten said he was concerned the budget would offer little for working families.
“I think what I will be looking for tonight in the budget is what’s in it for the mums and dads who are getting their kids ready for school and going to work this morning watching this show,” he said.
“What’s in it for the hip pocket benefit for people? I sometimes feel that all of these orchestrated leaks from the government reminds me a bit of a vegan Big Mac, you know, where’s the meat? It’s a nothing burger.
“It fills you up for an hour and a half but you want something more special later.”
READ MORE:Simon Benson — Talk of a November election back on cards
Rhiannon Down6.50am:Bodies wash up on banks of India’s Ganges River
As many as 40 bodies, believed to be COVID-19 victims, have washed up on the banks of the Ganges River in India as virus case numbers continue to soar.
The grim discovery was made near the state border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
It is not clear how the bodies came to be there, but reports suggested they were COVID-19 victims unable to be cremated by overwhelmed mortuaries.
“There is a possibility that these bodies have come out of Uttar Pradesh,” a local official, Ashok Kumar, told the BBC.
The remains will be buried or cremated.
India’s health system has buckled under pressure with reports of widespread oxygen shortages at hospitals, with funeral pyres burning day and night.
The country recorded 366,494 new cases and 3769 deaths in the past 24 hours, down from its record high of 414,188 on May 6.
The news came as the World Health Organisation classified as “of concern” the highly contagious B. 1.617 variant currently spreading in India.
WHO’s COVID-19 lead Maria Van Kerkhove pointed to early studies “suggesting that there is some reduced neutralisation”, meaning that antibodies appeared to have less impact on the variant in small-sample lab studies.
The WHO insisted though that it was far too early to interpret this to mean that the variant might have more resistance to vaccine protections.
“Based on current data, the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective at preventing disease and death in people infected with this variant,” it said in a statement.
More details would be provided about the variant in the WHO’s weekly epidemiological update tomorrow, Ms Van Kerkhove said. — with AFP
READ MORE:As India reels, Europe loosens its grip
Rhiannon Down6.30am:US companies prepare for mass return to work
US businesses are ramping up their efforts to bring workers back to the office as the country emerges from the darkest days of the pandemic.
Several major companies are bracing for an in-person return after 14 months of working from home.
JP Morgan Chase announced at the end of April that it would bring its staff back to the office on a “rotational” basis from early July.
Goldman Sachs has informed employees they will be due to return to their desks from June 14.
Meanwhile, local government employees returned last Monday, with New York City Hall bringing back 80,000 workers.
I believe in the people of this city.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 8, 2021
If you're betting against New York City, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. pic.twitter.com/9hGL0xSBGV
The US has had a slow return to workplaces with just 16 per cent of workers returned to offices at the end of April, up from 13 per cent in January, according to building security company Kastle Systems.
New York in particular, which was the epicentre of the virus in January recording as many as 14,000 new cases a day, has been slow to return.
The US has largely turned the tide on the pandemic through a vigorous vaccination effort and multiple lockdowns, recording 21,392 new cases in the past 24 hours and 238 deaths, down from a record high of 300,310 infections on January 2, according to Johns Hopkins University.
READ MORE:Cuomo fixer linked vaccine to support
Jacquelin Magnay5.30am:UK relaxes restrictions in ‘very considerable step’
Britons will be able to hug each other and have a pint indoors at a pub from next Monday in a moment described by the prime minister as a “very considerable step on the road back to normality”.
For the first time in six months, people will once again to able to get closer to others than the two metres social distancing edict and can meet indoors, but only with one other household and up to six people, Boris Johnson has announced.
While people will be allowed to hug each other, especially if both are vaccinated, the biggest impact will be on care home residents who will be now able to go outside for visits with family members without having to undergo two weeks isolation afterwards.
Hotels and other accommodations, cinemas, theatres and museums are to reopen. International travel will restart and “green list” countries will not require any quarantine. School children will no longer have to wear masks.
Today we have announced the single biggest step on our roadmap and it will allow us to do many of the things we have yearned to do for a long time.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 10, 2021
So let's protect these gains by continuing to exercise caution and commonsense.
READ MORE:World’s economies navigate herd immunity
Rosie Lewis5.10am: Coronavirus border confusion is ‘crippling tourism’
The tourism sector has warned the Morrison government’s failure to set dates to vaccinate and reopen the country is “devastating” the COVID-19 recovery, as it uses budget day to demand an emergency $854m JobKeeper-style scheme to support 71,000 of the worst-affected workers.
As the government was lashed over its “confusing” plan to lift the international border, peak body the Tourism and Transport Forum was briefing the offices of Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg and Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan on a $1.8bn proposal to help the sector survive into next year.
The 13 budget recommendations included an $854m wage-subsidy program mirroring JobKeeper, with employees in businesses with a turnover reduction of 50 per cent or more paid $1000 fortnightly.
It also proposes tax rebates for Australians choosing to spend more than $1000 on holiday activities or companies encouraging employees to travel for work.
Read the full story here.
Simon Benson5am:Jobs boom slashes forecast budget deficit by $53bn
A post-pandemic jobs boom will slash the forecast budget deficit by $53bn this year, in a stunning fiscal recovery driven by higher income tax receipts and a greatly reduced welfare bill.
The windfall gains booked in just eight months since the height of the state lockdowns will help fund the single largest investment by the commonwealth in essential services, with the budget poised to inject an extra $2.3bn into the mental health system for suicide prevention and urgently needed crisis services.
The mental health package, which will also be pitched as an economic productivity measure, will be a key plank of Scott Morrison’s pledge for a budget focused on services and jobs, framed as Securing Australia’s Recovery and headlined by a $17.7bn aged care policy revealed by The Australian on Monday.
The Australian understands the budget deficit for 2020-21 to be unveiled tonight will be $161bn compared with the $213.7bn forecast in the October 6 budget. This is a $52.7bn improvement and also accounts for a third stage stimulus spending program ahead of the next election.
Read the full story, by Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers, here.
Ewin Hannan4.45am:Another hotel quarantine chief counselled over breach
The director of Infection Prevention and Control in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has gone on leave in the wake of revelations about the troubled scheme.
Giulietta Pontivivo has taken leave after the government stood down her colleague, IPC general manager, Matiu Bush, and The Australian revealed the duo had been counselled over an IPC breach at the Pullman Hotel on March 1.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said on Monday night that clinicians had been appointed in an acting capacity to fill in for Ms Pontivivo and Mr Bush, the latter stood down for at least four weeks on full pay while the government investigated his conduct.
Read the full story, by Ewin Hannan and Damon Johnston, here.
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