PoliticsNow: Melbourne on alert after exposure site bungle
Victorian health officials missed listing a Woolworths as a virus exposure site earlier in the month, with anyone who visited now being urged to isolate.
- Vic Treasurer defends ‘tax grab’
- Over-50s ‘must not delay vaccine’
- Vaccine passports leave us divided
- Woolies boss reveals his big fear
Welcome to PoliticsNow, our live coverage of the latest headlines from Canberra as well as updates on our battle with the coronavirus pandemic.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has defended his budget, amid criticism from a peak business group that it’s a tax grab. Medical groups and leading doctors have warned people older than 50 not to delay in getting a COVID-19 vaccine in the hope that they can receive an alternative shot to AstraZeneca.
Ellie Dudley8.00pm:‘Labor Turnbull alliance biggest threat’: Canavan
Queensland senator Matt Canavan has deemed the “Labor-Malcolm Turnbull alliance” the “biggest threat” to the Upper Hunter region.
Speaking from the NSW region on Friday evening, ahead of Saturday’s by-election for the highly contested seat, Senator Canavan praised the “hard work” of the area’s locals.
“(The Upper Hunter region) is the future of our country,” he told Sky News. “We’ve got the great base of farming and coal-mining.”
But, he said the area is threatened by the Labor party and Malcolm Turnbull, after the former prime minister donated $6,000 to Independent candidate Kirsty O’Connell.
“If we get the Labor-Malcolm Turnbull alliance here, they want to shut down industries that would otherwise continue “ he said.
“The only thing that could shut it down would be the Labor party along with Malcolm Turnbull.”
Rebecca Urban7.30pm:Parents reject ‘identity politics’ in curriculum
Parents have overwhelmingly rejected moves to bring divisive identity politics into classrooms as concern grows that a proposed new national curriculum will embed critical race theory into Australian schooling.
Polling conducted for the Institute of Public Affairs has revealed widespread condemnation of recent incidents where school boys were shamed over their sex or skin colour, with more than 80 per cent of respondents saying that schools should not endorse such sentiments.
More than two-third disagreed that schools should teach students that Australia was “a racist country”, while 85 per cent wanted school to teach that Australians were equal, “regardless of their skin colour, race, or religious beliefs”.
The backlash comes as the think-tank has highlighted the growing influence of critical race theory on the draft curriculum, including dozens of history and civics and citizenship topics preoccupied with the oppression, discrimination and struggles of Indigenous Australians.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale6.40pm:Universities hit by Victoria’s ‘tax on jobs’
Victoria’s vice-chancellors are urgently seeking a meeting with Treasurer Tim Pallas to request an exemption from the Andrews government’s new mental health levy, which will require universities to pay tens of millions of dollars extra annually in payroll tax.
While organisations including private schools, private hospitals and charities are exempt from the new levy — announced in Thursday’s state budget to help fund a signature $3.8bn mental health package — no such exemption has been granted to universities, as they struggle amid international border closures which have seen them lose billions of dollars in revenue from overseas students.
The concern from the universities came as opposition from business groups hardened, with calculations based on the $804m the levy is expected to raise in 2022-23 indicating the number Victorians employed by more than 9000 affected businesses is likely to be at least 1.2 million, and possibly as high as double that figure.
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale5.52pm:Wrong supermarket declared Covid site in Melbourne
Victoria’s health department is urging people who have visited the outer northern Melbourne suburb of Epping to be on alert for coronavirus symptoms, after they declared the wrong supermarket as an exposure site almost a fortnight ago.
The alert comes as coronavirus fragments have been detected in wastewater in the Epping and Wollert area.
Victorians were urged to get tested almost a fortnight ago, when it emerged on May 10 that a man in his 30s had contracted coronavirus in South Australian quarantine hotel before travelling home to Wollert on May 4.
So far no other people have been found to have caught the virus from the man, despite more than 100 close contacts being quarantined.
In a press release issued shortly after 5:30pm on Friday evening, the Department of Health said it had picked up traces of COVID-19 in the Epping and Wollert wastewater samples on Thursday night.
“These types of traces of coronavirus in wastewater are getting detected regularly – with more people leaving Hotel Quarantine – cleared of the virus but still shedding, and moving around our community,” the department said.
“While the detections may be due to someone who has had COVID-19 that is no longer infectious continuing to ‘shed’ the virus, it is also possible that it is due to an active but undiagnosed infectious case.
“This detection is of note because there are public exposure sites in the area relating to the Wollert case, who has been isolating in a health hotel outside the catchment.
“When we get a detection like this, we go back and re-investigate.
“Through the course of these investigations today, we are amending an exposure site location.
“Our investigations reveal the individual shopped at the Woolworths Epping North supermarket, corner Epping Road and Lyndarum Drive (2 Lyndarum Drive), from 5.40pm to 6.38pm on Saturday 8 May.
“The original exposure site was Woolworths Epping, corner of Cooper and High Streets, Epping, on 8 May – a location which is adjacent to other exposure sites. This was an error.
“Once the wastewater detects were confirmed, the team followed up with Primary Close Contacts in the catchment area and conducted a full review.
“Through that review, and through the wastewater surveillance that prompted it, we were able to uncover this new information and share it.
“What this means is, out of an abundance of caution, anyone who has been to the (Woolworths Epping North) site has to get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.”
Remy Varga5.50pm: Victorian authorities fear undiagnosed Covid case
Victorian health authorities fear there may be an undiagnosed infectious Covid case in far north Melbourne following repeated detection of the virus in wastewater.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on late Friday afternoon urged residents Wollert and Epping experiencing symptoms to undergo testing.
“While the detections may be due to someone who has had COVID-19 that is no longer infectious continuing to ‘shed’ the virus, it is also possible that it is due to an active but undiagnosed infectious case.”
“This detection is of note because there are public exposure sites in the area relating to the Wollert case, who has been isolating in a health hotel outside the catchment.”
A pop up testing site at Epping Stadium will be operating from 9.30am on Saturday while testing is also available at Northern Hospital in Epping.
Richard Lloyd-Parry 5.40pm:Can the Olympics really go ahead in Japan?
The Olympics are happening — that, at least, is the assertion of the Japanese hosts and the Games organisers. But can they? In a country battling a fourth wave with an absence of vaccines and an increasingly hostile public?
The stakes are huge — the careers of top-level athletes and national politicians are on the line, as well as tens of billions of dollars.
The judgments, though, are different for those most closely involved. On one side is the International Olympic Committee (IOC) fighting to save the event that is its sole reason for existing; on the other, a Japanese government struggling to reconcile its huge investment of money and prestige with rising infections and the anxious resistance of its public.
READ the full story here.
The Economist 5.30pm:Cycle of violence doesn’t stop here
The fighting lasted less than two weeks, but there was no shortage of explosions.
By the end, Palestinian militant group Hamas had fired 4000 rockets at Israel. Most were intercepted by Israel’s missile defences. Israel responded with hundreds of air strikes on Gaza, which had no shield. More than 200 people were killed, all but 12 of them Palestinian.
The battle began to wind down on Thursday; after nightfall Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire. Assuming that calm returns, who knows how long it will last?
READ the full story here.
Remy Varga 4.25pm:Victoria’s $3bn tax hike will cost jobs: Staley
Victoria’s shadow treasurer has warned the state will haemorrhage jobs after the Andrews Labor government announced a $3 billion payroll tax hike.
Speaking at the state opposition’s budget reply on Friday, Louise Staley said the increase would bring Victoria’s payroll tax to 5.85 compared to NSW’s 4.85.
“If you’re a big employer paying more than $100 million in wages and you have to choose where you put your next distribution centre, and it’s either going to be Albury or Wodonga, which one are you going to pick?” she said.
The new 0.5 per cent payroll surcharge will be levied against businesses with more than $10m in wages across the country from 2022, while companies with payroll bills higher than $100m in Victoria will pay an additional 0.5 per cent on top of that.
READ MORE:Public sector wage bill skyrockets
Rachel Baxendale4.10pm:Pallas takes aim at ‘excitable’ Frydenberg
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has slammed his federal counterpart Josh Frydenberg as “prone to hyperbole” and “excitable”, after Mr Frydenberg accused the Andrews government of undermining Australia’s economic recovery through new taxes in its budget handed down on Thursday.
Addressing a post budget business lunch on Friday, Mr Pallas was having none of it.
“My dear friend the federal Treasurer, who’s prone to hyperbole, particularly when it comes to Labor state administrations, he does get a little bit excitable, but to describe Victoria as anything other than the outstanding job creating state in the nation is a joke, and I don’t need the third federal Treasurer that I’ve had to deal with now giving me a lecture about how to create jobs and economic growth,” Mr Pallas said.
“Our economic growth is twice the nation’s and our jobs growth is outstanding.”
Gross state product is expected to increase by 6.5 per cent in the 2021-22 compared with the national forecast of 4.25 per cent GDP.
READ MORE:Speeding fines to rake in $2.7bn
Rachel Baxendale4pm:Victoria’s failed bid for Medicare-type levy
Victoria approached the federal government to use a mechanism similar to the Medicare levy to fund a national version of Victoria’s $3.8bn mental health package and was rebuffed, Treasurer Tim Pallas has confirmed.
The revelation comes after Mr Pallas’s seventh budget, handed down on Thursday, included a payroll tax surcharge affecting more than 9000 Victorian businesses to help fund the commitment.
“I don’t know whether I’m breaching any confidences, but yes, I can confirm that there was some discussions between the state of Victoria and the commonwealth to discuss whether or not there was an appetite from the commonwealth to recognise that we’ve got a substantial problem, and it’s not just a Victorian problem,” Mr Pallas told a post state budget business lunch.
“We thought a Medicare levy-type arrangement would have been a better mechanism, because quite frankly, it is a health issue.
“You’ve got a situation at the moment where a lot of businesses pay for the physical wellbeing, not exclusively, but overwhelmingly, the physical wellbeing of their workforce through WorkCover, but we don’t have a mechanism that looks after the mental health
“We were keen to do something at a national level, because we’re nothing but team players, the Victorian government. We love working with our federal government colleagues, but unfortunately we couldn’t get them to go along with that, so once again Victoria’s gone it alone.”
Ellie Dudley3.50pm:Daily Covid vaccine doses hit a peak
Australia has delivered over 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 in one day, the highest number since the Morrison government’s contentious roll out began.
Some 101,146 doses of the vaccine were administered across the country on Thursday, leaving the overall tally at 3,472,874.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison took to Twitter to say this is evidence the roll out “continues to ramp up.”
A record 101,146 doses of #COVID19 vaccines were administered in Australia in past 24 hours, bringing the total administered to nearly 3.5 million. Our vaccination program continues to ramp up. I encourage everyone to roll up their sleeves and get their jab when it’s their turn.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) May 21, 2021
He also encouraged Australians to “roll up their sleeves and get their jab when it’s their turn.”
The Commonwealth is responsible for 2,253,685 of the overall doses delivered, while the state and territories have given 1,219,189.
Rachel Baxendale3.10pm:Victorian Treasurer complains about GST bias
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has slammed the federal government’s methodology for distributing GST, accusing them of deliberately manipulating the system against Victoria’s interests.
Giving an address at a post state budget business lunch co-hosted by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Melbourne Press Club, Mr Pallas said Victoria was making progress at budget repair, “despite the fact that the GST is being manipulated, quite deliberately, against the state of Victoria.”
Mr Pallas said Victoria’s share of GST revenue had fallen for a third consecutive year to 92 cents in the dollar, down from a high of 98 cents, leaving the state $1.3bn worse off next year in terms of its per capita share according to the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s latest update.
“This has been the biggest write down against a state in the history of the GST, and it means, going forward, that the state of Victoria is likely to, under this revised methodology, lose about $1bn a year in GST revenue,” Mr Pallas said.
“I can describe it as nothing other than a politically motivated decision to manipulate the GST system to advantage peak mining states at a time when of course the price of iron ore has quadrupled, and I really don’t need a lot of assistance to be entirely frank.
“Of course we don’t live in a state that has the largesse of a very large pit … to have a system with a guaranteed minimum rate of return out of GST in Western Australia is nothing short of an outrage.
“The whole point of the GST was states gave up the idea of managing their own tax systems and gave it to the commonwealth to manage in an unbiased and technically clear way. It’s now become a black box of political motivation.
“Every year I get a budget to manage, and every year I get a revision on my GST, and of recent times those GST funds have only ever gone down, and I think ultimately, if people want to have a discussion about reforms to the tax system, my response to that would be, well we need to reform the federal government first, because they have no intention of bringing in fair and efficient GST methodologies.”
READ MORE:Tax grab spreads to NSW
Rachel Baxendale2.30pm:Business group canes Vic Labor ‘cash grab’
Business peak body AiGroup has bolstered its opposition to the Andrews government’s planned payroll tax surcharge to fund its mental health package, accusing the government of a “cash grab”.
The response follows strong opposition to the new budget measure from AiGroup members after the state budget was handed down on Thursday.
In the immediate aftermath of the budget announcement, AiGroup Victorian Director Tim Piper said that business was prepared to “bear the brunt” of the new levy, although it feared the imposition of further levies.
But on Friday Mr Piper said business was “shocked” at the approach taken by the Andrews government to the employees and customers of the largest businesses in the state.
“The extra levy will impact most directly on them. Its indirect impacts extend to the level of private sector investment and employment in the state and because of that will harm the broader Victorian economy,” Mr Piper said.
“The main concern expressed by business is the lack of consistency by state government. They expect Victoria’s consumers, employees and businesses to cough up an additional $800 million each year, while the government itself has not created efficiencies to make way for its new priorities.”
Amid a $3.8bn blowout on 117 state government infrastructure projects worth more than $100m, and an expected 17.6 per cent increase in public sector wages over the forward estimates, Mr Piper said the government was simultaneously asking Victorians to “bear the impacts of a new levy on employment”.
“The government has undone a decade or more good work by the Bracks and Brumby governments which reduced payroll tax in the state,” he said.
“This Labor government is not encouraging business to Victoria, rather it’s issuing an invitation for companies to look elsewhere.
“Victoria is less competitive today than it was yesterday. This is more than a levy: it is a permanent tax hike. It’s not innovative – in fact most economists would describe it as politically-driven.
“Business accepts that funding needs to be provided to mental health and is willing to play its part. But it also believes there should have been a more even spreading of the load.”
READ MORE:Labor budget a risk to economic recovery
Heath Parkes-Hupton2.20pm:Thousands of school students rally for climate
One of the organisers of the latest School Strike 4 Climate protests says kids don’t see the point in trying hard in class while the federal government ignores their call to move to renewable energy.
Hundreds of school kids rallied in the rain outside Sydney’s Town Hall on Friday as part of nationwide activism calling for a shift in Australia’s climate policies.
Natasha Abhayawickrama, 16, said the youth walked out of school because they believed creating a “disruption” was the only way their voices would be heard.
“We don’t understand the point of working so hard in school when we’re graduating to a future which is just going to be full of extreme environmental event after extreme environmental event,” she said.
Natasha, from Sydney’s northwest, said her peers were scared of the future and would not stop protesting until the government saw the climate crisis “for what it is”.
She claimed moving to renewable energies in place of fossil fuels would be cheaper and create more jobs.
The government’s recent decision to allocate $600m to build a new gas plant in the Hunter Region showed they were out of touch.
“We won’t stop protesting until they see the climate crisis for what it is, a crisis,” she said.
“We’ve tried writing letters, protests after school, on weekends but simply we’ve just seen that we can’t make an impact if we don’t strike when people are paying attention. We have to create a distraction, create a disturbance in order to get attention.”
— NCA NewsWire
Patrick Commins2.10pm:Food sales spark rise in retail spending
Retail spending lifted solidly in April, providing further evidence the end of JobKeeper has not derailed the economic recovery. Read more here
Rhiannon Down 1.50pm:Hunter candidates in last pitch before poll
Campaigning has gone into overdrive in the NSW Hunter region, as a crowded field of 13 candidates make their last pitch to voters before polls close on Saturday.
The Nationals hold the seat of Upper Hunter on a 2.6 per cent margin, but Labor is also considered a strong chance, with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers and One Nation also in the race.
Nationals candidate Dave Layzell said he was focusing on jobs in a race that has come to revolve around coal.
“Any election is going to be very competitive and so we have a baker’s dozen of candidates in this race and of course everyone is campaigning on their particular issue,” he told Sky News.
“I’ve tried to present a positive vision for what I see for the Upper Hunter, make sure that people have jobs and they can put food on the table, pay off the mortgage and make sure we have all the support structures that support the family.”
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson also made an appearance to campaign in the region today, admitting it was a tight race.
“Look, it’s going to be tough, it always is,” Senator Hanson told Sky News.
“This is going to be a very close run but the support that we’ve had has been very good but you never take it for granted.”
READ MORE:Nationals tipped to be collectors in Hunter poll
Rhiannon Down1.10pm:Qld records no new local cases
Queensland has recorded no new cases of local transmission and two new cases in hotel quarantine.
It comes as the state administered 3821 vaccines in the past 24 hours,
WA has recorded zero cases of COVID-19 both in the community and hotel quarantine.
Queensland #COVID19 update 21/5/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) May 21, 2021
Queensland has recorded 2 new cases of COVID-19 today.
Both cases were acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.
Full details can be found here: https://t.co/kapyXpSIAPpic.twitter.com/xHQHhoxAua
Rhiannon Down12.55pm:Borders remain closed as long as it takes: Morrison
Scott Morrison has confirmed that international borders will “remain closed” for as long as it is the “safe thing” for the country.
The Prime Minister said the nation’s success in tackling COVID-19 was due to its tough border policy.
“And I think right across the country, as the chair of the National Cabinet, we have been able to work effectively together over these many months, over a year now, but it was a principal decision that I think first set Australia up here, closing national borders,” he said.
“And they remain closed, and they will remain closed for as long as that is the safe thing for Australia to do.”
Mr Morrison said Australia was in a lucky position compared to the rest of the world both economically and in terms of health outcomes.
“We’re living in a way in this country like few other countries are, we’re achieving economically together like few countries are,” he said.
“And we have to keep that going and that’s what this budget is all about.”
READ MORE: Premier, PM in quarantine standoff
Rhiannon Down 12.45pm:Onshore mRNA manufacturing to secure future: PM
Scott Morrison says the process of securing the nation’s supply of mRNA vaccines is underway, as the government seeks to shore up manufacturing capabilities onshore.
“This will be a partnership, we’ve called for those proposals to come forward and find out what exactly is needed from those proponents for those facilities and capability to be established,” the Prime Minister said.
“So that will be done as a partnership between businesses and government.”
Mr Morrison said the creation of mRNA facilities in Australia was also about bolstering the nation’s medical advancements into the future.
“It’s not just to address the challenges we have with COVID-19, as the pandemic is raging and will continue to rage for years to come,” he said.
“This is not to address any immediate vaccination issues, it is to create a capability not just to produce vaccines to do with covid. What we’ve seen with the mRNA vaccines is they are the new technology, they are the new way of doing vaccines around the world. “Trial treatment in HIV, this was largely science fiction, so this is a very new science so we’re moving quickly to establish that.”
READ MORE: Drugs firms asked: ‘can you do Aussie made’
David Ross12.40pm: CBA hikes rates, more banks to follow
Commonwealth Bank has called the bottom on ultra-low rates, hiking its three and four-year fixed mortgage rates, with industry experts saying more banks will soon follow.
The bank raised both its three and four-year fixed rates by 0.05 per cent on Friday.
This leaves Commonwealth Bank’s three-year fixed rate at 2.19 per cent and its four-year fixed rate at 2.24 per cent.
The hike to the three-year fixed rate is the first time CBA has lifted those rates since 2016.
The move comes after five other banks also raised three-year fixed rates in the last month.
This follows CBA’s 0.2 per cent hike to its four-year fixed rate in March.
RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said CBA was the first major lender to increase its three-year fixed rate from the bank’s record low and more banks were set to follow.
“Today’s rate hikes might be small, but they point to a fixed rate market that’s starting to rise,” she said.
“When CBA hiked its four-year rate in March, a flurry of lenders followed in its wake. We expect the same thing will happen with three-year rates in coming months.”
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down12.35pm:Canavan slams Fitzgibbon over ‘come to Jesus moment’
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has criticised Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon for changing his colours and “converting to the cause of coal”.
It comes after Mr Fitzgibbon split from many of his Labor colleagues and backed a $600m investment in a coal-fired gas plant in his Hunter electorate.
“There’s a lot of cynicism about Joel now as he has only started fighting for other people’s jobs when he nearly lost his own,” Senator Canavan told Sky News.
“Before the last federal election he was out talking down coal, and then he had a come to Jesus moment in the fox hole and he nearly lost his job and converted to the cause of coal mining.”
“The question is do you want someone who protects your jobs through good times and bad times, or just only in the times where they think it suits their own political purposes.”
READ MORE: Town’s fight over post-Covid tourists
Charlie Peel 12.30pm:Palaszczuk defends delay in getting jab
Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her delay in getting a COVID-19 vaccination, saying she and Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young will wait their turn before rolling up their sleeves.
The Premier revealed on Thursday she was yet to receive the vaccine despite being eligible and is the only premier aged over 50 who has not received the first of two vaccine doses.
Speaking in Cairns on Friday, she said she will wait until next week to receive a flu vaccination before waiting another two weeks to receive a COVID-19 shot.
“I will be talking to my GP and I will be getting my flu shot with Dr Young first next week,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“A lot of people are getting their flu shots first because we are coming into the flu season.
“I’ll be doing that then I’ll be getting my COVID vaccine.
“Dr Young is happy to wait her turn, just like everyone else.”
The premier has been criticised for not setting an example for other Queenslanders who are wary about the vaccine.
Queensland Health data suggests 40 per cent of residents said they were unlikely to receive a jab.
READ MORE: Premier lashed over ‘vaccine cop-out’
Rhiannon Down 12.15pm:PM: Job creation at heart of economic recovery
Scott Morrison has continued to spruik last week’s federal budget, saying it was a vindication of the Liberal party’s economic management.
“As both a treasurer and as a Prime Minister who worked with this Treasurer, we went into the pandemic with a balanced budget,” he said.
“And we achieved that by growing the Australian economy. We’ve done it. I think Australians understand that when it comes to a choice between the Labor Party and the Liberals and the Nationals, Liberals and Nationals have been able to grow economies that create stronger budgets.”
The Prime Minister said job creation was at the centre of the nation’s economic recovery plan.
“The way you have a stronger budget is you have a stronger economy. That’s always been our plan, and that plan has proved successful in the past,” he said.
“And that’s what our recovery plan for Australia, set out in this year’s budget is all about, growing the economy.
“It’s pretty simple maths. Someone who’s in a job is paying tax. Someone who is not in a job is getting paid by the taxpayer.”
Erin Lyons12.10pm:Alerts for 15 Sydney suburbs as Covid detected in sewage
Fragments of COVID-19 have been detected at a sewage plant that serves more than 40,000 Sydney residents across 15 suburbs.
NSW issued an alert on Friday morning after the disturbing find at the Homebush sewage network site.
The catchment covers Homebush West, Strathfield, Rookwood, Concord West, Sydney Olympic Park, Wentworth Point, Newington, Lidcombe, Homebush, Silverwater, Petersham, Liberty Grove, Rhodes, North Strathfield and Concord.
Fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been detected at a sewage network site at Homebush.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 21, 2021
“NSW Health is aware of recent COVID-19 cases, several returned overseas travellers who live in this catchment,” the department said in a statement.
“People who are recently recovered from COVID-19 can continue to shed virus fragments into the sewerage system for several weeks even after they are no longer infectious.”
But the health department is still urging anyone who lives in those suburbs to “be vigilant” and get tested as soon as any symptoms appear.
NSW has not recorded a community case of COVID-19 for more than two weeks after a man from Sydney’s eastern suburbs and his wife tested positive for the disease.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down11.55am:PM: We’ll soon see half a million a week vaccinated
Scott Morrison has spruiked the vaccine rollout, saying we would soon see half a million of vaccinations per week.
However the Prime Minister refused to be drawn on concerns that Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was sending the wrong signals by being the only premier over 50 not to be vaccinated, while the state’s Chief Medical Officer Jeannette Young was reported to be planning to get the Pfizer jab.
“I am encouraging older Australians, particularly those over 70 to go and get their vaccination this week,” he said.
“We are likely to see our first half million weeks of vaccinations. Half a million. We may well see 100,000 a day today.
“By early next week we will have vaccinated more than half the over-70s population in Australia.”
Mr Morrison said the priority remained for older Australians to get vaccinated as one of the most vulnerable age groups.
“And very soon we will have fully completed the vaccination of all those in residential aged care facilities,” he said.
“Now, this is important, because these are our most vulnerable populations. As we saw in the Victorian second wave, they are the Australians who are most at risk. I am encouraging, if you are over 70 and you have had your vaccine, which is almost half right now, thank you for doing that.”
READ MORE:Google’s not the only one rethinking office space
Rhiannon Down 11.30am:Frydenberg: Jobs data shows economic management
Josh Frydenberg has spruiked the nation’s economic recovery, following the release of strong jobs data on Thursday.
Speaking from Tasmania, the Treasurer said the drop in unemployment reflected the government’s strong economic management.
“Yesterday we got the new jobs data and it showed that the unemployment rate nationally had fallen to 5.5 per cent,” he said.
“(Some) 33,800 new full time jobs have taken off and we’ve seen underemployment get to its lowest number in seven years.
“We’ve seen youth unemployment come down to its lowest level in 12 years.
Mr Frydenberg criticised Labor’s calls to continue JobKeeper into this year to support the nation’s economic recovery.
“And yesterday’s job data came after the end of JobKeeper at the end of March,” he said. “Since the end of JobKeeper in the weeks following that program coming to an end, 132,000 people have come off income support.
“And we know that our political opposition have said that there would be diabolical consequences at the end of JokKeeper that it would have a devastating impact.”
READ MORE: Jobs defy wage subsidy’s demise
Rhiannon Down11.20am:NSW doughnut day for first time in 2 months
NSW has recorded zero cases of community transmission and no cases and hotel quarantine for the first time in almost two months.
The first ‘double-doughnut day’ since April 1 comes as 14,691 tests were processed in the past 24 hours.
Health authorities said the vaccine rollout had also progressed with a record number of tests administered.
“NSW Health administered its highest number of vaccines in one day with 11,950 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including 5,171 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park,” the health body said.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 21, 2021
There were also no new cases acquired overseas, meaning the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 5,378. pic.twitter.com/ITppLcL5hJ
Remy Varga11.05am:Belle Gibson home raided over debts
Authorities have again raided the Melbourne home of disgraced wellness blogger Belle Gibson over hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid fines.
Victoria’s Sheriff’s Office executed a warrant at the Melbourne’s mother’s home in the inner north suburb Northcote on Friday over “substantial debts” owed to the state.
The founder of app The Whole Pantry built a wellness empire on the back of fraudulent claims she cured brain cancer through cleaning eating and holistic living.
A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokeswoman said Ms Gibson owed more than $500,000 in fines, penalties and interest.
“Ms Gibson owes the Victorian public a substantial debt and Consumer Affairs Victoria will continue to pursue repayment,” she said.
“A warrant of seizure and sale on Ms Gibson was executed today by Sheriff’s Officers at an address in Northcote.”
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down10.55am:Ley offers talks with school climate strikers
Environment Minister Sussan Ley has responded to the demands of student climate protesters, saying she would be happy to talk to any young activists who came to her office.
The School Strike 4 Climate network will start at 11am around the country, with thousands of young people expected to join the march.
“There will be protests across Australia and probably outside my electorate office in Albury and if I was there,” she told the ABC.
“I would come out on the pavement and talk to the students because I respect the students have a right to protest.
“But I can tell you the last time I did that, in Parliament House, actually, they were surprised at the number of things that we are doing. That we are world leaders in the take-up of renewables, that the contribution we are making to technology when it comes to climate
adaptation, hydrogen, blue carbon.”
Ms Ley said environmental issues were her top concern, despite the government facing heavy criticism this week after it invested $600m in a coal-fired gas plant in the Hunter Valley.
“While Angus Taylor as Energy Minister is responsible and working hard for us to reach net zero as soon as possible, there is no one with more ambition to do that than me as
Environment Minister,” she said.
“So much is happening as well to complement that effort, and to assist the world look at what we’re doing here where we’ve managed climate change in our natural landscapes for a long time.”
READ MORE: Qantas orders more job cuts
Rhiannon Down10.35am:Vaccine take-up gathering pace: Birmingham
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has spruiked the government’s vaccine rollout, following reports that vaccine doses were sitting unused amid a rise in vaccine hesitancy.
“We’re going to push on with the vaccine rollout that is seeing a strong growth in the vaccine take up the first million doses that were administered in about 46 or 47 days,” he told Sky News.
“The second million doses were administered in just 19 days and the third million doses in just 17 days.
“The vaccine take up in Australia has been gathering pace.
“Yes there are some Australians who have concerns and are reluctant and we encourage them to sit down and talk to their GP.”
Mr Birmingham said the vaccine would play an integral role in reopening international borders once suppression of the virus was no longer possible.
“The reason to get vaccinated first and foremost is because it could potentially save your life,” he said.
“It can stop you from facing serious illness and that is what GPs are best placed to talk to people about.
“We don’t anticipate Australia being closed forever, or able to suppress Covid forever under these sorts of circumstances. That’s why vaccination is important.”
READ MORE: Pharmacies to help in vaccine rollout
Rhiannon Down10.05am:mRNA decision ‘should have happened last year’
Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles has criticised the government’s hesitation in moving to secure a supply of mRNA vaccines.
It comes as the government announced plans to manufacture mRNA vaccines onshore, approaching the market for expressions of interest in producing the vaccines in Australia.
“This is the decision that the government should have made last year,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“I mean, in the midst of its self-congratulations last year they were complacent in their failure to put Australia properly in the queues of the various vaccine projects around the world. “They bet the house on AstraZenecaing with able to do the job here and now what you see is really, in the messaging that the government is giving, an almost undermining of people having confidence in AstraZeneca.
Mr Marles also expressed concern about Health Minister Greg Hunt’s comments that more mRNA jabs would become available at the end of the year.
“I listened to the Health Minister yesterday and I couldn’t work out whether on the one hand he was telling us to go and get AstraZeneca if we were over 50 or if he was dog whistling to us all having an option to get Moderna or some other mRNA vaccine at the end of the year,” he said.
“It is deeply confusing. The truth of the matter is we need to get vaccinated as swiftly as possible.
“We don’t get back to normal, we don’t get back to the other side of COVID until we have been vaccinated.”
READ MORE: Vaccine passports ‘to leave Aussies divided’
Rhiannon Down 9.55am:mRNA on home soil important investment: Dutton
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed the federal government has approached the market for expressions of interest in producing mRNA vaccines in Australia, saying it would
secure the nation’s vaccine supply in an unknown future.
“I think what everybody has learnt out of this is we just don’t know what the future holds,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“The ability for this investment to result not just in vaccines for whatever a future pandemic might mean, it also gives us a chance at responding better or finding a cure for cancer, other cardiovascular disease, et cetera.
“So this is a very, very important investment that the government can make. It means that there is production on shore, so that whatever happens into the future offshore we can contribute to our domestic requirements.
“I think it is a prudent approach and Christian Porter and the Prime Minister and the Health Minister I think have made a very important decision here.”
READ MORE: Vaccine question experts can’t answer
Rhiannon Down9.40am: Calls for calm over clot cases
Deakin University epidemiologist Catherine Bennett has called for calm after six new cases of a rare clotting disorder were linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Professor Bennett said it was “reassuring news” that occurrences of clots remained extremely rare despite the new cases.
“We’re looking at a situation where we are still seeing this rate of between one or two per 100,000,” she told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“The good news is that these are investigations that have been going on for a couple of weeks.
“We’re looking at a range of cases with people with quite mild examples which are being picked up now. This is good for stopping it, you want to have that level of follow-up and make sure we are detecting what is going on.
Professor Bennett said many of the cases had suffered mild side-effects only and made a full recovery from the clots.
“We know that there have been cases who have been treated outside of hospital,” she said.
“They haven’t even gone into hospital and were back to work pretty quickly. It’s good to know that. I do think it makes people realise that this is not always serious.
“We don’t want anyone to have blood clots if it can be avoided but it is very low occurrences and a full range from relatively mild to the more severe.”
READ MORE: Six new cases linked to vaccine
Rhiannon Down 9.15am:Another doughnut day for Victoria
Victoria has recorded another day of zero locally acquired cases and zero cases in hotel quarantine.
Some 10,683 vaccine doses were administered and 18,042 tests were received in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
No new cases were reported yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 20, 2021
- 10,683 vaccine doses were administered
- 18,042 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/NrlQk7Vaso
Rhiannon Down 9.10am:Hunt ‘having bad day’ over vax supply
Grattan Institute health program director Stephen Duckett has suggested Health Minister Greg Hunt was “having a bad day” or playing politics when he said more mRNA vaccines would be available at the end of the year.
On Thursday, Mr Hunt urged everybody aged over 50 to get a vaccine as soon as possible, saying there would be enough mRNA vaccine for everyone later on.
“There are two possible explanations, one a benign one basically he was having a bad day as we all do, and wasn’t thinking it through,” he told Sky News.
“And the other is the more political one that the government wants to defer the border opening as long as possible for political reasons and he was trying to actually talk down the vaccinations.
“My view is you always think the best of people rather than the worst so I think he was having a bad day.”
READ MORE: Six new clot cases linked to vaccine
Rhiannon Down 8.50am:mRNA facilities onshore ‘game changer’
Infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake has backed moves to establish mRNA manufacturing facilities onshore saying it will boost the vaccine rollout “enormously”.
“In the past whenever we have needed boosters because a pathogen has mutated, it has generally taken about six months to get that up and running in a laboratory setting, but with the mRNA vaccines it only takes six weeks,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“So that in itself is a big game changer.”
Dr Senanayake also responded to reports that AstraZeneca jabs were sitting in fridges unused at government vaccination facilities.
“It is not damaging in the sense that the vaccines can sit in the fridge quite safely for six months,” he said.
“But obviously from a rollout point of view we want those vaccines going into people’s arms.”
READ MORE:Vaccine passports ‘to leave Aussies divided’
Rhiannon Down8.35am: Prince William receives Covid jab
Prince William received his first COVID-19 jab this week and expressed his thanks to healthcare workers involved in the vaccine rollout.
On Tuesday I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 20, 2021
To all those working on the vaccine rollout - thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do. pic.twitter.com/8QP6ao5fEb
The Duke of Cambridge and second-in-line to the British throne revealed he had received the jab on Tuesday this week on social media, sharing a picture of himself receiving the jab.
“On Tuesday I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said in a social media post.
“To all those working on the vaccine rollout – thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do.”
Prince William reportedly contracted COVID-19 in April last year at a similar time to his father, the Prince of Wales, but kept his diagnosis private so as not to alarm the public.
READ MORE: How fake documents secured Diana interview
Rhiannon Down8.30am:School climate strikes return across Australia
Thousands of students will protest for climate action today in the first school strikes for climate action since the start of the pandemic.
Young people will gather in capital cities and towns across the country calling for the federal government to stop funding gas and coal projects and invest in renewable energy.
School Strike 4 Climate network organiser Natasha Abhayawickrama, 16, said it was a matter of urgency that government’s act against climate change.
“The federal government that is supposed to be ensuring our general wellbeing and prosperity appears far more concerned with lining the already-bursting pockets of multinational gas companies,” she said.
“Morrison and his government could and should be protecting our climate, land, and water. Their money-making agenda – at the expense of vulnerable Australians’ wellbeing and prosperity – is fuelling the climate crisis.”
It comes just days after the government announced plans to invest $600m in a gas-fired power plant in NSW’s Hunter Valley.
READ MORE:Hunter Valley MPs revolt over plant
Rhiannon Down8.05am:Barilaro renews calls for Turnbull to quit Liberals
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has called on former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign from the Liberal party after it emerged that he had financially backed an independent candidate in the Hunter by-election.
“Malcolm is Malcolm, he started the campaign shooting from the hip and finished the campaign the same way, he’s making it personal and attacking me,” Mr Barillaro told Sky News.
Mr Barilaro accused the former Prime Minister of being a traitor, adding that he never “fitted in” in the party.
“If he doesn’t want to back in the Liberal party a Liberal government, we’ve seen his treachery against ScoMo and the Liberal-Nationals, we’ve seen the treachery in the seat of Wentworth against David Sharma in the by-election at the time,” he said.
“He doesn’t seem to want to be a member of the Liberal Party. He should do the honourable thing and resign.”
Mr Turnbull responded to the calls last night calling the calls a “joke”.
“What a joke! Barilaro called on me to resign when I was the Liberal Prime Minister of Australia,” he said.
What a joke! Barilaro called on me to resign when I was the Liberal Prime Minister of Australia! https://t.co/nAP10gwAH1
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) May 20, 2021
Rhiannon Down7.45am:‘Clot risk higher from Covid than jab’
Sydney University vaccine expert Julie Leask says the risk of contracting blood clots from COVID-19 was higher than from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed on Thursday that six new cases of a rate clotting disorder had been linked to the vaccine.
“It does depend on your age group, but it is absolutely the case,” Professor Leak told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“COVID-19 is still the bigger risk overall. The blood clots are serious but they are very rare.
Professor Leask said the clots were now highly treatable, with medical experts now well equipped to respond to instances when they occur.
“We know that as we continue to vaccinate people, there will be that tiny proportion who will get this particular kind of clotting syndrome,” she said.
“They are now picking up more quickly and those people are getting better treatments, so they are not getting sick.
“We have just got to remember that the benefits of vaccination are so important.”
READ MORE:Chilling account of Covid mistakes
Rhiannon Down7.15am:Government’s vaccine messaging ‘unclear’: Swan
National Labor Party president Wayne Swan has accused Health Minister Greg Hunt of unclear messaging surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
It comes as Mr Hunt urged everybody aged over 50 to get a vaccine as soon as possible, adding that there would be enough mRNA vaccine for everyone later.
“I think it is a concern which is why what Greg Hunt said yesterday was so appalling,” Mr Swan told Channel 9’s Today.
He urged the federal government to “get its act together” when it came to the vaccine rollout.
“They didn’t get enough Pfizer. Some people are wary about AstraZeneca,” he said.
“If they want to do something about that, they should have a very substantial campaign, which they haven’t had. The rollout from their perspective has been botched week in, week out.”
Mr Swan also defended Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who came under fire on Thursday for not having received her COVID-19 vaccine.
“I don’t quite understand why we’re piling in on the Queensland Premier,” he said.
“The truth is the rollout is the responsibility of the federal government. The state government has a role to play. I think our Premier has played a leading role all the way through this crisis.”
READ MORE:‘This is pathetic’: COVID-19 heroes on strike
Rhiannon Down7am:Test, trace failures lead to UK infection surge
Failures in the UK’s test and trace system have been blamed for a surge in infections linked to the Indian variant.
The technical glitch meant that for three weeks between April and May, eight local authorities did not have access to the full data on positive tests in the area, the BBC reported.
The number of missing cases was highest in Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, Blackpool, York, Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock also impacted.
It comes amid a dangerous surge in infections linked to the Indian variant B1.617.2 as 3424 cases were recorded, a 160 per cent increase in last week’s 2111 cases.
We have updated the number of confirmed cases of #COVID19#variants identified in UK.
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) May 20, 2021
More: https://t.co/NxiBAaLVss
Cases of VOC-21APR-02 have risen by 2,111 since last week. These are still predominantly affecting the North West of England – particularly Bolton – and London. pic.twitter.com/gADvCktEev
The variant, which is feared to be more infectious, has been found in more than 50 countries around the world, including Australia.
British health authorities have warned that easing of restrictions may be threatened by the variant as it continues to circulate.
READ MORE:‘Death has become ugly’ as India hits daily record
Rhiannon Down6.30am:EU forges ahead with digital health pass
The European Parliament and EU member states have forged a deal authorising a digital health pass ahead of the summer tourism season.
The agreement will allow anyone from the EU’s 27 member states to secure a COVID-19 health certificate that shows their vaccination status, or if they have previously recovered from COVID-19.
“This is an important step towards restarting EU free movement as safely as possible, while providing clarity and certainty for our citizens,” EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.
Other countries around the world have implemented similar systems, including Israel’s “green pass”, and the UK where some international travel will be permitted to citizens through an NHS app.
READ MORE:Letters to the Editor — A question of leadership in the COVID-19 age
Natasha Robinson5.10am:Over-50s warned — don’t delay COVID-19 jab
Medical groups and leading doctors have warned people older than 50 not to delay in getting a COVID-19 vaccine in the hope that they can receive an alternative shot to AstraZeneca.
Health Minister Greg Hunt urged everybody aged over 50 to get a vaccine as soon as possible, saying there would be enough mRNA vaccine for everyone later.
“Right now, we want to encourage everybody over 50 to be vaccinated as early as possible,” he said. “But we’ve been very clear that as supply increases later on in the year, there will be enough … mRNA vaccines for every Australian.”
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said while extra Pfizer and Moderna supplies would arrive later in the year, it was crucial Australians aged over 50 got vaccinated with an AstraZeneca jab as soon as possible. “With winter on our doorstep, we are vulnerable to a coronavirus outbreak,” he said.
“The best way to protect our community is for the vulnerable to be vaccinated, especially those aged over 70, who are vulnerable to very bad outcomes if they contract coronavirus.”
Read the full story, by Natasha Robinson and Adeshola Ore, here.
Rosie Lewis5am:Vaccine passports ‘to leave Aussies divided’, PM warned
Scott Morrison is being warned the introduction of domestic vaccine passports may create two classes of citizens, as he vows to continue working with the states on a plan to exempt fully vaccinated Australians from COVID restrictions.
Business groups joined the premiers of NSW and Queensland on Thursday in criticising the idea, which the Prime Minister has this week been promoting. Under the plan, states would waive snap lockdown and border closure restrictions on people who had received their coronavirus jabs.
But Restaurant and Catering chief executive Wes Lambert said a domestic vaccine passport system “would be very cumbersome” and create more red tape during the pandemic that would treat Australians differently based on their vaccination status.
“We need an open country, an open economy and the government has been requesting we holiday here this year — it’d be very difficult for us to support further red tape that would stop Australians from travelling within their own country and the potential to create two classes of Australian citizens,” he said.
Read the full story here.
Eli Greenblat4.45am:Woolies boss’ major worries over consumer confidence
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci has conceded he feels the “most anxious” about the state of consumer confidence in Australia and the potential polarisation of the community into haves and have-nots.
The supermarket boss told the Australian Food and Grocery Council suppliers forum on Thursday that the company was coming under cost pressure from sources such as shipping. But he ranked consumer confidence as the most pressing issue for the retailer.
“The biggest issue we are most anxious about right now is consumer confidence — actually now it is pretty good. But it is hard to believe it will continue,” Mr Banducci said.
He then raised the issue of growing inequality in Australia which the supermarket giant was also looking at, sounded a cautionary note on a growing split between rich and poor Australians.
“We think there is going to be potential bifurcation of the haves and the have nots in Australia, so the value we deliver in certain demographics is going to be very different in terms of what is value to other demographics.”
Read the full story here.
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