PoliticsNow: Christine Holgate was not fired, she quit: Fletcher
Paul Fletcher breaks his silence on former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate as PM digs in and refuses to apologise.
- Holgate not fired, she quit: Fletcher
- PM refuses to apologise to Holgate
- Morrison rethinks vaccine strategy
- Australia sets new China export high
Welcome to PoliticsNow, our live coverage of the latest headlines from Canberra as well as news on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has broken his silence on Christine Holgate as Scott Morrison refuses to apologise to former Australia Post chief executive, saying it was never his intention to offend her in the wake of the Cartier watches scandal.
The Prime Minister has put national cabinet on a “warlike footing’’ to speed up Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination program as Trade Minister Dan Tehan prepares to fly to Europe for talks on breaking vaccine export bans.
Ewin Hannan8.06pm:Finance Department admits underpaying staff
The Finance Department had admitted paying below-award wages to junior electorate officers employed by federal politicians.
In an announcement on Wednesday night, the department said it had identified periods over the past four years where wages paid to officers employed on the two lowest classifications had “been less than the award”.
The department has estimated the highest underpayment to an individual officer equated to $46 a week, or $1.21 an hour.
The minimum annual salary paid to the affected employees is $51,608.
The department said it had “self-reported the underpayments”, the extent of which were not disclosed in the statement, to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
“We are auditing the pay of all EOA-01 and EOA-02 staff employed during the relevant periods over the past four years, including former employees,” it said.
“We have engaged KPMG to verify our proposed approach and to certify all payments to staff are correct. We expect this audit will be completed and back pay will be made to all affected staff by the end of the current financial year.”
Labor’s industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said “the people underpaid are the most vulnerable of all the people working for the government”. “I suspect no minister has been underpaid,” he said.
The department said it had told the Community and Public Sector Union and Australian Services Union and would be contacting all affected staff shortly.
READ MORE:Battle looms over $50bn clean-up bill
Jess Malcolm7.03pm:‘Why is the minister defending a lying chair?’
Former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate has demanded Communications Minister Paul Fletcher answer questions about the company’s chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo, who she accused of lying to a parliamentary committee.
Speaking on Sky News, Ms Holgate accused Mr Di Bartolomeo of lying about the process that led to her removal, claiming that she was made to illegally step aside.
“Why is the minister defending a chair that they know is lying? That’s what I’d like you to ask the minister tomorrow night on your program,” Ms Holgate told Sky’s Peta Credlin.
“It’s very clear, it was an unlawful standing down. I’ve asked and asked so many people and I know that so many Liberal MPs have asked. Just say sorry for what you’ve done.”
Ms Holgate also said she was against any attempt to privatise the parcel business and any further cuts to the business, following a report from management consultancy company BCG which advised against expanding any parts of the business.
“My strong recommendation was that it would be an absolute disaster,” she said. “We are a huge land mass … regional Australia depends so much on Australia Post. If we start cutting services it would be crippling to regional communities.”
When questioned if her sacking was about plans to privatise the Australia Post business, Ms Holgate said: “I don’t know the answer to that.”
READ MORE:That was the ‘real Christine’, says millionaire mentor
Nicola Berkovic6.20pm:Non-citizens released from detention under test
Seven non-citizens facing deportation have been released from immigration detention because they have been able to prove they have Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.
Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo told Senate estimates on Wednesday that the department had previously divided people into two categories for the purposes of the Migration Act — citizens and aliens.
A third class of people had been added following a High Court decision last year: those who met a test of “indigeneity”, which meant they could not be held in immigration detention because they were not aliens under the Constitution, he said.
The High Court ruled last February, in a case involving convicted criminals Daniel Love and Brendan Thoms, that Aboriginal people — even those born overseas — could not be considered non-citizens under the Constitution.
The department’s general counsel Pip de Veau told Senate estimates there had been seven people released from immigration detention who met the High Court’s test for indigeneity.
Another 20 people, still in immigration detention, were being assessed but none had provided the department with “evidence sufficiently to have been assessed to meet or probably meet the tripartite test” distilled from the Love and Thoms case.
Ms de Veau said the department had distilled a three-part test from the judgment — that a person was biologically descended from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people; that they self-identified as Indigenous; and were recognised by elders or others who held traditional authority as members of an Aboriginal society that had a spiritual connection to country and had followed laws or customs that pre-dated British settlement.
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe asked the departmental officials how members of the Stolen Generation could meet the third limb of the test.
Mr Pezzullo said the High Court’s new or varied test of Aboriginality, distilled from the Love and Thoms judgment, specifically related to immigration law and the use of the aliens power under the Constitution, and did not cascade into other areas of the law, including native title.
Nicola Berkovic6.05pm:AAT members accused of excessively billing taxpayers
Four Coalition-appointed members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have been accused by Labor of excessively billing taxpayers for their work while holding down other jobs.
Former Liberal staffer Tony Barry, barristers Vanessa Plain and Jason Harkess, and Louise Bygrave, a former adviser to Liberal MP Tim Wilson as Human Rights Commissioner, were all paid more than full-time members for their part-time roles, despite also working outside the AAT, according to analysis by Labor.
Former Liberal staffer Tony Barry was paid about $251,000 in 2019-20 for his part-time AAT role. The amount was equivalent to working more than five days a week at his rate of $813 a day, once superannuation was deducted, according to calculations by the federal Opposition.
Mr Barry — a former staffer to then-opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, and former Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy — had two other jobs at the time, working as a senior consultant at a lobbying firm and his own firm. He has since quit his job at lobbying firm Next Level Strategic Services over concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
Two other AAT members, Vanessa Plain and Jason Harkess, who provided pro bono legal assistance to the Liberal Party-backed legal challenge to the Victorian government’s COVID measures, were also paid for more than five days work a week, based on their daily rates of $949, according to the Opposition’s analysis.
Ms Plain was paid about $128,000 by the AAT between July 1 and November 1 last year.
Joe Kelly 5.05pm:She wasn’t forced out; we won’t sell Aus Post: Fletcher
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has firmly rejected suggestions that former CEO Christine Holgate was forced out of Australia Post because she opposed recommendations in a key BCG review to sell-off the parcels business.
Mr Fletcher said Ms Holgate had resigned and provided an assurance the government had no intention of splitting-up Australia Post or selling off the parcels business. He also argued that it was Labor that had tried to launch a “political hit job” against Ms Holgate in the first place.
“That is not correct at all,” Mr Fletcher told Sky News. “Australia Post is a government business enterprise, 100 per cent owned by the government. That will not change.”
“The parcels business is key to Australia Post. It is growing strongly at the same time as mail volumes, letter volumes are dropping.
“Last year, over the period March to December, parcel volumes were 44 per cent higher than the corresponding period in the previous year driven significantly by the pandemic, people staying home, people ordering goods online and those then being delivered.”
He strongly rejected any suggestion the parcels business would be sold off, saying: “No … That is not our intention.”
It came as Mr Fletcher rejected suggestions that Ms Holgate had not resigned.
He also argued that neither the government nor the Australia Post board had dismissed Ms Holgate — only that she was “asked to stand aside during the course of an investigation.”
“There is no factual question that Ms Holgate resigned.”
Contradicting Ms Holgate, Mr Fletcher also argued that the former Australia Post chief executive was not, in fact, authorised to spend up to $150,000 on bonuses, saying that she simply had a “$150,000 authority limit on her credit card.”
“That is not the same as saying that she is authorised to go and spend $150,000 on whatever she wants. The key point is there need to be documented processes in relation to remuneration that are approved by a board.”
Mr Fletcher said the report by the law firm Maddocks into the Cartier watches saga found that the former chair of Australia Post John Stanhope had also not recommended that staff receive rewards that could have justified the spending of $20,000 on the gifting of four watches.
“Our government had that investigated. The Maddocks report says that the previous chairman did not authorise it,” he said.
Ms Fletcher sought to shift responsibility for the controversy to Labor, arguing that ALP Senator Kimberly Kitching had initially raised the issue with the awarding of the Cartier watches last year in what he likened to a “political hit job”.
“A Labor Senator asked a series of questions in Senate estimates about whether Ms Holgate had, as chief executive, authorised the provision of $20,000 worth of Cartier watches as gifts to four executives. And as a consequence, the events of that day unfolded.”
However, Mr Fletcher also justified the government’s concerns with the spending of the $20,000 on the watches. He said that $20,000 was a “pretty significant fraction of the average income in a year of a typical Australian.”
“We want to see money being dealt with carefully and appropriately. And that means in accordance with the documented procedures of the organisation. And it must be consistent with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act.
“This is about the careful and appropriate spending of public money. And that is something that we take very seriously.”
READ MORE: That was the ‘real Christine’, says millionaire mentor
Adeshola Ore 4.45pm:Holgate was not fired, she resigned: Fletcher
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has denied former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate’s testimony that she was dismissed from her role by the federal government in the wake of the Cartier watches scandal.
During a blistering Senate testimony on Tuesday, Ms Holgate said she was bullied out of the job and accused Scott Morrison of publicly humiliating and bullying her on the floor of parliament when he called for her to stand aside after the purchasing of the watches was revealed. The Prime Minister has refused to apologise to Ms Holgate, saying it was never his intention to offend her.
“She resigned on the 2nd of November,” Mr Fletcher told Sky News.
“On the 2nd of November she emailed the board, around 10.30am in the morning saying ‘I offer my resignation’. She also issued a public statement shortly after 2pm.”
“Let’s be clear — Ms Holgate resigned and that put the board in a position where there was no longer a chief executive.”
During the Senate hearing, Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo said Mr Fletcher had contacted him on the day the purchasing of the Cartier watches had been revealed at Senate estimates and requested Ms Holgate should step aside — an instruction he said he did not interpret as a direction.
Mr Fletcher said “there was no factual question” regarding Ms Holgate’s resignation.
Mr Fletcher told Sky News he did speak to Mr Di Bartolomeo on the day that the purchasing of the watches was revealed, and said that Ms Holgate needed to “stand aside while an investigation occurred into the facts.”
“That was the well established process … it was a similar process that occurred with James Shipton, the chair of ASIC, when there were questions about spending in ASIC.”
READ MORE:How PM pulled trigger on a Labor assassination
Adeshola Ore 3.55pm:Australia needs a deal for Moderna vaccine: Butler
Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler has urged the Morison government to establish domestic facilities that can produce mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna to speed up the COVID vaccine rollout.
Labor had called for the government to secure a deal for the Moderna vaccine before updated health advice about the AstraZeneca shot further delayed the nation’s sluggish rollout.
Mr Butler said a facility that can use mRNA technology, which Pfizer and Moderna use, should be established in Australia.
“This is state of the art vaccine technology. It’s technology that’s rolling out right through Europe and North America,” Mr Butler told Sky News.
“For reasons I still don’t understand, the government has refused to negotiate a deal with Moderna. Importantly, Moderna already has a booster vaccine which is going to trial. We are going to need booster shots, probably, to deal with the fact that this virus is mutating.”
Adeshola Ore 3.45pm:Feds ‘need to repair trust on vaccines with states’
Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler says ramping up national cabinet meetings will allow states to become “more into the picture” of the nation’s vaccine rollout.
Scott Morrison has asked national cabinet to meet twice a week from next Monday to speed up the nation’s vaccine rollout which has missed commonwealth-set inoculation targets.
Mr Butler warned the federal government would need to repair trust with the states and territories following recent concerns about transparency regarding vaccine supplies.
“They’ve frankly not been given enough doses. Still, three-quarters of GPs are only getting 50 doses per week,” he told Sky News.
“We need these supplies that we do have flowing more quickly.”
Jess Malcolm 3.15pm:Nationwide vaccinations approach 1.3 million
A total of 1,295,672 vaccines have been administered as part of the federal government’s vaccination rollout, with 60,991 doses given in the last 24 hours.
The commonwealth has administered 700,332 with 43,523 given in the 24 hours to Tuesday night.
The states and territories have given 595,340 with 17,468 completed in the last 24 hours.
NSW has administered the most with 160,637 followed by Victoria with 152,363, Queensland with 115,025, WA with 70,584, Tasmania with 25,832, South Australia with 40,728, ACT with 18,644 and the Northern Territory with 11,527.
A total of 547,512 shots have been administered in primary care clinics by the commonwealth, and 152,820 given in aged and disability facilities.
The figures are part of the new commitment by the commonwealth to release daily numbers in a bid to increase transparency in its rollout.
Robyn Ironside 3.10pm:Slow jabs will delay international travel: Qantas
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has conceded the resumption of international travel could happen later than October 31 in response to the blowout in the federal government’s vaccination timeline.
The airline pushed back its return to international flights from July to late October in February, based on the assumption the majority of Australians would be vaccinated by then.
Speaking to the CAPA Centre for Aviation on Wednesday, Mr Joyce said he was thankful for Australia’s position in the COVID crisis, and to the state and federal leaders “who helped us get there”.
But he revealed the government had been unable to provide a clear picture of when borders would reopen.
“The government have said to us, they can’t give us that date with certainty today because there’s a lot of things it depends on – how effective the vaccine is against stopping transmission, what the rollout looks like, what proportion of the population will have vaccinated, what the success of the other countries is going to look like,” said Mr Joyce.
“If it happens earlier, we can adapt or if it happens later, and it could happen later we just adapt and use it.”
READ the full story here.
Jade Gailberger 2.23pm:PM regrets causing distress to Holgate
Scott Morrison has doubled down on his outburst over Australia Post spending thousands on watches for senior executives despite its former chief executive accusing him of “humiliating” her.
Christine Holgate resigned in the midst of the scandal last year and on Wednesday demanded an apology from the Prime Minister for his remarks.
Mr Morrison in October declared the watch purchases were “disgraceful” and said Ms Holgate had been instructed to stand aside.
The prime minister told reporters on Wednesday he did not believe Ms Holgate’s decision to gift Cartier watches to well-paid executives who already had existing performance bonus arrangements.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate, I still don’t think it was appropriate,” he said.
“When that occurred it was also stated that this was not taxpayers’ money. I disagreed with that statement strongly too.
“If it’s a government company, it is taxpayers’ money, and it should be treated with the same level of respect across government organisations as well.”
But Mr Morrison conceded he regretted causing distress to Ms Holgate by publicly berating her.
“The language in the parliament was very strong. It was not my intention to cause distress to Christine Holgate. I regret any distress that that strong language may have caused to her, and indeed did cause to her,” he said.
Ms Holgate on Tuesday told a Senate inquiry the comments were a public “humiliation” and left her position untenable.
She also claimed gender had a role to play in her ousting, which Mr Morrison flatly rejected. — NCA Newswire
READ MORE from The Weekend Australian archives – Who is Christine Holgate?
Richard Gluyas 2.04pm:NZ financial sector must disclose climate impact
New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law which requires the financial sector to disclose the impact of climate change on businesses and how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities.
The legislation has been introduced to parliament and will receive its first reading this week.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark said it was important that every part of NZ’s economy was helping to cut emissions and transition to a low-carbon future.
“This legislation ensures that financial organisations disclose and ultimately take action against climate-related risks and opportunities,” Dr Clark said.
“Becoming the first country in the world to introduce a law like this means we have an opportunity to show real leadership and pave the way for other countries to make climate-related disclosures mandatory.”
Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the law was another step towards a climate-friendly, prosperous future for NZ.
“Climate change will have a profound impact on businesses all over NZ,” Mr Shaw said.
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Finn McHugh1.43pm:Morrison asks Brittany Higgins for private meeting
Scott Morrison says his office has reached out to Brittany Higgins to arrange a face-to-face meeting between the pair.
Mr Morrison in March confirmed he was willing to meet Ms Higgins, who alleged she was raped in parliament in 2019, in any city around Australia.
He confirmed on Wednesday his office had “reached out” to Ms Higgins for a private meeting, but said no location had yet been arranged.
“I’m looking forward to meeting with Brittany,” he said.
“It will be a private conversation. I know there are a range of issues she’s relayed that she would like to raise, and I look forward to hearing her.”
The prime minister last month said he would be willing to meet Ms Higgins away from Canberra to avoid the trauma of her returning to parliament.
He said at the time he was unsure whether Ms Higgins would be willing to meet with him, and said it was a “now a matter for Brittany”.
Ms Higgins welcomed the offer but said she hadn’t been aware he was “willing to discuss my concerns about how my assault was handled”.
“I welcome the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister to discuss how the workplace culture in Parliament House can be improved,” she said.
Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by a colleague in the parliamentary office of her boss, then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds, in 2019.
She said she felt forced to choose between her job and pursuing a police complaint.
A team of five federal police officers has been tasked with investigating Ms Higgins’ allegation, after she filed a formal complaint when the story was made public.
Ms Higgins on Tuesday announced she had struck a book deal – estimated to be worth $250,000 – to provide her account. — NCA Newswire
READ MORE:Higgins secures major book deal
Nicholas Jensen 1.08pm:Challenge is to overcome vaccine hysteria
President of the Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid has said the medical profession, media and public must do more to help to rebuild confidence against vaccine hysteria.
“I think the big challenge here is how as a medical profession and the media we can help people understand the size of the risks associated with this program are so small,” Dr Khorshid told Sky News.
The dent in vaccine confidence, he warned, now has the potential “to end with very negative health outcomes”.
Dr Khorshid described the government’s previous vaccine targets as purely aspirational, saying “I think I was one of the many suggesting that the original targets were very difficult to meet because of all the uncertainties”.
“The government doesn’t actually have the tools to ensure, for instance, that we have adequate supply to be making (these targets),” he said.
Dr Khorshid said the AMA will be providing more advice to the Prime Minister over the coming week, with recommendations about how to best to utilise state systems and the GP workforce.
READ MORE: Ex-MP charged with blackmail of SA leader
Nicholas Jensen12.05pm:NSW records zero local virus cases
NSW has recorded no local cases of COVID-19, with three cases detected in hotel quarantine.
There were 12,260 test results received across the state in the last 24 hours.
Health officials are currently monitoring 55 active cases.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 14, 2021
Three new cases were acquired overseas, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,158.
There were 12,260 tests reported to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/VCW19mZ78P
94 per cent of these cases are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in the Special Health Accommodation.
One person with COVID-19 is currently in ICU for a non-COVID related medical condition.
NSW Health said 4743 vaccinations were administered yesterday, bringing the state total to 160,637.
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Nicholas Jensen 11.51am: Albanese hits back over hypocrisy claims
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has hit back against claims Labor acted hypocritically regarding Christine Holgate’s resignation, saying it was “Scott Morrison’s comments alone in parliament that made her position untenable” not his own party’s.
“He effectively sacked Christine Holgate on the floor of the parliament,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Perth. “After that how could she continue, and that was the evidence she gave (at the inquiry).”
Commenting on the inquiry, Mr Albanese accused the Liberal Party of stacking the Australia Post board with political appointees rather than with experts.
“We know that prior to that question time she (Ms Holgate) had already been contacted by Tony Nutt, a former Liberal Party director … who’s one of the Liberal Party appointees on the Australia Post Board.”
Mr Albanese also said Ms Holgate was entirely right to compare her treatment by the Prime Minister during question time to broader problems within the Coalition government.
“Scott Morrison has one too many people in his cabinet and the name is Christian Porter, who we know remains there despite the fact there hasn’t been an investigation into the very serious allegations that have been raised about whether he’s a fit and proper person to continue to serve.”
“Mr Morrison, once again, is attempting to blame someone else for actions for which he himself is solely responsible. No one wrote Scott Morrison’s script for him in question time,” he said.
Mr Albanese again criticised the government’s handling of the vaccine rollout, arguing it was simply another instance in which the government was avoiding responsibility.
“We have Scott Morrison saying he is placing Australia on a war footing. What’s his response? A couple of meetings a week.”
“The fact is that he is responsible and the federal government is responsible for the deals on vaccines and the problem you have is you can’t have a rollout if the vaccines aren’t available,” he said.
READ MORE: PM flags ‘mass vaccination options’
Nicholas Jensen11.35am:Labor’s ‘extraordinary hypocrisy’ over Holgate
Financial Services Minister Jane Hume has attacked the Labor Party for suggesting it did not support the resignation of former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate, saying it demonstrated an “extraordinary level of hypocrisy”.
Ms Hume said it was a highly emotional inquiry, but it was “important that the process took place”.
“Was it highly emotional? Yes, of course it was. Was there a media maelstrom? Of course there was. Was the opposition out there saying she must resign? Absolutely,” she said on Sky News.
Senator Hume singled out Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, saying she had previously supported the resignation of Ms Holgate and now pretends she is a sympathiser.
“She wrote an article saying that Christine Holgate had been ‘living high on the hog’, and then she had the audacity to turn up to the inquiry yesterday looking contrite and sympathetic to her plight because she was all dressed in white,” Senator Hume said.
“That’s just extraordinary hypocrisy.”
Senator Hume also defended the actions of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying all he did was “suggest she stand aside while an investigation took place into the gifting of those Cartier watches.”
Senator Hume said she was satisfied that the Senate inquiry recognised that the gifts were inappropriate, highlighting they were “not in line with the act under which Australia Post operates”.
“The inquiry took place and the inquiry found there was no corruption, there was no misuse of government funds, but it was an inappropriate choice to have made.”
READ MORE: Consumer confidence soars to 11-year high
ROSIE LEWIS 11.31am: ‘Open borders will bring more Covid cases’
Scott Morrison says there will be potentially large numbers of COVID-19 cases when Australia lifts its international border and the country will need to be “confident and comfortable” the reopening is in the national interest.
The Prime Minister said if Australia wanted the coronavirus treated like the flu, we needed the same level of tolerance for both diseases.
“People get the flu,” he told The West Live podcast.
“There would be cases of COVID if the international borders were lifted. There would be cases and we’d have to be confident and comfortable that that would be in Australia’s interest to have potentially large numbers of cases of COVID knowing that it would not lead to the horrific outcomes that we saw particularly in Victoria when the second wave ripped through particularly Melbourne (because of the vaccine rollout).
“They are real legitimate questions that need to be worked through with states and territories. There’s a lot of focus on the daily number of cases both by state governments, their chief health officers and their premiers, but also by the media.
“We would need to be of one mind that if we were to go to those steps later in the year or soon after then (to reopen the international border), there’d have to an appreciation that that would come with case numbers for COVID in Australia.
“We would have to be understanding of what that meant and the goal right now is to make sure our most vulnerable are protected from any possible outbreaks. We never have 100 per cent certainty against that.”
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ROSIE LEWIS11.24am: PM flags new vaccine options for under 50s
Scott Morrison has flagged “mass vaccination options” for Australians aged under 50 and says it may be possible that age group could be immunised by the end of the year.
The Prime Minister said the rollout, which initially was expected to see all Australians receive their first jab by October, “has to change because of events” linked to supply issues and the rare blot clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in under 50s.
“That will mean we’ll need to change our rollout to go to mass vaccination options and that will have to be done in partnership with the states and territories,” Mr Morrison told The West Live podcast.
“If we can do all that, then there is the possibility that can be achieved by the end of 2021 but at this stage there are too many uncertainties I think to commit to a timetable like that, I would need and states would need to be sure they could put those arrangements in place and ramp them up and to do that safely with the population to achieve that.”
Adeshola Ore11.11am: Morrison refuses to apologise to Holgate
Scott Morrison has refused to apologise to former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate, saying it was never his intention to offend her in the wake of the Cartier watches scandal.
Ms Holgate has demanded an apology from Mr Morrison, declaring he bullied and humiliated her on the floor of parliament when he called for her to stand aside after the purchasing of the four watches as executive bonuses were revealed last October.
The Prime Minister said his remarks in parliament were not personal but about the misuse of taxpayer funds.
“The issue was how taxpayer funds were being used in a government-owned company and as the Prime Minister I have to stand up for that,” he said during an interview with The West Live Podcast.
“It was not my intention to upset or offend Ms Holgate. I appreciate she has gone through a difficult time and that is not something I would have liked to have seen happen.”
Mr Morrison said accountability was crucial in government-owned organisations.
“It was about Cartier watches being handed out to well-paid executives for doing their jobs and that was not something the government supported,” he said.
READ MORE: Taiwan’s new warship counters China threat
David Rogers11.04am: Consumer confidence surges as restrictions ease
Australian consumer confidence has surged to the highest point in almost 11 years.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Confidence index rose 6.2 per cent to 118.8 points in April.
That’s the highest point since August 2010, when the economy was in the peak of a mining investment boom and also rebounding from the global financial crisis.
“This is an extraordinary result,” Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said.
“The survey continues to signal that the consumer will be the key driver of above-trend growth in 2021.”
The “time to buy a dwelling” index fell by 7.9 per cent, with buyers appearing discouraged by the recent surge in prices and the implications for affordability. Confidence rose in states and in four of the five subcomponents of the index.
But confidence improved across all states and in four of the five subcomponents of the index.
Those employed in the recreational services and hospitality industries showed very big sentiment gains of 23 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
That suggested the further easing in COVID restrictions – which has allowed many businesses in these sectors to return to near full operation – was a big positive factor, according to Westpac.
The strong rise in consumer confidence this month comes despite the end of the government’s JobKeeper wages subsidy and its JobSeeker supplementary dole payment last month.
The survey was conducted in the week following the unwinding of the JobKeeper program.
“Initial fears that this and associated job losses would undermine confidence have proven to be unfounded,” Mr Evans said. Confidence also rose despite disappointing progress on the vaccine rollout locally.
Compounding this was new advice against giving those aged under 50 the AstraZeneca vaccine due to risks of rare but serious side-effects.
NAB’s monthly business survey on Tuesday showed business conditions – based on employment, sales and profits – hit a record high.
“Clearly, confidence would have been buoyed by positive news around the labour market,” Mr Evans added.
He noted that job vacancies have risen 27 per cent since February 2020.
Australian labour force data are due Thursday with economists expecting the unemployment rate to have fallen 5.7 per cent in March.
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Adeshola Ore10.08am: ‘Morrison government scrambling to fix rollout’
Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland says the ramping up of national cabinet meetings shows the government is “scrambling” to fix the vaccine rollout.
Scott Morrison has asked national cabinet to meet twice a week from next Monday to speed up the nation’s vaccine rollout which has missed commonwealth-set inoculation targets. The nation’s vaccine rollout was further delayed when the commonwealth updated its health advice to state Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for Australians aged under 50 due to rare blood clotting linked to the AstraZeneca shot.
The opposition communication spokeswoman said the Prime Minister had not done enough to quell concerns Australians had about vaccines.
“This is scrambling. I mean, this is someone who said we will be the front of the queue and we would have a certain number of vaccinations done by the end of March. That time frame has completely gone out the window,” Ms Rowland told Sky News.
READ MORE: Kate Winslet — I had to quarantine with my teen crush
Nicholas Jensen9.39am: Victoria records zero new virus cases
Victoria has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
Victorian health officials received 16,002 test results yesterday and are currently monitoring three active cases.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) April 13, 2021
- 2,890 vaccine doses were administered
- 16,002 test results were received
Got symptoms? Get tested.
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/XZ3TlrX0yB
Yesterday health officials administered 2890 vaccine doses, bringing the state’s total to 152,363 inoculations.
READ MORE: March to recovery gathers pace
Nicholas Jensen9.31am:Virus fragments again detected in Brisbane hospital
Fragments of COVID-19 have been detected in Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital during a deep clean of one of its wards.
The Queensland hospital has been locked down twice in two months, after two health workers in the 5D ward tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with an infected returned traveller.
Health officials at the hospital said further cleaning will resume today after “testing found COVID-19 related virus”.
A spokesperson for Metro South Health said engineering consultants are continuing to inspect the hospital, but initial reports say all isolation rooms “were functioning to their design specification”.
Health officials conducting investigations have said they remain unsure how the virus escaped ward 5D.
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Michael McKenna 9.26am:Queenslanders allowed to go mask-free once more
Queensland will lift the last of its restrictions imposed after last month’s COVID outbreak in Brisbane.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said residents will no longer have to wear masks indoors, patrons won’t be forced to sit at pubs and clubs and visitors will be allowed into hospitals and aged care facilities.
The restrictions followed the three-day lockdown on March 30 in Brisbane and followed an outbreak traced back to medical staff treating COVID patients who had arrived from overseas.
Ms Palaszczuk said restrictions would be eased from 6am on Thursday morning.
“That means you don’t need to carry your masks,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk urged people to wear masks when they couldn’t social distance.
“We can once again go to pubs and restaurants and stand up and have a drink,” she said.
Dancing will be allowed inside and outside and people will now be allowed to gather outside without restrictions.
Hospitality businesses have been reminded to apply for the state government’s COVID-19 check-in app which will become mandatory from May 1.
Two new cases were detected in hotel quarantine overnight.
READ MORE: Premier in firing line after CCC breakdown
Nicholas Jensen 9.17am: ‘Labor not hypocritical over Holgate’s job’
Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles has rejected claims Labor has behaved hypocritically in its treatment of former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate.
Asked whether the party had been hypocritical in its treatment of the issue, Mr Marles told the ABC that Labor never advocated Ms Holgate’s dismissal.
“I completely reject that’s what we were doing”, he said. “There is nothing on the public record which says that.
“We (Labor) do think that the purchase of those watches as an executive bonus in a public enterprise context was inappropriate.
“Christine Holgate acknowledged it yesterday … and we do hold a high bar which is what we’re meant to do and what the public expects.”
Mr Marles was critical of the government’s response to the issue, insisting Labor had no part in how Ms Holgate’s case unfolded.
“At no point did we suggest how Scott Morrison should then behave and humiliate Christine Holgate in the way he has done and to bully her out of office and to effectively sack her on the floor of Parliament,’’ he said.
“What the Prime Minister did was frankly appalling … Christine Holgate is right in making her criticism and it is ultimately a total indictment on the Prime Minister’s character.”
READ MORE: PM pulled trigger on a Labor assassination
Adeshola Ore9.09am:‘PM should call Holgate and say sorry’
Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young has urged Scott Morrison to apologise to former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate for “bullying” her in the wake of the Cartier watches scandal.
Ms Holgate has also demanded an apology from the Prime Minister after she accused him of publicly humiliating and bullying her on the floor of parliament when he called for her to stand aside after the purchasing of the watches was revealed.
During a blistering Senate hearing on Tuesday, Ms Holgate said she had done nothing wrong by gifting four executives the watches, totalling almost $20,000 as a bonus for securing a lucrative banking deal.
“It was bullying. He did humiliate her,” Senator Hanson Young told ABC Radio.
“He stuffed this up … he should apologise. He should pick up the phone today, call Christine Holgate and say he was sorry.”
“He got too hot under the collar, he took a swing and he needs to apologise.”
Senator Hanson Young has also called on Mr Morrison to sack Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo.
On Tuesday Mr Di Bartolome declared he would not resign after Ms Holgate called for him to be sacked, accusing him of misleading parliament and bullying her out of her job.
Senator Hanson Young said it was “untenable” to have Australia Post in “such turmoil”.
READ MORE: AusPost boss stands his ground
Nicholas Jensen8.59am: AMA boss to public: ‘Get a grip over vaccines’
Australia Medical Association vice-president Chris Moy has said the public’s current “negative perception” of the vaccination program is “disproportionate to where we are at the moment”.
“From a personal point of view I think it’s really quite frustrating,” Dr Moy told Sky News this morning. “There have been some mistakes and some poor expectation management, but I think we need to overcome politicisation”.
“It’s damaging the actual program itself and affecting the confidence.”
“From a doctor’s point of view, having to talk to patients has been somewhat frustrating, and it’s upsetting there’s politicisation and, to some degree, the media is not properly conveying relative risk about the vaccines … and that damages actual public confidence in the vaccine itself.
“What I’d like to say, in the nicest possible way, to the public and the media: ‘we all need to get a grip’.”
Dr Moy said he accepted the “two clotting cases of this very rare condition of the AstraZeneca vaccine” is concerning, but said the main problem is “this microscopic focus is not really conveying the actual risks”.
“The media, to some degree, is acting a bit like the Heisenberg observer bias which is that it focuses on things and the inability to see the woods for the trees … it’s actually affecting the confidence and may stop people getting vaccines when they normally would have.”
READ MORE: Second clots case ‘likely linked to AstraZeneca’
Adeshola Ore8.52am:PM’s remarks about Holgate ‘not personal’
Trade Minister Dan Tehan saysScott Morrison’s remarks about Christine Holgatein the wake of the Cartier watches scandal were not personal, but about the “misappropriate use of government expenses.”
Ms Holgate has urged the Prime Minister to apologise to her after she accused him of publicly humiliating and bullying her on the floor of parliament when he called for her to stand aside after the purchasing of the watches, totalling almost $20,000, was revealed.
Mr Tehan told ABC Breakfast Mr Morrison’s comments were “not about the person who was the CEO of Australia Post.”
“It was about the misappropriate use of government expenses,” he said.
During an explosive Senate hearing on Tuesday, Ms Holgate called for Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo to be sacked, accusing him of misleading parliament and bullying her out of her job. But Mr Di Bartolomeo is standing his ground, declaring if he were to leave it would weaken the government-owned organisation.
READ MORE: Gottliebsen — The real dispute behind the Holgate saga
Anne Barrowclough8.44am:A quarter of UK Covid deaths ‘didn’t die from disease’
Almost a quarter of Britain’s registered Covid deaths did not die from the disease, official figures show.
Around 23 per cent of deaths in the UK are people who died “with” the virus rather than from it, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics.
The figure, reported in the UK Telegraph, reflect the UK’s method of counting coronavirus deaths: any one who had the virus at the time they died is regarded as having died from COVID-19 regardless of the primary cause.
The figures also reveal that the daily death figures in the UK are half the numbers announced by the government, as daily numbers can include deaths from previous days or weeks.
The Telegraph reports that Oxford University has also calculated the number of people in hospital with an active Covid infection is likely half that of the published figure.
ONS figures show Covid deaths make up 4.9 per cent of deaths registered in England and Wales, compared with 45 per cent in January.
READ MORE: Land of the free? We’re the land of the risk-free
Adeshola Ore 8.33am: Next ‘logical steps’ to opening borders
Trade Minister Dan Tehan has flagged Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as countries that could be part of new travel bubbles.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned that Australia’s borders could remain shut even if the whole population was vaccinated against COVID-19.
But Mr Tehan said the “logical next steps” would be expanding Australia’s travel bubbles where it was “safe to do so.”
“Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam have all been mentioned as potentials in that area. And I think that is likely to be the systematic approach that we take,” he told ABC Radio.
Australia’s two-way travel bubble with New Zealand is set to commence on Sunday.
READ MORE: Qantas was ready for ‘brand damage’
Adeshola Ore 8.09am: ‘States, commonwealth need to come together over rollout’
Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the ramping up of national cabinet meetings will enable states, territories and the commonwealth to work more closely to enable a “seamless” vaccine rollout.
Scott Morrison has asked national cabinet to meet twice a week from next Monday to speed up the nation’s vaccine rollout which has missed commonwealth-set inoculation targets.
Mr Tehan denied that the additional meetings were a concession that the states and territories had not been working cohesively together to vaccinate the nation.
“What it is an acknowledgment of is that we really need to work closely together. We have been working closely together but obviously the changes, especially those which occurred last week with regards to AstraZeneca, means we’ve got to make some changes to the vaccine rollout,” he told ABC Radio.
“We’re heavily reliant now for the under 50s now on Pfizer, and as we know, the majority of those vaccines will come in the second part of the year. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re getting all that planning right.”
Mr Tehan back-pedalled on his statement made on the weekend that the goal was for every Australian to have had their first vaccine dose by end of the year.
After Mr Tehan made the comment on Sunday, Scott Morrison distanced himself from any new fresh vaccine targets and said it was impossible to set deadlines in the current climate.
On Wednesday, Mr Tehan said national cabinet would do “everything they can to make sure we can advance the vaccine rollout as quickly as possible”.
Ahead of his vaccine diplomacy trip to Europe, Mr Tehan told Sunrise “I’m not rushing off to Europe in a panic, this was a trip that has been planned and we’re also in current negotiations with the UK on a free trade agreement”.
“We want to use it to make the case that export restrictions are not the way to go when it comes to enabling the vaccine to be distributed.”
— With Nicholas Jensen
READ MORE: Tehan heads overseas to speed up free trade deals
Brad Norington8.04am: Jackson inherits $3m one day, faces union dues the next
Convicted fraudster Kathy Jackson could be forced to forfeit almost all of the $3m windfall inheritance she is set to receive from the estate of prominent Sydney barrister David Rofe QC as the Health Services Union initiates legal moves to claw back the debt she owes it from misappropriated funds.
Jackson was confirmed as one of the main beneficiaries of Rofe’s $30m estate on Monday when NSW Supreme Court judge Geoff Lindsay ruled that the late barrister’s final will, which left Jackson a one-tenth share and $100,000 cash, was valid.
The inheritance would hand Jackson $2.5m to $3m from Rofe’s estate, depending on what remains of the late barrister’s fortune following tax and legal costs.
Jackson owes the HSU a debt of $2.4m following a Federal Court decision in August 2015 when judge Richard Tracey said he “substantially supported” the union’s claim that she pay it $1.4m in compensation for her “misuse” of union funds for personal benefit, plus $1m in legal expenses and interest.
Jackson never paid the debt, instead filing for bankruptcy and claiming she had no assets.
Nicholas Jensen7.38am: Risk Australia will be left behind: Marles
Opposition deputy leader Richard Marles has criticised the government for dodging responsibility on the nation’s vaccine rollout, saying we risk “watching the rest of the world open up while Australia has been left behind”.
“I actually think what we’re hearing is doublespeak from the government,” Mr Marles told the ABC this morning. “Because it was only a little while ago that the government was saying that vaccination was completely tied to our economic recovery and obviously it is.”
While Mr Marles said it was not the government’s fault blood clotting has been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, he blamed it for “trying to spread responsibility, spread political risk and point fingers in different directions”.
“It is absolutely the government’s fault they were complacent last year in terms of the way in which they placed Australia in the queue of the various vaccines,” he said.
Mr Marles also addressed Christine Holgate’s Senate inquiry yesterday, saying “We do think (Labor) that the purchase of those watches as an executive bonus in a public enterprise context was inappropriate”.
“But what the Prime Minister did was frankly appalling … Christine Holgate is right in making her criticism and it is ultimately a total indictment on the Prime Minister’s character.”
READ MORE: Banned hotel security boss ‘never left’
Natasha Robinson7.30am:Over-50s revolt at AstraZeneca-only rule
GP surgeries are reporting patient cancellations for vaccination appointments, as older Australians raise concerns that they do not have a choice of vaccine that is now available only to those aged under 50.
While the Pfizer shot is now recommended for people aged under 50, younger people can choose to get the AstraZeneca vaccine in consultation with their doctor if they deem the benefit to outweighs the remote risk of rare blood clots. However, AstraZeneca is now the only vaccine available to those aged over 50.
Lynn Holt, a policy officer with the Health Issues Centre which advocates for healthcare consumers, said vaccine choice was “absolutely an issue” for people aged over 50.
The centre will hold a forum on vaccine hesitancy to examine the issue of choice for older Australians next month.
“People aren’t being informed that there is a matter of choice that is reasonable to be expected when you’re all being asked to be immunised for the better good of your community,” Ms Holt said.
“I think as time goes on, this issue will become bigger.”
However, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia said it did not believe that choice of vaccine for older people was an issue of high importance.
READ Natasha Robinson’s full story here
Nicholas Jensen7.10am:India seeks emergency approvals to import vaccines
India is preparing to accelerate its emergency approvals of vaccines authorised by western countries, as the country considers importing Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna doses to combat shortages.
The move will exempt companies from carrying out local safety trials for their vaccines, after India recorded the world’s largest surge in cases this month.
Since the beginning of April, India has reported its highest daily infections. On Tuesday, it reported 161,736 cases taking the total to 13.7 million, while deaths rose by 879 to 171,058.
On Tuesday, the state of Maharashtra said it would reimpose restrictions to help stem the spread of the virus.
While India has one of the biggest vaccine manufacturing capacities in the world, it exported millions of doses before its own demand spiked and led to shortages in some regions.
Dozens of poor countries have relied on India’s vaccine exports, but yesterday the country’s health ministry said vaccines authorised by the WHO or authorities in the US, Europe, the UK and Japan could be granted emergency approval in India.
“If any of these regulators have approved a vaccine, the vaccine is now ready to be brought into the country for use, manufacture and fill-and-finish,” senior health official Vinod Kumar Paul said.
“We hope and we invite the vaccine makers such as Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and others to be ready to come to India as early as possible.’’
Pfizer said it would work towards distributing its vaccine to India after withdrawing its application in February.
India has administered more than 108 million vaccines, sold more than 54.6 million abroad and donated more than 10 million to poorer countries.
While approving Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use, the country is currently using AstraZeneca and a homegrown vaccine to spearhead its immunisation drive.
READ MORE: Fancy a pint? Britain opens for business
Nicholas Jensen6.55am:J&J vaccine blood clots ‘a rare event’: Fauci
US chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci has said the recommended pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccine will allow US health regulators enough time to investigate how six women developed a rare blood clotting disorder which left one dead.
Dr Fauci said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wanted to see if there were “any clues and find some common denominators among the women who were involved”.
Out of the 120 million people vaccinated in the US approximately 6.9 million have received the J&J vaccine.
Dr Fauci said there has not been any “red flag signals” from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
“We are totally aware that this is a rare event,” he said in a White House press briefing.
“We want to get this worked out as quickly as we possibly can and that’s why you see the pause. We want to leave that up to the CDC to investigate this carefully. I don’t think it was pulling the trigger too quickly.”
Dr Fauci also addressed the potential risks with the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying: “I think that the AstraZeneca vaccine from a standpoint of efficacy is a good vaccine, and if the safety issue gets straightened out in the EU … the efficacy of that vaccine is really quite good.”
The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently being investigated by European regulators over rare blood clotting cases. It has yet to be approved in the US.
“Whether or not we ever use AstraZeneca is unclear but it looks right now at this point in time that we will not need it,” he said.
“It’s not a negative indictment of the vaccine, it is just possible that given the supply that we have from other companies that we may not need to use an AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Dr. Fauci on Johnson & Johnson: "I don't think it was pulling the trigger too quickly."
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 13, 2021
Full video here: https://t.co/cUiVk91FpCpic.twitter.com/D7jYLUaw1f
READ MORE:Trading Day — Wall Street wavers after vaccine halt
Nicholas Jensen6.30am:Supply shortages push back Novavax production
Novavax has pushed back its production target of 150 million vaccine doses per month until the third quarter of this year due to ongoing supply shortages.
While company executives had said full scale vaccine production could be achieved by mid-year, they have now indicated it will not happen until later in the year.
“We said during our earnings call that we expect all capacity to be online by around mid-year. We’re continuing to refine that timing as we get closer, which now leads us to think we’re online, at full capacity by Q3,” Novavax communications director Amy Speak said in a statement.
“There are some supply shortages that come and go that have contributed to the revision in timing. These have included things like the bioreactor bags and filters.”
Novavax could receive UK regulatory authorisation for its vaccine as early as this month after performing well in its UK trial data.
The company anticipates clearance in the US could come as early as May after its vaccine trials were reviewed by regulators.
The drug maker now joins one of several COVID-19 vaccine makers that have been forced to push back production timelines due to industry wide shortages of materials.
READ MORE:Jacquelin Magnay — Australia not the land of the free, it’s the land of the risk-free
Nicholas Jensen6.20am:Canada investigates Johnson & Johnson clots cases
Canada is in discussions with drug maker Johnson & Johnson amid reports its COVID-19 vaccine might be linked to rare blood clots, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a surge in cases and new variants threatened the country’s inoculation progress.
It comes as US federal health agencies recommended pausing the use of the J&J vaccine after six women aged under 50 developed blood clots after receiving the jab.
Health Canada said it continued to work closely with the manufacturer, the US Drug Administration and other international regulators to better understand the risks associated with the vaccine.
Health Canada has asked “J&J to provide information on any cases of these rare blood clotting events”.
News organizations really need to emphasize that the J&J vaccine pause is due to a reaction that is (literally) less than one in a million. If there’s room in a tweet, include it.
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) April 13, 2021
While the Canadian government has approved the vaccine, deliveries are not due to commence until the end of April.
Earlier this week, Canada said it recorded its first case of the rare blood clotting after someone received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot.
Canada Health has limited the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to those above age 55.
The news is the latest potential challenge for an inoculation effort that is already dragging.
Canada is due to import enough doses to inoculate every person by the end of June, but the spread of new virus variants risks overtaking the pace of vaccination.
“More contagious and dangerous variants are spreading and threatening the progress we’ve made,” Mr Trudeau said.
New infections have risen by 33 per cent over the last week. The number of daily cases is now over 8100, reaching the same levels as during the peak of the second wave earlier this year.
READ MORE:Second Australian clots case ‘likely linked to AstraZeneca vaccine’
Ellie Dudley6am:Stranded Aussies pushed aside for foreign nationals
More than half of all international arrivals in Australia are foreign nationals, in a trend that increasingly sees nearly 35,000 stranded Aussies pushed further to the back of the queue to return home.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a steep decline in the percentage of Australian citizens included in the total number of people permitted to enter the country.
While the number of international travellers has fluctuated since the borders were closed in March 2020, the percentage of arrivals who are Australian citizens has steadily decreased throughout the pandemic.
In April 2020, 69 per cent of overseas arrivals were Australian citizens. In July, that number had dropped to 58 per cent. By February, it was just 44 per cent.
The declining number of Australian citizens able to return is an indictment of government policy, according to the Stranded Aussies Action Network, a group dedicated to petitioning Australian policymakers to bring the country’s quarantine capacity up to “sustainable levels”.
Read the full story here.
Rosie Lewis5am:It’s war: Morrison in rethink on vaccine strategy
Scott Morrison has put national cabinet on a “warlike footing’’ to speed up Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination program as Trade Minister Dan Tehan prepares to fly to Europe for talks on breaking vaccine export bans.
The Prime Minister, facing criticism over a lack of transparency and the slower-than-promised rollout, has asked national cabinet to meet twice a week from next Monday to get the program “back on track”.
“There are serious challenges we need to overcome caused by patchy international vaccine supplies, changing medical advice and a global environment of need caused by millions of COVID-19 cases and deaths,” Mr Morrison said yesterday.
“This is a complex task and there are problems with the program that we need to solve to ensure more Australians can be vaccinated safely and more quickly. I have requested that national cabinet and our health ministers move back to an operational footing — to work together, closely, to tackle head on the challenges we are all facing with making our vaccination program as good as it can be.”
The nation’s political leaders have not met as regularly as twice a week since early May last year, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
States are complaining about a lack of transparency on supply and have called for more involvement in mass-vaccination centres as timetables have been pushed back.
The Prime Minister’s bid to contain the political fallout after the government scrapped its October timeline for all consenting adults to have received their first jab comes as Mr Tehan prepares to tell his counterparts in Berlin, Paris and Brussels that export restrictions on vaccines “are not the way to go”.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale4.45am:Morrison pulled trigger on Labor’s Holgate assassination
Christine Holgate may not have been aware just how politically charged Australia Post was when she took on the job of chief executive in late October 2017 – but it was that reality that would quickly come to define her rise and now-infamous fall.
Holgate had come from nine successful years running Blackmores. Unlike Australia Post, the publicly listed vitamins manufacturer backed by billionaire Marcus Blackmore was not stacked full of political operators, both Labor and Liberal.
There’s no doubt Holgate’s demise was a political hit. The silver bullet, a query about whether she had purchased expensive Cartier watches for senior managers, was fired by Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, an influential member of the Victorian Right.
Anthony Albanese was quick to agree; Holgate’s position was untenable.
But the Coalition did not come to her defence either. If Kitching brought a pistol, Scott Morrison arrived with a missile launcher. Ten days after her Senate appearance, Holgate was gone.
Read the full story here.
Will Glasgow4.30am:Australia’s exports to China hit new record high
Exports to China hit a record in the first three months of the year as strong demand for iron ore continues to more than offset Beijing’s strikes on coal, wine, lobster, timber and barley.
The total value of goods exports from Australia rose 20.7 per cent to $US33.7bn ($44.36bn) in the first quarter of the year, according to data released by China’s customs agency.
Exports in March were $US13.2bn, the highest monthly total ever. China’s exports to Australia for the three months to the end of March were up 50.5 per cent at $US14.1bn.
The elevated prices of iron ore and liquefied natural gas — the two biggest exports to China — has undermined the campaign of economic punishment President Xi Jinping’s regime has waged on the Morrison government.
Australia’s ambassador in China, Graham Fletcher, last month said the lack of impact of the trade restrictions had contributed to the ongoing “stand-off” between Beijing and Canberra.
Read the full story here.
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