PoliticsNow: Qantas changes India Covid test lab
Qantas will use a different laboratory in India to test passengers for COVID-19 before flying Australians home after concerns over false positive results.
- Coatsworth backs international border lockdown
- PM: Won’t risk Aussies’ lives
- ‘Oldies’ hedge bets on vaccine
- PM’s plan for travel freedom
- Dutton puts up own defence
Welcome to PoliticsNow, our live coverage of the latest headlines from Canberra as well as updates on our battle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qantas will use a different laboratory in India to test passengers for COVID-19 before flying Australians home after concerns over false positive results.
Australia should not open its borders until mid-2022, says former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth, when vaccinations are high and ICU beds available.
It came after PM Scott Morrison caned the Virgin CEO’s ‘insensitive’ comments on border opening deaths, saying it’s not yet safe to restart international travel. The federal government’s hope of vaccinating the bulk of the population by the end of the year is being threatened by large numbers of people aged between 50 and 70 years old who are electing to delay vaccination with AstraZeneca.
Melissa Yeo10.07pm: Virgin chief’s big bonus before Covid call
Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka’s plea for the Morrison government to quickly open Australia’s borders — despite the fact that “some people may die” from coronavirus — has come just days after Hrdlicka and her executive team were issued shares in the resurrected airline with a face value of $42.4m.
Company documents seen by Margin Call reveal that Virgin Australia’s new owner, international private equity giant Bain Capital, last week issued Hrdlicka and her executive team 42.4 million shares fully paid to $1 each as part of an incentive scheme to drive the airline’s financial performance.
The scheme could see Hrdlicka and her team reap tens of millions of dollars if their rebuild of Virgin Australia is successful.
Carla Mascarenhas9.45pm:Second mass vaccination hub in NSW flagged
New South Wales could soon have a second mass vaccination clinic with the NSW government exploring the possibility of a clinic “in or near” Newcastle.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said Sydney’s first mass vaccination clinic at Olympic Park administered a record number of vaccines on Monday.
“NSW Health has stepped up total vaccinations to more than 5000 a day in less than a week after opening the Mass Vaccination Hub at Homebush.,” Mr Hazzard said.
“So as procedures progress it may be possible to increase total vaccination numbers.”
The Olympic Park clinic has been open since May 10 and can deliver 30 000 vaccines a week.
Mr Hazzard said there was “enthusiasm and energy” around the idea of a second mass clinic.
“Newcastle is a logical place to explore possibilities,” he said.
Carla Mascarenhas 8.54pm:Hundreds of thousands without power after cyclone
At least 24 people are dead and almost 100 missing after a monster cyclone slammed into western India, compounding the country’s woes as it battles a devastating coronavirus surge.
Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power after Cyclone Tauktae hammered the Gujarat coast on Monday evening.
Wind up to 130 kilometres per hour smashed seafront windows and knocked over power lines and thousands of trees, blocking roads leading to affected areas, officials said.
One support vessel serving oil rigs that were walloped by eight-metre waves off Mumbai sank and 96 of the 273 people who had been on board were missing, the Indian Navy said Tuesday.
The defence ministry said 177 people were rescued, with operations continuing in “extremely challenging sea conditions”. Two other barges and an oil rig were also in trouble.
Elsewhere, four fresh casualties were reported Tuesday, including a child crushed by a collapsing wall and an 80-year-old woman killed by a falling pole, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said.
He added that over 16,500 houses were damaged, 40,000 trees uprooted and 2,400 villages without power.
AFP8.18pm:Gaza conflict ‘in danger of spiralling out of control’
The conflict in the Gaza Strip is in danger of spiralling out of control, creating instability throughout the Middle East, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has warned.
Mark Milley’s comments came as the Israeli army launched an artillery barrage into Lebanon in response to rocket fire and reports of Lebanese militants testing the Jewish state’s border defences.
As the death toll from a week of violence in the Gaza Strip and Israel passed 200, General Milley said the “level of violence is destabilising beyond the limited area of Gaza”. “Whatever the military objectives are out there, they need to be balanced against other consequences,” he said.
Perry Williams 7.39pm: NSW’s biggest coal plant starts closure from 2030
Australia’s largest coal-fired power station will start closing its first unit in 2030 ahead of a full shutdown in 2032 amid broader market tensions as low wholesale prices and cheap renewables put pressure on the fossil fuel.
Origin Energy’s 2880 megawatt Eraring plant, which supplies 20 per cent of NSW’s daily power needs, will switch off the first of its four units in 2030. A second will exit a year later leaving it running at only half capacity until the final two generators close on its scheduled retirement date of 2032.
The move follows EnergyAustralia’s decision to shutter Victoria’s Yallourn coal power plant four years early in 2028 while AGL Energy’s Liddell coal plant will close in the 2022-23 summer, sparking a demand for generators to build new supply to avoid a spike in power prices.
Adeshola Ore7.00pm:Qantas changes India Covid test lab
Qantas will use a different laboratory in India to test passengers for COVID-19 before flying Australians home after concerns emerged over whether false positive results were being produced and unfairly blocking the return of vulnerable citizens.
However, the airline is standing by the initial testing for the first repatriation flight, since the travel ban was lifted, which saw around half of the 150 Australians scheduled to come home being left behind after returning a positive result or being the close contact of an active case.
The airline said on Tuesday it had reviewed its pre-departure testing arrangements following an ABC report which claimed at least five of the 46 Australians blocked from boarding the flight had undertaken secondary testing showing negative results.
But Qantas said retesting all of the original swabs from the 46 passengers — a process subject to independent medical supervision — verified the original positive results
Carla Mascarenhas6.45pm:Minister defends school knife ban
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has defended a state government decision to close a loophole that allows members of the Sikh community to carry ceremonial daggers for religious reasons.
Minister Mitchell announced the ban on Tuesday in response to an alleged stabbing at Glenwood High in Sydney’s northwest, in which a teen boy allegedly stabbed another teen with a Kirpan.
“At the end of the day I have to make decisions on the safety of students and what has been clear after that critical incident is we can’t have any risk which is why I made the decision to move ahead,” she told Sky News.
Ms Mitchell acknowledged there was “disappointment” within the Sikh community but “one incident was one too many”.
She said there would be continued consultation with the Sikh community about the decision.
Carla Mascarenhas6.35pm:Nats ‘quietly confident’ on by-election
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has told Sky News internal party polling is encouraging for the National party in this weekend’s by-election for the NSW seat of Upper Hunter.
The by-election was triggered by the sex scandal involving National party MP Michael Johnsen who was forced to quit his marginal seat after weeks of mounting pressure.
Mr Barilaro said that “given the circumstances around the by-election the party should not even be in the race”.
“We have been campaigning on our track record for the bush, managing Covid, that is the case we have been prosecuting,” he said.
“The only poll that counts is Saturday but we are confident.”
He described former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s intervention in the by-election - endorsing Kirsty O’Connell - as the “kiss of death” for the independent candidate.
Patrick Commins6pm:Not all experts say ‘ear ear’ to biotech plan
The ability of the federal government’s $206m “patent box” to turbocharge biotech and medical innovation has been challenged, with a leading academic arguing it would fail to attract early-stage funding for new inventions. Read more here
Ben Packham 5.15pm:NZ leads push to remove vaccine tariffs
APEC trade ministers are working on a plan to eliminate tariffs on vaccines, syringes, soap and face masks within the 21 nation bloc, and ensure COVID jabs get the same fast-tracked treatment at borders as chilled food.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2021 host, New Zealand, is leading the push to make pandemic-related goods tariff free, and has also proposed a new agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies by APEC nations, and remove tariffs on environmental goods and services.
APEC nations charge an average 6 per cent tariff on vaccines, 20.7 per cent tariff on syringes, 27 per cent on soap, and 8 per cent on medical masks.
READ the full story here.
Carla Mascarenhas 4.45pm:Mid-2022 right for borders to reopen: Coatsworth
Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth has argued a mid-2022 date is ideal for international borders to reopen.
Dr Coatsworth told ABC TV there would still be a risk of Covid returning at that point but Australia would be better able to manage that risk.
“I think in 2022 when we have higher numbers vaccinated, we will have access to ICU beds and so there will be a risk of people dying from Covid-19 if it is circulating in our community,” he said.
“But when Australians get to intensive care beds, their mortality from Covid-19 is far less than anywhere else in the world because we have such a good system.”
Dr Coatsworth said a “cautious approach” is needed in terms of international borders reopening.
“I think the government has been very clear the vaccination campaign is extending throughout 2021 and my view is that there needs to be a staged, cautious approach to reopening,” he said.
Carla Mascarenhas4.00pm:Disability resident jab numbers ‘shameful’
President of People with Disability Australia Samantha Connor has described the government’s failure to vaccinate Australians with a disability as “shameful”.
“It is awful that there has been a decision to bump people at risk of dying down the list,” she said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed only 999 disability residents had received the jab by midday on Monday amid evidence heard at the disability royal commission which described the rollout as an “abject failure”.
Ms Connor said part of the problem is a “silo between health and disability” which needs to be bridged.
“We need to be in the room, in the same way other people need to be in the room, including Aboriginal people, who might be more at risk for other reasons in an emergency situation.”
Ms Connor said the Australian government needs to put “people over profits” and not relent to pressure to reopen international borders this year.
Greg Brown3.25pm:No new coal, gas or oil to hit net-zero
No new coal mines, oilfields or gas fields should be opened up if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a landmark report from the International Energy Agency.
The roadmap for the global energy sector to reach carbon neutrality by the middle of the century also says there should be no new petrol cars sold by 2035.
“These changes take place while the global economy more than doubles through to 2050 and the global population increases by two billion,” the report said.
It said coal-fired power stations should be phased out by 2040 as the electricity sector hits net-zero emissions before the broader economy.
READ the full story here.
Rhiannon Down2.45pm:Debt levels ‘low by global standards’: Birmingham
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has defended last week’s federal budget, saying it took a “conservative approach” when it came to the value of iron ore.
Mr Birmingham said the debt levels remained “low by global standards”, despite a mega-spend budget that pushed debt up to a trillion dollars.
“Yes, there is a dividend in the current financial year because iron ore has once again exceeded budget forecasts,” he told Sky News.
“But we’ve again forecast for it to track down to $55 a tonne from the $200 approx that we’ve seen at current pricing levels. That means we are shelving a certain degree of cautiousness, conservatism when it comes to the expected forecast revenue of those kinds of commodities.”
“Equally we’ve made sure in this budget that we have deficits tracking down, partially tracking down as a share of the economy and the debt forecast at lower levels than each other ten years than was forecast in the last year’s budget.”
Rhiannon Down2.30pm:Zero new local cases for NSW, Vic, WA and Qld
NSW has recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and three new cases in hotel quarantine in the past 24 hours.
Some 8901 tests were reported to 8pm last night, down from the previous day’s total of 10,790.
Some 938,879 vaccine doses have been administered in NSW to date, including 11,415 vaccines given by NSW Health in the past 24 hours.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 18, 2021
Three new cases were acquired overseas in the same period, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,374. pic.twitter.com/sB0LE5Cl3a
Queensland has also recorded no new local cases of COVID-19, with two new cases in hotel quarantine.
Queensland #COVID19 update 18/5/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) May 18, 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/rkHz5BihTy
Victoria recorded a ‘double doughnut day’ with no new cases in hotel quarantine and no community transmission.
Some 8917 vaccine doses were administered in the past 24 hour and 18,041 test results were received.
No new cases were reported yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 17, 2021
- 8,917 vaccine doses administered
- 18,041 test results received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19VicData#COVID19Vicpic.twitter.com/m8qeauJvaH
Meanwhile, WA also reported zero cases of COVID-19 in the state in the past 24 hours.
James Glynn1.30pm:RBA cautious despite roaring economy
Despite a big spending Australian federal budget last week, and recent upgrades to the GDP growth outlook, the Reserve Bank of Australia continues to see only muted inflation risks in the years ahead, likely putting off the need for a rise in interest rates until 2024 “at the earliest.”
In minutes of its May 4 policy meeting published on Tuesday, the central bank said there is little risk of a wages breakout on the horizon given that there remains plenty of spare capacity to mop up in the job market while firms remain rigorously focused on cost control.
“Despite the strong recovery in economic activity in Australia, wage and price pressures remained subdued,” the RBA said. “A pick-up in inflation and wages growth was expected, but this was likely to be only gradual and modest despite the lift in the forecast for output growth.”
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down1.10pm:Colleagues pay tribute to Aussie Covid victim
The Smart Energy Council has paid tribute to Govind Kant, who has become the second Australian to die in India due to COVID-19, with directors and staff saying they are “deeply saddened”.
“Govind was a humble man, who made a significant contribution to the solar industry in Australia,” the online tribute said.
“He will be sorely missed by so many. Our hearts go out to his wife and two daughters and to his extended family, to his colleagues at Trina Solar and to his many, many friends throughout the industry.
“Govind’s death is a reminder of the devastation being wrought across India and across the world by COVID-19.”
Friend Gayan Namantha Thanthrige also expressed his shock at Mr Kant’s passing.
“A larger than life person gracing that unique smile,” he said. “A veteran in the solar industry.”
READ MORE:‘Heartfelt sorrow’ at Australian’s death
Rachel Baxendale 12.55pm: Vic to spend $1bn on 25 high capacity trains
The Andrews government will spend almost $1bn building 25 new high capacity trains, with 60 per cent of the design, manufacturing and maintenance to take place in Victoria.
Acting Premier James Merlino and Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll travelled to Ballarat on Tuesday to announce the commitment would see at least 150 new jobs created at the Alstom rolling stock facility in the central Victorian town.
Thursday’s state budget will include $986m for the 25 X’Trapolis 2.0 trains and associated infrastructure.
Mr Merlino said the initiative would create about 750 jobs statewide, across manufacturing and supply chains.
“This vital investment in new trains will also support the gradual retirement of the Comeng fleet – the longest-running trains on the metropolitan network – with the new trains set to run through some of Melbourne’s fastest-growing suburbs along the Craigieburn, Upfield and Frankston lines,” Mr Merlino said.
The new trains will accommodate 1200 passengers, replacing trains with a capacity of 760.
Production on the new trains will begin in 2022, with all expected to be on line in 2026.
READ MORE:Melbourne buyers bow out over land tax
Rachel Baxendale 12.45pm:Merlino defends ‘modest’ $2.7bn increase in land taxes
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has defended a planned $2.7bn increase in land taxes foreshadowed ahead of Thursday’s state budget as “modest”, “proportionate” and “reasonable”, arguing Victoria has the lowest land tax rates “in the land”, after the Prime Minister warned the taxes would “unquestionably” slow the post-COVID recovery.
Scott Morrison accused the Victorian government of “taking the dividends of the recovery” and said the taxes should serve as a warning against voting for federal Labor in an interview with The Australian Financial Review.
The stamp duty increase will apply on properties worth more than $2m, while land tax will increase by 0.25 per cent for taxable land for holdings worth $1.8m to $3m and 0.3 per cent for holdings worth more than $3m.
Land tax does not apply to people’s principal place of residence.
Mr Merlino said he rejected Mr Morrison’s comments.
“These (increases) are appropriate, they’re proportionate, they are absolutely reasonable in these extraordinary times,” he said.
“In terms of stamp duty, at the top level New South Wales has a higher stamp duty rate at the premium end than Victoria does. In terms of land tax holdings of between $2m and $3m, Victoria is the lowest in the land.
“I just want to put it in some perspective, this, this will not have an impact on prices. There is absolutely no evidence at all that it will have an impact on renters. This is very, very targeted at the higher end.
“So if you’re purchasing a home for $2.5m, your stamp duty right now is $137,500. It goes up to $142,500, so $5,000 on a $2.5m property. If you own land holdings of $2m, your land tax will go up by $500.”
Mr Merlino said only 10 per cent of Victorians paid land tax.
“These changes affect 10 per cent of that 10 per cent,” he said.
READ MORE: New Victorian taxes to hit renters, hike property prices
Rosie Lewis 12.00pm:Frydenberg rejects vax targets for international travel
Josh Frydenberg has refused to say how many Australians would need to be vaccinated before lifting the international border, after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian nominated an 80 per cent target for her state’s adult population.
“What we will do is wait until we get the medical advice that says it’s safe to open the borders,” the Treasurer said when pressed on whether an 80 per cent target was realistic.
“In this world where the virus is mutating around the world with variants of the virus, we’ve seen tragic images out of India, there’s a great deal of uncertainty. So you can’t be precise in this world where there is a great deal of uncertainty.”
READ MORE:Jab plan for travel freedom
Angie Raphael 11.55am:Second Aussie dies from Covid in India
A Sydney-based businessman has become the second Australian to die from COVID-19 in India.
Trina Solar Australia assistant director Govind Kant, 47, had returned to India for personal reasons.
In a statement, the company described the father of two as a dear friend and valued colleague.
“Unfortunately, Govind contracted the virus in India and has passed away,” the company said.
“Words may not suffice to express the heartfelt sorrow that the team at Trina Solar feels for the passing of our exceptional colleague and friend.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Govind and his family, including his wife and two daughters.”
READ the full story
Adeshola Ore11.50am:Virgin: Passengers’ safety number one priority
Virgin Australia has sought to clarify controversial comments made by its chief executive about the nation’s timeline for reopening its international borders, vowing the airline has always put the health and safety of Australians first.
Jayne Hrdlicka warned Australia risked getting left behind if international borders did not open until the middle of next year, as outlined in last week’s budget papers, and acknowledged “some people may die.” But she said the number of deaths would be “way smaller than the flu.”
The safety of our guests has always been our number one priority – nothing will change that. We have worked in lock-step with State and Federal governments to put the health and safety of Australians first, and we’ll keep doing that as we learn to live with COVID-19.
— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) May 18, 2021
On Twitter, the airline said “the safety of our guests has always been our number one priority – nothing will change that.”
“We have always worked in lock-step with state and federal governments to put the health and safety of Australians first, and we’ll keep doing that as we learn to live with COVID-19.”
READ MORE:‘Open borders, even if some die’
Rosie Lewis11.25am:PM: Vaccinated to have more freedom during outbreaks
Scott Morrison says vaccinated Australians would be able to keep going to family gatherings, the football and on public transport during COVID-19 outbreaks under a domestic reopening plan.
The Prime Minister is pushing the states to lift local restrictions on fully vaccinated Australians in a bid to entrench more freedom of movement and eventually lead to the reopening of the international border.
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Monday outlined a new goal under which states would commit to exempting vaccinated Australians from snap lockdown measures and internal border closures. Mr Morrison provided more detail on Tuesday.
“The next most achievable step, because Australia with our international borders up means that vaccinated Australians would be in a much lower risk position when restrictions were to kick in on Australians going on public transport or going to theatres or going to the footy or whatever they might do, family get-togethers,” Mr Morrison said.
“If they’re all vaccinated then obviously the risks are a lot less.”
The Australian on Monday asked premiers Mark McGowan (WA), Annastacia Palaszczuk (Queensland), Peter Gutwein (Tasmania), Steven Marshall (South Australia), acting premier James Merlino (Victoria) and NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner if they were willing to lift restrictions on vaccinated Australians in their state or territory once the vaccine rollout had achieved herd immunity.
Only Mr Gunner said he was prepared to take that action.
READ MORE: PM’s jab plan for travel freedom
Rhiannon Down11.15am:Frydenberg defends vaccine rollout
Josh Frydenberg has defended the government’s vaccine rollout, as debate surrounding the reopening of international borders heats up.
“We have already seen more than three million doses distributed around the country, more than 10 per cent of the population, more than 30 per cent of those who are aged over 70 and we have also seen more than 85 per cent of the aged care facilities,” he said.
“We are rolling out that vaccine with 5000 plus contact points around the country, including GPs and the state and territory clinics.”
The Treasurer said international borders would remain closed until the vaccine rollout had made significant progress.
“Our goal, our objective is to roll out the vaccine to as many people as quickly as possible and, based on the medical advice at the time, we will make a decision on international borders,” he said.
“What we won’t do is compromise on the health and the safety of Australians.”
Mr Frydenberg praised the country’s tough border policy, crediting it with the suppression of the virus in Australia.
“Some people say Australia got lucky because the virus has not spread here,” he said.
“That is not right. Australia makes its own luck. We have been able to achieve what we have done because we have moved decisively and quickly and comprehensively on the health and the economic front.
“The United Kingdom is also an island, yet they have seen the virus run rampant across the country with a large number of deaths. We are an island because we moved to close our international borders.
“The net result has been that to date, we have successfully suppressed the virus.”
READ MORE:Morrison pulled both ways on borders
Adeshola Ore11.10am: Qantas: Aussies barred from India flight were positive
Qantas has denied that any Australians barred from boarding a repatriation flight from India last week due to testing positive to COVID-19 received an incorrect test result.
Over the weekend, the ABC reported at least five of the 46 Australians blocked from returning home on the first repatriation flight from New Delhi to Darwin later tested negative to the virus. The airline reviewed its pre-departure testing arrangements following concerns passengers who tested negative for the virus were inadvertently diagnosed as positive cases.
But Qantas said the laboratory re-ran the positive test results, with additional independent medical supervision, and all the outcomes were the same.
“This included some weak positives that may have been interpreted as negative results by other laboratories,” a statement from Qantas said.
READ MORE: Aussie tests positive after India flight
Rhiannon Down11.05am:Berejiklian: no death is acceptable
Gladys Berejiklian says that “no death is acceptable” when it comes to risking the spread of COVID-19.
It comes as the debate over reopening ‘Fortress Australia’ intensifies, after Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka urged Australia to reopen its international borders when the most vulnerable are vaccinated, despite the risk that some “may die”.
The NSW Premier said about 10 million jabs would need to be administered before there could be a discussion on reopening the country.
“We’ve worked hard in New South Wales to protect life, to keep community safety and that’s what we will do,” she said.
“There’s no doubt that the vaccine program is key to our freedom. Having a successful vaccine program is key to making sure that we can make decisions moving forward about our future but we can’t even think about those decisions unless the vast majority of our population are vaccinated.
“Any conversations we have now are premature. We have a big job ahead of us in terms of getting the community vaccinated. Until that time, we can’t even have the
conversation. We need to get cracking and that’s why NSW is stepping up to do more than what we’ve been asked to do, because we want our community vaccinated as soon as possible to be able to give us those choices.”
READ MORE:Oldies hedging jab bets
Rhiannon Down10.50am:Berejiklian: vaccinate 5 million to open borders
Gladys Berejiklian has clarified her remarks that NSW was aiming to vaccinate five million people before it considered opening borders.
“Look, medical experts say that so-called herd immunity depends on between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of the population being vaccinated,” she said.
“Even then there’s huge risks for those who aren’t vaccinated. What I said yesterday was until we do 10 million jabs in NSW we can’t even begin to have the conversation.
“But once you’ve done 10 million jabs and 5 million of your population are fully vaccinated, you can start to have those combinations.
“In some parts of the world they’re vaccinating 16-year-olds to 18-year-oldeds and in some places younger people. We need to provide a safe vaccine to as much of our population as early as possible and I don’t think it’s a good idea to wait. If you have access to a safe vaccination please take it.”
READ MORE: Jab plan for travel freedom
Adeshola Ore 10.40am:PM concedes need to ‘step up’ disabled rollout
Scott Morrison has conceded that Australia needs to “step up” its vaccination rollout in disability residential facilities, after it was revealed fewer than 5 per cent of people in this cohort have been inoculated.
At a disability royal commission hearing on Monday, federal health bureaucrats revealed less than 1,000 people out of 26,000 Australians with a disability who live in supported accommodation have been vaccinated against coronavirus, despite being in phase 1a.
“We’ve got to step up the performance there and there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Morrison said.
“I’m working with the health officials there.”
Opposition National Disability Insurance Scheme spokesman Bill Shorten described the disability rollout as “a national disgrace”.
Mr Morrison said he was pleased that 85 per cent of aged-care residents had now been inoculated.
READ MORE: Rollout failure for disabled
Adeshola Ore10.20am:PM: I won’t take risks with Aussies’ lives
Scott Morrison says it’s not yet safe to open the nation’s international borders, as pressure ramps up on the Prime Minister to tear down the mentality of “Fortress Australia.”
Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka urged Australia to forge ahead with reopening its international borders when the most vulnerable are vaccinated. Ms Hrdlicka warned Australia risked getting left behind if international borders did not open until the middle of next year, as outlined in last week’s federal budget papers. She acknowledged “some people may die” but said it would be “way smaller than the flu”.
But Mr Morrison slammed the remarks as “insensitive: and said the pandemic was raging and morphing overseas.
“It’s changing everyday,” he said.
“I’m not going to take risks with Australians’ lives. I’m not going to do that and I’m going to make sure we maintain a regime that so far has avoided the loss of 30,000 lives.”
Referring to MS Hrdlicka’s comments, the Prime Minister said: “I regret that those comments were somewhat insensitive.
“I would encourage people to know 910 Australians lost their lives. lives. Every single one of those lives was a terrible tragedy, and it doesn’t matter how old they were,” he said.
Mr Morrison is pushing the states and territories to lift domestic COVID-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated Australians as part of a road map to entrench more freedom of movement within Australia and eventually lead to the reopening of international borders.
READ MORE:Jab plan to unlock travel freedom
Adeshola Ore 10.10am: Littleproud defends rollout among disabled
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has defended the commonwealth’s vaccine rollout in disability residential facilities, after it was revealed fewer than 5 per cent of people in this cohort have been inoculated.
At a disability royal commission hearing on Monday, federal health bureaucrats revealed fewer than 1,000 people out of 26,000 Australians with a disability who live in supported accommodation have been vaccinated against coronavirus, despite being in phase 1a. Opposition National Disability Insurance Scheme spokesman Bill Shorten described the disability rollout as “a national disgrace”.
But Littleproud accused Mr Shorten of “sensationalism.”
“There has been no cases of disability workers or people in disability [facilities],” he told the ABC.
Asked if it was good enough that less than 5 per cent of residents had been vaccinated, Mr Littleproud said “yes, because it’s part of the scheduled rollout.
READ MORE:Vaccine rollout failure for disabled Aussies
Ellen Ransley9.40am:One in four available doses not used
Almost a quarter of all available COVID-19 vaccine doses are not being used in Australia, the federal health department has revealed.
According to the latest commonwealth vaccine data, the Northern Territory has the worst rate of vaccine utilisation, closely followed by Queensland.
Nationally, dose utilisation as of week 12 of the vaccine rollout was 77 per cent.
In the Northern Territory, 47,652 doses have been made available, but just 22,953 have been administered, a low 58 per cent dose utilisation rate.
In Queensland, just 64 per cent of available doses have been used – 170,330 out of 317,810.
Tasmania has had the highest rate of dose utilisation, having administered 49,739 of the 62,254 doses available.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down 9.30am:UK restrictions eased amid Indian variant concerns
COVID-19 restrictions have been further eased in Britain with pubs and restaurants opening to indoor dinners across the country, amid mounting concerns over the spread of the Indian variant.
The new variant has become the dominant strain in Bolton and Blackburn, with the strain now detected in 86 areas across the country and known cases up 76 per cent since Thursday.
Authorities have warned that if the new variant can’t be brought under control, restrictions would have to be brought back, The Times reported.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would give an update at the end of May on whether the remaining restrictions would be able to go ahead on June 21, though the government “cannot be definitive at this point”.
Despite the uncertainty The Oak Inn’s Darren Lee said the atmosphere was buoyant as hospitality businesses welcomed back patrons.
“We had people down here at midnight to be the first ones in queuing at the doors and they really wanted to be the first ones in and enjoy themselves,” he told Sky News, from his pub in Coventry.
“I think the general consensus is that we’re on the way out of this now, and with the infection rates everything is really, really low. I think everybody has got a good inoculation rate and I think we’re going to have it lifted.”
READ MORE:Lack of jabs for disabled ‘a disgrace’
Adeshola Ore8.55am:Canavan: Toowoomba quarantine facility wrong move
Nationals senator Matt Canavan has thrown his support behind Scott Morrison’s rejection of a quarantine facility near Toowoomba.
On Monday, the Prime Minister praised the “comprehensive” proposal by the Victorian government for a purpose-built quarantine facility about 40 kilometres north of Melbourne. But he said a proposal by construction firm Wagners to build a quarantine facility near Toowoomba would be too far from Brisbane airport or any major hospital.
Senator Canavan agreed establishing quarantine camps away from major health infrastructure was not the right approach.
“The Prime Minister’s right here … Toowoomba itself, I believe, only has 30 or 40 ICU beds,” he told Sky News.
“So if there were to be an outbreak in a regional city like Toowoomba, they’ve got very limited ability to handle that and it would very quickly overwhelm their health services.”
“They don’t need these facilities to go out to some remote rural area … All of our major cities would have land available to do something like this.”
READ MORE:Vaccine rollout ‘abject failure’
Rhiannon Down8.50am:‘End of 2022 before all Aussies are vaccinated’
Strategic Health Policy Consultant Bill Bowtell has called for the country to step up its vaccination efforts, as frustration mounts over borders remaining closed.
“I think it’s good that numbers are being put on these targets but let’s be frank, only 12 per cent of Australians have received even one jab, and as we’ve seen, the disability sector, almost nobody has received a jab,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“So at the present rate of vaccination, it’s going to be some time towards the end of 2022 before all Australians are vaccinated. We’ve got to do better than that. We cannot drag this out.
“When people are talking about opening up and all the rest of it, what they’re really frustrated about, and you can understand it, is that our vaccination arrangements are
extremely poor.
“And the absence of quality quarantine, as we’ve seen with people coming back from India and so on, we’re not building the quality quarantine we need.”
Professor Bowtell said despite the lack of direction on borders, many Australians would be hesitant to risk jeopardising the country’s run of low cases.
“It’s been a great achievement in the last year, the pessimists and the gloom and doom merchants a year ago said we could never have zero Covid cases in Australia yet thanks to
the public health system and the people that’s exactly what we’ve got,” he said.
“So I don’t think the people want to throw away this great achievement in a higgledy-piggledy way and open up and decide that some people are vaccinated and some aren’t.”
READ MORE:PM pulled both ways on borders
Adeshola Ore8.45am:Canavan: we can’t stay under doona forever
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has backed Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka push for Australia to forge ahead with reopening its international borders when the most vulnerable are vaccinated.
Ms Hrdlicka warned Australia risked getting left behind if international borders don’t open until the middle of next year, as outlined in last week’s federal budget papers. She acknowledged “some people may die” but said it would be “way smaller than the flu.”
Senator Canavan said Ms Hrdlicka “put it starkly” but said it was “about time” Australia had the conversation about its roadmap for reopening.
“I think those who have jumped on her are doing so a little “opportunistically,” he told Sky News.
“Eventually when we open up, eventually when we ease some restrictions, there will be the unfortunate situation that some people, even with the vaccine, may get sick and ultimately die just like they do with the flu and other diseases.”
“We can’t stay under the doona forever.”
READ MORE: Virgin Australia boss: reopen borders despite deaths
Rhiannon Down8.40am: Unrestricted travel abroad ‘possible for vaccinated Aussies’
Infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake says it’s possible Australia could follow international examples and allow unrestricted travel for those who have been vaccinated.
It comes as Scott Morrison dropped major hints about the road map out of ‘Fortress Australia’, suggesting that interstate travel would eventually become unrestricted for vaccinated Australia and international travel agreements struck with low risk countries.
“This would be consistent with what we’re seeing in countries like Germany, where over the weekend, the federal law was passed saying that if you’ve had COVID in the last six months or you’re fully vaccinated you’re essentially free from restrictions,” Dr Senanayake told Channel 9’s Today.
“Including being able to travel and not having to quarantine when you come back. I don’t necessarily know if we have to go that far.
“Even the risk of transmission is reduced with a lot of these vaccines, a proportion still can get infected so you might need some precautions for vaccinated travellers. But it’s not a bad concept.”
Rhiannon Down8.30am:Biden to donate 20m doses to needy countries
US President Joe Biden has announced plans to donate 20 million vaccine doses to needy countries, to bolster the global fight against COVID-19.
The figure brings the number of vaccines earmarked for shipping from the US to developing countries to 80 million by the end of June.
The announcement comes in response to China and Russia who it’s feared have stepped up their vaccine donations to increase their influence.
“This will be more vaccines than any country has actually shared today, five times more than any other country,” President Biden said.
“Russia and China … have donated 15 million doses. You know there’s a lot of talk about Russia and China influencing the world with vaccines. We want to lead the world with our values.
“We will not use our vaccines to secure favours from other countries.”
READ MORE: Jab plan to unlock travel freedom
Jacquelin Magnay8.20am:Aus agriculture sticking point in UK trade talks
The British government is bitterly split about whether to allow full trade liberalisation of the agriculture sector in the free trade deal currently being negotiated with Australia.
Agriculture is proving to be the biggest sticking point in the talks, with several senior cabinet ministers arguing that British farmers need some levels of tariff protection, as well as assurances about the quality of Australian produce allowed into the United Kingdom.
The showdown within the British cabinet comes at a pivotal moment in the talks. The free trade deal was initially spruiked as being a deal among like-minded allies and was to have been signed before Christmas. After Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan visited London recently for face-to-face talks with UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss, it was understood that an outline of a deal would be announced at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June attended by Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison.
Ms Truss and the Minister for State and chief EU negotiator David Frost have been advocating zero agriculture tariffs to set a benchmark for future trade deals with other nations, and also to appease Australia, which is helping Britain gain access to the 11 Pacific nation trade deal known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
But influential senior ministers, such as Environment Minister George Eustice and senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove are wanting protections to remain in place to keep Welsh and Scottish farmers on side in order to help ward off Scotland and Wales independence moves. It is being mooted that any removal of agriculture tariffs may be introduced over a 10 year period.
The Australian reported this week that there are big concerns about allowing imports of Australian beef and pork which has been fed hormones and micro-antibiotics, amid fears that food standards would be lowered, given that the UK and the European Union has advocated hormone free produce for decades. Mr Eustice has been a strong supporter of banning any hormone tainted beef and pork into the UK.
On Tuesday the Financial Times reported: “there is an absolutely ferocious row going on over the Australia deal with real pressure to get it resolved by the end of this week. Gove and Eustice are on one side, with Truss and Frost on the other’’.
The paper said that two people familiar with the internal discussions said ministers were divided over whether to grant tariff free access to Australian farmers which ‘’would risk a backlash from the British farming industry and potentially spark domestic political fallout’’.
READ MORE:Trade triumph looms in UK deal
Rhiannon Down7.50am: ‘Don’t open borders until most Aussies vaccinated’
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness chair Jane Halton has backed calls to vaccinate the majority of Australians before reopening international borders.
On Monday Gladys Berejiklian said about 10 million jabs would need to be administered before there could be a discussion on reopening Australia.
Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka is under fire after calling for Australia's international border to reopen before mid-2022, even if “some people may dieâ€. pic.twitter.com/7aTBlSuWOs
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 17, 2021
“You know what, we can’t open our borders until we do have the majority of our population vaccinated,” Ms Halton told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“We will have to see how the virus goes whether there are significant variants but we do know that if you look at what’s going in the US and Britain, once you get a significant proportion of your population for the vaccinated, you can change all those requirements you have had in terms of restricting travel et cetera.
“That is what is going on overseas. So I think Gladys Berejiklian is on the right track.
“We know we can’t open up in this way until we are vaccinated but once we are, let’s look to see how we could do that safely.”
Ms Halton also weighed in on controversial comments made by Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka, who called for borders to reopen despite the certainty that “some people may die.”
“She is right, sadly a few people do die of COVID even in countries where there is widespread vaccination,” she said.
READ MORE: Growth of anti-vaxxers revealed
Rhiannon Down 7.35am:Hinch lashes ‘callous’ Hrdlicka over border remarks
Former senator Derryn Hinch has described Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka as “callous”, after she said she wanted borders to open soon, even if it meant “some people may die.”.
At a business lunch on Monday Ms Hrdlicka urged ‘fortress Australia’ to reopen despite the risk, saying it was critical for our health and economy that international borders reopened before June 2022.
“(Her comments) are callous and it reminds me of Lang Hancock when 25 people died at his asbestos mine in WA, Hancock said, ‘Well, that’s the price of progress’,” Mr Hinch told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“I thought maybe we had changed but it seems at Virgin they haven’t.”
Mr Hinch cautioned against such a calculating approach although he said he believed vaccination was central to reopening borders, and had received the jab himself.
“I would tell the Virgin CEO, just talk about some people dying, think of the 800 people in Melbourne who have died,” he said.
“They won’t fly Virgin in a hurry.
READ MORE: Open borders ‘even if some people may die’
Rhiannon Down7.15am:World Economic Forum cancels 2021 meeting
The World Economic Forum has called off its in-person annual meeting of political leaders, saying it was “impossible” to convene considering the challenges presented by the pandemic.
The summit had been planned to take place in Singapore in August after a switch from its traditional setting of Swiss Alpine village of Davos.
The WEF said the next annual meeting would instead take place in 2022.
“It was a difficult decision, particularly in view of the great interest of our partners to come together not just virtually but in person, and to contribute to a more resilient, more inclusive and more sustainable world,” WEF executive chairman Klaus Schwab said.
READ MORE:Scare stories lower jab rates
Rhiannon Down7.02am:PM lacking leadership on vaccines: Shorten
Former opposition leader Bill Shorten has accused Scott Morrison of lacking “leadership” when it comes to the country’s vaccination rollout.
Mr Shorten’s comments came as Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday that five million NSW residents would need to be vaccinated before she discusses international borders.
“I wish the government would be clear about what our vaccination goals are,” Mr Shorten told Nine’s Today show.
“I think Gladys (Berejiklian) is probably showing more leadership than Scott (Morrison) at this point.”
Mr Shorten also expressed concern about a rise in vaccine hesitancy, especially among young people, urging them to get the jab for “grandma and grandpa” if not themselves.
“There’s a proportion of people who aren’t anti-vaxxer who don’t think they will get COVID or they’re young and then don’t think COVID will make them very sick,” he said.
“Sooner or later we have to say to Australians if you want to travel overseas you don’t have the luxury of saying you don’t need the jab.”
READ MORE:‘Oldies’ hedging their COVID-19 jab bets
Rhiannon Down6.30am:Italy scales back restrictions as case numbers plummet
Italy has announced a widespread easing of Covid-restrictions as the country recorded some of its lowest case numbers in months.
A curfew, which was put in place in November to discourage social gatherings that could cause a spike in infections, will next month be pushed back from 10pm to 11pm.
COVID-19 case numbers peaked in November at more than 30,000 cases a day, with Italy only this month beginning its long-awaited reopening. In the past 24 hours, Italy recorded 5748 new cases and 93 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Beaches officially reopened at the weekend and the country will reopen to European tourists at the weekend, with quarantine requirements scrapped.
READ MORE:Faces of despair: ‘I want to see my dad’
Natasha Robinson5am:‘Oldies’ hedging their bets on COVID-19 vaccine
The federal government’s hope of vaccinating the bulk of the population by the end of the year is being threatened by large numbers of people aged between 50 and 70 years old who are hedging their bets on vaccines, electing to delay vaccination with AstraZeneca in the hope they can receive a Pfizer or Moderna shot later.
As vaccination for everyone aged 50 or above opened up at general practices, doctors are reporting a significant proportion of older people who are so concerned by blood clots associated with AstraZeneca that they are holding off in the hope of receiving a different vaccine.
“Basically every consultation there is some degree of vaccine hesitancy and discussion,” said Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price.
“Some people are adamant they’re going to wait. Even though I bring out my infographics, they’re adamant they wait to wait. Unfortunately, they’ve got this idea there’s a superior vaccine.
“No amount of talking about statistics saying the blood clots are extremely rare is going to change some people’s mind because they fear they will be the one.”
Read the full story, by Natasha Robinson and Joseph Lam, here.
Rosie Lewis4.45am:Scott Morrison reveals vaccine plan for travel freedom
Scott Morrison is pushing the states to lift domestic COVID-19 restrictions on fully vaccinated Australians as part of a road map to entrench more freedom of movement within Australia and eventually lead to the reopening of international borders.
As politicians, medical experts and business and community groups say the country must prepare to live with COVID, the Prime Minister and Health Minister Greg Hunt have outlined a new goal under which states would commit to exempting vaccinated Australians from snap lockdown measures and internal border closures.
States are insisting on high vaccination levels before relaxing to overseas travellers after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 80 per cent of the adult population would need to be immunised before she considered reopening the international border.
While an overwhelming majority of voters back a Fortress Australia international border policy and want them to remain closed until the global pandemic is under control, business leaders and some Coalition backbenchers want to reopen the country as soon as possible.
Read the full story here.
Ben Packham4.30am:Dutton keeps Defence staff at arm’s length
Peter Dutton has insulated his ministerial office from interference by Defence, accepting only the bare minimum of departmental staff as he prepares to shake up his $44bn portfolio.
The Australian has learned the Defence Minister has allowed just two departmental liaison officers and a uniformed aide-de-camp to work on his staff, in stark contrast to his predecessor Linda Reynolds whose office was stacked with Defence bureaucrats.
The DLOs — a feature of all ministerial offices — were brought in fresh from the Defence Department after he was named to the post in late March, rather than keeping on those who had worked for Senator Reynolds.
Defence is famed for co-opting and even undermining its ministers, limiting the tenure of many who occupy the role.
Mr Dutton’s move to keep the department at arm’s length comes as he works on plans to get major procurements back on track, including the troubled $90bn Future Submarines program.
Read the full story here.
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