PoliticsNow: Mystery Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney’s north triggers alert
Two mystery cases of COVID-19 in Sydney’s elite Palm Beach have put the city on edge and left health officials scrambling to identify close contacts at several Northern Beaches venues.
- China ‘unaware’ of coal ban
- FDA approves Aussie rapid Covid test
- Boris invites Australia to G7
- Vaccine rollout plan revealed
Welcome to live coverage of the latest Australian political news, as well as the nation’s response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has confirmed the government will launch formal action with the World Trade Organisation over China’s tariffs on Australian barley exports.
NSW has recorded one new case of locally acquired COVID-19 in a 45-year-old man who drives a van to transport international air crews.
Beijing has claimed to be unaware of a ban on Australian coal that was revealed by China’s state-controlled media.
Olivia Caisley 9pm: Colbeck wants to stay despite aged-care pain
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck says he wants to retain his portfolio ahead of the looming Morrison government cabinet reshuffle despite the sector experiencing enormous difficulties during the pandemic, including the deaths of almost 700 nursing home residents.
The independent reports into the deadly outbreaks at St Basil’s and Epping Gardens in Victoria, which cost $211,778, are yet to be released nearly four weeks after its authors, Acumenity Australia, completed them and three weeks after they were due to be released on November 30.
Senator Colbeck on Wednesday confirmed the reports would be released by Christmas as he doubled down on his wish to remain in charge of a sector being heavily scrutinised by a royal commission.
AFP 8.15pm: EU members to start vaccine jabs ‘the same day’
The EU’s 27 member countries aim to start COVID-19 vaccinations on “the same day” in a sign of unity, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Her statement to the European Parliament came as pressure mounted on the bloc to catch up with the US and Britain, which have already started inoculating people with a vaccine made in the EU jointly by Pfizer and BioNTech.
READ MORE: Cruise’s tirade at film crew over distancing
AFP 7.30pm: Record German toll on first day of new lockdown
Germany registered a record number of deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, the first day of a new partial lockdown to try and cope with a surge in infections.
A total of 952 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre.
It said 27,728 new coronavirus cases were registered, a figure close to the daily record of nearly 30,000 infections reported on Friday.
The previous daily record for fatalities was also reached Friday, when almost 600 people were reported to have died as the number of those in intensive care in the country reached alarming levels.
Some 83 per cent of intensive-care beds in hospitals were occupied on Wednesday, the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine said.
The latest figures come as a new partial lockdown was imposed, with non-essential shops and schools closed in a bid to halt an “exponential growth” in infections.
The restrictions will apply until January 10, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or to offer extended company holiday.
The new measures were agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel with regional leaders of Germany’s 16 states on Sunday.
Europe’s largest economy had coped relatively well with the first wave in the spring but it has struggled to contain a resurgence in recent months.
READ MORE: Medical chiefs failed us: Sweden PM
Max Maddison 6.45pm: Mystery cases spark alarm
Two mystery cases of COVID-19 in Sydney’s elite Palm Beach have put the city on edge and left health officials scrambling to identify close contacts at several northern beaches venues.
NSW Health issued a alert on Wednesday night, advising everyone in the northern beaches to monitor for symptoms after the woman in her 60s and man in his 70s attended six venues while infectious, including Avalon Woolworths and a Palm beach cafe.
“The source of these new infections is under investigation, At this stage, no links have been identified to other known cases,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“Everyone living in the northern beaches area should monitor for even the mildest of symptoms and come forward for testing immediately if they appear, then isolate until a negative result is received.”
The emergence of these new infections come just hours after a Sydney airport shuttle bus driver tested positive, becoming the first local infection in 14 days.
READ MORE: COVID-19 population shock bites cities
James Hall 6.30pm: Outbreak in Sydney’s north
NSW health officials have revealed two new cases on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
The new infections, announced on on Wednesday afternoon, came after a Sydney van driver who transports international airline staff tested positive.
Anyone who attended a number of venues in the city’s north is being urged to get tested and isolate immediately.
Those who visited the following sites are considered close contacts:
● Palm Beach female change rooms on Sunday between 9am and 9.15am;
● Coast Palm Beach Cafe at Palm Beach on Sunday between 10am and 11am;
● Avalon Bowlo (bowling club) at Avalon Beach on Sunday between 3pm and 5pm
● Sneaky Ground Cafe at Avalon Beach on Monday between 10.30am and 11am.
#BREAKING NSW Health has found two more coronavirus cases this afternoon, in Sydney's northern beaches.
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) December 16, 2020
"At this stage, no links have been identified to other known cases."
There are half a dozen exposure locations so far, in Palm Beach/Avalon Beach: pic.twitter.com/8OWxtbWCQP
READ MORE: COVID-19 population shock bites cities
Melissa Iaria 4.30pm: Infected Sydney van driver attended junior soccer event
A Sydney van driver who has tested positive to COVID-19 attended a junior soccer event while infectious.
The driver, who transports aircrew from the airport, went to the soccer event at Gannons Park in Peakhurst on Friday.
Anyone who attended the match between 4:30pm and 5:30pm is considered a casual contact.
NSW Health is advising adults who were at the match to get tested immediately and isolate until they get a negative result.
“They should continue to monitor for symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again,” a spokeswoman said.
“Children who were present should be monitored for symptoms and get tested if any symptoms occur.”
NSW Health was notified of the new case on Wednesday morning.
It is doing urgent genomic sequencing to determine when the infection was acquired and how.
The driver transports both international and domestic aircrew from the airport to their hotels.
Authorities want to know if transmission occurred through that contact.
Results are expected in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Three household contacts of the case, who lives in south western Sydney, have all tested negative for COVID-19 and will self-isolate for 14 days.
Further contact tracing is underway.
NSW Health is also doing wider testing of staff at the transport company, which focuses solely on aircrew.
READ MORE: New hotel quarantine rule for WA
Ben Packham 4.30pm: Weinberg appointed war crimes special investigator
Victorian Supreme Court judge Mark Weinberg has been appointed by the Morrison government as the nation’s war crimes special investigator, and Attorney-General’s Department secretary Chris Moraitis as the director-general of the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI).Ross Barnett, Queensland’s first Racing Integrity Commissioner and a former deputy commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, will support the special investigator.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the OSI would begin work on January 4 next year, examining the Brereton war crimes report’s findings, including a recommendation that 19 Afghanistan veterans be prosecuted over the murders of up to 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.“The task for these eminent appointees will be challenging and as the Prime Minister has noted, difficult for Australia,” Mr Dutton said.
“They bring a wealth of experience to the very important work this Office will do.”
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 3.50pm: Jill Hennessy resigns from Andrews front bench
Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy has announced she will step down from the Andrews government’s front bench, citing family reasons.
The decision will have significant ramifications for Labor’s succession planning, given Ms Hennessy has for some time been listed alongside Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan as the minister most likely to replace Daniel Andrews as premier should he retire.
READ the full story here.
Rosie Lewis 3.15pm: Vaccinated Aussies ‘may still transmit virus’
Vaccinated Australians won’t be able to re-enter the country quarantine-free, Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has warned.
The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, with Professor Kelly already fielding inquiries about whether Australians who receive a full dose can fly home without being forced into hotel quarantine.
It comes as the UK Home Office issued new advice to foreign nationals whose visas expire before January 31, saying they must request additional time to stay in the country if they want to leave but cannot do so because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to the coronavirus.
Scott Morrison said there were just under 5000 Australians in the UK registered as wanting to come home, the second largest group behind India with 10,000 Aussies.
Professor Kelly said no decision would be made on allowing vaccinated Australians to re-enter the country quarantine-free until January or later.
READ the full story here.
Finn McHugh 2.43pm: Aussie allies to team up against China
Australia’s largest allies may come to its aid in its escalating trade war with China.
The Five Eyes alliance has reportedly held discussions over how to respond after Beijing added coal to a growing list of sanctions imposed on Aussie goods.
The group – made up of Australia, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand – has reportedly touted retaliatory trade and economic sanctions.
Mike Green, a former special assistant to ex-US president George W Bush, said the international response needed to be broader than the Five Eyes and should include NATO and the European Union.
“China’s market is so huge (that) it’s unlikely the rest of us will have, in a democratic society, the ability to completely boycott it,” he told ABC Radio.
“The Chinese have a slight advantage there. But what we have is numbers, and we have more and more countries that are alarmed at what China is doing.”
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin appeared to confirm a ban on Australian coal imports on Wednesday.
“The Chinese authorities have recently taken measures against some imported Australian products in accordance with law and regulations,” he said.
“I have repeatedly heard some people from the Australian side claim to be the so-called victims, constantly accusing and attacking China by innuendo, which is completely making a countercharge, confusing right and wrong. China will never accept this.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was yet to receive formal notification from Beijing but said it was taking the reports “very seriously”.
“If that were to be true … then that would be in direct contravention to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. It would also be a complete breach of the free trade agreement,” he told Channel 7.
The ban has sparked deep fear in the Australian coal industry, but Mr Green conceded international intervention would have been “an open question” if the dispute was simply about trade.
He said Beijing’s sanctions were part of a broader assault on Western liberalism.
“This is more than just a dispute over tariffs or intellectual property rights, in other words. It goes to the heart of what we share as values as open democracies,” he said.
“This is China using mercantilist tools to punish Australia … for exercising free speech, for exercising open and accountable government.”
Mr Morrison insisted Australia would not be cowed into compromising its values.
“Australia will still be Australia. Our values will still be ours. We will still continue to set our laws hear about foreign investment,” he said.
“We will have a free press and parliamentarians will be able to speak freely. We have our positions on how to deal with world health issues.”
Mr Green revealed an international emergency fund was being discussed in Washington, softening the blow for farmers impacted by Chinese sanctions. — NCA Newswire, with Jade Gailberger
READ MORE: Vaccinated Aussies ‘may still transmit virus’
Paul Kelly 2.10pm: Morrison has no choice but to commit to net zero by 2050
Once seen as a radical target, net zero emissions by 2050 is now entrenched as a middle ground or centrist stance — the place where the Prime Minister likes to be.
READ Paul Kelly’s full commentary here
Adeshola Ore 1.50pm: $1bn aged care boost ‘will help sector grow’: Colbeck
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck says the federal government’s $1bn boost for aged care will help the sector grow at a responsible and safe pace.
The Morrison government will inject an additional $1bn into the aged care sector to support 10,000 new home care packages and bolster nursing facilities hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We don’t want to create a situation where people are getting unsafe care,” Senator Colbeck told reporters in Devonport on Wednesday.
“We’re growing the sector and reforming the way care is delivered.”
“Our objective is to provide everyone who wants care at home with that care as soon as possible.”
Opposition aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins has accused the government of “drip feeding” in its announcement of 10,000 home care packages.
The major spending item in this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook comes ahead of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety handing down its final report in February and as overall spending on aged care is projected to exceed $27bn in 2023-24.
Senator Colbeck said the independent reviews into deadly coronavirus outbreaks at St Basil’s and Epping Gardens aged care facilities in Victoria will be released by Christmas.
Last week, Labor called on the Morrison government to release the reports before parliament rose for the summer break.
Senator Colbeck said the two aged-care homes remained under “close scrutiny” by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
READ MORE: Scott Morrison’s $1bn boost for aged care
Matthew Denholm 1.35pm: Virus-free Tassie further relaxes restrictions
Tasmania has further eased coronavirus restrictions, allowing outdoor sports, religious services, cinemas and theatres to fill up to 75 per cent of seating capacity.
Outdoor events will move to 75 per cent of seat capacity from January 1, while religious services will be lifted to the same limit between this Sunday and December 27, followed by a further review.
The same limit will apply to theatres and cinemas from December 21, to a limit of 250 people. Larger venues will have to apply to Public Health to go above this cap.
Arts Minister Elise Archer also on Wednesday announced a $2m government-funded insurance scheme for theatres, allowing them to claim up to $100,000 per event should a reintroduction of restrictions require show cancellations.
Premier Peter Gutwein announced a flight of seasonal workers from Tonga would arrive in Hobart on December 18, and a second flight of Australians returning from India on January 8. All will face 14 days of hotel quarantine.
Mr Gutwein said there had been no more positive cases of the virus reported in quarantine facilities since a family of four tested positive last week. The family remains in a “satisfactory condition” in medically-supervised isolation.
READ MORE: The year that fashion forgot?
Rachel Baxendale 1.27pm: Children fined by Victoria Police for lockdown breaches
Victoria Police issued almost 40,000 fines during Victoria’s coronavirus lockdowns, Police Minister Lisa Neville has told a parliamentary inquiry.
Ms Neville told the state Parliamentary Accounts and Estimates Committee on Tuesday that of a total 39,985 fines, 1553 were issued to children aged under 18.
The Andrews government gave police powers to issue $1652 fines to any individual found breaching coronavirus rules, which at the height of Victoria’s second lockdown included leaving home between the hours of 8pm and 5am, or leaving home for any reason other than permitted work, medical care or up to an hour of shopping or exercise each day.
READ MORE: Medical chiefs failed us, Swedish PM says
Angelica Snowden 1.20pm: Cruise missile: Actor launches Covid-safe tirade
Tom Cruise has thrown a screaming tantrum on the set of his new movie after catching crew members failing to social distance.
Cruise delivered the rant – laden with expletives and captured on a leaked audio recording – to crew of the latest instalment of the Mission: Impossible movie series, being filmed in Britain.
“I care about you guys, but if you’re not going to help me you’re gone. OK? Do you see that stick? How many metres is that?” Cruise can be heard saying in audio leaked to UK’s The Sun.
PATRICK COMMINS 1.12pm: Overseas holidays lose their relevance
International holiday travel will virtually disappear from the ABS’s inflation gauge for 2021, as the statistics agency moves swiftly to update the weightings of the consumer price index to reflect the dramatic effect of the COVID-19 crisis on Australians’ spending habits.
The ABS uses a representative basket of goods and services when tracking changes in consumer prices, and normally reweights this on an annual basis using household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) data which is typically 18 months old.
But in the wake of a once-in-a-century pandemic, 18 months is too long, and overseas holidays are the prime example.
International holiday travel was assigned a weight of 3.4 per cent in the CPI basket in the last update in 2019, which represented about $18.7bn in spending by Australian households.
If the ABS has relied on the 2018-19 HFCE figures as usual, then its weight would have increased to 3.4 per cent, representing an estimated $19.8bn of spending in 2021.
“With Australia’s borders remaining closed, this would have led to international travel having too high a weight in the CPI and the CPI basket being unrepresentative of spending by Australian households,” the ABS said.
Instead, relying on more up-to-date spending numbers, the updated weight is 0.08 per cent, representing only $0.4bn of spending, the ABS said.
The other major changes was the CPI weighting to recreation and culture services drops from 12.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent for 2021. In contrast, Aussies are spending more on food and drink: the weighting of food and non-alcoholic beverages lifts to 17.4 per cent from 15.8 per cent, while alcohol and tobacco grows to 8.9 per cent from 7.7 per cent.
READ MORE: Firms struggle to find skilled workers
Jacquelin Magnay 1.00pm: Hopes of early trade deal with UK scuppered
Australia’s hopes of finalising a free trade deal with the United Kingdom before Christmas has been scuppered, with Brexit negotiations with the European Union taking precedence.
The conclusion of the third round of talks last week has highlighted the slow progress and a fourth round of talks is now scheduled for February 2021.
In a statement posted last night on the Foreign Affairs and Trade website, the Australian government said “we continued to make progress’’.
That included ”substantive progress through text-based discussions on many issues in a positive atmosphere’’.
But the slow moving developments were underscored when the department announced it had only just begun the “first discussion of initial market access offers for trade in goods’’.
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 12.22pm: Formal action: Australia takes China to WTO
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has confirmed the government will launch formal action with the World Trade Organisation over China’s tariffs on Australian barley exports.
Since the federal government called for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April, China has slapped Australia’s $600m annual barley exports with an 80 per cent tariff. Beijing accused Australia of dumping the grain and subsidising growers.
Mr Birmingham said the government would make a formal request to the WTO tonight.
“This is the logical and appropriate next step for Australia to take,” he said in Canberra.
Beijing’s barley tariff was followed by a ban on timber from Queensland and Victoria, the halting of Australia’s $700m lobster trade and the hold up of more than $1bn of Australian coal off China’s coast.
Australia appealed China’s barley decision through China’s internal processes but it was upheld.
Beijing has claimed it was unaware of a ban on Australian coal that was revealed by China’s state-controlled media.
Mr Birmingham said he was confident that Australia had built a strong and evidence-backed case to present to the WTO.
“We have full confidence that they are not unduly subsidised and did not dump that product in global markets,” he said.
He said the government had taken extensive consultation with the barley industry to prepare for pursuing the WTO’s legal processes.
Mr Birmingham said he anticipated that other countries would become third-parties in the legal proceedings.
“It is quite common for other countries to become third parties to proceedings in the WTO,” he said.
Mr Birmingham said a decision the WTO could take years, but said Australia was committed to the process achieving a “systemic” and “specific” outcome.
“We want a specific outcome that recognises Australia’s grain growers and barley industry operating in nothing other than an entirely commercial way with the utmost integrity,” he said.
“But we also want a systemic outcome that identifies the fact that the decisions that have been reached by Chinese authorities are not underpinned by facts and evidence.”
Mr Birmingham said Australia reserved the right to launch separate WTO action on other trade bans and tariffs China has imposed on exports.
“We have a series of different actions that China has taken during the course of the year and each come with slightly different criteria for how you might respond at the WTO,” he said.
“Barley and wine have the same criteria in terms of dumping measures.”
He said Beijing pressuring Chinese businesses not to purchase Australian goods was a “harder point to prove.”
READ MORE: The human face of China’s coal blockade
Adeshola Ore 11.54am: ‘There’ll be a queue in Australia for vaccine’
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says frontline healthcare workers and Australians aged over 70 and those with a chronic illness will be first in line for the COVID vaccine jab.
Professor Kelly said it was likely that three coronavirus vaccines would be rolled out in Australia from next year.
“I’d really like to reiterate today that our aim for 2021 is to have anyone in Australia who wants to get this vaccine vaccinated,” he said in Canberra.
“So, yes, there will be a queue. This is an unusual event in our immunisation strategies.”
Professor Kelly said allowing Australians vaccinated abroad to come home without quarantining would be dependent on multiple factors.
“It will rely very much on where people have come from, what vaccine they’ve had, whether they’ve had the two doses, when they had those two doses,” he said.
He said the current vaccines do not protect against transmission of the virus.
“They are very effective at stopping disease from the virus in an individual person, but it may well be that that transmission might continue.”
READ MORE: Who’ll be first to receive Covid vaccine?
Angelica Snowden 11.20am: NSW air crew driver tests positive to virus
NSW has recorded one new case of locally acquired COVID-19.
The case was identified in a 45-year-old man who drives vans with international and domestic aircrew back and forth from the airport, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
“The NSW government focus is the virus seems to be contained … (but) our most exposed areas are principally around our borders,” Mr Hazzard said.
“We may be an island but we are not totally isolated from the pandemic that is raging around the world,” he said.
It is the first case of locally acquired COVID-19 in nearly two weeks, after a hotel quarantine worker contracted a strain of the virus from the US.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said her “plausible hypothesis” is that the man contracted the virus from international air crew.
She said genome sequencing has been expedited to confirm how and where he became infected.
The man works for Sydney Ground Transport, Alexandria, and has three household contacts. Their COVID-19 results are expected in the next hour.
Dr Chant said contact tracing would help to determine when the man contracted the virus, but said he showed symptoms on Saturday.
Amid news the latest case is linked with international travellers and Australia’s border, Mr Hazzard said the answer was not to “get tough” on airlines.
“They are bringing our Aussies home and they are also bringing air freight,” he said.
“We do need to recognise there is a high variability in the approaches the airlines take themselves in testing.
“We need to work with them and understand the protocols they have in place, but also to make sure at the end of the day that those protocols work for us.”
It is understood the driver wore a mask when he worked, Dr Chant said.
“Obviously, we need to verify that, but the reports we have that there was attentiveness and that was verified from a couple of different sources that he was wearing masks,” she said.
Mr Hazzard confirmed he had spoken with most of Australia’s state and territory health ministers to inform them of the latest case.
He said he was not worried about domestic borders closing again.
Dr Chant said NSW Health did not have a complete list of the man’s movements, but authorities were investigating one community sporting event he attended.
She said: “I want to make sure we have confirmed the details of that... before naming it publicly.”
READ MORE: Australian rapid Covid test wins US tick
Joe Kelly 11.10am: China party spies in embassies ‘hysterical slander’
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has hit back against Australia’s concerns that CCP members have been employed in diplomatic missions in China, declaring that “this is the reality in China.”
The Australian reported on Wednesday that Australia’s embassy in Beijing is using a Chinese government agency to recruit senior staff into the consulate, with intelligence insiders warning this practice is the equivalent of paying China to “put spies into our consulates”.
However Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that “states should follow basic norms governing international relations and respect each other’s system and national conditions.”
He argued that the CPC had striven for the “wellbeing of the Chinese people, the peace of the world and the progress of humanity” and argued the party was “open and above board in all its actions.”
READ the full story here
Angelica Snowden 10.39am: Wear masks, Christmas shoppers warned
NSW Health is urging shoppers to be cautious of crowded retail stores as the Christmas gift rush sets in.
It comes as the state chases nearly two weeks without a locally acquired case of COVID-19.
NSW residents should try to do their Christmas shopping at off-peak times, NSW Health doctor Chatu Yapa said.
“This year we’re asking people to avoid crowded shopping centres. If the shopping centre is too crowded, you should consider returning at an off-peak time, doing your gift shopping online or shopping locally at community businesses,” Dr Yapa said.
“It is strongly recommended you wear a face mask and minimise time spent inside shops if you can’t physically distance,” she said.
Safework NSW also warned it would send inspectors into retail stores to ensure COVID safe practices were being adhered to.
READ MORE: Coles, Woolies limit $20 lobster sales
David Rogers 10.35am: Stocks surge amid vaccine, stimulus hopes
Australia’s share market has surged on broad-based gains amid hopes of US fiscal stimulus and COVID vaccinations.
The S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1pc to a 3-day high of 6697 after a 1.3pc rise in the S&P 500.
The Tech sector is leading gains with Afterpay up 3.8pc.
But the market also has a value tilt as the Materials, Energy and Financials sectors are also outperforming.
In those sectors, BHP, CBA and Fortescue Metals have rebounded sharply to be up 2pc, 1.4pc and 2.3pc respectively.
FOLLOW live ASX updates at Trading Day
David Ross 10.31am: Super savers set to end year in black
Vaccines and a rock bottom cash rate are driving a broader market rebound for Australian equities, with super fund median balanced accounts lifting 4.9 per cent in November, new data shows.
According to estimates from superannuation research group SuperRatings, the median balanced option has delivered a 2.3 per cent return since the start of 2020, despite the March massacre of equities markets after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The eighth consecutive month of positive returns meant the median balanced option was “on track to finish the year in positive territory”, SuperRatings said.
READ the full story here
Angelica Snowden 10.17am: Sydney, NSW ‘most attractive’ location for post-Covid world
Sydney is badging itself as the “jobs capital” of Australia and is beckoning domestic and international businesses to relocate to NSW in the hopes they will boost coronavirus recovery efforts.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has declared the Jobs Plus Program — announced as part of the state budget in November — open.
“This is about putting NSW centre stage in supporting investment and creating jobs,” Ms Berejiklian said in a statement.
“We want to attract businesses from around the world and across the country to make NSW their new home as we set our state up for a dynamic recovery,” she said.
Businesses who relocate to NSW can now apply for assistance, including payroll tax relief, fast tracked planning approvals and subsidised training programs.
NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said Sydney and NSW are “the most” attractive locations in the Asia Pacific for business in a “post-COVID world”.
“This program is a clear signal to the world that we want your business and investment,” Mr Ayres said.
READ MORE: Nats widen rift with move on Liberal seat
Adeshola Ore 10.02am: China ban on Australian coal in neither’s interests: PM
Scott Morrison says allegations of China banning Australian coal exports are not in either country’s interests.
The Prime Minister said Australia had not confirmed reports in the Chinese state-owned publication The Global Times that Beijing had blocked Australia’s coal exports.
“I don’t think it would be in China’s interest or our interest,” he told Channel 7.
Mr Morrison stressed that Australia was committed to an open leader-level dialogue to resolve trade disputes.
READ MORE: Crisis talks as China trade turnoil escalates
Adeshola Ore 9.44am: Morrison accepts Johnson’s G7 Summit invitation
Scott Morrison has confirmed Australia will attend next year’s G7 Summit after Britain extended an invite as it seeks to strengthen its alliances in the region in the wake of Brexit.
Downing Street announced this morning (AEDT) that Australia had been invited alongside South Korea and India as guests to the summit, which will be hosted by the UK next northern summer.
The Prime Minister said attending the summit would be “very important”, particularly as Australia emerges from the COVID recession.
“The way out of this is through models that we have in countries like ours and the United Kingdom and United States and Japan and France. Liberal market-based democracies,” he told Channel 7.
“It is good for us to get together to line up on these issues and see how we can continue to support the recovery of the world economy.”
READ MORE: Call for Australia to join expanded G7
Troy Bramston 9.27am: Revealed: What the pollies are reading
Ten years ago Troy Bramston had a conversation with a senior Labor figure. He lamented that too few politicians wrote books. “I’d be happy if they just read a few,” the Labor man said. So, I started asking politicians what they read and their choices have been revealing,’’ Bramston writes.
Rachel Baxendale 8.53am: Victoria records yet another day of zeroes
Victoria has recorded 47 days with no new locally acquired cases of coronavirus, and there have been no new cases in hotel quarantine in the past 24 hours.
Yesterday there were 0 new local cases, 0 new cases acquired overseas and 0 deaths reported. 9,711 test results were received - thanks, #EveryTestHelps us to #StaySafeStayOpen. More info: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/RROl5F9glA
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) December 15, 2020
The latest zeroes come after 9711 tests were processed in the 24 hours to Wednesday.
Seven cases previously diagnosed among returned travellers include those in a boy aged under five, a woman in her 20s, two women and a man in their 30s, and a man and a woman in their 50s.
The cases include those of the boy’s parents.
Victorian authorities are expecting 114 overseas arrivals to enter hotel quarantine today.
Of 72 people who arrived in the 24 hours to 11pm, one displayed coronavirus symptoms and four had unrelated complex health needs.
All five have been admitted to the Novotel South Wharf “health hotel”, while the remaining 67 people are in the Pan Pacific quarantine hotel.
A total of 1222 people are now in hotel quarantine in Victoria, including 98 people who are in the “health hotel”.
This includes eight voluntary support people who are accompanying recent arrivals.
READ MORE: Hotel probe report on horizon
Adeshola Ore 8.41am: ‘We don’t know how much coal has been blocked’
Resources Minister Keith Pitt says the Morrison government has not been able to determine how much Australian coal has been blocked from entering China.
On Tuesday, Scott Morrison described the alleged ban as a “lose-lose situation” and said the government was seeking clarification of the media reports from Beijing.
Mr Pitt said it was difficult to determine the quantity of blocked exports due to the large volume of contracts.
“What I would say to all of our trading partners, including China, we expect them to meet the terms and conditions of our free trade agreements, which was signed and which Australia continues to meet,” he told the ABC.
Mr Pitt said he had no official confirmation from Beijing about Australian coal exports.
“When it comes to burning it in boilers to generate electricity, those boilers are usually tuned to the particular coal and the mine from which it comes from. It is unusual there would be changes like this.”
READ MORE: Agri exporters fear job losses as fight drags on
Angelica Snowden 8.31am: ‘World is watching China’s actions closely’
Nationals MP David Littleproud says China must officially “clarify” or “rectify” reports they have banned Australian coal as the world grows anxious about escalating trade tensions.
Mr Littleproud said the government had not received a formal notification through the World Trade Organisation Australian coal had been banned and called for immediate clarification to be made.
“The Chinese government needs to clarify this (or) rectify this very quickly,” Mr Littleproud told Sky news.
“The world is watching very closely on the actions of China,” he said.
“It is important the Chinese Government… clarify this very quickly because the world is getting anxious.”
Adding to the list of products which have been boycotted is “dangerous” and would cost the Chinese government because trading with the country would be “higher risk”, Mr Littleproud said.
He said he has continued to reach out to his counterpart, and said the “door is always open”.
READ MORE: Iron ore to defy probe threat
Will Glasgow 8.18am: Australia ‘playing victim, accusing China’ on coal
Beijing has claimed to be unaware of a ban on Australian coal that was revealed by China’s state-controlled media.
The blacklisting of Australia’s $14bn annual coal exports to China was all-but-formalised at a high level meeting with major Chinese power companies held on Saturday to address a surge in coal prices in the world’s second biggest economy.
At the meeting the National Development Reform and Commission – China’s top economic planning agency – gave approval for clearance restrictions to be removed from coal imports from all countries except Australia, according to reports by state-controlled media.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he was “not aware” of the ban, which has been widely reported throughout China and the world.
In Beijing’s first comments on the ban, Mr Wang accused Australia of casting itself as a “victim, pointing an accusing finger at China.”
“This move is meant to confound the public and we will never accept it,” Mr Wang said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Tuesday evening.
Those comments were said hours after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said discriminatory action on Australian coal exports would “obviously be in breach” of World Trade Organisation rules and the China-Australia FTA.
The nation’s top miners on Tuesday held crisis talks over the escalating trade tensions with China, as ship owners holding black-listed Australian coal off the Chinese coast threaten legal action over the mounting costs of a ban that has crunched the nation’s second biggest export industry.
A number of Australia’s biggest producers discussed the ongoing rift with Beijing as part of a phone hook-up with the Minerals Council of Australia, which represents many of the country’s big coal and iron ore producers.
The blacklisting of coal takes the total amount of annual Australian exports to China blocked by port authorities, crippled by tariffs or banned by customs this year to more than $20b, following strikes against wine, wood, barley, beef, lamb and lobster.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang said all measures taken by Chinese authorities on Australian imports were in line with “China’s laws and regulations and international practices”.
“They are also responsible steps to safeguard the interests of domestic industries and consumers,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman also accused the Australian government of being in breach of the free trade agreement with China, citing rejections of Chinese investment in Australian-based companies, the banning of Huawei from Australia’s 5G network and the launching of 106 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against China.
“In fact, it is the Australian side that has been politicizing economic, investment and technological issues, and discriminating against Chinese companies in violation of market economy principles and international trade rules,” he said.
READ MORE: China coal ban ‘FTA breach’
Angelica Snowden 7.28am: ‘Majority of Australians will voluntarily get vaccine’
Former Federal resources minister Matt Canavan says he is “absolutely confident” the vast majority of Australians will voluntarily get the COVID vaccine, and employers should not make the jab mandatory.
It came after some Queensland education minister Grace Grace said she would not rule out making the vaccine mandatory for her state’s school teachers, students and staff.
“We have to be careful putting employers in a position where they judge people’s medical requirements,” Senator Canavan told the Nine network’s Today Show.
“There are some people... like pregnant women or women who may want to get pregnant who may not be in the right category to get the vaccine,” he said.
“I don’t think we want to put bosses in charge of that. I prefer a health authority to be taking those decisions.”
READ MORE: Uni applications spike with jobs hard to find
Angelica Snowden 7.10am: US, EU push forward approval for two vaccines
The US and the European Union have pushed forward approval of two leading COVID-19 candidate vaccines, as fears of a fresh wave of infections over Christmas grow.
Two leading British medical journals urged London to scrap plans easing restrictions for the holiday season and the Netherlands imposed its tightest lockdown since the pandemic emerged.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued an upbeat briefing about the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine ahead of a meeting by experts on whether to grant it emergency approval after the country recorded 300,000 deaths due to the virus.
The FDA said there were “no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an EUA (emergency use authorisation)” and confirmed an overall efficacy of 94.1 percent.
Its assessment came a day after a mass vaccination drive started in the United States, the world’s worst-affected country.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Berlin wanted the EU to approve the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine “before Christmas” as calls grew for the bloc’s health regulator to speed up its decision process.
The European Medicines Agency, which previously had planned a special meeting by December 29 to discuss granting conditional approval for the jab, on Tuesday brought that forward to December 21.
The EU lags behind a growing number of nations that have already granted emergency approval. Britain, Canada and the United States have already started vaccinating their citizens.
Meanwhile, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Health Service Journal (HSJ) warned that British proposals to allow three households to mix indoors for five days could lead to the state-run National Health Service being overwhelmed.
“We believe the government is about to blunder into another major error that will cost many lives,” the BMJ and HSJ said in only their second joint editorial in more than a century.
“Rather than lifting restrictions over Christmas as currently planned, the UK should follow the more cautious examples of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands,” they said.
The warning came after the government announced that London and parts of three surrounding counties will from Wednesday join swathes of central and northern England under the toughest restrictions to try to cut spiralling infection rates.
Pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality sites will close, apart from takeaways, as will theatres and other entertainment venues. Members of different households cannot mix indoors.
The Netherlands on Tuesday entered its strictest lockdown since the pandemic began. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said schools and all non-essential shops would shut for five weeks.
Norway said it could extend virus curbs until the latter half of January, while Turkey announced it would go into a four-day lockdown over the New Year holidays.
Denmark’s government announced Tuesday it was extending nationwide partial restrictions that were already in force in much of the country, hoping to slow soaring infection rates.
More than 22 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded across Europe since the start of the pandemic.
Infections have surged since October amid a deadly second wave of the pandemic, with a record 341,104 infections reported on November 8 according to the World Health Organisation.
With AFP
READ MORE: Vatican nativity scene ridiculed
Agencies 7.00am: Biden nominates Buttigieg as transportation secretary
US President-elect Joe Biden will nominate former campaign rival Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, in a move that would make him the first openly gay member of a presidential cabinet.
Mr Buttigieg, the former mayor of a small town in Indiana, enjoyed a meteoric political rise as he sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The 38-year-old Buttigieg mounted a strong challenge to Mr Biden and other Democratic hopefuls before eventually dropping out of the race in March 2020 and endorsing the former vice president.
The Harvard and Oxford-educated Mr Buttigieg was also the first openly gay person to mount a major presidential campaign in the United States.
He would have to be confirmed by the Senate to join Biden’s Cabinet as transportation secretary.
His husband, Chasten Buttigieg, is a drama teacher.
READ MORE: Time to turn page, to heal
Angelica Snowden 6.45am: FDA approves Aussie rapid Covid test
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorised the country’s first rapid at-home test for COVID-19, developed by Australian biotech company.
The test is available over the ounter, does not require a prescription and produces a result in around 20 minutes.
The test, made by Brisbane-based Ellume, will sell for around $30 and the company plans to roll out three million units in January 2021.
It came after the US provided US$30M into the company to develop the tests to speed up the production of tests.
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Stephen Hahn said the emergency use authorisation represented a “major milestone.”
“We are helping expand Americans’ access to testing, reducing the burden on laboratories and test supplies, and giving Americans more testing options from the comfort and safety of their own homes,” he said.
It is an “antigen” test, meaning it works by detecting a surface molecule of the coronavirus, unlike the more common PCR tests that look for the virus’ genetic material.
The technology involved is similar to a home pregnancy test.
The Ellume test uses a nasal swab that doesn’t go as far back as the nasopharyngeal swabs used in clinical settings, and is therefore more comfortable to self-administer.
According to the FDA, it correctly identified 96 percent of positive samples and 100 percent of negative samples in individuals with symptoms.
In people without symptoms, the test correctly identified 91 percent of positive samples and 96 percent of negative samples.
The FDA said that for patients without symptoms, “positive results should be treated as presumptively positive until confirmed by another test as soon as possible.”
The home test connects with an app on the user’s smartphone to interpret the results.
Results take as little as 20 minutes and are delivered via the app, which requires users to input their zip code and date of birth, to report to public health authorities.
More than 240,000 infections were detected across the country on Tuesday (AEST).
Deaths caused by COVID-19 fell for the third day in a row, with 2542 reported on Tuesday.
With AFP
READ MORE: Hotel probe report on horizon
Anne Barrowclough 6.15am: Boris invites Australia to G7 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited Australia to the G7 Summit next year, as the UK seeks to build its alliances in the region in the wake of Brexit and in the face of increasing Chinese nationalism.
Downing Street announced this morning (AEDT) Australia had been invited alongside South Korea and India as guests to the summit, which will be hosted by the UK next northern summer.
“The Prime Minister has written to Prime Minister Modi to accept his invitation, and to invite India to attend the UK’s G7 Summit as one of three guest nations alongside South Korea and Australia – delivering the Prime Minister’s ambition to work with a group of like-minded democracies to advance shared interests and tackle common challenges,” Downing St said in a statement.
The visit – Mr Johnson’s first major bilateral visit since taking office, and the first since the UK departure from the EU, “underlines his commitment to step up the UK’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement added.
The invitation came as Mr Johnson nnounced a visit to New Delhi next month. He will be the first prime minister since Sir John Major to attend the annual Republic Day parade in New Delhi as guest of honour.
Britain’s relationship with China has deteriorated in recent months, in part due to the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong and the UK decision to ban Huawei Technologies.
The relationship between China and India is also showing cracks, particularly after confrontations between the two countries’ military forces in the Himalayas, with dozens of casualties.
READ MORE: Australia ‘paying agency to put spies in embassy’
Max Maddison 5.20am: Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan revealed
Australians older than 70 will get the COVID-19 vaccine first, while children under the age of 18 are unlikely to receive it in 2021.
With the coronavirus vaccine only months away, the federal government has devised a strategy, seen by the Herald Sun, that places the country’s elderly at the front of the queue, just behind 800,000 frontline health workers, aged-care workers and the nation’s most vulnerable.
Prisoners and other detention inmates, as well as guards, will also be among the first to be vaccinated because they are at greater risk of becoming infected because of crowded conditions.
While those older than 70 will form their own age bracket, the rest of the population will be broken down into 12 five-year age groups that will determine when they receive the vaccine.
Children aged under 18 will likely be excluded next year as pharmaceutical companies have not sought regulatory approval for use in younger people yet.
The Herald Sun also reported that people will have to queue 20 at a time to get their jab because the vaccine will be provided in multi-dose vials rather than single doses. Vaccines may also vary depending on several factors, including health conditions.
Read the full story here.
Geoff Chambers 5.15am: PM to inject $1bn into aged-care sector
Scott Morrison will inject an additional $1bn into the aged-care sector, supporting 10,000 new home care packages and bolstering nursing facilities hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The major spending item in this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook comes ahead of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety handing down its final report in February and as overall spending on aged care is projected exceed $27bn in 2023-24.
The $850m home care package increases the overall number of places funded since the royal commission handed down its interim report last year to almost 50,000, at a cost of $3.3bn.
With the number of Australians aged over 70 having increased by 28 per cent since 2012, home care packages are estimated to have spiked by more than 200 per cent.
Ahead of Thursday’s release of the budget update, figures obtained by The Australian show the number of JobSeeker and JobKeeper recipients has continued falling as states and territories have neutralised the spread of the coronavirus and lifted restrictions.
Read the full story here.
Sharri Markson 5.15am: Australia ‘paying Beijing to put spies into consulates’
Australia’s embassy in Beijing is using a Chinese government agency to recruit senior staff into the consulate, with intelligence insiders warning this practice is the equivalent of paying China to “put spies into our consulates”.
The Australian’s investigation exposing the infiltration of Chinese Communist Party members across foreign embassies and companies has triggered a warning from the US State Department of a “wide array of malign activities that the Chinese Communist Party undertakes to influence our societies”.
The Australian can reveal the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade used the Beijing Service Bureau for Diplomatic Missions — a Chinese government-controlled agency — as recently as last month to hire a head of mission senior adviser and interpreter, reporting to Australian ambassador Graham Fletcher.
Read the full story here.
More Coverage
Labor’s populist splurge to put state’s credit rating at risk
Steven Miles’s populist promises will add an extra $9bn to Queensland’s debt bill, prompting warnings from rating agencies that the state’s AA+ rating could come ‘under pressure’.
Ministers downplay Coalition poll breakthrough
Since 2001, when Newspoll began calculating two-party-preferred results for all polls, every government has fallen behind the opposition on that measure at some point during the parliamentary term.