PoliticsNow: Hundreds at risk in two Brisbane and Melbourne
A serious breach hit Brisbane International Airport as hundreds of people in Melbourne have been asked to isolate over ‘strong’ coronavirus fragments in waste water.
- Post-jab deaths unlikely linked to vaccine
- Victoria picks quarantine facility
- How Indians can still travel to Australia
- Pfizer ‘effective against Indian variant’
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of news from Canberra and around the country amid the ongoing pandemic.
The deaths of NSW two men being investigated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration are “highly unlikely” to be linked to the COVID-19 vaccines they received.
Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino has announced a new 500-bed quarantine facility will be established at Mickleham in Melbourne’s far north, subject to commonwealth agreement.
A loophole remains open for Indians to still be able to travel to Australia, despite Scott Morrison suspending flights from the virus-stricken nation earlier this week.
AFP11.20pm:US economy grows 6.4pc
The US economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions accelerated in the first quarter of the year, posting annualised growth of 6.4 per cent, the government reported on Thursday.
But business reopenings and increased spending also pushed prices higher, with a key inflation measure jumping 3.5 per cent in the January-March period, compared to a rise of just 1.5 per cent in the prior quarter, the Commerce Department reported.
Even excluding more volatile food and energy prices, the price index for personal consumption expenditures rose 2.3 per cent — surpassing the Federal Reserve’s 2 per cent target.
Rebecca Urban10.45pm:Christian heritage sacrificed in school shake-up
Australia’s Christian heritage has been erased from a proposed new national school curriculum that promotes Indigenous history, culture and perspectives and teaches children that British colonisation was an “invasion”.
Secondary school students will no longer be taught that Australia is a secular nation and a multi-faith society with a “Christian heritage”, according to the revised curriculum documents released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority on Thursday.
Instead, they will learn the nation is a “culturally diverse, multi-faith, secular and pluralistic society with diverse communities, such as the distinct communities of First Nations Australians”.
Paige Taylor 10pm:McGowan allows 45,000 for AFL derby
The McGowan government will allow 45,000 people at Optus Stadium — 75 per cent capacity — for the AFL derby between West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers on Sunday but people will have to wear masks.
Six days since most West Australians were locked down in the wake of an outbreak from hotel quarantine, WA premier Mark McGowan announced assistance grants for small businesses hurt by the three-day lockdown and the restrictions since.
Mr McGowan said masks will remain mandatory at indoor venues such as cafes in Perth and the southern region of Peel until May 9.
Health authorities hope the outbreak from the Mercure Hotel is contained. They are monitoring more than 300 close contacts of two infected people who moved around the suburbs of Perth without realising they had coronavirus.
Those contacts have all tested negative and are in isolation for 14 days. Mr McGowan said it would not be surprising if some of the people in isolation tested positive in coming days.
Glenda Korporall, Will Glasgow9.30pm: Tourism next in Beijing’s crosshairs
China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, has signalled tourism may be the next industry affected by the deteriorating relations between the two nations, citing “racial discrimination’’ against Chinese in Australia.
In a video address to the Australia China Business Council on Thursday, Mr Cheng warned Australia not to expect a revival of the lucrative Chinese tourist market to Australia when international borders reopened. The Chinese tourism market reached a high of $12.4bn a year before the onset of COVID-19.
“Racial discrimination against the Chinese community is increasing,” Mr Cheng said.
“It could create obstacles for Chinese travellers to return. It makes people wonder whether this country would still welcome Chinese tourists to come here.
“My fear is whether Chinese travellers are as welcome as they used to be, about whether there is a friendly, favourable environment which is conducive to their return.”
Ben Packham8.50pm:New laws needed to fight terror
Displaying Nazi or Islamic State flags and possessing terrorist manifestos would be outlawed under new powers being sought by the Australian Federal Police to combat violent extremism.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney told the parliament’s intelligence and security committee legislative changes were needed to prevent early-stage planning of terrorist attacks, the radicalisation of new and younger recruits, and the harassment of community members.
The call came as ASIO boss Mike Burgess warned his agency expected a terrorist attack to occur in Australia within the next year, following two lone-actor attacks in the past six months.
The terrorism threat level remained at “probable”, amid credible intelligence that individuals and small groups had the capability and intent to conduct attacks within Australia, he said.
He told the committee that Islamist terrorists still posed the biggest threat, but ideologically motivated violent extremism now accounted for 40 per cent of ASIO’s counter-terrorism investigations.
“If you look at our current caseload, we still think that Sunni-based violent extremism is still the major concern,” Mr Burgess said.
Tom Dusevic8.05pm:Much lower jobless figure needed to fuel wage rises
It could take an unemployment rate with a 3 in front of it before the labour market tightens sufficiently to restore healthy growth to wages, according to a new study by Treasury.
In a paper seeking to estimate the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment, which reflects the degree of slack in the jobs market, Treasury economists conclude that the NAIRU is between 4.5 and 5 per cent over the past few years immediately prior to the COVID-19 recession. But that could be too high because of structural changes brought about by the pandemic and global forces.
“Persistently high levels of underemployment, a reduced willingness by workers to bargain for wage increases, or a reduction in inflation expectations could all mean that the unemployment rate must be lower before wage pressures materialise,” they write.
Patrick Commins7.20pm:Our tax rate ‘third-highest in the world’
Australian workers labour under the third-highest income tax burden in the world, behind only Denmark and Iceland, according to a new OECD report.
A single employee with no children and earning the average annual wage of $67,200 paid 22.7 per cent of their wages in income tax in 2019-20, OECD’s Taxing Wages report reveals.
Less than two weeks from a federal budget that will focus on extending the economic recovery and driving unemployment below 5 per cent, tax experts said our over-reliance on taxing income over wealth and consumption was holding back the nation’s growth potential at a time when paying back the debt incurred through the pandemic would take on increasing urgency in coming years.
Robyn Ironside6.40pm:Brisbane airport breach puts hundreds at risk
Human error has been blamed for a serious breach of Brisbane International Airport’s green zone — potentially putting more than 300 people at risk of COVID-19 infection.
Two “red zone” passengers from Papua New Guinea were incorrectly allowed into the green zone, which is restricted to trans-Tasman bubble travellers from New Zealand and Australia, Brisbane Airport Corporation said on Thursday.
The PNG passengers spent almost two hours in the green zone from 9.55am to 11.20am, visiting retailers and using the bathroom before airport staff found them.
For most of the time the passengers were seated at one retailer, the statement said.
Workers in the green zone were wearing personal protective equipment, and thorough cleaning had been carried out following the breach.
During the period in which the PNG travellers were in the green zone, 390 passengers boarded three flights to New Zealand, most of whom were wearing face masks.
“Only a handful of passengers were in the vicinity of the two red passengers at any time,” the BAC statement said.
“Brisbane Airport Corporation is conducting a thorough investigation and unreservedly apologises for this human error.
“Queensland Health is leading the health response to this incident and working with the New Zealand Ministry of Health.”
Papua New Guinea has been the single biggest source of hotel quarantine-detected COVID-19 cases in the last few months in Queensland.
The Australian understands both PNG passengers have been COVID-tested and one has been confirmed as negative but the other is inconclusive at this stage.
READ MORE:Rising alarm over Covid variants
Remy Varga6.30pm:Hundreds told to isolate in Melbourne
Hundreds of people in Melbourne’s west and northwest have been asked to isolate after “strong” coronavirus fragments were detected in waste water.
A total of 246 people had been contacted as a precaution after a positive case travelled from Western Australia, A Victorian Health Department spokesperson said on Thursday.
“This additional action is being taken due to the strength of the wastewater detection and because a known positive COVID-19 case, from flight QF778, has been in Victoria in the past 14 days,” the spokesperson said.
“The 246 people who have been contacted today include four primary close contacts of that case and 242 recently returned red and orange zone travel permit holders.
“All of these primary close contacts have recently been tested and have returned negative results. All of the 246 people are being asked to test again out of an abundance of caution.”
People who live in or visited on the relevant dates the below suburbs are urged to get tested if they develop symptoms.
People who live in or have visited these areas who have developed COVID symptoms are strongly encouraged to get tested and help keep Victoria communities COVID free.
New Detections:
Northwestern suburbs
April 20-27: Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale
April 10-15 and 20-26 (repeat detections): Benalla
Western suburbs
April 20-27: Altona, Altona North, Brooklyn, Newport, South Kingsville, Williamstown, Williamstown North
Northern suburbs
April 20-27: Briar Hill, Bundoora, Diamond Creek, Greensborough, Lower Plenty, Macleod, Mill Park, Montmorency, Plenty, South Morang, St Helena, Viewbank, Watsonia, Watsonia North, Yallambie, Yarrambat
Outer eastern suburbs
April 20-26: Chirnside Park, Coldstream, Kalorama, Lilydale, Montrose, Mooroolbark, Mount Dandenong, Mount Evelyn, Olinda, Yarra Glen, Yering
Active detections
Western suburbs catchment
April 18-26: Persons visiting or residing in Albanvale, Burnside, Burnside Heights, Cairnlea, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Delahey, Hillside (Melton), Keilor Downs, Kings Park, Plumpton, Ravenhall, Sydenham, Taylors Hill or Taylors Lakes.
Northwestern suburbs catchment
April 18-26: Persons visiting or residing in Avondale Heights, Calder Park, Hillside (Melton), Kealba, Keilor, Keilor Downs, Keilor East, Keilor Lodge, Keilor North, Keilor Park, Sydenham or Taylors Lakes.
Eastern suburbs catchment
April 20-24: Persons visiting or residing in Balwyn, Balwyn North, Blackburn, Blackburn North, Box Hill, Box Hill North, Bulleen, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Donvale, Mitcham, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North, Nunawading or Templestowe Lower.
Outer northern suburbs catchment
April 17-22: Persons visiting or residing in Epping, South Morang or Wollert.
AFP6pm: Top court finds German climate plans fall short
Germany’s highest court has ruled that the government’s flagship climate protection plan was “insufficient” as it failed to set emission reduction targets beyond 2030, thereby threatening to infringe on the freedoms of future generations.
Partially upholding a series of claims by environmentalists and young people, Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that Berlin’s current goal of reducing CO2 emissions to 55 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030 was “incompatible with fundamental rights”.
The current measures “violate the freedoms of the complainants, some of whom are still very young” because they “irreversibly offload major emission reduction burdens onto periods after 2030”, the court ruled.
READ MORE: US will always stand up to China: Biden
Gerald Seib 5.20pm: Biden gambles on his feel for voters
In his famous book about the 1988 presidential campaign, journalist Richard Ben Cramer wrote that the then young candidate Joe Biden believed from the outset of his career that his principal asset was less a governing program or philosophy, and more a gut feeling for voters: “He was so sure he knew where the people stood. They were like him, he was like them.”
More than three decades later, of course, that same Joe Biden became US President. That same gut feeling helps explain the considerable political gamble Biden is taking in the program he has laid out.
Biden — seen widely as a moderate, and as the least revolutionary of the major Democrat candidates for president in 2020 — is going big, bold and risky. He proposed to congress on Thursday his third expansive initiative in less than four months, a $US1.8 trillion ($2.3 trillion) plan to provide universal preschool, cost-free community college education, significant government help for those seeking child care, and more.
That proposal comes atop the recently enacted $US1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief and stimulus package and a $US2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal. Those plans require not just big and broad tax increases, as well as larger deficits, at least in the short term; they also test Biden’s campaign assurances that he could find a way to work with Republicans and to bring the country together behind his governing style.
FULL STORY:Biden gambles on his feel for voters
Robyn Ironside4.41pm: Big winner in the half-price airfare sale
The big winners from the federal government’s half-price airfare initiative have been revealed, with more seats sold on flights to the Gold Coast than any of the other 15 destinations.
Designed to stimulate domestic travel in Australia, 800,000 half-price fares were made available for sale through airlines and travel agents, subsidised by taxpayers.
In the four weeks since going on sale, 663,000 of the fares have been snapped up, with the remainder expected to sell within days.
A breakdown of how many fares were sold to each destination showed more than a quarter were purchased for flights to the Gold Coast, some 197,730 seats.
Adelaide was the second most popular destination, with 159,964 half-price airline seats sold, followed by Hobart, with 80,239.
Cairns, Launceston and the Sunshine Coast came in next, in a promising boost for tourism operators over the cooler months.
Adeshola Ore4.14pm: TGA warns against linking fatalities and vaccines
Head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration John Skeritt says it’s unlikely the deaths of two NSW men who received COVID vaccinations are linked to their immunisation.
The medical regulator is currently investigating the two deaths of the men.
Professor Skeritt warned against “reaching any conclusions” about the fatalities and linking deaths to blood clots that is not supported by evidence.
He said each day 50 Australians reported to hospitals with serious blood clots “from a range of activities”.
“Almost all of them have no relationship to vaccines,” he said.
Professor Skeritt said vaccinating the majority of Australians remained “the best way out of the pandemic”, as he stressed the benefits of being inoculated outweighed the risks.
He said the media and wider community had a “shared responsibility” to provide accurate, unbiased information about the benefits and risks of COVID vaccines.
“We should not sweep risks under the carpet, but the benefits, especially in the over 50 group, who if they do contract COVID become seriously ill or die, mean the benefits significantly outweigh the risks,” he said.
“Vaccination in this country is not compulsory, individuals will reach their own decisions, but we have to make sure they are informed by the best and most balanced information.”
Professor Skeritt said the TGA understood both men who died had received the AstraZeneca jab, but noted investigations were ongoing.
4.07pm: The countries hardest hit by COVID-19
Adeshola Ore 3.38pm: 80 per cent of government’s half-price flights sold
More than 80 per cent of the federal government’s half-price flights have been snatched up in under one month.
The Morrison government’s $1.2 billion stimulus package includes 800,000 half-price flights to tourism-dependent destinations to help the industry recover from the pandemic. The tickets went on sale from March 31.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the scheme had been a “life saver” for the aviation and tourism industries and helped Australians enjoy a holiday at home while international borders remain shut.
“We have always said planes in the air means jobs on the ground and with airlines reporting record-breaking sales, we see further proof of our economy’s comeback,” the ministers said in a statement.
“More than 82 per cent of our half-priced tickets have been sold in just one month and we know demand remains strong.”
The Gold Coast is the most popular destination in the scheme, equating to more than than 30 per cent of the total tickets sold.
Blake Antrobus 3.23pm: Child rushed to hospital after hand sanitiser mistake
An urgent safety warning has been issued by Western Australia’s consumer protection agency after a child was hospitalised from swallowing hand sanitiser.
The child ingested between 30 to 60 millilitres of the alcohol-based sanitiser and was rushed to a Perth hospital with acute intoxication.
The child has since made a full recovery.
WA’s commissioner for consumer protection Lanie Chopping said parents and carers of children should be extra vigilant as children often mistook the bottles of sanitiser for food or drink.
3.00pm:How Australia’s rollout is going so far
ROSIE LEWIS 2.20pm: Post-jab deaths ‘highly unlikely linked to vaccine’
The deaths of NSW two men being investigated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration are “highly unlikely” to be linked to the COVID-19 vaccines they received.
Senior government sources told The Australian that while investigations continued, there were no early signs of the deaths being caused by vaccination.
The sources said there was increasing concern within government that unrelated events were being prematurely reported.
A 55-year-old Tamworth man reportedly died last week eight days after getting his first coronavirus jab.
A member of his family told local the paper the Northern Daily Leader the otherwise fit and healthy man suffered a “massive” blood clot, but they were not attributing the death to the vaccine.
A second man in his 70s died in Sydney after being vaccinated. It is not known which vaccine either man received.
With the vaccine rollout slowed down by international supply issues and medical advice of a very rare risk of blood clots in under-50s who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, the government is concerned false or inaccurate reports about deaths could have a significant impact on vaccine hesitancy.
The TGA said it was aware of the mens’ deaths but the reporting of an “adverse event” post-vaccination did not mean they were caused by the vaccines.
“All reports to the TGA of death following vaccination are reviewed to assess the likelihood that the vaccine contributed to the event or medical condition that lead to a fatal outcome,” the TGA said.
“This review is undertaken by clinical staff and includes gathering and considering relevant clinical information on the patient’s current and past medical history, risk factors and medications at the time of vaccination as well as any tests such as pathology and clinical notes, and where necessary involves discussion with the relevant state and territory health departments and the individual’s health professionals.
“In some cases expert advice may be sought through a Vaccine Safety Investigation Group or the Advisory Committee on Vaccines.”
About 3000 Australians die each week and there are an average of 50 blood clot events each day.
Pfizer is now the preferred vaccine for under-50s in Australia.
READ MORE: Contagious, concerning — rising alarm over Covid variants
Adeshola Ore 2.16pm:Frydenberg speech ‘means little without a plan’
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has accused the Morrison government of failing to deliver a clear path for how it will get more Australians into work, after Josh Frydenberg outlined his budget strategy focusing on employment.
The Treasurer delivered his pre-budget speech in Canberra today, laying out the government’s plan to steer clear of austerity and focus on lifting employment levels. The government will push back budget repair to beyond 2022 as it aims to drive unemployment to below 5 per cent.
Mr Marles said Mr Frydenberg’s speech meant “little” without an “actual plan” to increase job security for Australians.
“What we need is a government that sets out a clear plan for COVID recovery that will see Australia emerge from the pandemic stronger, not just return to the same conditions that saw people working more for less,” he said.
Mr Marles urged the government to prioritise getting more Australians vaccinated. The latest vaccine figures show more than two million COVID vaccine doses have now been administered across Australia.
“The government to take responsibility for the pandemic, that means fixing its bungled and confusing vaccine rollout and showing leadership when it comes to Australia’s quarantine arrangements and borders,” he said.
READ MORE: Indigenous housing program on agenda
Cliona O’Dowd 1.37pm: Future Fund posts 4.5pc quarterly return
A 4.5 per cent return in the March quarter has swelled the Future Fund’s assets to a record $179bn and pushed its year-to-date return into double digits, even as it retained neutral levels of risk across the portfolio.
The sovereign wealth fund grew by more than $16bn over the 12 months through March, posting a 10.1 per cent return on a one-year basis and 10.9 per cent for the financial year to date.
Its total investment returns from the original $60.5bn contribution in 2006 have now climbed to $118bn.
But it is still holding on to large amounts of cash and is cautious on the investment outlook.
Chairman Peter Costello said the fund had performed well as he warned of the investment challenges ahead.
“Economies and markets have improved considerably since the COVID-related falls in the March quarter of last year.
“While the outlook overall is greatly improved there remain uncertainties and a number of risks, including the potential for setbacks and a variety of different scenarios in the global recovery,” he said.
With interest rates at ultra-low levels, markets were “very sensitive” to any prospect of inflation and rising rates, he warned.
Adam Creighton1.20pm: Biden to Xi: US won’t back down in Pacific
US President Joe Biden has declared the US “in a competition with China to win the 21st century”, revealing he has told the Chinese leader the US would not back down in the Pacific and would not let China get away with human rights abuses.
In his first — and most wide-ranging — speech to Congress since becoming president in January, Joe Biden said he told President Xi Jinping China the US would maintain a strong military presence in the Pacific region and “stand up to unfair trade practices”.
Deviating from his prepared remarks, Mr Biden said China was “deadly earnest about becoming the most significant consequential nation in the world.”
“In my discussion with President Xi, I told him that we welcome the competition – and that we are not looking for conflict. But I made absolutely clear that I will defend American interests across the board,” he said.
“I also told President Xi that we will maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific just as we do with NATO in Europe — not to start conflict — but to prevent conflict,” he added.
Rebecca Urban 1.07pm:First Fleet invasion trumps storming of Bastille
Primary school students will no longer study internationally significant commemorations, such as Bastille Day, Independence Day in the US or Chinese New Year as a proposed new school curriculum switches to emphasise Australian, particularly Indigenous, history and events.
Instead, students will study the importance of Australia Day, ANZAC Day and National Sorry Day and will be taught for the first time that First Nations Australians perceived the arrival of the First Fleet as an invasion.
Revised Australian Curriculum documents released on Thursday reveal a swathe of changes that have been designed to incorporate Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives into various subjects, including the humanities. At the same time, curriculum content has been cut dramatically, especially in history.
For Year 4 students, the requirement to study at least one world navigator has been replaced by the study of the significance of trade to First Nations People of Australia.
Ben Packham 12.54pm: Islamic State, Nazi flags may be outlawed
Displaying Nazi or Islamic State flags, and possessing terrorist manifestos and propaganda, would be outlawed under new powers being sought by the Australian Federal Police to combat violent extremism.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney told the parliament’s intelligence and security committee there was a gap in the law preventing charges for possessing or disseminating violent content connected to extremist groups, unless it related directly to the planning of a terrorist attack.
“We know online extremist content significantly affects the track towards radicalisation,” he told the committee’s inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia.
“Outside of legitimate research, public interest reporting and other professional reasons, there are no circumstances where individuals should be accessing or sharing instructions, terrorist manuals, propaganda and magazines, and graphically violent images and videos and other content produced by terrorists.”
The legislative gap meant police were limited in their ability to take action early in the radicalisation process.
“We also strongly support the criminalisation of flags and other extremist insignia. In the current environment the time has come to strongly deter actions aimed harassing and vilifying members of our community.”
READ MORE: Neo-Nazi manual for long-term rage
Adeshola Ore 12.44pm:Port of Darwin open for review: Morrison
Scott Morrison has left the door open to reviewing the lease of the Chinese-owned Port of Darwin.
Over the weekend, Defence Minister Peter Dutton hinted that the lease, which is valid for more than 90 years, could be reviewed. Last week the Morrison government vetoed Victoria’s Belt and Road agreements with Beijing under new foreign relations legislation.
The Prime Minister said security concerns about the port had not been raised with him.
“If there was any change to the assessment about the national interest implications about the operation of that port, you could expect me to take action on that,” he told Mix 104.9 Darwin Radio.
“I understand the perception here but what has to determine our decisions has to be the national interest and it has to be based on proper advice from defence and security and intelligence agencies.”
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has called on the federal government to conduct an analysis to determine if the Chinese-owned port aligns with Australia’s national security interests
READ MORE: China takes a great leap backwards
Adeshola Ore 12.35pm:Wait for fact on post-jab deaths, PM urges
Scott Morrison has urged Australians to wait for the medical regulator to establish the facts about two NSW men who died after receiving a COVID vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is currently investigating the cause of the deaths, but says no link has been established to the vaccines. One 55-year-old man died due to blood clots just over a week after receiving his COVID vaccine. A second man in his 70s died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination.
The Prime Minister said the TGA was “doing their job” and assured Australians they could have confidence in the regulator.
“We’ve got to be careful about how we talk about these cases. Let’s allow the medical facts to be established and let’s make decisions based on facts,” he told Mix 104.9 Darwin Radio.
READ MORE: Man who died after vaccine identified
Adeshola Ore12.26pm:Treasurer’s previous fiscal strategy wrong: Chalmers
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers says Josh Frydenberg’s pre-budget speech, outlining a plan to steer clear of austerity, is an admission that the government’s previous fiscal strategy was wrong.
Mr Chalmers said he agreed with the government’s focus on driving unemployment below 5 per cent but said the Treasurer had not provided details on how to reach lower unemployment levels.
“It was not that long ago that this treasurer said that his unemployment target was just under 6 per cent, and now he has been forced to say that it is something more like 4.5 per cent.,” he said.
“This is an admission that the Treasurer has been wrong all along. This is an admission that, up until now, the treasurer has got his budget strategy wrong.”
READ MORE: Upgrades flow as economy firms
ROSIE LEWIS12.08pm:Hotel job loss warning as occupancies halve
The hotels and accommodation industry has warned occupancy rates in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs are half what they used to be, with anecdotal evidence of “significant” job losses occurring due to the end of JobKeeper.
Appearing before the Senate’s COVID committee, Tourism Accommodation Australia chief executive Michael Johnson said in NSW hotels alone about 25 per cent of staff were let go when the pandemic first hit and a further 15 per cent lost their jobs in March.
The federal government’s $90bn JobKeeper scheme ended on March 28.
Mr Johnson said a month before the program finished, staff in “fixed cost areas” like sales, administration and finance were let go amid ongoing revenue concerns and impacts from state-imposed restrictions and border closures.
Sydney and Melbourne CBDs, which have still not recovered because there is no corporate or international travel, had occupancy rates of 54 per cent and 53 per cent respectively as of a week ago.
Hotels being used for quarantining returned overseas travellers make up 10 per cent of those percentages, meaning the occupancy rates for domestic guests is more like 44 per cent and 43 per cent.
READ MORE: Cairns is the new Bali
Sophie Elsworth 11.50am: Magda show bumped after Jenny Morrison attack
Controversial media personality Magda Szubanski’s return to the TV screen has been delayed and comes after she recently lashed out at the Prime Minister’s wife.
The Melbourne-based comedian is hosting Channel 9’s Weakest Link program, which was locked in to launch on May 4 but this has now been pushed back by weeks.
A Nine spokesman confirmed the reboot of the television game show has been delayed.
“Due to the tight production schedule Weakest Link will now launch at the end of May on Channel 9,” he said.
Adeshola Ore11.44am:PM wants to see India repatriation flights resume
Scott Morrison says he would like to see incoming repatriation flights from India resume mid-May after the commonwealth paused incoming travel in response to the country’s COVID emergency.
More than 9000 Australian citizens and residents remain stranded in India including 650 who are said to be “vulnerable.”
The Prime Minister said the situation in India was “heartbreaking.”
“I find it hard that there would be any Indian-Australian family in the country that somehow isn’t being affected by this. We’re very concerned about this,” he told Mix 104.9 Darwin Radio.
“I would like to see those repatriation flights start again after that 15 May period but obviously we’ve got to take the medical advice.”
Mr Morrison said he anticipated a two-week pause would allow Australia to “get over a hump when it comes to the number of cases being at elevated levels.”
READ MORE: Niki Savva — PM truly believes God is on his side
Ben Packham11.37am: ASIO boss warns of terror attack on home soil
ASIO boss Mike Burgess has warned his agency expects a terrorist attack in Australia within the next 12 months.
He told parliament’s intelligence and security committee the attack could come from religious or ideologically-motivated extremists.
He said the terror threat level remained at probable, with Sunni religious extremists the biggest terror threat.
But he said ideologically-motivated extremism was a growing threat and currently made up 40 per cent of the agency’s counter-terrorism caseload.
“If you look at our current caseload, we still think that Sunni-based violent extremism is still the major concern, however, given the growth we have seen in nationalist and racist violent extremism, we anticipate there will be a terrorist attack in this country in the next 12 months and it could come from either ideology,” Mr Burgess said.
There were two terrorist attacks in Australia in the past 12 months, both involving lone-wolf attackers.
READ MORE:Trading Day — ASX gains, Fortescue, Woolworths falter
Adeshola Ore11.33am: PM open to Howard Springs staffing options
Scott Morrison has played down concerns about staffing issues at the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory.
The centre is set to more than double its capacity next month following a $500 million deal between the Northern Territory government and the federal government.
But the Australian Medical Association in the Northern Territory warned the facility faced a recruitment issue and had only been able to hire about 20 percent of staff needed to run the centre.
The Prime Minister said a staffing issue had not been flagged with him.
“If it were to be then obviously we would have to look at what our options were. But that’s not the case at the moment,” he told Mix 104.9 Darwin Radio.
“This is a facility that’s not going anywhere soon.”
Currently, the federal government’s Australian Medical Assistance Team manages the quarantine program at Howard Springs. But the expansion will see it transition to being run by the Northern Territory government.
“You’ll see a lot of existing staff transfer over. People who are already working there will still be there but under a different arrangement,” he said.
Rhiannon Down 11.26am:Alert for NSW as zero virus cases recorded
NSW has recorded another day of zero local cases of COVID-19, as the state notches up 15 cases in hotel quarantine.
It comes as the state recorded 12,894 tests in 24 hours to 8pm last night, down from the previous day’s total of 16,635.
One patient is being treated in ICU out of 114 active cases in the state.
Some 608,538 vaccine doses have now been administered in NSW, with 3728 doses administered by NSW Health in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
NSW Health renewed its calls for Allambie Heights residents to get tested at the slightest sign of illness, after the virus was detected in sewage testing last week.
“Allambie Heights returned a second consecutive positive detection this week, but repeat samples taken at Burwood Beach and Merimbula did not detect virus fragments. Further samples are being collected and tested,” it said in a statement.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 29, 2021
Fifteen new cases were acquired overseas to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,275. pic.twitter.com/RtFmoSA8Q4
It comes as Victoria also records zero cases of local transmission and one case in hotel quarantine.
Yesterday there were no new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ) reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) April 28, 2021
- 3,662 vaccine doses were administered
- 16,891 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/9MvbGgsKfu
READ MORE:Indigenous studies in, humanities cut in new curriculum
Adeshola Ore 11.13am: How Frydenberg plans to lift wages
Josh Frydenberg says the Morrison government’s strategy to lift wages will be delivered by boosting Australia’s productivity.
Delivering his pre-budget speech, the Treasurer said the May budget would focus on lifting productivity through a number of areas: skills, infrastructure, tax, energy, the digital economy, and deregulation.
“We are making the necessary investments to seize the opportunities that will set up Australia for the future, create jobs and lift wages in the long run,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Labor has urged the government to tackle under-employment and sluggish wage growth in its budget strategy.
READ MORE: Austerity out as budget to drive jobless rate lower
Cameron England11.09am:Wine exports to China crash 96pc
The Chinese wine export market has been all but destroyed, with exports in the first full tariff-affected quarter falling 96 per cent to just $12 million, latest figures from Wine Australia show.
This compares with $325 million in the same quarter of 2020, and implies a more than $1bn hit on an annual basis to the nation’s winemakers, should other export markets not be found for the product.
In the year to September last year, before China introduced tariffs on bottled Australian wine of up to 200 per cent, wine exports to China increased 4 per cent to $1.17bn.
New Wine Australia figures released on Thursday show total Australian wine exports declined by 4 per cent in value to $2.77 billion in the 12 months to March 2021, compared with the previous corresponding period.
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore10.35am: Frydenberg: ‘We’ve avoided another lost generation’
Josh Frydenberg says Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic has avoided another “lost generation”.
The Treasurer is giving a pre-budget speech at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Canberra.
“We are the first major advanced economy to see both hours worked and employment return to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
“Australia is now set to avoid what many feared would be another lost generation to long-term unemployment.”
Mr Frydenberg said despite the “many doomsday predictions” about what the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy would mean for the economy, early data showed the labour market had remained resilient.
“As the JobKeeper program concluded in March, job ads rose to reach an all-time high and the number of job seekers for every vacancy fell to its lowest level in over a decade,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg said the federal government was not complacent about the evolving COVID situation and the reality that some businesses and sectors were “still doing it tough.”
He said all Australians should be encouraged that the economic recovery is “on track and ahead of schedule” with unemployment falling to 5.6 per cent in March.
Outlining the budget strategy, Mr Frydenberg said the government was committed to “drive the unemployment rate lower.”
“That is what the budget in just under two weeks’ time will do,” he said.
“We will not move to the second phase of our fiscal strategy until we are confident that we have secured our economic recovery.”
He said the government was committed to driving unemployment to pre-pandemic levels - below 5 per cent.
“The last time Australia had a sustained period of unemployment below 5 per cent was between 2006 and 2008, just prior to the GFC,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg said the Morrison government’s “core values” had not changed despite the pivot in fiscal strategy.
“We remain committed to lower taxes. Containing the size of government, budget discipline and guaranteeing the essential services. We have the track record to prove it,” he said.
READ MORE: Editorial — Low inflation calls for strong growth measures
Will Glasgow 10.27am:China attacks ‘troublemaker’ Pezzullo
Beijing has lashed Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo’s ANZAC message, calling the senior Australian bureaucrat a “troublemaker” who was hyping up “the threat of war”.
In a message to Home Affairs staff — published in The Australian on Monday — Secretary Pezzullo warned “the drums of war are beating” and said Australia might have to “send off … our warriors to fight”.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday evening said Pezzullo’s comments were “extremely irresponsible and will find no audience”.
“Some individual politicians in Australia, out of their selfish interests, are keen to make statements that incite confrontation and hype up the threat of war,” said Mr Zhao.
“These people are the real troublemakers.”
The comments come after a week in which the Morrison government has demonstrated it is no hurry to repair the strained relationship with Australia’s biggest trading partner.
READ the full story here
Remy Varga 10.06am: Victoria’s quarantine pick neighbours animal facility
Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino has announced a new 500-bed quarantine facility will be established at Mickleham in Melbourne’s far north, subject to commonwealth agreement.
He said it would cost $15 million to transform the facility, which is on commonwealth land and next to animal quarantine site, and is the state government’s preferred site.
Mr Merlino said the commonwealth government should take ownership of the facility and foot the bill too.
“Our request is that they pay for the cost of the construction ... the initial 500 beds is around $200 million,” he said
“ The cost of an expanded (facility) to the maximum of 3000 beds is around $700 million,” he said
Mr Merlino said if the commonwealth did not agree to pay for the Mickleham facility, the Victoran government would consider the Lindsay Fox-backed Avalon Airport.
A final decision will be made in September.
“While we can’t control how well or fast other countries deal with the pandemic or their vaccine rollout, we can make sure our own quarantine system is as strong and safe as possible,” Mr Merlino said.
“The best time to start work on a standalone quarantine hub would have been 12 months ago - the second best time is now.” — With Angelica Snowden
David Swan 10.00am:Huawei sales drop under weight of sanctions
Huawei Technologies reported a steepening decline in revenue in the first quarter, as its smartphone sales tumbled and the Chinese tech giant continued to struggle under US sanctions.
The Shenzhen-based company blamed the drop in revenue in part on the sale of its budget smartphone unit, Honor, in November. But Huawei’s overall smartphone sales shrank globally after US restrictions blocked its phones from running Google apps and other US software.
Revenue fell 16 per cent from a year earlier to 152.2 billion yuan, the equivalent of about $US23.5 billion, during the first quarter, the company said. It was the second straight quarterly drop, following a decline of 11.2 per cent in the fourth quarter.
FOLLOWlive tech updates at The Download
Rhiannon Down9.48am: How Indians can still travel to Australia
Despite a temporary pause on new arrivals to Australia from India, a number of loopholes may have survived the government’s attempts to cut off contact to the virus ravaged country.
The Australian understand flights are still operating between India with Qatar and China, creating a potential loophole for travellers looking to return.
Scott Morrison announced this week that direct flights would be halted until May 15, and flights transiting through Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had also been stopped due to those governments also introducing travel bans.
Several countries including Canada, France, Indonesia and the US have also announced travel bans with India.
READ MORE: India surge overwhelms hospitals, spreads across country
Robert Gottliebsen 9.43am:How one ‘zombie’ business was saved from oblivion
For two key reasons Australia has achieved the world-beating economic recovery that Josh Frydenberg is now confirming.
We controlled COVID-19 and we “snap froze” our major employers — smaller and medium sized enterprises — via JobKeeper. Most thawed out rapidly and emerged far more vibrant and productive than before COVID-19. And as I pointed out earlier this week, many now want to invest and, as Josh Frydenberg sets out, they will drive employment.
Today I will go behind the economic numbers and illustrate what happened on the ground.
Let me introduce Mark Star – the self-confessed owner of a 2020 snap-frozen “zombie” business. His recovery has not been enjoyed by everyone but it was duplicated on tens of thousands of occasions across the land.
READRobert Gottliebsen’s full story here
John Durie 9.30am:Frydenberg set to apoint new ASIC chair, deputy
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to appoint Joe Longo as the new chair of ASIC this morning with ACCC Commission Sarah Court as his deputy.
Longo is a former regulator who has also spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank internationally .
Court will replace Daniel Crennan as deputy Commissioner joining Karen Chester as second in command at ASIC.
Ms Chester had pushed for selection at the top jop.
READ MORE:ASIC deputy inspires stand up show
Adeshola Ore 9.03am: ‘Don’t jump to conclusions over post-jab deaths’
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan has urged Australians not to jump to conclusions about the deaths of two people who received a COVID vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is currently investigating the cause of the deaths, but says no link has been established to the vaccines. One 55-year-old man died due to blood clots just over a week after receiving his COVID vaccine. A second man in his 70s died in Sydney after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination.
Ms McMillan said there was a “robust” process in place to investigate the deaths.
“I think it’s really important that we don’t jump to conclusions around these reports I’m hearing in the media around deaths,” she told the ABC.
“More information will be gathered, if necessary an expert group will be brought together to look at these deaths and in time we may make a determination.”
Australia on Wednesday passed the milestone of two million vaccine doses administered across the country.
READ MORE: New Australian centre to test vaccine technologies
Robbie Whelan8.55am:Signs vaccines curbing Covid transmission in US
Vaccines appear to be starting to curb new Covid-19 infections in the US, a breakthrough that could help people return to more normal activities as infection worries fade, public-health officials say.
By Tuesday, 37.3 per cent of US adults were fully vaccinated against Covid-19, with about 2.7 million shots each day. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows the seven-day average for new U.S. cases has fallen below the 14-day average for more than a week, which epidemiologists say is a strong signal that cases are starting to slide again after a recent upswing. When the seven-day average is higher than the 14-day average, it suggests new cases are accelerating.
With the US recently averaging at least 50,000 new daily cases, the pandemic is far from over. But the US is nearing a nationwide benchmark of having 40 per cent of adults fully vaccinated, which many public-health experts call an important threshold where vaccinations gain an upper hand over the coronavirus, based on the experience from further-along nations such as Israel.
“When you get to somewhere between 40 and 50 per cent, I believe you’re going to start seeing real change, the start of a precipitous drop in cases,” the top US infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci said in an interview. — Dow Jones Newswires
READ MORE: Vaccination gap between rich, poor widens
Adeshola Ore 8.42am:Victoria hasn’t asked for federal aid for quarantine
Josh Frydenberg says the Victorian government has not asked the commonwealth to contribute to funding its alternative quarantine arrangements following reports the state government is poised to make an announcement.
The state government is expected to announce a purpose-built quarantine facility as an alternative to the hotel model.
“I spoke to the state Treasurer a few days ago and he didn’t raise that issue with me,” the Treasurer told ABC Radio.
“No doubt there will be discussions between states and the federal government on this quarantine issue for a long time to come because the virus is still with us for some time to come.”
READ MORE: Victoria’s QR system a work in progress
Rhiannon Down8.25am:China important to us, but security comes first: Treasurer
Josh Frydenberg has distanced the government’s position from recent saber rattling remarks about China, after a senior official said earlier this week that the “drums of war” were beating.
The Treasurer refused to be drawn on the remarks, despite Australia’s strong economic recovery being partially tied to China due to skyrocketing iron ore prices, of which the country is a major buyer.
“The Prime Minister put it best when he said our focus is on securing peace in the Indo-Pacific and in our region,” Mr Frydenberg told the ABC.
“Australia is a great beneficiary from peace. At the same time we want our national defence force to be well resourced and as capable as possible and that is why the Prime Minister announced more than $700 million to upgrade some of our bases yesterday in the north.”
Mr Frydenberg said though China was one of Australia’s biggest trading partners, security would always come first.
“The relationship with China is important,” he said.
“They are our largest trading partner but with respect to our national interest we’ll always continue to prosecute the case whether that is foreign investment, whether that is human rights or our national security issues.”
READ MORE: Sheridan — Pezzullo right to warn of war danger
Rhiannon Down8.06am:India’s Covid death toll surpasses 200,000
India has reported 360,960 new cases and 3293 deaths in 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 201,187.
As the country’s health system buckles under the strain with widespread oxygen shortages reported, experts fear the true figures to be much higher.
The government has been accused of attempting a cover-up, with one state governor from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party saying it was “pointless” to establish the true death toll, as “the dead won’t come back to life”.
The government has also come under fire for continuing construction works on a new parliament building in Delhi.
The $2bn project was deemed “essential” work by the government, according to local media reports, sparking outrage.
READ MORE: Zampa and Richardson escape India
Rebecca Davis O’Brien 8.00am: Police raid Giuliani’s New York apartment
Federal investigators executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at the New York City apartment of Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer said, an escalation of a years long investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors into the former mayor.
Mr Giuliani, who became President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has been under investigation since at least 2019 by the Manhattan US attorney’s office for possible violation of federal lobbying laws related to his business dealings in Ukraine. — The Wall Street Journal
Rhiannon Down 7.54am: Australian Indians ‘sad, quietly angry’ over crisis
Australian Hindi Indian Association spokesman Vivek Bhatnagar has described his heartbreak as COVID-19 cases in the country continue to spiral.
Mr Bhatnagar said there was not a single person in Australia’s Indian community who had not been touched by the crisis.
“This is quite a sad day for many Australian-Indians,” he told ABC.
“What is happening in India is certainly very horrific.
“Everyone is sad and feels helpless — I must say quietly angry as well...that this (situation) happened and why was it let to get to the stage where it is today.”
Mr Bhatnagar also called for the federal government to rescue Australians who had become stranded in the country and organise charter flights.
“I think it is important that this virus should not get into Australia,” he said.
“That is very important. However, having said that I think our hearts go out to those who are still in India wanting to get back. I hope the government does make plans to get them back soon, particularly the IPL players, whom we dearly love, and would love to have them back home here.”
READ MORE: Shamit Saggar — How we treat India now will play out for years
Rhiannon Down 7.40am: Frydenberg: More support needed to ease unemployment
Josh Frydenberg says the government needs to keep the fiscal taps open to improve the jobless figure, despite predictions the country would not return to surplus for decades.
“We’re not out of the pandemic and that’s really important to understand,” the Treasurer told Sky News, ahead of his pre-budget speech today.
“The economy continues to need that support and the unemployment rate at 5.6 per cent is still higher than where it was when we went into the pandemic.
“So we’ve got to ensure that our support is targeted and that’s why we’ve brought to an end to emergency payments like JobKeeper and that also we’re encouraging the private sector to take the baton and run hard with it.”
Mr Frydenberg moved to reassure Australians that despite the rapid economic recovery and projected improvement in the unemployment rate, the government would not shut off financial support.
“We’ll continue to be obviously cautious, considered, prudent in our approach. That’s why now is not the time for austerity, now is not the time to prematurely pull our support from the economy,” he said.
“Of course emergency programs like JobKeeper needed to come to an end while others have been talking about the sky falling in when JobKeeper comes to an end.
“So we’ll continue to put our support when it’s needed most, do it in a targeted way and we’ll drive that unemployment rate down.”
READ MORE:Austerity out as budget to drive jobless rate lower
Patrick Commins7.30am:Budget bottom line set for $20bn iron ore boost
The price of iron ore has hit a new record high of $US193.85 a tonne and is tipped to break through the $US200 barrier in a boom that will improve the federal budget bottom line by an estimated $20bn.
The record price has been accompanied by a jump in the volume of exports, drawing thousands of workers back to the sparsely populated Pilbara in the north of Western Australia.
Miner Rio Tinto has employed an additional 2700 people for its WA operations over the past 11 months as it builds four new mines in the Pilbara, including the $2.6bn Gudai Darri project that will begin exporting this year.
The towns of the Pilbara have been transformed again by the latest surge in activity.
Sections of Karratha, 1500km north of Perth, resemble a fashionable city suburb thanks to a proliferation of new shops and bars. The rental vacancy rate is a tiny 0.4 per cent.
In Port Hedland, the most northern town in the region, the median house price has climbed 31 per cent in a year.
Iron ore could soon cross the never-seen-before price threshold of $US200 ($257.70) per tonne as steel margins expand amid a stimulus-led global construction boom and China increases steel production, according to analysts at Macquarie. — With Paige Taylor
Rhiannon Down 6.55am: NSW resident dies after COVID-19 vaccine
Federal health authorities are investigating the death of a NSW resident just days after taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed it was reviewing the case, but said a causal link between the death and a vaccine had not yet been established.
Health authorities would not reveal the Tamworth resident’s gender and age, although the Northern Leader reported it was a 55-year-old man. It is not known which vaccine was involved.
“The reporting of an adverse event to TGA post vaccination does not mean the event was caused by the vaccination,” the TGA said in a statement.
“All reports to the TGA of death following vaccination are reviewed to assess the likelihood that the vaccine contributed to the event or medical condition that led to a fatal outcome.
“This review is undertaken by clinical staff and includes gathering and considering relevant clinical information on the patient’s current and past medical history, risk factors and medications at the time of vaccination as well as any tests such as pathology and clinical notes, and where necessary involves discussion with the relevant state and territory health departments and the individual’s health professionals.
“In some cases expert advice may be sought through a Vaccine Safety Investigation Group or the Advisory Committee on Vaccines.”
Although the TGA said it was “aware of this case”, which according to reports occurred on April 21, it did not make any reference to a death related to the rare blood clotting disorder linked to the COVID-19 vaccine in its weekly safety report.
“During the past week, the TGA convened an independent expert panel to assess three additional suspected Australian cases of TTS,” the report said.
“The panel advised that all three cases were likely linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
“However, none of the patients is considered to be seriously ill.”
READ MORE:Albrechtsen: Stop playing politics and bring Aussies home
Joseph Lam6.40am: Pfizer vaccine 'effective against Indian variant’
The Pfizer Biotech vaccine is effective against the Indian variant of COVID-19, according to BioNTech’s co-founder who says his company has already tested for mutations.
Ugur Sahin said he is confident that the Indian variant, which the World Health Organisation said is driving the country’s cases spike and has already reportedly reached 18 countries, can be treated by the company’s jointly developed vaccine.
“We are still testing the Indian variant, but the Indian variant has mutations that we have already tested for and which our vaccine works against, so I am confident,” Mr Sahin said.
READ MORE: Only 40 per cent of available jabs are in arms
Max Maddison 6.20am:Liberal women come out against gender quotas
A raft of senior Liberal women have come out publicly as the “last line of defence” against the implementation of gender quotas, in direct opposition to calls by senior Berejiklian ministers for direct measures to boost female representation.
In a pamphlet emailed to NSW Liberal State Council delegates, exclusively obtained by The Australian, the Liberals For Merit campaign counts a number of senior and rising Liberal women — including the federal member for Reid, Fiona Martin, and senators Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and Anne Ruston — among its ranks.
The call-to-arms from NSW Liberal state executive Alex Dore comes amid furious internal debate about whether a gender-based quota system would ameliorate some of the cultural issues plaguing the party.
The Liberals For Merit campaign said it had counted more than 200 NSW State Council delegates who had “voiced their opposition to quotas”, and, with 45 per cent of those women, Mr Dore said it would send a “powerful message” that would “frustrate and baffle the quota proponents”.
“Decisions about preselections are for the grassroots members who put aside their time to show up to branch meetings, not for parliamentarians to dictate,” Senator Ruston, the federal Families and Social Services Minister, said.
Federal Boothby MP Nicolle Flint added: “We believe in equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome — it’s the simplest way for me to explain why I will always be opposed to quota proponents.”
READ the full story
Rosie Lewis 6.00am: Airport pushes for incentives for vaccinated locals
Vaccinated Australians would be allowed to travel freely around the country and be exempt from state-imposed snap lockdown restrictions in a bid to get more people immunised against COVID-19, under a plan being pitched by Canberra Airport.
With business concerned about vaccine hesitancy and a rollout that does not include a road map for economic reopening, the airport’s chief executive, Stephen Byron, said Australians had “no reason to act” and get vaccinated because there were no clearly articulated benefits to an individual and no disease in the community.
“There need to be incentives in place. The risk is the take-up of the AstraZeneca vaccine as we move into over 50s from the 3rd of May will be diminished,” Mr Byron said.
“If you’ve had a vaccine, why would state border quarantine rules apply to you? We accept that (following an outbreak) if you’ve been in a close contact site like a restaurant where there’s been a positive case, there will be restrictions. But the indiscriminate way that returning travellers from city lockdown places are put into home isolation — you ought to be exempt from that if you’ve had a vaccination.”
Other suggested incentives included the abolition of state lockdowns and border closures once phases 1a and 1b of the rollout — for elderly Australians and frontline healthcare and quarantine workers — were completed, as well as the introduction of a travel bubble with Singapore.
READ the full story
Adeshola Ore 5.45am:Canavan urges firms to help as ‘Nation Keeper’
Nationals senator Matt Canavan will urge the corporate sector to back “Team Australia” and bolster the country’s industrial strength through investment and buying back Chinese-owned infrastructure amid growing tension with Beijing.
The former resources minister will use a speech at the Brisbane mining club on Thursday to argue that corporate Australia’s lack of patriotism poses a threat to Australia’s security in the Indo-Pacific region.
His speech will be delivered days after Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo declared that the “drums of war” were beating and warned that Australia must be prepared to deploy its “warriors to fight”.
Senator Canavan will argue that business leaders have a duty to lead the debate about Australia’s defence capabilities and help “restore our industrial strength and ability to fight any coming conflict”.
He will suggest superannuation funds could pool their finances to purchase Chinese investor-owned assets such as the Port of Darwin, which is likely to come under the federal government’s microscope because of new foreign relations laws.
READthe full story
Ben Packham5.30am: Envoys plead for stranded Aussies in India
Two former high commissioners to India have called on the Morrison government to urgently help Australians stranded in the country to escape its unprecedented COVID crisis.
As India’s pandemic death toll surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, former Australian diplomats Patrick Suckling and John McCarthy said the government had a duty to get more than 9000 Australians home from the country as soon as possible.
Mr Suckling, who headed the New Delhi post from 2012 to 2016, said a brief pause in flights from India to Australia was understandable “but if it is anything more than that, then it’s unconscionable”.
“We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and it is not beyond our wit or our heart to be able to manage a situation like this,” he said, a day after Scott Morrison shut the borders to flights from India until at least May 15. “It is the first responsibility of any government to look after its people. And that includes people overseas.”
The-now non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute said Australia needed to stand with India in its time of crisis, “not ostracise it”.
“We have deep bonds with India — our soldiers fought with Indian soldiers at Gallipoli — and we have a shared future,” Mr Suckling said. “We have to nurture that. And Indians who have become Australian citizens enrich us immeasurably.
“You’ve only got to watch an Australia-India cricket match to understand we are on exactly the same wavelength in so many different ways.”
READ the full story
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