PoliticsNow: Health Minister Greg Hunt says 4 million vaccine jabs to be done by early April
The arrival of the Covid vaccine in Australia spurs Greg Hunt to declare that one million jabs will soon be delivered per week.
- Hunt: 4 million vaccines by April
- Pfizer vaccines land in Australia
- Staffer alleges Parliament House rape
- US, WHO push Beijing for Wuhan data
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage as federal MPs return to Canberra and states deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Health Minister Greg Hunt says 4 million vaccinations will be administered by early April. It comes amid news that the first shipment of Pfizer vaccines have landed in Australia, while Scott Morrison told parliament that the first vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been filled in a Melbourne facility today.
Premier Daniel Andrews says he ‘can’t say’ when the statewide lockdown will end as Victoria recorded just one new local case of COVID-19 today.
Patrick Commins 11.25pm: Winners, losers in pandemic job upheaval
The COVID recession has triggered a boom in handyperson, gardening and cyber security jobs, while employment in occupations such as house cleaners, waiters, concreters and beauty therapists has suffered dramatic falls.
Analysis of the latest detailed labour force data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals the winners and losers by individual job description between February and November 2020.
As more Australians worked from out of the office during the pandemic, spawning a surge in interest in home improvement and items such as furniture and electrical goods, the number of handypersons jumped by a third to 59,000 over the nine months to November, the ABS data shows.
Nicholas Jensen 10.40pm: Jaguar cars all electric by 2025
Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has announced it will make its luxury Jaguar car all-electric by 2025, as the company’s Chief Executive Thierry Bollore signals a move away from the internal combustion engine.
The British company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, will invest about £2.5bn ($4.45bn) a year into electrification technologies.
It plans to introduce six fully-electric Land Rover variants in the next five years and aims to electrify all its models by the end of the decade, it said.
Jaguar Land Rover aims to “reimagine the business, the two brands and the customer experience of tomorrow,” Mr Bollore said.
The carmaker will increase its efforts to electrify its fleet after failing to meet tough emissions rules last year. The company has set aside £35m to pay fines for failing to comply with Europe’s carbon-dioxide rules.
James Madden, Lilly Vitorovich 10pm: Google searches for pre-code media deals
Google is scrambling to sign last-minute deals with several publishers before the mandatory media bargaining code becomes law, after Seven West Media became the first major media organisation to ink a content deal with the digital giant.
With the legislation likely to pass the Senate within the fortnight, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was lobbied over the weekend by Google chief Sundar Pichai and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, with the Treasurer saying they were “trying to reach deals, and that is welcome”.
On Monday, Seven West Media announced it was signing on with Google for its Showcase product, which would see the digital giant pay publishers for access to specially curated news material, including paywalled content.
The value of the “five-year-plus” agreement between Seven and Google was not disclosed, but The Australian believes it is well in excess of the $30m-a-year reported by some other media outlets. The code is designed to ensure media companies are compensated for their original content that is distributed on search engines and social media platforms.
It is intended as a back-up: if the parties can’t agree on commercial negotiations outside of the code, then the dispute would be sent to final-offer arbitration as per the terms of the legislation. Google has been engaged in negotiations with almost every media company in Australia for several months. Prior to the agreement with Seven, it secured deals with Crikey, The Saturday Paper and Australian Community Media, publisher of The Canberra Times.
Paul Garvey 9.15pm: ‘Stern action flagged in state’s Crown crisis
A crisis meeting to consider the future of Crown in Western Australia has been brought forward, with Premier Mark McGowan flagging “stern” action could be taken against the casino operation.
The state’s Gaming and Wagering Commission was originally scheduled to meet on February 23 but that meeting will be brought forward to Tuesday following the receipt of advice from the State Solicitor’s Office.
The state’s regulators are under growing pressure to act after it emerged that WA’s chief casino officer, Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries deputy director general Michael Connolly, was a close friend of two members of Crown’s legal and compliance team.
Ewin Hannan 8.40pm: Put boot into BOOT change: One Nation
One Nation has demanded the Coalition immediately dump its changes to the Fair Work Act’s better off overall test ahead of further negotiations over the government’s industrial relations bill.
The call by One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts came as fellow crossbencher Rex Patrick warned he would not resume talks over the bill unless the government could show it had the support of two of the three crossbenchers it requires to get the changes passed.
Both Senator Roberts and Senator Patrick called for different changes to proposals allowing casuals to convert to permanent employment, saying the bill’s provisions were weighted too heavily in favour of employers.
Jess Malcolm 8pm: $1bn bid to go it alone with vaccine hub
A proposal for a state-of-the-art $1bn facility to manufacture vaccines and prescription drugs in Australia is being reviewed by the federal government in a bid to deal with critical drug shortages and bolster sovereign capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Documents obtained by The Australian outline how the regional facility proposes to manufacture essential medicines to supply 40 million people, as well as ramp up the nation’s vaccine development capability.
The CSIRO is advising on the project, named The Resilience Partnership, which is a consortium of leading biopharmaceutical, biosecurity, engineering and infrastructure organisations.
Remy Varga 7.20pm: Three out of five music workers consider quitting
When Melbourne violinist Xani Kolac lost $20,000 worth of gigs in one-week in March last year, her worst fear had been realised.
Prior to the pandemic, Kolac had performed eight times a week with musical Come From Away and was planning a two-month tour with the show in China.
“It was so distressing,” she said.
“I went from having all this work to having zero work.”
About three in five workers in Victoria’s music industry are considering quitting after the pandemic cancelled the possibility of live performance, according to a new survey by RMIT.
Nearly half the respondents said they’d lost all music-related work; 57 per cent said they worried about paying for basics like food.
James Kirby 6.35pm: Lockdown smackdown puts property on canvas
Victoria’s punch-drunk property market is set for more setbacks thanks to the latest statewide lockdown. As a new report warns of a swing away from the city due to its severe lockdown policy, the city’s clearance rate is also expected to be hit by this week’s five-day closure.
The setbacks are the latest in a string of negatives accumulating in the Melbourne property market, which is now expected to lag the rest of the nation on price gains over the next two years.
New forecasts from Commonwealth Bank released on Monday suggest Melbourne will have the slowest growth of any capital city out to 2022.
The bank estimates all state capitals over the next two years will grow by 14.4 per cent but Melbourne will trail, with the weakest performance at 12.4 per cent.
Meanwhile the city’s auction clearance rate — which had been recovering in recent weeks — is almost certainly going to go into reverse as “withdrawals” over recent days are taken into consideration. Melbourne’s final clearance rates had been tracking close to 76 per cent against 87 per cent in Sydney.
James Hall 6.15pm: Frantic search for 50 passengers in Queensland
Health authorities revealed 50 travellers in Queensland who were potentially exposed to the highly contagious coronavirus strain at a Melbourne airport are still yet to be traced because they provided false or incorrect contact details.
When the Palaszczuk government slammed the borders closed to Victoria on Friday as the Holiday Inn cluster grew, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said authorities were particularly concerned about 1500 people in Queensland who had come into contact with the infection site at Tullamarine Airport.
This alarming number of potentially infected travellers needed to be traced by authorities, tested and isolated until it was certain there was no risk of community transmission in the Sunshine State.
This threat was eased on Saturday when it was announced all 1500 travellers had been traced and contacted, but it has now been revealed 50 were not successfully contacted because personal information provided for the flights was false.
“Initially, we reached out to the full list of people according to the contact details we received from flight manifests, as we normally do,” a Queensland Health spokesperson told NCA NewsWire on Monday afternoon.
“However, around 50 bounced back, likely due to incorrect contact details, which means we’re continuing to follow them up.”
READ MORE: Sales: ‘You can’t manage two cases?’
Lilly Vitorovich 5.45pm: Seven won’t be returning $33.4m JobKeeper cash
Seven West Media chief executive James Warburton has ruled out returning $33.4m of federal government JobKeeper subsidies, despite the Kerry Stokes-controlled media group returning to profit.
Mr Warburton says the business qualified for the $130bn JobKeeper scheme last year, which helped the free-to-air television network and newspaper publisher ride out the coronavirus crisis.
“I think from our perspective we qualified for JobKeeper in accordance with the program, and it did its job,” Mr Warburton said.
“We would have had to retrench or sack 120 or 150 people. Staff took a 20 per cent pay cut, which contributed to liquidity in the business through the time and we employ hundreds and hundreds of people in terms of production.
“So for us, it helps us emerge as a stronger, larger taxpayer, let alone what we’ve paid in tax over the last sort of nine to 10 years. So that’s exactly what the program was intended for, and that’s been the use.”
The decision comes after furniture retailer Nick Scali did an about-face on keeping $3.6m in JobKeeper and wage subsidies following staunch criticism after posting a 90 per cent jump in first-half profit and almost doubled its dividend.
Rosie Lewis 5.25pm: Parliament ‘rape’ victim to pursue complaint
A former Liberal Party staffer who was allegedly raped in Parliament House, embroiling the Morrison government, says she will ask the Australian Federal Police to restart an investigation.
Brittany Higgins, who worked for several Coalition ministers including Steven Ciobo, Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, alleged she was raped on March 23, 2019, by a former colleague in Senator Reynolds’ office after a night out drinking. She was 24 years old at the time and intoxicated.
Ms Higgins alleged she woke up while being raped and told her perpetrator to stop but he did not.
She was discovered the next day half-dressed by a female security guard.
After Senator Reynolds was forced to defend her handling of the alleged rape in parliament on Monday, Ms Higgins told The Australian: “I plan on completing a formal complaint with the Department of Finance and recommencing the investigation with the AFP.”
James Madden 5.05pm: Amendments to media laws bill to ‘improve’ it
The federal government has made some “technical” amendments to its mandatory news media bargaining code, prior to its introduction to parliament on Wednesday.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the amendments were “improvements to the bill”.
“I think that they provide comfort to the players that we’ve got a workable code,” he told Sky News on Monday.
“We’ll make those technical amendments public over the course of the next few days.”
The changes will go to the Coalition party room tomorrow, before the legislation is introduced to parliament on Wednesday. It is expected to go to the Senate for debate late this week, or early next week.
Seven West Media announced this morning that it had struck a deal with Google to provide news content to the tech titan’s News Showcase product, subject to reaching a binding agreement within the next 30 days.
The network did not reveal the value of the deal, but The Australian has been told that it is well in excess of the $30 million a year that has been claimed in some media reports.
The code is designed to ensure media companies are compensated for the use of their content on search engines and social media platforms, and seeks to address the market bargaining imbalance between the digital giants and news publishers.
READ MORE: Seven signs Google deal but backs code
Nicholas Jensen 4.55pm: WA health officials report zero new cases
West Australian health officials have reported no new cases of community transmission overnight.
Health authorities are monitoring five active cases of COVID-19. Across the state’s health clinics, 527 presented for testing – 521 were assessed and 521 swabbed.
To date, 22 cases of variant strains have been detected. The state’s total number of confirmed cases remains at 910.
A total of 833,097 tests have been processed. Of those, 124,135 were from regional WA.
896 individuals have recovered from the virus.
READ MORE: Lockdown scapegoats picking up the pizzas
James Hall 4.45pm: Palaszczuk reveals first Qld vaccine rollout site
The Gold Coast will be the first Queensland city to be entrusted with the COVID-19 vaccine, with vials of the highly anticipated Pfizer jab to arrive as early as next week.
The Gold Coast University Hospital will be used as a trial for the vaccine at the end of the month, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said will begin a “slow rollout” of the vital jab.
It will then be sent to the other regions across the state allocated as distribution hubs — Brisbane, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns.
“My understanding is it will start in one hub first, just to do the testing to make sure everything’s fine, and then it will be rolled out to the other hubs,” Ms Palaszczuk told reporters on Monday morning.
— NCA NewsWire
READ MORE: Vaccines arrive in Australia
Nicholas Jensen 4.25pm: No new cases reported in New Zealand
New Zealand has recorded no new cases of community transmission in the last 24 hours after Auckland was placed in a three-day lockdown last night.
There are five new cases in managed isolation.
The news comes after a mother, father and daughter were found to be infected with the UK variant of the virus. So far all contacts of the family have returned negative tests.
Contact tracers are investigating whether the mother was infected at her workplace, where she handles laundry from international flights.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the detection of the UK variant led health officials to think the virus might have emerged from airport transit or from an airline crew member.
“We do still have people who transit through New Zealand and fly on to other destinations. They stay airside but of course, it means they are using the things that go through the laundry at this individual’s place of work,” Ms Ardern said.
On Sunday the Australian government announced that New Zealand residents arriving in the country from Monday will no longer be exempt from hotel quarantine.
Under the 72 hour lockdown, New Zealand has lost its green status and therefore anyone arriving in Australia from 12.01am on Monday is required to isolate for 14 days.
READ MORE: WHO runs for cover
Rachel Baxendale 4pm: A breakdown of the Holiday Inn Covid cluster
Cases 1, 2 and 3
Family of three, including a 38-year-old man who used a nebuliser to inhale asthma medication, who were in quarantine on the third floor at Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn. The man used the nebuliser on February 3 and 4 before the family was moved to a “health hotel” on February 4 after testing positive for coronavirus. The nebuliser user is later hospitalised in an intensive care ward, where he remains.
Case 4
A female authorised officer in her 50s who worked on the same floor as the family tested positive on Sunday February 7. Genomic testing later showed the worker had an identical UK strain of the virus to the nebuliser user’s family. The authorised officer visited a series of venues in Melbourne’s west between Friday February 5 and Sunday February 7, including Marciano’s Cakes in Maidstone, Dan Murphy’s in Sunshine and Off Ya Tree in the Watergardens shopping centre, none of which have since been linked to transmission. She was found to have eight household and social contacts, seven of whom have since tested negative. The eighth is Case 13.
Case 5
A guest who was staying in a room opposite Cases 1,2 and 3 on the third floor of the Holiday Inn. The guest tests positive on February 9, having stayed home since exiting hotel quarantine on February 7.
Case 6
A female food and beverage attendant who worked on the third floor at the Holiday Inn received a positive result on February 9, having developed symptoms on February 6 and got tested on February 8. Between Friday February 5 and Sunday February 7, the worker visited a series of venues in Sunbury in Melbourne’s outer southwest. She had 13 household and social contacts, 12 of whom have tested negative. The 13th, her male spouse, is Case 10.
Case 7
A second female food and beverage attendant who worked on the third floor at the Holiday Inn, who returned a negative result during her last shift on February 7, before returning a positive swab on February 10. Her male spouse is Case 9, a cleaner across multiple sites, and Case 12, a worker at Brunetti Cafe at Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 4, lives with them. All three attended a private function at 426 Sydney Rd, Coburg on Saturday, February 6, which is now linked to seven coronavirus cases.
Case 8
A second former resident of the Holiday Inn, who tested positive on February 10. The former guest had visited two banks in Glen Waverley in Melbourne’s southeast on February 9 and had three primary close contacts. No transmissions have so far been linked to the banks and all close contacts have tested negative.
Case 9
Male spouse of Case 7 and household member of Case 12, Case 9 tested positive on February 11. The man was a cleaner who had visited sites across Melbourne including Melbourne Airport, the Point Cook RAAF base, Camberwell Grammar, Avondale Heights Primary School and Coates Hire in Hoppers Crossing. All close contacts at these sites have so far tested negative. Case 9 attended the private function at 426 Sydney Rd, Coburg on Saturday, February 6.
Case 10
Male spouse of Case 6. Case 10 tested positive on February 11, having been isolating at home since Case 6 tested positive on February 9.
Case 11
Female assistant manager at the Holiday Inn who tested positive on February 11. No close contacts or exposure sites have been disclosed for Case 11.
Case 12
Female Brunetti worker who lives with Case 7 and Case 9, Case 12 returned a positive result on February 11. The worker worked a shift at the cafe at Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 4 between 4:45am and 1:15pm on February 9. All 12 of her co-workers have so far tested negative, and 34 of 35 customers, including 21 from interstate, have so far tested negative, with results from the 35th expected on Monday. Case 12 attended the private function at 426 Sydney Rd, Coburg on Saturday, February 6.
Case 13
Household contact of Case 4. Case 13 tested positive in the early hours of February 12 and has been isolating at home since Case 4 tested positive on February 7.
Case 14
Man in his 30s from Point Cook, in Melbourne’s southwest, who tested positive late on February 12. This man was the first case identified with a connection to the Coburg private function. The person was a social contact of Cases 7, 9 and 12, all of whom were among 38 attendees at the event. Case 14’s close contacts include two rideshare drivers and seven household and social contacts, all of whom have tested negative.
Case 15
Three-year-old child, who attended the Coburg private function on February 6 with their mother, Case 17 and Cases 7,9, 12, 14, and 16, tested positive on February 13. The child’s exposure sites include a range of sites in Melbourne’s northwest last week including the Glenroy Central Kindergarten and Goodstart Early Learning, in Melbourne’s northwest, as well as the Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre and Elite Swimming, both in Pascoe Vale. Victorian health authorities have identified 101 primary close contacts at the kindergarten and early learning centre, with testing underway.
Case 16
Woman who attended the Coburg private function and tested positive on February 13. She has since been linked to exposure sites including two city trams and Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market.
Case 17
The mother of the three-year-old child, Case 15. Case 17 tested positive on February 14, after returning two negative tests and a weak positive over the weekend. The woman has more than 150 primary close contacts across three mental health units at Broadmeadows Hospital, the Northern Hospital and The Alfred. All were identified and furloughed on Sunday, with testing ongoing. The majority are staff and there are a small number of patients.
Excluding the kindergarten, early learning centre and mental health units there are currently 1106 primary close contacts linked to the Holiday Inn cluster, including those from public exposure sites, almost 80 per cent of whom have now returned negative test results, according to Victorian Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar.
Mr Weimar said that of 130 people identified as household and very close social contacts, 129 had returned negative results, with the outstanding result expected on Monday for a customer at the Brunetti cafe.
READ MORE: Something is wrong in the state of inaction
Nicholas Jensen 3.26pm: WA to stick with hard border to Victoria
West Australian premier Mark McGowan says the state’s hard border with Victoria will continue until at least Wednesday.
After meeting the state’s Chief Health Officer, Police Commissioner and Health Minister this morning he announced the timeframe would be extended.
“The reason for this is because Victoria is in lockdown until at least that point in time,” Mr McGowan said.
“We’ll make a further decision on Wednesday as to whether to extend it.”
Mr McGowan said WA would ease its border restrictions with NSW after no new cases of community transmission were detected.
“The Chief Health Officer’s advice is that, as of midnight tonight, we can go to the controlled border,” he said.
Anyone arriving in the state from NSW will still be required to complete a G2G application. However, they will not need to undertake quarantine.
Adeshola Ore 3.05pm: Dutton’s grant approval ‘within ministerial approval’
Scott Morrison has told parliament Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s approval of a one-off grant for a retail body adheres to ministerial standards.
On Monday, Labor used question time to attack the government’s handling of a community grants program, amid accusations Mr Dutton prioritised marginal seats.
Last week, the ABC reported that Mr Dutton fast-tracked a $880,000 grant proposal to the Queensland-based National Retail Association, days after it made a $1500 donation to the Queensland Liberal National Party.
During question time, Labor MP Pat Conroy asked the Prime Minister if the decision to provide the retail body the grant was consistent with ministerial standards.
Mr Morrison said the “funding of local projects” to improve community safety were “consistent with relevant rules and guidelines.”
“They were made consistent with those matters. And I think that settles the issue,” he told parliament.
Mr Conroy also attempted to suspend standing orders during question time to criticise Mr Dutton for his handling of the community grants program.
Mr Dutton accused Labor of “throwing mud” in response to its criticism of his handling of the safer communities program.
“When they are under pressure.....they look to distract, they throw mud, and they look to distract,” he said.
READ MORE: Bid to stamp out online petition fraud
OLIVIA CAISLEY 3.00pm: ‘I told staffer to go to police over rape’: Reynolds
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has said her former staffer, who alleges she was raped at Parliament House in 2019, was never given an indication that her job was at risk.
Labor Senator Penny Wong used Question Time to call on Senator Reynolds to answer whether or not Brittany Higgins understood that her job was safe regardless of whether or not she made a complaint to the police over the alleged incident.
“There was no indication from me at all that her job was at risk,” she said.
“In fact, as I said, it was my suggestion to her that she consider talking to the Australian Federal Police and I facilitated that first meeting to ensure that she understood that she had that option available to her.”
Senator Reynolds said that Ms Higgins continued to work for her until she was promoted to a position in Employment Minister Michaelia Cash’s office.
READ MORE: Parliament supported ‘rape’ victim, PM says
Adeshola Ore 2.50pm: IR bill ‘to give casual workers security’
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter says casual workers will have the security of a pathway to permanent employment under its industrial relations omnibus bill.
During question time, Labor pressed the government on its proposed changes it says will cut take-home pay of workers.
Opposition industrial spokesman Tony Burke asked Mr Porter “which workers the government believes should be paid less than minimum wage?”
“For the first time ever, people who are in casual employment will have a strong, secure consistent pathway to move from casual employment to permanent employment,” Mr Porter told parliament.
“Members opposite want to vote against that.”
Federal Labor says it vote against the Coalition’s entire industrial relations bill, ensuring workplace relations becomes a policy battleground this year.
Last week, Anthony Albanese used a speech in Queensland to vow for a “better deal” for workers and unveil reforms that it says will improve job security and provide minimum pay and entitlements to those in insecure work.
Mr Porter has hinted that the government will make changes to its bill, in a further signal that changes to the Fair Work Act’s “better off overall” test will be dumped in weeks.
READ MORE: Albanese’s ‘Accord’ for gig workers
OLIVIA CAISLEY 2.31pm: Reynolds ‘extremely concerned’ for staffer
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds says she is “extremely concerned” about a former staffer, who alleges she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House in 2019, but had “no idea” the assault occurred in her office.
Senator Reynolds said she was “at pains” to ensure Brittany Higgins “felt empowered to determine how she wants to handle the matter” and was offered “every support”
“I’m extremely concerned about the well being of my former staff member,” she told Senate Question Time on Monday.
“Women should be safe, and they should feel slightly in the workplace at all times.”
Senator Reynolds said her only priority throughout the matter was the welfare of her staff member, which included that she was aware of the support available to her.
“My only priority throughout this matter was the welfare of my main staff member, and ensuring that she received the support that she needed that including ensuring that she was clear about the support available to her and her right to make a complaint to the Australian Federal Police.”
Senator Reynolds said she was not aware that the alleged rape had occurred in her office and had she had known that she would not have interviewed Ms Higgins in that location.
“At the time of the initial meeting with my staff member, I was not aware of the details, or the circumstances of the alleged incident in my office. Had I known that I would have conducted the meeting elsewhere. And given the sensitivity surrounding this issue it would not be appropriate for me to comment.”
Pressed further by Labor Senator Katy Gallagher about whether she personally ensured Ms Higgins was referred to support services, Senator Reynolds referred her to her previous answer.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the reports were deeply distressing and the government’s concern was to support Ms Higgins’ welfare in “whatever way possible.”
Adeshola Ore 2.21pm: Local vaccine production to restore confidence: PM
Scott Morrison says the domestic production of the AstraZeneca vaccine will “restore confidence” in Australia.
Announcing that the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine has touched down in Australia, the
federal government confirmed that the first vials of the vaccine have been filled today at the CSL Parkville plant in Melbourne, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s approval of the jab expected to be imminent.
“In August of last year, we took the decision not to leave ourselves vulnerable to international supply chains and to ensure that we had the Australian sovereign capability to actually produce these vaccines here in Australia,” the Prime Minister told parliament.
“This will play a key role in continuing to restore confidence, not just in the community, but in the building and growing confidence that exists in our economy as well.”
Adeshola Ore 2.11pm: Parliament sought to support victim of alleged rape: PM
Scott Morrison has told parliament the government sought to support and empower the agency of a female Liberal staffer who alleges she was raped in Parliament House in 2019.
Brittany Higgins, alleged she was sexually assaulted by a colleague weeks before the 2019 election was called, fuelling debate about the workplace culture and treatment of women in federal parliament.
During question time, Anthony Albanese asked the Prime Minister to advise how the government had responded to the allegation.
“ Everyone should feel safe in a workplace,” Mr Morrison told parliament
“This matter is under consideration by police... at all times, guidance was sought from Ms Higgins as to how she wished to proceed and to support and respect her decision.”
READ MORE: Liberal staffer ‘raped’ at Parliament House
Adeshola Ore 1.41pm: NZ travel bubble under review after three days
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says he will review the suspension of the travel bubble in three days.
On Sunday, Australia announced it would suspend its quarantine-free travel arrangement with New Zealand from midnight for 72 hours after a family of three in Auckland tested positive to COVID.
“I will review that before the expiry of the time. From midnight last night anyone arriving from New Zealand would be treated the same as any other country of people arriving into Australia and go into 14 days of hotel quarantine, Professor Kelly said.
Australia has recorded six locally acquired cases of coronavirus today.
READ MORE: When first jab will be given
Adeshola Ore 1.22pm: Pfizer vaccine ‘eagle has landed’: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that the first shipment of Pfizer vaccines have arrived in Australia.
“The advice that I have is that 142,000 doses have arrived in Australia. They will now be subject to security, quality assurance,” he said.
Mr Hunt said 80,000 doses of the vaccine would be rolled out from next Monday, February 22.
Mr Hunt said Australia was on track to have four million people vaccinated by early April.
“We remain on track for the latest advice for all of the milestones we have set,” he said.
Meanwhile, the first vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been filled today at the CSL Parkville plant in Melbourne, Mr Hunt said.
Commencing in late March, the government will aim to roll out one million doses of the COVID vaccine a week, Mr Hunt said.
The government has flagged that the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine is imminent.
“That should see 2 million doses arrive before the end of March, and thereafter continue at 1 million doses per week,” Mr Hunt said.
READ MORE: First vaccines arrive in Australia
David Penberthy 1.12pm: Lockdown scapegoats picking up the pizzas
Australia’s most notorious pizza bar is back in business and the two men who became public hate figures are quietly rebuilding their lives after being blamed for plunging two million South Australians into lockdown.
The Woodville Pizza Bar in Adelaide’s western suburbs was accused of forcing SA’s statewide six-day lockdown in November after two of its staff who were also working in hotel quarantine contracted Covid.
The restaurant was subjected to a full going-over by SA Police who set up a 20-officer task force and sequestered 400 hours of CCTV footage and seized staff mobiles amid wild claims across social media linking the pizza bar to organised crime, drug dealing and illegal work practices.
The investigation was closed in December with no criminality found and no charges brought against any of its staff.
The Australian can now reveal that the owner of the pizza bar is a decent and law-abiding young married father who emigrated to Australia from Iran, has no criminal record, and is now trying to revive a business which was nearly ruined by rumour.
“It was like going through hell,” the owner told The Weekend Australian this week in his first ever interview. “My wife and I found it all extremely hard, all the stress and attention. We just want to pretend it never happened to us. We were only just trying to make an honest living and keep our customers happy. The stories people said about us were terrible. I have never been in trouble for anything, never been charged with anything, I haven’t even had a speeding fine.”
READ the full story here
John Ferguson 12.50pm: Premier uses Sutton as his human shield
The Victorian Premier has been very clear to push the lockdown decision-making back onto the health evidence, specifically the advice of Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
It was Sutton who felt there were too many unknowns, particularly around possible infections linked to Melbourne Airport.
Sutton has looked uncomfortable during the past few days, somewhat spooked at the start and somewhat annoyed with the standard of some of the media questioning.
But equally it’s clear that Andrews is going to continue to treat his response to the pandemic with an abundance of caution.
He will continue to use Sutton as a human shield.
READ John Ferguson’s full commentary on Daniel Andrews here
Joseph Lam 12.23pm: NSW beats Victoria in number of tests
NSW has overtaken Victoria conducting the highest number of COVID-19 tests since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Just shy of 4.8 million tests have been recorded in NSW, a number equivalent to around 58 per cent of its 8.16 million population.
Victoria follows closely with just shy of 4.7 million tests, a percentage equivalent to about 70 per cent of its 6.9 million population.
Following Victoria is Queensland with 1.8 million tests and South Australia with just over 1 million.
At the lower end of the scale is Western Australia has recorded 822,974 tests meanwhile Tasmania has recorded 165,399 tests, Australian Capital Territory has recorded 163,172 tests and the Northern Territory has recorded 111,190 tests.
See the full figures below:
READ MORE: Australians could receive 15-minute tests for COVID-19 immunity by September
Greg Brown 12.16pm: PM ‘truly sorry’ for treatment of Indigenous
Scott Morrison has declared “I am truly sorry” about the past treatment of Indigenous Australians by the federal government as he marks the 13th anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s apology for the stolen generation.
The Prime Minister repeated the apology of Mr Rudd as he detailed past government policies that sought to have “absolute control over people’s lives”.
“I repeat the words of my predecessor, Mr Rudd, I am sorry, truly sorry,” Mr Morrison said.
“Siblings separated. Adoptions without consent. Forced servitude. Welfare institutions devoid of all love or care. Parents searching for lost children. Grief, trauma, endless pain that cascaded through generations.
“All action by the state, the state that sees absolute control over Aboriginal people’s lives, where they could live, where they could travel, who they could marry and watch children, if any, they could raise.
“Actions of brute force carried out under claims of good intentions. But in truth betrayed the ignorance of arrogance, knowing better than our Indigenous peoples.”
READ MORE: Indigenous guide shines spotlight on sacred sites
Brent Read 12.15pm: Lockdown may force Melbourne Storm to relocate
The NRL will hold talks with the Melbourne Storm on Monday afternoon as they consider taking the pre-emptive step of asking the club to move to NSW.
The Storm have been given permission by the Victorian government to train as normal, but the NRL’s concerns are with the reaction from other states as they respond to the ongoing lockdown in Victoria.
“We’re going to look at the Melbourne Storm today,” ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys told SEN radio on Monday morning.
“We may take them out and bring them to a resort in NSW where they can train in isolation.
“There’s a possibility at some point that the NSW and Victorian borders may close, and we can’t take that risk.
“We’ve got to be two to three steps ahead, we were last year, and we hope to be again this year. We’ve got strategies for all scenarios, we’re ready.”
Agencies 12.01pm: Leigh Sales surprises Andrews with lockdown grilling
The host of ABC’s flagship current affairs show has made a surprise appearance at Victorian Premier Dan Andrews press conference, grilling him about the state’s five-day lockdown.
Sydney-based journalist Leigh Sales asked multiple questions at the media event, accusing the premier of lacking confidence in the state’s hotel quarantine system.
“How is it the case the government still lacks such confidence in the hotel quarantine systems that you currently can’t manage two cases?” Sales asked.
Mr Andrews shot back.
“You just put it to me that there is a lack of confidence. I am more than confident in the team we have and in the Victorian community that they can get through this. So with the greatest of respect, you have put a number of things to me that are not accurate,” the premier said.
Victoria is in the grip of fresh lockdown after a coronavirus cluster linked to the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport quarantine hotel grew to 17.
“Lockdown imposes a real cost and Victorians have already paid a big price for lockdown. Cases are actually very well traced, so why the lockdown?” Sales asked.
Mr Andrews said the UK strain posed a different challenge.
“This is not the 2020 virus,” Mr Andrews said.
“This is a very different virus. If you want to look at systems that can’t handle things, have a look at Europe, have a look at so many parts of the world with … what happens when this UK strain runs.”
Mr Andrews was also quizzed on whether the state would plunge into lockdown every time there were a small number of cases.
“We will look at every case on its merits. But we will try to avoid having any statewide measures or any extra rules.” — NCA Newswire
READ the full story here
Melissa Iaria 11.47am: Man with nebuliser hits back at Andrews
The man who used a nebuliser in hotel quarantine – a mistake believed to have sparked the state’s COVID-19 outbreak – says no one from the government reached out to him to get his side of the story.
Conflicting media reports emerged on Saturday after a 38-year-old returned traveller told The Age he had twice been given permission to use the nebuliser for asthma while in quarantine at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport.
The man eventually tested positive to COVID-19, and health officials believe fragments of the virus escaped from his room due to the nebuliser, sparking a cluster that has since grown to 17.
However, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) head Emma Cassar said there was no history of a declaration that a nebuliser had been taken into the Holiday Inn by a returned traveller.
“I can categorically say that there is no evidence in our audit that he had raised this with our health team or our operational team,” Ms Cassar told reporters on Saturday.
The asthmatic returned traveller said he had been left feeling like a criminal after reading media reports about the outbreak.
Radio 3AW reported on Monday that the man wanted an apology from Premier Daniel Andrews and that no one from the government, except chief health officer Brett Sutton, had contacted him.
A message was then played from the man, who using a disguised voice said he was surprised no one contacted him to get his side of the story.
“I’ve seen the comments from Dan Andrews where he said we have the gold standard in Victoria of hotel quarantine,” he said.
“I think what really surprises me is the fact that nobody really from the Andrews government has tried to reach out and get my side of this story and understand.
“I expected the gold standard that you’d be trying to get facts from every single source, not just your own sources.
“At the end of the day I really hope that the government can reach out to a lot more people that have gone through the hotel quarantine program and continues to try and improve it so that more people can return to Australia in a safe manner.”
Ms Cassar on Saturday said the man had “done nothing wrong” and she felt bad for the stress the situation had caused him.
“He’s not lying; we’re not making those accusations,” she said. “(But) there is no evidence form our audits that he raised this,” she said.
She said returned travellers were asked to declare medical equipment upon arrival at hotel quarantine but hotel staff were not permitted to check bags.
“It’s a really regrettable incident … we have made steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Ms Cassar said.
Questioned on Monday, Premier Daniel Andrews said he had nothing further to add beyond Ms Cassar’s comments.
“This person is receiving the very best of care in a Victorian public hospital. I wish him well and I hope his recovery is complete and as fast as possible,” he told reporters.
“I’m sure that a number of people will have spoken with him about all manner of things, he is a positive case. I certainly haven’t spoken to him and I’m not interested in having a debate about these matters. I have nothing to add beyond that.” — With Evin Priest, NCA Newswire
READ MORE: I told the nurses everything
Adeshola Ore 11.19am: Liberal staffer ‘raped’ at Parliament House
A female Liberal staffer has alleged she was raped in Parliament House by a colleague weeks before the 2019 election was called, fuelling debate about the workplace culture and treatment of women in federal parliament.
Brittany Higgins, who was 24 at the time of the alleged incident, says she was sexually assaulted by a male colleague in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, whom she was working for as a media adviser at the time, news.com.au has reported.
READ the full story here
Joseph Lam 11.14am: NSW reaches 29th day without a local virus case
NSW has recorded no new cases of COVID-19, reaching a new milestone of 29 days without a locally-transmitted case.
In the 24 hours to 8pm last night, 15,695 tests were recorded, slightly lower than the previous day’s total of 16,302.
NSW contact tracers have now called more than 98 per cent of the approximately 7,000 people who attended any of the Melbourne Airport terminals from 7 to 9 February, and who subsequently arrived in NSW, to provide the relevant health advice. Calls to the remainder are continuing.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 15, 2021
NSW Health said the new milestone was pleasing but urged the public to remain vigilant.
“While this milestone is pleasing, it does not mean we can drop our guard. Cases are present in other states and across the Tasman, as well as being regularly detected among international arrivals,” read a statement from NSW Health.
“NSW contact tracers have now called more than 98 per cent of the approximately 7000 people who attended any of the Melbourne Airport terminals from 7 to 9 February, and who subsequently arrived in NSW, to provide the relevant health advice. Calls to the remainder are continuing.
READ MORE: NSW backflip on traveller rules timeframe
Adeshola Ore 11.07am: Deputy PM open to reducing returned traveller numbers
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says he is open to lowering the number of returned travellers in Australia, as Victoria eyes a shake-up of its quarantine program which could include scaling back the number of international arrivals.
In the wake of Victoria’s snap lockdown, senior Andrews government officials are debating the cuts, and the abandonment of dysfunctional centres like the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn, a possible new front in a row between the states and the Morrison government over who should operate the hotel quarantine program.
Asked if there was room to consider the proposal by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Mr McCormack said “there is.”
“We’d obviously like to get every Australian back as soon as possible but there are quarantine restrictions, there are limits on those numbers coming back in,” Mr McCormack told the ABC.
READ MORE: Traveller lockout, isolation hotels may close
Joseph Lam 10.57am: ‘Not just about numbers’: Premier defends measures
Daniel Andrews says the reopening of Victoria isn’t bound by reaching a certain number of new cases per day.
The Victorian Premier on Monday said Victoria was taking a conservative approach to all possible contacts of COVID-19 cases in his state.
“This is never just about the sheer number of cases, about if they are contained in their primary close contacts, casual and secondary contact are locked down,” he said.
“It’s difficult to put a raw number on it and try and characterise it in that way.”
“Every case on its merits, the individual circumstances, particularly the number of exposure days. The status of their primary and secondary close contacts, all those things which have been ritual the way through.”
Mr Andrews also defended his rash lockdown, calling it the appropriate measure to a potential outbreak.
“That’s why we have to go the short sharp lockdown, as painful as it is, because it means you do have not just time, but you have limited movement, and that’s the most important thing.”
READ MORE: Gottliebsen — Victoria’s monster with three heads
James Madden 10.46am: Frydenberg intent on legislating media code
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has reiterated the government’s intention to legislate the mandatory news media bargaining code.
The Treasurer said he spoke to both Google chief Sundar Pichai and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over the weekend, and welcomed the efforts of the big tech companies to reach deals with media companies.
“I spoke to him (Zuckerberg) just yesterday, and I have been speaking as recently as this morning as well as over the weekend with Sundar [Pichai], the head of Google,” he told the ABC on Monday.
“They are very focused on what’s happening here in Australia, but I sense they are also trying to reach deals, and that is welcome.
“Both the media proprietors and the digital giants I think recognise that we have something that is workable here in Australia, something that we can take forward, something that can ensure a stable media landscape, and something that will see journalism continued and journalists rewarded for creating original content,” he said.
The code is designed to ensure media companies are compensated for the use of their content on search engines and social media platforms, and seeks to address the market bargaining imbalance between the digital giants and news publishers.
Seven West Media announced this morning that it had struck a deal with Google to provide news content to its News Showcase product, subject to reaching a binding agreement within the next 30 days.
On Friday, a Senate committee recommended the news media and digital platforms mandatory bargaining code be passed.
“This legislation is important, and it is our intention to pass it through Parliament,” Mr Frydenberg said.
READ MORE: Seven, Google sign deal as code looms
Joseph Lam 10.36am: Andrews ‘can’t say’ when lockdown will end
Daniel Andrews says he can’t yet confirm Melbourne’s snap five-day lockdown with lift on Wednesday as Victorian authorities race to trace the Holiday Inn cluster.
“I know every Victorian on Monday morning wants to know whether this is going to finish on Wednesday night,’’ the Victorian Premier told reporters today. “I’m not in a position to be able to confirm that.”
Mr Andrew said Victorian health authorities have taken a conservative approach toward the Holiday Inn case and are acting with utmost caution.
A woman, who is asymptomatic and has not yet tested positive, is being treated as if does have the virus. Authorities are working to trace thousands of contacts as the woman is linked to a function in Coburg on February 6 as well as two Royal Melbourne Hospital run psychiatric units at the Alfred and Broadmeadows.
READ MORE: Andrews a ‘tin pot dictator’
Joseph Lam 10.23am: Eye protection ‘essential’ in high-risk situations
Infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon says protective eyewear needs to be worn in hotel quarantine.
“Sometimes people aren’t wearing masks but frequently not wearing eye protection,” he said.
“I think that’s essential whenever you’re in a high-risk situation.”
Concerning a breakout of the UK variant of COVID-19, Mr Collignon said while it is more infectious, we must remain vigilant with all strains of the virus.
“The UK strain does travel or does spread more readily, but one UK strain is less of a risk than two or three regular strains,” he said.
He also called for Australian states to work together.
“Look at all the other states and jurisdictions - we need to learn from each other.”
READ MORE: MPs targeted in campaign to lift aged-care funds
Lilly Vitorovich 9.51am: Seven strikes news deal with Google
Just minutes after delivering solid interim financial results, Seven West Media has announced a deal with Google to provide news content to its newly-launched Google Showcase.
In a statement, Seven West said the agreement will be subject to executing a long form agreement within the next 30 days.
Seven West chairman and biggest shareholder Kerry Stokes says it’s a “great outcome” for the two parties.
“Our new partnership recognises the value, credibility and trust of our leading news brands and entertainment content across Seven and West Australian Newspapers.”
Mr Stokes thanked Prime Minister Scott Morrison and ACCC chair Rod Sims, and singled out Treasurer Josh Frydenberg “who has been instrumental in the outcome of this ground-breaking agreement”.
“Their outstanding leadership on the implementation of the proposed News Media Bargaining Code has resulted in us being able to conclude negotiations that result in fair payment and ensure our digital future,” he said.
Seven West CEO James Warburton said it’s “another significant step” in the group’s turnaround.
The media company will provide more details following the completion of the agreement.
FOLLOW live ASX updates at Trading Day
Rachel Baxendale 9.27am: Victoria reports one new local case
Victoria has recorded one new locally acquired case of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Monday.
The case is understood to be that of the mother of a three-year-old child. The child tested positive for the virus after attending a private dining venue in Coburg in Melbourne’s north on Saturday, February 6, also attended by a Holiday Inn worker who later tested positive for the virus.
Yesterday there were 2 new cases reported – 1 local, 1 in hotel quarantine. 25,144 test results were received. Got symptoms? Get tested, #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 14, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/GNopfTA24a
The positive result in the mother comes after she returned several negative results and a weak positive which was under investigation on Sunday.
Victoria also recorded one new coronavirus case in a recently returned overseas traveller in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to Monday.
There are currently 21 known active cases in the state, including 16 linked to the Holiday Inn cluster.
The latest figures come after 25,144 tests were processed on Sunday, and as Victoria enters its third day of what is intended to be a five day lockdown.
READ MORE: Nebuliser user - ‘I told the nurses everything’
Rachel Baxendale 9.14am: Victoria’s numbers delayed yet again
For the third day since Thursday, Victoria’s Department of Health is running late reporting the state’s daily coronavirus numbers.
“There is currently a delay on the morning numbers. We will share the update as soon as possible,” the department tweeted shortly after 9am.
There is currently a delay on the morning numbers. We will share the update as soon as possible.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 14, 2021
The tweet follows similar delays on Sunday and Thursday, and as Victorians enter the third day of a five-day lockdown.
READ MORE: ‘False negative’ has tracers on the run
Jennifer Oriel 9.11am: WHO runs cover for China’s deadly deceptions
The World Health Organisation’s refusal to hold the Chinese government accountable for the COVID pandemic all but ensures history will repeat. The WHO’s initial report on the origins of COVID effectively absolved the Chinese Communist Party of responsibility for its spread from a mainland epidemic into a global pandemic. Once again, the United Nations is failing to defend humankind against the menace of a totalitarian state.
Its latest report seems more like CCP propaganda than science. And that is despite the expertise in the WHO mission team, with expert epidemiologists, medical doctors, virologists, animal and human disease experts drawn from 10 countries, as well as WHO staff.
The Lancet reported that before the trip, mission leader Ben Embarek said he was not expecting “clear answers after the initial mission”. A major difficulty in determining the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak is the retrospective nature of the investigation. The CCP impeded scientific inquiry by ordering the destruction of viral samples at medical institutes, silencing whistleblowers and preventing access to key sites. The party has ensured the truth will not come out.
READ Jennifer Oriel’s full commentary here
Adeshola Ore 8.35am: Victorians ‘punished for incompetent Andrews’
Liberal MP Tim Smith says Victorians are being “punished” as the state government considers a shake-up of its quarantine program which could include scaling back the number of returning travellers.
Senior Andrews government officials are debating the cuts, and the abandonment of dysfunctional centres like the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn, a possible new front in a row between the states and the Morrison government over who should operate the hotel quarantine program.
Mr Smith, a Victorian MP, said the state’s premier Daniel Andrews had walked away from his responsibilities in overseeing hotel quarantine.
“It’s not these people’s faults who are overseas that Daniel Andrews gets the wooden spoon for hotel quarantine,” Mr Smith told Sky News.
“He’s the wooden spoon for infection control, he’s the wooden spoon for managing hotel quarantine and contact tracing.”
“Because he can’t work out how to do this correctly, unlike Gladys Berejiklian and her team who are utterly brilliant, Victorians who are stuck overseas and indeed Australians who are overseas are being punished because of the incompetence of Daniel Andrews.”
READ MORE: Traveller lockout, isolation hotels may close
Nick Tabakoff 8.32am: Tingle’s tweet and an ABC crackdown
The reverberations of last October’s headline-making late-night foray by Laura Tingle on to Twitter, in which she personally trolled Scott Morrison for “government ideological bastardry”, are still being felt.
On Friday afternoon, ABC managing director David Anderson sent out an all-staff email, and his point couldn’t be clearer: from now on, he will be enforcing social media rules against staff who bring the public broadcaster into “disrepute” with rogue Twitter posts.
Unfortunately for Tingle, her now-deleted October tweet — in which she famously trolled ScoMo by saying that she hoped he was “feeling smug” about ABC job cuts — couldn’t have come at a worse time from Anderson’s perspective.
Tingle’s post came a few days before Anderson’s October appearance before Senate Estimates and just days after the BBC introduced new rules allowing it to discipline staff if they weren’t “impartial” on Twitter.
READ the full story in Media’s The Diary
Adeshola Ore 8.20am: Morrison team ‘close to decision’ on JobSeeker
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says the government is “very close” to deciding the future of JobSeeker, as the government maps out options for a permanent rise of the welfare payment.
The Australian has reported that welfare could be streamlined into a single payment for unemployed Australians receiving up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies under a proposal being considered by the Morrison government.
“The JobSeeker piece has been one we’re continuing to work through as a government. Obviously we’re coming very close to a solution of what that will look like,” he said in Canberra on Monday.
“Australians will have confidence in that well in advance of knowing when we get to the end of March what will happen.”
Last week Scott Morrison said the government was considering its options following calls from welfare lobby groups, backed by the Reserve Bank, for a permanent increase to the underlying rate of JobSeeker when the COVID-19 supplement ended on March 31.
Asked on Sky News today if he could confirm JobSeeker would not return to the previous Newstart amount of $40 a day, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said “I’m not going to go further than what I’ve said previously.”
READ MORE: Cash boost keeps event in vogue
Adeshola Ore 8.13am: Labor waiting for further details on welfare payments
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles says the party wants the government to release more details on its plan to overhaul welfare payments, but remains committed to increasing the dole.
The Australian has reported that the Morrison government is considering a plan that would streamline welfare payments into a single payment for unemployed Australians receiving up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies.
“As we come out of COVID-19 and we go back to a new normal in relation to Newstart, it’s really important that there be an increase from that $40 a day,” Mr Marles said.
“If what we’re hearing is some consideration from the government about how that may happen, that’s great. But ultimately what we need to be hearing from the government, given that this is being planned in the next six weeks, is what is their plan and are they really going to have Newstart continue at $40 a day because that is ridiculously low.”
It is understood that an option flagged at a meeting of the expenditure review committee of cabinet last week was a significant reform package to accompany any increase to the dole when the $150-a-fortnight coronavirus supplement expires at the end of March.
READ MORE: Josh Frydenberg - JobKeeper has ensured economic recovery
Joseph Lam 8.01am: ‘You’re not going overseas this year’
National Party deputy David Littleproud says Australians should prepare to travel domestically because overseas travel is still off the cards for 2021.
On Monday Mr Littleproud said his electorate of Maranoa was doing well and invited Australians to travel there.
“Pack up the caravan because you’re not going overseas this year,” he said.
Mr Littleproud also said the government was close to a solution on the end of JobKeeper payments in March despite Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg refusing to speculate.
“Obviously we’re very close to what a solution will look like,” he said.
“I think you’ll find the government is getting close to a decision on that.”
READ MORE: Cater — Andrews fan club running short of excuses, members
Joseph Lam 7.50am: Federal government ‘needs to step up’ on quarantine
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles says the federal government needs to step up its game on Australians returning from overseas.
“The federal government (has) gone completely missing on the question of quarantine,” he said.
Mr Marles said that the states should not be entirely responsible for quarantine measures for Australians returning from overseas.
Mr Marles also said more clarity is needed on JobKeeper payments.
“Having a wage subsidy in place was fundamentally critical to allowing businesses to survive,” he said.
“JobKeeper is scheduled to come to an end in about six weeks so we really need to be hearing from the government right now.”
READ MORE: Scott Morrison’s ‘abdication hurts federation’
Joseph Lam 7.30am: Farmers wearing masks to check cows ‘nonsense’
Michael McCormack will not “point the finger” at Daniel Andrews over Victoria’s harsh snap lockdown but believes farmers are some of those who have been hit the hardest.
The Deputy Prime Minister told Sky News on Monday he believes the Victorian premier was acting with good intentions.
No matter how regional, how rural or how remote you are, rest assured that the Australian Government has a safe & secure plan to enable you to get vaccinated for #COVID19. @MarkCoultonMP & I witnessed this firsthand today as we saw how the initial roll-out would take place. pic.twitter.com/LvIKY2s7q3
— Michael McCormack (@M_McCormackMP) February 14, 2021
“I’m not going to point the finger at Daniel Andrews because he is doing what he thinks is the best thing for his state,” he said.
“But a farmer having to wear a mask to go out and check his stock, that is a bit of nonsense.”
“It’s hard when you are in regional Victoria.”
READ MORE: It’s a far cry from Covid cases but hit all the same
Joseph Lam 7.05am: Victoria loses $1bn over Valentine’s Day weekend
Experts estimate the Victorian economy lost almost one billion dollars over the weekend as a snap lockdown halted Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day celebrations.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Paul Guerra said the state had lost out on some of its biggest trading days this time of year.
“We’ve had estimates north of $500 million nudging that billion dollar mark,” he said.
“Grand final day also cost the economy about a billion dollars.”
Mr Guerra said business was still seeking clarity moving forward.
“What we now need is clarity out of the state government that we can get going by Thursday,” he said.
“From Friday afternoon when it was first announced there was anxiousness then it went to anger.
“It’s difficult to have faith when we’re back in this position.”
READ MORE: City’s Chinatown crying out for help
Joseph Lam 6.55am: Frydenberg silent on JobKeeper extension
With Jobkeeper payments set to halt in March, Josh Frydenberg has refused to speculate on an extension of payments.
The Federal Treasurer on Monday said the different states and territories continued to see a fall in the number of people on JobKeeper, including a 70 per cent fall through December.
“Right now, there are more people on JobKeeper from Victoria than any other state,” he said.
Writing in The Australian today, Mr Frydenberg said JobKeeper was set up as a temporary payment and that continuing payments restricted people from jumping across industries.
“It impedes that labour mobility that we need,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News this morning.
Further announcements are expected to be made in March.
READ MORE: Backflip on traveller rules timeframe
Joe Lam 6.45am: Frydenberg: NSW is gold standard of hotel quarantine
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says NSW has been the golden standard in Australia when it comes to hotel quarantine.
Mr Frydenberg on Monday said Australia must remain open to bringing more Australians home for a number of reasons and hotel quarantine had proved the most effective way to do that.
“If you ask me who the golden standard is, that’s clearly NSW - they haven’t gone into a full lockdown,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News.
“Hotel quarantine has proven to be effective in other states
READ MORE: Fateful mistake in Victoria contact tracing
Joseph Lam 6.35am: Arriving Kiwis to go into hotel quarantine
New Zealand residents arriving in Australia from Monday will no longer be exempt from hotel quarantine after health experts imposed a snap three-day lockdown on Auckland.
Under the 72-hour lockdown New Zealand has lost its green status and anyone arriving in Australia from 12.01am on Monday is required to isolate for 14 days.
The decision was made late on Sunday after three new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Auckland.
Prior to the lockdown, flights departing from New Zealand had arrived in three Australian states including NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
READ MORE: Andrews fan club running out of excuses
Anne Barrowclough 6.25am: NZ cases are UK variant: Ardern
Three new cases confirmed in New Zealand on Sunday are the UK variant, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed.
Auckland, the country’s largest city has been put into a snap 72 hour lockdown while restrictions have been tightened over the rest of the country.
The cases are household contacts of an airport laundry worker who tested positive with the virus. The woman worked at LSG Sky Chefs, an airline laundry and catering facility.
At a press conference on Monday, Ms Ardern said the woman worked at an offsite situation, where people were working just with laundry and not coming into contact with possibly infected people. However some staff at the laundry worked airside, and it was possible the woman had been infected by someone with airside exposure said Ms Ardern.
But so far no positive tests had come from any of the company staff who went airside, she added.
“That’s why we’re going to the worksite … One of the reasons we’re at the worksite is to check whether or not someone else is the index case,” Ms Ardern said.
READ MORE: Auction clearance rates up despite Covid fears
Agencies 6.00am: US, WHO push Beijing for Wuhan data
The US and a World Health Organisation expert have demanded more data from Beijing about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, after a WHO mission to China struggled to make headway.
A team of WHO experts and Chinese counterparts visited key sites around the city of Wuhan, where Covid cases were first detected, but said they had not been able to shed light on the nature of early transmissions.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said his country had “deep concerns” about the early findings of the investigation.
Peter Ben Embarek, who led the WHO mission, told Agence France-Presse late on Saturday his team had asked for more data.
“We want more data. We have asked for more data. There is a mix of frustration but also a mix of realistic expectations in terms of what is feasible under which time frame,” Dr Ben Embarek said, adding he hoped the requested data would be made available.
The four-week WHO mission to China to uncover the origins of the coronavirus wrapped up last week with no conclusive findings.
READ the full story
Natasha Robinson 5.30am: First vaccines to arrive this week
Australia’s first shipment of Pfizer vaccines will arrive in the country within 48 hours in a high-security operation, with the first vaccinations on track to begin next week.
Government sources confirmed at least 80,000 doses of the first Pfizer vaccines will be exported from Belgium imminently, where they will arrive in Australia under tight security and be taken to a central distribution point.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration will then complete final testing of the vaccines to ensure quality before doses are distributed around the country on a per head of population basis. They’ll be taken to hospital hubs and directly to aged care centres.
“The first vaccines will arrive within 48 hours,” a government source told The Australian.
Hospitals have been told to prepare for vaccinations to begin next week. The exact date of the first vaccinations will be set later this week once batch testing by the Therapeutic Goods Administration is completed.
The TGA carries out quality assessment of every batch of vaccine through a batch release process. Some vaccines have been batch tested prior to arrival. It will take the TGA within one and two days to test the remainder.
READ the full story
Rebecca Urban 5.15am: False negative has tracers on the run
Thousands more Victorians have been ordered to undertake urgent COVID-19 tests and isolate after a rare false negative test returned by a hotel quarantine worker, who later tested positive, sent contact tracers scrambling to investigate new sites of potential public exposure dating back almost a week.
A woman in her 50s and a three-year-old child who attended a private function in Coburg on February 6 along with the worker from the Holiday Inn have tested positive for coronavirus, it emerged on Sunday.
The mother of the child has been tested but has returned conflicting results, including a weak positive, that are undergoing further investigation. Her workplace contacts at Alfred Health have been tested as a precaution.
The function venue on Sydney Road in Melbourne’s northern suburbs was confirmed as an exposure site only late on Friday.
As a result, several extra potential public exposures have emerged dating back to February 8, including a Woolworths supermarket and Ferguson Plarre bakehouse in Broadmeadows and two swim and recreation centres in Pascoe Vale.
The Queen Victoria market has been declared an exposure site after an infected individual visited early on February 11.
READ the full story
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