PoliticsNow: Victorian restrictions return after hotel worker infected; Chris Bowen flags support for energy reform bill;
A Victorian hotel quarantine worker has tested positive for coronavirus, forcing Premier Daniel Andrews to reinstate restrictions for the state.
- Morrison distances himself from Kelly
- Victoria hits 28 days with no local cases
- Plibersek, Kelly clash
- No masks for WA quarantine guards
- Capt Tom dies of Covid
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of news from Canberra and around the nation amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Morrison has declared in parliament that his views on COVID treatments and the advice from the CMO do not align with those held by controversial Liberal MP Craig Kelly. Mr Kelly has been hauled into the Prime Minister’s office and ordered to stop pushing unproven COVID treatments and spreading disinformation about coronavirus. The dressing down came after Mr Kelly clashed with Tanya Plibersek in the corridors of Parliament House this morning. Mr Kelly has now said that he will support the PM’s coronavirus rollout. Meanwhile RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe says Australians should expect some shedding of jobs when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends.
Ellie Dudley 11.12pm: New Victorian restrictions
Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that new statewide restrictions will come into effect from 11.59pm on Wednesday.
The restrictions are the same as those in place when the Black Rock outbreak occured.
They are as follows:
● The limit on the number of people gathering in a household will be reduced from 30 to 15, meaning the household members plus 15 visitors (excluding children under 12 months of age).
● Masks will be mandatory in public indoor spaces. If you have visitors in your home, it is strongly recommended that masks are worn during the visit. Masks must be worn in indoor public spaces apart from when eating or drinking. If you are planning to leave your home, take a mask.
● The 75 per cent “return to work” cap in both public and private sectors scheduled for Monday, February 8, will be paused and the current cap of 50 per cent will remain in place.
New statewide restrictions come into effect from 11:59pm tonight, 3 February.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 3, 2021
- The limit on the number of people gathering in a household will be reduced from 30 to 15, meaning the household members plus 15 visitors (excluding children under 12 months of age). pic.twitter.com/J1tvBRQxrr
Ellie Dudley 11.10pm: Sutton confident of containing threat
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says he is confident authorities will get ahead of the new outbreak, citing the Black Rock cluster as an example of the state’s quick health response.
“This individual has given very detailed information about where he’s been and when,” he said.
“That’s all you need to get on top of transmission — to know where someone who’s infectious or potentially infectious has been, make sure you identify everyone who’s been in those locations, and wrap this public health response around them.”
“If we have to do it 10 times over, we can do it. We’ve got the tools. Really importantly, we’ve learned the tough lessons and we’ve provided those tough lessons to the rest of Australia,” he said.
Professor Sutton said it was “reassuring” no other hotel quarantine workers have tested positive.
“Some individuals have gone on to other settings. If that’s a quarantine setting, they’ve also tested every day and they’ve also clearly tested negative every day,” he said.
Ellie Dudley 10.57pm: Australian Open to continue
Daniel Andrews says he is confident the Australian Open tennis tournament will not be impacted by the new cases, but hundreds of confirmed hundreds of casual contacts must isolate until a negative test result is received.
“There’s a number — about 500 or 600 people that are either players and officials — who are casual contacts,” he said.
“It may have an impact on tomorrow’s play in the lead-up event. But at this stage, there’s no impact to the tournament proper.
“I must say, that’s important to us, but the issues we’re most focused on is much broader, and that’s about public health and public safety. That’s why we’ve really pounced on this very quickly,” he said.
Ellie Dudley 10.50pm: Return to Black Rock restrictions
Premier Daniel Andrews has announced greater restrictions will be placed across Victoria from 11.59pm on Wednesday — the same limitations that were in place when the Black Rock cluster broke in December.
“Private gatherings of 15 only, masks inside across all inside, whether it’s a private or public gathering, masks are to be worn inside,” Mr Andrews said.
Monday 1st February 2021
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 3, 2021
- Bunnings: Springvale - 11:28am - 12:15pm
- Golf Academy: Heatherton - 5:19pm - 6:30pm
The Premier added that employee capacity in the public and private sector will remain at 25 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, and will move to 75 per cent capacity when the health authorities have greater clarity of the situation.
“That doesn’t mean it won’t happen some time shortly after then, but at this stage, we’re pausing that,” he said.
The health authorities do not yet know how the worker was infected, particularly as he initially produced negative test results.
“All of that will become clearer with further examination of CCTV footage and genomic sequencing, further testing — all of that coronavirus detective work that’s already well and truly underway,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said a “protocol problem” did not cause the infection, adding CCTV investigations will still be undertaken.
“We will work through and review all of that very carefully to make sure my answer remains accurate that there’s no protocol problem,” Mr Andrews said.
“This is a wildly infectious virus. It is very, very challenging.”
Ellie Dudley 10.45pm: List of hotspots
A 26-year-old resident support officer in the Australian Open quarantine program tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night, Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed.
“The individual last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29, and he undertook a PCR test — a nasal test — at the end of that shift, and returned a negative test result at that time,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews has outlined a number of exposure sites the worker had visited, asking anyone who had been at the following venues at the stipulated times to be tested.
Saturday January 30
● Club Noble in Noble Park, 46-56 Moodemere St Noble Park, Victoria, between 2.36pm and 3.30pm
● Aces Sporting Club (Driving Range), Cnr Springvale Rd and Hutton Rd, Keysborough, between 10pm and 11.15pm
Sunday, January 31
● Northpoint Café Brighton, 2b North Road, Brighton from 8.10am to 9.30pm
● Kmart Keysborough, Parkmore Keysborough Shopping Centre, C/317 Cheltenham Rd, Keysborough from 4pm to 5pm
● Kmart Brandon Park, Brandon Park Shopping Centre, Cnr Springvale & Ferntree Gully Rds, Brandon Park, from 4.35pm to 5.10pm
● Coles Springvale, 825 Dandenong Rd, Springvale from 5pm to 6pm
Monday, February 1
● Bunnings Springvale, 849 Princes Hwy, Springvale VIC 3171 from 11.28am to 12.15pm
● Melbourne Golf Academy, 385 Centre Dandenong Rd, Heatherton from 5.19pm to 6.36pm.
Rachel Baxendale 10.39pm: Victoria to return to restrictions
Victoria is set to return to the coronavirus restrictions that were in put in place over New Year’s eve, with home gatherings to revert to no more than 15 people and masks again made mandatory in all indoor public places.
A Hotel Quarantine worker at the Grand Hyatt Hotel has tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 3, 2021
Anyone who has visited these exposure sites during the times below must immediately isolate, get a coronavirus (COVID-19) test, and remain isolated for 14 days. pic.twitter.com/BNpSOEcpHY
The reinstatement of restrictions follows the discovery on Wednesday of a new case in a hotel quarantine worker.
MORE TO COME
Rachel Baxendale 10pm: Andrews to hold press conference
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to hold a late-night press conference after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for coronavirus.
A time is yet to be set for the presser, which could take place as late as 11pm.
The government is currently being briefed regarding the case and potential risk to the community.
Rachel Baxendale, Ellie Dudley 9.05pm: Vic quarantine hotel worker infected
A Victorian hotel quarantine worker has tested positive for coronavirus, and health authorities are scrambling to establish how the mutant UK strain of coronavirus spread across a hotel quarantine corridor from a family of five to a woman with whom they had no known direct contact.
Victoria’s health department confirmed the case in the worker at 9pm on Wednesday night, after Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville revealed on Wednesday afternoon that two groups who had been staying in rooms opposite one another at Melbourne Airport’s Park Royal Hotel had been found through genetic testing to have identical strains of the virus.
“We are aware of a new positive case in a hotel quarantine worker. Our public health teams are investigating and close contacts are being notified,” the Department of Health tweeted.
“More details will be provided throughout the evening.”
Workers in Victoria’s reset hotel quarantine program are tested for coronavirus daily, and are not permitted to work second jobs.
We are aware of a new positive case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in a Hotel Quarantine worker. Our public health teams are investigating and close contacts are being notified. More details will be provided throughout the evening.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 3, 2021
It is unclear whether the hotel quarantine worker’s case is linked to those of the family and woman in the Park Royal hotel.
Ms Neville said the genomic match between the two Park Royal groups’ cases “means it’s as if the people have been in the same room together”.
The family arrived at the hotel on January 20, tested positive for the virus on January 23, and were moved to a “health hotel” for coronavirus-positive residents.
The woman first entered hotel quarantine at the Park Royal on January 11, where she quarantined for longer than usual due to the later arrival of her husband on January 16.
She tested negative for the virus on January 22, but returned a positive test on January 27, four days after the family. Her husband has so far returned two negative tests for the virus.
Neither the family nor the woman had symptoms.
“This is a hotel transmission, not a public, community transmission and the public health team has indicated that there is exceptional low risk of any community transmission associated with this,” Ms Neville said.
She said there was no possibility of air contamination through the hotel’s airconditioning or ventilation systems, and a review of CCTV footage found no quarantine breaches.
“The working assumption, is … that the viral load in the room of the family of five, because four of them, now five of them have the virus was so high that just even opening the door to pick up your food has seen the virus get into the corridor,” Ms Neville said.
She said there was no interaction between guests or with staff, with hotel quarantine residents only permitted to open their doors to retrieve food or leave laundry out for collection.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Melanie Van Twest said the risk to the public was “extremely low” risk to the public, but authorities were most concerned about other guests on the same floor.
About 100 staff are currently in isolation and being tested, as are 37 former guests who stayed on the same floor at the Park Royal hotel.
READ MORE: Virus can trigger diabetes
Alice Workman 9pm: Ringside at rumble in press gallery jungle
Good evening and welcome to the rumble in the press gallery jungle! A thrilla in vanilla that promises to be a toe-the-line classic in every sense of the word. Forget Barnaby “Beetroot” Joyce v Joel “The Coal” Fitzgibbon … This is the Real Julia deal!
Tonight’s prize? Eternal glory! Sorry, that’s a typo. The winner can choose between a PM-backed Liberal preselection in the blue ribbon seat of Hughes, a Labor leadership spill and Pizza Hut voucher. Let’s meet our heavyweight contenders!
In the red corner, weighing in at eight parliamentary terms is Tanya “Africa Is A Country” Plibersek. Hailing from Sydney, the southpaw is the second longest-serving women in the Canberra Bubble™ who once adopted a rat abandoned during a prank by The Chaser.
In the blue corner, weighing in at four parliamentary terms, and he drove himself here from the Sutherland Shire, it’s Craig “I’m No Anti Vaxxer” Kelly. The most trusted man in misinformation that former justice minister Michael Keenan once said had “personally shown me the effects of illicit drugs”.
Read the full Sketch column here
Richard Ferguson 8.30pm: Chancellors nudged on uni free speech
University chancellors will be pushed to speed up the adoption of a model free speech code after only nine institutions fully embraced the shake-up as federal Education Minister Alan Tudge makes academic freedom a top priority for 2021.
Former Deakin University vice-chancellor Sally Walker — the author of a scathing review into the higher education sector’s failure to implement the free speech code late last year — will be brought in by the government to talk to the University Chancellors Council on how they can protect free speech.
The Australian also can reveal Professor Walker will provide each university with a free speech report card, after she found last year that 16 out of 42 universities had failed to make any progress in adopting the freedom charter proposed by former federal chief justice Robert French.
Mr Tudge told The Australian on Wednesday the cabinet was determined to see the model code fully adopted as soon as possible.
Tim Dodd 7.50pm: ‘24 buildings available for student quarantine’
The multi-billion-dollar student accommodation industry has told federal and state governments it has 24 empty buildings in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra that can boost existing COVID-19 quarantine facilities and return more than 135,000 international students to the country this year.
In a letter to Scott Morrison and state leaders ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting, the industry said its student return plan would not affect the return of Australian citizens.
The meeting, attended by the Prime Minister, state premiers and territory chief ministers, is expected to discuss changes to airport arrival caps and quarantine arrangements for incoming passengers.
In a detailed submission sent to government leaders with the letter, the industry says under its plan, students would return to Australia on special charter aircraft, and thus not affect capacity on commercial flights into Australia.
“There is no interference with the return of Australian residents,” said Craig Carracher, executive chair of major student accommodation provider Scape Australia, who orchestrated the plan with other industry players.
Paul Garvey 7.20pm: Fight airborne transmission, WA health chiefs urged
Western Australia’s Health Department chiefs must take action over the risks of airborne coronavirus transmission, the head of the Australian Medical Association in state has warned.
Health authorities had ignored repeated warnings about the risks posed by inadequate ventilation and PPE in the WA’s hotel quarantine system, AMA WA president Andrew Miller said on Wednesday.
A security guard in one of the state’s hotels tested positive for COVID-19 at the weekend, prompting Premier Mark McGowan to introduce a five-day lockdown for two million West Australians.
It has since emerged that security guards in the hallways outside those quarantine rooms did not need to wear face masks at all times. Authorities now believe the man may have caught the virus as the opening and closing of the door of a room of an infected patient interfered with the airflow of the hallway.
Mr Miller said anyone coming into contact with suspected or confirmed COVID cases needed to have airborne protection.
“We have been saying for months that this is a real problem. We are quite clearly on the record over this,” he said. “If they don’t start listening to us, they’re going to have to change some people.”
While WA health authorities have since overturned the rule about face masks for guards in hallways, WA’s director of Communicable Disease Control, Paul Armstrong, said the old policy was in place because it was “uncomfortable” to wear a mask for a full 12-hour shift.
“It is very sweaty, it is hot, and the more you have it on, the more irritated you get and the more chance you have of touching your mask. So there are downsides to wearing masks and that’s one of them,” he said.
“Our policy position was that masks were not necessary because the risk of infection was
considered to be negligible versus the downside from wearing masks, but we have switched that position now because of this circumstance.”
Mr McGowan confirmed he would not have followed that old policy.
“If I had been in a hotel I would have worn a mask, yes. But obviously the security guards have been following the rules that have been put in place by the infectious disease experts,” Mr McGowan said.
Mr Miller said he felt sorry for the Premier and was disappointed with Dr Armstrong’s comments.
“The Premier said today he wouldn’t have gone into a quarantine hotel without a mask on. Why does the Premier know that but his deputy CHO didn’t know that?” he said.
He said concerns about discomfort from wearing face masks could be easily addressed.
“If you have a worker who has to wear heavy PPE to protect themselves for 12 hours, the solution to that is to give them a break and have more workers,” he said.
“The solution is not to take away the PPE, let the worker catch coronavirus, go and socialise in the community, and then shut us down for the week. That’s not logical.”
WA recorded no new cases for a third straight day, with Mr McGowan flagging the lockdown would be lifted if the run of zero cases continued.
But some restrictions are likely to remain in place for at least another week.
READ MORE: Plibersek, Kelly in corridor clash
Agencies 6.55pm: Vaccine to target Covid variants
British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline and German biotech firm CureVac on Wednesday announced plans to jointly develop a coronavirus vaccine with the potential to treat multi-variants of Covid-19.
“The development programme will begin immediately, with the target of introducing the vaccine in 2022, subject to regulatory approval,” a joint statement said on Wednesday.
GSK will also support the manufacture this year of up to 100 million doses of CureVac’s first generation COVID-19 vaccine, it added.
The collaboration, building on an existing relationship, is to develop next-generation COVID-19 vaccines “with the potential for a multi-valent approach to address multiple emerging variants in one vaccine”.
The pair noted that “the increase in emerging variants with the potential to reduce the efficacy of first generation COVID-19 vaccines requires acceleration of efforts to develop vaccines against new variants to keep one step ahead of the pandemic”.
GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley said “next-generation vaccines will be crucial in the continued fight against Covid-19”.
The value of the new collaboration was put at €150m ($237m). “We are very pleased to build on our existing relationship with GSK with a new agreement,” said CureVac chief executive Franz-Werner Haas.
“With the help of GSK’s proven vaccine expertise, we are equipping ourselves to tackle future health challenges with novel vaccines.”
READ MORE: Covid may trigger diabetes
Greg Brown 6.25pm: Bowen flags support for energy reform bill
Labor will move amendments to legislation that will expand the remit of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to ensure it only supports “clean energy projects”.
Opposition climate change spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would support the bill, due to be debated in the House of Representatives on Thursday, as long as the government agrees to changes.
“We’ll be putting forward sensible amendments to ensure the CEFC won’t be turned into a slush fund, and can only invest in economically viable, clean energy projects,” Mr Bowen said.
“If the government is able to move past its paralysing internal climate wars and accept these amendments, we will support the bill.”
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the reform would be a “good first test for Anthony Albanese and his new approach to climate and energy policy under Chris Bowen”.
Mr Taylor accused Labor of peddling untruths about the legislation, which will broaden the CEFC to include investments in pumped hydro and batteries, transmission and distribution infrastructure and grid stabilising technologies.
Labor claims the changes will for the first time allow funding for gas projects, while Mr Taylor says gas has always been under the remit of the CEFC.
“If Labor opposes the Bill as they said they would, it will show again that Albanese’s words are hollow and he can’t be trusted to deliver affordable, reliable energy and new jobs,” Mr Taylor said.
“They will be voting against more investment, more renewables, more jobs, and lower prices for consumers.
“The Morrison government is serious about supporting record levels of energy investment, and delivering lower energy prices that puts more money into the pockets of hardworking Australians.
“This is central to our ongoing economic recovery and will support jobs, productivity and economic growth.”
READ MORE: Brown loses bid to end forest logging
Agencies 5.50pm: G7 ‘deeply concerned’ by Myanmar coup
The foreign ministers of the G7 group of some of the world’s wealthiest nations say they are “deeply concerned” by the military coup in Myanmar.
“We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media,” they said in a joint statement issued from London on Wednesday.
“We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law.”
READ MORE: How the next world war might start
Yoni Bashan 5.10pm: Keating, Turnbull push for historic Sydney precinct
A long-awaited report into the revitalisation of Sydney’s historic Macquarie Street precinct has recommended a dramatic refurbishment of the area to elevate its cultural and political heritage and bring it on par with internationally renowned visitor hubs in New York and London.
The report — the Macquarie Street East Precinct Review — identified significant shortfalls with the area’s navigational pathways and under-utilised buildings, saying these were robbing the city of opportunities to increase foot-traffic and maximise recognition of historic public assets.
Commissioned in 2018, the review was led by former prime minister Paul Keating and former Greater Sydney commissioner Lucy Turnbull, who cited shortcomings with the area’s aesthetics that left visitors uninspired to experience its many offerings.
Ellie Dudley 4.25pm: Virus spreads between guests at Melbourne hotel
Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville confirms there has been transmission between two rooms of guests at the Park Royal Hotel at Melbourne Airport.
Two separate resident groups – a family of fives, and a separate woman – staying on the same floor of the hotel all tested positive on January 27.
They have since been transferred to the Alfred Health Hotel.
“What we’ve seen is a transmission that has occurred between two guest rooms,” Ms Neville said.
“They’ve been found positive on different days and the reason we are concerned is the genomic testing which came back last night shows they are identical to each other.
“That means it’s as if people have been in the same room.”
Ms Neville confirmed a meeting of Victoria’s Outbreak Management Team met today to assess the situation, and decided to retest the other residents, residents who have left, and all staff members who have spent time on that hotel floor.
“We need to do this to absolutely ensure ourselves that there is no further spread of the virus,” she said.
Chief Health Officer Melanie van Twest said the health authorities believe the breach poses little or no risk to the community.
The woman had been in hotel quarantine since January 11. She stayed in quarantine for an extended period because her husband joined her after she had arrived.
A CCTV review found the family did not breach quarantine and there was no cross over between air through ventilation.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said the “working assumption” was that the viral load from the family’s room was so great that it spread from room to room when the door was opening during food deliveries or laundry service.
“There has been no movement between the rooms, the public health advice is that they believe it’s a viral load from a door being opened,” she said.
READ MORE: WHO team visits Wuhan lab
Ellie Dudley 4.05pm: Potential quarantine breach to be probed
Health authorities are investigating a potential coronavirus transmission between two guests at one of Melbourne’s quarantine hotels.
Police Minister Lisa Neville and deputy chief health officer Melanie van Twest will front the media at 4pm.
It is understood genetic tracing has shown the guests with no links have transmitted the virus between them, the Herald Sun reported.
READ MORE: Virus alert 320km from Melbourne
Adeshola Ore 3.38pm: Morrison distances himself from Kelly
Scott Morrison has declared in parliament that he does not share Craig Kelly’s views on COVID treatments after facing growing pressure from Labor to condemn the misinformation spread by the rogue Liberal MP.
Speaking on an indulgence after question time, the Prime Minister said the government’s primary responsibility was to forge ahead with the vaccine rollout.
“It is true that views expressed by the member for Hughes do not align with my views or the views of the advice that has been provided to be by the Chief Medical Officer,” he said.
Mr Morrison stressed that the medical advice that guided his government was the “best in the world”.
Mr Morrison also confirmed that he had spoken to Mr Kelly this morning after he had an explosive row with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek in the halls of the press gallery.
Anthony Albanese said he welcomed Mr Morrison distancing himself from Mr Kelly but said his comments were belated.
“The comments of the member for Hughes have been dangerous,” he said, noting Mr Kelly’s support of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment.
“That has been of great concern. It is something that we have raised from this side of the house,” he said.
“The challenges of the pandemic require us to absolutely have faith and confidence in our institutions.”
READ MORE: Kenny: Efforts to cancel Kelly are frightening
Adeshola Ore 3.25pm: Labor launches QT attack on Craig Kelly
Labor has used question time to attack the controversial views of rogue Liberal MP Craig Kelly, after he was reprimanded by the Prime Minister earlier today over his social media posts on COVID.
Labor MP Josh Burns accused Mr Kelly of “trivialising” the recent deadly riots on the US Capitol and asked if he would disqualify himself from the committee for law enforcement due to his views.
Mr Kelly responded briefly that a date had not been set for the committee’s reporting, but said he was looking forward to the inquiry’s findings.
Earlier today, Mr Kelly said he would support Scott Morrison’s vaccine rollout and disavowed medical misinformation after a face-to-face dressing down from the Prime Minister. It followed a fiery clash with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek in the halls of the Canberra press gallery after she confronted him about his spreading of misinformation on COVID.
Mr Kelly has touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, despite the Therapeutic Goods Administration “strongly discouraging” its use on patients and questioning the effectiveness of masks.
READ MORE: PM hauls in Kelly for a dressing down
Adeshola Ore 3.07pm: Online aged care service ‘provides transparency’
Health Minister Greg Hunt has defended the government’s trial of an online aged care navigator, saying it provides transparency on fees charged by homecare providers.
The online system, designed to help vulnerable Australians more easily access aged-care services will not be made a permanent fixture for months, despite the Morrison government finding it had boosted the confidence of its mostly elderly users.
Mr Hunt said the government’s online system for accessing aged care promoted transparency on care package fees.
“Already the advice I have is that 93 per cent of My Aged Care home providers fees are already being published,” he told parliament.
He added that the government had tripled the number of home care packages since 2013.
“We have increased the number of home care packages by 60,000 to over 195,000,” he said.
The royal commission into aged care will hand down its final report later this month.
READ MORE: Third of aged-care residents admitted to emergency
Paul Garvey 2.54pm: WA goes a third day without community transmission
Western Australia has gone a third straight day without a new case of community transmission, putting Perth on track to emerge from its lockdown later this week.
WA premier Mark McGowan delivered the news at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“This is a very encouraging result, especially considering we have been testing at record levels, but we are not out of the woods yet,” he said.
There have now been no new cases identified despite thousands of tests since a quarantine hotel security guard tested positive at the weekend.
Mr McGowan warned that while the full lockdown would end on Friday if there are no new cases recorded, there would still be some restrictions in place beyond then.
“I want the WA community to understand that if we do continue on a zero streak through to Friday, the full lockdown will end. However, like we have seen in other states, some form of restrictions will be necessary for the following week or so,” he said.
“Based on health advice, we know this virus can linger, so even though we could potentially have no community transmission come Friday, it does not mean we are 100% in the clear. I want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. But we need to see at least 14 days of no community transmission before we can return to our unique life here in Perth, and WA, the South West and Peel, that we were all enjoying throughout January.”
The WA government has been under intense pressure over its hotel quarantine system, after revelations that security staff had not been required to wear face masks at all times while working on floors with infected patients.
It has also emerged that WA was the last mainland state to introduce daily saliva-based testing of its hotel security guards, a step that was enacted in the likes of Victoria and NSW late last year.
WA opposition leader Zak Kirkup continued his attack on the government’s handling of hotel quarantine today.
“The reality is we are still in a five-day lockdown because we have seen failures in our hotel quarantine system. Families can’t send their children to school because the hotel quarantine system failed. Small businesses are hurting, and losing thousands of dollars a day because they’re not allowed to open, because the hotel quarantine system failed. We have a five-day lockdown because the hotel quarantine system failed,” he said.
“The Western Australian government was the one government across the country who should have been in the best possible position to prepare for this, and should have learned from every other state and territory about the risks of our hotel quarantine system. Unfortunately, by the health minister’s own admission, that has failed.”
READ MORE: Masks not required in WA guards full time
Jack the Insider 2.43pm: Craig Kelly puts the gag on … for now
The irrepressible member for Hughes, Craig Kelly, has been repressed; gagged amid reports he had been given a dressing down by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a 30-minute meeting in the PM’s office early on Wednesday.
The upshot is Kelly has agreed to stop posting COVID information on social media and stick to the government’s message on vaccines and treatments.
It will make for thin reading on Craig Kelly’s Facebook page.
Having a backbencher cosying up to Pete Evans was the breaking point. It will be interesting how long Kelly keeps the gag on.
READ Jack the Insider’s full commentary on Craig Kelly here
Adeshola Ore 2.35pm: Disaster payments available for WA fires, PM reveals
Scott Morrison says the federal government has established disaster recovery payments for Western Australians as authorities continue to battle a fire near Perth.
The bushfire in Wooraloo, which has created a 80km perimeter, has claimed 71 homes.
The Prime Minister said the government had created emergency cash payments of $1,000 for adults and $400 for children.
Mr Morrison also paid tribute to the firefighters and emergency authorities battling the blaze.
“The thoughts of all in this House are with the people of Western Australia and especially with the firefighters who are working around-the-clock,” he told parliament.
Anthony Albanese also paid tribute to the “selfless firefighters” who were “putting themselves in harm’s way” to protect their communities.
READ MORE: ‘Terrifying’ — 71 homes lost in WA bushfire
Rhiannon Down 2.27pm: New Zealand gives Pfizer vaccine rollout go-ahead
NZ has conditionally approved the Pfizer vaccine roll out.
Jacinda Ardern said the stamp of approval from MedSafe, the country’s health regulatory body, meant the government would continue to receive and monitor rolling data, according to the New Zealand Herald.
“Subject to the expected delivery of the first batch of the vaccine, we will start vaccinating first our border workers and the people they live with,” she said. “People such as cleaners, the nurses who undertake health checks in MIQ, security staff, customs and border officials, airline staff and hotel workers will be among the first to get the vaccine.”
The vaccine is scheduled to be rolled out in Australia this month.
READ MORE: Pfizer vaccine cleared over danger to elderly
Robyn Ironside 2.15pm: This is my last crisis at Qantas: Joyce
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has revealed the current pandemic will be the last crisis through which he steers the airline, as he outlined his vision for post-COVID air travel.
In a wide-ranging interview broadcast by Brussels-based aviation safety organisation Eurocontrol, Mr Joyce said the rule of thumb in the industry was to expect a major crisis every seven years.
“I’m not going to be here in ten years time, because I’m not going to go through the next crisis. But there’s a few things that are going to change in the industry,” Mr Joyce said.
“First I think it will recover and there will be huge demand for aviation and transportation, it’s such an important part of the world economy. Like every other crisis and Qantas has gone through 100 years of operation, you do rebound out of it and it does get to a stage where you grow past it. That’ll happen again.”
It is the first time the long-serving CEO has hinted he might be planning life after Qantas, after joining from Ansett in 2000.
READ the full story here
Lachlan Moffett Gray 1.27pm: Expect shedding of jobs when subsidy ends: Lowe
RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe says Australians should expect some shedding of jobs when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends.
Asked whether he is disappointed in the government’s plans to end the JobKeeper wage subsidy this year given the RBA’s ambition to reach full employment, he said that the nation could look forward to more job creation.
“I think when JobKeeper ends there will be some job shedding … but that’s going to take place in the context of an economy that’s otherwise recovering,” Dr Lowe told journalists at the National Press Club in Canberra today.
“Am I disappointed that the government is stopping the jobkeeper program? No. The government made it clear it was a temporary program.”
Dr Lowe said that “The unemployment rate has come down a lot quicker than we thought and “our sense is that job creation is going to continue” but noted that the scenario is something of an unknown.
“It’s possible that it could go the other way, but our central scenario is that we will continue to recover.”
Support of JobSeeker
Dr Lowe also expressed support for the idea of maintaining the JobSeeker unemployment supplement or increasing the base Newstart rate after being asked what the impacts
of the supplements removal would be on the economy.
“We haven’t modelled the kind of consequences of going back to the previous Newstart levels, but there’s a wide consensus in the community that the previous level should be increased permanently, Dr Lowe said.
“Whether the government decides to do that, it is entirely up to them … but I can see the arguments for a permanent increase.”
Dr Lowe said he personally did not look at the issue through a “macro-economic prism,” rather asking: “What’s the appropriate level of support should we provide to people who are unemployed?”
“My own view is some increase is justifiable,” he said.
Lockdown impacts not so harsh
Dr Lowe has said the economic impact of COVID-19 lockdowns was not as bad as previously anticipated.
“People find other ways of spending money and to do their business,” Dr Lowe said.
“There’s tremendous resilience, adability and innovation in how we go about doing things.”
He expressed sympathy with state premiers and territory first ministers over the issue of border policy.
“The Premiers are having to make very difficult trades off, aren’t they? he said.
“By and large the Australian political class has done a remarkably good job of managing those trade offs.”
States spending, borrowing ‘appropriately’
Dr Lowe has said he is not concerned over the debt level of states and territories, saying for the most part they are borrowing and spending appropriately.
“Well I have been both publicly and privately encouraging the states to spend more, particularly on public investment, so I can hardly criticise the borrowing,” he said.
“The infrastructure programs rolling out are going to support jobs, the economy.”
Dr Lowe said high levels of spending is the right thing to do so long as it doesn’t become a permanent aspect of a government’s budget.
“Most of them have not baked in permanently high levels of spending,” he said.
“During a once in a century pandemic, it’s exactly the right thing to do, to borrow against our future income.”
READ MORE: Activists’ court win over coal mine
Lachlan Moffett Gray 1.10pm: Lowe tackles questions on wages, housing, rates
RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe has been asked whether he should advise the government to do more to help wage growth and address the balance of power in the labour market.
“No, I am not going to provide the government with advice … on that issue,” Dr Lowe told journalists after his address at the National Press Club in Canberra, adding that the RBA’s role was to use monetary policy to support wage growth.
“Before the pandemic we were seeing some tightness in the labour market,” he said.
Dr Lowe was also asked whether the government’s policy of linking public sector wage increases to private wage increases was detrimental to overall wage growth.
“It depends which way you think the causation runs here,” Dr Lowe said.
“My aspiration is for both public and private sector wages to be growing faster than they are.”
Dr Lowe was also asked whether a contractionary budget this year may impact the economic recovery.
“It’s not my business to kind of be commenting on hypotheticals,” Dr Lowe said, adding that he hoped the government would remain flexible and continue an expansive fiscal response if needed.
Dr Lowe has denied that global central banks are in a “cold war” over interest rate cuts, saying central banks are reacting rationally in the context of their own interests.
“Every month I am meeting with the governors of other central banks and we discuss this issue,” Dr Lowe said, adding that if one bank begins a quantitative easing program, another will follow to keep their currency competitive.
“No one wants to see in the current environment their exchange rate go up,” he said.
“Are we going to be doing this for years? I hope not, I don’t expect we will need to be doing this for years.”
Dr Lowe also waved away concerns of an asset or housing price bubble.
“The national house price index today is where it was four years ago,” he said.
“The capital city price index is lower than it was four years ago … And the equity market we aren’t even back to where we are at the beginning of last year.”
Dr Lowe did however say the RBA would be watching home lending to ensure lending standards do not drop.
Dr Lowe did not allow himself to be drawn on a question relating to the Craig Kelly controversy, but did say he gets his medical advice from his doctor and advised others to do the same.
“I’m not a big youtuber or social media person,” he said.
Dr Lowe has responded to a question as to whether he tells his children to prepare for a lower living standard in the future due to growing government debt.
“No, I certainly don’t prepare them to have lower living standards than I have … I talk to them about opportunity and technology,” Dr Lowe said.
He said that the most important priorities for growing living standards are “developing technologies and developing human capital,” adding that “what comes out of the ground” will not shape the Australian economy in the future like it did in the past.
Dr Lowe said human capital and the resilience of Australians will help drive up interest rates over the next decade as the economy and wage growth increases.
Agencies 1.04pm: WHO team visits Wuhan laboratory
World Health Organisation health experts investigating the origins of COVID-19 on Wednesday visited a laboratory in Wuhan that American officials have suggested could have been the source of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The convoy of cars carrying the WHO inspectors drove past security into the institute for one of the most-watched stops on the team’s mission to probe the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An Australian scientist on the team recently said they had been promised access to the lab run by a scientist nicknamed the “bat woman”.
“We’ve been told we can visit the lab,” NSW Health Pathology director Dominic Dwyer said.
The bat expert, scientist Shi Zhengli, is the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and is renowned for her extensive work hunting viruses in bat caves. — AFP
READ the full story here
Peter van Onselen 12.59pm: Time’s up on Craig Kelly sideshow
Months after maverick Liberal MP Craig Kelly began spruiking conspiracy theories about how to treat COVID-19, the Prime Minister finally sprang into action today, hauling the MP into his office for a dressing down. Minutes later the Prime Minister’s office alerted the media to the dressing down, ensuring the tough action by the boss was as widely reported as possible.
It was excellent political marketing. If only they were as quick to jump into action in the first place. Instead, tens of millions of dollars in taxpayers money is being spent trying to inform the public about vaccine and pandemic management in contradiction to the musings of Kelly.
As the former Deputy CMO Nick Coatsworth said late last year, the only Kelly people should listen to is CMO Paul Kelly, not the other bloke.
Of course MP Kelly is little more than a sideshow to the main game in Canberra at the moment, which is focused on pandemic recovery. That is why some Liberals are increasingly frustrated by Kelly’s antics, detracting from the main game.
READ PVO’s full commentary on Craig Kelly here
Ticky Fullerton 12.41pm: Microsoft willing to accept media laws
Microsoft says it would sign up to the federal government’s proposed news media bargaining code, in the clearest break from its rivals Google and Facebook to date.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella spoke to Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher last week and said he “fully supports” the proposed code, the company said.
“The code reasonably attempts to address the bargaining power imbalance between digital platforms and Australian news businesses,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said.
“While Microsoft is not subject to the legislation currently pending, we’d be willing to live by these rules if the government designates us.”
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 12.37pm: ‘Deep concern’ over Navalny jailing
Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is “deeply concerned” about the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who has been jailed for more than two years.
A Moscow court has sentenced Mr Navalny to three and a half years but gave credit for a year already served.
Senator Payne said Australia was calling on Russia to release Mr Navalny and investigate a poison attack against him last year using a nerve agent.
“The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded that Mr Navalny’s 2014 conviction, which was used as grounds for his current detention, was “unlawful” and “politically motivated,” she said in a statement.
“Australia is also concerned by the approach of Russian authorities against peaceful protesters and journalists detained in recent weeks. We call for their release without delay. Australia supports all peoples’ right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
READ MORE: Russia jails Navalny for more than two years
Patrick Commins 12.30pm: Unemployment could drop below 5pc: Lowe
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says the unemployment rate could fall below 5 per cent by the second half of next year if the post-COVID economic recovery proves stronger than anticipated in the central bank’s updated set of estimates.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, Dr Lowe’s comments came a day after unveiling a further $100bn in monetary policy support to bolstering growth and committing to keep rates at 0.1 per cent until 2024 “at the earliest”.
“The cash rate will be maintained at 10 basis points for as long as is necessary,” Dr Lowe said on Wednesday.
He said the “economic downturn was not as deep as was initially feared and the bounce-back has been earlier and stronger than we were expecting”.
The RBA now expects, in its base case, that the jobless rate will drop from 6.6 per cent to 6 per cent by the end of this year, and to 5.5 per cent by the close of 2022.
But in his speech the governor detailed an “upside scenario”. In this scenario, the pandemic remains well contained, “with a strong pick-up in consumer and business confidence propelling a stronger self-sustaining recovery, especially given the large amount of monetary and fiscal stimulus that is in place”.
“In the upside scenario, the unemployment rate falls faster to be a bit below 5 per cent in the second half of next year.”
In contrast, “the downside scenario is one in which there is a combination of further sporadic domestic outbreaks, a delay in the rollout of vaccines and a worsening global outlook”, although the governor did not include further details.
READ the full story here
Rachel Baxendale 12.24pm: Gay bill targets people of faith in ‘unprecedented way’
Catholic and Islamic leaders have joined forces to urge the Andrews government to amend its proposed gay conversion therapy bill, accusing it of appearing to target people of faith “in an unprecedented way”.
The joint letter from the Islamic Council of Victoria and Victorian Catholic Bishops came as the government unexpectedly delayed debate on the bill until Thursday, despite having secured the support of three key crossbenchers in the Animal Justice Party’s Andy Meddick, Reason Party leader Fiona Patten and Greens Leader Samantha Ratnam.
While there is almost universal support for the principle of outlawing coercive attempts to change people’s sexuality or choice of gender identity, religious groups, radical feminists and medical professionals including Australian Medical Association Victorian President Julian Rait have raised concerns about the bill’s potential to criminalise discussions between young people and their parents or medical professionals about whether or not to undergo irreversible gender transition procedures.
READ the full story here
Rhiannon Down 12.15pm: WA bushfires ‘a dangerous situation’
David Littleproud says it is a miracle no one has lost their life in an unfolding fire emergency in WA.
The Federal Minister for Emergency Management said it would assist the WA government in fighting the blaze and had already sent an Australian Defence Force asset with fire retardant to support them.
“This is a serious situation and it can’t be a ‘she’ll be right’ sort of attitude to this,” he said. “This is a dangerous situation, where fortunately we haven’t had any loss of life. But if you don’t listen to emergency service personnel, there is a real risk of that.
“So I ask any resident in the area at risk to take heed of those warnings.”
READ MORE: More than 70 homes lost in fire emergency
Rhiannon Down 12.05pm: Sewage tests prompt coronavirus warnings
NSW Health has issued a warning after traces of the coronavirus were detected in sewage in Sydney’s southwest.
The fragments were discovered in the Ireland Park sewage network site, which serves about 88,000 people in the Liverpool catchment area.
The state’s ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected the virus that causes COVID-19 at the Ireland Park sewage network site, which serves about 88,000 people in the Liverpool catchment in south western Sydney.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 3, 2021
This catchment takes in the suburbs of: pic.twitter.com/GKGMFz0o31
NSW said the list of suburbs implicated by the discovery included Prestons, Leppington, and Casula among others.
“While a small number of recovered cases live in this area, NSW Health is concerned that there may be undiagnosed active cases in the area,” authorities said in a statement posted on social media.
“NSW Health continues to urge people across the state, particularly in the Liverpool area, to come forward for testing with even the mildest of symptoms that could signal COVID-19, such as a runny nose or scratchy throat.”
The full list of suburbs includes:
Cecil Park, Cecil Hills, Bonnyrigg Heights, Green Valley, Len Waters Estate, Hinchinbrook, Hoxton Park, West Hoxton, Carnes Hill, Horningsea Park, Edmondson Park, Bardia, Denham Court, Leppington, Gledswood Hills, Glenfield, Casula, Prestons, Varroville and Austral.”
READ MORE: Indigenous suicides double rate of other Victorians
Adam Creighton 11.55am: Building approvals hit record high
Builders have shrugged off uncertainty about the economy and population growth, pushing the number of approvals of new houses and apartments to a record high.
The total number of new dwelling approved for construction increased for the sixth consecutive month in December, rising to more than 19,537 — almost 11 per cent higher than November and 23 per cent higher than December in 2019.
“Private house approvals were strong across the country, with Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia hitting record highs in seasonally adjusted terms. Federal and state housing stimulus measures, along with record low interest rates have contributed to strong demand for detached dwellings,” said Daniel Rossi, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS.
“Despite the uncertainty experienced by developers and households during 2020, the total number of dwellings approved in the calendar year was 4.8 per cent higher than in 2019,” he said.
The announcement by the ABS comes amid news of rising house prices and surging demand for home loans, especially among first home buyers, that have prompted concerns the Reserve Bank series of interest rate cuts could reignite the property market.
New home lending accelerated in December to hit fresh highs as investors piled back into a hot property market, lifting finance commitments to $26bn in the month — an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year.
CoreLogic data released on Monday showed house prices enjoyed a strong start to 2021, climbing 0.9 per cent nationally in January to regain pre-pandemic record levels.
The number of private houses approved for construction in December (13,600) was 56 per cent higher than a year ago, while the total number of apartments (5,600) was 22 per cent lower, reflecting growing demand for larger dwellings amid ongoing work from home restrictions.
New South Wales recorded its highest private house approval figure since March 2000 and it was Queensland’s highest since September 1994, the ABS said.
Dwelling approvals rose in all states over the month to December: Tasmania by 66.5 per cent, Queensland 24 per cent, South Australia 16.7 per cent, Victoria (8.6 per cent), Western Australia (7.8 per cent) and New South Wales (1.8 per cent).
Capital city rents have stagnated since coronavirus restrictions were put in place as annual population growth, traditionally around 1.5 per cent a year tumbled below 0.5 per cent, and is expected to remain below 1 per cent by 2023.
The value of total residential construction approved in December was $10.7bn, including $6.98bn for residential construction.
READ MORE: RBA strategy not odd so much as odds-on
Richard Ferguson 11.40am: Kelly says he’ll agree to PM’s vaccine rollout
Controversial Liberal MP Craig Kelly says he will support Scott Morrison’s vaccine rollout and disavowed medical misinformation after a face-to-face dressing down from the Prime Minister.
Mr Kelly — who has pushed unproven COVID treatments, called on chief medical officers to resign, and said people should “weigh the evidence” before taking a vaccine — said on Wednesday that Mr Morrison “reinforced” to him the importance of backing the government’s vaccine strategy.
“I agreed to support the government’s vaccine rollout which has been endorsed by medical experts,” he said in a statement.
“I have always sought to support the success of our nation’s public health response during the pandemic. I believe that the spread of misinformation can damage the success of our public health response during the pandemic.”
Mr Kelly was as early as Wednesday morning pushing COVID treatments not supported by government health officials, which he had an explosive row with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek in the halls of the Press Gallery.
The Prime Minister has ordered Mr Kelly to restrict his social media and stick to the government’s COVID advice.
READ MORE: Covid ‘slowly killing democracy’
David Rogers 11.31am: Sharemarket surges to fresh 11-month high
Australia’s sharemarket has surged to a fresh 11-month high in the first 1.5 hours of trading on Wednesday.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 71 points or 1.1pc to 6833.9 points, exceeding a previous 11-month peak of 6832.6 reached last week.
It comes amid a resurgence in the US share market this week after the recent retail-driven short squeeze forced derisking by hedge funds.
And it follows a “maximum dovish” RBA statement yesterday. RBA Governor Lowe will speak on “The Year Ahead” at the National Press Club from 1230 pm AEDT.
FOLLOW live ASX updates at Trading Day
Rhiannon Down 11.24am: Berejiklian calls on Ardern to welcome NSW back
Gladys Berejiklian has taken aim at Jacinda Ardern over the one way nature of the Tasman travel bubble.
“We have received a number of New Zealanders here in NSW and we haven’t been extended the same welcome back and I hope she will consider that moving forward,” she said.
“It’s important for us to keep moving forward and keep assessing the risk and making good decisions made on the risk, currently there is no evidence of community transmission in Australia anywhere very low to zero in NZ and that’s the type of risk we could live with.”
READ MORE: NZ-Australia flights back after Covid scare
Adeshola Ore 11.18am: Tehan still waiting for response from Beijing
Trade Minister Dan Tehan says he has not received a response from his Chinese counterpart after he attempted to reopen dialogue between the two countries amid the escalating trade dispute with Beijing.
Last month, Mr Tehan wrote to China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in an attempt to resolve trade disputes that have resulted in tariffs slapped on Australian exports. He said the letter detailed a pathway for the two countries to work together collaboratively.
“We haven’t had an official trade ministers meeting with China for over three years now,” he said.
“I haven’t had a reply but the letter was sent after Christmas and these things can take time. We’ve got plenty to do in the meantime.”
Former Trade Minister Simon Birmingham repeatedly tried to contact his Chinese counterpart when he held the portfolio but was ignored.
READ MORE: China stands ready to use its muscle
Rhiannon Down 11.16am: NSW to ease rules as state records another zero day
NSW will revert to a 2sqm rule in hospitality venues, as the state records another day of zero cases of community transmission.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 3, 2021
There were two cases acquired overseas, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,925. pic.twitter.com/aa1LSBOGIH
However, mandatory mask rules onboard public transport will continue in NSW, with health authorities urging vigilance.
Rachel Baxendale 10.59am: ‘Some are upset there isn’t a Victorian third wave’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has insinuated that the state opposition are “upset” that there isn’t a third wave of coronavirus in Victoria, as he defends his government’s doomed bid for a nine month extension to its state of emergency legislation.
Key upper house crossbenchers including Reason Party leader Fiona Patten have indicated that they are not prepared to pass the government’s bill which would extend the state of emergency to December, and would favour coronavirus-specific legislation, rather than a blanket extension of the extraordinary powers.
Asked whether the nine months was an ambit claim, Mr Andrews said: “I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think anyone can assume that this will be over by the end of this year. This may well run longer than that.”
“We’ve put something into the parliament and just like every other measure we put into the parliament, we’ll work with the crossbench,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’re very grateful to them for the constructive way in which they engage and we will get an outcome, and it will be up to the upper house what that outcome is.”
Mr Andrews dismissed comments from Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien that constant states of emergency undermine business confidence.
“Have a look at every other state. Have a look at every other territory. There are different provisions in every state but they’re very similar, and have a look at the jobs numbers last week,” he said.
“You know, I think that those who barrack for failure, I think Victorians will judge them very, very harshly. As they should. There are some that are desperately upset that there isn’t a third wave.”
Asked who he was speaking about, Mr Andrews said: “I think people are starting to work that out for themselves. It’s not for me to be telling them, it’s a matter for others, and, you know, Victorians have built something precious, and they didn’t build it by playing political games, they built it by following the science, the doctors and the data. That’s my approach, and that will not be changing.”
READ MORE: Fight locked in over workplace laws
Richard Ferguson 10.46am: PM hauls in Kelly for a dressing down
Controversial Liberal MP Craig Kelly has been hauled into Scott Morrison’s office and ordered to stop pushing unproven COVID treatments and spreading disinformation about coronavirus.
In a 30-minute face to face meeting on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister told Mr Kelly to stop pushing COVID information contrary to the government’s health advice and restrict his social media presence.
Mr Morrison told Mr Kelly he did not agree with his COVID views and that he should be focusing on serving his constituents in the seat of Hughes, government sources said..
Mr Kelly has agreed to stop posting COVID information on social media and stick to the government’s message on vaccines and treatments.
The face-to-face meeting in Mr Morrison’s office came after Mr Kelly engaged in a row with opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek in the halls of the parliamentary press gallery earlier on Wednesday.
READ MORE: The Sketch — How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
Rachel Baxendale 10.23am: Victoria unveils who will go first for vaccine
Nine suburban and regional health services across Victoria will be involved in the rollout of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine as soon as the federal government is able to make it available, the Victorian government has announced.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the first doses of the vaccine — which are expected to be rolled out in mid-to-late February — would be stored at vaccination hubs at Western Health, Austin Health and Monash Health in Melbourne, and Barwon Health, Goulburn Valley Health, Latrobe Health, Bendigo Health, Ballarat Health and Albury-Wodonga Health in regional Victoria.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval from commonwealth regulatory agency the Therapeutic Goods Administration
Two doses are provided at least three weeks apart and the vaccine must be stored and transported at -70°C.
Those to be prioritised as part of Phase 1a of the federal government’s vaccination schedule include, quarantine and border workers and all staff working in the hotel quarantine program front line health workers, including hospital staff working in COVID and suspected COVID wards, emergency department and ICU staff, staff at GP respiratory clinics and COVID-19 testing facilities, ambulance staff and paramedics, and aged care and disability care staff and residents.
READ MORE: Premier Palaszczuk renews push for federal aid
Rhiannon Down 10.15am: ‘Economy hitting bumps rather than major potholes’
Economists have said that the Australian economy wasn’t out of the woods yet despite hopeful signs, ahead of RBA Governor Philip Lowe’s speech today.
Independent economist Nicki Hutley said wages and inflation were still below targets, though the economy had fared better than those of comparable countries during the pandemic.
“There have been bumps in the road rather than major potholes, where countries like the UK and US have got stuck in with massively declining economies getting into 2021,” she said on ABC RN Breakfast.
“We’ve done the right thing and managed it well and as we’ve opened up we’re now saying nine out of ten jobs are back. Not that many weeks ago we were saying seven out of eight.”
She said a second round of quantitative easing yesterday and the move to hold the cash rate to a record low stemmed from efforts to control inflation.
“The removal of government support if that comes too quickly is a potential risk and he (Mr Lowe) has very, very clearly said on the wages and inflation front we are not going to be back into the area where they would like to see us until 2024,” she said.
“So even though they are talking about 6 per cent inflation by the end of this calendar year, which is where the majority of forecasters are heading, it’s still significantly above the target area.’’
READ MORE: Recovery to erase pandemic losses early: RBA
James Kirby 9.42am: China may back down on coal ban
China’s ban on Australian coal could be about to crack after months of rising prices and a severe northern winter have combined to pressure the restrictions.
Daniel Hynes, senior commodities analyst at ANZ, this week raised the possibility in a note suggesting “traders are reassessing the market amid reports that China is considering allowing some stranded Australian coal shipments to be unloaded”.
Australian coal exporters have been frustrated by the stand off as China informally banned Australian coal late last year.
Ironically, in singling out Australian coal, China disturbed the global market at a time when the international economy was showing signs of recovery.
On top of that, a severe winter increased China’s coal demand. By early January this year it was clear the move had backfired.
READ James Kirby’s full commentary here
Rhiannon Down 9.37am: Berejiklian, Chant to provide NSW virus update
Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant will provide a COVID-19 update at 11am this morning.
Jenny Strasburg 9.18am: AstraZeneca jab effective after one dose
Researchers from the University of Oxford said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine could have a “substantial effect” on curbing virus transmission after one dose, and said that spacing doses apart by as long as three months improved effectiveness, according to data adding to previously published findings.
Oxford said the vaccine may reduce symptomatic transmission of the virus by 67 per cent, based on positive swab tests of vaccinated trial volunteers after a single dose, though those swab tests were only done in the UK. The university, which developed the vaccine in partnership with AstraZeneca PLC, said the data, posted on the Lancet medical journal’s website but not yet peer-reviewed, showed that effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 was well-sustained at 76 per cent from 22 days after the first dose and until 90 days later.
But some independent researchers said it is hard to draw a complete conclusion from the results because of the limits of the trial. Larger numbers of younger volunteers receiving the two-dose vaccine at longer intervals between shots may have skewed the results, for example, said Professor Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London. Dosing schedules should be compared side-by-side, while controlling other factors such as age, Professor Ghani said.
Similarly, scientists warned that the apparent effect on transmission left a lot of room for the virus to spread among people with no symptoms, even after vaccination. Government officials and health experts have warned vaccines won’t be a panacea for stopping the spread of the virus.
The data build on results from December, and include data involving more than 17,000 volunteers in Oxford-run late-stage trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.
The findings are similar to an analysis by UK government advisers and regulators on which they based their policy of spreading out shots of the vaccine to reach more people quickly with first doses. At the time, UK authorities said that after three weeks, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was around 70 per cent effective up until the second dose, even if that was 12 weeks later.
The additional data are based on results up to December 7 and don’t address levels of effectiveness against newer variants common in the UK and South Africa. Data in coming days are expected to shed light on how well the vaccine protects against those fast-spreading versions of the virus.
— Dow Jones Newswire
READ MORE: South Africa Test tour postponed
Staff writers 8.51am: Victoria reaches 28 days without local cases
Victoria has recorded its 28th straight day with no locally transmitted cases of coronavirus.
Yesterday there were 0 new cases reported - it has now been 28 days since our last locally acquired case. 16,142 test results were received, thanks, #EveryTestHelps us #StaySafeStayOpen.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 2, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/jvXUtIQfio
It comes as 16,142 tests were received.
READ MORE: Andrews setback on pandemic powers
Adeshola Ore 8.43am: Kelly, Plibersek in heated corridor clash
Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek has clashed with Liberal MP Craig Kelly in the halls of Parliament House over his views on COVID.
On Tuesday, Labor attempted to suspend standing orders to condemn comments made by Mr Kelly it says are “irresponsible” and “dangerous” views about COVID that undermine the public health response. Mr Kelly has featured on a podcast hosted by former celebrity chef and COVID conspiracist Pete Evans.
In the press gallery, Ms Plibersek confronted Mr Kelly and asked “so your Prime Minister is wrong?”
“Listen to the words of our most senior immunologist … He has said in the Sydney Morning Herald today, Craig Kelly is absolutely right,” Mr Kelly replied.
Mr Kelly has touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, despite the Therapeutic Goods Administration “strongly discouraging” its use on patients and questioning the effectiveness of masks.
READ the full story on Tanya Plibersek’s clash with Craig Kelly here
Rhiannon Down 8.32am: WA slammed for lax rules, testing
Perth has entered its third day of a five day snap lockdown, as WA continues its investigation into how the virus leaked from hotel quarantine to infect a worker.
WA Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup has slammed the government for its handling of hotel quarantine, including lax rules on PPE.
“It is very surprising and somewhat shocking really to think that guards did not have to have that personal protective agreement,” Mr Kirkup told Sunrise this morning.
He also urged the WA government to implement 24-hour testing sites to boost testing numbers and ban quarantine workers from having second jobs.
“We also have the added problem that here in WA, there was no ban on second jobs either,” he said.
“Something we have not learned from South Australia or Victoria. WA has had a longer time to prepare for this, and we have unfortunately found a significant breach.”
READ MORE: Recovery faces dangerous phase, says Paul Howes
Rhiannon Down 8.05am: Plibersek: We need uni researchers to get us through
Tanya Plibersek has slammed the government for its failure to prevent massive job cuts in the University sector during the pandemic.
The Deputy Opposition Leader said the tertiary sector was essential for training future professions, as figures suggesting 17,000 university jobs had been axed emerged.
“We’re relying on these university researchers to get us through the pandemic,” she told Sky News.
“We’re relying on the epidemiologists, and the computer programmers and the nurses and others to protect us when we get through the pandemic.
“We have skills shortages in a whole lot of areas we’re not training people for. We know universities are turning people away because they can’t afford to teach them. In the middle of a recession how does it make sense to turn students away because we can’t afford to teach them.”
READ MORE: I’ve learnt a lesson on China, says new uni chief
Rhiannon Down 7.48am: Experts wary whether vaccine rollout will be a success
Experts say it’s too early to tell if supply issues will affect the roll out of the coronavirus vaccine, as the Federal government announces millions more will be vaccinated in March.
Mater director of infectious diseases Dr Paul Griffin welcomed the announcement that Australians over 70 will get the jab as soon as next month, but questioned if supply chain issues would hinder the roll out.
“We know the demand has been incredible and some countries have had difficulties getting the supplies,” he said.
“It is good to see the uptake is high and leading to that issue with demand. I think we’ve got good maps here. We have a number of different vaccines, one of which can be made in Australia. Hopefully our rollout won’t be significantly undermined by supply issues. But it’s hard to know.”
Grattan Institute health program director Stephen Duckett said he would be “watching this space” as the government’s vaccination start date moves closer.
“It sounds like there is already a bit of a slippage, I’m not convinced we’re on top of the distribution yet,” he said on Sky News.
He questioned the government’s schedule, saying he couldn’t find much information about the how and when of the vaccine rollout.
“I’m not one to say we need to start vacation tomorrow we are relatively COVID free in Australia, but we want this rollout to be finished in August or September and start to think about what the next stages are and open up the borders and that’s a big issue for us,” he said.
READ MORE: Rogue Liberal Craig Kelly won’t commit to jab
Rhiannon Down 7.25am: Racial inequalities in US vaccine distribution
A new study has revealed massive racial inequalities in how the vaccine is distributed in the US.
About 13 million Americans have been vaccinated in the US between December 14 and January 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of those the ethnicities of 6.7 million of those was recorded, the numbers indicating only 5.4 per cent of those vaccinated identified as Black and 60.4 per cent white, 11.5 per cent Hispanic, and six per cent Asian.
Some 14 per cent identified as “multiple” or “other” ethnicities.
African-Americans are 2.9 times more likely to be hospitalised with COVID-19 and 2.1 times more likely to die from the virus, according to Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith, who was appointed by Joe Biden to oversee the equitable response to the pandemic.
READ MORE: ‘Rethink needed to tackle racism’
Rhiannon Down 6.55am: Calls to permanently raise JobSeeker
The Australian Council of Social Services is calling on the Federal government to permanently raise the rate of the JobSeeker payment.
The welfare payment was upped at the start of the pandemic to support a wave of unemployment during lockdown.
The Council’s chief executive Cassandra Goldie urged Scott Morrison to think of the 1.5 million Australians relying on the payment and make an increase permanent.
“Prime Minister made clear on Monday that he is yet to make a decision about what is going to happen to JobSeeker. We are just urging him to follow all of the experts and the evidence here about what’s needed,” she said on ABC News Breakfast.
“I mean, we cannot possibly go back to that brutal $40 a day that was the pre-pandemic level.”
She said the council recommended an increase to $65 a day, which was just above the poverty line.
“It needs to be across-the-board for anybody affected by unemployment, because if you don’t have a paid job, this is what you’re relying on for everything that you need, internet, insurance. How are you going to get by?,” she said.
READ MORE: PM is change agent from the centre
Rhiannon Down 6.30am: Half of Britons over 70 vaccinated
More than half of all Britons over 70 years old have received the coronavirus jab, as more than 900,000 people were vaccinated over the weekend.
The figures bring the UK’s total number of vaccinations to 9.2 million, as the country recorded 18,607 on Monday, the lowest since December 15.
The government has ordered an extra 40 million doses of the Valneva coronavirus vaccine to keep up with demand.
The numbers come as revelations the government were warned by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that a hotel quarantine program was essential to preventing the arrival of the South African variant emerge.
Downing Street had been advised the only way to “get close” to stopping the spread was either by closing the borders completely or introducing mandatory quarantine measures for everyone entering Britain, according to The Times.
Boris Johnson announced limited hotel quarantine measures last week for travellers from 30 “high-risk” countries in an attempt to stop the spread, though scientists have said it wasn’t enough.
READ MORE: Andrews setback on pandemic powers
Agencies 5.45am: Captain Tom Moore dies of Covid
Captain Tom Moore, who won hearts around the world with a COVID-19 fund raising drive last year, has died from the disease aged 100, his family said.
They posted a picture of the charity hero with the words ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore 1920-2021’ on his official Twitter page.
— Captain Tom Moore (@captaintommoore) February 2, 2021
His daughters Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira said in a statement that they were “so grateful that we were with him during the last hours of his life”.
“We spent hours chatting to him, reminiscing about our childhood and our wonderful mother. We shared laughter and tears together.
“The last year of our father’s life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he’d only ever dreamed of,” they added.
READ the full story
Paul Garvey 5.30am: Masks not required for WA quarantine guards
Security guards working in Perth hotel quarantine have not been required to wear masks despite being near infectious returned travellers, West Australian health officials have admitted.
It is the latest weakness in the state’s coronavirus health response to emerge after one security guard who caught COVID-19 last week plunged the city into a five-day lockdown.
Premier Mark McGowan on Tuesday said Perth’s two million residents would remain under lockdown until at least Friday despite no new cases being recorded for a second day in a row.
“I know that is debilitating and difficult,” Mr McGowan said. “I know shopping centres are empty, the malls are empty. I know a lot of people are suffering.
“But I don’t want to see a recurrence … Britain kept coming out of lockdown too early and then the virus would re-erupt.”
READ: the full story
Natasha Robinson 5.15am: Pfizer vaccine cleared over danger to elderly
Australia’s medicines regulator says there is no causal link between the deaths of about 30 very frail elderly people in Norway and the Pfizer vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration launched an investigation last month after Norway’s medical regulator reported the deaths of the frail elderly people, many of whom had only weeks or months to live, shortly after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
The TGA was working with Norway and the European Medicines Agency to establish whether the deaths were caused by adverse reactions following administration of the vaccine.
“The case reports were discussed at a recent meeting of the European Medicines Agency Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee, which concluded there was not a specific safety concern, and no causal link between vaccination and deaths could be established,” the TGA said in a statement.
“In addition, wider discussions with regulators in North America, the UK and Europe reached a similar conclusion.
“The TGA therefore has concluded that there is no specific risk of vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in elderly patients.”
READ the full story
Jewish mourners pray for peace and acceptance
Thousands from the Jewish community have gathered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for a solemn vigil to mark a year since the brutal October 7 terrorist attacks and to grieve the more than 1200 Israelis killed.
Moral clarity: Minister drops ALP’s restraint on Israel
One of Anthony Albanese’s key factional backers, Mark Butler, has delivered Labor’s strongest defence of Israel, endorsing its right to strike back and warning that Australian Jews are facing anti-Semitism on a scale never seen before.