Coronavirus Australia live news: Business demands action on borders as PM defends aged-care virus response
Nearly 30 leading business groups are demanding the Prime Minister and premiers provide ‘transparent and easily understood’ rules to coordinate state border restrictions.
- NSW records three new cases
- One new case in Queensland
- Victoria case numbers drop to 116
- Vaccine a year away: UK CMO
- Australia HK embassy bars Kiwi spouse
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As parliament convened for the first time since the Victorian second wave, Scott Morrison issued an apology to the families of aged care Covid victims. Daniel Andrews will seek to extend his state’s legal powers to enforce coronavirus restrictions well into 2021 as Victoria records 116 new cases, Queensland has one and NSW three. Australia’s hopes for a coronavirus vaccine early next year to do away with damaging border restrictions have been dashed.
Tom Dusevic 11pm: Pyjama-led policy a drag on public sector
First sitting day for federal politicians in Canberra after parliament was suspended due to covid-19. Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann. Picture by Sean Davey.
Officials fear a slide in productivity from staff missing in action, the waste of vacant office space, disengaged junior staff and the potential for sub-par advice in the land of Zoom.
Olivia Caisley 10.30pm: ‘Not good enough’ — PM benches minister
Health Minister Greg Hunt has snatched responsibility from Senator Richard Colbeck for declaring if and when an Aged Care Emergency Response Operations Centre is mobilised.
Dennis Shanahan 10pm: Albanese needs to box clever
Anthony Albanese and federal Labor sense a chance to at last get some political traction and dim the resurgent aura of Scott Morrison.
Rebecca Urban 9.20pm: Reveal reopening plan: business to Premier
Victorian businesses urge the government to disclose plans for easing pandemic restrict
AFP 8.45pm: Dutch royals sorry for Greek holiday virus breach
The Dutch king and queen have apologised after they were pictured breaking coronavirus social distancing rules while on holiday in Greece.
A photograph on the internet showed King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima up close to a man said to be a restaurant owner on the island of Mykonos.
“A photo appeared in the media in which we kept too little distance. In the spontaneity of the moment, we did not pay attention,” the king and queen said on Twitter on on Monday.
“Of course, we should have done. Because on holiday too, respecting rules for coronavirus is essential for beating the virus.”
The photo showed the king, 53, in a patterned shirt with a mask in one hand and his arm around the queen, 49, while the man also had his arm around the queen.
The person who took the photo, quoted anonymously by Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws, said it was taken in a private capacity and that the failure to respect social distancing was a “mistake”.
In March the Dutch royals went into self-isolation after cases of the virus were reported in a part of Austria where they had spent a skiing vacation.
The Dutch government has recently urged citizens to be extra careful to respect social distancing rules after a surge in COVID-19 cases.
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Rosie Lewis 8.15pm: Plea for border waivers for healthcare
Premiers face growing calls to urgently introduce nationwide rules allowing Australians to access healthcare across state borders, after Queensland “relented” and lifted restrictions on farmers and agricultural workers.
Olivia Bugault 7.40pm: France fights spike in cases
France reported 4897 new cases of coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours on Sunday, local time, the highest number reported in one day since mid-April, when the country was still on lockdown.
The situation is risky but the country is prepared for a rebound in COVID-19 infections, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said in an interview with French media Le Journal du Dimanche.
With one new death from COVID-19 reported, France’s death toll from the virus stands at 30,513, with 242,899 infections recorded.
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Adam Martin 7.10pm: US cases at lowest level in two months
The number of new coronavirus infections in the US declined to the lowest level in more than two months and notching a ninth straight day with fewer than 50,000 new cases.
The nation reported 34,567 new cases on Sunday, local time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That is the lowest since June 22, when the US reported 30,536 new cases.
Total infections in the US have now passed 5.7 million, nearly a quarter of the world’s roughly 23.42 million, according to Johns Hopkins data. More than 808,000 people world-wide have died, including more than 176,000 in the US.
The improving number of daily new infections in the US comes as Republicans are set to begin their national convention on Tuesday (AEST). The party is expected to defend some in-person activities as essential to the economy, setting up a contrast with Democrats’ calls to keep Americans at home if the pandemic worsens.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said in a CBS interview on Monday that he would be willing to take federal measures to close the economy to save lives. Asked what he would do if the virus was spreading along with the flu by January, when he would be inaugurated if he won, Mr Biden responded: “I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists.”
Ronna McDaniel, the head of the Republican National Committee, cast Mr Biden’s comments as an unrealistic view for many Americans. She said that at the Republican convention, there would be testing for in-person events and presented that as a model for engaging in large-scale social activities during the pandemic.
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Jacquelin Magnay 6.40pm: Hope for separated spouses
Australian officials have moved to allow New Zealand spouses of Australians into the country, but confusion remains.
AFP 6.10pm: Chinese protest against lockdown
Residents in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region have complained about harsh coronavirus lockdown measures in the sensitive region after an outbreak.
A new cluster in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, in mid-July prompted fresh restrictions. A total of 902 cases have been officially reported in the outbreak.
Hundreds of residents have flooded local social media forums in recent days to complain about harsh conditions, including many being forced to stay home.
Social media users shared photos of front doors sealed with steel crowbars, and locks installed by community workers.
“Why can’t prefectures with no cases remove the lockdown? Why do you need to lock down the whole of Xinjiang?” read one comment on Weibo, which received thousands of likes.
“Doors have been sealed, this has brought huge inconvenience to workers and people’s lives. Prices of daily items have risen... many things I buy are expired.”
Little information has been released by the authorities about the Xinjiang cluster.Other local governments in China have provided information on patients’ movements in granular detail.
Photos circulating on Weibo and WeChat also purportedly showed people chained to community gates with handcuffs, reportedly as a punishment for leaving their homes.
Some residents also wrote that they were forced by authorities to take Chinese medicine daily, and were required to film themselves doing so.
One video from Saturday purportedly showed dozens of high-rise residents in Urumqi yelling from their windows in despair.
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Amanda Hodge, Chandni Vasandani 5.40pm: Bali bails on early return of tourist
Bali is out until 2021 but Singapore is in — theoretically at least — for Australian travellers from next month.
Mackenzie Scott 5.10pm: Brisbane kebab shop rave sparks fines
A takeaway store within Brisbane’s club district has been fined after footage emerged of revellers turning the shopfront into an impromptu rave.
Shah Kebab’s within Fortitude Valley’s busy Brunswick Street Mall was fined $6,772 on Monday for breaching public health directions after at least 30 people piled around the counter to dance to the club anthem ‘Pump It Up’ by Danzel at 3am on Sunday.
Police clued into the event after a 23-second video was posted on video app TikTok, which showed the young people and staff clapping and moving along to the music.
Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the behaviour was “extremely disappointing”.
“The message to all of those persons - and a lot of them are young people I have to say, so sorry young people - is have a think before you go out and think about the impacts of your not abiding by social distancing in the community and what that means,” he said.
Current Queensland rules prohibit dancing in venues, with patrons forced to sit to adhere to social distancing.
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Rosie Lewis 4.55pm: Labor criticises emergency IR response
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke accused the government of “backing down on the most extreme part” of its plan to extend JobKeeper payments and the associated Fair Work provisions.
But he said the 10 per cent revenue loss threshold test was welcomed.
Caucus is due to finalise its position on JobKeeper 2.0 and the emergency IR powers on Tuesday.
“It was ridiculous for the government to suggest that businesses that had fully recovered — and are in some cases doing better than they were before the pandemic — should get to keep emergency powers to cut their workers’ hours, pay and rights,” Mr Burke said.
“Labor will look at the detail of the government’s legislation but we won’t allow them to use this pandemic as an excuse to undermine workers’ pay and conditions.”
The government is on track to pass its JobKeeper 2.0 package even in the unlikely scenario that Labor opposed it, after gaining the support of Senate crossbenchers Stirling Griff and Malcolm Roberts.
Josh Frydenberg has the power to reduce the fortnightly JobKeeper payments from $1500 to $1200, or $750 for employees who work less than 20 hours per week, without needing to pass new legislation.
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Mackenzie Scott 4.40pm: NSW ‘trespassers’ fined over border breach
Two people from NSW visiting family at Hervey Bay, three hours north of Brisbane, have been fined for allegedly crossing the border on false declarations.
The man and woman, aged 60 and 58, from Banora Point, in northern NSW, are believed to have crossed the border at the Gold Coast on August 13 on false details in order to receive a pass. They are alleged to have travelled directly to the coastal town before being tracked down on August 18.
The pair are now quarantining at a Maryborough hotel at their own expense and have each received a fine of $4,003. Neither have been charged for disobeying border directions.
Queensland Police Inspector Tony Clowes, of Maryborough Patrol, said there is no excuse to dodge border rules.
“We do have conditions where people are allowed to cross over the borders in specific areas for specific reasons. We are alleging the information they provided to police was incorrect,” Insp. Clowes said.
“As police, with our response, our priority is still to communicate and be compassionate with members of the public, particularly members of the public trying to do the right thing. However, if there is a blatant or flagrant disregard for those chief health officer directions, we won’t hesitate to take appropriate action.
“There is no excuse to put the rest of the community at risk.”
Insp. Clowes said there was “no elevated risk to the community” at this stage.
Residents of border zones, as outlined by Queensland Health, are allowed to cross the border.
Queensland closed its border to those from NSW on August 8, after initially reopening to all states except Victoria on July 10.
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Ewin Hannan 4.30pm: Employers given more flexibility around JobKeeper
Emergency industrial relations changes allowing companies to cut employee hours and change duties will be extended to employers coming off JobKeeper if they meet a new lower 10 per cent revenue loss threshold.
Attorney General Christian Porter said businesses currently accessing JobKeeper but which did not qualify for JobKeeper 2.0 - “legacy employers” - will continue to access the workplace flexibilities if they can show 10 per cent turnover fall in relevant quarters this year compared to last year.
Businesses continuing to receive JobKeeper will be able to reduce hours to zero; adjust duties of work; alter the location of an employee’s work and, by agreement with staff, change days and times of work.
But previous arrangements that saw workers draw down on leave will not be a feature of the extended system as employers and employees who had wished to use this provision have already done so.
Legacy employers will be able to reduce an employee hours but not below 60 per cent of an employee’s ordinary hours of work as at March 1, 2020.
Employers will not be able to require an employee to work less than two hours on a day they work and must give a worker seven days written notice of any workplace change, up from three days.
Penalties of up to $13,200 for individuals and $66,600 for body corporates can apply to employers who do not meet the 10 per cent test but knowingly or recklessly try to use the provisions.
Employers will be required to hold a 10 per cent decline in turnover certificate, issued by an independent financial services provider – or self-certify if a small business employer (fewer than 15 employees) before they can issue a JED or make an agreement under the provisions
Industrial Relations, Christian Porter said “It is important that the flexibility which has allowed many businesses to survive the crisis to date, continue to be provided to businesses which are on the road to recovery but which haven’t made it out yet, to ensure they can continue to trade, keep people in jobs and continue to rebuild as we emerge from the pandemic.
“A 10 per cent threshold for businesses that were on JobKeeper, but which will no longer qualify for the wages subsidy, will mean they can continue to adapt their workplaces to keep operating in the post-COVID world.
“These changes are time-limited. They are not permanent changes. They are linked to the extension of JobKeeper until the end of March 2021.
“I would like to thank all the stakeholders that have been engaged in detailed and constructive discussions on this legislation over recent weeks. The collaborative efforts of employer groups, unions and the Coalition Government are all centred on ensuring we keep as many businesses going and people in jobs.”
The Australian revealed in July that the government was considering a new lower revenue-loss threshold that employers no longer on JobKeeper would need to meet before they could access the industrial relations exemptions.
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Rosie Lewis 4.20pm: Business groups demand action on borders
Nearly 30 of Australia’s leading business groups have written to Scott Morrison and state premiers demanding a “transparent and easily understood” set of rules to coordinate state border restrictions, warning the complex and piecemeal approach is affecting families, their jobs and the economy.
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While the business leaders acknowledged national cabinet’s move to define a hot spot was encouraging, they said a national framework clearly setting out the thresholds of when internal border controls can be implemented and how they would apply was urgently needed.
“What has emerged is a patchwork of inconsistent state and territory-based rules that ignore the reality of the way small and large businesses operate across borders and Australians live their lives,” the letter states.
“We accept that states and territories have the right to ease – or reimpose – restrictions at a different pace based on medical advice among other factors. However, many of the border measures imposed to date appear to be arbitrary and lacking timeframes and review or end dates.
“The administration of domestic border controls varies significantly across the country with massive differences in processes for border pass applications, quarantine requirements, and essential worker/ traveller exemptions.
“This has caused unintended consequences and exposed Australians to unnecessary risk. It has also significantly impacted on health services, local communities, supply chains, and the ability of businesses to safeguard and create jobs.”
The signatories, including the Business Council of Australia, National Farmers’ Federation, Australian Logistics Council, Australian Hairdressing Council, Australian Airports Association and many more, said without an agreed framework an enormous amount of harm would continue to be done to critical sectors.
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Max Maddison 4.10pm: Concerns raised over foetal cell use in vaccine
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer has attempted to ease religious concerns about the use of foetal cells in the development of a coronavirus vaccine, saying worshippers can have “every faith” that researchers have the “highest of ethical standards”.
After senior Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher raised concerns with Scott Morrison over the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine due to the use of cells derived from human fetuses electively aborted decades ago, Dr Nick Coatsworth said human cells were an important part of vaccine development.
“Clearly in the process for the vaccine, which is one of the leading candidates for COVID-19 vaccines, that was an important part of our process. There are strong ethical regulations surrounding the use of any human cell, particularly foetal human cells,” Dr Coatsworth told a daily briefing on Monday afternoon.
“This is a very professional, highly ploughed research unit at Oxford University, one of the well’s leading universities, so I think we can have every faith that they have manufactured the vaccine, against the highest of ethical standards internationally.”
In addition, with 121 new infections recorded across the nation today, Dr Coatsworth said it was a “substantial reassurance” to see the overall trend of case numbers down, and paid tribute to Victorians making significant sacrifices.
“... in the end I think we all have a duty to thank Victorians for what they’re doing,” he said.
“In particular, to pick up the phone or get on the internet, contact your friends and family in Victoria, lend them your support because ultimately, what is going on down there is for the benefit of the entire nation.”
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Richard Ferguson 4.01pm: Aged care dominates return of parliament
Scott Morrison says he always had a plan to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care homes, as Labor used the first question time in six weeks to target his handling of the virus.
After apologising for failures in four aged care facilities and saying it was not good enough, the Prime Minister rejected claims by the Royal Commission into Aged Care that there was no federal plan and maintained the states share responsibility for the outbreaks.
Anthony Albanese and his Labor team only asked about the aged care crisis throughout the first question time of the sitting week, with the Opposition Leader saying Mr Morrison had failed to take responsibility.
Mr Morrison told the House that he has had a COVID plan for aged care homes since March.
“I set out very clearly before this House the plan, its updating of the plan, the communication of that plan, and the implementation of that plan.
“And I’m invited to outline the time timetable, Mr Speaker, again. If the members would like me to do that, I will go through it all again. If it would be of assistance to the House. We have set out that plan.
“That plan has been available since March of this year, and has continued to be refreshed and reported to the aged care sector.
“Mr Speaker, assertions have been made before the royal commission. And we have rejected assertions. And we have set that out in evidence to the royal commission.”
Mr Albanese said his Liberal counterpart failed to take responsibilty for the aged care crisis and called on him to sack Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck, who last week failed to remember the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes.
“No-one is responsible. No-one is responsible. The motto that was used last year, I don’t hold a hose, mate” is a flexible one for all occasions,” Mr Albanese said.
“But very clear for this Prime Minister, this Prime Minister and this government is responsible for aged care.”
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Staff writers 3.34pm: Ardern extends Auckland lockdown
Jacinda Ardern has announced that Auckland will remain in lockdown for four more days until Sunday night.
The extra days would allow Auckland to move to level 2 “and stay down”, Jacinda Ardern said, which would be worth it if it meant avoiding future yo-yoing between alert levels.
From Monday, August 31, the whole country including Auckland will be at level 2 but it will be phased in for Auckland.
The extension comes as it was announced that masks would be mandatory on public transport throughout the country from next Monday.
New Zealand recorded nine new cases of Covid-19 today.
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OLIVIA CAISLEY 3.05pm: Colbeck apologises for aged care memory fail
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck has apologised for failing to remember how many Australian aged care residents have died of COVID-19.
As parliament convened for the first time since the Victorian second wave on Monday, Senator Colbeck said he took full responsibility for being unable to recollect the number of deaths when asked at a Senate inquiry last week.
“I should have had the data on Friday and I apologise for not having done that,” he told the Senate’s Question Time on Monday. “I take full responsibility for not having that information available to me at the time.”
He confirmed 328 people have died in residential aged care. A further seven have died at home.
Probed by Labor Senator Kristina Keneally about how many aged care facilities are struggling with outbreaks and how many nursing homes have recorded more than 100 positive cases, Senator Colbeck confirmed 126 Victorian centres have infections.
Senator Colbeck said while he didn’t have a “detailed breakdown of every facility” in terms of the total number of residents and staff who have tested positive, he would provide that information following Question Time.
However, he added the caveat that he “didn’t believe” any facilities have more than 100 positive residents.
Asked about Friday’s announcement of an additional $171m in funding for the aged care sector, Senator Colbeck said the government would wait until next year’s budget to fund major improvements to the sector once the Royal Commission into Aged Care hands down its recommendations at the end of February.
Senator Colbeck also defended the government’s response, declaring the nation had been fortunate to have a “largely effective” response to the coronavirus crisis.
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Sarah Elks 2.55pm: Queensland clarifies agricultural border zone
Queensland health authorities have expanded border exemptions for agricultural workers, to allow the state’s foodbowl to feed the nation.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she had granted exemptions for agricultural workers since the start, because she recognised the importance of the industry.
“I’ve been granting exemptions to farmers right from day one, agriculture is really really important not only for our state but to the rest of the country, we really are the foodbowl for our nation, so that is just critical,” Dr Young said.
“There’s blanket ones (exemptions), and individual ones, because some of the farmers don’t quite neatly fit into a general exemption I’ve been made. (My message to farmers is) ‘if you don’t fall under one of the general exemptions, come forward and ask for a specific one.”
A Queensland Health spokeswoman clarified that the state’s “border zone” was expanded last week, and the agricultural exemption component was updated over the weekend, to allow more people from the industry to travel between QLD and NSW.
“We are continuing to manage the health response well and that means we can start to deliver Queensland’s plan for economic recovery,” she said.
“That includes making it easier for our agricultural industry to access essential services.
“Queensland and New South Wales residents can now enter Queensland to perform essential agribusiness services for the agriculture supply chain or farming activities or access or provide timely veterinary services, or to provide care for livestock.
“They must travel directly to and from the relevant farm or premises without stopping.
“The exemptions do not apply to seasonal workers.
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Courtney Walsh 2.29pm: Widespread job losses strike AFL
A significant restructure of the AFL executive is part of major cost-cutting measures implemented by the league on Monday that will result in mass redundancies across Australia.
READ the full story here
Richard Ferguson 2.21pm: Morrison apologises to aged care victims’ families
Scott Morrison has apologised to the families of COVID-19 victims in Australia’s aged care homes, saying the initial response was “not good enough.”
As parliament convened for the first time since the Victorian second wave, the Prime Minister said there were four aged care facilities where the impact was severe and “unacceptable”.
“I offer my apologies to the residents and families of those affected in those facilities. It was not good enough,” he told the House of Representatives.
“Investigations and reviews are under way as appropriate, including by the royal commission into aged care that I established.
“As of this morning, the number of significantly impacted facilities has been reduced to three. The situation in these facilities remains fragile as I’m advised early this morning, but stable.
“We will continue on with the task, having so far committed more than $1 billion in aged care support. We’ll continue working to address the many challenging issues in aged care, from waste management, to infection control, staff support, communications with families, the issues are many. We are learning and applying the lessons of our experiences.”
Mr Morrison’s comments come as it was revealed confusion about which government body was in charge was a key factor in the Newmarch House COVID-19 outbreak that cost 19 elderly residents their lives.
An independent review of the outbreak in the Sydney nursing home in April and May also found shortcomings in infection control at the facility in the early period of the outbreak, and that the plan to treat COVID-positive patients in the home was compromised by inadequate staffing.
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Remy Varga 2.10pm: Fined women ‘knew it was wrong, travelled anyway’
Victoria Police have fined two women travelling to Drouin who admitted what they were doing was wrong but decided to travel anyway.
A total of 197 fines have been issued in the past 24-hours for public health breaches, including 31 for failing to wear a face covering and 66 for curfew breaches.
There have been 20 penalties issued at vehicle checkpoints.
Among the latest tranche of fines are three people busted eating and drinking in the garage of someone else’s home as well as a number of people located at train stations in metropolitan Melbourne breaching curfew.
Victoria Police fined two women at Dandenong Railway Station who said they’d travelled from Hastings and planned to travel a further 67km to Drouin.
“When asked by police for their reason for travel they said they knew what they were doing was wrong but decided to travel anyway,” A Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
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Remy Varga 2.00pm: Positive hotel guard delivered food, worked in warehouse
A security guard who tested positive for the coronavirus after working at the hotel quarantine site linked to most of Victoria’s second wave cases made food deliveries and worked in a warehouse while symptomatic, inquiry heard.
READ the full story here
Staff writers 1.49pm: John Howard taken to hospital
Former prime minister John Howard has been sent to hospital, Sky News reports.
The 81-year-old is said to be “fine’' and the health issue is not believed to be Covid-related.
READ the full story here
Richard Ferguson 1.30pm: Labor frontbencher leaves parliament to self-isolate
Labor frontbencher Terri Butler has left parliament to self-isolate and take a COVID test.
Ms Butler, the opposition environment spokeswoman, has been in contact with someone who went to a contact tracing site and will stay away from parliament until she gets test results.
“I’ve learned that I’m one step removed from someone who was at a contact tracing site last week.,” she tweeted.
Hey all - I’ve learned that I’m one step removed from someone who was at a contact tracing site last week.
— Terri Butler MP (@terrimbutler) August 24, 2020
To be cautious I have left the parliament and have had a covid test.
I’m self-isolating while I wait for the result.
“To be cautious I have left the parliament and have had a covid test. I’m self-isolating while I wait for the result.”
Parliament is under its strictest anti-coronavirus measures yet, with people wearing masks handed out by COVID marshals and Victorian and Sydney MPs restricted in their movements throughout Canberra.
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Adam Creighton 1.22pm: Entrepreneurs slam ‘reckless’ restrictions
Three female entrepreneurs have slammed interstate border closures and the Victorian government’s stage four lockdown as “reckless” and dependent on “fear mongering spin”, urging political leaders to explain society will have to live with, rather than eradicate, the coronavirus.
At the half way mark of Victoria’s six week lockdown, the toughest the nation has seen, entrepreneurs Tania de Jong, Naomi Simson and Julie Parker, whose businesses have operations in Victoria, told The Australian many of the restrictions had been an over-reaction that would see “deaths of despair” from economic and social damage outnumber lives saved.
READ the full story here
Patrick Commins 1.06pm: Covid-19 support payments for 7m in June
A further 590,000 Australians received a government COVID-19 stimulus payment in June, bringing the total number of adults leaning on the government for support to nearly 7 million.
READ the full story here
Erin Lyons 12.36pm: Hotel security guard went shopping after virus test
A security guard stationed at Sydney’s quarantine hotels has been fined twice after going shopping when he was supposed to be isolating.
Police said the guard, a 22-year-old man, was tested for coronavirus about 5pm last Thursday and told to go straight home and isolate for 14-days.
Instead, police said he travelled to Westfield Shopping Centre Burwood in Sydney’s inner west and went shopping for two hours.
He allegedly visited a number of stores, including Kmart and Woolworths.
The following day police said the man also left his home and went to a government services building in Elsie St, Burwood before his test result came back positive about 8am on Saturday.
Police said he was immediately transferred to a NSW Health COVID-19 quarantine facility where he would stay for the remainder of his quarantine period.
The Campsie man was issued with the two fines by NSW Police about 10pm on Sunday night.
Shoppers who visited the Westfield in Burwood have been told to watch for symptoms after the security guard visited the centre.
The man visited Kmart and Woolworths between 6.30pm and 7pm on August 20, with anyone at the shopping centre between 6pm and 7pm urged to keep an eye on their symptoms.
The man also visited Service NSW Burwood between 2.30pm and 3pm on Friday, August 21.
Anyone who attended the venues during these times are considered a casual contact and are not required to self-isolate but must monitor symptoms.
A Eden man, 46, was also fined $1000 by police travelled to Victoria on a permit that he did not meet the requirements for.
A licensed premise on Darlinghurst Road, Potts Point, allegedly with an incorrect COVID-19 safety plan, no marshal, and mingling patrons with no physical distancing, was also fined $5000 for breaches of the Public Health Act.
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Paige Taylor 12.19pm: AFL asks WA for full house if grand final goes to Optus
West Australian premier Mark McGowan has confirmed the AFL has asked his government if it would allow a full house at Optus Stadium - a crowd of 60,000 - in the event Perth is chosen for the grand final.
“That’s one of the queries they have put to us and we are getting health advice about that,” Mr McGowan told reporters in Perth on Monday.
WA’s chief health officer is currently preparing advice on potential numbers at Optus Stadium in response to that query, Mr McGowan said.
Optus Stadium has been operating at half capacity. The WA government has announced that will remain the case until at least October 24, one of the touted dates for the grand final.
The AFL is expected to make a decision within days about where the final series and grand final will be held. Queensland and Adelaide are the other two contenders. Queensland was considered the front runner until Saturday when the state recorded a spike in coronavirus cases.
“If they want to go to the healthiest, safest place and they want to comply with the quarantine requirements then Perth is the obvious solution,” Mr McGowan said.
“I just think with the grand final the AFL should do what’s in the interests of football and safety they shouldn’t be guided by other factors.
“Clearly, our requirements are the strictest and therefore it will be the best solution.
“We are not going to compromise our safety and security requirements.
“We are getting health advice about what is possible but we are not going to to outside the health advice.”
READ MORE: Grand final fears amid virus flare
Tessa Akerman 12.14pm: Returned traveller ‘never tested for virus’
A man who stayed in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program left the Pan Pacific hotel after 14 days without ever being tested for COVID-19, an inquiry has heard.
Returned traveller Kaan Ofli told the quarantine inquiry that he had never been offered a test for coronavirus and was refused a test when he and his partner asked for one.
READ the full story here
Rebecca Urban 12.08pm: Victorians may need to keep wearing masks into summer
Victorians may still be required to wear masks during the warmer summer months, the state’s Premier has warned.
However, whether mask-wearing will be mandatory in public in all circumstances -- as they currently are — remains unclear.
Premier Daniel Andrews pointed out that when masks were first recommended it was for circumstances where people were in public settings and unable to socially distance.
He said mask-wearing in settings where the risk of virus transmission was higher, such as some workplaces, made sense.
“Look there will be challenges, as many of us look ahead to the end of the year and the warmer weather,” he said.
“We’d all be more than happy if the biggest challenge we face is that it’s a bit hot to wear a mask when it’s 35 degrees.”
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Rosie Lewis 11.56am: Queensland ‘relents’ on borders and agriculture
Queensland has “relented” and will allow farmers and agricultural workers in the sunshine state and NSW to cross the border without having to quarantine, in a move Agriculture Minister David Littleproud declared must be replicated across the country.
The new border restrictions direction, issued by Queensland’s chief health officer Jeanette Young on Monday, allows Queenslanders to perform “essential agribusiness services” in NSW - including veterinary work or to care for livestock - and return home.
NSW residents who need to do the same work in Queensland will also be permitted to cross the border.
The farmers and agribusiness workers must travel directly to and from their work without stopping, under a condition that may make it impossible for some people to use the exemption.
They also must remain isolated, to the extent reasonably practicable, from the general public while performing their work.
Mr Littleproud said this was a “practical solution” that allowed Australians to check their livestock, tender their crops or carry out contract work to help the nation’s agricultural supply chains.
“It is now beholden on the other states to follow,” he said.
“This is critical for those farmers in Victoria who have property in NSW, farmers in Victoria and South Australia. So Queensland has just proven through their chief medical officer that this can be achieved if we work together, if you understand, if you come out and listen to the forgotten Australians, understand our lifestyle, understand what we do and how we feed and clothe you then you can get a practical solution that will keep Australians safe, that will keep Queenslanders safe.”
Mr Littleproud is also working with state agriculture ministers on a workers code, which will introduce nationally consistent COVID-safe plans for farmers and ensure they have personal protective equipment and their movements can be tracked.
The code is due to be put to national cabinet when it meets next on September 4.
“The fact is Queensland have finally relented and it shows it can be done,” Mr Littleproud said.
“I say to those premiers, get your chief medical officers to sit down with one another and find a pathway. You don’t have to wait two weeks, you can do that without the federal government. You are big people now and you run a state. You can do it without the federal government having to do everything for you.”
READ MORE: Warning of food shortages if workers restricted by borders
Rebecca Urban 11.51am: Victoria seeks to enforce virus rules well into 2021
Victoria will seek to extend its legal powers to enforce coronavirus restrictions well into 2021, with Premier Daniel Andrews conceding that the pandemic will continue to impact daily life for some time.
With state of emergency provisions due to end on September 13 and community transmission still occurring, the government will seek to alter the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow the state of emergency provisions, which currently have a six-month cap, to run for a further 12 months.
Mr Andrews said with a vaccine not likely in the short term, “logical and proportionate” steps needed to be taken to extend the provisions enabling the restrictions.
“We’ve got to protect public health,” Mr Andrews said.
“It’s about making sure [that] even after the worst of this, after the second wave ... there will be some rules like how many people can go to a restaurant, face masks, COVIDsafe work plans ... those sorts of rules are all a product of a state of emergency and the provisions need to be changed.
“Whilst we’d all like this to be over by the 13th of September ... that’s just not going to be the case, we’re going to have this with us for a considerably longer period than that.”
The announcement, which will require support from the opposition and the cross bench, came as the state reported 116 new cases over the past 24 hours; its lowest increase since early July when the state made the decision to impose stage three restrictions. Stage four restrictions are currently in place for metropolitan Melbourne.
The Premier welcomed the reduction in new case numbers and said they were a sign that people we’re doing the right thing,
“Staying at home, observing the curfew … that’s what’s driving these numbers down, that’s why we’ve got a number 1 in front of these numbers and are on the verge of getting into double digits.
“It wasn’t long ago that we had more than 700 cases on a given day.”
Mr Andrews said he wasn’t seeking to extend the state of emergency indefinitely and urged people from all political persuasions to support the bill.
He said without the extension it would be unlikely that the Chief Health Officer would recommend easing restrictions.
READ MORE: Stage-four lockdown key to a $300m GST haircut
John Ferguson 11.30am: Bastiaan quits amid branch-stacking claims
Former Liberal powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan has resigned from the Victorian Liberal Party.
Mr Bastiaan resigned on Monday, heading off an internal Liberal investigation into allegations of branch stacking.
“The ongoing leaking of years old historic material is an unnecessary distraction for the Liberal Party and it is with that in mind that I have resigned,’’ he said in a statement.
“I reject allegations of branch stacking. As the voluntary chair of the Party’s Membership and Training Committee between 2015 and 2018 my role was to recruit and train new members,’’
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 11.10am: NSW records three new cases, two from quarantine
NSW has reported three new cases of coronavirus, with two from overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.
The third infection was a close contact of a previous case.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said despite the low number of cases, community transmission is “lurking around south-western and western Sydney.”
“It is important for us to really deal with any community transmission that we are not aware of. New South Wales, to this point in time, has got the balance right,” she said.
“We are able to go about our business in a safe way while controlling the virus.”
READ MORE: Kohler — Why market is still booming
Bruno Waterfield 10.51am: Drop in Sweden cases ‘due to immunity’
Sweden is beating many European countries in the fight against new coronavirus infections, possibly because of its decision not to implement tough lockdown measures.
READ the full story here
STEPHEN LUNN 10.25am: Newmarch failings: Infection control, staffing
Confusion about which government body was in charge was a key factor in the Newmarch House COVID-19 outbreak that cost 19 elderly residents their lives.
An independent review of the outbreak in the Sydney nursing home in April and May also found shortcomings in infection control at the facility in the early period of the outbreak, and that the plan to treat COVID-positive patients in the home was compromised by inadequate staffing.
The review, undertaken by infectious disease physician Professor Lyn Gilbert, lays bare the difficulties faced at the Anglicare facility as it tried to contain the coronavirus outbreak, and offers a raft of “key learnings” for government and providers.
“(There was) a lack of clarity in the relationships and hierarchy among government health agencies, including Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, NSW Health, the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission,” it said.
“This created confusion for the Anglicare Board and managers.”
The report didn’t absolve management however.
“Leadership and management at Newmarch House and in the broader Anglicare organisation was generally invisible to external parties interacting with them.”
The federal government is in charge of regulating and funding aged care, and its response during the COVID-19 has come under increasing scrutiny as the second wave took hold in Victorian nursing homes, resulting in over 300 deaths so far.
The aged care royal commission heard the government had failed to grasp the opportunity to better prepare aged care facilities for a potential outbreak given the learnings that were available from earlier outbreaks in NSW at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House.
Professor Gilbert’s report said the loss of so many staff during the outbreak at Newmarch House, either through contracting COVID-19 or having to be isolated as a close contact, “could not have been reasonably anticipated.”
But it said in some cases that staff loss had been exacerbated by poor quality or incorrect use of personal protective equipment.
The report suggests a “Hospital in the Home” approach, where residents who have coronavirus are treated in the nursing home, has advantages in theory, its application was “compromised by inadequate training and support.”
“Many residents and their families felt that if often failed to fulfil its promise to proved care equivalent to that of inpatient hospital care.”
“The continued presence of residents with COVID-19 in the home, many of whom required a disproportionate share of limited nursing resources, were an ongoing potential source of infection, especially in the face of faulty (infection control) procedures,” it said.
READ MORE: Aged care crisis hits 126 homes
Adeshola Ore 10.08am: Magda: Trolls targeting me over lockdown ad
Australian actress Magda Szubanski says she has been targeted by vicious social media trolling after she participated in an ad campaign that encourages Victorians in stage four to follow lockdown restrictions.
In the ad, Szubanski plays her character Sharon Strzelecki from Kath and Kim.
“I’ve been everything from a puppet of the communist party to a Nazi responsible for the murders of people,” she told Channel 9.
Sharon Strzelecki has asked me to pass on a message. So here it is - “the sooner we obey the rules and get this Covid thing OVAH the sooner we can get back to the things that matter...like NETTY!!†#COVID19Victoria #COVID19Vic #springst pic.twitter.com/Tp30I7fM3L
— Magda Szubanski AO (@MagdaSzubanski) August 22, 2020
“Being accused of being a supporter of lockdown and thereby causing murders is pretty confronting I must say, but I totally believe in this messaging.”
Last week, the Victorian government released the campaign, which also features actor Shane Jacobson and comedian Nazeem Hussain.
READ MORE: Chris Mitchell — Journalists must take PM to task on aged care
Sarah Elks 9.16am: Just one new case in Queensland despite outbreak
Queensland has recorded just one new case of coronavirus, despite the threat of a major outbreak from the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has said it’s time for people in greater Brisbane and Ipswich to consider wearing masks if they were unable to maintain social distancing.
“I’m not going to mandate it, because I don’t believe we have broad-spread community transmission, but we are (in a risky period),” Dr Young said.
Dr Young said the new case was a relative of one of the workers at the centre; she was placed into quarantine two days ago.
There are 18 active cases in the state, of a total 1106 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
So far, five workers at the centre have tested positive, and five of their relatives have also been diagnosed with the virus.
Dr Young said authorities needed more testing to be done.
“We need to track this virus down, where it’s been,” she said.
“We need to act quickly, promptly, to be able to contain it.”
Dr Young will speak to hospitals in greater Brisbane to tell them to require all doctors, nurses, medical staff and patients to wear masks.
“I want this in place through our facilities,” Dr Young said, adding it was a precaution.
In greater Brisbane, gatherings in homes have been restricted to 10 people; visitors at nursing homes in the region have been banned.
Dr Young said serology tests showed some young detainees at the detention centre could have had COVID-19, but the tests were inconclusive.
Asked how dangerous the detention centre outbreak could be, Dr Young said it was risky.
“The risk is definitely there, it’s really really important that people maintain that social distancing,” she said.
“We have had those people who have tested (positive) in the community, out and about...so the risk is there that we’ll get another phase of cases,” Dr Young said.
She said the first phase of infections was the staff at the centre, the next phase was their relatives and close contacts.
Health Minister and Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was a relief that there had only been one new case overnight, but more tests needed to be done.
Mr Miles said in the last 24 hours, fewer than 7000 tests had been conducted, which was not enough.
Deputy police commissioner Steve Gollschewski — the state’s disaster coordinator — said there were now 2084 people in hotel quarantine across Queensland.
In the past 24 hours, police have met 37 flights, checked more than 1000 passengers and refused entry to three people.
At the road borders, 2407 vehicles have been intercepted, and 156 people have been refused entry. In the past 24 hours, 75 people have gone into hotel quarantine.
Deputy commissioner Gollschewski said people in high-risk areas in greater Brisbane had been sent emergency alert text messages at the weekend, telling them to get tested if they were experiencing any symptoms.
READ MORE: Barnaby Joyce — Parochial states a sign of another time
Adeshola Ore 9.07am: Jobs are coming back, says Frydenberg
Josh Frydenberg has assured Australians that jobs are coming back, ahead of federal parliament resuming today.
The latest Treasury figures show that almost one in ten Australians are now out of work, with the effective unemployment rate at 9.9 per cent after a peak of 14.9 per cent in April. But the number is set to climb to 13 per cent before the end of the year, with Victoria’s lockdown hindering efforts.
“We see effective unemployment today at around 9.9 per cent. Now, that is taking into account those who have either lost their job, or left the labour force, or have seen their hours down to zero,” the Treasurer told Channel 9.
“But as a result of the restrictions being eased and the virus being contained outside of Victoria, jobs are coming back.”
Mr Frydenberg said Treasury estimates predicted that up to 400,000 Victorians would lose their jobs or have their hours reduced to zero as a result of the stage four restrictions in Melbourne.
“That’s why it is vitally important we get the virus under control,” he said.
READ MORE: Jobless crisis to worsen: Treasury
Rebecca Urban 8.44am: Victoria’s new cases drop to 116, 15 deaths
There has been a substantial drop in Victoria’s daily COVID-19 numbers, with just 116 new cases detected. There were 15 deaths, the state’s health department announced on Monday morning.
#Covid19VicData for August 24, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 23, 2020
There have been 116 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours, and sadly 15 deaths.
Our thoughts are with everyone during this difficult time.
More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/mLWLHArduY
READ MORE: State of conficence but virus is ‘stubborn’
Adeshola Ore 8.28am: Enforcing vaccine would send wrong message: AMA
The Australian Medical Association president says enforcing mandatory vaccination “sends the wrong message to the community.”
Last week, the federal government confirmed it had signed a letter of intent with drug company AstraZeneca to supply a COVID-19 vaccine to Australia. On the day of the announcement, Scott Morrison promised any coronavirus vaccine would not be compulsory, despite hours earlier saying that it should be as “mandatory as possible”.
AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said he anticipated most Australians would choose to be vaccinated without the government needing to enforce it.
“It has shown through this whole pandemic that we are resilient, able to change, adapt to changing circumstances and I think once they see a vaccine is available, will realise that it is the right thing to do,” he told Channel 7,
“I think the no jab, no play policy has had its place in certain circumstances, but this is a different situation.... and the real challenge is going to be getting enough of it. The world has never manufactured vaccines on such a scale before, so quickly.”
READ MORE: Vaccine ‘a year off’
Erin Lyons 8.13am: Virus alert at Sydney shopping centre
Shoppers who were at a Westfield in Sydney’s inner west have been told to watch for symptoms after a positive case of COVID-19 visited the centre.
The case went to Westfield Shopping Centre Burwood last Thursday (August 20) and visited Kmart and Woolworths between 6.30pm and 7pm.
Anyone who was at the shopping centre between 6pm and 7pm that day is urged to keep an eye on their symptoms.
The case also visited Service NSW Burwood between 2.30pm and 3pm on Friday, August 21.
Anyone who attended the venues during these times are considered a casual contact and are not required to self-isolate but must monitor symptoms.
NSW recorded four new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
READ MORE: Streets of fear in city’s wealthy enclave
Sarah Elks 8.00am: No further restrictions for Queensland despite outbreak
Queensland is in the grips of its most concerning coronavirus outbreak in months, but Health Minister Steven Miles says no further restrictions are needed yet.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday confirmed there were 16 active cases, a spike due to an outbreak at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.
Two new cases were announced on Sunday, including a baby boy.
Mr Miles, on ABC Radio on Monday morning, said there was no new restrictions planned, after the government limited home gatherings to 10 on Saturday.
He said contact tracers were racing to track down further infections, and it would not be known for two weeks whether the state was on top of the outbreak.
He said it was the “largest number of community acquired cases” the state had seen in months.
Mr Miles urged as many people to get tested as possible. He said only 7000 tests were carried out on Saturday, compared to about 20,000 at the height of testing after three women from Logan returned to Melbourne last month.
READ MORE: New law for insolvencies
Josh Frydenberg 7.45am: Lights at the end of a long tunnel
This pandemic is a wrecking ball through the global economy destroying almost 500 million jobs. It is expected to cause more economies to contract than at any time since 1870.
Its impact on global growth dwarfs the GFC with the OECD forecasting a 6 per cent fall this year compared to just 0.1 per cent in 2009. Without question, it is a supply and demand side shock like no other.
In Australia, the battle goes on. The cost is immense; an effective unemployment rate at 9.9 per cent, with an expectation it will increase to more than 13 per cent during the September quarter.
Significant falls in business investment, housing investment and household consumption are all expected to be confirmed in next week’s National Accounts.
And a hit to the nation’s balance sheet as the budget deficit hovers around $200 billion this year, off the back of record Government support and declining revenue.
This is the harsh reality of what we face.
The more positive news, though, is that the Australian economy is fighting back and showing resilience in the face of an almighty challenge. There is hope and there is a plan.
Treasury analysis indicates that of the 1.3 million Australians who since the crisis lost their job or were stood down with zero hours, more than half, almost 700,000, are back at work.
The recovery has been strongest in NSW, with 315,000 people finding effective employment since April. This compares to 149,000 in Victoria (prior to the full effect of stage-four restrictions), 100,000 in Queensland, 67,000 in Western Australia, 51,000 in South Australia and 17,000 in Tasmania.
The formula is clear: contain the virus, ease the restrictions and jobs come back.
READ Josh Frydenberg’s article in full here.
Anne Barrowclough 7.30am: Decision on NZ restrictions announced today
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will this afternoon announce whether restrictions will be eased or extended, as the number of new cases continues to fall.
New Zealand recorded just three new cases on Sunday - one in the community and two in managed quarantine.
However public health experts are urgin caution about lifting Auckland our ot level 3 restrictions and the rest of the country from level 2 on Wednesday, the NZ Herald reports.
Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker advised a lockdown extension, to be sure that a downward trend in cases continued.
Despite Auckaldn parks and skate parks being closed in lockdown, the weekend’s sunny weather brought out Aucklanders who flouted the rules in their droves.
Gutted to see this again. People keep taking the caution tape and signs off our CLOSED playgrounds and skateparks. 400 people have died in Melbourne from their second outbreak. 2000 healthcare workers have Covid in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/ZPKZPjxtWZ
— Richard Hills (@richardhills777) August 23, 2020
North Shore councillor Richard Hills tweeted that he had seen 100 people at one of the city’s parks and warned the breaking of restrictions could see a Melbourne style lockdown for Auckland.
“Yeah it might be nice to give people “freedom” to play close together like this, on our closed equipment, but this behaviour has every chance of killing more people and businesses,” he tweeted.
NZ currently has 114 live cases.
READ MORE: Brisbane on high alert as cluster grows
Adeshola Ore 6.55am: Children over 12 should wear masks: WHO
The World Health Organisation says children aged 12 and over should wear masks to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The organisation says masks should be worn when social distancing by more than one metre cannot be guaranteed and in areas where there is widespread transmission. It is the first time the WHO has issued guidance on masks for children.
The US government is planning emergency approval of a new coronavirus therapeutic treatment and fast-tracking a vaccine developed in Britain, a day before the start of the Republican National Convention. A report by the Washington Post says President Donald Trump will announce on Sunday the emergency authorisation of convalescent plasma for COVID-19, a treatment that already has been given to more than 70,000 patients,
In India, the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 3 million, with more than 69,000 new cases reported on Sunday. It comes as various sectors of the country’s economy begin to open up. Sunday was the fifth consecutive day the country reported more than 60,000 new cases. The country has released new guidelines for opening up its media production industry, including social distancing, crow management and sanitisation.
Globally, more than 23 million people have become infected with the virus. The COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 800,000.
READ MORE: Love finds way to play Poms in pandemic
Jacquelin Magnay 02.50am: Vaccine a year off, says UK medical chief
Australia’s hopes for a coronavirus vaccine early next year to do away with damaging internal and external border restrictions have been dashed by the frank assessment of the UK’s chief medical officer.
Professor Chris Whitty told reporters on the weekend that there was unlikely to be any vaccine before the end of next year, pushing out the hopes of Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and state premiers that a safe vaccine could be ready in 2021.
While Australia has taken a strict response to dealing with coronavirus by shutting its borders, and adopting a quasi-elimination approach, it leaves the country highly vulnerable to both the virus’ impacts and prolonged economic pain unless a vaccine is safely developed within a short time frame.
But Prof Whitty said it would be “reasonable’’ to expect another year before a safe vaccine is proven and ready to be distributed.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 02.30am: State of confidence but virus is ‘stubborn’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and his Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, have declared they are “confident” the state’s daily coronavirus figures will not exceed 300 or 400 cases a day again under their watch, but warned of “stubborn” transmission in certain settings that may be difficult to completely suppress as Victoria’s numbers drop.
The state’s cases peaked with 725 new cases and a seven-day daily average of 573 cases on August 5, as part of a second wave linked to a handful of cases in hotel quarantine.
Sunday saw the state’s daily number of new cases rise above 200 for the first time in three days, with 208 new cases, following on from 182 new cases on Saturday and 179 on Friday.
The overall trend continued downward, with the seven-day daily average falling from 229 on Saturday to 218 on Sunday — the lowest such average since July 14, almost six weeks ago.
“The numbers are bouncing around a little bit, but we’re not going to see 300s and 400s again in Victoria — not under my watch at least,” Professor Sutton said.
Read what else the premier had to say here.
Cliona O’Dowd 02.25am: Retailing will never be the same
The rapid shift to online retail is not going to reverse even after the coronavirus pandemic has passed, according to Redbubble co-founder and chief executive Martin Hosking.
Indeed, the structural changes that were under way even before the lockdowns have accelerated in recent months as more consumers embrace online retail, Mr Hosking said.
“It is easy to think about the last five months as a passing phenomenon. Increasingly, this is not plausible. We all hope that the COVID-19 crisis will come to an end, but when it does, the landscape will be changed.
“Specifically, more consumers that have adopted online shopping will continue to shop in this way. The underlying trend has been accelerated — it has not changed. Bricks and mortar were already struggling. That is not going to reverse,” he told investors after handing down Redbubble’s full-year results, which included a 36 per cent jump in revenue.
Millions of new consumers exposed to online shopping through the crisis will continue to purchase goods that way, even as offline retailers get back up and running, he predicted.
“This is particularly true in the case of Redbubble and TeePublic as the experience and the products we provide do not exist in traditional retail.”
Read the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay 02.20am: Australia HK embassy bars Kiwi spouse
Spouses of Australians, who have Australian families, have been separated by the Australian government in the latest crisis surrounding those stranded overseas.
One anxious Australian family living in Hong Kong, has been unable to return to their five children in Brisbane, including to a teenager who has ongoing medical issues and requires support.
While thousands of returning Australians are continually bumped off flights - as many as six times - including business class flights this week because of the strict government caps on the numbers of arrivals - it has emerged that the government has severely restricted the categories of people being allowed into the country.
Spouses of Australians are having to submit scores of papers begging to be allowed into the country to be reunited with their families, but are being rejected.
It appears that those trapped in the latest bureaucratic nightmare are New Zealanders, particularly those who are spouses of Australian citizens.
Candies Sullivan, is a New Zealander and has previously travelled every eight weeks between the family home in Queensland, where her Australian born children are, and her Australian husband who is based in Hong Kong as an airline pilot.
Previously Kiwis could travel freely into Australia and didn’t require a visa.
Earlier this month Mrs Sullivan applied for an exemption as the spouse of an Australian to be allowed to return to Queensland and was shocked to be rejected.
Read the full story here
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