Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Victoria has recorded another 216 cases of coronavirus and one additional death, a man in his 90s, as the state tries to contain the second wave of the virus that returned Melbourne residents to lockdown.
Thirty of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks and 186 are under investigation, with the state’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, saying it was becoming more difficult to quickly trace the source of new infections.
Pop-up testing facility to be set up in Sydney hotel car park as Victorian premier says 37,588 tests were conducted in the state yesterday. Follow live news and updates
Victoria is preparing two-million reusable masks for people in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire by the end of July, and a million single-use masks, but in case you want to go and make your own now, you can find a CDC guide on how to make one here.
The Victorian government is going to prepare its own how-to guide for masks in the coming days.
Due to the heightened public health risk with the current outbreak in Victoria, we are asking ALL South Australians with symptoms (fever/chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell) to get tested for COVID-19. https://t.co/daEpRqXyQVpic.twitter.com/lccT3Rvwef
The Australian government and its partners had no choice but to recognise the new reality in the territory and offer some of its citizens a way out
I feel sorry for Chinese foreign ministry officials, with whom I have had many good conversations over the years. They have been pushed to lambast Australia and other Western democracies with such frequency that they risk running out of fresh invective, hyperbole and idiom.
Attorney general should be stripped of the power to force tech companies to help security agencies potentially spy on the public
The attorney general should be stripped of the power to approve orders that would force tech and social media companies to help security services to potentially spy on the public, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor has said.
In a report into the encryption legislation, the outgoing INSLM, James Renwick, called for that power and the ability for agency heads to compel assistance from tech companies to be moved to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and a new investigatory powers commissioner within it.
Japan’s theme parks have banned screaming on roller coasters because it spreads coronavirus. “Please scream inside your heart.” https://t.co/DJjC40H0Ap
Confusion over NSW-Victoria border closure as the state’s northern border closes for the first time in a century and Melbourne prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest news
Someone asks about some sort of foreign travel tax? I don’t know - there is a lot in the question, and it’s involving shiz that none of us can even think about until at least July next year, because I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not - but Australia’s international borders ARE CLOSED.
Scott Morrison:
Well, there’s a lot of speculation on all those questions. So I don’t intend to engage in what is the normal budget speculation when you lead up to a budget.
Those matters will be addressed in the budget.
On what we are planning on doing with Hong Kong residents, Scott Morrison says:
We continue to be concerned about issues in Hong Kong as many nations are, and we have remained in close contact with other like-minded countries about this issue.
This is about how we, as a nation, are responding, domestically, to these issues.
On the issue of the broader shutdown of Melbourne - this is a matter that the Premier advised me of and, of course, based on their advice and the advice that I have received from the chief medical officer, then this was necessary.
I hope it isn’t for that long. I hope it’s for a shorter period as possible.
Channel Nine initially promoted One Nation leader’s comments describing people locked down due to coronavirus as ‘drug addicts’ who ‘cannot speak English’
Channel Nine’s Today show has dropped One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as a “regular contributor”, after she described residents of public housing in Melbourne who are locked down due to Covid-19 as “drug addicts” who “cannot speak English”.
In a statement, the channel described her comments as “ill-informed and divisive”, and said “she will no longer be appearing on our program as a regular contributor”.
Postal votes are still to be counted but ALP’s Kristy McBain is just ahead of Liberal Fiona Kotvojs
Labor has pulled in front at the close of the count in the Eden-Monaro byelection on Saturday night – but the contest remains tight, with postal votes still to tally.
While senior Labor sources expressed confidence that Kristy McBain would get across the line, and the ABC’s respected election analyst Antony Green predicted a likely Labor win after a five week campaign conducted in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the count remained in progress.
Scott Morrison was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments about singling out Queensland on the Nine network this morning:
Well, I haven’t. There’s an election in Queensland, so I’m not surprised that the political rhetoric is amping up. Look, we’re keeping all of the country together to focus on this. I made similar comments about the changes in borders in South Australia yesterday. So, look, I think you can file that under a Queensland election.
Anthony Albanese was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments yesterday, after she hit back on the border criticism (which included Scott Morrison) and said:
Well, look, I don’t believe that it’s appropriate, and I haven’t sought to politicise a response to the medical issues with regard to borders.
I’m not surprised that Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has shown tremendous leadership in Queensland, is frustrated at the comments of the Prime Minister given he has said time and time again it’s up to the states what happens.
The Australian government has realised that strengthening international institutions is preferable to the alternative – relying on Trump or Xi
Last October, Scott Morrison continued a proud Australian political tradition and admitted that – despite being prime minister – he has only a passing interest in international affairs.
Days after returning from a lengthy visit to Washington, Morrison explained, almost apologetically, that his various foreign travels had been forced upon him by the unfortunate intrusion of global events. “My instincts and passions have always been domestic,” he said in a speech to the Lowy Institute. “I am not one who naturally seeks out summits and international platforms.”
Victoria is experiencing a concerning rise in Covid-19 cases, with 75 new cases announced on Monday which were identified over the preceding 24 hours, one of the largest overnight jumps for the state since the pandemic began. For almost two weeks, the state has seen a double-digit rise in cases every day.
Many are now trying to identify a source of blame for the spread. According to the Australian, overly prohibitive lockdown laws implemented by the Victorian government early on in the pandemic were seen by the public as excessive given the low number of cases at the time. The report suggested this led some people to relax, and to question government warnings that they needed to keep socially distancing.
The Australian government insists it is focused on the next phase of “short-term measures” to support people through the coronavirus pandemic amid reports it is considering a permanent $75 per week lift in unemployment benefits.
The government has been coming under increasing pressure over the drop-off in economic supports due in September, with the Qantas announcement last week of a further 6,000 job cuts adding to expectations of extended economic pain.
Women represent about 67% students in the heavily affected fields of humanities, social sciences, media and communications
Women account for two-thirds of the students in the university courses facing the biggest increase in fees under the Australian government’s proposed overhaul, according to new analysis by the Greens.
The government has proposed to more than double the student contributions for humanities, social sciences, media and communications courses – with yearly fees increasing from $6,804 to $14,500 – although this does not apply to current students.
State’s chief minister says people from areas with spikes in cases will be quarantined at their own cost; Bain Capital remains only bidder for embattled airline. Follow live
Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath spoke to media earlier, urging residents to comply with quarantine orders.
Although we are so fortunate in Queensland to have so few active cases, the fact is, as of today, we have almost 3,000 people in people on quarantine orders. About 880 of that people are in hotels but over 2,000 are quarantining in their homes.
It is absolutely critical that those people remain at home for the 14 days that they are quarantining, that they are not allowing people into their homes and they are not leaving their homes for any reason other than to be tested for Covid.
In response to a twelve-year-old student at Camden High School in NSW testing positive to Covid-19, the state’s health department has set up an additional Covid pop-up testing clinic at Camden Hospital.
The clinic will have walk-in testing with no bookings required and the clinic will be open over the next three days between 10am and 4pm.
Economists’ study says permanently free childcare would provide short-term stimulus and drive long-term growth
Australia could unlock huge economic gains by continuing to offer free childcare after the pandemic is over, a new report argues.
The release of the report comes a day after Australia’s small business ombudsman and employer groups warned of the coming cliff in economic supports including free childcare ending and called on the government not to reduce jobseeker unemployment benefits to their former level of $40 a day.
Barclay McGain, who was forced to resign over schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture, accuses Queensland LNP of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility
A former Young Liberal National party member forced to resign over a series of offensive social media posts has accused the Queensland LNP of “throwing young teenagers under the bus” and of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility.
Opposition says inquiry could investigate scheme’s human cost, including reports some victims took their own life
Labor has called for a royal commission into the robodebt program, heaping pressure on the Coalition to accept some form of independent inquiry into the unlawful scheme that some families claim led victims to take their own lives.
In a statement issued on Tuesday the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and frontbenchers Bill Shorten and Mark Dreyfus argued a royal commission was needed to probe the creation and administration of the debt recovery scheme, which saw Centrelink send at least 470,000 unlawful demands for money over four years.
This week Katharine Murphy talks with the Australian trade, tourism and investment minister, Simon Birmingham. They discuss the challenges of economic recovery after the bushfires and coronavirus, and address the escalating trade actions from China. Will Birmingham appease an angered Beijing and reverse China’s tariffs? Or will the relationship see a continued decline in civility?
Also, the Five Eyes finance ministers met. Given what their operatives do, a meeting seems superfluous, but ok.
Today Australia hosted a call with the Finance Ministers of the “Five Eyes” nations – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.
It was the first of what will be regular calls among the countries to discuss the economic issues associated with COVID-19.
I guess when you don’t have the Global Times, you have to be a little more overt in your silent diplomacy.