Australia coronavirus live update: Covidsafe app downloads reach 5.5m as Victoria begins easing Covid-19 restrictions – latest news

Deputy CMO says there are ‘very serious risks’ from overcrowding as Victoria plans to lift lockdown rules and another Newmarch resident dies after testing negative. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia’s relationship with China is “not in a great place”.

Speaking to ABC TV this afternoon, Wong said the relationship would benefit from “consistency and discipline and leadership” from the prime minister and foreign minister rather than backbencher-led commentary.

Some Coalition backbenchers, including George Christensen and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, have been pushing for Australia to take a hard line in its relations with China. Wong also called on the government to provide detailed briefings to parliamentarians on how Australia is handling the China relationship:

I’ve said previously we need to think about the China relationship in 30-year terms, not in three-year terms. Unfortunately, there’s been a little too much from the Morrison government of a reflex to short-term domestic politics on this relationship and more broadly. And we would urge them to take a long-term position and a responsible position, and as much as possible a bipartisan position, when it comes to that relationship that’s in the national interests.

Cafes and restaurants in South Australia were open to sit-down customers today, for the first time in seven weeks. I say sit down, not sit-in, because customers have to dine alfresco. It’s limited to a maximum of 10 customers.

People will not be able to eat indoors at restaurants until June.

It won’t be worth it for many organisations. Some states have told us 10 indoor dining and the industry told us 10 wouldn’t be viable. Even 20 will make it very difficult, so we are trying to work through, with the industry, how we can get them back to being viable as quickly as possible. But we’ve got to do it in a safe way.

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Labor wants secrecy in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case to be examined by watchdog

Shadow attorney general says use of national security law in defamation case is a first as the Coalition denies any sort of secret trial

Labor wants the national security watchdog to examine the government’s use of powers to enforce secrecy on the defamation proceedings involving Ben Roberts-Smith.

The government confirmed this week it had invoked the National Security Information Act in a civil case brought by Roberts-Smith, a special forces veteran who says stories published by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald defamed him by suggesting he was a war criminal. Nine Entertainment, which owns the newspapers, is defending the allegation.

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Angus Taylor and Scott Morrison won’t be able to brush off uncomfortable questions much longer | Malcolm Farr

As Australia moves back to normal activities, the Coalition will be held to account on standards of integrity

It has taken a cruel and untamed global disaster to draw attention from the government’s record of questionable integrity standards.

That record is bulging with episodes of controversial conduct, and they are not going to disappear into post-coronavirus history.

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Australia coronavirus update live: Victoria extends state of emergency as travellers fly in from cruise nightmare – latest news

Premier Daniel Andrews says state of emergency will be extended for a further four weeks as Australians trapped on Antarctic cruise ship arrive in Melbourne. Follow updates live

McGowan says he took his kids camping ... in his backyard ... over Easter because obviously other locations were unavailable.

And that’s the end of the press conference.

“We’ve successfully flattened the curve, but now we’ve got to figure out how to keep it there but also find out a long-term solution to the problem we face,” McGowan says.

He says he is working on getting commercial tenancy legislation in parliament this week. He’s not sure whether residential tenancy legislation will be ready this week but it will be brought in when it is.

The former will be brought into WA parliament for debate on Wednesday.

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Australia coronavirus live: NSW arts minister Don Harwin resigns after breaching health order – latest updates

Paul Kelly says league is ‘not a law unto themselves’ and would need permission to resume play next month as it intends. Follow the latest updates

We will close the blog for this evening. Thank you for your company and contributions.

A summary follows of Australia’s Covid-19 situation, the evening of Good Friday 2020.

“I would really urge caution there. Most of the cases we’ve seen so far have and still remain related to overseas travel and so our local epidemic is very early. There’s only a couple of thousand of those 6,000 cases are actual local transmission.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has accepted the resignation of her arts minister, Don Harwin, after he was fined $1,000 for staying at his Central Coast holiday home, breaching a Covid-19 public health order.

While Harwin maintained he had sought, and followed, official advice on whether he was allowed to relocate to his holiday home, he accepted the controversy surrounding his move – as the government was urging people to stay home over Easter – was a “distraction”.

During this health crisis my government has asked the community to make greater sacrifices than all of us have ever had to make before.

These sacrifices are saving lives, and I am proud of the people of NSW for continuing to uphold the law in the interest of public health.

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From tight purse strings to massive fiscal firepower: the Coalition’s staggering transformation | Katharine Murphy

The RBA begged the government for stimulus to kickstart the economy – to no avail. But coronavirus has seen a radical change in thinking

On 12 March Scott Morrison came to his courtyard with $17.6bn. A week later the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate to 0.25% and pumped more than $100bn into the financial system in an effort to keep struggling businesses afloat and stave off substantial job losses.

On 22 March Morrison returned to his courtyard with another $66bn. Then on 30 March, Monday, the prime minister came back with $130bn for wage subsidies. Monday’s $130bn will be spent not over the four-year forward estimates, which is the budgetary convention. It will be spent over the next six months.

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Stuart Robert’s incompetence on MyGov should accelerate his own social isolation | Katharine Murphy

From fanning national anxiety with claims of a cyber-attack on MyGov, to a lack of empathy for the jobless, the government services minister has no grasp of the gravity of our times

“It was heartbreaking stuff yesterday Alan.”

“Alan”, naturally, is Alan Jones and our heartbreak town crier is Stuart Robert – the minister charged with rolling out government support to Australians knocked sideways courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Australia is easing superannuation access for those worst-hit by coronavirus. But can we afford it?

Tax-free withdrawals will be capped at $10,000 this financial year and will allow those struggling to pay rent, meet mortgage repayments and buy food

What Australia’s $189bn coronavirus economic rescue package means for you
Follow our Australia coronavirus live blog
• Follow our global coronavirus live blog

Australians who are laid off as a result of the coronavirus outbreak will be allowed to pull money out of their superannuation, Scott Morrison announced on Sunday.

Withdrawals will be capped at $10,000 this financial year, and a further $10,000 next financial year, and will be tax-free, the prime minister and his treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said.

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Australians stuck in Peru amid Covid-19 outbreak advised to book charter flight home

Thousands of travellers frantically trying to fly back to Australia after government warning over coronavirus pandemic
• Australia coronavirus live: NSW now has 307 confirmed cases, up 40 since yesterday

More than 170 Australians trapped in locked-down Peru have been advised by the government to find a commercial charter flight to get out of the country.

Some passengers have been able to get on chartered flights to the US, while others have been offered a dedicated charter flight from Lima to Sydney, but at a cost of more than $5,000.

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PM tells Australians to ‘stop hoarding’ as he announces sweeping measures to slow spread of coronavirus

Scott Morrison says massive step-up of the government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak likely to be in place for at least six months

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Australians to “stop hoarding” as he announces sweeping new measures to try to slow the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 100 people, a global do-not-travel order, and strict new rules for visiting aged care homes.

In a massive step-up of the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, Morrison announced that a national cabinet of state and federal leaders had agreed on Tuesday night to an indefinite new ban on indoor groups of 100 people or more, with exemptions for schools, public transport, universities, prisons, courts, supermarkets and worksites.

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Six grants worth a total of $260k approved in marginal seat of Longman before election

LNP candidate advertised one of the grants on Facebook a month before election without specifying source of funds

Six taxpayer-funded grants were approved in the key marginal seat of Longman through the Department of Social Services in the month before the last federal election, including $177,000 for the Bribie Island and Districts Junior Rugby League Club.

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GDP grew by 0.5% in December quarter, national accounts show – politics live

The economy holds the headlines as government inches closer to releasing its stimulus package in response to coronavirus. All the day’s events, live

I missed this yesterday:

Mathias Cormann reveals that he personally intervened to chose the colour of the new fleet of Comcar vehicles, which will shift from their traditional white to dark grey. #Estimates pic.twitter.com/PqsJCQFOBC

*Grandstanding*

*Actually evidence from officials*

Don’t be misled by Senator Carr’s grandstanding & fear-mongering. The Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC has funding until mid-2021 & the Govt is considering future funding for its work to continue. We’re actively engaging with the CRC, including a meeting with the PM last month. https://t.co/xZgEyqH2g7

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Scott Morrison wants the nation to trust him – but how can we after sports rorts?

The prime minister has presented himself and his office as bystanders, but all the evidence points to their deep involvement

Given the intricacies of the sports rorts controversy can be bamboozling, let’s keep this really simple.

Scott Morrison has spent the weeks since the Australian National Audit Office completely eviscerated his government’s administration of the $100m sports grants program presenting himself and his office as a bunch of breezy feedback brokers, just lurking about periodically to give the sport minister a hand.

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Scott Morrison’s one-man cabinet committee an ‘abuse of process’, Labor says

PM has dismissed opposition’s concerns but Penny Wong says it could be used to ‘cover up decision-making’

Labor has labelled a cabinet committee with just one permanent member – Scott Morrison – an “abuse of process” that would enable Morrison to call meetings protected by cabinet confidentiality, even if no other cabinet members are present.

The cabinet office policy committee was the focus of questioning in both Senate estimates and question time, where Morrison defended the committee responsible for his policy “deep dives” and dismissed Labor concerns as “trivial Canberra politics”.

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Jacinda Ardern brushes off criticism from Peter Dutton on deportation stance

Australia’s home affairs minister had linked New Zealand prime minister’s comments to her upcoming re-election bid

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has brushed off criticism from Australia’s home affairs minister Peter Dutton, saying his policy decisions are “regrettable”.

At her weekly news conference in Wellington on Monday, Ardern was scathing about Dutton’s criticism of her recent meeting with Scott Morrison, saying it was not her plain-talking that was to blame for increasing tensions between the neighbours – but Australia’s policy decisions on immigration matters which were hurting Kiwis.

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Josh Frydenberg urged to ‘do the right thing’ after ‘offensive’ Hindu comments

Treasurer’s references to Hinduism while criticising Labor’s wellbeing budget labelled ‘derisive’ and ‘heartbreaking’

Josh Frydenberg is facing increased pressure to “fix the mess” he created when he made what’s been described as “brazen” and “offensive” comments about Hinduism.

The treasurer made repeated references to Hinduism and other Indian religions in question time last week while criticising Labor’s idea of potentially pursuing a “wellbeing budget”.

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Liberal MP says Coalition needs to look at a 2050 net zero emissions target – politics live

Trent Zimmerman says Australia needs to look beyond good target for 2030 as we head into Glasgow. All the day’s events, live

It’s time for who’s that MP?

It’s Andrew Wallace.

Asked about the Nationals (and some Liberals) who claim a net zero 2050 emissions target would bring about end of days, Trent Zimmerman tells the ABC:

No-one is saying that getting to 2050 with a net zero target is an easy task. It is a challenge.

We know in many areas we are doing really well.

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Malcolm Turnbull warns of ‘catastrophic’ future without net zero emissions goal – politics live

The former prime minister has stepped into the climate debate, with a stark warning to moderate Liberals to act. All the day’s events, live

Greg Hunt will be giving the next coronavirus update at 1.10pm

Meanwhile, the lights keep flickering in Parliament House, which can only mean that my moods have begun to physically manifest.

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Coalition reignites climate war over Labor’s emissions policy – politics live

Government MPs have lashed out at Labor over its emissions target, with arguments in parliament’s corridors. All the days events, live

Parliament starts at 10am.

Tellingly, Joel Fitzgibbon is on board with Labor’s plan. Here he is writing for his local paper, the Newcastle Herald over the weekend:

The aspiration of carbon neutrality by 2050 (zero net emissions) offers a conservative and low-risk path to satisfying the commitment Malcolm Turnbull made in Paris on our behalf back in 2015.

First, it provides plenty of time to think and act, including the time needed to embrace existing and future technologies.

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Sports grants scandal: rural areas received less than $10m of $150m funds allocated

Labor says National party seats shortchanged after projects in Liberal-held, non-rural seats got nearly $110m

Labor is accusing the government of shortchanging rural areas through a $150m sports fund that was overwhelmingly spent in marginal seats during the election campaign.

The $150m female facilities and water safety stream program, announced by the Coalition less than two months before the election, was funded in the 2019 budget for the purpose of female change rooms and swimming pool upgrades, but was all allocated in the election campaign.

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