Australia’s prime minister has been posing in hard hat and behind the wheel of everything from trucks to tanks
Continue reading...Category Archives: Scott Morrison
Australia news live: Morrison labels India a ‘dangerous place’; Rex Patrick in court fight for cabinet documents
Coalition backs $600m gas plant as IEA warns against new fossil fuel use; concerns over speed of vaccine rollout continue with Melbourne hubs below capacity. Follow latest updates
- Morrison government to fund $600m gas-fired power plant in NSW Hunter region
- Australia urged to drop coal and gas plans after global energy agency’s warning
- Nurse administers one Covid vaccine in eight hours at Victorian hub as NSW ramps up rollout
- Linda Reynolds says NDIS is too reliant on ‘natural empathy’ of public servants
With that I shall depart, leaving the amazing Christopher Knaus in my place to take you through the afternoon.
Just a bit more from that Scott Morrison interview with 2GB earlier today:
The prime minister has brushed off criticism about the red carpet treatment he recently received at an Australian airbase.
We have nothing to do with that, I mean, I just walk out of a plane and whatever is there is there...
I have nothing to do with what the defence forces do when you step out of a plane. So it was nice of them to receive it. It wasn’t the first time that’s happened.
Continue reading...Australia news live: passenger on India flight tests positive for coronavirus; Singapore next potential travel bubble
One passenger onboard Saturday’s repatriation flight from India tests positive for Covid in Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin. Follow all the latest news live
• Call for medevac-style repatriation flights for Australians with Covid from India
• Stranded cricketers touch down in Sydney two weeks after IPL suspended
• Measures to support refinery industry could cost Australians $2bn over a decade
Health Minister Greg Hunt has stepped up to speak at a press conference in Somerville in Victoria, giving an update on the vaccination program.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier today expressed surprise at a legal loophole that allows students to bring knives into schools.
It comes after a 14-year-old boy at Glenwood High School in Sydney’s North West faces serious charges after allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old boy with a “religious knife.”
Students should not be allowed to take knives into school under any circumstances and I think it doesn’t pass the common sense test.
Even if they’re not using weapons, others might take them from them so I was very taken back when I learnt that.
Schools in NSW are among the safest places in the community, and Glenwood High School is one of those schools.
We are currently working with the department and community representatives to discuss how best to enable students to meet aspects of their religious faith and, at the same time, to ensure our school remains a safe place.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison denies Australians in India ‘unfairly blocked’ from return amid Covid
Prime minster says rigorous testing essential for entering country but Anthony Albanese says government failed stranded citizens
Scott Morrison has rejected suggestions Covid-positive Australians were “unfairly blocked” from returning from India, despite conceding problems with the pre-flight testing regime.
About 80 returnees are now in quarantine in the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory after they landed from India on Saturday following the lifting of the travel ban from the virus-ravaged country.
Continue reading...Australia live news: NSW government in minority after MP moves to crossbench; Labor bets big on housing
The state’s Coalition has been forced further into minority after it lost its second MP to sexual assault allegations. Follow the latest updates
- NSW MP Gareth Ward steps down as minister over sexual violence allegations which he denies
- Anthony Albanese pledges $10bn social housing fund in Labor’s federal budget reply
More cold days ahead for south-eastern Australia.
You will feel the chill if you live in southern #SA, #NSW and all of #Vic and #Tas, as cold fronts move through from the Southern Ocean, bringing a 3-day wintery blast of cold, wet and windy weather.
Latest forecasts & warnings: https://t.co/YRNaGYP9ci pic.twitter.com/yaqsY43HpF
The Australian Signals Directorate refuses to say who was behind an attack on parliament’s IT systems in March, despite confirming it knows who it was.
The parliamentary services department confirmed an outage of the system that manages mobile devices was caused by the department shutting the system to prevent an attempted intrusion into the parliamentary computer network.
Continue reading...Budget 2021 reply speech: Anthony Albanese delivers Labor response to Australia federal budget
Labor leader set to continue attack over sluggish wages growth; NSW Liberal minister Gareth Ward steps down over allegations which he denies. Follow latest updates
- Labor pursues government on wages
- Moderna signs deal with Australia to supply 25m vaccine doses
- How will the Moderna vaccine boost Australia’s vaccine program?
- Why the budget was light on climate and environment measures
- The secret of the budget? The fact we’re stuck here | Greg Jericho
- ‘Demeaning’ crackdown on single mothers scrapped, budget papers reveal
- Confusion over vaccination targets as Frydenberg defends big-spending budget
Anthony Albanese is on his way to the ABC studios for his 7.30 interview
The house is adjourned
Continue reading...Budget 2021 reaction: Josh Frydenberg delivers National Press Club address – Australia politics live updates
Coalition budget delivers $30bn in tax breaks and money for fossil fuel projects but no measures to help struggling universities or clean energy projects. Follow all the latest news and reaction to the 2021 federal budget as it happens
- The complete 2021 Australian budget: choose what matters to you
- ‘Team Australia’ is bouncing back, Josh Frydenberg declares
- Explore all of our 2021 Australia federal budget coverage
So not a lot new there. Which means question time is going to be a copy and paste affair.
The other question of note?
Why is the border closed for so long?
The key factor, the central factor, the only factor for us what keeps Australians safe. And it’s not simply the rollout of the vaccine, that is a factor for the Chief Medical Officer in making decisions around borders.
They also need to take into account, what is happening with the virus globally, its transmissibility, new variants of the virus, and what it would mean for Australians health and safety.
Continue reading...Australia news live: NSW reports no new local Covid cases; part of ABC’s Christian Porter defamation defence to be suppressed for now
Scott Morrison says India travel ban will not be extended and has committed to three repatriation flights before the end of May. Follow latest updates
- NSW has no new local coronavirus cases
- Australia to start repatriating citizens stuck in India when flight ban ends
- NSW Covid hotspots: Sydney and regional case locations
- Sydney and NSW Covid restrictions: new rules for Mother’s Day weekend
The Covid-19 inquiry is hearing from Australians stranded in India, including Sunny, who traveled to India in May 2020 because his father was in a critical condition with no support during India’s coronavirus lockdown.
Sunny’s father passed away on 1 June 2020 while Sunny was in hotel quarantine in Dehli. He wants to bring his mother home to Australia with him, but his flights in July 2020 were cancelled due to the Melbourne lockdown.
Sunny said it was “next to impossible” to come back with 10,000 stranded Australians seeking seats on Air India flights and no Qantas repatriation flights until November. He paid $10,000 to fly to Australia from Japan, but was bumped from the flight.
Sunny said the Australian government had been “totally insensitive to stranded Australians” after he suffered “11 months of misery”.
Sunny and his mother live in an area experiencing a “tsunami of infections”, with 60-70% of people on the street infected with Covid-19. He said they lived holed up in the house “in fear for our lives” but worried it was only a matter of time before they were infected.
Sunny quoted the advice of the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, that the India travel ban could, in the worst-case scenario, result in the death of Australians in India.
He called for a comprehensive schedule of repatriation flights to get all Australians in India and elsewhere home.
Meg, another Australian in India, has told the committee she was stranded in India after she travelled there on holiday in January 2020.
Meg was unable to fly back in October when her Cathay Pacific flight via Hong Kong was cancelled, and she hasn’t been able to get a seat in the “raffle” of respite or charter flights.
She said:
The daily fear of going out and contracting Covid was with us every day and it it still is now, the situation is so bad. The Australian government hasn’t provided any kind of emotional support to those stranded in India. We are part of Facebook and Whatsapp groups – people are depressed about the situation. Emotionally people are so down and depressed.
We haven’t really received anything from the high commission. Every time I’ve called for help, guidance, the phone would just ring out no matter how many times you call.
The website for the new Labor campaign we mentioned earlier is now live. It is seen as a bit of an opening salvo for an election which could be more than a year away.
Continue reading...Australia news live: Greg Hunt has ‘absolute belief’ that banning returns from India is legal
Health minister joins Scott Morrison in defending ban; over-50s eligible for Covid vaccine. Follow latest updates
- Australia’s medical chief Paul Kelly says he gave no health advice to jail India arrivals
- WA premier says Perth lockdown remains ‘a prospect’ after Covid cases
- A third of Australians believe Coalition must do more to help 36,000 citizens stranded overseas
- Australia’s vaccine rollout: what you should know about the changes
Liberal senator Jane Hume is asked about her government’s controversial move to make it a criminal offence to enter Australia for citizens who have been in India in the last 14 days.
Hume told the ABC’s Patricia Karvelas the punishments are “a function of the Biosecurity Act” that was introduced with Labor’s support.
“The most important thing here is we’re keeping Australians safe”
No-one is saying this is an easy decision stop in fact, it is a very, very difficult decision to make but I think Australians realise how fortunate we are to be able to live in a country that is largely Covid free and our economy is back on track.
When we see the heartbreaking images of people in India, 300,000 cases a day, 90 million people infected and 200,000 deaths, I think we all fear that third wave.”
It is not a decision made lightly and we are trying to help India in any way we can.”
We don’t want to see anybody charged, we want to see the borders open and for Australians to be able to come home again and we will do that as soon as we possibly can safely.”
Jane Hume, the minister for superannuation and financial services, has been speaking about the government’s proposed $1.7bn increase to the childcare subsidy, which will see the subsidy for families with two children lifted to a maximum of 95% and remove the cap on subsidies for higher-income earners.
Hume said it’s better than more generous proposals from Labor because the Coalition’s plan “is aimed at lower-middle-income workers and people going back to work, study or doing charity work”.
Continue reading...Has Australia’s economy escaped the pandemic? – Australian Politics podcast
This week, Katharine Murphy sits down with economics writers Shane Wright and Greg Jericho to discuss the Australian economy. With house prices soaring, stimulus payments being reduced and a budget on the way, what can people expect financially over the coming months?
Continue reading...Australia live news: Australia live news: Covid breach at Brisbane airport after traveller tests positive; Brittany Higgins and PM to meet
Former Liberal staffer will speak to Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese in Sydney, and Brisbane and Melbourne on Covid alert. Follow latest updates
- Some 16% of public servants have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, survey finds
- India wants access to cheap copies of Covid vaccines. So why is Australia holding out?
- Coronavirus WA: Perth Covid lockdown rules and Western Australia’s coronavirus restrictions explained
Here's Justice Katzmann on the jingle being a benefit to Palmer pic.twitter.com/6fjHIDyBFX
Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay Universal Music $1.5m in damages over the “unauthorised” use of a version of the hit 1980s song We’re Not Gonna Take It by glam metal band Twisted Sister in a political ad during the 2019 election campaign.
Palmer used a cover version of the song during his multimillion-dollar advertising blitz during last year’s federal election campaign. The Palmer version of the song changed the lyrics to:
Australia ain’t gonna cop it, no Australia’s not gonna cop it, Aussies not gonna cop it any more.
Continue reading...One in six Australian public servants sexually harassed in workplace, survey finds
Exclusive: Survey of Australian public sector found two-thirds of incidents went unreported due to fears they would not be impartially investigated
Almost one in six public servants have experienced sexual harassment but only one-third of incidents were reported, according to a new union survey.
The results of a survey of 3,280 workers by the Community and Public Sector Union, released on Friday, will add pressure to the Morrison government to do more to combat workplace harassment.
Continue reading...Australia news live: TGA says ‘no likely’ link betweens deaths and vaccine; Melbourne announces new Covid quarantine facility
Victoria says 500-bed $15m facility to be built in Mickleham; Australia’s medicine regulator expected to determine whether death of two men in NSW linked to coronavirus jab. Follow the day’s news live
- Second unconfirmed blood clot death reported in NSW
- Comparing US and UK Covid case numbers suggests Australia’s India flight ban based on ‘fear factor’
- Budget to focus on jobs and economic recovery, Josh Frydenberg says
Thousands of corellas have been filmed flocking to the suburban streets of Nowra on the NSW south coast and it is terrifying.
China’s top envoy to Australia has blasted as “ridiculous” the claim that Beijing’s economic coercion has been the cause of tensions between the two countries.
China’s ambassador, Cheng Jingye, has also cautioned Australia against “teaming up in [a] small group against China” - in apparent reference to initiatives like the Quad with the US, Japan and India. Cheng said Australia should not play the “victim game”.
Continue reading...Australia news live: AMA says WA hotel quarantine not ‘fit for purpose’ for containing Covid
Top doctor says leaks continue to happen because federal experts ‘deny’ virus is airborne; WA premier Mark McGowan to decide today whether Perth and Peel can reopen after three days of lockdown. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
• WA Covid hotspots: list of exposure sites
• Perth and WA Covid lockdown rules explained
• WA premier furious that Australian residents are travelling to ‘Covid-infected countries’
The social media giant Facebook has released a short statement confirming it has removed the page of independent federal MP Craig Kelly for repeated breaches of misinformation policy.
A Facebook company spokesperson said:
We don’t allow anyone, including elected officials, to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.
We have clear policies against this type of content and have removed Mr Kelly’s Facebook Page for repeated violations of this policy.
Thanks to Matilda Boseley for another electric display of web logging.
Continue reading...Victorious over Covid, Australia and New Zealand grapple with vaccine rollout
Australia’s glacially slow delivery of jabs derided as a ‘farce’, while in New Zealand only 4.5% of eligible people have been vaccinated
They were held up as Covid success stories, two countries at the bottom of the world that kept outbreaks under control and deaths low as the pandemic swept the rest of the globe.
Daily life in cities including Sydney and Auckland now feels largely back to pre-pandemic normal – restaurants are full, theatres are open, masks are scarce and offices are busy. A degree of international travel is also a reality thanks to the new “trans-Tasman travel bubble” – a two-way quarantine-free corridor between the neighbours.
Continue reading...Australia news live: NSW Aboriginal deaths in custody inquiry recommends sweeping reforms; dance squad blasts ABC over navy twerking coverage
NSW MPs call for end to police investigating themselves on 30th anniversary of royal commission; Queensland eases Covid restrictions; fashion designer Carla Zampatti farewelled in Sydney. Follow updates live
- Indigenous advocates respond to inquiry into Aboriginal incarceration
- Labor pledges $90m to reduce Indigenous incarceration
- What Australia can learn from world’s best vaccine rollouts
Scott Morrison is speaking now.
Now that unemployment has hit 5.6%, the treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled he will revisit the budget strategy - which is that the Morrison government won’t tighten fiscal policy until unemployment is “comfortably within” 6%.
Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra that 5.6% was not “comfortably within” 6% and that now is “not the time for austerity”.
Continue reading...Australia news live: Christine Holgate says she was ‘bullied’ and Australia Post chairman fabricated evidence
Holgate says she was ‘humiliated’ by prime minister Scott Morrison; man dies of coronavirus in Queensland. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
• Australia won’t purchase Johnson & Johnson jab
• AstraZeneca blood clotting: what is this rare syndrome?
• Andrew Laming blocked from recontesting next election
• More than half of Australians think vaccine rollout is too slow
Wow, it’s been a busy few hours! With that, I’m going to hand you over to Michael McGowan to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Christine Holgate gave some evidence about executive bonuses. It is a little confusing and we’ll come back to it, because even the senators seem a little confused about what is being said. And it’s important we get it right, so I’ll head back over the transcript to see what she was saying there.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has the question call now. She says she has been very moved by Holgate, and what she went through. She asks whether she thinks the questioning on the 22 October estimates hearing was fair.
Holgate:
In all honesty, I didn’t consider whether it was fair or not fair. I absolutely respect and Senator Carr, forgive me but you’ve asked me many tough questions over my time with you (“that’s my job,” Carr says)...and I was about to say ‘that’s your job’.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison recites from God Save the Queen after death of Prince Philip
Australian prime minister says he hopes Queen Elizabeth will ‘find great comfort in your faith and your family’
The Australian prime minister and governor general have paid tribute to Prince Philip, who has died aged 99, saying he was “no stranger to Australia” having visited the country more than 20 times.
Scott Morrison said Australians sent their love and deepest condolences to Queen Elizabeth and the royal family. He stated Philip “embodied a generation that we will never see again”.
Continue reading...Coronavirus Australia live update: Scott Morrison announces 20m more Pfizer vaccine doses after problems with AstraZeneca-led rollout
Vaccine rollout faces delays as authorities scramble to secure alternatives to AstraZeneca such as Pfizer for under-50s over blood clot fears. Follow updates live
- Australia issues blood clot warning for AstraZeneca vaccine for under-50s
- Aged care nurses still in the dark about promised ‘pop-up’ vaccination hubs
- Follow our global coronavirus live blog
Labor MP Josh Burns has criticised the government for failing to deliver vaccines to aged care staff and residents, noting the issue is unrelated to fresh concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine causing blood clotting in those under 50.
Burns’ comments follow reports in the Guardian this morning that the federal government is expected to miss a self-imposed target on delivering “pop-up” hubs to vaccinate critical aged care staff and has given no details on the proposal to workers, despite multiple requests for information and meetings from the nursing union.
We’ve not had any federal aged care providers in Macnamara receive their vaccinations or have any indication on what day they are going to be having them, not to mention the staff that are still vulnerable and haven’t been vaccinated.
The frustration that Australians rightly have is that the promises that have been made have not been made by the Labor Party, they’ve been made by Greg Hunt, they’ve been made by Scott Morrison, they’ve been telling Australians that they’ve got it under control, that all is well, they are going to be vaccinating Australians and they haven’t been.
Related: Australia’s aged care nurses still in the dark about promised ‘pop-up’ vaccination hubs
Women need more information about contraceptive options, experts said, after concerns over rare blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca Covid jab prompted a debate over side-effects caused by certain forms of the pill.
On Wednesday the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that evidence that the jab could be causing a rare blood clotting syndrome was growing stronger. As a result the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that healthy people under the age of 30 who were at low risk of Covid should be offered a different vaccine if possible.
Related: Contraception blood-clot risk: ‘public need better access to advice’
Continue reading...UK ministers silent on AstraZeneca vaccine shipment to Australia
Downing Street will not confirm or deny report that more than 700,000 Covid jabs were sent after EU blocked export
British ministers and officials did not deny that more than 700,000 shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine were secretly dispatched from the UK to Australia a few weeks ago as the EU blocked the drug’s export.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that 717,000 AstraZeneca doses were dispatched in late February and March from the company’s British operations – also during a period when the EU was demanding the vaccine from the UK.
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