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Australia coronavirus live: Scott Morrison sets out three conditions to lift lockdown – latest news Australia coronavirus live: Scott Morrison sets out three conditions to lift lockdown – latest news
(32 minutes later)
Kevin Rudd slams Donald Trump’s ‘lunatic’ WHO decision as state and federal leaders discuss Australian school attendance. Follow all the latest news, liveKevin Rudd slams Donald Trump’s ‘lunatic’ WHO decision as state and federal leaders discuss Australian school attendance. Follow all the latest news, live
Asked to talk to his post restriction Australia economic policy settings comment again, Scott Morrison says: G20 governments - of which Australia is one - have agreed to temporarily suspend debt repayments for the world’s least developed countries in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
There is another question on whether or not the government will be bailing out Virgin. The rationale for suspending repayments is to free up money in these countries to fight the virus. 77 countries have had their debts to G20 countries suspended from May to the end of the year, worth about $12b.
The G20 has also called on private creditors to similarly suspend debt repayments.
“We support a time-bound suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance,” the G20 said in a statement after finance ministers held an online meeting on Wednesday.
But the debt has not been forgiven, as was being sought by a number of civil society organisations, in Australia, and around the world.
Dr Luke Fletcher, executive director of Jubilee Australia said: “the G20’s announcement gives struggling countries some temporary relief, but it will not help countries at risk of a debt crisis in the long-term as they will have to pay the money back later.
“To support low-income countries globally to respond to the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout, the G20 needs to move to immediate debt cancellation.”
The executive director of ActionAid Australia, Michelle Higelin, said many countries in the Asia-Pacific and Africa faced a “triple-threat” from Covid-19, an economic recession, and the climate crisis.
“Women and girls are already among the most impacted by job losses, increases in unpaid care and inadequate social protection,” she said.
The rooftop protest at Villawood detention centre - against the risks of Covid-19 within the close and crowded confines of detention - has been ended by armed police.
Three men who had been on the roof of the Blaxland compound since Saturday have been removed from the roof. Refugee advocates say they do not know where they are now.
All other detainees have been transferred from the Blaxland compound to Hume compound inside the main Villawood detention facility.
But the concerns over the lack of safety for detainees being held at high-risk of coronavirus infection have not been resolved, Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said. “Swapping Blaxland for Hume has done nothing to rectify the inherent risk that is associated with the detention environment.
“Everyone in Blaxland could have been more easily and safely released from detention rather than using armed police to end a peaceful protest.”
Doctors have repeatedly said it is not safe for hundreds of people to be held in the close confines of detention, sharing communal spaces and eating together. An open letter protesting ongoing detention of asylum seekers and refugees has been signed by more than 1200 medical professionals.
The Australian government’s own health department website says people held in detention are at greater risk of contracting Covid-19 and greater risk of a serious infection.
Sarah Dale, principal solicitor at the Refugee Advice & Casework Service, said the health and medical advice was clear that there was a heightened risk of a cluster in an immigration detention facility.“At RACS we have spoken to many people in detention, they are scared and they are anxious - they don’t have the option to socially distance when they share rooms with multiple people and see different staff coming in and out of these facilities. It’s the epitome of every situation the Government has otherwise advised against.”
The industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, will shortly announce that he is making a regulation to reduce the mandatory consultation period for enterprise agreement changes from 7 days to 24 hours.
What that means is - employers can put proposed changes to pay and conditions to their workforce, with just a 24 hour deadline to agree or prepare to fight the changes in the Fair Work Commission.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions is greatly perturbed that this eases the way to cuts to pay and conditions.The regulation is a disallowable instrument, but the Senate is not due to sit til August, quite a long window for employers to seek changes.
So there you have it – some criticisms, but Australia won’t be walking away from the World Health Organisation.
The prime minister finishes his press conference with a comment on the World Health Organisation.
He references his speech last year to the Lowy Foundation, where he warned of “negative globalism” and says the WHO is one of the organisations he said Australia was reviewing.
He says that review will return soon.
But he adds this:
Following on from reports, included from Rebekha Sharkie, that employers are trying to keep some of the $1500 wage subsidy, Scott Morrison says:
Parents should follow the instructions that are being provided by state premiers and State education ministers. And for the arrangements put in place - if you are going to school in Victoria there is only one person you need to listen to and that is the Premier of Victoria.
Likewise in New South Wales you should listen to the Premier of New South Wales.
You don’t have a choice to go to Victoria one day a New South Wales another, even in Albury-Wodonga, but in the Northern Territory it is what the Chief Minister has said and they have different arrangements again.
We are a big enough country with very different geographic and different case scenarios occurring in the States and territories for there to be some differences, but those differences I think accord with the principles that we have set out to date.
I think it is very clear that the medical expert advice is - children are safe to go to school, but there are issues within each state about the delivery of education, which they are going to take into account, which means that they will be operating on slightly different bases, but consistent with these principles.
Why is Australia not following New Zealand in an eradication approach?
Scott Morrison:Scott Morrison:
We are aware of their interest in that, it has not got much beyond that, New Zealand has been in a state of even more extreme lockdown, that has been their process. IVF will be considered as part of a loosening of elective surgery restrictions, Professor Brendan Murphy confirms
So we are aware of that but we are not at present contemplating any border changes at the moment, we will work closely with New Zealand, we have all along, and our measures have largely mirrored each other, New Zealand decided to go a lot further but I note the outcomes we are getting are actually on a per capita basis better than what is happening in New Zealand, that is not a criticism that is just to say we managed to get as good if not a better outcome. Scott Morrison is asked if the app he wants people to download will involve swapping phone numbers (which the Singapore app, which this one is modeled on, does not)...and does not seem to rule it out
What did Scott Morrison mean when he said election promises would be “reconsidered”? (Just a reminder that every government can claim record spending on health and education, because both those budgets grow, as the population does and net debt has doubled in Australia, under Coalition governments)
The modelling, which we will link to, is what the chief medical officer says is helping to inform the measures Australia is using: On debt and deficit, Scott Morrison says:
Prof Brendan Murphy is leading the slideshow Daniel Hurst was talking about there. Channel Seven’s Tim Lester asks whether Scott Morrison is promoting an “aggressive test, trace, isolate” way forward, which the prime minister considers to be “a good summary”.
He led into it by talking about why the restrictions have to be carefully lifted, and not just thrown off at once: You can expect some form of physical distancing rules to remain in place for some time though:
According to slides handed out to journalists at today’s media conference, Australia is estimated to be currently detecting approximately 92% of all symptomatic cases, while each state and territory is individually estimated to be detecting over 80%.
The slides argue that Australia has one of the highest reported detection rates globally.
The high detection rate doesn’t mean the outbreak is out of control in Australia, just that we don’t seem to be missing symptomatic cases.
The Doherty Institute is currently working on the next phase of modelling using Australian data to work out the current state of the epidemic, which will be known as “nowcasting”. This new work will include rolling “forecasts” to estimate what might happen with the outbreak over the coming fortnight.
Scott Morrison on schools:
Scott Morrison:
That was quite the 15 minutes.
What have we learnt?
Restrictions to remain in place for at least another four weeks, but easing is on the agenda
The government wants increased testing - including those with no symptoms – as well as larger scale contact tracing (downloading the app) and localised lockdown ability to be put in place, before restrictions are loosened.
Parliament may return next month
Post restriction Australia does not include election promises
Schools have seven national principles, as federal government pushes return to on-site learning
We will be seeking - and I will be raising this with the opposition at our regular meeting - with the opposition and the government this evening - that we will be looking to have a trial week of Parliament in May and that would be returning to the normal business of Parliament.
That would not be the Parliament coming together to consider necessarily Covid-19 related measures but if they do need to be considered, of course they can be but we want to send a very clear message that we are well ahead of where we thought we might be at this point and that would mean that we might be able to - I would say will be able to - having the Parliament meet again on a regular basis, but obviously we just need to trial how that is going to work.
We will have to work obviously within the arrangements that we were able to establish a few weeks ago.
There are a lot of logistical issues we have to run through, there are not a lot of flights at the moment which will make it difficult, but there are also some border closure issues for a number of states which also have to be resolved and I am sure we will be able to deal with that through the National Cabinet as well.
It is important that Parliament goes about that work and we are in a position to do so, so I look forward to Parliament being able to resume and continue to do the legislative work that it does.
On the ‘six month’ time frame the government has been using, Scott Morrison says don’t expect everything to be back to anything approaching what you knew as normal, anytime soon:
But the restrictions that are in place will stay in place for at least another month:
And Scott Morrison on that third condition – localised lockdown ability:
Scott Morrison on the second condition – increased contact tracing/downloading a tracking app: