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| Coronavirus Australia update latest: NSW to relax restrictions to allow two adults to visit a household – live news | Coronavirus Australia update latest: NSW to relax restrictions to allow two adults to visit a household – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Bondi reopens for swimming and surfing but the beach itself remains closed given the area boasts the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Australia. Follow live | Bondi reopens for swimming and surfing but the beach itself remains closed given the area boasts the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Australia. Follow live |
| Westpac has announced about $2bn in writedowns. | |
| Ben Butler will be telling you more about that soon. | |
| I had a chat to Peter Vickers from the Ku-Ring-Gai chamber of commerce this morning, after I was sent this: | |
| He says he has sent another message to businesses alerting them to the determination of the health minister, that no one can be coerced into downloading the Covid tracing app, or denied entry into businesses for not having it on their phone. | |
| But he doesn’t seem happy about it, saying that council workers and police are still roaming beaches and parks to ensure social distancing measures are in place, but businesses can’t check on the app. | |
| For the record, the app doesn’t mean you don’t have Covid-19 – it is just a way of helping health authorities trace those you may have been in contact with if you do, or if you were in contact with someone who does (if you are with them for longer than 15 minutes) and even with restrictions slowly being relaxed, businesses are still responsible for ensuring physical distance rules apply in their storefronts, which means no more than one person per 4sqm. | |
| But no one can make you download the app if you choose not to, and no one can deny you entry to a store if you don’t have the app. | |
| Treasury officials have revealed that some 540,000 employers have formally registered for the jobkeeper wage subsidy scheme, covering an estimated 3.3m employees. | |
| Peter Whish-Wilson questioned why businesses have to stump up the $1,500 fortnightly payments in April before jobkeeper flows in May – was this a practical constraint or an integrity measure. | |
| Kennedy replied: “It’s both.” | |
| Kennedy said the take-up numbers are “broadly on track” with estimates of 6m employees being covered. | |
| Other officials note the timeframe for businesses to make payments has been extended to 8 May and a number of changes to expand eligibility were unveiled on Friday. | |
| Nationals senator Perin Davey has been asking about trade with China, and whether Australia’s economy will diversify or revert to type in resuming reliance on China. | |
| Kennedy replied: | |
| However, Kennedy noted it is “valuable to the Australian economy to be complementary to Chinese growth”, citing the iron ore, metallurgical coal prices and export levels. He concluded Australia will both diversify and continue trade with China. | |
| “There is great economic return to Australia in continuing to support China’s economic development and growth.”Under Greens questioning, Kennedy said Treasury is not currently working on an assistance package for the arts and entertainment industries, and breweries, but he notes that line agencies may be. | |
| The federal parliament will return next month for a “trial” after it was adjourned until August during the beginning of the Covid-19 response. | |
| With Australia’s suppression rate of the virus ahead of where authorities thought it would be, that could see parliament return, as normal, a lot earlier. The 12 May sitting is one of the first steps towards that. | |
| The Centre for Public Integrity has written a briefing paper on how parliaments should sit, even if things get dicey again: | |
| Constitutional requirements that parliament sit in the “seat of government” could be met by a core group of ministers and MPs sitting in Canberra and hosting others by video conference. | |
| The quorum of attendance of parliament outlined in the constitution could be adapted by each House to include online attendance. | |
| Wales, Scotland and the UK parliaments are holding online questions and statements, and the Welsh assembly and the European Council are trialing online voting. | |
| The UK hybrid model of online and in person attendance could meet Australian constitutional requirements and allow for greater participation of all elected representatives. | |
| Victoria will not be following New South Wales in easing some restrictions on Friday, despite Victoria having fewer confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths than its northern counterpart. | |
| NSW will allow people to have two visitors into their homes from Friday, but Victoria will keep its limits in place until May 11. | |
| Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters the situation was “fragile” and he didn’t want to ease up restrictions too early and then be forced to bring them back in. | |
| He said the 100,000 tests for the virus over the next fortnight would give the state “options” in easing restrictions but he indicated those options would not be considered until after the testing had been completed. | |
| Labor’s Katy Gallagher has probed when Treasury started work on the economic stimulus/support packages, and whether Kennedy was aware more restrictions were coming on 22 March, given the second stimulus package was announced that morning. | |
| Kennedy replied it started work on 1 March, and work was continuous from then. He confirms he was aware further restrictions were coming, defending the delay until 30 March for the government to unveil the $130bn jobkeeper wage subsidy program, by noting the second package did contain income support measures. | Kennedy replied it started work on 1 March, and work was continuous from then. He confirms he was aware further restrictions were coming, defending the delay until 30 March for the government to unveil the $130bn jobkeeper wage subsidy program, by noting the second package did contain income support measures. |
| “It is an open question whether we should have advised on more extensive wage subsidy arrangements ... [sooner],” he said. | “It is an open question whether we should have advised on more extensive wage subsidy arrangements ... [sooner],” he said. |
| Kennedy argued there are advantages to not being first – because Treasury could study other countries’ wage subsidy packages to ensure it didn’t create an incentive to stand people down. | |
| When Gallagher probed the fact just $10bn has been distributed so far – with three times that amount to come in the next month – Kennedy replied “I would regard that as a rapid payment of money”. | |
| “I think, from an administrative perspective, I’m incredibly impressed with ATO and Services Australia [in distributing funds].” | “I think, from an administrative perspective, I’m incredibly impressed with ATO and Services Australia [in distributing funds].” |
| You can find Steven Kennedy’s whole opening statement, here. | You can find Steven Kennedy’s whole opening statement, here. |
| Dr Steven Kennedy says Treasury began working on the Australian response to this, from the economic point of view, on the first of March. The first economic package (since superseded several times over) was announced on 12 March. | Dr Steven Kennedy says Treasury began working on the Australian response to this, from the economic point of view, on the first of March. The first economic package (since superseded several times over) was announced on 12 March. |
| “To be honest, we never stopped working on the response from the day we started because it was unfolding,” he said. | “To be honest, we never stopped working on the response from the day we started because it was unfolding,” he said. |
| The Treasury secretary, Dr Steven Kennedy, is delivering his opening statement to the Covid-19 Senate committee looking at Australia’s response. | The Treasury secretary, Dr Steven Kennedy, is delivering his opening statement to the Covid-19 Senate committee looking at Australia’s response. |
| He offers up some data – none of it good and all of it pointing to just how hard the next few years will be: | He offers up some data – none of it good and all of it pointing to just how hard the next few years will be: |
| Two people in Victoria have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. | Two people in Victoria have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. |
| Sorry for the incorrect figures on Queensland a little bit ago – they have no new cases – I am watching a lot of press conferences at once, and the way the information is now being presented is a little haphazard because it is no longer those big numbers we had been seeing just a couple of weeks ago. Which is good news. | Sorry for the incorrect figures on Queensland a little bit ago – they have no new cases – I am watching a lot of press conferences at once, and the way the information is now being presented is a little haphazard because it is no longer those big numbers we had been seeing just a couple of weeks ago. Which is good news. |
| Those insurance council updates are coming through to you now that they have the sound working, because teleconference dramas are now part of our daily lives. | Those insurance council updates are coming through to you now that they have the sound working, because teleconference dramas are now part of our daily lives. |
| Insurance Council of Australia witnesses have said that landlords have made 3,000 claims for loss of rent due to Covid-19 so far. | Insurance Council of Australia witnesses have said that landlords have made 3,000 claims for loss of rent due to Covid-19 so far. |
| The ICA said that “nearly all” insurers have adjusted the triggers for claims so that an eviction notice or notice of arrears is no longer required – an important step given the national cabinet has agreed on a six-month moratorium on evictions. Instead, they’re accepting application forms for government relief programs as evidence of tenants in distress. | The ICA said that “nearly all” insurers have adjusted the triggers for claims so that an eviction notice or notice of arrears is no longer required – an important step given the national cabinet has agreed on a six-month moratorium on evictions. Instead, they’re accepting application forms for government relief programs as evidence of tenants in distress. |
| The ICA said it reminds its members of “community expectations” but doesn’t punish them if they don’t adjust their policies, and nor does it advise them not to sue tenants in arrears for lost rent. | The ICA said it reminds its members of “community expectations” but doesn’t punish them if they don’t adjust their policies, and nor does it advise them not to sue tenants in arrears for lost rent. |
| Robert Whelan noted that insurers abide by their contracts and “so too should tenants”. Decisions to sue a tenant for rent in arrears are made on a “case-by-case basis”. | Robert Whelan noted that insurers abide by their contracts and “so too should tenants”. Decisions to sue a tenant for rent in arrears are made on a “case-by-case basis”. |
| Queensland has reported no new people with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. | Queensland has reported no new people with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. |
| Liberal senator James Paterson was on Sky News this morning, where he was also asked about China’s “threats”. | Liberal senator James Paterson was on Sky News this morning, where he was also asked about China’s “threats”. |