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| Coronavirus live news Australia: Morrison announces three-step plan to ease restrictions after national cabinet meeting – latest update | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Prime minister says it is hoped that step three can be reached by July, but pace will be up to states and territories. Follow all the news, live | |
| There is a “clear Queensland plan” to return to normality, the premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says. | |
| Starting Saturday week, the following will be allowed. | |
| Gatherings in homes with a maximum of five people. | |
| Gathering of 10 people in other places | |
| Opening beauty salons (“good news for the ladies”, says the Premier | |
| Weddings can have 10 guests | |
| Funerals can have 20 guests indoors, 30 outdoors | |
| Open homes will be allowed | |
| Lagoons open for swimmers | |
| Dining in pubs and cafes in outback areas (where there are no cases) limited to 20 people | |
| The next stages will increase travel distances allowed and open more businesses in time for the June school holidays. | |
| And here’s the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk. | |
| She says there’s no new cases overnight. | |
| Hello all, and thanks to Michael McGowan for his contribution as we veer into another afternoon of constant updates and occasional sad reminders that it’s Friday afternoon, but we won’t be at the pub later. | |
| Expecting Queensland’s premier, health minister and the chief health office up in a few minutes. | |
| The big question they should expect is about the NRL’s return and whether the code’s cluster of anti-vaxxers will be allowed to play in the state if they refuse a flu shot. | |
| Strap yourself in and here we go. | |
| That’s where I’ll leave you this afternoon. We expect to hear from the Queensland and South Australian premiers soon, but I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of my colleague Ben Smee. Thanks as always for reading. | |
| The Reserve Bank may think Australia’s economy will come roaring back next year but there’s some private sector data about pointing to the longer-term ripple effect of the coronavirus crisis. | |
| Rental website rent.com.au says about 60% of renters have either stopped working or had their hours cut due to the crisis, and 35% have asked for a rent reduction or deferral. | |
| Some 22% of those surveyed said their ability to pay the rent had been severely affected | |
| Making things worse, two-thirds of renters said they didn’t feel comfortable seeking support from the real estate agent handling the property. | |
| Prime minister Scott Morrison has said there’s a six-month ban on evictions, but in fact the issue is a state matter and the actual situation varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. | |
| If rents are merely deferred, rather than reduced, that just puts the rental crisis off, because once the holiday ends renters will suddenly be confronted with a balloon of rental payments they’ve got no way to make. On the other hand, landlords are screaming blue murder about the prospect of a reduction in rental income. | |
| Yesterday, the Real Estate Institute of NSW, which has been leading the landlord charge, again complained about what it sees as a lack of support for landlords. In an open letter to NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, it complained that tenants had heard that they couldn’t be evicted and gone on rent strike. | |
| It also complained that the Tenants Union had been given $250,000 to help tenants but “no similar funding has been provided to support landlords”. | |
| State governments have given landlords hit by Covid-19 tax breaks, but landlords say this won’t fill the gap. In its letter, the REINSW isn’t clear about what additional measures it actually wants. | |
| At this stage, with restrictions on the cusp of being eased, it’s difficult to see any politician approving a cash handout for people who by definition have hard, saleable assets other than the family home - especially as state finances have been ravaged by the crisis and their ability to raise money is much more limited than the commonwealth’s. | |
| On the other hand, the real estate lobby has traditionally been extremely powerful in Australia. | |
| Still on schools, if it isn’t obvious yet, Andrews says: “I’ll have more to say about schools next week”. | |
| On schools, where Victoria has held a harder line to keeping children at home to other states, Andrews says the door “has always been open” to children returning to classrooms. | |
| Andrews likens the elements of step one in the rollback of restrictions to a menu. | Andrews likens the elements of step one in the rollback of restrictions to a menu. |
| He says that when he makes announcements on Monday, “it will take some time for different sectors, for different parts of the Victorian economy and Victorian community to be able to be ready for that change”. | He says that when he makes announcements on Monday, “it will take some time for different sectors, for different parts of the Victorian economy and Victorian community to be able to be ready for that change”. |
| Andrews says there will be an easing of some rules, but wont go into specifics until next week. | Andrews says there will be an easing of some rules, but wont go into specifics until next week. |
| Andrews says that nothing will change in Victoria today, or over the weekend. | Andrews says that nothing will change in Victoria today, or over the weekend. |
| Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now. | Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now. |
| Here are those slides on steps one, two and three: | Here are those slides on steps one, two and three: |
| And that’s all from the prime minister and chief health officer. They’ve just outlined a three-step roadmap for a reopening of the economy by July. We’ll now wait to hear from the premiers about when exactly stage one will begin to be implemented. | And that’s all from the prime minister and chief health officer. They’ve just outlined a three-step roadmap for a reopening of the economy by July. We’ll now wait to hear from the premiers about when exactly stage one will begin to be implemented. |