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Q&A live coronavirus: Victoria, NSW and Queensland premiers join ABC panel tonight to discuss Covid-19 restrictions Australia coronavirus live update: Covidsafe app downloads reach 5.5m as Victoria begins easing Covid-19 restrictions – latest news
(33 minutes later)
State premiers Daniel Andrews, Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk join Q+A host Hamish Macdonald as Vic and Qld plan to lift lockdown restrictions. Follow live updates 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, live
The final question was from a man named Corey from New Zealand, asking when he might visit family in Australia. We will be providing live coverage of state premiers Daniel Andrews, Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk on the ABC’s Q&A program at 9.30pm. But before we get there, here’s what’s happened today:
Berejiklian jokes that she may be able to visit Auckland before she can visit Cairns, and says Australia needs to resolve its internal borders before it looks at creating a trans-Tasman bubble. Victoria announced it would relax its restrictions from midnight tomorrow, allowing people to have up to five visitors in their home and outdoor gatherings of up to 10. Regional daytrips are allowed but not staying overnight.
Craig Rowley from Seahome, Victoria asks what Australia’s economic drivers will be if immigration tapers off post-pandemic. AFL training is resuming from Wednesday.
Berejiklian says there will be some changes to the economy. She if focusing on manufacturing. Hugs are still not recommended.
What about cutting payroll tax and/or stamp duty to help businesses? Another resident of Newmarch House has died, bringing the death toll at that facility to 17. This resident had tested positive to Covid-19, then tested negative twice before they died.
She says she is “absolutely” willing to look at reform in those areas, and also to cut red tape, which is something she was already inclined to do. The CovidSafe app now has 5.5 million registered users and is “operational and working”.
Andrews is also asked the payroll tax question, and dodges it. Scott Morrison has indicated jobkeeper might be “adjusted” to provide more targeted (read: less broad) support. Labor says it may back it if the savings are redirected at workers who missed out.
He says there “will have to be change”. Morrison still doesn’t want to talk about sports rorts.
He says that national cabinet could be a circuit breaker for the kind of IR reform that Australia has, of late, decided on ideological lines. And he says he would be “extremely disappointed” if China’s proposed barley tariffs were in response to Australia’s push for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19.
It’s wonderful to see he still has such hope. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has laid out his vision for a post-Covid world, saying he doesn’t want things to just snap back.
Next question is about football. Why is the NRL given the green light, when so many people are out of work and unable to work due to coronavirus restrictions? Carnival Cruises’s port operations manager has told the Ruby Princess inquiry that they didn’t implement a 1.5 metre distancing policy between disembarking guests because he “does not remember it being a requirement at the time”.
Palaszczuk says the NRL is a workplace. Across the ditch, New Zealand has moved to stage two restrictions, meaning schools have reopened, workers are back in offices, and restaurants and shops are reopening.
Andrews says he’ll leave it to the AFL to make its own decisions, but that if it can be done safely there is a net community benefit to the reutnr to sport You can follow our rolling global coverage here and read a more detailed summary of the day’s news in Australia here. I’ll see you in an hour or so.
Hamish asks Berejiklian about the disruption in her own cabinet. She first answers Nick from Mandurah’s question. Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy is currently on ABC’s 7.30 program.
Yes, but what about the issues in cabinet? It’s a repetition of the lines he said yesterday, and his deputies were saying today.
A man named Merwyn in Queensland (apologies, I missed his last name) asks about former treasurer Jackie Trad resigning over a corruption investigation, and whether management of the pandemic will be set aside as the government manages factional disputes. Asked what keeps him awake at night, Murphy says:
Palaszczuk says no. She had replacements in cabinet in 48 hours The eased restrictions in NSW do not actually come into effect until Friday, but you have been allowed to surf — where beaches are open — for some time. “Exercise” is not narrowly defined in the public health orders.
Next question is from Nick Valentine in Mandurah, WA. He says that by this time next year we will have a virus for Covid-19 (that’s a strong maybe), and the road toll will be 10 times higher than the number of lives lost from Covid-19 in Australia. But it certainly feels less locked down this week, which may or not be a good thing.
Andrews is up first. He says it was a tough decision, and no one entered into the decisions lightly, but that if the virus got away from them it would have been “deadly”. The problem throughout the lockdown period has not been individuals going to the beach, but crowds, or apparent crowds, at beaches. So you can go to the beach for exercise purposes provided no one else has the same idea.
He says the choice was between repairing economic damage and having tens of thousands of people die. Paul Karp and Luke Henriques-Gomes have been looking into reports the Morrison government is considering “adjusting” the $1,500 jobkeeper payment, just days after the money actually started flowing.
Palaszczuk says that peoples lives have been turned upside down, but “the initial modelling we had was if we didn’t flatten the curb, in Queensland there could have been 37,000 people who lost their lives”. And there are reports that some employers are exploiting the scheme. They write:
She says the focus is now on getting people back to work. In sad news:
Berejiklian says she would prefer to keep a one size fits all approach to restrictions in NSW to “avoid confusion”. Forget golf – Melbourne’s true favourite pastime, purchasing real estate, will be able to resume from Wednesday.
She says that Victoria and NSW decided not to close their borders because people living in those border communities, like Albury-Wodonga, do not see the distinction between the states so imposing a hard border wouldn’t work. And the Real Estate Institute of Victoria is excited.
Neither NSW or Victoria are allowing regional travel at this stage. They said they will monitor and allow that travel when they are comfortable. Auctions and open-for-inspections will be restricted to 10 people (significantly reducing rubbernecking) and the REIV is “encouraging” real estate agents and anyone attending an auction or open house to download the Covidsafe app. The app isn’t compulsory, and real estate agents will also be taking people’s contact details for contact tracing purposes.
Callan Oar from Ayr in northern Queensland has a question for Palaszczuk. REIV president Leah Calnan said:
Palaszczuk says the lack of any known cases does not mean that there’s no risk in northern Queensland. Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia’s relationship with China is “not in a great place”.
She says opening up those regions will depend on the number of people still in quarantine in those areas. 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:
Annastacia Palaszczuk is asked when the Queensland border will be reopened. She says that depends on rates of community transmission in NSW and Victoria. The call comes in the wake of a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over Australia’s call for an international investigation into the origin and handling of Covid-19, which China took to be directed against it.
The next questions is from Catherine Kopec in Burwood, Victoria, about the outbreak at Cedar Meats. Tensions intensified when China’s ambassador to Australia gave an interview to a newspaper late last month saying Chinese tourists and students may rethink their plans to visit Australia in the future “if the mood is going from bad to worse”, while consumers may also decide against buying Australian wine and beef.
What will you do to ensure employees, including teachers, are safe to go to work? What will you do to guarantee that employers follow strict guidelines? The government is currently trying to persuade China not to proceed with plans to impose tariffs on Australian barley imports, with Scott Morrison saying the proposal stems from an 18-month-long process and he doesn’t believe it is connected to the recent inquiry proposal.
Andrews says “we’re going to see further outbreaks” and the key to managing them was a lot of testing and rapid contact tracing. 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.
Asked why the government took so long to publicly identify Cedar Meats as the site of an outbreak, Andrews says deciding to identify a place of work as the site of an outbreak is a matter for the public health team. People will not be able to eat indoors at restaurants until June.
He said there would be “learnings all the way along” in terms of how to appropriately manage localised outbreaks. He praises both the public health team and the abattoir workers. The SA premier, Steven Marshall, says the change that came into effect today will mainly benefit restaurants that have already switched to take-away service.
The next question is about Newmarch House aged care home. By allowing sick residents to remain out of hospital and in the residential aged care home, the questioner says, it has increased the risk for healthy residents at the home. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, James Pearson, has commented on proposals to modify the $130bn jobkeeper program.
How does a sick person’s desire to stay out of hospital override the rights of those who are well and at risk of contracting the virus and even dying? He told Guardian Australia:
Berejiklian says it’s a “vexed moral and ethical questions”. A final very important question for those of us watching the snowfalls at the start of this month: will we be able to go skiing in Victoria?
She says that the aged care regulator stepped in to monitor the situation, and repeats that it would be inappropriate for politicians or the national cabinet to step in or override health advice. Sutton says yes – to the extent that you can socially distance while skiing, so daytrips and groups of less than 10. But no staying overnight, no dorms, possibly only cross-country skiing at this point. The full details are likely to be worked out later. The ski season doesn’t open until the Queen’s birthday weekend in June.
She said the expectation is that everyone who manages an aged care home assumes they are going to have a Covid-19 outbreak and has a plan in place. Sutton says that by the end of the month, Australia should have a “decent antibodies test”.
To the Ruby Princess. Olympia Kwitowsi from Salisbury in Queensland asks Berejiklian why people should be listening to her, given her government let that cruise ship in. He says a testing program using that test should be up and running in the next couple of months. That will give an indication of how many people in Australia have had Covid-19 and have antibodies.
Berejiklian makes a quip that Olympia should ask her own premier, is reminded by McDonald that 10% of Australia’s coronavirus cases come from the Ruby Princess. But he warns it’s likely to be quite low. Even in New York, only about 20% of the population has had and recovered from Covid-19.
She acknowledges that, and says she does not want to cut across the commission of inquiry or the police investigation. Is it possible we could have a second wave bigger than the first? Epstein asks.
This reply is a bit of a mess. Berejiklian keeps repeating that “thirteen out of 14 disembarkments were successful in New South Wales”. Yes, Sutton says, mainly because our first wave was so small.
A pity the 14th was the Ruby Princess. He says the limiting factor is how well people can maintain social distancing, even if the restrictions lift.
I’m not going to promise there won’t be further mistakes. There might be in my state and maybe elsewhere, but we have to pick ourselves up and move forward. A mistake-free pandemic is impossible, it would be miraculous. We take learnings and move forward but I can’t promise there won’t be other mistakes into the future. We need to make sure we have the social distancing and contact tracing in place to protect our citizens as much as possible. Epstein asks Sutton about the protest outside parliament in Melbourne yesterday.
Berejiklian is asked why she was confident that students could safely return to school in NSW from this week. Sutton says it’s “not ideal for people to be in close contact, and if there are significant gathering size, then the potential for transmission increases”.
She said the advice was the biggest risk was transmission between teachers, and NSW had spent weeks getting PPE and sanitary equipment in schools Suttons says it’s not a matter of people just risking their own health. If the disease spreads, the chance of vulnerable people getting it grows exponentially.
Next question is from Tori Hill in Malvern, Victoria. Why can’t kids in Victoria return to school? Sutton says his advice to the Victorian government on if and when schools can reopen is cabinet-in-confidence.
Andrews is not really able to say why the rules are different on returning to school in Victoria than in NSW or other states, but he says by the end of the term “I think most states will finish up in about the same place.” He says he would not oppose a staggered approach to returning to school, which is what Queensland and Tasmania are doing, but won’t be drawn on what he has actually told cabinet.
He says that “every state’s in a different position”. Sutton is echoing a lot of the comments made by the national chief medial officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, about personal responsibility and making judgement calls about what is safe to do under these loosened restrictions.
McDonald asks Andrews to tell parents when they might expect to have their kids back in schools in Victoria, so they can plan. Andrews says he won’t announce that on Q&A. Just as hugs are a matter of personal judgement, when and what to shop for will be matter for a personal judgement, Sutton says.
The next question is about the protests that were in Melbourne yesterday, at which 10 people (from a crowd of about 250) were arrested. On gatherings, which are now allowed (groups of 10 outdoors and five indoors), he says “don’t gather more than you have to”.
Andrews says it was an “ugly scene” and while he supports peaceful protest, this wasn’t that. Victoria’s chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton, has been on ABC radio in Melbourne talking about the restrictions that will be lifted from 11.59pm tomorrow. He says lifting those restrictions is an “experiment” so the changes will be incremental.
If it’s not peaceful, it’s not a proper legitimate protest. We saw police injured. That’s something that we can never accept. Sutton says there is no number that will trigger the Victorian government to go back to stage three restrictions (which is what we have been in for several weeks). The key concern is community transmission, and Sutton says he would like the daily increase in cases with no known source of infection stay in single figures.
Berejiklian: Raf Epstein asks if hugs will be allowed, if he and his kids visit his parents this weekend.
Andrews responds by talking about Victoria’s testing quota, which Hamish says was not the question. Sutton:
Andrews says he was unhappy to see images of a number of people in Victoria at shopping centres potentially buying things they don’t need (how do you know, Dan?). Sutton says he has not made a call on whether he should see his parents yet – it will be based on his health and that of his family, and also the health of his mother and her partner. “I’ll be seeing my brother first,” he says.
He says we have just one chance to get this right and if he had to, he would tighten the restrictions again. If anyone is unwell, he says, they should not join the group – even if they are very mildly unwell.
Andrews: Good evening, it’s Calla Wahlquist here taking over from the wonderful Naaman Zhou. I’ll be taking you right through to Q&A (9.35pm on ABC), which tonight will host the east coast premiers, Daniel Andrews, Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The first question is from Kirsten Armstrong in Maroubra, NSW. It’s basically a dixer. They run the biggest states and have been the strongest voices in the national cabinet, so it has the potential to be really quite interesting.
Gladys Berejiklian responds first, because it’s her state. Adelaide Crows players have escaped bans or fines for their part in breaching social distancing rules during a club training session but assistant coach Ben Hart has been stood down from coaching duties for six weeks.
I’ll summarise her response, because it’s long and none of it’s new. She says you expect case numbers to rise as you lift some restrictions, cases have fallen significantly since March, it’s all about finding a “healthy balance”, the situation will be monitored to figure out what is manageable over the next few weeks. The AFL found the breach was “inadvertent and not done to create a competitive advantage”, and the 16 players each received a suspended one match sanction, in place for the remainder of the 2020 premiership season. Barring any further breaches, they will be available to play once the season resumes.
Are you prepared to go back into lockdown if numbers increase, Hamish asks? But Hart, who took the session involving 16 players last Thursday when the club was supposed to be self isolating in the Barossa Valley after returning from interstate travel, was not so lucky.
So, we’ve got NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian in the room with host Hamish McDonald and Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on a fancy ABC version of Zoom. The Crows maintained they were not deliberately trying to break any rules, but after concluding its investigation on Monday, the AFL found the club to have been in breach of protocols.
South Australia police opted to caution, not fine the club last week, leaving the AFL to mete out punishment, with Hart now largely shouldering responsibility for the aberration. He will not be able to access the club facilities or have contact with players until 22 June.
An AFL statement read: