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| Coronavirus Australia update: Woolworths reinstates buying limits in Victoria after 20 new cases reported – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Victoria sees 20th Covid death as ABC urges against further government budget cuts. Follow live | |
| Christian Porter was asked about the possibility of holding the AFL grand final in Perth while speaking to Perth radio 6PR: | |
| Victoria Health has put out its official update on the Victorian Covid situation: | |
| The total number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Victoria is 1,884, with 20 new cases reported yesterday. | |
| Yesterday’s new cases are made up of seven linked to outbreaks, nine cases identified through routine testing, one case detected in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine and three cases under investigation. | |
| There has been one new death reported, with a man in his 80s dying in hospital overnight. To date, 20 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria. | |
| There have been 241 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that have been acquired through unknown transmission. There are currently 141 active cases in Victoria. | |
| Currently, seven people with coronavirus infection are in hospital, including two patients in intensive care; 1,721 people have recovered from the virus. | |
| Of the total 1,884 cases, there have been 1,588 in metropolitan Melbourne and 241 in regional Victoria. The total number of cases is made up of 1,004 men and 880 women. More than 696,000 tests have been processed to date. | |
| Two of the new cases are staff members from Hampstead Dental in Maidstone. A previous case in a staff member had been notified to the department on Saturday, so appropriate public health measures were already underway, including cleaning and contact tracing. No patients have been identified as close contacts so far. The clinic remains closed. This takes the total number of cases linked to this outbreak to three. | |
| Three new cases have been detected in close contacts of the current family outbreak in Keilor Downs. One of these is a social contact of a confirmed case and also a student at Keilor Downs Secondary College. All students, their families and staff from the college have been directed to the Melbourne showgrounds for testing, regardless of whether they have symptoms. This takes the total number of cases linked to this outbreak to 15. | |
| A new case has also been linked to the H&M Northland outbreak. This individual is a close contact of a known case and was already in quarantine. This takes the total number of cases linked to this outbreak to five. | |
| One of the new cases is a close contact of a known case in a staff member at St Monica’s College in Epping. This new case has no other identified links to the school and has not been on campus. Contact tracing, testing and other public health actions are being taken at the school as appropriate. This takes the total number of cases linked to this outbreak to two. | |
| At the Senate Covid-19 committee today, several witnesses from employer groups backed calls for certainty and bipartisanship in energy policy.Tim Reed, president of the Business Council of Australia, said that he was “heartened to hear the leader of the opposition [Anthony Albanese] back the government’s proposed technology roadmap”. | |
| “Certainly, bipartisanship on energy policy would help us go a lot further a lot faster,” Reed said, referencing it in a series of reforms that would help Australia recover from the Covid-19 contraction.The Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, said that “certainty” is the “key factor” for where industry chooses to invest and “volatility” would impede the economic recovery. | |
| Businesses will only “be prepared to invest on sufficient scale to provide cheaper and reliable power we all need” with policy certainty, he said. | |
| Both Reed and Willox backed a target of net zero emissions by 2050. | |
| Woolworths has released a statement saying it is re-introducing purchase limits for some items, in Victoria, after demand spiked in that state: | |
| Woolworths Supermarkets managing director Claire Peters said: | |
| The reintroduction of limits on select categories will apply only in Victoria because that’s where the early signs of a demand surge is occurring. They will also apply to online orders. There are no product limits in place outside of Victoria at this time. | |
| Paul Fletcher: | |
| The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, says the ABC’s budget has increased under the Coalition. | |
| That’s true, in the same way health and education budgets keep increasing; that’s population growth. | |
| The difference is this time around, the Coalition has cut how much the ABC expected its budget to grow by. So, having had a budget plan, it made decisions and moved forward with projects, but has now been told, no, we won’t be giving you about $80m of that money you were expecting. | |
| It’s like if you were given $50 to go shopping, made your list and were at the checkout, and the person who gave you the money took $20 of it back. | |
| When he was asked yesterday about taking up the offer of ADF support, Daniel Andrews said: | |
| We are chasing this up. | |
| I know that has been a fair bit of not related to Covid news, but it is still important to policy, hence its inclusion. | I know that has been a fair bit of not related to Covid news, but it is still important to policy, hence its inclusion. |
| Getting on with it though, according to Angus Taylor, means not answering questions about targets. Asked about the 2050 target, Taylor says: | Getting on with it though, according to Angus Taylor, means not answering questions about targets. Asked about the 2050 target, Taylor says: |
| Angus Taylor is asked if there are still people in the Coalition partyroom who don’t believe in climate change. | |
| (Obviously there are. You know who the are.) | |
| But the energy minister says: | But the energy minister says: |
| The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), whose members include ABC staff, has issued a statement criticising the latest job cuts. It says it is a case of “death by a thousand cuts for ABC staff”. | |
| The CPSU says the latest plan will hit Australian content creators hard, as well as see an end to flagship ABC programs. It has called on the government to halt the funding freeze and commit to a five-year ABC funding model. | The CPSU says the latest plan will hit Australian content creators hard, as well as see an end to flagship ABC programs. It has called on the government to halt the funding freeze and commit to a five-year ABC funding model. |
| The union says the cuts will affect technology, news, entertainment, specialist and local teams, and will have “major impacts on content makers and specialist teams, stripping seniority and experience from the organisation”. It says the $5m cut to independent production “means less Australian drama and content on our screens”.The secretary of the CPSU’s ABC section, Sinddy Ealy, said everyone could see that the media and arts industries had been hit hard by Covid-19, and they needed the ABC to assist in the recovery. | |
| Ealy added: | Ealy added: |
| Unicef has sent $140,000 in personal protective equipment to Timor Leste, including vital equipment for medical staff such as face shields, face masks, respirators, safety goggles and surgical gloves. | Unicef has sent $140,000 in personal protective equipment to Timor Leste, including vital equipment for medical staff such as face shields, face masks, respirators, safety goggles and surgical gloves. |
| This shipment, used funds raised from the agency’s Covid-19 appeal, is part of more than $3.5m in funding that Unicef Australia has sent across the region to suppress the spread of the virus. | This shipment, used funds raised from the agency’s Covid-19 appeal, is part of more than $3.5m in funding that Unicef Australia has sent across the region to suppress the spread of the virus. |
| Timor Leste has had only 24 cases of Covid-19, and zero deaths, but there are concerns an outbreak would be hard to contain, given limited health infrastructure across the country. Timor Leste has 7 doctors per 10,000 people and only one intensive care bed with a ventilator for the entire nation of 1.2 million people. | |
| Felicity Weaver, Unicef Australia’s director of international programs, said it was “hard to underestimate the vulnerability that still does exist” in countries such as Timor Leste neighbouring Australia. | |
| Weaver said that in Timor Leste, a focus on Covid-19 preparedness and testing had the potential to draw attention and resources from other key healthcare initiatives across the country, including childhood nutrition and vaccination programs. | |
| Timor Leste has rates of childhood stunting that are some of the highest in the world: 50% of children under five have stunted growth. | Timor Leste has rates of childhood stunting that are some of the highest in the world: 50% of children under five have stunted growth. |
| Weaver said the health crisis of Covid and the economic fallout of the shutdowns was a “double whammy” for developing countries like Timor Leste, “with lower household incomes, people not having sufficient funds to purchase a diversity foods”. | Weaver said the health crisis of Covid and the economic fallout of the shutdowns was a “double whammy” for developing countries like Timor Leste, “with lower household incomes, people not having sufficient funds to purchase a diversity foods”. |
| Weaver said that globally about 325 million children have been kept from classrooms by Covid-19 restrictions and were reliant on some form of remote learning. | |
| Further to that last post is this one from Hursty: | |
| One of many moving parts in the ABC cuts is the changes to the radio news bulletins. | One of many moving parts in the ABC cuts is the changes to the radio news bulletins. |
| Here is how the ABC managing director, David Anderson, described the change to morning radio news programming: | Here is how the ABC managing director, David Anderson, described the change to morning radio news programming: |
| In his speech to staff, the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, said the government’s indexation pause – announced in 2018 – would reduce the ABC’s budget by $84m over three years and result in an ongoing reduction of $41m per annum from the 2021-22 financial year onwards. | In his speech to staff, the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, said the government’s indexation pause – announced in 2018 – would reduce the ABC’s budget by $84m over three years and result in an ongoing reduction of $41m per annum from the 2021-22 financial year onwards. |
| Anderson said it was true that many traditional media businesses were also facing revenue challenges, and that the ABC needed to “evolve our digital services to stay relevant”. But he noted there was a key difference: | Anderson said it was true that many traditional media businesses were also facing revenue challenges, and that the ABC needed to “evolve our digital services to stay relevant”. But he noted there was a key difference: |
| Outlining the mechanics of the expected 250 job cuts, Anderson said the ABC had opened a process a fortnight ago that allowed people to express an interest in redundancy. The ABC would today begin a second formal expression-of-interest process in divisions where there were likely to be 10 or more redundancies. | Outlining the mechanics of the expected 250 job cuts, Anderson said the ABC had opened a process a fortnight ago that allowed people to express an interest in redundancy. The ABC would today begin a second formal expression-of-interest process in divisions where there were likely to be 10 or more redundancies. |
| The ABC had also “notified other employees of their potential redundancy today”. After the completion of the second EOI process in a fortnight, the ABC would “commence further consultation with staff and unions”. | The ABC had also “notified other employees of their potential redundancy today”. After the completion of the second EOI process in a fortnight, the ABC would “commence further consultation with staff and unions”. |
| Anderson said the people leaving the ABC were “valued colleagues who have made tremendous contributions to the ABC” and it was “a difficult time for everyone”.You can read his full speech here. | Anderson said the people leaving the ABC were “valued colleagues who have made tremendous contributions to the ABC” and it was “a difficult time for everyone”.You can read his full speech here. |
| On the ABC cuts, Anthony Albanese says: | On the ABC cuts, Anthony Albanese says: |
| Asked how big a test the Eden-Monaro byelection is for his leadership, Anthony Albanese says: | Asked how big a test the Eden-Monaro byelection is for his leadership, Anthony Albanese says: |
| Q: Mark Butler said immediately after the election that Labor would set a medium-term target before the next election which was consistent with the science. Does that remain Labor’s policy? | Q: Mark Butler said immediately after the election that Labor would set a medium-term target before the next election which was consistent with the science. Does that remain Labor’s policy? |
| Albanese: | Albanese: |