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| Coronavirus Australia live updates: 300,000 in Victoria enter lockdown in 36 Melbourne hotspot suburbs | Coronavirus Australia live updates: 300,000 in Victoria enter lockdown in 36 Melbourne hotspot suburbs |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Stay-at-home orders are now in place for 10 postcodes in city’s north as state steps up action to contain Covid-19 | Stay-at-home orders are now in place for 10 postcodes in city’s north as state steps up action to contain Covid-19 |
| The NT Health Minister says at this stage, there is no reason for the territory to rethink its border opening (which is due to occur on 17 July) | |
| A Darwin man in his 30s has tested positive for Covid-19. He had been in hotel quarantine in Melbourne, but visited family in a hotspot area before returning to the NT. | |
| He began showing symptoms and was tested for Covid-19, testing positive. | |
| The travellers had been isolating in Darwin, as per the rules, upon their return. | |
| It is safe to say that this is not the Daily Telegraph’s happiest day. | |
| Fiona Kotvojs says local media is important and she misses the death notices on ABC.”Yes I will continue to fight for local media coverage,” she said. | |
| But Kotvojs refused to commit to fight for a reversal of the $84m cut to indexation - instead repeating the prime minister’s line that “there hasn’t been a reduction”. | |
| This is a gimme for Kristy McBain, given Labor has promised to reverse the cut (in government, if elected at the next election). | |
| But the heat turns on McBain with the next question about Labor branch-stacking (in Victoria, presumably). | |
| McBain says it hasn’t been raised with her once on the campaign because it doesn’t affect people’s lives. Then she pivots to jobkeeper and an economic plan, again. | |
| Kotvojs denied the government has pork-barrelled the election by making promises for primary industries such as apple growing and wineries - she notes the programs, although announced in Eden-Monaro, apply Australia-wide. | |
| Next question is about Kotvojs submission to the religious freedom review - which included a call for a right for commercial service providers to refuse same-sex weddings. | |
| Kotvojs says differences must be “based on respect” and expressed respectfully - but doesn’t go to the substance of discrimination law. | |
| McBain says discrimination based on sexuality and gender is a “massive no” from her, arguing that religious practices and beliefs might be “thousands of years old” but need to be updated. | |
| The PM is combining the defence announcement (a $270bn decade long spend for a 2020 strategy released just before a byelection...Deidre Chambers, is that you?) from yesterday, with some adjacent Eden-Monaro campaigning at his press event today. | |
| That’s being held mid-morning | |
| The second question is on bushfire recovery and what the federal government could do better. | |
| Fiona Kotvojs says the problem is not enough information sharing between agencies, including councils refusing to give info because of privacy reasons. | |
| She called for a “single consolidated list” of affected businesses and households so everybody eligible would know to apply for support. | |
| Kristy McBain said after the Tathra fires in 2018 it was obvious that more streamlining of assistance was required – and more federal money for caseworkers was needed. | |
| Then Kotvojs is asked about her record of downplaying climate change and refusal to say whether it added to the intensity of the summer bushfires: | |
| She repeats her view that it was lack of hazard reduction that caused the intensity, a point she made in a submission to the bushfire royal commission. | |
| Kotvojs was asked about reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce heat, and she replies the Coalition has a “great plan” to reduce emissions. | |
| She incorrectly claims Australia has reduced emissions by 40% in the last 30 years – that would be emissions per capita, not total emissions. | |
| Kotvojs attempted to say the government was walking the talk, but had an unfortunate stumble, saying: | |
| The ABC South East is hosting a debate between the Liberal Fiona Kotvojs and Labor’s Kristy McBain. | |
| Kotvojs starts with a measured opening statement – so measured it sounds a little like she’s reading it. | |
| The text is similar to her ads, stressing that she is LOCAL and has been a “teacher, farmer and small business owner”, Oxfam director and RFS volunteer. | |
| McBain is similarly well prepared, discussing how the region had responded to the “devastation and turmoil” of bushfires. Eden-Monaro wants a plan for bushfire recovery and economic supports for Covid-19 so the jobkeeper wage subsidy won’t “fall off a cliff”. | McBain is similarly well prepared, discussing how the region had responded to the “devastation and turmoil” of bushfires. Eden-Monaro wants a plan for bushfire recovery and economic supports for Covid-19 so the jobkeeper wage subsidy won’t “fall off a cliff”. |
| The first question for both candidates: should jobkeeper be kept after September? | The first question for both candidates: should jobkeeper be kept after September? |
| Kotvojs said the program was legislated for six months, giving businesses certainty and helping them stay open. | |
| McBain said people in Eden-Monaro were doing it tough and 18,000 workers in the electorate were at risk if jobkeeper were withdrawn: | |
| Eden-Monaro’s Liberal candidate, Fiona Kotvojs, and the Labor candidate, Kristy McBain, are debating each other on ABC radio at the moment. | |
| New Zealand has lost its health minister. | New Zealand has lost its health minister. |
| Jacinda Ardern had said she would have accepted David Clark’s resignation earlier in the pandemic but the nation needed consistency as it worked through its health response. | |
| Clark broke the nation’s lockdown. | |
| Anthony Albanese was asked about Labor’s chances at the Eden-Monaro byelection. He continued through with Labor’s “managing expectations” strategy, when it comes to his candidate’s chances of winning this Saturday. | |
| The pandemic saw telehealth services rolled out in Australia very, very quickly. | |
| Now that some calm has returned to the Australian Covid-19 situation, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners wants the system looked at. | |
| Particularly, at who you can see over telehealth: | |
| After people refused to be tested for Covid-19 in Victorian hotspots, there has been talk of forcing tests, through legal means, (I really hope no one is at the “hold them down” talk stage, because for goodness sake) to ensure that the testing blitz is carried out. | |
| Greg Hunt says people need to keep their farms calm: | Greg Hunt says people need to keep their farms calm: |
| AAP has a little more on that: | AAP has a little more on that: |
| Health Minister Greg Hunt has urged authorities to throw the book at hotel coronavirus rule-breakers after allegations security guards slept with guests. | Health Minister Greg Hunt has urged authorities to throw the book at hotel coronavirus rule-breakers after allegations security guards slept with guests. |
| Claims of widespread rorting and misconduct have rocked the security firms responsible for patrolling Melbourne’s hotel quarantine regime. | Claims of widespread rorting and misconduct have rocked the security firms responsible for patrolling Melbourne’s hotel quarantine regime. |
| Companies charged taxpayers for shifts never worked, leading to less security workers on duty and higher risk of infections, The Herald Sun reports. | Companies charged taxpayers for shifts never worked, leading to less security workers on duty and higher risk of infections, The Herald Sun reports. |
| “If those claims are correct then that is completely and utterly unacceptable,” Mr Hunt told Sky News on Thursday. | “If those claims are correct then that is completely and utterly unacceptable,” Mr Hunt told Sky News on Thursday. |
| “We would encourage the Victorian authorities to throw the book – either individuals or if there’s any systemic inappropriate action - at those who are responsible for it.” | |
| The Victorian government has launched a judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine after Melbourne’s infection spike was linked to guards sharing cigarette lights. | The Victorian government has launched a judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine after Melbourne’s infection spike was linked to guards sharing cigarette lights. |
| Mr Hunt said there was an unacceptable set of breaches in hotel quarantine. | Mr Hunt said there was an unacceptable set of breaches in hotel quarantine. |
| “Many Victorians are going into lockdown today,” he said. | “Many Victorians are going into lockdown today,” he said. |
| “The hotel quarantine system has been a contributing element to that.” | “The hotel quarantine system has been a contributing element to that.” |
| Greg Hunt was also quite conciliatory when it came to Victoria’s hotel quarantine situation, given some of the accusations in today’s papers: | Greg Hunt was also quite conciliatory when it came to Victoria’s hotel quarantine situation, given some of the accusations in today’s papers: |
| Greg Hunt was asked about the border issue on the ABC this morning: | Greg Hunt was asked about the border issue on the ABC this morning: |
| Meanwhile, despite what you may have heard, the higher unemployment payment has not stopped people from applying for work. Quite to the contrary, as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports: | Meanwhile, despite what you may have heard, the higher unemployment payment has not stopped people from applying for work. Quite to the contrary, as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports: |
| Dress your kid in yellow and prepare to have your TV interview invaded. | |
| I don’t make the rules. It’s bigger than all of us, apparently. | I don’t make the rules. It’s bigger than all of us, apparently. |
| Yellow is the ultimate power colour. | Yellow is the ultimate power colour. |
| Meanwhile, the Age has reported some people in Victorian hotspot suburbs tried changing their addresses to avoid being locked down: |