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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/sep/17/coronavirus-australia-latest-regional-victoria-melbourne-news-live-updates-morrison-jobkeeper-qld-nsw
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| Coronavirus Australia live update: regional Victoria opens up but Melbourne faces 'ring of steel' – latest news | Coronavirus Australia live update: regional Victoria opens up but Melbourne faces 'ring of steel' – latest news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Covid-19 restrictions ease in regional Victoria today as economists and international students call for expansion of jobkeeper. Follow all today’s news | Covid-19 restrictions ease in regional Victoria today as economists and international students call for expansion of jobkeeper. Follow all today’s news |
| And some happy news - | |
| Canberra MP Alicia Payne and her partner Ben have welcomed baby Elena Patricia to the world. | |
| All the family are doing very well. | |
| Well this is a change in language. After weeks and weeks of criticism from members of his government about the closed borders, particularly the Queensland one, Scott Morrison told the Seven network, he doesn’t believe the borders need to be brought down “right now”. | |
| Morrison may have shied away from the nub of the border debate, but his proxies haven’t. | |
| Over on the Seven network, Scott Morrison said there was no need to use the RAAF VIP fleet to bring home stranded Australians from overseas: | |
| Kristina Keneally and Andrew Giles have responded to the changes in the citizenship test: | |
| Scott Morrison was asked about the changes to the citizenship test while talking to the Nine network: | |
| The Australian citizen test has been revamped, with questions added on Australian ‘values’ | |
| As AAP reports: | |
| New Australians will need to correctly answer questions about domestic violence, equal opportunity and freedom of speech under changes to the citizenship test, the federal government will announce. | |
| The 20-question multiple-choice test, which requires a 75 per cent overall mark to pass, will from November include five questions about Australian values - all of which must be answered correctly. | |
| Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge is due to introduce the changes on Thursday to coincide with Australian Citizenship Day, as more than 100 citizenship ceremonies will take place across the country. | |
| “Our Australian values are important. They have helped shape our country and they are the reason why so many people want to become Australian citizens,” Mr Tudge told News Corp publications. | |
| “The updated citizenship test will have new and more meaningful questions that require potential citizens to understand and commit to our values like freedom of speech, mutual respect, equality of opportunity, the importance of democracy and the rule of law.” | |
| The new values-based queries will include questions such as should people in Australia make an effort to learn English, are people free to choose who they marry or not marry, do religious laws override Australian law and is it acceptable for a husband to be violent towards his wife if she has disobeyed or disrespected him. | |
| The prime minister has been doing the morning rounds this morning. | The prime minister has been doing the morning rounds this morning. |
| As we reported two weeks or so ago, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese can’t enter Queensland without quarantining - so they can’t help with the state election campaign. | As we reported two weeks or so ago, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese can’t enter Queensland without quarantining - so they can’t help with the state election campaign. |
| Morrison on the Nine network says he will “follow the rules like anyone else” | Morrison on the Nine network says he will “follow the rules like anyone else” |
| Federal parliament is sitting during most of October, which is when the Queensland campaign is at his height, so there is not a lot of time for either leader to attend. | Federal parliament is sitting during most of October, which is when the Queensland campaign is at his height, so there is not a lot of time for either leader to attend. |
| Happy not-Friday. Time may not matter in 2020, but Thursday remains the worst day of the week, when politicians try to eke out the last vestiges of an announcement before everyone switches off on a Friday, and we all have at least one day of the grind to get through before the mental relief of ‘we’ve almost made it’ washes over us the next morning. | Happy not-Friday. Time may not matter in 2020, but Thursday remains the worst day of the week, when politicians try to eke out the last vestiges of an announcement before everyone switches off on a Friday, and we all have at least one day of the grind to get through before the mental relief of ‘we’ve almost made it’ washes over us the next morning. |
| Today’s Thursday is no different. Politically, the government is doing what it can to push its latest attempt at an energy policy framework. | Today’s Thursday is no different. Politically, the government is doing what it can to push its latest attempt at an energy policy framework. |
| Angus Taylor, was on ABC radio talking about the government’s ‘gas led recovery’ and also mentioning how electric vehicles form part of the government’s energy strategy. (This is not new - they have been part of the strategy for a while). | Angus Taylor, was on ABC radio talking about the government’s ‘gas led recovery’ and also mentioning how electric vehicles form part of the government’s energy strategy. (This is not new - they have been part of the strategy for a while). |
| But this was Scott Morrison’s response when Labor announced, at the last election, a commitment to have half of all new car sales be electric vehicles, by 2030: | But this was Scott Morrison’s response when Labor announced, at the last election, a commitment to have half of all new car sales be electric vehicles, by 2030: |
| So cool. | So cool. |
| Regional Victoria has opened up, but Melbourne is still locked down, with a strengthened ‘ring of steel’ around the city. We should have more clarity on who is allowed out, and why, later today. | Regional Victoria has opened up, but Melbourne is still locked down, with a strengthened ‘ring of steel’ around the city. We should have more clarity on who is allowed out, and why, later today. |
| Meanwhile, it is still all about opening the borders, particularly Queensland. South Australia still have New South Wales on a watch and wait, but it was Queensland which was singled out again by Gladys Berejiklian yesterday. Not just for the border community at the Tweed, but for everyone in New South Wales. | Meanwhile, it is still all about opening the borders, particularly Queensland. South Australia still have New South Wales on a watch and wait, but it was Queensland which was singled out again by Gladys Berejiklian yesterday. Not just for the border community at the Tweed, but for everyone in New South Wales. |
| The federal government is facing increased pressure from the opposition to solve the problem of 23,000 stranded Australians. Michael McCormack announced he had written to the states demanding they take more people through hotel quarantine. Mark McGowan said that was something which should have gone to national cabinet before the media. All the main players on national cabinet seem annoyed at someone else and we still have so long in the pandemic to go. | The federal government is facing increased pressure from the opposition to solve the problem of 23,000 stranded Australians. Michael McCormack announced he had written to the states demanding they take more people through hotel quarantine. Mark McGowan said that was something which should have gone to national cabinet before the media. All the main players on national cabinet seem annoyed at someone else and we still have so long in the pandemic to go. |
| We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day. | We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day. |
| Ready? | Ready? |