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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 |
| The rolling 14 day average for metro Melbourne is now 44.4 (from 3 September to 16 September) | |
| It is 2.9 for regional Victoria over that same time period. | |
| But there were still 83 cases of Covid with an unknown source between 1 September and 14 September in metro Melbourne. In regional Victoria, there was just one mystery case. | |
| The number of new cases here made me gasp. I know it is about the 7 and 14 day averages, but this, in terms of case numbers, is very good news. | |
| The eight deaths though - as with any death - never gets easier to report. | |
| You can catch up on the latest in the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry, here | |
| Lyell Strambi the chief executive of the Melbourne Airport, was talking to ABC News Breakfast this morning about raising the arrival caps for Australians wanting to return home: | |
| National cabinet is tomorrow but don’t expect any more progress on an agreement to what a Covid hotspot should be defined as. | |
| On Queensland’s quarantine rules, which will keep Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese out of the state election campaign, unless they quarantine for two weeks, Morrison told the Nine network: | |
| The prime minister is right when he says there are commercial planes capable of flying Australians who are stuck overseas home – but commercial plane airfares are out of reach for many. | |
| As Elias Visontay reports: | |
| And some happy news – the Canberra MP, Alicia Payne, and her partner, Ben, have welcomed baby Elena Patricia to the world. | |
| All the family are doing 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”. | 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. He said: | |
| 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: | 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: | 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: | 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 about Australian “values”. | |
| As AAP reports: | 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. | 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. | 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. | “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 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 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.) | |
| 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. | |
| Meanwhile, it is still all about opening the borders, particularly Queensland. South Australia still has New South Wales on a watch and wait, but it was Queensland that was singled out again by Gladys Berejiklian yesterday. Not just for the border community at the Tweed but for everyone in NSW. | |
| 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 that should have gone to national cabinet before the media. All the main players in 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? |