This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/sep/18/coronavirus-australia-live-national-cabinet-split-over-quarantine-and-flight-caps-latest-updates

The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 11 Version 12
Coronavirus Australia live update: Victorian premier Daniel Andrews reports 45 new cases and five more deaths Coronavirus Australia live update: NSW, WA and Queensland agree to raise caps on international arrivals
(32 minutes later)
NSW announces six new cases while Queensland says it will reopen border to ACT residents from 25 SeptemberNSW announces six new cases while Queensland says it will reopen border to ACT residents from 25 September
Morrison says there are 24,000 Australians who are stranded overseas, who wish to come home.
He says there are 4,000 people who have been identified as more vulnerable by the department of foreign affairs.
He also says that not every Australian overseas actually wants to come home.
Morrison is asked whether he will relax restrictions on allowing Australians out of the country – so airlines don’t have to fly empty planes to collect returning Australians.
He says thousands of exemptions are made every week to allow Australians out of the country.
Morrison says that he would want to see arrival caps increased again in future – and eventually lifted.
“I believe it will [be lifted again], and we spoke about that today,” he says.
“So, let’s get to this next level, and then ultimately we’d like to see those caps lifted, as they were back in early July. That would be my goal.”
The PM says there is no update on the debate over what constitutes a hotspot, as the AHPPC did not provide a paper on it today.
Morrison also says that Australia is looking again at a trans-Tasman travel bubble, where people from New Zealand could come into Australia without quarantine.
He did not provide a set date, but said the government was working on it.
Scott Morrison has announced that caps will be lifted in NSW, Queensland and WA, meaning 1,500 Australians a week will be able to come back.
From 27 September, NSW will be able to take an additional 500 returned travellers a week.
Queensland and Western Australia will be taking an additional 200 per week.
That will then rise. From 4 October, Queensland will move to that full 500 extra a week, and by 11 October, WA will also move to the extra 500 a week.
Morrison says he has received reports from the chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, and navy Commodore Mark Hill about comparing Victoria’s contact tracing system with New South Wales.
He says that there have been “lots of lessons learned”, and that they will spread that work “across all the other states and territories”.
He also says that the federal government will “connect all the digital systems that the states and territories are using”.
Scott Morrison is speaking now from Sydney.
He says it has been a “very practical” day of discussions, as the states are discussing Australia’s arrivals caps and hotel quarantine.
Morrison also says that the virus cases in Victoria, and the improving job numbers nationally are heartening.
He says that Australia saw a 7% decline in the economy in the June quarter, but that New Zealand experienced 12%.
Some more on that funding for AAP.Some more on that funding for AAP.
The chair of AAP, Jonty Low, and its chief executive, Emma Cowdroy, have welcomed the announcement.The chair of AAP, Jonty Low, and its chief executive, Emma Cowdroy, have welcomed the announcement.
Earlier this week, three crossbench senators had written to the prime minister urging him to fund the newswire, according to a report from AAP itself.Earlier this week, three crossbench senators had written to the prime minister urging him to fund the newswire, according to a report from AAP itself.
Senators Jacqui Lambie, Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff told the government an urgent intervention was needed. “If the work of AAP is as valued as it ought to be, the Morrison government must invest in it,” the trio wrote.Senators Jacqui Lambie, Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff told the government an urgent intervention was needed. “If the work of AAP is as valued as it ought to be, the Morrison government must invest in it,” the trio wrote.
The Greens have previously made a similar request.The Greens have previously made a similar request.
The senators have argued that the funding should be provided annually for three years.The senators have argued that the funding should be provided annually for three years.
AAP is also running a crowdfunding campaign which has so far raised $120,000 out of a $500,000 goal.AAP is also running a crowdfunding campaign which has so far raised $120,000 out of a $500,000 goal.
Scott Morrison will give his press conference at 1.30pm today.Scott Morrison will give his press conference at 1.30pm today.
The Australian Associated Press newswire will get $5m in funding from the federal government, the SMH report.The Australian Associated Press newswire will get $5m in funding from the federal government, the SMH report.
The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said that AAP was vital for regional news and Australia’s media diversity.The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said that AAP was vital for regional news and Australia’s media diversity.
The funding will come from the government’s public interest news gathering program.The funding will come from the government’s public interest news gathering program.
Andrews says that Victorians will not be fined if they tell contact tracers the truth about their travel, even if that means admitting they broke restrictions.Andrews says that Victorians will not be fined if they tell contact tracers the truth about their travel, even if that means admitting they broke restrictions.
That would apply to people who have already tested positive, and are being interviewed by contact tracers.That would apply to people who have already tested positive, and are being interviewed by contact tracers.
Andrews says that the Casey/Dandenong cluster is proof of the dangers of household transmission, and says that lesson applies to all socioeconomic groups.Andrews says that the Casey/Dandenong cluster is proof of the dangers of household transmission, and says that lesson applies to all socioeconomic groups.
Andrews says he is disappointed in the behaviour of some of the people in the cluster.Andrews says he is disappointed in the behaviour of some of the people in the cluster.
None of the new cases from today were from the Casey/Dandenong cluster, but there were five new cases yesterday, and seven on Wednesday, the deputy chief health officer Prof Allen Cheng says.
He adds that some of the people were essential workers.
He is asked whether this outbreak is linked to anti-lockdown protests in Dandenong.
Jeroen Weimar, from Victoria’s health department, is speaking now about a cluster among households in Casey and Dandenong, and the risk of household transmission.
“What we’re also now seeing in Casey and Dandenong is a cluster of 34 cases across five households,” he says.
Weimar warns Victorians to be vigilant about household transmission, saying that the people had “limited contact” and “infrequent” contact with each other, but still managed to pass the virus to each other.
The first of those cases was identified on 4 September, Weimar says.
Daniel Andrews is speaking now.
He calls on Victorians to come forward and get tested, as testing rates have dropped over the past few weeks.
He says 90% of testing sites can give you a result within 24 hours.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is also due to give a press conference on the latest out of national cabinet today. That might overlap a bit with Andrews’s press conference, due to start now.
We might have to do some juggling, but will bring you the best of both.
While we wait for Daniel Andrews’s 12pm press conference, you can read this morning’s Weekly Beast media column, which covers a delay of a different type.
Public university staff are baffled at the news that the Sydney campus of New York University is receiving jobkeeper at a time when Australian universities have not received any payments, AAP report.
The president of the National Tertiary Education Union, Dr Alison Barnes, said Australian public universities had already slashed more than 11,000 jobs and more cuts were on the way.
“The Morrison government changed the rules three times to prevent these universities from accessing JobKeeper,” Dr Barnes said on Friday.
“Yet four private universities in Australia and even the Sydney campus of New York University, have been able to access JobKeeper.
“How can the government allow this to happen? The higher education sector is being decimated daily. Most of these job losses could have been prevented if universities were able to access JobKeeper.”
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi accused the federal government of double standards
“The government should have exactly the same rules for universities and not try to exclude public universities,” she said
But the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said Australian universities were being funded by taxpayers in other ways.
“That is not support that is available to foreign universities that may have a domestic campus so it’s a different situation,” he told reporters. “You are talking about an apple and an orange.”
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, will be speaking at 12pm. We’ll be bringing you that as it happens.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese is speaking now.
He is calling on the federal government to increase the cap on international arrivals, and let more stranded Australians return home.
“The circumstances whereby a young mum with a 1-year-old in London was told to go and stay at a homeless shelter with her young baby is quite frankly absurd, in 2020,” he says.
“These are a federal government responsibility. Quarantine and our national borders are the responsibility of the federal government. And the prime minister needs to accept that responsibility.
He adds that the federal government “should at the very least make a substantial financial contribution to the costs” of hotel quarantine.
“When you board a flight, in Europe, or in the United States, or in India, and you arrive at the airport, you don’t have a state passport. You have a passport that has the Australian crest and the Australian coat of arms on it.
“I, as the alternative leader of Australia, not of a state, would not conduct myself in such a way.”
A Qantas flight that does nothing more than loop around the country has sold out in under 10 minutes, the ABC report.
More than 130 people have paid at least $800 – and more for business class – for the scenic flight.
The flight to nowhere will fly at a low altitude over the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and other attractions, taking off from Sydney on October 10 and returning to Sydney.
New South Wales has recorded only one new case overnight that was locally acquired.
Five returned travellers and one person who is linked to a known cluster have tested positive in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
The locally acquired case is a person who is a household contact of a previous case who attended Liverpool Hospital, and they were in isolation. There are now 21 cases linked to Liverpool Hospital dialysis cluster.