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| NSW eases Covid restrictions on churches and gyms as state reports 10 new cases and Victoria three – politics live | NSW eases Covid restrictions on churches and gyms as state reports 10 new cases and Victoria three – politics live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| New South Wales coronavirus testing rates increase as Daniel Andrews says Victoria may have recorded its first case of re-infection. Follow the latest | New South Wales coronavirus testing rates increase as Daniel Andrews says Victoria may have recorded its first case of re-infection. Follow the latest |
| Milton Dick called Peter Dutton a “covid spreader” in a debate yesterday (he later withdrew it and apologised - the Queensland election has made things a little tense) and I imagine that is what this little tête-à-tête was about. | |
| Victoria Health has put out its official data: | |
| Victoria has recorded three new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 20,323. | |
| There have been no new deaths from Covid-19 reported since yesterday. To date, 817 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria. | |
| Of today’s three new cases: | |
| Two are linked to the northern metro region community outbreak | |
| One is a household contact of a known case | |
| The three cases were in quarantine when they tested positive. | |
| A previous case included in yesterday’s numbers continues to be reviewed and assessed by an expert panel of clinicians and epidemiologists to determine if this is a new infection or if the person is still shedding virus from their original infection. | |
| One avenue being explored is that this is a reinfection of coronavirus. Such cases are rare globally and only a handful have been reported in scientific literature. We are conducting further investigations and additional tests, including whole genome sequencing, before making a final determination. | |
| While this investigation is underway, the case is being treated as a new positive and appropriate public health actions are in place, pending a decision. | |
| The Department of Health and Human Services continues to work with local health services to contain an outbreak of coronavirus in Shepparton. There are three cases in Shepparton. | |
| Day 11 re-testing of contacts and close contacts in Shepparton is continuing, with the final round of tests to be conducted on Saturday. | |
| A further 248 tests were taken in Shepparton and surrounding regions yesterday, taking the total number of tests in Shepparton and the surrounding region to 6,972. | |
| Simon Birmingham is defending the delayed the release of the federal national integrity commission draft bill, which was delayed before the pandemic and which Christian Porter told me would “take as long as necessary” well ahead of the pandemic in Australia. | |
| Birmingham, speaking to Afternoon Briefing, holds the line: | |
| Airlines have lashed the federal government for “uncertainty” about how many passengers they can fly into Australia, warning the now 32,000 stranded Australians registered with the government as wanting to return home will increase. | Airlines have lashed the federal government for “uncertainty” about how many passengers they can fly into Australia, warning the now 32,000 stranded Australians registered with the government as wanting to return home will increase. |
| In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia, which represents airlines including Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Etihad, scolded the government for telling airlines their upcoming passenger allocations – how many they can take each flight – today, just four days before they take effect on 25 October. | |
| Some planes flying into Australia are limited to carrying as few as 30 passengers, as airlines have to comply with the state government-requested and federal government-enforced cap of about 5,700 weekly arrivals. | Some planes flying into Australia are limited to carrying as few as 30 passengers, as airlines have to comply with the state government-requested and federal government-enforced cap of about 5,700 weekly arrivals. |
| The caps, designed to ease pressure on states’ hotel quarantine systems, have resulted in Australians overseas being bumped off return flights they had booked before the caps were introduced. | The caps, designed to ease pressure on states’ hotel quarantine systems, have resulted in Australians overseas being bumped off return flights they had booked before the caps were introduced. |
| Bara said: | Bara said: |
| Senate estimates on Tuesday heard the number of stranded Australians wanting to return home had grown to 32,300, increasing from just under 19,000 in late August. | Senate estimates on Tuesday heard the number of stranded Australians wanting to return home had grown to 32,300, increasing from just under 19,000 in late August. |
| It has also increased from 29,100 registered last week, when the Morrison government announced it would be expanding the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory – a move which will allow for 5,000 additional quarantine places by the end of March, or about 200 a week. | |
| The government also announced emergency evacuation flights to repatriate Australians from the United Kingdom, India and South Africa. | The government also announced emergency evacuation flights to repatriate Australians from the United Kingdom, India and South Africa. |
| Labor’s Murray Watt has asked about the Higher Education Integrity Unit, established in Melbourne in June. The point is: how did the government set up a cop on the uni beat but not the corruption beat? | Labor’s Murray Watt has asked about the Higher Education Integrity Unit, established in Melbourne in June. The point is: how did the government set up a cop on the uni beat but not the corruption beat? |
| Unfortunately senator Jonathon Duniam isn’t familiar with the body, so he can’t explain why it was set up when a National Integrity Commission wasn’t. | Unfortunately senator Jonathon Duniam isn’t familiar with the body, so he can’t explain why it was set up when a National Integrity Commission wasn’t. |
| Duniam said: | Duniam said: |
| Watt then picks out holes in proposed integrity commission model, including that it can’t make findings of corruption and can’t take referrals direct from whistleblowers and members of the public. He then reads quotes from David Ipp and Geoffrey Watson the general thrust of which is that the proposed body isn’t very good. | Watt then picks out holes in proposed integrity commission model, including that it can’t make findings of corruption and can’t take referrals direct from whistleblowers and members of the public. He then reads quotes from David Ipp and Geoffrey Watson the general thrust of which is that the proposed body isn’t very good. |
| Sarah Henderson is now leading evidence from attorney general department witnesses about deficiencies with the Labor-Greens-crossbench model of integrity commission. | Sarah Henderson is now leading evidence from attorney general department witnesses about deficiencies with the Labor-Greens-crossbench model of integrity commission. |
| That was very, very quick | That was very, very quick |
| Just going back through question time – there are close to 1 million unemployed Australians at the moment. Treasury expects that number to increase. | Just going back through question time – there are close to 1 million unemployed Australians at the moment. Treasury expects that number to increase. |
| So hearing the prime minister say this, in defence to an associate of John Howard getting a contract job, | So hearing the prime minister say this, in defence to an associate of John Howard getting a contract job, |
| is particularly jarring. | is particularly jarring. |
| The attorney general’s department has just been caught out in Senate estimates about some of the forward sizzle in anticipation of having a national integrity commission. | The attorney general’s department has just been caught out in Senate estimates about some of the forward sizzle in anticipation of having a national integrity commission. |
| Greens senator Larissa Waters noticed the budget papers contain an allocation of 76 staff for the integrity commission, and asked how it can have staff in 2020-21 if no draft legislation has even been released. | Greens senator Larissa Waters noticed the budget papers contain an allocation of 76 staff for the integrity commission, and asked how it can have staff in 2020-21 if no draft legislation has even been released. |
| The attorney general’s department deputy secretary, Sarah Chidgey, said: | The attorney general’s department deputy secretary, Sarah Chidgey, said: |
| Labor’s Murray Watt also discovered that the $104.5m allocated in the 2019 budget has never been varied, despite draft legislation going through various changes.These are the necessary preparations for creating a new body that stick out when you announce an intention to do something but never get round to it because ... you know, Covid. | Labor’s Murray Watt also discovered that the $104.5m allocated in the 2019 budget has never been varied, despite draft legislation going through various changes.These are the necessary preparations for creating a new body that stick out when you announce an intention to do something but never get round to it because ... you know, Covid. |
| Christian Porter was on Perth radio 6PR today and was asked about the labour market. He said: | Christian Porter was on Perth radio 6PR today and was asked about the labour market. He said: |
| Labor’s Murray Watt has asked the attorney general’s department if other legislation has been drafted and gone through consultation in 2020. | Labor’s Murray Watt has asked the attorney general’s department if other legislation has been drafted and gone through consultation in 2020. |
| The secretary, Chris Moraitis, said the bill creating a national commissioner for defence and veteran suicide prevention had gone through a four-week consultation before it was introduced to parliament in August. | The secretary, Chris Moraitis, said the bill creating a national commissioner for defence and veteran suicide prevention had gone through a four-week consultation before it was introduced to parliament in August. |
| It’s a bit of an “a-ha!” moment, because Scott Morrison’s excuse in question time for there being no national integrity commission bill was the government needed to do consultation. | It’s a bit of an “a-ha!” moment, because Scott Morrison’s excuse in question time for there being no national integrity commission bill was the government needed to do consultation. |
| Just as with the wage data yesterday, retail trade fell in most places (not the Northern Territory) in the month the jobkeeper wage subsidy was decreased. | Just as with the wage data yesterday, retail trade fell in most places (not the Northern Territory) in the month the jobkeeper wage subsidy was decreased. |
| You can find the ABS figures for September here. But there was a 1.5% reduction – and that was in more jurisdictions than just Victoria. | You can find the ABS figures for September here. But there was a 1.5% reduction – and that was in more jurisdictions than just Victoria. |
| And Scott Morrison calls time on question time, 10 minutes earlier than has been his habit of late. | And Scott Morrison calls time on question time, 10 minutes earlier than has been his habit of late. |
| Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison: | Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison: |
| My question is to the prime minister, and I refer to his previous answer today where he [cites] bushfires and the pandemic as the reason why the exposure draft of the national integrity commission legislation, which the government received from the attorney general’s department last December, has not been released. What is it about either the bushfires or the pandemic that stops the government from tabling legislation that it has had for almost a year? | My question is to the prime minister, and I refer to his previous answer today where he [cites] bushfires and the pandemic as the reason why the exposure draft of the national integrity commission legislation, which the government received from the attorney general’s department last December, has not been released. What is it about either the bushfires or the pandemic that stops the government from tabling legislation that it has had for almost a year? |
| Morrison: | Morrison: |
| Lols | Lols |
| Scott Morrison, for what it is worth, has a Bachelor of Science in applied economic geography from the University of New South Wales. | Scott Morrison, for what it is worth, has a Bachelor of Science in applied economic geography from the University of New South Wales. |
| Tony Burke to Angus Taylor: | Tony Burke to Angus Taylor: |
| Tony Smith: | Tony Smith: |
| Peter Dutton is allowed to take a dixer on the defence force, and says Labor wasn’t into building boats but “receiving boats from other parts of the world”. | Peter Dutton is allowed to take a dixer on the defence force, and says Labor wasn’t into building boats but “receiving boats from other parts of the world”. |
| It’s probably worth mentioning that under Peter Dutton, two little girls who have been detained on Christmas Island are followed to school by security guards. | It’s probably worth mentioning that under Peter Dutton, two little girls who have been detained on Christmas Island are followed to school by security guards. |