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Australian politics live: five Melbourne suburbs on Covid alert as Victoria and NSW premiers still under pressure Australian politics live: Victoria reports five new Covid cases as Melbourne's northern suburbs go on high alert
(32 minutes later)
A school student in Melbourne’s north tested positive to coronavirus, putting the suburbs of Dallas, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Preston and West Heidelberg on high alert. Follow liveA school student in Melbourne’s north tested positive to coronavirus, putting the suburbs of Dallas, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Preston and West Heidelberg on high alert. Follow live
The official case stats have not been tweeted as yet (the website, however, lists 5 cases in Victoria, linked to known clusters) Peter Dutton has delivered a virtual speech to the SMH and the Age National Security Summit, which is being held today.
However the alert we told you about this morning is getting a boost He says it would be a mistake to think that the international border closure has cut down on the risk of terrorism.
And for the ‘but Sweden brigade’ But in his speech, he makes just one reference to right-wing terrorism, which our security agencies keep telling us is a growing threat:
(And in the June quarter, Sweden recorded an 8.3 % economic contraction - Australia recorded 7%) Michelle Rowland has released a statement highlighting a disallowance motion a Liberal senator has put forward.
The last time Greg Hunt said something like this (it was on his twitter account earlier this week) None of this is strange in 2020.
Rowland:
The prime minister’s statement will be acknowledging the second anniversary of the national apology to victims of institutional child abuse.
Australia Post is up now at Senate estimates.
Christine Holgate, the Australia Post chief executive officer, used the opening statement to report “very strong” performance in parcel products during the pandemic (300m parcels have been delivered since Covid began, and 61% of group revenues now comprise parcels). But she noted a big fall in letter volumes.
She said Australia Post had reported a profit last financial year, unlike some of its international counterparts.
Holgate said Australia Post was preparing for “a Christmas like no other”, given there would be more reliance on deliveries. She said there were plans to employ an additional 5,000 employees to cope with demand.
Scott Morrison has alerted that he will make a statement to the House of Representatives at 9.30am.
We’ll get you more detail on that as soon as we can.
There we go – the official, official word.
Victoria’s official case stats have not been tweeted yet (the DHHS website lists five cases linked to known clusters).
But the alert we told you about this morning is getting a boost:
And for the “but Sweden” brigade:
(And in the June quarter, Sweden recorded an 8.3 % economic contraction – Australia recorded 7%.)
The last time Greg Hunt said something like this (it was on his Twitter account this week) …
Daniel Andrews responded with this:Daniel Andrews responded with this:
Australia Post is up in the communications estimates committee hearing - that starts at 9 Australia Post is up at the communications estimates committee hearing that starts at 9am.
NSW has reported just one locally acquired case - another six are in hotel quarantine.
You can find those figures, here
The results are for the last 24 hours.
The Victorian DHHS website is reporting five new cases - all with contact with a confirmed case
The metro Melbourne 14 day average has still dropped to 6.1 though
A Curtin University researcher is looking into the experience of those using Australia’s mandatory employment services system - the job providers - how that impacts the motivation and well-being of people who are unemployed.
With close to a million Australians unemployed at the moment - and more to come - as well as the impacts of the cut to jobseeker, it is more important than ever that we record what is happening. Data, and research, is invaluable when trying to make public policy better. And while we already know what we need governments to do, we are in a whole other situation again - and that should be investigated.
If you are currently unemployed, you can fill out the Curtin Uni survey here
The Business Council of Australia head, Jennifer Westacott, has been on a media blitz this morning, outlining the BCA’s plan to open Australia’s borders.
Here are the main takeaways:
By Christmas, the state borders are open and there are clear national protocols in place for arrivals and departures, quarantining, local containment, and digital tracking and tracing
Careful and gradual reopening of international borders with priority given to:
returning Australians
international students, signalling to them we will be open for term one next year subject to agreed protocols for quarantining
targeted skilled visas for high-demand workers to support business growth in Australia
Targeted visas aligned to the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce
Establish a nationally consistent, risk-based approach to quarantine
Establish a process to identify and begin negotiating safe travel corridors with low-risk countries
The National Farmers’ Federation has teamed up with the Backpacker and Youth Tourism Advisory Panel to try to get backpackers back in the country – in a Covid-safe way, of course.
The NFF and the backpackers advocacy group want the government to look at its three-phased approach “to safely resume the flow of backpackers” to Australia, and have written a joint letter to the government detailing the plan (WHM is short for working holiday maker).
The NFF chief executive, Tony Mahar, said:
The NFF said that while employing Australians would always take precedence, a safe restart if the WHM program would help to address agriculture labour shortages:
Last night estimates also heard that the former foreign minister and our man in London, Alexander Downer, has added his name to the foreign influence transparency scheme register, after taking a job as the “consultant to the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar”.
Rex Patrick is not too happy about it:
In his registration Downer said he was a consultant “assisting the Government of Gibraltar in its free trade agreement negotiations with Australia”.
The Australian intelligence community is all abuzz after this account of “Havana syndrome” in CIA officials visiting Australia was published in GQ magazine.
Havana syndrome was named after the site of the US embassy in Cuba, where in late 2016 diplomats reported “sudden pressure in the skulls” and other sudden on-set issues, including vertigo and nausea, sleeping and concentrating difficulties, headaches and vision and hearing issues. Some heard a low-pitched noise before falling ill. There has been some suggestion that “microwave” attacks are to blame. Suspicion has fallen on the Russians. None of it has been proven (and if it was, it’s something the CIA and allies would keep to themselves) but it has been ticking along under the surface for quite a few years.
Now we read this in GQ:
Australian security agencies have not commented.
NSW Health has also issued a Covid alert for anyone who attended the Bathurst 1000 race at the weekend – which has been extended to residents of Bathurst itself.
That was after remnants of Covid were picked up as part of sewage testing. From NSW Health:
Late last night Victorian health authorities put five Melbourne suburbs on alert – Dallas, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Preston and West Heidelberg – after a student at the East Preston Islamic College tested positive for Covid.
Staff and students and close contacts are in self-isolation for 14 days. But, as part of an aggressive suppression tactic, additional patients linked to the outbreak, who live in a public housing block in Broadmeadows, have been asked to self-isolate for 48 hours to get tested and monitor for symptoms.
The Dallas Brooks primary school has been closed for deep cleaning after a close contact was identified at the school.
And an “extensive” community health door knocking program starts this morning in the identified areas, including in languages other than English.
We’ll bring you the updates on that situation, as well as how the rest of Australia is handling Covid today, as the day rolls on. We should hear from Daniel Andrews in his 112th consecutive daily press conference about 11am.
In estimates last night, we also learned that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s objective was to bring the 4,000 stranded overseas Australians assessed as “vulnerable” home – but, for the remaining 28,000, it is going to be a longer wait.
There were some other bits and pieces – including news that the government paid the Murdoch-owned Foxtel $40m (taxpayer money) to broadcast women’s sports, then the ABC had to pay Foxtel (taxpayer money again) to access some of those games to broadcast them so people without pay TV (most of us) could see them.
We’ll bring you that and everything else that happens today.
It’s the last parliament sitting for the week but there isn’t too much downtime – estimates and parliament will be back next week as well. We are cramming in a lot as this year winds down.
You have Amy Remeikis with you for the day. Ready?