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The Croods return to political discourse
By Katina Curtis
You may remember on Tuesday interest in 2013 animated film The Croods, about a Stone Age family, spiked after Prime Minister Scott Morrison mentioned it several times in relation to the national plan for reopening.
Many interpreted it as a swipe at the West Australian and Queensland governments and their reluctance to open up to states with COVID-19 outbreaks.
The DreamWorks film has entered the political lexicon.
Today in Question Time, Labor MP Milton Dick, member for the Queensland seat of Oxley, asked the following question:
Last year, the Prime Minister said that Australians need to come out from under the doona. Now he says to Queenslanders and West Australians we need to come out from our cave. If the Prime Minister had done his job on quarantine and vaccines, our country wouldn’t be in lockdown. Why doesn’t the Prime Minister stop ridiculing Queenslanders and West Australians and accept responsibility for the health and economic crisis that he helped create?
Mr Morrison defended his use of the film, saying he made no reference to Western Australians or Queenslanders.
“I was simply trying to make an explanation, to use an analogy from a children’s animated movie which I have enjoyed with my children on many occasions,” he told Parliament.
“It is a simple story that says at some point, as a nation … [we] have to be clear that we have to move on and live with this virus.
“The young female character in that movie; she decided she wanted to go and face the future, go out there and deal with the challenges in the world, and she brought her whole family with her. There was a sequel to that movie - and that says something, there is a lesson in that.”
Greater Sydney hit hardest by falling payroll figures
By Shane Wright
The number of people collecting a pay packet across NSW has crashed by more than 7 per cent since the start of lockdowns to bring the latest coronavirus outbreak to heel.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed the number of people on business payrolls fell by 3.7 per cent in NSW in the fortnight to July 31.
Across the nation, there was a 2 per cent drop in payroll numbers.
The hardest-hit part of the nation has been Greater Sydney, with payroll numbers falling by almost 5 per cent in the second half of July. Since the lockdown started, payroll numbers in the region have tumbled by 9.2 per cent.
But all states and territories are being affected by both the NSW and Victorian lockdowns. The number of people on payrolls in Victoria and Queensland fell by 1.3 per cent in the fortnight to July 31 while they dropped by 2.7 per cent in South Australia.
They fell by 0.9 per cent in the ACT, by 0.6 per cent in Tasmania, by 0.2 per cent in Tasmania while they were flat in WA.
The bureau’s head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said the figures coincided with the increasing of restrictions in NSW, including the pause in construction. It also took in lockdowns in Victoria and South Australia.
Mr Jarvis said hospitality, retail and construction jobs had borne the brunt of the drop in payroll numbers.
“Payroll job losses in the accommodation and food services, retail trade and construction industries accounted for 44.3 per cent of job losses across Australia in the second half of July, and 45.4 per cent in NSW,” he said.
Men in NSW have also had a larger fall in employment than women through the second half of July. But over the full lockdown period, women have suffered the biggest fall, down by 7.5 per cent compared to 6.6 per cent for women.
What does ‘living with COVID’ look like?
By Michaela Whitbourn
If you’re watching Question Time right now (and who among us isn’t?), you might have heard Prime Minister Scott Morrison say the following:
Australians can look forward with hope to the national plan that says at 70 and 80 per cent they will be able to live with the virus.
The plan is not about a Freedom Day. There is no special virtue in a calendar. This plan is based on vaccination rates and based on a staged, careful reopening in phase B and phase C at 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates. This is a plan that accepts and acknowledges and understands that COVID Zero as a future plan is not sustainable and is not realistic, as other countries are beginning to also learn. It is a plan that is clear about the risks.
But what does “living with the virus” look like?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
First, the 70 and 80 per cent targets refer to vaccinations of Australians aged over 16, although the government has also committed to vaccinating children aged between 12 and 15 (and there is an announcement on this slated for tomorrow). There is no vaccine approved for younger children.
Second, the Doherty Institute, whose modelling underpins this target, has made clear that “there is no ‘freedom day’.”
“We will need to keep some public health measures in place – test, trace, isolate and quarantine – to keep the reproduction number [of the virus] below 1, but as vaccination rates increase, we’ll be able to ease up further and it is unlikely that we will need generalised lockdowns,” the institute said in a statement this week.
“In the COVID-19 modelling, opening up at 70 per cent vaccine coverage of the adult population with partial public health measures, we predict 385,983 symptomatic cases and 1,457 deaths over six months. With optimal public health measures (and no lockdowns), this can be significantly reduced to 2,737 infections and 13 deaths.”
In a taste of what is to come, the NSW government has now announced new freedoms from September 13 for fully vaccinated adults, related to small outdoor gatherings. You can read about them here.
On Tuesday the state hit its target of 6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the vaccination milestone equated to roughly 30 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated and 60 per cent with one dose.
Environmental watchdog ordered to address climate change in landmark ruling
By Peter Hannam and Miki Perkins
In a landmark ruling that has implications for other states, a NSW court has ordered the state’s environmental watchdog to take action to address climate change.
In a judgment on Thursday, Chief Judge of the Land & Environment Court Brian Preston ordered the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) “to develop environmental quality objectives, guidelines and policies to ensure environment protection from climate change”.
The order for the EPA to address climate change was welcomed by the Environmental Defenders Office, which had argued the case on behalf of the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action following the record 2019-20 bushfires that scorched more than 5 million hectares in NSW alone.
The judgment hinged on the interpretation of the duties imposed on the agency under the Protection of the Environment Administration Act. The EPA, which regulates a range of sectors from forestry to pollution controls, had accepted climate change was a global problem but argued no local action by the agency alone could address the problem.
The EDO’s Ms Johnson said the court’s decision was the first in Australia to find that a government agency has a requirement to address climate change.
“It’s breaking new ground,” she said, adding that other states could face similar legal challenges.
Primary school vacation care among new Melbourne COVID-19 exposure sites
By Cassandra Morgan
Victorian health authorities have identified a number of new COVID-19 exposure sites, including a primary school vacation care program in Melbourne’s north-east.
Northcote Primary School’s outside school hours care program was declared a tier 1 or close contact exposure site over three days: Wednesday, August 18 between 2.45pm and 6.45pm, Thursday, August 19 between 7.15am and 9.45am and 2.45pm and 6.45pm, and Friday, August 20 between 7.15am and 9.30am and 2.45pm and 6.45pm.
Tier 1 means anyone who attended the program at the specified times must immediately get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they receive a negative test result.
The remaining new exposure sites are tier 2, meaning anyone who attended them has to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they receive a negative test result. The new tier-2 sites are:
- Garam Merica Melbourne - Friday August 20 between 10am and 3.36pm (some individuals will be close contacts, and the Health Department will contact them)
- Coles, Corio Village, Corio - Saturday, August 21 between 12.15pm and 1.30pm
- Shell Service Station, Lara - Sunday, August 22 between 1.35pm and 2.10pm
- 71 Queens Road main building toilets, Melbourne - Friday, August 20 between 10am and 3.36pm
- 71 Queens Road lobby, Melbourne - Friday, August 20 between 10am and 3.36pm
- Woolworths, Coburg Hill Shopping Centre, Coburg North - Tuesday, August 17 between 8am and 3.30pm, Thursday, August 19 between 7am and 4.30pm, and Friday, August 20 between 7am and 1pm (some individuals will be close contacts, and the Health Department will contact them)
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.
Electoral law changes pass as speculation continues over poll timing
By Katina Curtis
The Senate passed a suite of electoral reforms this morning, after they passed the lower house with a smidge over two hours of debate yesterday.
The government wants to cut early voting time to 12 days ahead of an election, triple the number of members (from 500 to 1500) political parties without parliamentary representatives need to register, and give the electoral commissioner stronger powers to refuse to register a party if its name or logo contain a word used by an existing party.
National Affairs Editor Rob Harris gave a run-down of the changes when they were put to parliament in the last sitting week.
The minor parties and independents weren’t happy with the increased party registration thresholds but they got through with Labor’s backing.
However, neither chamber has voted on a fourth bill that seeks to slash the amount a person or organisation can spend on electoral matters before they are required to register as a political campaigner.
Activist and lobby groups say the changes make it much harder for charities and other campaigners to speak out.
Labor opposes this change.
Speculation continues about the timing of an election, which can be held any time between now and May.
Columnist Niki Savva writes today that Plan A - to have an election within weeks - is off the cards due to the coronavirus situation in NSW and anger about the vaccine rollout.
Alternative options would be a slightly early poll in March, or an early April budget before a vote in May, similar to the timing in 2019.
‘None of us wants kids to suffer’: WA Premier
By Michaela Whitbourn and Katina Curtis
There is a political debate at present about whether children aged under 16 should be included in vaccination targets that are tied to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions across the country.
Modelling by the Doherty Institute does not include children under 16 in those vaccination targets, but ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has indicated that his government will factor in children aged over 12 in its decisions on restrictions, and will seek “to make sure that we are genuinely at 70 and 80 per cent” in terms of vaccination rates.
WA Premier Mark McGowan.Credit:Peter de Kruijff
WA Premier Mark McGowan said he had also made the case in national cabinet for younger children to be included in vaccination targets, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison “was not keen”.
“I think it’s something that requires some serious further discussion,” he said. “None of us wants kids to suffer.”
He said WA reserved the right to impose border restrictions in the face of high COVID-19 case numbers even when 70 per cent of people over 16 were vaccinated, because otherwise the unvaccinated population and children would be at risk.
“That would be a disaster and people would die in large numbers. I don’t want to do that.”
There is no vaccine approved for use in children aged under 12. The Pfizer vaccine has been made available to some vulnerable children aged between 12-15, and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is expected to provide final advice on Friday on vaccinating all children in that age group.
Mr Morrison has indicated that children in that age group will be vaccinated, but has not committed to including them in the national vaccination targets that are tied to easing restrictions.
This age cohort is about 1.2 million strong, and Mr Morrison pointed out today there were 1.8 million doses of vaccine delivered over the past week – so it should be possible to get them done fairly quickly.
“[It] is a task that is certainly well within the capability of the vaccination program,” he said at a press conference earlier.
Zero local coronavirus cases in WA, Premier calls for ‘urgent plan’ for NSW outbreak
By Michaela Whitbourn
Zero new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Western Australia overnight, with four cases in hotel quarantine.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said today’s coronavirus update that “I do think we have to have an urgent national plan about what to do to assist NSW during this very, very difficult period.
“We’re all Australians and we all need to help one another.”
WA Premier Mark McGowan.Credit:Peter de Kruijff
The situation in NSW was “devastating” for the whole country and for the people in that state, he said.
He added that “I’m very sorry and very sad for Melbourne and Victoria. We feel for them in their time of need”.
He said WA had around 50 people working full-time to assist health authorities in NSW amid the latest outbreak, including helping with contact tracing.
He said there had been a “catastrophic failure” of government in NSW because tougher measures should have been taken earlier in June.
“What NSW has shown is you have to act early,” Mr McGowan said. “I haven’t understood anything the NSW government has done in the last two months at all.”
The day’s headlines at a glance
By Michaela Whitbourn
Good afternoon and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events.
If you are just joining us now, here’s what you need to know:
- NSW recorded 1029 locally acquired cases of COVID-19, a new daily record in Australia. Three men, aged in their 30s, 60s and 80s, died at home in western Sydney. All three were unvaccinated. “They were being cared for in out-of-hospital care,” NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said. Dr Chant said her advice to government was “the case numbers may well continue to go up before we see the trajectory of downward transmission”.
- Regional NSW’s lockdown will be extended to September 10, following additional cases in the state’s west. Deputy Premier John Barilaro said “the decision to extend the lockdown is one to protect communities and protect the regions. We’re sitting on a knife edge. It’s a tinderbox ready to explode.”
- Authorities in NSW have warned young people who acquire COVID-19 not to underestimate their symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, and to call for an ambulance if required. “I think people are underestimating [their symptoms] sometimes; they’re soldiering on,” Dr Chant said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses the media on Thursday.Credit:Janie Barrett
- Dr Chant said that “we would like to see ... very, very low levels of community transmission and ... a very high levels of vaccination. My dream is to have us be the most vaccinated country in the world”.
- As NSW recorded a record number of daily cases, the Premier also announced an easing of restrictions from September 13 for some fully vaccinated people. Those changes are as follows: (1) Fully vaccinated households in the local government areas of concern can gather outside for recreation for one hour within 5km of home between 5am and 9pm. This is in addition to the hour of exercise. Only the adults in the household need to be vaccinated. (2) Groups of five fully vaccinated people who live outside of the local government areas of concern can gather outdoors within their local government areas or 5km from home.
- Victoria recorded 80 locally acquired cases of COVID-19, 41 of whom were not in isolation for their entire infectious period. Yesterday, the state recorded 45 new cases and 50 the day before that. There are now 600 active cases of COVID-19 across Victoria, 240 of whom are under the age of 20.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit:Justin McManus
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it was still too early to say whether the state’s lockdown will lift on schedule on September 2. He also took a swipe at people criticising the closure of schools in the state, saying people were entitled to their views but “thousands of kids getting quite sick” and infecting other members of their family was not an option. “If there was another way, of course we would.”
- Mr Andrews urged people not to act in a “selfish and irresponsible” way and to get tested for COVID-19 at the first sign of symptoms. “Don’t, for heaven’s sake, as some have, wait eight days and literally infect everybody you come anywhere near in that 8-day period.”
- The ACT recorded 14 new coronavirus cases overnight, all linked to previous clusters. Thirteen were in quarantine for their entire infectious time and the other person was “unknowingly infectious in the community for a short period of time,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
- New Zealand recorded 68 new COVID-19 cases in the community on Thursday, a slight increase from the day before.
Broede Carmody is logging off on the blog now. He’ll be back bright and early tomorrow.
I’ll keep you informed of the latest news throughout the afternoon and evening.
Watch: WA’s COVID-19 update
By Broede Carmody
WA Premier Mark McGowan provided a COVID-19 update earlier today.
You can watch the playback here.
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2021-08-26 04:26:22Z
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