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Summary
- The federal government is considering giving householders cash grants for home renovations, under a multi-billion dollar stimulus package.
- Coronavirus restrictions are easing across Australia today, with cafes reopening in Victoria. Queensland has lifted its ban on travel within the state, but its borders remain closed.
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she will make an announcement about reopening gyms and dance studios 'this week'.
- More than 100 students and teachers in Melbourne are in self-isolation as authorities scramble to track the source of a coronavirus outbreak that has infected 13 people from two households in the city's north-west.
- Fears are growing that the massive Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the United States amid this pandemic will lead to a surge in new cases and more deaths in the country, which is already by far the worst hit.
Latest updates
NSW health workers slam $1000 bonus as attempt to ‘buy silence’ on wage freeze
By Jenny Noyes
Jobs are among the key issues of the day. While the Prime Minister has been spruiking construction jobs on the Western Sydney Airport metro rail line, nurses are preparing to hit the streets tomorrow to protest over wage freezes.
Unions representing health workers have slammed the NSW government's offer of a $1000 bonus in lieu of a permanent pay rise as an insult to those working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has accused NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet of trying to buy their silence with the one-off cash payment he put forward on Sunday night as a sweetener for its public sector wage freeze.
Talyna Smith, a nurse in St Vincent's Hospital emergency department.Credit:Kate Geraghty
In a statement on Monday morning, nurses and midwives association general secretary Brett Holmes said the offer was not a genuine negotiation but an "insulting and reckless" ultimatum that his members would fight, with socially-distanced protest action planned outside State Parliament and in locations across the state tomorrow.
"The NSW government is effectively trying to silence 50,000 nurses and midwives with a $1000 payment, short-changing them on the sacrifices they have made and continue to make every day," Mr Holmes said.
Mr Holmes said anything less than honouring nurses' and midwives' 2.5 per cent pay increase is "a slap in the face".
"They’ve shown up for work, shift after shift, to protect their communities in this pandemic, which isn’t over, and this is how they’re repaid."
The Health Services Union has also rebuffed the offer, saying it shortchanges hospital cleaners, ward clerks, hospital admin, allied health workers and paramedics who have "risked exposure to a deadly virus for the past three months".
HSU General Secretary Gerard Hayes said the offer was an improvement on zero but "does little to address the real needs of health workers and the public hospital system".
Jobs boost: Construction to begin on Western Sydney Airport metro line
By Max Koslowski
Construction of the Western Sydney Airport metro train line will begin this year in a bid to boost jobs in the construction industry during the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is spruiking the federal government's multibillion-dollar contribution to the metro train line, which will link the new airport and St Marys railway station.
The site of the new Western Sydney Airport.Credit:Kate Geraghty
Speaking on the site of the new airport alongside Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and NSW ministers Andrew Constance and Stuart Ayres, Mr Morrison said the federal government would pledge a further $1.75 billion to the rail program, taking the total Commonwealth investment to $5.25 billion.
"It will be able to commence this year which is great news for jobs," he said.
Ms Berejiklian said the project will create 14,000 jobs.
"It will not only service the airport, but so many people who will call this place home or who will come to the airport for work," the Premier said.
Three new cases in NSW all returned travellers
By Laura Chung
Three new cases of COVID-19 have emerged in NSW since 8pm on Sunday – all returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
There is relief in Sydney's west this morning, with NSW Health's Dr Christine Selvey revealing there are no residents at the Newmarch House aged care facility with COVID-19.
"Of the 37 residents who had tested positive at Newmarch House, 19 have died and 18 have now recovered," she said.
Three returned travellers in hotel quarantine have tested positive for the virus.Credit:Jacky Ghossein
There are currently 67 coronavirus cases being treated by NSW Health, including one person in intensive care, who does not require a ventilator.
The three new cases bring the state's total number to 3098.
There were 5763 tests carried out during the latest reporting period, pushing the total number of COVID-19 tests in NSW to almost 510,000.
As restrictions ease NSW Health is reminding people to maintain social distancing and wash their hands regularly to minimise the risk of virus transmission in the community.
One of four new cases in Victoria linked to Rydges hotel cluster
Let's take a look at the latest figures from Victoria, where four new cases have emerged overnight.
One of the new cases has been linked to the outbreak at Rydges on Swanston in Melbourne, where quarantined travellers are staying. The infected person is a close contact of one of the hotel workers, bringing the total of this outbreak to eight.
"A full investigation is underway to review all possible causes of transmission within the hotel, including looking into links between affected staff and contractors," the Health Department said in a statement.
"Thorough cleaning of relevant parts of the hotel has been undertaken, alongside contact tracing, isolation and quarantine of close contacts."
One case was detected in a returned traveler in hotel quarantine and two were from community testing.
No new cases are linked to the Keilor Downs family outbreak.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Victoria stands at 1653.
- 1 person is fighting for their life in intensive care;
- 6 people are in hospital (including the person in intensive care);
- 168 cases have been acquired through unknown community transmission;
- 1560 people have recovered;
- 1653 cases in metropolitan Melbourne, 234 in regional Victorian (several cases remain under investigation);
- More than 515,000 tests have been processed to date.
House values fall in Sydney and Melbourne through May
As we wait to hear from the Prime Minister, our senior economics correspondent Shane Wright tells us that Sydney and Melbourne have led the first drop in national house prices.
House values in Sydney fell by 0.6 per cent last month while in Melbourne they dropped by 1.1 per cent, according to fresh CoreLogic data.
House prices could fall further later this year.Credit:Arsineh Houspian
The value of units in both cities also dropped, down by 0.1 per cent in Sydney and by 0.6 per cent in Melbourne.
Nationally, dwelling values were down by 0.4 per cent although there were some outliers including Canberra, where they lifted by 0.5 per cent, in Hobart by 0.8 per cent.
CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless said momentum had come out of the market, cautioning that prices might come under pressure later in the year.
"Eventually, government stimulus will wind back and borrower repayment holidays will expire," he said.
"In the absence of these policies, housing values could come under some additional downwards pressure if economic conditions haven't picked up towards the end of the year."
WATCH LIVE: Prime Minister's press conference
We have dual press conferences this morning, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaking in western Sydney about a boost for the construction industry.
Earlier this morning, Mr Morrison confirmed the federal government is considering giving out cash grants for home renovations to provide local tradies with jobs. You can watch the Prime Minister's press conference below:
WATCH: Queensland Premier's press conference
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk held a press conference outside Quicksilver Cruises at Cairns Marina about the next stage of eased restrictions. You can watch the press conference live below:
Spain to extend lockdown for a 'final time'
Spain's Prime Minister says the country needs 15 more days of lockdown until June 21 "to finish with the pandemic once and for all", and has asked Parliament to approve a final two-week extension to the country's stay home rule.
"We have almost set out what we set out to do," Pedro Sanchez told a press conference on Sunday, as he expressed relief that the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Spain, one of the nations hardest-hit by the virus, had fallen dramatically.
From June 21 a national state of emergency will end and with it the lockdown, allowing citizens to move freely in their regions. From July 1, citizens will be able to move throughout the country.
Spain's death toll rose by four on Saturday to 27,125, the health ministry said, while the number of COVID-19 infections rose by 271 to 239,228.
Spain imposed a state of emergency on March 14 which involved a strict lockdown under which people could only leave their homes to buy food, seek medical care or for jobs where they could not work from home. Children were initially confined inside all day. Restrictions are being gradually eased.
Despite opposition to the most recent lockdown extension from parties on the right and demonstrations across Spain, Sanchez has struck a deal with a Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) which should guarantee his minority government secures enough support to extend the lockdown.
Reuters
Belgian prince ill after 'illegal' party
Belgium's prince Joachim has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a party in the Spanish city of Cordoba that allegedly broke lockdown rules.
Joachim, who is a nephew of Belgium's King Philippe and is 10th in line to the throne, travelled to Spain from Belgium on a commercial flight on May 24 for an internship.
He attended a gathering with 26 other people and now must quarantine himself in Spain after testing positive for COVID-19.
Belgian media say the 28-year-old prince has been in a long-term relationship with Spanish citizen Victoria Ortiz Martinez-Sagrera.
Spanish police said they had launched an investigation into the incident and those who breached restrictions could face fines of between 600 and 10,000 euros.
AAP, Reuters
People more important than economy: Pope Francis
Keeping with overseas news for a moment, where Pope Francis cheerfully greeted people in St Peter's Square on Sunday as he resumed his practice of speaking to the faithful there for the first time since Italy's coronavirus lockdown began in March.
"Today the square is open, we can return to it with pleasure," Francis said.
Instead of the tens of thousands of people who might have turned out on a similarly brilliantly sunny day like in pre-pandemic times, only a few hundred came to the square on Sunday, standing well apart from others or in small family groups.
He prayed that no one in the world would lack medical assistance, especially due to economic priorities.
"Persons are more important than the economy," Francis said.
Noting it was the first time he could greet people in the square for weeks, Francis said that "one doesn't emerge from a crisis the same. You either come out better or you come out worse".
He said he'd be back to greet them next Sunday in the same place at noon, smiling and pointing down to the vast square far below his studio window.
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2020-06-01 01:53:00Z
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