Summary
- The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 407,000 and there are more than 7.1 million known cases of infection, according to Johns Hopkins University
- The future of the JobKeeper wage subsidy will be a hot topic as Parliament resumes for the first of two back-to-back sitting weeks today
- A top WHO expert has tried to clear up "misunderstandings" about comments she made that were widely understood to suggest that people without COVID-19 symptoms rarely transmit the coronavirus
- China has issued a warning for students travelling to Australia claiming an inadequate COVID-19 response, delivering another blow to a key Australian export industry
- Community sport has been given the go-ahead for all ages in NSW from July 1. It was previously only going to be allowed for under-18s
Watch: PM defends JobKeeper during Question Time
After repeated questions from the Labor Party during question time this afternoon, Scott Morrison has been forced to defend the JobKeeper program amid concerns it’ll be cut short.
Watch the Prime Minister's responses:
Latest updates
NRL player Benji Marshall sent home after kissing a reporter, creating biosecurity breach
By Adrian Proszenko and Sarah Keoghan
A day after he was sensationally dropped by Wests Tigers, Benji Marshall is again in the headlines after being involved in a breach of biosecurity protocols.
Seven News reporter Michelle Bishop has been sent for a COVID-19 test after Marshall gave her a kiss as he arrived at training on Wednesday. The incident occurred about 10am as the Kiwi international made his way to the field from his car.
Benji Marshall's kissed a reporter at training on Wednesday.Credit:AAP
Given Marshall has been in the Tigers’ biosecurity bubble, the assumption is he is coronavirus free. He has been sent home while the club awaits the result of Bishop’s test.
“Wests Tigers are aware of a biosecurity matter at training today involving co-captain Benji Marshall,” the Tigers said in a statement.
“Marshall was involved in a social-distancing incident with an accredited reporter, which was immediately reported to the NRL as per guidelines.
“Under those guidelines, Marshall will remain at home tomorrow — which is a scheduled day off for Wests Tigers NRL squad — while the reporter undergoes a COVID-19 test.
“Assuming a negative result is returned, no further action will be required by Marshall or Wests Tigers.”
Read more: Benji Marshall sent home from training after biosecurity breach
Podcast: Inside the national cabinet during the COVID-19 crisis
Watch: PM defends JobKeeper during Question Time
After repeated questions from the Labor Party during question time this afternoon, Scott Morrison has been forced to defend the JobKeeper program amid concerns it’ll be cut short.
Watch the Prime Minister's responses:
'Let’s get going': NZ Deputy PM says not to wait for 'slowest states' for travel bubble
By Rachael Dexter
New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has said the beginning of a ‘trans-Tasman travel bubble’ between Australia and New Zealand shouldn’t wait for “the slowest state in Australia”.
Speaking this morning to the Today Show, Mr Peters said his government was eager to start travel between New Zealand and some states in Australia saying, “it should have happened yesterday”.
There are no longer any domestic coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand after two weeks of no new infections in the country.
In Australia, some states are now welcoming interstate tourists while Queensland and Western Australia are keeping their borders firmly closed for now.
Mr Peters said while some states were keen and ready to start receiving visitors to and from New Zealand, plans had “run into the roadblock of Federalism” because some states were reluctant to open their borders.
“It’s very clear that Tasmania’s set to go and we should start frankly, we should not have states being held back by the slowest mover so to speak,” he said.
“So let’s get going, let’s have a precedent here and I’m sure that when we’ve got all the protocols sorted out which can be done very, very quickly for so much for that’s been done, we could be off,
“But let’s not restrain the movement between our two countries based on the slowest state in Australia”.
“You’ve got to start somewhere. Basically we’re asking for the handbrake to come off but it has to be organised out of Australia,” he said.
GetUp accuses Labor of censoring First Nations voices over COVID-19 protest fears
By Dana McCauley
Lobby group GetUp has accused Labor of censoring First Nations voices by excluding MPs who attended Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend from sitting in Parliament.
Four Labor MPs who attended the protests are getting tested today for COVID-19 and will stay away from Parliament while waiting for the test results, as was reported in the blog earlier today.
Sydney's Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday.Credit:Rhett Wyman
The four Labor MPs - Malarndirri McCarthy, Graham Perrett, Warren Snowdon and Anika Wells - decided to get tested out of caution, after House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith raised concerns.
GetUp’s First Nations Justice Campaign Director Larissa Baldwin said the move would "stifle strong voices for the Black Lives Matter movement, such as Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, in our Parliament at this crucial time."
“Now is the time to be elevating First Nations voices on the streets and in the parliament as the world surges in support for the Black Lives Matter movement," Ms Baldwin said.
“There are no active COVID-19 cases in the Northern Territory where the protests were held within the local laws, so it’s a complete farce to expect Senator Malarndirri McCarthy to be absent from the Parliament."
Deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said on Monday that it was not necessary for anyone who attended the Black Lives Matter protests to self-isolate, unless they had respiratory symptoms.
Mr Perrett said he had become aware on Wednesday that the Speaker "was concerned about my attendance at a rally on the weekend, so I voluntarily took it upon myself to get tested out of an abundance of caution."
"I note the Deputy CMO said there was no obligation on me to take action, however I decided to put this matter beyond doubt," he said.
Ms Baldwin called on Labor to, "back their MPs and stand up to the conservatives, who have pounced on the issue to silence First Nations voices".
“Deaths in Custody must be pushed to the top of the national agenda while Parliament sits this week, and First Nations voices like Senator Malarndirri McCarthy should be elevated in any debate, not silenced," she said.
When asked why his MPs had not been tested before entering Parliament on Wednesday morning, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said that they had "followed the health advice and now they, out of an abundance of caution, are being tested."
"That's fine ... That's a reasonable thing for them to do," he said.
Mr Albanese said his position on whether MPs should have gone to the protests was that, "you should always follow health advice".
"That was the position that I said beforehand, during and after," he said.
Labor MP Linda Burney raised the issue of Indigenous justice in Parliamentary Question Time on Wednesday, asking Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt: "When will the government include justice targets in the Closing the Gap framework?"
Mr Wyatt said the government was finalising suitable targets aimed at reducing indigenous incarceration rates with state and territory governments as well as Aboriginal advocacy bodies.
"How we do it once it's in place is certainly a requirement for states and territories to stump up and deliver on," he told Parliament.
"We recognise that is a contributing factor to unemployment and many other issues that our people face."
WATCH: Parliament debates JobKeeper in Question Time
MPs kicked off two weeks of federal parliamentary sittings today with the Morrison government's JobKeeper scheme in the spotlight during Question Time this afternoon.
Watch it back here:
Virgin administrator asks Canberra for JobKeeper extension, ticket guarantee
By Patrick Hatch
Virgin Australia's administrator, Deloitte, has told the Morrison government its sale process for the insolvent airline could fail without more federal financial support for the aviation industry.
Deloitte wrote to the Morrison government on Tuesday warning there was a serious risk Virgin's two final suitors - Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners - might not be confident lodging binding bids unless the government pledged its support.
Eight indicative bids were put in for Virgin Australia in May. Two bidders remain in the running. Credit:AP
The letter asks the government to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy – which is being paid to 8000 Virgin workers and around 25,000 Qantas employees, but will expire in September – by at least six months, according to sources close to the administration who spoke on condition of anonymity due to confidentiality agreements.
Binding bids for Virgin are due on June 22 and Deloitte hopes to have a new owner installed by mid-August. Sources said Deloitte fears that without an extension to JobKeeper, Virgin's new owner would face a shock wages bill shortly after taking over, which would either discourage them from bidding or force them to make mass redundancies.
Today's big stories
Good afternoon and thank you for reading our live (and free) coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. If you're just joining us, here are this morning's stories.
- Victoria recorded four new cases overnight, all in the community. One was linked to disability service in Chelsea, another was part of the Rydges Hotel cluster and two were identified through routine testing. The only other three cases reported were in NSW and all were overseas arrivals in hotel quarantine.
- Parliament has returned today, with the future of JobKeeper the hot topic. Labor MPs who attended Black Lives Matter protests on the weekend are staying home to wait for the results of coronavirus testing, but two Greens senators who attended have said they will just observe social distancing.
- A NSW Health official has told the Ruby Princess inquiry it was "reasonable" to allow the passengers of the ship to disembark, due to their personal liberty and onward travel connections.
- Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said low case numbers from NSW are "encouraging" but she will not put a date on when borders will reopen.
- Meanwhile, lawyers for the Queensland government will argue financial hardship suffered by state's floundering tourism industry may have been caused by the national border lockdown, rather than the state's as a High Court challenge mounted by tourism operators will attempt to suggest.
- Consumer confidence has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Westpac Consumer Sentiment index.
- Splendour in the Grass has been postponed to July 2021, after previously being rescheduled for October.
- In sport, there have been various developments on the issue of whether crowds can watch football matches. This weekend, approval has been given for small AFL crowds in Sydney and Adelaide. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has said he wants NRL crowds back quickly, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian says they will only be allowed in corporate boxes this weekend.
- And in less skilled sport, adult community games can now return with the under-18s when NSW eases restrictions on July 1.
This is Mary Ward in Sydney signing off the blog. Rachael Dexter in Melbourne will be carrying our live coverage through to the evening.
Queensland says financial hit may have come from national border closure
By Lydia Lynch and Matt Dennien
Lawyers for the Queensland government will argue financial hardship suffered by state's floundering tourism industry may have been caused by the national border lockdown.
A High Court challenge mounted by a group of tourism operators, including Brisbane travel agent Travel Essence (trading as Helloworld Mount Ommaney), argues that the closure of Queensland's state borders during the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed financial hardship on their businesses.
The Queensland government is facing a High Court battle over its decision to keep the state's borders closed.Credit:Jason O'Brien/AAP
In an initial response lodged to the court, the state government's legal team denies the closure of the state's border was responsible for financial stress.
Some are not happy about protest attendees being in Parliament
As reported earlier by our chief political correspondent, David Crowe, four Labor MPs who attended Black Lives Matter protest on the weekend will be getting coronavirus tests today and staying away from Parliament until they get their results.
Meanwhile, Greens senators Janet Rice and Mehreen Faruqi, who also attended the protests are at Parliament today and say they will be observing social distancing seriously and get tests if they develop any symptoms.
Liberal Alex Hawke is none-too-pleased about that:
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2020-06-10 06:41:00Z
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