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Childcare subsidies spark ‘robust debate’ in Coalition party room
By Nick Bonyhady
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes has defended the government’s $1.7 boost to childcare subsidies, which came under attack yesterday from several of her own colleagues in the Coalition.
Nationals George Christensen and Matt Canavan, both close allies of the new Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, had attacked the proposal on the basis that it did not do enough to support stay at home parents, who are overwhelmingly mothers.
Liberal Senator for NSW Hollie Hughes. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
My colleague Katina Curtis heard from several sources in the room that Mr Christensen had described parents who use childcare as outsourcing their responsibilities to big corporations.
“There was robust debate between a number of people in the party room,” Senator Hughes said after being repeatedly pressed on ABC TV about who said what.
“I think most people would like to see they’re able to make their own choices about how they raise their children.”
Senator Hughes repeated one cutting line she was reported to have used in the meeting to rubbish claims all decisions to go back to work were financial.
“There’s a lot of people who choose to go back to work because, you know, they’re not, dare I say it, cut out to sit at home and watch Bluey.”
Victoria records no new cases of COVID-19
By Broede Carmody
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state recorded zero new cases of COVID-19 in the community yesterday and just one new case was detected in hotel quarantine. It’s the second day in a row of no new community cases in Victoria.
Those numbers are off the back of 28,267 coronavirus tests.
Farmers need to be ‘rewarded’ for climate action: Littleproud
By Broede Carmody
Speaking of the David Littleproud’s flurry of media appearances, he was on radio station 2GB earlier this morning selling the idea of paying farmers to cut their emissions.
“We don’t want to tax people to make any international achievements,” the Agriculture Minister said.
“Agriculture can play a part in helping [reduce emissions]. As long as farmers are being rewarded for it. We’ve got to square the ledger and farmers have to be rewarded for what they’ve done and they haven’t been in the past. They have to be front and centre of financial rewards.”
For more on a possible financial reward for farmers to help Australia meet its climate targets, here’s the latest from my colleague David Crowe.
Barnaby Joyce has ‘acknowledged the wrongs of the past’: Littleproud
By Broede Carmody
Deputy Nationals leader David Littleproud has been doing a string of interviews this morning following his party’s leadership spill.
Barnaby Joyce toppled Michael McCormack earlier this week to claim the agrarian party’s top job. As a result, Mr Joyce was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister yesterday morning.
Federal National leader Barnaby Joyce, left, with his deputy David Littleproud.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The appointment is not without criticism given Mr Joyce resigned from the same job three years ago following a harassment allegation and revelations he had an affair with a staffer (who is now his partner). Victoria’s deputy Nationals leader, Steph Ryan, says Mr Joyce’s past actions don’t “really make him eligible for the top job”.
ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland put this to Mr Littleproud on ABC TV just moments ago. Here’s the Agriculture Minister’s response:
“I think [Barnaby] has acknowledged the wrongs of the past and demonstrated remorse for that. He now believes he has learnt his lesson and all he’s asking for is a fair go to prove he has changed his ways.
“All he’s asking for is the opportunity to do that. And there will be a differing opinion on that. The proof of that is the test of time in his actions and Barnaby is very keen to demonstrate that.”
Restrictions set to ease across Melbourne
By Sumeyya Ilanbey and Paul Sakkal
Restrictions imposed during Greater Melbourne’s recent lockdown are set to ease further, with an announcement expected within hours that people will be able to gather outdoors in groups of up to 50 and companies will be allowed to operate with 75 per cent of their workforce in the office.
The COVID-19 rule changes will take Melbourne to settings mirroring those in regional Victoria. Hospitality venues will move to a looser one-per-four-square-metre density limit and a probable cap of about 300 people.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Credit:Joe Armao
The Victorian government will finalise the plans this morning and detail the easing of public health rules at a press conference later today, government sources have confirmed.
Under the new rules, crowd caps are expected to change. The government is weighing up how many fans it will allow in stadiums, with the A-League grand final and a Saturday night blockbuster between Essendon and Melbourne to be hosted in Melbourne over the weekend. Caps may differ depending on the capacity of the stadium.
State ministers will also assess advice from Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton on whether to allow more than two people to visit another household. Professor Sutton said on Tuesday he expected “good news” for those wanting to host weddings this weekend.
Victoria declares seven areas of NSW ‘red zones’
By Broede Carmody
Victoria has labelled seven NSW local government areas ‘red zones’.
This means Victorian residents returning from areas such as the City of Sydney will have to obtain a permit and quarantine at home for 14 days.
Victoria has declared the City of Sydney a ‘red zone’ for travel purposes.Credit:Peter Braig
Non-Victorian residents who have been in a red zone are barred from entering Victoria altogether (unless they obtain an exemption).
The red zones are:
- The City of Sydney
- Waverley
- Woollahra
- Bayside
- Canada Bay
- Inner West
- Randwick
The changes came into effect at 1am this morning. Victoria’s health department says anyone arriving into the state from those local government areas without a valid travel permit will be fined and have to stay in hotel quarantine.
Meanwhile, Victoria officially declared Wollongong an orange zone in the early hours of the morning. This means anyone entering Victoria from the Wollongong local government area in NSW must obtain a travel permit, isolate upon arrival, get a coronavirus test and stay isolated until they receive a negative result.
New Zealand pauses travel bubble with NSW
By Broede Carmody
The travel bubble between New South Wales and New Zealand has burst – for now.
New Zealand’s health department says an Australian travelled from Sydney to Wellington over the weekend before returning to Australia on Monday and testing positive to COVID-19.
Health authorities say an Australian man flew from Wellington to Sydney on Monday while infectious.Credit:iStock
“This is the first time an Australian traveller has brought COVID-19 to NZ and since gone home,” NZ’s Ministry of Health said in a statement.
“Based on the time of their symptom onset and CT [cycle threshold] score it is most likely they contracted the virus in Sydney prior to their visit to New Zealand. Genome sequencing is underway in Australia to see if the case is linked to the current outbreak in Sydney.”
As a result, travel between NSW and New Zealand has been halted for the next few days.
NZ authorities say they have so far identified four close contacts of the Australian traveller. All are isolating as further contact tracing gets underway.
Passengers who also flew on the following flights must immediately isolate at their home or accommodation and call NZ health authorities on 1800 358 5453:
- The Sydney to Wellington Qantas flight QF163 that left NSW on Friday, June 18 at 7.05pm AEST and landed in New Zealand on Saturday, June 19 at 12.12am NZST; and
- The Wellington to Sydney Air New Zealand flight NZ247 that left NZ on Monday, June 21 at 10.13am NZST and arrived in Australia on Monday, 21 at 11.33am AEST.
“Australian health authorities will be contacting those on the return flight to Sydney to provide advice about testing and isolation,” NZ’s Ministry of Health said.
White House concedes it will miss July 4 vaccination goal
By Matthew Knott
The White House has acknowledged the United States will miss President Joe Biden’s goal for 70 per cent of American adults to have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by the July 4 holiday.
When Biden announced the goal at the beginning of May the US appeared on track to reach the target, but the average daily vaccination rate has dropped significantly in subsequent weeks.
Earlier in the month Joe Biden had designated June a “national month of action” on vaccines. Credit:AP
Read the full story here.
This morning’s news at a glance
By Broede Carmody
Good morning and thanks for your company. It’s Wednesday, June 23. I’m Broede Carmody.
It’s set to be a busy day today, with some borders slammed shut and Sydneysiders waiting for the latest coronavirus numbers. Let’s jump straight into what’s making news today:
- NSW health authorities are trying to track down how a year three student contracted coronavirus. Sydney’s Bondi cluster has grown to 21 cases and there are fears Queensland will soon slam its borders shut.
- Meanwhile, Victoria has declared a number of NSW local government areas ‘red zones’. It comes as restrictions are set to ease across Greater Melbourne.
- New Zealand has paused its travel bubble with New South Wales. It comes after a man travelled from Sydney to Wellington while infectious.
- And in overseas news, Chinese swimmer Sun Yang has been banned from the sport for four years. It means the swimmer, who has clashed publicly with Australian Mack Horton, will miss this year’s Olympics.
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2021-06-22 22:24:29Z
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