PM Morrison praises easing in  border bans

22/9/2020

(See translation in Arabic section)

Canberra - M E Times Int'l: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared the world should model its COVID-19 response off Australia as he welcomed a “common sense” easing of border restrictions.

Mr Morrison spruiked his handling of the crisis but warned if the country were to "slacken up" we would share the same fate as that faced by the United Kingdom.

“We have avoided that largely, except for in Victoria, and Melbourne in particular,” Mr Morrison said.

“We don’t want to go back there, so there is always a risk when you come out that people will fall out of the habit.

“The truth is if you want to live alongside the virus, COVID-safe behaviours are absolutely essential. “If we slacken up on that we will find ourselves where most of the developed world is.”

South Australia has announced its intentions to open to all of New South Wales from midnight tomorrow, if there is no community transmission. Queensland also announced five shires in northern NSW will be included in its border bubble.

Mr Morrison praised the decision to relax border restrictions.

 “I think these are common sense changes, and I think this will further assist getting people back into jobs and making sure we live alongside the virus.”

The prime minister spoke of the need to be able to live with the virus. He stressed the importance of not becoming complacent with it if case numbers do subside, and the importance of protecting the most vulnerable in the community.

Aust Treasurer Frydenberg to axe wage subsidy scheme

Canberra: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is preparing to axe the JobKeeper scheme in March, shifting the focus of the government support into creating new jobs.

The budget is expected to include new JobMaker subsidies to encourage employers to take on new staff as the economy reopens after government ordered shutdowns during the pandemic.

But it is also expected to confirm that the JobKeeper wage subsidy will not be extended when it ends on March 28.

Plans call for the JobKeeper scheme to be axed next year and not extended a second time.

That fits neatly with the Prime Minister’s plan to shift government subsidies into creating new jobs rather than providing a wage subsidy to protect them during the early months of the pandemic when entire industries were shut down. It means that rather than provide a subsidy to struggling businesses, the focus will shift to helping business rebuild.

The current six month extension expires on March 28.

Thousands of jobs for regional NSW through $3 billion jobs and infrastructure fund

Sydney: The NSW Government can today reveal it has allocated another $400m of its $3 billion Jobs and Infrastructure Acceleration Fund to regional projects.

Last week, the government announced $2.4 billion in funding, which included $1.4 billion in accelerated funding for regional projects. This brings the total spend so far to almost $1.8 billion for regional projects.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said more than 80 infrastructure and local community projects would be funded in the regions over the next two years as part of the NSW Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan.

“We’re turbocharging the regions as we set our state up for a dynamic recovery,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“By investing almost $1.8 billion to accelerate new and existing projects in priority sectors in the regions we are helping to get people, businesses and communities back on their feet following COVID-19.”

Work starts on public housing units in western Sydney

Sydney: A SOD-TURNING ceremony marked the start of construction on a new $16 million social housing project to support vulnerable people in Western Sydney.

The development will replace three ageing cottages at 14-18 Phillip Street, St Marys, with a modern five-storey building comprising 44 new homes.

Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey said the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) is partnering with construction company Growthbuilt to deliver the project that will deliver a timely boost for jobs and the NSW economy.

 “The importance of the 80 jobs estimated to be created by this project, and the boost it’ll give to construction trades and businesses at this time, cannot be understated.

The new homes will be located near public transport and shops, provide landscaped communal areas and use on-site renewable energy to power common area lighting. The homes are also designed to accommodate tenants with mobility challenges.

Politicians must do ‘the right thing not the popular thing’: Education Minister

Canberra: Education Minister Dan Tehan has told media it’s easy for premiers and chief ministers to be popular on issues such as border closures but there is a “greater need in terms of the federation” for leaders to do the right thing.

It comes as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the downside of the past few months during the pandemic has been “states overstepping their mark and not thinking themselves as part of a nation”.

“You can’t take the GST revenue on the one hand and all the tax benefits on the one hand, and say I’ll take that but I won’t give you anything back,” she said.

“That to me is not a logical way to move forward”.

Mr Tehan said the premier’s comments were “incredibly sensible” and he hoped the other premiers and chief ministers would listen.

 “Gladys has spoken for a lot of people when she said it’s time for us to do the right thing not the popular thing,” she said.

“I think what she said today was eminently sensible.”

Climate change is a real, man made problem, 'but we should fix it smartly'

Sydney: Bestselling author Bjorn Lomborg says Climate change is a real problem, it’s man made and something we should fix “but we should fix it smartly and we’re not doing that right now”.

 “We’re actually employing very costly policies that will do almost no good even 100 years from now,” Mr Lomborg told Chris Kenny.

 “And that’s mostly because we’re so scared that we just throw everything and the kitchen sink at this instead of looking to what will actually fix climate change.

Mr Lomborg said one of the most expensive climate change remedies was subsidizing electric cars.

Coalition support rebounds in latest Newspoll

Canberra: The latest Newspoll reveals Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s approval rating has slipped into negative territory.

 Polling shows a two-point rise for the Coalition’s primary vote to 43 per cent, while Labor returned to a historically low 34 per cent.

The government has also regained its two-party preferred advantage over Labor which had drawn level just three weeks ago.

Scott Morrison rose one point as better prime minister and support for Mr Albanese fell two points to 27 per cent.

Falling immigration figures to hit demand in housing market

Sydney: Market Economics’ Stephen Koukoulas says immigration intake has “slowed to a trickle” and with it much of the demand for new houses and infrastructure.

Mr Koukoulas said “one of the critical drivers” for the housing sector over the last three decades has been population growth.

Reports indicate more than 300,000 homes over the next three years will not be built due to the impact of COVID-19 on immigration.

Low immigration levels are likely to continue with both sides of politics having indicated it will remain low following the coronavirus.

“It’s not just the trade people who work on the construction sites, it’s the raw material, it’s the bricks, it’s the windows, the timber the steel," he said.

Number of vacant shops experiencing ‘big’ increase

Melbourne: REA Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee says COVID-19 has triggered a large increase in the number of vacant shops – particularly in Melbourne’s CBD.

“There’s been an increase in retail leases by over 100, that’s since the start of COVID,” she told press.

 “Even if people wanted to go into the city at the moment, given the five-kilometre radius restrictions, it is pretty much impossible for people to do so.

 “It is having a very detrimental impact on small businesses, on cafes and restaurants in the area.”

 She said supermarkets are expecting a similar downturn in cities.

Launch of Covid safe summer plan

Sydney: A new plan will ensure NSW residents can get out and about this summer in a COVID-safe way, while keeping the economy moving.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes, Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, Member for Manly James Griffin and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant outlined the NSW Government’s new COVID Safe Summer Plan this morning.

The Plan supports local businesses by encouraging more outdoor dining in the lead up to the Christmas-New Year period and throughout the summer months.

It also provides clear instructions to help keep COVID under control as residents enjoy the warmer months.

“We know how much our community loves fresh air, beaches and parklands, but we will all need to do that a bit differently this summer,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“The COVID Safe Summer Plan encourages the community and local businesses to take advantage of our glorious warm weather while using public spaces safely.

Jacinda Ardern ‘was in draconian lockdown mode’ amid record GDP fall

Auckland: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in the “draconian lockdown mode” and now the country’s economy has contracted by a record 12.2 per cent in three months says Sky News host Alan Jones.

“Jacinda Ardern thought she could totally eliminate the virus,” Mr Jones said.

“The lockdowns were amongst the toughest in the world”.

"It is not only opposition accusations in New Zealand which are saying that these things have pushed the economy 'off the cliff'," he said.

No new covid cases found in NZ as lockdowns lift

Auckland: There are no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand on Tuesday, that country’s Director-General of Health announced.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed the latest figures in Wellington as most of the country returned to Alert Level 1 on Tuesday, six weeks after a community outbreak of the coronavirus was discovered in Auckland.

Dr Bloomfield added one case has recovered, leaving New Zealand with 61 active cases currently made up of 29 imported cases and the other 32 from the community.

New Zealand’s total number of cases remains at 1464. There remain three people in hospital, all in Auckland. None are in intensive care.

There have also been 4003 close contacts identified since the Auckland outbreak in August of which 3992 have been contacted and are either isolating or have isolated.

On Monday, 3278 tests were carried, bringing New Zealand's total number of tests to date to 917,699.