Prime Minister ScottMorrisonMP will go into today's national cabinet meeting with his hands tied behind his back as Western Australia and Queensland continue their renegade run on borders.
Scott Morrison will go into today's national cabinet meeting with his hands tied behind his back as Western Australia and Queensland continue their renegade run on borders. The Prime Minister will continue his push for a "nationally consistent" approach to Australia's coronavirus response, seeking unity on borders and a national definition on a COVID-19 hotspot.
Australians want to see Australia become open," he said. "Australia must become whole again... that's what success looks like. "We need to come together, we need to ensure we are clear with Australians we will seek to make Australia whole again by Christmas this year." Western Australia and Queensland's Premiers have remained adamant they will not move away from hard borders despite being propped up fiscally by the federal government.
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National Cabinet 'facing Friday test' over COVID hotspot definition | Sky News AustraliaIf no definition of a COVID-19 'hotspot' is decided on Friday, 'you would have to say the National Cabinet has failed' according to Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell. \n\nIt comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison is pushing for a nation-wide definition on a COVID-19 hotspot at this Friday’s National Cabinet meeting.\n\n'Senior federal sources have told me that the definition being discussed today by the AHPPC – the chief health officers committee - will be calculated based on a density of cases over time in a defined region,' Mr Clennell told Sky News. \n\n'Under this, it has been put to me, someone could travel between Brisbane and Perth without quarantine but Sydney to Brisbane travel would be in doubt; it would depend on the 'rolling average' of cases,' he said. \n\nMr Clennell said 'no matter the definition, it looks like it will not have much point'. \n\nHe said WA Premier Mark McGowan 'a short time ago, essentially said he's going to keep the hard border in place no matter what'. \n\n'It is a test for Scott Morrison and the states tomorrow as to whether they can come up with this hotspot definition tomorrow. If they cannot, you would have to say the National Cabinet has failed,' Mr Clennell said. \n\n\n\n
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Morrison to urge state leaders to sort out border health restrictionsScott Morrison will push state and territory leaders to urgently fix border restrictions when national cabinet meets on Friday.
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'A tall order': NSW says it may never meet Queensland's threshold to reopen the borderThe divisive issue of border closures will dominate Friday's national cabinet meeting, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison pushing for border restrictions to be eased in time for Christmas.
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Australians know what produced 'the COVID-19 recession': PM Morrison | Sky News AustraliaPrime Minister Scott Morrison says Australians 'know why the numbers on our economy are what they are today' with the nation officially falling into recession on Wednesday. \n\nIn Question Time on Wednesday, the Prime Minister was defiant 'Australians know' what has led to today's announcement. \n\n'Australians know that the COVID-19 recession has been produced by the global pandemic and the global recessions that have followed from that,' he said. \n\n'And anyone who would seek to suggest that it is other than that clearly isn't living in the same country that the rest of us are, or in the same place'. \n\nMr Morrison also said the 'path to recovery' will not be 'paved with endless, endless support of the government'. \n\n'It will be paved with the endless efforts of Australians and their enterprising spirit and restoring and building their businesses'.\n\n'We need to ensure that constraints are taken off them so they can get back to what they were doing, which is employing millions of Australians,' he said. \n\nImage: Getty
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Border closure rules pose 'a serious threat to federation' | Sky News AustraliaSky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell says the stance the premiers of Queensland and Western Australian have taken on border closures is “the most serious threat to federation since the start of the pandemic.”\n\nPrime Minister Scott Morrison will be pushing for a nation-wide definition on a COVID-19 hotspot at this Friday’s National Cabinet meeting.\n\nThe push to define COVID-19 hotspots comes as part of the Morrison government’s border closure agenda to encourage states and territories to open interstate bounderies and ease restrictions in regional areas that have very few of no COVID-19 cases.\n\n“With the words of the Queensland and WA premiers today saying we are not moving on hard borders, even before this national cabinet discussion on a hotspot definition tomorrow, the whole hotspot scheme seems pretty doomed,” Mr Clennell told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.\n\n“The intransigence here, of these states, Queensland and WA, and both of them are facing state elections and both of them have popular policies, is starting to become a serious concern for Scott Morrison.\n\n“How is he going to get them to change their minds?\n\n“It doesn’t appear he can.'\n\nImage: News Corp Australia\n
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Vic state of disaster extended to Sept 13 | Sky News AustraliaPremier Daniel Andrews has confirmed Victoria’s state of disaster will be extended and brought into line with the state of emergency but warned the slated September 13 end date didn't necessarily mean either emergency declarations would come off.\n\nThe Premier said he received the advice to extend the state of disaster, which came into effect on August 2, from the Minister for Emergency Services and the Emergency Management Commissioner. \n\n“There was always going to need to be an extension,' Mr Andrews said.\n\nHe said while the state of emergency could be extended for an additional six weeks, the Victorian government was only capable of extending a state of disaster for four weeks. \n\n“We think having both of those frameworks on the same timetable is important and will serve us well when we get to announcements on the weekend about the road map,… about what the weeks and months ahead will look like,” Mr Andrews said.\n\n“I just want to caution that doesn't necessarily mean that either the state of emergency or the state of disaster will automatically come off on the 13th, so I don't want people to read into the alignment that those measures will all of a sudden expire on the 13th.\n\n“Those decisions and that road map out, indeed multiple roadmaps for regional Victoria as well as metropolitan Melbourne, will be driven by the data.”\n\nThe state reported 90 new infections and six deaths in the past 24-hour-period, with three of the deaths occurring before Tuesday. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia \n\n
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