Australia news LIVE Victoria records 1438 new local COVID-19 cases five deaths Sydney schools to reopen earlier than expected
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Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham are expected to hold a joint press conference around 9.20am AEST.
It comes after we learned the federal government is planning to phase out its COVID disaster payments.
Watch live below.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham are providing a joint press conference (they aren’t in the same room due to coronavirus restrictions).
Mr Frydenberg says the final budget outcome for the 2021 financial year was a $134.2 billion deficit. However, that’s a $27 billion improvement on what was forecast in May.
“What is driving this improvement to the budget bottom line is more people in work and less people on welfare,†Mr Frydenberg said.
“Since May of last year, more than 1 million new jobs have been created, and the unemployment rate has fallen below 5 per cent for the first time in a decade.
“We recognise that since this final budget outcome, the economy has been hit by the Delta variant. But with the vaccination rates fast approaching the 70 and 80 per cent targets, restrictions will be eased, and what these numbers confirm is that when restrictions are eased, the Australian economy bounces back.â€
Mr Birmingham added that the numbers were promising for businesses and households, while acknowledging there would be “some pressure†on next year’s federal budget.
“These results underscore the reality that the best way for us to continue to secure stronger results for the budget bottom line is to continue to focus on having a stronger economy.â€
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state has recorded 1438 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and five deaths.
Today’s cases is a record for Victoria and up from yesterday’s record tally of 950 cases.
The Department of Health has not said how many cases are linked to known outbreaks or how many people were already isolating when they tested positive.
Zero cases were detected in hotel quarantine.
There are now 11,018 active cases of coronavirus across the state.
Today’s numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 65,497 coronavirus tests (the highest number of daily tests this year).
People in NSW aged 60 and over will now have access to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines after the state changed its guidelines on who can get mRNA jabs.
On Sunday, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the country will have enough Pfizer and Moderna doses to cover all eligible people by the end of October.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are now available to people over 60 in NSW.Credit:AP
The change comes as eligibility guidelines in Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Tasmania were updated earlier this month, allowing people aged over 60 to opt for Pfizer.
There are about 30,000 people aged 70 and older who are yet to have a first dose in NSW.
Read the full story here.
As reported earlier, NSW students are set to return to the classroom a week earlier than originally anticipated due to the state’s high level of vaccination.
Those in kindergarten, years 1 and 12 will return from October 18 and teachers must be vaccinated.
However, one of the state’s education unions has flagged some concerns about the plan.
The Independent Education Union’s acting NSW secretary, Carol Matthews, has questioned whether school buildings will be properly ventilated by next month.
Here’s what she had to say on Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise earlier this morning:
Look, well we are quite disappointed about the lack of consultation about the changes.
There was no consultation, certainly with the union for the non- government sector, and I don’t know whether our employers were consulted. I suspect they weren’t.
It’s one thing for teachers to be ready for classes - I’m sure they will be - but it’s quite another for the buildings to be ready for the students.
One of the things we have really learnt with this virus is that good ventilation and air filtration is important and you can’t do that overnight.
Melbourne’s building industry is set to reopen on Tuesday after a two-week hiatus, despite a growing COVID-19 outbreak at the construction union headquarters.
The cluster has infected four CFMEU officials and forced hundreds of people into self-isolation, including union leader John Setka.
Melbourne’s construction industry has been shut down for almost two weeks.Credit:Getty
A vaccine mandate for construction workers, a key factor behind last week’s violent protests that are believed to have sparked the union office outbreak, has not been removed and proof of having received at least one dose will be a prerequisite for entry at worksites â€" though the method of enforcement remains unclear.
Construction sites will return to at least 25 per cent capacity, or slightly more, two weeks after the sector, which employs 320,000 people, was closed.
Read the full story here.
A growing number of regional NSW locations are being put on alert for COVID-19.
NSW Health has released a list of 35 towns and cities where venues have been added to the state’s list of exposure sites.
The locations include Batemans Bay, Broken Hill, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and Narooma. The full list of exposure venues can be viewed here.
Anyone who visited the sites is a casual contact and must get tested and isolate until receiving a negative result.
Yesterday, authorities warned that while daily cases numbers are declining in Sydney, they are surging in parts of regional NSW.
In case you missed it, Victorian health authorities identified a number of new COVID-19 exposure sites last night, including several childcare centres and a primary school.
Narre Kids Early Learning and Kinder at Narre Warren, in Melbourne’s south east, was declared a tier-1 or close contact site between 9am and 4.30pm on Monday, September 27 and Tuesday, September 28.
Delahey Children’s Centre, in the city’s north west, was declared tier 1 for Thursday, September 23 between 1pm and 6pm. Meanwhile, Aspire Childcare Atherstone Estate at Strathtulloh (in the outer west) was declared tier 1 for Monday, September 27 between 8.30am and 10.30am.
Truganina Early Learning Centre in Melbourne’s west was also declared tier 1 for Thursday, September 23 between 7am and 4.30pm, while Kensington Community Children’s Co-operative in the inner north west was declared tier 1 on Thursday, September 23 between 9am and 3.30pm.
St Margaret’s Primary School at Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s north west, was declared tier 1 for Thursday, September 23 between 8am and 4pm.
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.
Sydney students will return to school a week earlier than originally announced after the state government reviewed its back-to-class plan amid faster than expected vaccinations, with kindergarten, year 1 and year 12 students now returning on October 18.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell also wants all schools across the city to reopen at the same time, in a sign that the government has stepped away from earlier plans to close those in areas with high rates of COVID-19 community transmission.
High school students will need to wear masks when schools reopenCredit:Getty
The NSW crisis cabinet made the decision on Wednesday, a senior government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed, and will meet later this week to consider an overhaul of the state’s contact tracing methods.
More on NSW’s updated back-to-school plan here.
Prominent GPs have called for a new after-hours COVID-19 health hotline, as one paramedic describes Victorian emergency department conditions as “already apocalyptic†and the Andrews government warns the worst is yet to come.
With unprecedented demand on hospitals and calls to triple zero reaching levels on Monday not seen since the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event, state health officials have given welfare briefings this week urging front-line workers to “prepare psychologically†for a difficult few months as Victorians emerge from lockdown.
Melbourne GP Nathan Pinskier, who provides doctors to the Victorian government for COVID-19 testing and hotel quarantine, is part of a group of doctors proposing an after-hours service to field calls from patients and suspected cases, to give people an option other than calling triple-zero.
He said COVID-19 patients were currently monitored by a “fragmented†system of public hospital networks and community health services.
Read the full story here.
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