E3: Australia coronavirus live news: first person jailed for breaking quarantine as Frydenberg says WHO funding to continue – latest updates

Treasurer says decision doesn’t mean government agrees with World Health Organization on everything. Follow all the latest news, live

In his official statement, Josh Frydenberg has taken the “always look on the bright side of life” message to heart, when it comes to the IMF modelling:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects economic growth in Australia to rebound despite the global economy facing a downturn ‘far worse than during the 2009 global financial crisis’ as a result of the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The IMF is forecasting the global economy to fall by 3.0 per cent in 2020 which compares to a fall of 0.1 per cent in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

Not unexpected, given what was happening, but still extraordinary to see charted out like this

Short-term visitors from China were 19.5k in February, down 76% from January. Obviously these numbers, for all countries not just China, will fall towards zero in the months to come #ausbiz pic.twitter.com/WeI3PWbBnS

I mean, Romeo and Juliet was due for an update.

From AAP:

Jim Chalmers, on the Trump administration’s decision to halt funding to the WHO, says from Labor’s point of view, the solution is “to look for outcomes, not arguments”.

The Digital Rights Watch chair, Lizzie O’Shea, says people are right to be sceptical of any Covid-19 tracing apps pushed by the government:

No public trust means people will hesitate to install the app, and not-very-subtly coercing people by saying restrictions could ease if surveillance increases is an appalling way to start.

They certainly need to do better than suggesting that privacy implications will be examined by the attorney general. Everything about this needs to be transparent. The code must be independently audited. There needs to be a clear benchmark for when data will no longer be collected and the app deactivated.

The union which looks after posties wants the government to put on emergency flights to ensure regional and rural Australia keep getting their deliveries:

The CEPU communications union national president, Shane Murphy, said:

Our posties are delivering essential items to the most vulnerable in our community – people who can no longer just duck down to the shop to pick up the medicine or other essential items they urgently need.

If passenger flights aren’t viable, we need emergency freight flights to ensure our mail and essential packages can continue to get to those who need it most.

Paul Karp has a statement from the AFP on the high court case today:

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) acknowledges the decision of the High Court handed down today (Wednesday 15 April, 2020), relating to the AFP search warrant conducted at the residence of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst.

The AFP will now consider the decision and will act in accordance with the ruling.

Would Australia follow Donald Trump in cutting funding to the World Health Organization, a reporter asked.

Josh Frydenberg said he respected the decision of “any sovereign country in relation to who they fund and what they fund” but that Australia did not intend to pull its funding:

In terms of Australia, we see the World Health Organization playing an important role, particularly in our region, and that’s important to Australia.

Josh Frydenberg also appeared to obliquely reference arguments suggesting that social distancing measures should be lifted because the coronavirus is only deadly to the elderly, which is clearly a horrible argument.

He says:

We need to move away from this mindset of thinking that the coronavirus is an older person’s virus. It’s not an older person’s virus, it’s not a younger person’s virus. It’s a virus that affects all of us.

I mean, the median age of those who have lost their lives from the coronavirus is around 80. The median age of those who have been hospitalised from the coronavirus is around 60. The median age of those who have contracted the virus is 47. But if you look at the greatest cohort ... that’s those aged between 20 and 29. Which indicates that those people are contracting the virus.

Frydenberg is asked about privacy issues surrounding the mobile phone app that the government announced yesterday, which is intended to track people who test positive to Covid-19 and anyone they come into contact with to help with contact tracing.

Obviously, there are pretty significant privacy concerns involved.

Well, again, this app is important in contact tracing and obviously we’ve got increased testing that’s taking place and we’re seeing progress in bending the curve, but my message, and the prime minister’s message, the health minister’s message, has been consistent and clear.

We will continue to take the best possible medical advice that’s available to us and that’s served the nation well. If you look abroad, if you look at Japan and you look at Singapore, they thought they were having great success in beating back the virus yet they saw a second wave of cases and they’ve had to put tighter restrictions in place.

Frydenberg was asked why the IMF predictions show Australia’s unemployement rising to 7.6% this year, and again to 8.9% next year.

He says the calculations were done before Australia announced its $130bn jobkeeper payment.

The other point to make is at the time that the IMF were putting together their figures, the Australian curve was heading in the wrong direction, if you like. We were seeing an exponential increase of more than 20% a day in the number of cases of coronavirus-affected people.

Since that time, we’ve bent that curve and we’re seeing a growth of less than 2% per day and our health measures are making significant progress. So I’d ask you to take those factors into account because, of course, the success on the health side helps also determine the broader economic impacts that are also taking police.

Josh Frydenberg talks up Australia’s economic response package, which is valued at about $320bn or 16% of GDP. That’s bigger than many other countries, he says.

Frydenberg also said he would have a phone meeting with his G20 counterparts tonight, and a phone hookup with the IMF tomorrow night.

From Australia’s perspective, our messages are clear and consistent. We must continue to see the trade in essential items like health supplies at this time. And the current crisis should not be seen as a cause for protectionism. We will also continue to support emerging economies and many of those developing economies who do not have the established health systems that we see in Australia and in other nations.

These are messages together with the need for continued synchronised action by central banks, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, are vitally important to ensure that the Australian economy and the global economy get to the other side of the coronavirus.

Josh Frydenberg is talking in Canberra now about the economic forecast released by the International Monetary Fund overnight.

The IMF predicted a 3% contraction in the global economy and said the impact of the “Great Lockdown” would be a recession of a size not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

They reflect the reality that we’re in. And the severe economic impact that economies around the world are facing as a result of the spread of the coronavirus. They also underline the importance of the major support packages that countries like Australia have announced.

Peter Gutwein has offered his condolences to the family of an elderly woman who died after testing positive to the coronavirus. The woman was the sixth person to have died after testing positive to Covid-19 in Tasmania. The death toll in Australia stands at 62.

The 91-year-old woman reportedly died at the Mersey hospital in Devonport. The premier said his thoughts were with the woman’s family.

Tasmania’s premier, Peter Gutwein, is talking in Hobart now, and he appears to be taking aim at people who are sharing theories online about the actions of healthcare workers on the north-west coast.

That group of people includes the federal chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, who yesterday had to backtrack on saying that an “illegal dinner party of medical workers” was responsible for the spread of the coronavirus in the Burnie area.

I want north-west coasters just to pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that the people that have supported them in their healthcare centre and their health centres now for decades are people that should be acknowledged for the work that they’ve done. And this shouldn’t be an opportunity for those that want to get online and vilify and take aim. That’s not acceptable …

Anyone that’s thinking about lining up a healthcare worker, taking a potshot at them, should just draw breath and accept that there is a process under way. We will work through it. We will get to the bottom of it, and then we will explain fully what has happened.

The Victorian parliament will be recalled for an emergency sitting next Thursday, 23 April, to allow the passage of legislation on the tenancy reforms, announced today, and also “urgent appropriation bills” to allow for public sector workers to be paid.

There will be fewer than usual MPs in each house and only a skeleton staff present.

Josh Frydenberg will also be discussing the IMF report. He has called a press conference for 11.25.

Quarantine is ending for Australian passengers on cruise ships that docked in WA – but there is no way for some of them to get back to their home state.

As AAP reports:

The Victorian parliament will sit next Thursday in an emergency sitting to pass some of the Covid-19 legislation the Andrews government has put forward.

On top of land tax relief, the Victorian government is putting more money into mediation for landlords and tenants for rental relief, if Covid-19 has impacted someone’s income.

Dan Andrews:

The key point here, though, is that even with a good-faith agreement, there will be many tenants who are left under financial stress.

And the definition, if you like, of, that is if your rent represents more than 30% of your income, then you are under real stress. If that’s the case –so you’ve got a good-faith negotiation, you do a deal, reduce the rent by a certain amount, but still that rent represents more than 30% of your obviously reduced income, then there will be rent assistance, some $80m worth of rent assistance, that will be available to the best part of 40,000 tenants right across the state.

Daniel Andrews is holding his press conference. He is giving a very polite “no thank you” to the federal government message to send kids back to school, en masse, at least in his state.

If you think about it, common sense simply dictates if you’ve got a million kids getting to and from school, a full complement of teachers, parents moving around the community, dropping kids off, picking them up, that is not at all consistent with social distancing rules and not consistent with the sort of numbers that every single Victorian can be proud of – some stability in these numbers is critical. That is saving lives.”

Jim Chalmers will speak about the IMF’s predictions for after the “Great Lockdown” at 11.30am.

At least I’ll get a glimpse of Brisbane.

With Australia in the suppression stage of Covid-19, it clears some of the air for this book, which will be released next week.

We hear he is attempting to see if one of the virtual launches can take place on a kayak.

The thoroughly socially distanced book tour is taking shape! Looking forward to it! #abiggerpicture https://t.co/g1Z1jEG1or

Paul Fletcher will hold a media conference at 12.30 to discuss that new package.

Today I’ve announced immediate relief for the Australian media sector which has been hit hard by #covid19 and longer term reform to harmonise content regulation and position the TV and production sector for a sustainable future. Read more here https://t.co/387UaAe3pr

For the record, when asked today, both Dave Sharma and Dan Tehan said they would speak with their children about whether or not they were comfortable with being physically sent back to school, and make decisions from there.

Schools are open for essential workers (anyone with a job) and for parents who have no choice. But even in the classroom, school would look very different, with the past few weeks spent developing online and distance learning, which means the lessons are more of a one-size-fits-all kind.

Another of the special charter flights designed to get stranded Australians home has landed – about 115 Australians who were in Peru touched down in Brisbane last night. They have been sent to hotels for the two-week quarantine.

Paul Fletcher has released this statement:

The Morrison Government today announced a package of measures to help sustain Australian media businesses as they do their vital work of keeping the community informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures include:

We’ll have a full report to you on the high court decision regarding the validity of the warrant used to raid Annika Smethurst shortly – but in the meantime the high court has published its full judgment and a summary.

From the summary:

Today the High Court unanimously held, in answer to questions stated in a special case, that the warrant relied upon by officers of the Australian Federal Police (“the AFP”) to authorise the search of the residence of the first plaintiff, Ms Annika Smethurst, was invalid and should be quashed ...

The High Court unanimously held that the warrant relied upon by the AFP was invalid on the ground that it misstated the substance of s 79(3) of the Crimes Act, as it stood on 29 April 2018, and failed to state the offence to which the warrant related with sufficient precision. The entry, search and seizure which occurred on 4 June 2019 were therefore unlawful. Having made this finding, it was not necessary for the Court to consider whether the warrant was invalid on the ground that s 79(3) of the Crimes Act, as it stood on 29 April 2018, infringed the implied freedom of political communication. Nor was it necessary to consider the validity of the order that had been made under s 3LA of the Crimes Act requiring Ms Smethurst to give assistance to enable a constable to access, copy or convert data on a computer or data storage device. The Court unanimously ordered that the warrant be quashed. A majority of the Court declined to grant the injunctive relief sought by the plaintiffs, pointing to the plaintiffs’ inability to identify a sufficient right or interest that required protection by way of a mandatory injunction.

The social services minister has intervened to ensure about 15,000 people with disabilities will keep a $100-a-fortnight extra allowance during the Covid-19 crisis following claims some had lost the payment due to the shutdown.

After Guardian Australia raised the prospect that recipients were likely to lose the allowance due to the pandemic, Anne Ruston said on Tuesday night she had asked her department to cease eligibility reviews for the mobility allowance.

Dan Tehan has been sent out to boost’s today’s government message – “say thank you to teachers” – which doubles as, “We want you to send your kids back to school, please start doing that.”

The education minister says the medical expert advice has not changed and it is safe to send children to school, which is, has been, and remains, the federal government’s preferred option.

The medical expert panel, which is the panel which is made up of the chief medical officer from the commonwealth, and all the state and territory chief medical officers, has given guidance to schools about making sure we look after the safety of our teachers. They are continuing to monitor that and to provide that guidance.

So, some of the things that they have suggested have been extra sanitiser at schools, extra washing of hands, having lunchtime breaks done at different times for different cohorts.

Not Covid-19 related, but still very important:

#breaking Smethurst has won high court challenge, the raid warrant was invalid. The warrant is quashed, but only two judges ordered material be destroyed. So a mixed result, partial win but still at risk of police using info. #auspol #auslaw

Here is a bit more of Dave Sharma speaking to Sky News about Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization and what Australia might do:

This reckoning has been coming for some time. I think a lot of countries, Australia included have been less than impressed with the WHO’s performance.

I think it’s incumbent upon all of us though [to review the] performance of key institutions throughout and that includes the World Health Organization.

We are a significant donor to the WHO as well, in terms of assessed contributions and also voluntary contributions, so I would expect we will be having more to say on this, once the worst of this crisis is behind us.

It is probably a little too premature for us to be talking about what that looks like, we still need to be dealing with this crisis for now, but certainly in the wash-up, that is something we will need to look at closely.

We spoke about this again yesterday, but the arts is going through a very, very rough time in Australia at the moment.

A lot of performers and associated support workers are locked out of jobkeeper because they don’t have that year-long link with one employer.

The production industry is currently facing a difficult and uncertain future. Coronavirus containment measures have seen almost all production activity cease, with devastating economic and employment impacts,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.

We are therefore calling on the Government to implement a $1 billion screen content fund over the forward estimates to amongst other things, top up the existing tax offsets, assist with insurance risk, support those who have fallen through the cracks and supplement Screen Australia; and the immediate extension of content obligations onto SVOD services, to help share the load.

Six people playing tennis on closed public tennis courts in Maribyrnong and 10 teenagers at a skate park in Dandenong are among 52 people to be issued with on-the-spot fines for allegedly breaching Victoria’s social distancing orders in the past 24 hours.

Police in Victoria also charged eight teenagers “socialising together at a closed school” and found “multiple instances of private gatherings at residential properties”, a spokeswoman for Victoria police said.

The federal government has settled a federal court case brought by the tourism operator APT challenging the legality of the health minister Greg Hunt’s order that all cruise ships leave Australian waters as soon as possible.

APT’s small cruise ship, the Caledonian Sky, is moored in Darwin and the company doesn’t want it to leave Australia.

Following on from Josh Taylor’s story on the Covid-19 tracing app, Apple has released its mobility data.

And the response from a Nationals member.

He’s right. It’s exactly like blaming Wagga Wagga for something that happened in Brisbane, and we all know *exactly* why some people pushed for this to happen.

My statement on the disgraceful vote by the @WaggaCouncil, to rescind our Sister City relationship with #Kunming in China tonight.https://t.co/G0atdGg0LT pic.twitter.com/LGMjDTWOXS

A reader has just pointed me in the direction of this story in the Daily Advertiser, which covers Wagga Wagga.

The council has voted to cut ties with its Chinese sister city, Kunming.

We must end that relationship arrangement and not condone such behaviour.

This action is in no way stopping international trade, communication or the opportunity to deal with China in a fair, transparent and mutually beneficial manner.

Karen Andrews is back beating the manufacturing drum again today, continuing to use every formulation of words other than “subsidy” as she talks about Australia growing the sector. Here she is on Sky this morning;

Let’s actually talk about what Australia’s needs are and that is to make sure that we do build a very strong manufacturing sector. And quite frankly, that work was well under way last year to look at what the future of manufacturing was going to be in this country. Since then we’ve obviously experienced the issues with the coronavirus, Covid-19. So we will re-look again at what the options are for us. But let’s understand that we actually need to bring businesses with us. We need to bring consumers with us and they need to get behind the push for a stronger manufacturing sector in Australia.

Obviously, government will do its part. We’re certainly looking at how we can stimulate through procurement ourselves; that work is under way. But let me be clear, we can’t be all things to all people. So we’re not going to be able to manufacture everything that we want. What we want to do is be in a position that we are in a good place to manufacture what we need and that means establishing the right supply chains.

“Schools are open, teachers will be at schools in Queensland and they are open for essential workers,” Annastacia Palaszczuk says, adding that she thinks Queensland has “the balance right”.

“Anyone who is in the workforce is considered an essential worker,” the premier says.

Queensland has issued 884 tickets for breaching physical distance and restriction rules since the “campaign” began last month.

The Queensland chief health officer, Jeannette Young, says she is a “little concerned” with the numbers of cases coming from interstate, with 17 of the most recent cases having been contracted over the border.

Queensland has closed its borders – all people crossing it now need a permit, including Queensland residents.

The Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, says Queensland has recorded five new cases in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest number since the beginning of March.

Those five positive cases came after 1,434 tests.

There is nothing from the PM on this as yet but we are assured that if there is something to say we will hear about it.

BREAKING: Liberal MP Dave Sharma tells @SkyNewsAust Australia is a significant donor to WHO and he expects we will have "more to say" on the institution's response after the coronavirus crisis

"We should make sure we condition our future funding on necessary reforms (to WHO)"

Jim Chalmers has responded to the IMF’s latest report;

In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF forecasts a 6.7% contraction in the Australian economy in 2020, with unemployment expected to rise to an average of 7.6% in 2020 and 8.9% in 2021.

The IMF doesn’t share the prime minister’s assumption that employment in Australia will miraculously “snap back” to normal on his six-month timeframe.

The Hobart Mercury reports that the Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, helped a pregnant nurse jump start her stalled car after a night shift, which is a very personal way to offer health workers support.

The IMF has given this period in history a name – the “Great Lockdown”, which they anticipate will rival the Great Depression in terms of economic impact.

Related: 'Great Lockdown' to rival Great Depression with 3% hit to global economy, says IMF

More than 25,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the United States.

Donald Trump has announced the US will defund the World Health Organization in the middle of a global pandemic:

All of the aid that we send will be discussed in very, very powerful letters and with very powerful and influential groups and smart groups, medically, politically and every other way. We will be discussing it with other countries and global health partners.

What we do with all of that money that goes to WHO and maybe WHO will reform and maybe they won’t. But we will be able to see.

Donald Trump is standing in the rose garden, accusing the World Health Organization of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic and confirming that the US will halt its payments to the organisation – which make up about $500m a year – in the middle of a global pandemic.

Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump halts funding to World Health Organization

The NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, gave his update, which includes a departure date for the Ruby Princess:

In terms of the Ruby update, we are working with Carnival Cruises and Border Force and Health and looking for a hopeful departure date of this Sunday. We will be working towards that.

Overnight, we did see a 20-year-old man come off the Ruby with another appendicitis. He is now in the NSW health system, being treated. There is no suggestion he has coronavirus.

The NSW chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says there are 214 people under the care of NSW Health and 29 people in ICU, with 18 of those ventilated.

And at the Anglicare Newmarch House aged care facility, there’s been a total of 10 cases. Six amongst the staff and four amongst the residents have tested positive.

As you’re aware the first case reported there was in a healthcare worker who worked whilst she had very mild symptoms. And I have spoken to the director of the public health unit and this person is absolutely mortified.

It’s Gladys Berejiklian press conference time, which must mean it is about 8am.

She says NSW recorded just 16 positive tests for Covid-19 overnight, from 1,300 tests.

It might also be worth pointing out, as the schools issue pops up again (and will again and again) and we get more messages like this, the government has also cancelled parliament until August.

The national cabinet (the council of Australian governments, or Coag with a fancy name and less bureaucracy, but still made up of democratically elected leaders, just in case Naomi Wolf is still confused) meets tomorrow.

As we know, part of the conversation will be looking at what conditions would need to look like for governments to consider loosening restrictions.

Related: What Australians need to know about Apple and Google's coronavirus tracking app

On the schools situation – it is pretty much situation as-it-was-for-the-end-of-term-one.

Schools are open in most states for the children of “essential workers” and those who have no other choice. Everyone else is online or remote learning.

In a video posted to Facebook this morning, Scott Morrison urged teachers to return to the classroom.

He said some vulnerable children “won’t get an education at home”:

We cannot allow a situation where parents are forced to choose between putting food on the table through their employment to support the kids and their kid’s education. And I know teachers don’t want to force those choices on the parents either, because if we do, of course, thousands of jobs would be lost, livelihoods forsaken.

The expert medical advice throughout the coronavirus to date has not changed. When it comes to the safety of children going to school, I have consistently advised that the risk remains very low.

Now I know you want to be there for your kids in your school, particularly those vulnerable kids. Those kids of parents who need to be at work, who need to send their kids to school. And I know teachers will be working with their school leadership to do everything possible to ensure we continue to give our kids the best possible education, even in these difficult circumstances.

As the US death toll from Covid-19 continues to rise, Donald Trump has declared he identifies with Captain William Bligh, who may have navigated his way to land after the mutiny but didn’t fare so well in the rum rebellion.

Tell the Democrat Governors that “Mutiny On The Bounty” was one of my all time favorite movies. A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!

We begin today with the same issue that really kickstarted Australia’s Covid-19 experience – the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

That one cruise can be linked to at least 600 of Australia’s Covid-19 cases, and 18 passengers have died after contracting the virus.

It is important that answers are provided quickly for the people of NSW. I have decided that the quickest path to answers is through a powerful and independent inquiry.

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