Covid-19 restrictions ease in regional Victoria today as economists and international students call for expansion of jobkeeper. Follow all today’s news
- Follow our global coronavirus live blog
- International students struggle to survive
- Cuts to jobkeeper will take $9.9bn out of economy by Christmas
- Full Story: the loneliness of Melbourne’s lockdown
11.25pm BST
On Queensland’s quarantine rules, which will keep Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese out of the state election campaign, unless they quarantine for two weeks, Morrison told the Nine network:
Look, I don’t think there should be double standards. I don’t think I should be treated differently to anybody else. There has been a lot of discussion about some of the hardship that people have gone through terribly in relation to how this border operates, and same rules should apply to me as anyone else. Those rules should be fair, they should be sensible, and they should be compassionate too I think. Look, I’ll follow the rules like everyone else, even if those rules from time to time seem a bit hard to work out.
11.22pm BST
The prime minister is right when he says there are commercial planes capable of flying Australians who are stuck overseas home – but commercial plane airfares are out of reach for many.
As Elias Visontay reports:
As many Australians living overseas had booked their flights home before the caps were introduced, while others have since left the country for short trips (having secured exemptions from the exit ban on compassionate grounds), the caps are creating a bottleneck of Australians trying to fly back.
Frustrated airlines have acknowledged they are cancelling economy and, increasingly, business class tickets so they can prioritise higher-paying customers to remain profitable. Some planes are flying with as few as four economy passengers.
Related: Why are more than 25,000 Australians still stranded overseas, six months into the pandemic?
Continue reading…Covid-19 restrictions ease in regional Victoria today as economists and international students call for expansion of jobkeeper. Follow all today’s newsFollow our global coronavirus live blogInternational students struggle to surviveCuts to jobkeeper will take $9.9bn out of economy by ChristmasFull Story: the loneliness of Melbourne’s lockdown 11.25pm BSTOn Queensland’s quarantine rules, which will keep Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese out of the state election campaign, unless they quarantine for two weeks, Morrison told the Nine network:Look, I don’t think there should be double standards. I don’t think I should be treated differently to anybody else. There has been a lot of discussion about some of the hardship that people have gone through terribly in relation to how this border operates, and same rules should apply to me as anyone else. Those rules should be fair, they should be sensible, and they should be compassionate too I think. Look, I’ll follow the rules like everyone else, even if those rules from time to time seem a bit hard to work out. 11.22pm BSTThe prime minister is right when he says there are commercial planes capable of flying Australians who are stuck overseas home – but commercial plane airfares are out of reach for many.As Elias Visontay reports:As many Australians living overseas had booked their flights home before the caps were introduced, while others have since left the country for short trips (having secured exemptions from the exit ban on compassionate grounds), the caps are creating a bottleneck of Australians trying to fly back.Frustrated airlines have acknowledged they are cancelling economy and, increasingly, business class tickets so they can prioritise higher-paying customers to remain profitable. Some planes are flying with as few as four economy passengers. Related: Why are more than 25,000 Australians still stranded overseas, six months into the pandemic? Continue reading…