Blow the Truth

PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON:  Well thank you very much Bob, and to you Greg and all of your team here, many of whom are with us in the room today thank you very much for joining us here today. To keep and get as many Australians in jobs has always been my job. In this pandemic, for that to happen, I need as many businesses as is safely possible to be open. That is why our national COVIDSafe health plan brought together with the states and territories is so important. Our quarantine, our testing, our tracing, our outbreak containment - all shut the virus down, before it can take hold, when they’re working to standard. Our COVIDSafe vaccine plan, investing some $1.7 billion to develop and produce a vaccine, right here, sovereignly in Australia, for every single Australian. COVIDSafe behaviours - with our friends, at home, at school, at work, out and about - that denies the virus the opportunity to move amongst us. This plan, our health plan is critical to our economic plan. And dur...

Dan Andrews media release : thanks to the enormous efforts of Victorians in following the rules and driving down case numbers, we will take the first of our cautious and careful steps towards a COVID Normal tonight. The numbers are falling but we need to keep it that way – ensuring we can continue to open up safely and sustainably – based on the data, the science and expert public health advice. From 11.59pm Melbourne moves from Stage Four to the First Step of the roadmap for reopening, with modest changes including more social interaction and more time outside. Social bubbles begin, allowing those living alone or single parents to have one other person in their home. Exercise is extended to two hours split over a maximum of two sessions, and you will be able to use that time outside for social interaction with one other person or the members of your household. Playgrounds and outdoor fitness equipment reopen, libraries will be able to open for contactless click and collect and the cur...

Dan Andrews: Victorians are being urged to stop putting off hospital visits and important health checks during the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals and health agencies have seen a concerning drop in patients presenting to health services with time-critical cardiac and stroke conditions since the pandemic. Visits to emergency department visits have fallen by at least 25 per cent compared to the same time last year. Emergency department presentations for heart attack are down by 18 per cent and strokes by 24 per cent compared to the same time in 2019. There has also been a noticeable reduction in screening, diagnosis and early treatment for cancers. Reporting for the five most common cancers (colorectal, prostate, breast, melanoma and lung) have reduced by about a third, with an even greater reduction in reports for head and neck cancer. This is expected to lead to an increase in cancer diagnoses over the next 12 months and more patients presenting with later-stage incurable disease. If V...

Mr Adam Bandt (Melbourne—Leader of the Australian Greens) House of Representatives Speech: Bill-Migration Amendment 2020: The utter hypocrisy of the 'freedom brigade' in the government is on show yet again. They're always the first ones to swear that they'll be going to the barricades to defend an individual's right to freedom and to say that government should not act to take away people's liberties. And then, the first chance they get, when they've got people under their control who they have a duty of care towards and who have committed absolutely no crime, what does the government do? It acts to take away their basic liberties. The right to communicate with other people, for someone who has not committed a crime and is not in detention for having done anything wrong, ought to be fundamental. But what does the government do? The government says: 'Well, we've got these people that we lock up in hellholes, in detention facilities. We know that indefi...

Vladimir Putin working trip to the Republic of Crimea, Vladimir Putin took part in the launch of motor traffic on the finished sections of the Taurida motorway.  President Putin drove an Aurus limousine along a newly-built section of the Taurida motorway with Minister of Transport Yevgeny Ditrikh, VAD Director General Valery Abramov and VAD Chief Production Engineer Andrei Volkov. Vladimir Putin drives an Aurus limousine along a newly built section of the Taurida motorway. Photo Kremlin President Putin inspected information boards highlighting the stages of building the motorway and spoke briefly with VAD workers. While speaking with the workers, the President noted that this road would spur the development of the entire peninsula. It is just as important as the power sector and water supply. Regional water sh...

An independent, expert panel chaired by Professor Ross Garnaut "LOL" will conduct a comprehensive government examination of the Bradfield inland irrigation scheme. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today announced the panel, which will also include Queensland Farmers Federation chief executive officer Dr Georgina Davis and James Cook University Professor Allan Dale. “Queensland has a plan for economic recovery, building on traditional strengths like agriculture and a $50 billion infrastructure commitment,” she said. “We know that access to affordable water for irrigation can foster expanded agribusiness and jobs in regional Queensland. “As the globe faces harsh economic headwinds, it’s important to continue to capitalise on opportunities here in our state. “Projects like this have the potential to support a new generation of farmers, landholders and regional communities if it’s done in a way that is realistic and affordable. “By continuing to have a strong health re...