Morning mail: China tensions mounts, Frydenberg tests negative, Bruce Pascoe's harvest

Wednesday: China spat could cripple agriculture industry. Plus, why Bruce Pascoe is harvesting the first crop of ‘dancing grass’ in 200 years

Good morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 13 May.

Top stories

Trade tensions between China and Australia have raised fears that the agricultural industry might suffer. China has so far imposed a ban on beef supplied by four Australian abattoirs and proposed crippling tariffs on barley imports. The National Farmers’ Federation president, Fiona Simson, said both parties should work to resolve their differences as soon as possible. “Two-thirds of Australia’s farm production is exported. Almost one-third of this, 28%, is exported to China, including 18% of our total beef production and 49% of our barley.” The news comes after Josh Frydenberg delivered a “sobering” economic update to parliament . Frydenberg warned GDP is forecast to fall by more than 10% ($50bn) in the June quarter. This would be the largest fall on record. The treasury also warned that unemployment will hit 10%. On Wednesday morning Frydenberg revealed he had tested negative to Covid-19, after suffering a coughing fit in parliament on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization has reported potentially positive findings on treatments for Covid-19. “We do have some treatments that seem to be, in very early studies, limiting the severity or the length of the illness, but we do not have anything that can kill or stop the virus,” spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a virtual briefing.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has warned that the Morrison government’s National Covid Coordination Commission has “no transparency about its governance or processes”. Steggall told Guardian Australia the body needed “transparency, proper governance, and independent reporting so the Australian people know what it is considering, and why it’s considering it, and what it is recommending to government”. The MP is also worried the body has no clear procedure for declaring conflicts of interest.

US top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci has testified to the Senate that he does not believe the virus is under control in America. Fauci pointed out that new cases and deaths are declining in New York, the country’s (and indeed the world’s) worst coronavirus hotspot in April, but “in other parts of the country we are seeing spikes”, he said. Meanwhile, several countries around the world are taking urgent steps to prevent a second wave of infections, stepping up mass testing programs and announcing strict quarantines on incoming travellers. The Chinese city of Wuhan, the original centre of the pandemic, says it plans to test all 11 million residents.

Australia

New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended police commissioner Mick Fuller’s pay rise of at least $87,000. Berejiklian faced criticism for saying Fuller deserves the boosted salary because of the size of the NSW police force.

A group of 33 former fire and emergency services leaders say Australia needs “fast-attack strategies” to stop megafires forming. In a submission to the bushfires royal commission, the group said climate change was increasing the risk of extreme bushfire seasons.

Testing sewage and wastewater could be the next step in Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, announced that sewage testing was “important” and would be rolled out across the state from June.

Labor and the Greens hope to overturn the rules limiting eligibility for the $130bn wage subsidy. The changes being challengedexcluded university workers and entities owned by foreign governments from the payments.

The world

The supreme court has grilled Donald Trump’s lawyers over the president’s unreleased tax returns. Trump is asking the justices to end subpoenas for tax, bank and other financial records which seek information from Deutsche Bank, Capital One and the Mazars USA accounting firm.

UK rail worker Belly Mujinga has died from Covid-19 after being spat on by a person claiming to have the virus. The family of the ticket officer in London has voiced concerns about a lack of personal protective equipment for workers.

Tesla employees have been told unemployment benefits may be suspended if they refuse to return to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Elon Musk, who regularly tweets about his coronavirus scepticism, has reopened Tesla’s California factory in defiance of stay-at-home orders.

Recommended reads

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused widespread changes to the health sector, an industry that up until now has been very resistant to change. From virtual hospitals to FaceTimed GP visits, health workers have had to improvise ways of helping patients while maintaining social distancing, which may point to new ways of accessing healthcare. Last year, when plans were being developed to establish a “virtual hospital” in central Sydney, some clinicians were not convinced. “Now, everybody is on board,” says Dr Teresa Anderson, chief executive of the Sydney Local Health District. “There is not one clinical department across the district that is not providing care virtually.”

Margaret Simons writes about shock-jock Alan Jones, who has announced he will retire from his talkback show. Jones was known for his reactionary views on women, climate change and race, and at the height of his popularity was believed to have an unusual sway over parts of the Australian electorate. But Simons argues his influence has been overstated, and Jones really only spoke to a small section of Australia’s population. She also warns present-day shock-jocks are no longer on the radio, instead inhabiting darker corners of the internet. “Those conversations are no longer broadcast but narrowcast. It is a medium both intimate, and powerful. That brings new pathologies and dangers.”

Author Bruce Pascoe has harvested the first crop of “dancing grass” in 200 years. Pascoe’s farm in East Gippsland is producing native grains for flour and bread using traditional Aboriginal techniques. Pascoe says his team is “racing against the clock to refine our methods so we can extract the seed and make the flour. We have got to get this done in two or three weeks before the seed completely drops”.

Listen

Bruce Pascoe is also the subject of today’s Full Story podcast. Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, speaks to Pascoe about how he rebounded from the East Gippsland bushfires and a very public controversy surrounding his best-selling book Dark Emu and his Indigenous identity.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.

Sport

Athletes in isolation have been finding innovative ways to train during the Covid-19 pandemic. Getty Images photographers have tracked down Australian athletes as they stay in shape at home.

Samantha Lewis writes that women’s role in sport must be reassessed in the Covid-19 recovery. She argues that the global shutdown threatens the recent momentum behind women’s sport, and a generation of players and fans could be lost.

Media roundup

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the federal governmentbought 1.5m Covid-19 antibody testing kits that can’t be used. Official scientific advice has revealed the fingerprick tests are not accurate enough. The Age reports that Cedar Meats workers were told to meet at work two days after the site was shut due to coronavirus. And the Australian reports Scott Morrison will appoint the country’s first deputy chief ­medical officer for mental health to steer a new pandemic plan for a feared second wave of the coronavirus crisis.

Coming up

The man accused of the murder of Scott Johnson in the 1980s will face court.