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| Good morning, early birds. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is limited in its ability to help the 100-plus children under lockdown in China, and the government will announce a scant-on-details plan for cutting $2 billion from welfare “overpayments”. | |||||||||||||
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UNDER LOCKDOWNForeign Minister Marise Payne says a lack of consulate staff, as well as travel restrictions, is stifling government efforts to evacuate more than 100 Australian children still under lockdown in China’s Wuhan area, the epicentre of the coronavirus. As the global death toll exceeds 80 and confirmed cases hit 2,744, the ABC reports that Payne is stressing limitations to what Australia can do, while the United States and France are reportedly attempting to charter flights for evacuations. Worryingly, according to The Australian ($), a handful of Australian schools plan to segregate, test and ban Chinese students — as well as pupils who have visited China over the summer — as a means of precaution. The virus and China’s contagion program are expected to land a $2.3 billion blow to the global economy, The Age reports. | |||||||||||||
ROBODEBT 2.0?Social Services Minister Anne Ruston will today announce a revamp of Centrelink’s payment system, aimed at cutting $2.1 billion across four years in “overpayments” to 1.2 million working welfare recipients. According to The Australian ($), the Coalition will introduce legislation in the first sitting fortnight that will replace the current system — where recipients manually submit shift numbers and hourly rates — with pre-filled information based on online payroll data. The data will, however, be editable, and there is, at press time, no explanation of how this translates to $2 billion in cuts. Ruston, at least, should be wary of the last, borderline-illegal time the Coalition tried to recover alleged welfare rorts. | |||||||||||||
A NEW KYRGIOSNick Kyrgios went down in one hell of a fight against Rafael Nadal, forcing the world number one into a tight fourth set marked by an edge-of-your-seat tiebreak. Nadal won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) after three hours and 38 minutes on the court, and will now go on to play fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals, the ABC reports. Kyrgios — who went into the Australian Open pledging to donate $200 per ace to bushfire relief — paid tribute to Kobe Byrant after the match, and spoke of his personal growth throughout the tournament, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. | |||||||||||||
THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
On joining political “rival” Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy group as a property consultant, Queensland’s Liberal National Party president splits a few largely-theoretical hairs ($). | |||||||||||||
CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY | |||||||||||||
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THE COMMENTARIATToxic patriotism is not the answer, change is — Luke Pearson (IndigenousX):”Some people have struggled to see a connection between Australia Day and the current concerns over Australia’s refusal to embrace climate change. The last Guardian article I wrote was met with countless people failing to understand how I could draw a connection to the colonial experiment that is Australia and the current situations that we find ourselves in. For me however, they are intrinsically linked.” It’s only natural we have affordable gas ($) — Adam Creighton (The Australian): “It’s dreadful the extent to which we’ve sacrificed cheap energy, one of our key economic advantages. Unprecedented increases in electricity and gas prices during the past two decades have all but snuffed out any prospect for a thriving manufacturing sector, for instance, which has shrunk faster than that of any other rich country.” How can a woman who supports a convicted male paedophile be rewarded? — Jenna Price (The Sydney Morning Herald): “The decision to appoint Bettina Arndt a member of the Order of Australia for “significant service to the community as a social commentator, and to gender equity through advocacy for men” demeans the awards and degrades the concept of rewarding those who work in the public interest. Worse, it makes clear these awards are not based on merit.” | |||||||||||||
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