Tweet of the Week

 

You don’t want to ask #ScottyTheBully any challenging questions, especially if you’re a woman. #abc730 #auspol pic.twitter.com/yWkmHIh6EK

— 💧Kailani Mana (@mana_kailani) October 8, 2020

Tweets of the Week

Nature is much better than we are at ‘carbon capture and storage’...take this flooded gum in the precious (and threatened) rainforests of northern NSW... pic.twitter.com/QiIPu9XV0R

— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) September 19, 2020

Video from today’s #freedomday protest. Anti-lockdown protesters with police hot on their tails at Elwood Beach. Melbourne. Victoria. #melbournelockdown #WWG1WWGA pic.twitter.com/glMj8YJRi4

— precursor (@occupy_now) September 19, 2020

TURN ON SOUND

Around 10% of the Australian workforce are temporary migrants and overseas students - what help are we giving then during the COVID-19 pandemic?

UNSW Newsroom, media release, 17 September 2020:

A nationwide survey of more than 6000 international students and other temporary migrants conducted in July 2020 has found 70% lost all or most of their work during the pandemic. 

Thousands have been left unable to pay for food and rent. These migrants make up 10% of the Australian workforce. 

As if we weren’t humans: The abandonment of temporary migrants in Australia during COVID-19 is the latest report from UNSW Law Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum and UTS Law Associate Professor Laurie Berg, co-directors of the Migrant Worker Justice Initiative. 

The survey revealed more than half the respondents (57%) believe their financial stress will deepen by year’s end, with one in three international students forecasting their funds will run out by October. Thousands expressed anguish and anger over the federal government’s decision to exclude temporary migrants from JobKeeper and JobSeeker support. 

Beyond their immediate humanitarian plight, hundreds linked their distress to the Prime Minister’s message that those unable to support themselves should “make [their] way home”. They expressed feelings of abandonment and worthlessness: “like we do not exist”, “they don’t see us. They can’t hear us”. 

In addition, a quarter experienced verbal racist abuse and a quarter reported people avoiding them because of their appearance. More than half of Chinese respondents reported experiencing either or both of these. 

“Over 1600 participants described being targeted with xenophobic slurs, treated as though they were infected with COVID because they looked Asian, or harassed for wearing a face mask”, says A/Prof. Farbenblum. 

“Many reported that because of their Asian appearance they were punched, hit, kicked, shoved, deliberately spat at or coughed on by passers-by in the street and on public transport.” 

For example, one female Vietnamese student said: “People were saying some racist comments and pushed me, saying that I was the reason for COVID and I should go away.” Another Chinese student said: “I have been harassed by teenagers and throwing eggs on my way home from school”. 

While previous studies have documented aspects of the financial hardship of temporary migrants, this is the first study that reveals the depth of social exclusion, racism and deeper emotional consequences of Australia’s policies, which have significantly impacted Australia’s global reputation. 

Following their pandemic experience, three in five international students, graduates and working holiday makers are now less likely or much less likely to recommend Australia as a place to study or have a working holiday. This includes important education markets such as Chinese and Nepalese students (76% and 69% respectively were now less likely to recommend Australia). 

“I feel [the] Australian government doesn't think of temporary visa holders as human beings but merely a money-making machine,” said one female Indian international student. “It’s appalling to see the PM consoling the citizens saying that we are all in this together but at the same time telling migrants to go back home in a pandemic.” 

Another international Master’s student observed, “It's completely hypocritical that we’re important for tax purposes, and in the sense that we contribute billions of dollars to the economy as university fees, but are treated as some breed of untouchables”. 

A/Prof. Berg says that Australia will bear the diplomatic and economic consequences of these policies for decades to come: 

“Many of those suffering in Australia now will return home to become leaders in business and politics, holding roles of social influence around the region. Their experiences during this period will not be quickly forgotten.” 

Read the full report.

Excerpt from the report: 

Current sources of financial support are deeply inadequate to meet need

• Since the first lockdown in March, a third (33%) of all respondents indicated they had sought emergency support to meet their essential needs (37% of international students).

• Charities and others provided food, one-off cash payments and other forms of emergency relief, but education providers were the source of the overwhelming majority of support received.

• Education provider support was limited to one-off payments, mostly to university students, among whom a quarter (26%) received support. Only one in ten students (11%) at private colleges received support. The overwhelming majority of those who received support got a one-off payment of under $1000.

• The Red Cross provided support to 2% of respondents. Two thirds of these were international students, among whom 68% received a one-off payment of $500 or less.

• State governments provided support to 4% of respondents, almost all of whom were international students.

• Close to a third (29%) indicated they did not seek emergency support because they were worried it might affect their visa. Visa concerns were a more common barrier among college students (33%) than university students (27%), and even more common for graduates (38%). Surprisingly, visa concerns were also identified by considerable proportions of TSS visa holders (26%).

Australian federal & state governments are preparing to exploit large gas resources that are still in the ground

The Australia Institute, “Weapons of gas destruction: Lifting the lid on greenhouse gas emissions from Australian fossil gas projects and resources” September 2020, excerpt from Discussion Paper summary:

The fossil gas industry in Australia tripled production from 1990 to 2010 and then from 2010 to 2019 production tripled again. Nearly all of the new production was exported. Australia has become the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG) and one of the world’s biggest gas producers. Australia’s gas and coal exports make Australia’s the third largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world, after Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Over the decade to 2018 Australia was responsible for most of the growth in LNG, and a third of the growth over the last 20 years, more than any other country Australia’s share of global gas production soared in recent years, even as its share of global proven gas reserves levelled out.

Australian Government publications list 22 new gas production and export proposals across Australia with an estimated gas production capacity of 3,368 PJ pa. Governments and companies are preparing to exploit further gas resources in the ground that are larger still.

Despite calls for decarbonisation be central to the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the Australia government is proposing policies and subsidies for what it calls a “gas fired recovery”. From an economic and employment perspective, this makes little sense. There are many low cost ways to reduce gas consumption, and the industry, despite its size, employs few Australians. Expanding fossil gas production also threatens to release large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Burning fossil gas releases carbon dioxide (CO2). In addition, extracting, processing transporting and exporting fossil gas is also highly emissions intensive, and already responsible for more than 10% of current Australian emissions, on official government data. A large portion of these emissions come from gas burned by LNG facilities.

Australian LNG facilities burn around nine percent of all gas they receive to help liquify the remaining gas for export. Gas consumption in LNG facilities is double the size of whats consumed by Australian households and about as large as what is consumed by Australian manufacturing.

Another major climate impact is ‘fugitive’ emissions from flaring, venting and leakage. The true impact of these emissions is larger than officially reported. Fossil gas is made up mostly of methane, itself a greenhouse gas with much greater heat trapping potential than CO2. While methane is more powerful than CO2 over a 100 year timeframe, which is the conventional basis for comparison, methane traps far more heat over the nearer-term (a 20 years horizon). A small amount of methane loss greatly increases the climate impact of fossil gas.

Many recent studies show rates of methane loss much higher than the Australian government’s official figures, especially in unconventional gas production, such as coal seam and shale gas where techniques like hydraulic fracturing are required. Methane loss at rates observed in recent studies of large US shale gas fields range from 2.3% to 3.7%, at the higher end delivering a near-term climate impact equivalent to doubling the emissions of the burnt gas. Reducing and avoiding the release of methane emissions is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement climate goals.

There are 22 major new gas projects proposed by companies and listed by the Australian Government’s Office of the Chief Economist. The analysis here converts the supply capacity into common units for comparison and aggregation. The proposed projects are spread across the country and are of various sizes, types and stages. The largest projects are offshore fields designed for gas export, especially off Western Australia’s coast. The single largest project, Woodside’s Browse / Burrup Hub Extension, would involve piping gas from a large new gas field nearly 1000km through new undersea pipelines to an onshore facility for export…...

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's constant pushing to open state borders is not supported by people of voting age according to late August 2020 Newspoll

Young or old, male or female, regardless of political affiliation, it seems residents in the five states surveyed by Newspoll in late August 2020 are firmly on the side of state premiers keeping their borders closed at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Australian, August 2020:

Popular support for Scott Morrison has fallen for the first time since the height of the pandemic as he takes on the states over their refusal to budge on border closures that are holding back the national economic recovery. 

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australians shows the federal political contest tightening between the two major parties, with Labor recovering ground to post its highest primary vote since April and levelling the political playing field with the Coalition. 

Primary vote If the federal election for the house of representatives was held today, which one of the following would you vote for? If uncommitted, to which one of these do you have a leaning? 

One Nation numbers have been broken out from 'Other' from October 25, 2016 Newspoll is conducted by YouGov 

The two major parties are now deadlocked 50:50 on a two-party-preferred basis, marking a four-point turnaround in Labor’s favour over the past three weeks. 

The slide in support for the Prime Minister and the Coalition comes on the back of universal and overwhelming support among voters for the premiers’ right to close borders and restrict entry if and when outbreaks occur. 

A special poll conducted for The Australian shows 80 per cent of Australians support border ­closures if the health situation demands it. The results reveal the difficulty for the federal government as it faces off with the states, with the exception of NSW, which it has been blaming for holding back the national economic recovery.....

Support For State Premiers Over Border Closures Amongst Survey Respondents

South Australia - 92 per cent 
West Australia - 91 per cent 
Queensland - 84 per cent 
New South Wales - 76 per cent 
Victoria - 74 per cent.

Support For Premiers Over Border Closures by Political Party

Labor - 88 per cent
Coalition - 73 per cent
Greens - 88 per cent.

Support For Premiers Over Border Closures by Gender

Men - 78 per cent
Women - 82 per cent

Support For Premiers Over Border Closures by Age Group

18-34 years - 86 per cent
35-49 years - 82 per cent
50-64 years - 79 per cent
65 years & over - 73 per cent

Cartoon of the Week

Mark David

Quotes of the Week

"It’s hard to think of a more symbolic rendering of all that is wrong with Australian mainstream intellectual life than the decision by Ita Buttrose and her board to offer Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest the Boyer Lectures, the ABC’s premier series of broadcasts designed to explain ourselves to ourselves. I defended Ita Buttrose when she was appointed ABC chair, but this decision is indefensible." [Tim Dunlop, writing in Meanjin Quarterly, 7 August 2020]

“"Scott Morrison could have picked up the phone to two members of his much-vaunted national cabinet this week, to sort out what was truly a bizarre situation. But he didn’t, and his decision not to says a lot about his approach to the pandemic. Morrison’s reluctance to get involved in the six-day border standoff between New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory betrays a style of governance that oscillates between the passive and the reactive, always with an eye to quarantining himself from culpability.” [Journalist Paul Bongiorno writing in The Saturday Paper, 15 August 2020]

What wages growth in the Australian private sector looked like over the last 20 years

It is noticeable that in the Abbott-Turnbull- Morrison Coalition Government years 2014-2020 private sector wages growth slows markedly.

Graphs: The Guardian, 16 August 2020

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Bulletin- June 2019:

The low wages growth in recent years has contributed to a decline in the growth of household disposable income and consumption, and has been associated with a decline in inflation….. government policies have capped wages growth in most public sector EBAs, while delays in renegotiating some EBAs have resulted in a temporary wage freeze.

Quote of the Week

”The numbers unveiled by Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann are butt-clenchingly large: a deficit this financial year of at least $184.5 billion that will probably nudge $200 billion by the time of the October budget and its extra spending measures; gross debt that will go through the Morrison government's recently increased limit of $850 billion some time in 2021-22 with no idea how it will be paid down. Frydenberg likened the effort ahead to climbing a mountain. But this ain't no day-trip to Kosciuszko or even a planned assault on Everest. It's more Olympus Mons, the 25-kilometre high mountain on Mars.” [Senior economics correspondent Shane Wright in The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 2020,

p.6]

The Morrison Government was advised to get the priorities straight but refused to listen

It appears Scott Morrison & Co did not listen to this open letter. 

AnOpen Letter from 289 Australian Economists on Tradeoffs During theCOVID-19 Crisis

Corresponding authors:

Chris Edmond (cedmond@unimelb.edu.au)

Steven Hamilton (steven_hamilton@gwu.edu)

Richard Holden (richard.holden@unsw.edu.au)

Bruce Preston (bruce.preston@unimelb.edu.au)

The views expressed are those of the signatories and not necessarily those of their employer.

19 April 2020

Dear Prime Minister and Members of the National Cabinet:

The undersigned economists have witnessed and participated in the public debate about when to relax social-distancing measures in Australia. Some commentators have expressed the view that there is a trade-off between the public health and economic aspects of the crisis. We, as economists, believe this is a false distinction.

We cannot have a functioning economy unless we first comprehensively address the public health crisis. The measures put in place in Australia, at the border and within the states and territories, have reduced the number of new infections. This has put Australia in an enviable position compared to other countries, and we must not squander that success.

We recognise that the measures taken to date have come at a cost to economic activity and jobs, but believe these are far outweighed by the lives saved and the avoided economic damage due to an unmitigated contagion. We believe that strong fiscal measures are a much better way to offset these economic costs than prematurely loosening restrictions.

As has been foreshadowed in your public remarks, our borders will need to remain under tight control for an extended period. It is vital to keep social-distancing measures in place until the number of infections is very low, our testing capacity is expanded well beyond its already comparatively high level, and widespread contact tracing is available.

A second-wave outbreak would be extremely damaging to the economy, in addition to involving tragic and unnecessary loss of life.

Sincerely,

[289 signatures]

On the day this open letter was written the number of active confirmed Covid-19 cases in Australia was falling - averaging 42 cases a day in that week. However, nationally there were still est. 2,306 active & not yet recovered cases of the virus and the death toll had reached 70 people.

By 20 April 2020 national infection growth rate - which needed to be below a factor of 1 if Australia wanted to maintain suppression or eliminate the virus - was recorded as 0.89 representing an average of 11 new cases per day for the last 7 days.

By 2 May 2020 active & not yet recovered cases had fallen to 901 but deaths had risen to 93 people. 

That week Prime Minister Scott Morrison began to push for an easing of COVID-19 public health order restrictions.

However by 20 May Australia was averaging 17 cases per day and the infection growth rate was beginning to climb again. 

Even though the national infection growth rate had been above a factor of 1 since early June, the Morrison Government continued to push for a rolling back of public health order restrictions and castigated those states, industry sectors and workers which it thought were not responding quickly enough to its desire to 'open the economy'.

In varying degrees the states and territories complied. The result?

By 3pm on 8 July 2020, there were 1,293 active & not yet recovered cases of COVID-19 in Australia and 106 deaths.

As of 3 pm on 29 July the national number of active & not yet recovered COVID-19 cases stood at est. 5,787 and known deaths from the virus totalled 176 people. That day the Australian Dept. of Health recorded there has been an average of 385 new cases reported each day over the last week.

It is now Friday 31 July 2020 and the resurgence of COVID-19 infection predicted by those 289 economists last April is underway.

If a Gumnut Baby & Kooka can mask up then so can you!

Government Spanish Influenza Pandemic Poster 1919
May Gibbs

Australian governments receive yet another warning that mass extinction events are getting closer

All three tiers of Australian governments - federal, state and local - need to turn and face this reality.

Nature, Ecology & Evolution magazine, 20 July 2020:

Impact of 2019–2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat 

Michelle Ward, Ayesha I. T. Tulloch, James Q. Radford, Brooke A. Williams, April E. Reside, Stewart L. Macdonald, Helen J. Mayfield, Martine Maron, Hugh P. Possingham, Samantha J. Vine, James L. O’Connor, Emily J. Massingham, Aaron C. Greenville, John C. Z. Woinarski, Stephen T. Garnett, Mark Lintermans, Ben C. Scheele, Josie Carwardine, Dale G. Nimmo, David B. Lindenmayer, Robert M. Kooyman, Jeremy S. Simmonds, Laura J. Sonter & James E. M. Watson 

Abstract 

Australia’s 2019–2020 mega-fires were exacerbated by drought, anthropogenic climate change and existing land-use management. 
Here, using a combination of remotely sensed data and species distribution models, we found these fires burnt ~97,000 km2 of vegetation across southern and eastern Australia, which is considered habitat for 832 species of native vertebrate fauna. 
Seventy taxa had a substantial proportion (>30%) of habitat impacted; 21 of these were already listed as threatened with extinction. 
To avoid further species declines, Australia must urgently reassess the extinction vulnerability of fire-impacted species and assist the recovery of populations in both burnt and unburnt areas. 
Population recovery requires multipronged strategies aimed at ameliorating current and fire-induced threats, including proactively protecting unburnt habitats. [my yellow highlighting]

The Guardian, 21 July 2020: 

The publication of the peer-reviewed study in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution followed the Morrison government on Monday releasing an independent review of the laws, known as the Environment Protection and Conservation Biodiversity (EPBC) Act. 

The interim review led by Graeme Samuel, a former competition watchdog head, found Australia’s environment was in an unsustainable state of decline and the laws were not fit to address current and future environmental challenges. 

Samuel recommended the introduction of national environmental standards that set clear rules for conservation protection while allowing sustainable development, and the establishment of an independent environmental regulator to monitor and enforce compliance. 

The environment minister, Sussan Ley, agreed to develop environmental standards, but rejected the call for an independent regulator and said she would immediately start work on an accreditation process to devolve responsibility for most environmental approvals to the states and territories. 

One of the Nature Ecology study’s authors, Prof James Watson, said the laws could be effective but only if protections were enforced. 

The act, which has been widely criticised for failing to stem a developing extinction crisis, largely leaves decisions to the discretion of the environment minister of the day.....

Australia 2020: and now for some economic bad news

On 23 July 2020 Australian Treasurer and Liberal MP for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg delivered a national economic and fiscal update.

He dutifully posted an upbeat media release and published the official update documents.

Here is a preliminary takeaway from this update*:

• total federal government payments have increased by $58.0 billion in 2019-20 and increased by $187.5 billion over the two years to 2020-21. The net impact of policy decisions since the 2019-20 MYEFO has increased payments by $58.0 billion in 2019-20 and $113.7 billion in 2020-21.

• declines in taxation receipts were $31.7 billion in 2019-20 and are expected to be $63.9 billion in 2020-21;

• the underlying cash balance is expected to decrease to an $85.8 billion deficit in 2019-20 and an $184.5 billion deficit in 2020-21. This is a a deterioration of $281.4 billion over these two years since the 2019-20 MYEFO;

• as a percentage of GDP the underlying cash balance is expected to be -9.7 per cent in 2020-21;

• debt levels have increased significantly. Gross debt was $546 billion (28.1 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2019 and $684.3 billion (34.4 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2020 and is expected to be $851.9 billion (45.0 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2021. With net debt at 30 June 2019 standing at 373.5 billion (19.2 per cent of GDP), expected to be $488.2 billion (24.6 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2020 and increase to $677.1 billion (35.7 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2021;

• on a calendar-year basis real GDP fell by 3.75 per cent;

• real GDP is forecast to have fallen sharply in the June quarter 2020 by 7 per cent;

• nominal GDP is expected to be -4.75 per cent in 2020-21;

• nationally 709,000 jobs were lost in the June quarter 2020;

• the unemployment rate in June 2020 was 7.4 per cent and is expected to peak at around 9.25 per cent in the December quarter 2020 and is forecast to be at 8.75 per cent in 2020-21;

• Treasury has predicted that immigration will fall to 31,000 individuals in 2020-21 which is likely to affect the national budget bottom line; and

• the Morrison Government's go-to remedy for the poor economic outlook is to (i) consider reducing the federal government's taxation income even further by est. $143 billion in personal income tax receipts over 10 years commencing in 2021-22, (ii) reduce welfare spending by further limiting eligibility and reducing payment levels for JobSeeker and JobKeeper recipients from 25 September 2020 with the Coronavirus Supplement due to be removed completely by 31 December 2020, (iii) incease the level of casual and insecure work via industrial relations 'reform', and (iv) encourage women to have more babies to compensate for the current moribund population growth rate.

NOTE

* The Economic and Fiscal Update June 2020 is affected by the economic impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and to a lesser extent by the the impacts of the 2019-20 bushfires. 

Componding the situation is the high level of federal government borrowings which regularly occurred after 18 September 2013.

On 30 September 2013 the gross national debt stood at est. $220.67 billion and net national debt was $174.55 billion. At that time net national debt was in the vicinity of 13% of GDP. 

By 2 April 2019 the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government had raised the gross national debt to $534.42 billion. That's more than double the national debt left by the previous Labor federal government. 

On 2 April 2019 Frydenberg was predicting that gross national debt would rise to $627.26 billion by end of June 2019 with net national debt coming in at $373.47 billion and net debt predicted to come in at 19.2% of GDP by end of June. 

By 30 June 2019 the federal government paid est. $18.15 billion in interest on this debt in the 2018-19 financial year. 

The bottom line is that before either the bushfires or the pandemic even began the Morrison Government gross national debt stood at $546 billion or 28.1 per cent of Australia's GDP and net debt stood at 373.5 billion or 19.2 per cent of GDP by 30 June 2019.

Therefore emergency national funding for bushfires and pandemic only accounts for est. 23.5 per cent of the current national debt.

As at 30 May the Morrison Government's total liabilities in 2020 ran to $1,324.95 billion against assets of $700.74 billion according to Australian Government General Government Sector Monthly Financial Statements May 2020.

Unemployment in Australia is at a 22 year high, however NSW is faring a little better

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force June 2020, 16 July 2020:

NATIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES 

• Employment increased 210,800 to 12,328,500 people. 
• Full-time employment decreased 38,100 to 8,489,100 people and part-time employment increased 249,000 to 3,839,400 people. 
• Unemployment increased 69,300 to 992,300 people. 
• Unemployment rate increased 0.4 pts to 7.4%. 
• Underemployment rate decreased 1.4 pts to 11.7%. 
• Underutilisation rate decreased 1.0 pts to 19.1%. 
• Participation rate increased by 1.3 pts to 64.0%. 
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 64.3 million hours to 1,664.7 million hours.

NATIONAL YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

• Employment for 15-24 year olds increased by 101,500 people (6.3%). 
• Unemployment rate for this group increased 0.4 pts to 16.4%.
• Participation Rate for 15-24 year olds increased 3.9 pts to 63.5%. 
• Around 30% of the people moving into employment in June were aged 15 to 24 years.

New South Wales in June 2020 :

• Number of Employed Persons rose by est. 81,000 to total 3,949,500 individuals. This still leaves a gap of est.124,200 persons who lost the job they held in January 2020 and have not yet found other employment (original data);
• Full-time Employment rose by est. 8,200 positions (original data);
• Part-time Employment rose by est. 72,800 positions (original data);
• the Employment to Population Ratio was Persons 59.5, Males 64.4, Females 54.8 (original data);
• the Unemployment Rate was Persons 6.7%, Males 6.7%, Females 6.8% (original data);
• Underemployed Persons totalled est. 473,900 individuals (original data); and
• the Workforce Participation Rate was Persons 63.8% - up 1.6 percentage points, Males 69.0% - up 2 percentage points, Females 58.7% - up 1.6 percentage points (original data).

Enhanced border controls for Queensland, New South Wales & ACT

COVID-19 travel restrictions currently in place on east coast of the Australian mainland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 
Enhanced border controls to enter Queensland are now in place.

Queensland Border Declaration Pass available online 
myPolice on Jul 3, 2020 @ 12:30pm 

The online portal enabling members of the public to apply for the Queensland Border Declaration Pass is now live. The completed declaration is a requirement for everyone including Queensland residents who are returning to Queensland as of midday on Friday, July 3. 

State Disaster Coordinator Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said previous border entry passes into Queensland would be invalid from midday. 

“Each person travelling must have a completed Queensland Border Declaration Pass and those travelling by road need to have one clearly displayed within their vehicle to enable priority passage,” 

Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said. “They must also carry identification which show a residential address. 

“The Queensland Border Declaration Pass is a print-at-home document and issued following the completion of an online questionnaire. 

“It is everyone’s responsibility to understand and listen to the Queensland public health directions and follow them closely, including those who intend to travel into Queensland from other states. 

“Border restrictions apply to all travel to Queensland by air, sea, rail or road. 

“Police will conduct random interceptions of those progressing through priority passage to ensure the validity of declarations.” 

 Anyone coming to Queensland who has been in Victoria or another hotspot within the last 14 days will be required to quarantine in a designated hotel at their own cost. 

This includes Queenslanders returning home from Victoria or other hotspot areas. 

Failure to comply with quarantine directions and border restrictions can result in on-the-spot fines of $1,334 for individuals and $6,672 for corporations. 

Providing false information on the declaration or entering Queensland unlawfully could result in a $4,003 fine. 

The Queensland Entry Declaration can be accessed at www.qld.gov.au/border-pass and is valid for seven days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New South Wales border protections are also now in place.

NSW and Victorian border closures
NSW Government 8 July 2020

Temporary border restrictions now include: 

• road closures between the NSW and Victorian border 
• aircrafts travelling from Victoria and arriving into NSW airports will be met by police and health staff 
• NSW residents returning home from Victoria must self-isolate for 14 days. 

Anyone who fails to comply with the rules could face up to six months prison, a fine of $11,000, or both. 

There will be limited exemptions for people allowed to cross the border. 

This includes: 

• critical service providers including agriculture and mining workers 
• emergency services workers 
• people requiring medical treatment 
• children attending boarding school people needing to meet legal obligations. 

Anyone who needs to enter NSW must apply for a permit from Service NSW.  
A new on-the-spot fine of $4000 will apply for any inaccurate information provided in the permit application process. 

Those allowed to enter NSW will need to comply with any conditions of an entry permit including self-isolation. 

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the NSW Government has moved quickly to implement the border closure following the concerning community spread of COVID-19 in Melbourne. 

“There are around 55 border crossings between NSW and Victoria so closing the border is a mammoth task – but it is the right step to take in order to protect the health and jobs of NSW residents,” Mr Hazzard said. 

Learn more about the NSW border restrictions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Australian Capital Territory has imposed ehanced border restrictions.

Public Health Directions for people travelling from Victoria 
ACT Government 12 July 2020

In response to the escalating COVID-19 situation in Victoria, a new Public Health Direction came into effect at 7:00am on Friday 3 July 2020. 

This Direction has been revised as the situation in Victoria has continued to evolve. 

From 07:00am on Friday 3 July 2020: 

• Anyone who enters the ACT, and has been in a COVID-19 hotspot in Victoria (as defined at the time of their entry to the ACT), is required to quarantine in the ACT until 14 days after leaving the hotspot, or return to their home jurisdiction at the earliest reasonable opportunity. 

• From 11:59pm on Monday 6 July 2020: Anyone who enters the ACT, and has been in the greater Melbourne metropolitan area, is required to quarantine in the ACT until 14 days after leaving Melbourne, or return to their home jurisdiction at the earliest reasonable opportunity. 

• 12:01am Wednesday 8 July 2020: Anyone (other than ACT residents) travelling into the ACT from Victoria will be denied entry unless they are granted an exemption. ACT residents will be able to return home, but they will be required to enter quarantine until 14 days after leaving Victoria, and must notify ACT Health of their intention to return. 

From 12.01am on Wednesday 8 July 2020, the ACT has closed its borders for anyone travelling into the ACT from Victoria, unless they have an exemption to enter. 

ACT residents are approved to return to their home, subject to entering quarantine for a period of 14 days, from the day after leaving Victoria. 

ACT residents must notify ACT Health of their intention to enter the ACT.

Both adults and children are required to get an exemption to travel from Victoria to ACT. 

Your exemption paperwork will indicate if you need to quarantine for 14 days, and we may impose other conditions or restrictions. In most instances, if you're arriving into the ACT from Victoria you will need to quarantine for 14 days. 

If you plan to quarantine at a private residence, it needs to allow for appropriate separation from other household members who are not in quarantine. Household members in quarantine would ideally have a separate bedroom, bathroom and should avoid spending time in communal spaces at the same time as other people in the home who are not in quarantine. If this can’t be done you will be required to quarantine in a hotel or other approved premises. ACT Health can assist in providing details of suitable accommodation which you can book (at your own expense). Please note that we will require evidence of a valid booking if you are using hotel accommodation for quarantine purposes.

For ACT residents returning from Victoria 

All ACT residents returning from Victoria will be required to enter quarantine for a period of 14 days from the day after leaving Victoria. 

All returning ACT residents must notify ACT Health of their intent to return to the ACT and provide details of the premises at which they will quarantine. 

Notify ACT Health 

For other travellers from Victoria to the ACT All other travellers from Victoria to the ACT should not be travelling. If you have an exceptional need to travel to the ACT, you will need to apply for an exemption at least 48 hours (wherever possible) before your intended travel date. 

Persons trying to enter the ACT without an exemption will be denied entry. 

If you are granted an exemption to enter the Territory, ACT Health will assess your proposed length of stay in the ACT as part of its risk assessment. 

A condition of entry may be that you will be required to remain in the ACT to complete a full 14 day period of quarantine in the ACT (at your own expense). We will consult with individuals on a case by case basis.

Apply for an exemption

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~