Also earlier this morning, a bushfire in Western Australia was contained. The fire, which started near the intersection of Howie Road and South Coast highway, initially threatened lives and homes in the town of Manypeaks, near Albany, in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, AAP reported. It burnt about 60ha. It is now under control. Coalition MPs ask for permanent jobseeker increase MPs from within the government are asking the prime minister, Scott Morrison, to make the higher jobkeeper rate permanent when the coronavirus pandemic is over, Daniel Hurst reports. Before the pandemic, the unemployment allowance (previously called Newstart) was only $40 a day, and had not been raised in real terms since 1994. The Nationals MP for Cowper in NSW, Pat Conaghan, said the temporary doubling of jobseeker should continue well beyond the six-month deadline. Even former prime minister Tony Abbott said the same, writing an op-ed to that effect in the Australian yesterday. In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Also from this morning is Ben Butler’s piece on why the banks are not to blame for the failings of jobkeeper, despite what the politicians may tell you. Businesses say the fundamental problem with the jobkeeper scheme is that it’s paid in arrears. In other words, businesses have to front up the money to pay their workers for each month ... None of this is the fault of Australia’s banks – it is instead a fundamental flaw in the way the program was designed by Morrison and his treasurer, Josh Frydenberg. And here is reporter Matilda Bosely’s feature on the ways people are marking Anzac Day today from their homes. For the first time since the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, there was no formal Anzac Day service in New Zealand. But the country’s leaders found their own ways at dawn to commemorate the day, AAP reports. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was one of many who spent at least a minute of their morning in contemplation by their letterbox. Ardern has relocated her family to Wellington for the lockdown, and left the official residence at Premier House just before 6am. “While we cannot gather in person, we join in spirit as we remember the service and sacrifice of New Zealanders in times of war and crisis,” she said in a statement. The defence minister, Ron Mark, also had a message read out as part of Radio New Zealand’s official broadcast of the morning. “While there can be none of the customary dawn services, no breakfasts, tots of rum, or pints with old mates, almost none of the events we normally associate with this special day, we can still take the time to pause, reflect and pay our respects to those who gave so much,” he said. In Adelaide, a small dawn service was held at the city’s war memorial as state laws allow gatherings of up to 10 people. The Anzac Day committee chairman, Ian Smith, said it was important for veterans to stay connected during physical distancing. “Many men and women commemorating alone or with close family in Australia, New Zealand and across the world will be missing their mates and finding this Anzac Day particularly hard,” he said. “Many will appreciate a call from former comrades, friends and family.” Wreaths were laid by the SA governor, Hieu Van Le, the premier, Steven Marshall, and the opposition leader, Peter Malinauskas, AAP reports. In Brisbane, the Tomkins family played The Last Post in the driveway. Veterans urge us to "protect the vulnerable" Nurse Sharon Bown also spoke at the televised, mostly empty service today and called on Australia to protect its most vulnerable. Bown has served as a combat nurse for 16 years and her great-uncle took part in the Gallipoli landings. “Let us do more than just honour those who have defended Australia,” she said this morning. “In this time of crisis, let us realise the innate capacity within each of us to do the same – to unite and to protect the more vulnerable among us.” In a televised dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, paid tribute to Carolyn Griffiths, a nurse who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and an Afghanistan war veteran, corporal Matt Williams. “Willie is in isolation today because his immune system depends on all of us keeping our distance,” Morrison said. “He has served us, but now we must do the right thing by him.” He reflected on the Anzac ceremony in Gallipoli in 1919. “There was no pomp at that little service,” he said. “There were no dignitaries, no band. Just the sound of lapping water on the lonely shore. And so our remembrances today, small, quiet and homely, will be.” The US’s Covid-19 death toll passed 50,000 and the number of people infected passed 875,000. That’s the highest death toll of any country, and has doubled in only 10 days. The UK also recorded 684 more hospital deaths and Sweden reported its highest number of infections yet: 812 new cases. The US Food and Drug Administration has warned doctors against prescribing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine touted by the US president, Donald Trump, weeks ago. And the Guardian has revealed that the leader of the group peddling bleach as a coronavirus “cure” wrote to Trump earlier this week, before the president suggested that injecting disinfectant could defeat the virus. Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia this Saturday, Anzac Day. Today’s ceremonies have taken on a different tone. Marches, large gatherings and your traditional dawn services are all off. Overseas, all official Australian-led ceremonies were cancelled weeks ago, including the Gallipoli service in Turkey. But that hasn’t stopped people marking the day. At the Australian War Memorial, nurse Sharon Bown delivered a unique dawn service – to a mostly empty room, but beamed out on TV across the country. Bown has served as a combat medic for 16 years and her great-uncle was part of the Gallipoli landings. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, the governor general, David Hurley, New Zealand’s high commissioner, Dame Annette King, and the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, were also in attendance. Stay with us for all of today’s news.