Queensland has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. But, as with every other jurisdiction, the economic impact has been profound. Annastacia Palaszczuk says the health response meant Queensland avoided a potential worse case scenario of 30,000 deaths, but came with a “much greater economic toll”. The Queensland government plans on revealing its stimulus plan, when parliament sits 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. In the meantime, Australia will be picking up the phone to the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, as well as Indonesia and India to see if they want some more barley. David Littleproud: So we’ll pursue other markets as quickly as we can. We’re not saying we’ll never come back to China, but we’ll make sure that we have this conversation and this dialogue constructively to work through to make sure that if we can get to an agreement, understanding of what’s happened, an appreciation of our point of view, then those markets will continue, as do other agricultural markets into China. China is pretty into beer, which is why Australian barley has been so popular. So there will be domestic implications within China, with the subtle threat from Australia being “maybe our barley won’t be there for you when you want it back”. Diplomacy is a tricky bish. Neither Simon Birmingham or David Littleproud had any warning about the decision, based on their public comments this morning, which would point to the CCP still not picking up the phone to the Australian ministers. They found out about it around 9pm last night, when it was announced. So, in short, China is still not taking our calls. That isn’t new – China banned Australian ministers from visiting under the Turnbull administration as well – you may remember Steve Ciobo couldn’t get a visa there for a bit while he was trade minister. But given the sensitivities around the pandemic, and the world trade situation as it stood even before the pandemic, there isn’t exactly an easy diplomatic fix to this. The Australian assertion that the Chinese government’s decision to impose an 80% tariff on Australian barley has nothing to do with the Australian push for an independent inquiry into the Covid pandemic origins and response is completely at odds with the very public assertion of the Chinese ambassador that there would be questions over Australian products, including higher education, if the investigation push continued. I mean, there were cranky diplomatic phone calls over the comments, which first appeared in the Australian Financial Review last month. But that will be the public line. Privately, it is something very different. So the message from the federal government is – this has nothing to do with Australia’s calls for an independent inquiry into Covid, Australia will diversify its export markets, Australia will be “calm and methodical” in its response, and everything else is cool beans. Shorter version – calm your farms. Except, exporters are rightly worried, and this won’t be the end of it. Question: But are Australian farmers paying the price for that? David Littleproud: No. Because unless you have evidence to the contrary to say that this barley decision is predicated on that, then you can’t make those assertions. They are dangerous assertions to make. This is a process that started 18 months ago, well before Covid-19 came into place, and this was the juncture, coincidentally, of when it had to come to a decision. So I think you’re trying to speculate wildly. They have given reasons, which we are working through now, and if we do not agree with those reasons, we’ll take it to the umpire. That’s what you do, calmly and methodically. There is no trade war. Everyone needs to take a deep breath, take a cold shower and understand that we produce the best food and fibre in the world and we have marketplaces that we’ll be able to send our barley and other produce into other markets if our producers wish to do so. Question: Should your government apologise to Australian farmers for them getting caught up in this diplomatic stoush? David Littleproud: No. Australians will always stand up for our sovereign right to make a determination. We did, in no way, ask for confrontation. It was an investigation that we asked for. And I think the world, last night, accepted that view. This wasn’t about persecution. This was about understanding of a pandemic that 300,000 souls lost their lives to. That is the responsible thing to do as a good global citizen. The fact that Australia led the way, and asked for that, for that review to take place, we should be damn proud as a nation that we led the world, not only on understanding what the WHO has done, but understanding what wildlife wet markets’ role is in these pandemics. We should be damn proud Australia is now leading the world. The reality is they are separate. These are issues in which the Chinese officials raised on barley 18months ago. This wild speculation is dangerous. The facts remain that we’ll calmly and methodically work through it with our trading partners and what we believe, as a nation, around something that affects us as a global citizen is important to continue and we will continue to stand up for that every day of the week. David Littleproud repeats that there is no trade war, and he has no reason to think the tariff decision was linked to Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the origins and original response to the coronavirus pandemic: There’s no trade war. In fact, even today, I think you have seen that there’s increased demand for iron ore out of China. The reality is they have used a process, quite fairly, around a belief that we have not been fair in our trade. We prosecute the case, quite strongly, that that is not the case. We will now reserve our right - and probably go to the independent umpire to make that determination. That’s... That’s what you do in a fair trading system. You use the rules. China has been well within their rules in what they have done. We continue to trade openly on a number of other commodities, not only in agriculture, but in minerals and also services. This will not change. But we will continue to make sure that everything is done on a fair and equitable basis and when we believe that it isn’t, then we’ll have the independent umpire make that assessment. "There is no trade war," says agriculture minister David Littleproud says Australia will continue to do what it can to work with China to rectify the barley decision, and will “probably” go to the World Trade Organisation to appeal the tariff imposition, but says there is no trade war with China. In the meantime, can I say to barley-producers around the country we will not take our foot off the accelerator in finding other markets. We have already – only in the last week – opened up greater access into India in getting some of their ... in some of their conditions eased to allow easier access into India. We now have a free trade agreement that starts on 5 July with Indonesia and also within the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also interested. So we’ll continue to work with our trading partners, but we’ll continue to prosecute our case that Australian barley-producers and producer of any commodity here in Australia are not subsidised. We hold that view strongly. We’ll continue to prosecute that calmly and methodically, work with China as best we can to ensure that we understand one another better. My door is always opened and my phone is always on to my Chinese counterpart and my department, who are ensconced in Beijing, are working continuously with government officials there to ensure there is better understanding in the future. Australian farmers can take comfort in the fact that our produce is the best in the world and there is demand for it in other parts of the world and we will pursue those markets vigorously. Simon Birmingham will hold a press conference at 10am. He’s got a lot to talk about today. ACT looks to further relax restrictions The ACT, which remains (known) active Covid-19 case free, is looking at further relaxing of its physical distance restrictions. The ABC reports chief minister Andrew Barr has released the territory’s “roadmap” (the new favourite political buzzword, along with “Covid-safe”) towards reopening. If things stay as they currently are, gatherings of up to 20 people would be allowed from 30 May, which would also allow gyms, cinemas, beauticians and tattoo studios to reopen (think stage two restrictions). If that goes well, from 19 June, then stage three could be put into place, which would see gatherings of up to 100 people, meaning – pubs would be back. The Senate select committee looking at the government’s Covid-19 response will hold a hearing today, from 1pm. It’s on education, skills and training today