Meanwhile, the Black Lives Matter protests, which were the favoured topic of the hand wringing commentariat, and politicians who told people they risked keeping Australians locked up for longer, have so far resulted in two cases, neither of which appear to have been picked up at the protest, and in both cases, the people found to have tested positive, were wearing masks. Greg Hunt was asked about this on the Nine Network this morning: Well, so far there have been two cases associated with the protests. I hope that that’s it. We’ll wait and see. It was always a lottery. If there was somebody who was infectious and spreading, then that could have led to a catastrophe. At this stage, we have only the two cases. We do know there’s still some, as the Chief Medical Officer describes it, grumbling community transmission in parts of Victoria, but the high rates of testing and then the contact tracing, all of these things helping to mop up the cases and that’s what’s allowing us to get back to our day to day activity and people to regain their freedoms, their social lives and the economic activity that’s just so critical. Leadership is broken. From the coronavirus pandemic and police brutality to the marginalisation of minority communities around the world, our leaders are failing us. Self-serving and divisive, they are gambling with public health and the future of younger generations. We have to make them raise their game. This is what the Guardian is for. As an open, independent news organisation we investigate, interrogate and expose the incompetence and indifference of those in power. Your support helps us produce quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism every day - and publish it free so everyone can read. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Most of the states (Western Australia being the exception, because the west is probably divorcing Australia by stealth and no one is noticing because of the time difference) have laid out when they are reopening their borders. For South Australia it is by 20 July, with Tasmanians, Northern Territorians and Western Australians able to travel there now. For Queensland, it is most likely 10 July (at least according to the roadmap, which is posted on line). But goodness knows what some commentators are going to have to talk about when those borders do open: Ben Fordham: One thing that would help is opening up the borders. And this issue is now headed to the high court. And this was all about protecting health, but now it’s killing business big time? Scott Morrison: Well, the story this morning, some 5,000 jobs have been costed a week on this. This is why I’ve been pushing this state so hard and – Fordham: $84m dollars a day. We’re losing? Morrison: This is why borders should be opened up. There’s never been any advice which says they should be closed. And that’s why this is so frustrating. I’m pleased that we’ve got a timetable at least now. And that’s important because that means that particularly the tourism industry up in Queensland can now start planning to take people again when that turns back on. And to be honest, that, it would take about a month or so for them to wind back up again for a lot of those businesses to get themselves ready to receive visitors again. So they do need a bit of forewarning about this, but there was no reason for the borders to be shut in the first place. And so they need to be reopened. I know that within those states in particular, whether it be in Queensland or WA or Tasmania or South Australia, there are people there who believe that was giving them some protection. But, you know, Australia’s had an amazing performance when it comes to the coronavirus. We haven’t been going for a complete elimination. That’s not a practical goal. What we’re doing is staying on top of it. And the numbers show that we’re doing that. And business should be able to open and employ people, it’s holding back jobs. Scott Morrison was asked about the unemployment figures this morning while talking to Sydney radio 2GB: We’re in a recession. And when you’re in recession, these are the sort of very heartbreaking numbers that we have to deal with. And we’ve still got a long way to go. And so that’s why it’s so important that all of our efforts, all of our focus where the parliament’s focus should be, certainly where the government’s focus always has been, is on creating jobs, keeping people in jobs where we can and where people aren’t able to hold on to those jobs that we could find ways to get them back into new jobs and grow our economy again as quickly as possible. I mean, the most recent figures we had, I said this on Monday when I was outlining further parts of our jobmaker plan, and we lost 30 months of jobs growth in the figures that came out last month. And that’s heartbreaking because so many businesses, so many people work so hard to create all those jobs. And then almost overnight, we saw them go. So, you know, it’s a tough time. The May jobs data will come out today. The Australian Bureau of Statistics will drop those figures at about 11.30am today. Given September (when jobkeeper and the covid supplement to jobseeker will end) is creeping up, it might be worth taking a look a this story from Paul Karp last week, if you missed it. This is where the debate will be raging come August. Helen Sullivan has the international coronavirus blog up and running. Just in case you didn’t know, it is Refugee Week this week. It runs from 16 to 22 of June to coincide with World Refugee Day on 20 June. But you might not know, as the government is yet to acknowledge it. Labor and the Greens have (as it started) but there has been nothing from the acting multicultural minister or the assistant minister, or nothing at least that I have seen. Alan Tudge did manage to link multiculturalism to a cooking show, but that was last week. For the record, David Coleman, did acknowledge Refugee Week last year. And it’s not as if there isn’t a very obvious (and public) reminder of the refugee situation in Australia playing out, once again, this week. Just taking a look at the House of Reps daily program for today, and it looks like there is no new legislation being introduced (at this stage). Which seems a little strange. I mean, it’s not as if there is *anything* going on that needs addressing or anything. After originally leaving the issue of where the recordings used by the Age and 60 Minutes had come from alone, the government turned its attention to those recordings yesterday, under parliamentary privilege. Here is some of what Christian Porter had to say about that yesterday during question time, in response to a dixer (question asked by the government to the government). At a federal level, there are very strict rules about the use and authorised use of surveillance devices which, essentially, restrict that use to law enforcement agencies. As the member is aware, recently we also passed very important laws to counter the influence of or interference with members of parliament. Frankly, I think that everyone in this parliament would agree that the idea that a “non-law-enforcement device”, if you like, appeared to have been installed in the office of any member of this parliament is a serious concern. I think it’s a matter also of some obviousness that the level of concern we might have, and whether that matter might require further inquiry, would turn very substantially on whether the member in question had themselves authorised or otherwise had knowledge of the installation of that device. That seems to be a very obvious and first question. For those who are unfamiliar with the term “doors” it’s what we call the quick doorstops at the beginning of parliament. There are lots of entries and exits into the parliament, so if a MP walks through either the Representatives main door or the Senate main entry, where the journalists and cameras are, it means they have something to say. It’s fairly rare for the leaders of the party to drop by there, so that tells you Anthony Albanese wanted those comments out there quickly. Labor backbencher "counselled" by Anthony Albanese over text comments Anthony Albanese stopped by doors a few moments ago to say this: Yesterday afternoon I spoke with Anthony Byrne. I checked on his welfare. Anthony Byrne is someone who has been under pressure and it was appropriate that I check on his welfare. I also discussed and sought an assurance from him that he had advice, which he has, that he has acted legally at all times. That is consistent with what Channel Nine have said in terms of Nick McKenzie’s comments as well. He also assured me that he was offering full cooperation with Ibac and the police inquiries. And I took that assurance. I note the comments that are published today from Mr Byrne. These comments are completely unacceptable and inappropriate. And I’ve counselled Mr Byrne about his language and the inappropriateness of those comments. I note Andrew Hastie’s comments this morning, where he has said clearly, ‘I can speak to Mr Byrne’s character over the last few years. He has been a great servant of our country in the committee.’ And certainly, the work that committee has done to keep our country safe has been important, has been bipartisan by and large, and certainly the chair and the deputy chair of the committee have worked very cooperatively. Mathias Cormann and Penny Wong are putting in a motion to the Senate to limit how many motions the upper house can deal with each sitting day. It would limit them to 12 –four for the government, four for Labor and four for the crossbench to share. That also includes motions for the production of documents. There were more than 50 pages of motions lodged the other day, which has helped push this limiting motion along, but you have to question how this helps democracy. Here’s the motion: We give notice that, on the next day of sitting, we shall move (1) That the following variations to the standing orders have effect as a temporary order until the last sitting day in June 2021: (a) At the end of standing order 66, add: (5) The following additional requirements apply to the consideration of general business notices of motion as formal motions: (a) Senators may make (or have made on their behalf) only one request for formality in any sitting week. No more than 12 motions may be dealt with as formal motions on any sitting day, comprising no more than four proposed by Government senators, four proposed by Opposition senators, and four proposed by minor party and independent senators. (c) The motions to be considered shall be notified to the President. (d) The allocation of motions to be taken as formal amongst minor party and independent senators each day shall be determined by the President and, across the course of a sitting week, shall be as nearly as practicable proportional to the numbers of those minor party and independent senators in the Senate. (6) The restrictions in paragraph (5) do not apply in respect of motions for the consideration of legislation (including the introduction of bills) or the conduct of Senate or committee business (including the appointment of a select committee). (b) After standing order 76(7), insert: (7A) A general business notice of motion shall not exceed 200 words, unless it is a motion: (a) for the consideration of legislation or the conduct of Senate or committee business (including the appointment of a select committee), or (6) proposing an order for the production of documents. (2) That the Procedure Committee review the operation of this order, and report to the Senate by the last sitting day in May 2021. Senator Cormann Senator Wong It has cost NSW $50m to quarantine returned travellers in its hotels – each state has been picking up the cost of quarantining returned Australians in the city they land in, so Sydney and Melbourne, as the major hubs, have taken in the most travellers. There is an international student return pilot in the works, which has raised the question of who will pick up the tab for any quarantining needed as part of that. Simon Birmingham: So that’s why we’re working through a pilot program in relation to international students. It won’t be taxpayers picking up the bill for those students in terms of their quarantine period. But we’re going to improve that. It’s not just complications of how you run quarantine, it’s also questions if you look at a [travel] bubble with New Zealand, how do we make sure that those flights coming in and out of international airports from New Zealand aren’t, if you like, crossing over with flights coming from other parts of the world where Covid is more prevalent because we want to make sure we protect those travellers going to and from New Zealand. So there are a lot of things we are working on in the background as to how we run the logistics, to keep Australians safe, but reopen our economic activity wherever we to be able to save jobs across the economy. But Australia’s borders to the UK, will remain closed. At least for the foreseeable future. Simon Birmingham: It’s a trade deal first and foremost, not some open borders arrangement and it won’t be an open borders arrangement. There will absolutely be opportunity for us to look at how we can, as I say, manage our mutual recognition of qualifications in areas where we have similar high standards that enable Australians and Brits to travel, hopefully more freely with more ease in terms of working in the professions, working in different fields, and facilitating that right of passage that so many young Australians and young Brits undertake in terms of traveling to each other’s countries and working Putting aside that they are owned by an American company now … … there would be more to an Australian-UK free trade agreement than biscuits. One would hope. Simon Birmingham spoke about that this morning to ABC TV: The opportunities for Australia are immense. The UK is a market of 67 million people. We want to see for farmers that they get a fair crack at this. So for grain grower, sheep graziers, wine-makers, horticultural producers, we see real opportunities for them. But also in the services sector, huge potential there. We already have large healthcare providers operating in the UK. We want to enhance their ability through working at regulatory harmonisation, to make sure we got mutual recognition of standards and qualifications as we can. That can help us in financial services, FinTech and a whole range of other areas. But nope. Doesn’t look like that is happening. The health advice is to stay home. Good morning And welcome to the last sitting day. Until August, that is. The winter break is upon us. But, as with the rest of the week, it’s not what is happening in parliament that has everyone’s attention. The Victorian Labor branch has captured most headlines this week. Now, as AAP reports, it has entered the federal sphere: The Victorian ALP scandal has pivoted back to the federal parliamentary party after explosive text messages written by the federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne were released. The former Labor leader Bill Shorten, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and the retired federal MPs Michael Danby, Alan Griffin and Sam Dastyari are subject to criticism in the text messages. The texts were reportedly released by the disgraced party powerbroker Adem Somyurek, after the backbencher agreed to cooperate with corruption investigators. AAP reports: “Somyurek has selectively released a hand-picked selection of my text messages to him sent over two years just hours after I made a public statement that I had contacted authorities and would assist with their corruption investigations into him. That speaks for itself,” Byrne said in a statement to AAP. “In respect of the misinformation circulating, I want to make clear that I take the matters raised recently seriously and have been in touch with authorities to offer my full assistance. “I welcome investigations into corruption, which has no place in the party I love. “Because I do not want to cross over or impede any investigations that may be occurring, I’m unable to comment further at this point in time.” An investigation by the Age and 60 Minutes led to Somyurek’s sacking from the Victorian ministry. He resigned from the Labor party before his expulsion. Two factional allies have also resigned as ministers but remain in the party as investigations begin. We’ll cover all the day’s events in parliament and across federal politics, as well as update you on any Covid information you need to know. You have a two-coffee Amy, Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst in Canberra, and access to everyone across the Guardian as the day rolls on. Ready? Let’s get into it.