We’re expecting an update from Victoria at 11am. What’s it like in a locked down suburb at the moment? If the result from polling booths is close on Saturday, it could be days until we get a result. Postals could play a very important role. This is not about the tinned meat. You can tell what socioeconomic bracket I grew up in, given where my thoughts first went. Closing statements from the Eden-Monaro candidates on ABC South East. Fiona Kotvojs says she’s heard “heartbreaking stories” while out campaigning but she’s been “really inspired by the resilience and optimism of our wonderful communities”. There are “more important things than politics” but Eden-Monaro would be “best served by a local who can be part of government”. Kotvojs promises infrastructure upgrades, Snowy 2.0 and support for businesses and farmers. Then she rattles off the CV again, including 15 years as an RFS volunteer. Kristy McBain says she wants to make a difference, she’s not a career politician or motivated by power. “I’ll put our community first every time if I’m elected on Saturday,” she said. Leadership matters – “especially at the federal level ... it matters that you show up” – this all sounds like a dig at Scott Morrison for the Hawaii summer bushfire trip. McBain says she understands if elected she will “govern for all”. Natasha Fyles says NT residents need to think about their travel but at this point it doesn’t look as though the NT will be barring Victorians, as Queensland and SA have done: That’s a simplistic response. Victoria is a smaller geographical area and I can understand the concerns of Territorians seeing multiple cases each day being reported back, but they are within those local government areas and considering we don’t have that vaccine, or that cure, as we step forward in the coming months, we know that Covid’s had a huge impact on many people, they can’t travel to see seriously-ill family or friends. As I just explained using the example in Queensland, you may see outbreaks in a state that geographically are a long way from another location where someone may need to travel. So we certainly want Territorians to think about their travel. It’s not great, let’s jump on the plane and go away for the weekend. It needs to be important travel. And people need to make sure that we don’t have that vaccine. So the steps they take will protect the broader community. The NT health minister says at this stage there is no reason for the territory to rethink its border opening (which is due to occur on 17 July). So the whole time that we have been managing coronavirus and protecting Territorians, we have been listening to the clinical evidence and this serves as a reminder to our community that coronavirus is present and it can come into the Territory. But because this person has followed the rules, there is minimal risk to your community. In going forward, we don’t have a cure or vaccine, we need to step forward to the new normal. When the borders, those restrictions change again on July 17, it’s not suddenly travel between jurisdictions again. But those local government areas, HPPC and the clinical advice would designate those hotspots and I believe that over the coming months until we have a vaccine, that these areas will change. And right now we’re seeing an outbreak in Victoria in very specific local government areas in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, but going forward, this could change. We could see a situation in Queensland where we have got an outbreak perhaps in Cairns, but people in Brisbane aren’t impacted. So we need to be practical, we need to listen to that clinical advice, and so going forward for the Northern Territory, on July 17, the quarantine will change to those local government areas. But, of course, we will make sure that in stepping that forward to the new normal, we listen to the clinical advice from our experts. Darwin man tests Covid-19 positive in first spread of Victorian outbreak across state borders A Darwin man in his 30s has tested positive for Covid-19. He had been in hotel quarantine in Melbourne, but visited family in a hotspot area before returning to the NT. He began showing symptoms and was tested for Covid-19, testing positive. The traveller had been isolating in Darwin, as per the rules, upon their return. It’s the first case in the NT since April, and the territory had “clinically” eradicated the virus from its jurisdiction. Fiona Kotvojs says local media is important and she misses the death notices on ABC. “Yes I will continue to fight for local media coverage,” she said. But Kotvojs refused to commit to fight for a reversal of the $84m cut to indexation – instead repeating the prime minister’s line that “there hasn’t been a reduction”. This is a gimme for Kristy McBain, given that Labor has promised to reverse the cut (in government, if elected at the next election). But the heat turns on McBain with the next question about Labor branch-stacking (in Victoria, presumably). McBain says it hasn’t been raised with her once on the campaign because it doesn’t affect people’s lives. Then she pivots to jobkeeper and an economic plan, again. Kotvojs denied the government has pork-barrelled the election by making promises for primary industries such as apple growing and wineries – she notes the programs, although announced in Eden-Monaro, apply Australia-wide. Next question is about Kotvojs submission to the religious freedom review – which included a call for a right for commercial service providers to refuse same-sex weddings. Kotvojs says differences must be “based on respect” and expressed respectfully – but doesn’t go to the substance of discrimination law. McBain says discrimination based on sexuality and gender is a “massive no” from her, arguing that religious practices and beliefs might be “thousands of years old” but need to be updated. The PM is combining the defence announcement (a $270bn decade-long spend for a 2020 strategy released just before a byelection ... Deidre Chambers, is that you?) from yesterday, with some adjacent Eden-Monaro campaigning at his press event today. That’s being held mid-morning. The second question is on bushfire recovery and what the federal government could do better. Fiona Kotvojs says the problem is not enough information sharing between agencies, including councils refusing to give info because of privacy reasons. She called for a “single consolidated list” of affected businesses and households so everybody eligible would know to apply for support. Kristy McBain said after the Tathra fires in 2018 it was obvious that more streamlining of assistance was required – and more federal money for caseworkers was needed. There has to be a better response and it has to be lead by the federal government – actually getting state and local government working together, getting across bureaucratic issues such as privacy, when you’re all working for the same outcome and goal. Then Kotvojs is asked about her record of downplaying climate change and refusal to say whether it added to the intensity of the summer bushfires: My belief is very clear: I believe the climate is changing and humans are contributing to that change. She repeats her view that it was lack of hazard reduction that caused the intensity, a point she made in a submission to the bushfire royal commission. Kotvojs was asked about reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce heat, and she replies the Coalition has a “great plan” to reduce emissions. She incorrectly claims Australia has reduced emissions by 40% in the last 30 years – that would be emissions per capita, not total emissions. Kotvojs attempted to say the government was walking the talk, but had an unfortunate stumble, saying: We’ve put our foot where our mouth is. The ABC South East is hosting a debate between the Liberal Fiona Kotvojs and Labor’s Kristy McBain. Kotvojs starts with a measured opening statement – so measured it sounds a little like she’s reading it. The text is similar to her ads, stressing that she is LOCAL and has been a “teacher, farmer and small business owner”, Oxfam director and RFS volunteer. McBain is similarly well prepared, discussing how the region had responded to the “devastation and turmoil” of bushfires. Eden-Monaro wants a plan for bushfire recovery and economic supports for Covid-19 so the jobkeeper wage subsidy won’t “fall off a cliff”. The first question for both candidates: should jobkeeper be kept after September? Kotvojs said the program was legislated for six months, giving businesses certainty and helping them stay open. The review is going to identify where we need to go ... after this ... The key thing is the prime minister has made clear whatever is needed will be done. McBain said people in Eden-Monaro were doing it tough and 18,000 workers in the electorate were at risk if jobkeeper were withdrawn: People are anxious to know what will happen after September and they have a right to know. People want a plan now because businesses need to plan for the future. Eden-Monaro’s Liberal candidate, Fiona Kotvojs, and the Labor candidate, Kristy McBain, are debating each other on ABC radio at the moment.