Domestic Politics
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that New Zealand will move from Alert Level 4 of its lockdown to Alert Level 3 after one week. The country will remain at Alert Level 3 for two weeks, wherein some of the economy is able to “come back online”. Social distancing measures, however, will remain in place. [Stuff]
After the Federal Government announced a coronavirus tracing app, privacy concerns forced the Minister for Government Services, Stuart Robert, to clarify that the app will be optional and will not track people’s locations or be available to law enforcement agencies. Rather, it will be used to see how close citizens are to each other, and for how long. [ABC News]
International Relations
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus and how it spread, and expressed concern about China’s transparency. [Reuters]
Health
Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Canberra all recorded no new coronavirus cases, with some of them having sustained this progress for over a week. Thus, various states are now discussing easing social distancing restrictions over the coming days and weeks. The National Cabinet will discuss the “prerequisites” for loosening restrictions tomorrow. [news.com.au]
Australia currently has 6619 COVID-19 cases, with 71 deaths. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
New Zealand now has 1440 COVID-19 cases, with 974 recoveries, and 12 deaths. [Newsroom]
Economy
Applications for the Federal Government's $130 billion JobKeeper program are now open. The provision subsidizes wages for the private sector so that Australians earn at least $1,500 per fortnight. It is expected to benefit up to 6.7 Australians. [ABC News]
It is projected that up to 3.4 million Australians could lose their jobs during the upcoming weeks, with data suggesting that between 14-26% of Australians could be rendered unemployed as a result of the ongoing pandemic. [9 News]
Image Source: The Daily Telegraph
Australia and New Zealand in Review: April 20, 2020
Read more about the latest events from Australia and New Zealand.
April 20, 2020
