Domestic Politics
While Australia launched its coronavirus tracing app, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern remains skeptical of such technology as it requires a huge percentage of the population to download the app for its statistics to be meaningful. Nevertheless, the country plans to roll out its own app soon. [Sydney Morning Herald]
New Zealand will move from alert level 4 to alert level 3 in its coronavirus lockdown restrictions today, allowing many to return to work. 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. [NZ Herald]
International Relations
China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, issued a stern rebuke of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s call for an investigation into the source and spread of the coronavirus, and China’s culpability. Cheng said that such comments were “dangerous” and could lead to a Chinese boycott in terms of students, tourism, and exports. Payne then rejected Cheng’s “economic coercion” tactics. [Sydney Morning Herald]
Health
Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, said that the Australian state will test 100,000 people over the next two weeks before deciding whether to relax the current stage three restrictions. The state has performed 104,000 tests since January. [ABC News]
Australia now has 6,713 COVID-19 cases, with 5,539 recoveries, and 83 deaths. [9 News]
New Zealand now has 1,469 COVID-19 cases, with 1,180 recoveries, and 19 deaths. [Newsroom]
Economy
The Business Council of Australia warned that the economy could contract by 20% this year–with an impact of $400 billion–if coronavirus restrictions are kept in place for six months. The council is urging the government to change company taxes and industrial relations laws to encourage investment once restrictions are lifted. It further projected that 40% of workers who have lost their jobs are at risk of long-term unemployment. [9 News]
Society
Over 1 million Australians have downloaded the newly-launched COVIDSAFE coronavirus tracing app. The government hopes that it will be used by 40% of Australia’s population, which is over 10 million people. The Minister for Government Services, Stuart Robert, has clarified that the app 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. [news.com.au]
Image Source: InStyle
Australia and New Zealand in Review: April 27, 2020
Read more about the latest events from Australia and New Zealand.
April 27, 2020
