Coronavirus Queensland: 10 new cases out of 3,000 tested

Good news for Queensland.  Out of 3,000 SICK people only 10 had the virus.  That indicates  that the new cases are the tiniest fraction of the overall population.  And only a tiny fraction of them will die

Queensland has recorded just 10 new coronavirus cases overnight, taking the state’s total to 953.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queenslanders were doing a good job but flagged tougher travel restrictions would come into force.

More than 3,000 patients were tested yesterday with only 10 returning positive results. Overall, 66,700 tests have been done since the pandemic began.

There are 33 people being treated in hospital for COVID-19, with 11 in ICU.

However, residents who travel to a declared hotspot in NSW will need to quarantine for 14 days when they return from midnight tomorrow.

The State Government also announced all Queensland residents will require a border pass when returning back into the state. There were no changes to interstate freight.

Traffic police have also revealed how they plan to stop Brisbane daytrippers heading down to the Gold Coast over the Easter weekend.

The tough new measures are aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus, with the Easter break seen as a battleground in the war against the continued spread.

Police said they are making themselves more visible and are monitoring traffic flow throughout the state to clamp down on people who ignore directions not to travel over Easter.

TREASURER Jackie Trad has applauded the mining and agricultural sectors for propping up the Queensland economy during the coronavirus crisis, but warns the state’s bottom line will take a hit.

Asked today how the budget will fare in the longer term, the Treasurer said mining and agriculture were the standouts.  “They are keeping us fed and there is revenue coming in the door,” she said.

“But we do anticipate significant drops in GST revenue from the Commonwealth. “We know that people are unlikely to be buying or selling houses so there will be a drop in stamp duty transfers, so there will be significant reductions in revenue.”

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How Australia IGNORED the World Health Organisation and stayed one step ahead on COVID-19 - after the WHO argued against closing the border, refused to call the virus a 'pandemic' and praised China

Australia appears to be finally flattening the infection curve in its battle against COVID-19 after the government decisively chose to ignore the World Health Organisation and respond to the pandemic in its own way.

That's the view of Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, who told Daily Mail Australia the WHO has badly let down Australia down by being 'glacially slow' to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

The UN body - which is paid $8.4million a year by Australian taxpayers for membership and receives tens of millions of dollars more in voluntary contributions - stalled on declaring a pandemic, told countries to keep borders open and heaped praise on China despite the Communist Party's appalling attempt to cover up the outbreak, which erupted in Wuhan in December.

The organisation copped the wrath of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday when he called it 'China-centric' and threatened to withhold funding.

But the Australian government has forged its own path toward stopping the virus, managing to already bring down infection rates and slow the spread of the deadly disease, without following advice from the WHO.

Today Mr Hastie, a former SAS solider who now represents the Western Australian division of Canning in the federal parliament, slammed the organisation for its indecisiveness.

'The WHO has been glacially slow in its decision-making,' the 37-year-old told Daily Mail Australia. 'When Beijing shut down travel from Hubei to the rest of China on January 23 - but strangely not from Hubei to the rest of the world - why didn't the WHO act decisively then?

'It could've prevented the mass global exportation of COVID-19 then by declaring a pandemic and alerting governments around the world of the danger ahead. 'Closing borders then could've saved lives and a lot of economic hardship.'

Fellow Liberal MP Dave Sharma also criticised the WHO on Wednesday. He told the ABC: 'I think the WHO's revealed some serious shortcomings, and I think they've revealed themselves to be a politicised organisation.

'They have been too willing to accept Chinese explanations for this virus and the source and the causes.'

He said it was right for the world to respond to China with 'anger and consternation and demand some sort of transparency and accountability in future.'

Mr Sharma also criticised the WHO for failing to include Taiwan, an island nation claimed by China, which has not been allowed to join the organisation.

Taiwan saw the pandemic coming and implemented strict social distancing and contact tracing measures which have held the virus at bay - but the WHO, pandering to China, kept it cut off from global information networks and refused to learn from Taiwan's success.

Mr Hastie said the WHO's failure to control coronavirus was an example of a global organisation being unable to look out for its member states.

'The reality for Aussies is that only our government will act in our sovereign interest to preserve our prosperity and security,' he said.

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George Pell’s case exposes Victoria’s biased criminal justice system

Bettina Arndt

News earlier this week was dominated by the decision by the High Court to free Cardinal George Pell after overturning his conviction for historic child sex offences.

One of the most intriguing questions raised by this important case is how Victoria’s criminal justice system allowed the case against Cardinal Pell to proceed so far on evidence which, according to the unanimous view of all seven High Court judges, could not support a guilty verdict.

As many lawyers are pointing out, from the start of the case very few dispassionate observers thought the charges against Pell could stick. Greg Craven, professor of law and vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, writing in The Australian, explained that despite the implausible evidence, many people “hated Pell so much they did not care, said he certainly was guilty of other crimes anyway or that he was the right person to be punished for the general crimes of Catholic clergy.”

Legal affairs editor at The Australian, Chris Merritt, made very telling points about the outcome of this case in exposing the “institutional flaws in Victoria that will tarnish Australian justice in the eyes of the world.”

Flaws that include special rules in sexual assault cases which allow evidence to be withheld that could have helped exonerate the accused – as happened with George Pell.

Merritt explained: “The Pell jury was never told that the complainant had a history of psychological problems that required treatment. Nor were they told that Pell’s legal team was rebuffed in court — in the absence of the jury — when they attempted to gain access to records showing the extent of this man’s psychological problems.” Merritt pointed out that this episode is outlined in the special leave application that was filed in the High Court by Pell’s legal team. During the trial, it would have been a contempt of court for anyone to reveal this incident.

This is only one example of changes to criminal law in Victoria introduced with the admirable goal of protecting complainants in sexual assault cases, changes which have resulted in the state becoming “one of the world’s most gender-biased and anti-male jurisdictions in the world,” according to a retired associate professor of law from Deakin University,  Kenneth Arenson.

In 2016 I wrote an article quoting Arenson’s description of the way Victorian rape law had been influenced by a feminist law professor, resulting in all sorts of “pernicious reforms”  including  “rape shield laws limiting a defendant’s long-­entrenched common-law right to put before a court all legally ­admissible evidence that helps to show they are not guilty of the ­alleged crime.”

These laws not only were influential in George Pell’s wrongful conviction but put in jeopardy the legal rights of every man accused of sexual assault in Victoria.

Those of you with a legal background or scholarly bent might like to look at two extremely detailed papers Arensen put together outlining what he sees as this unfair corruption of the Victorian legal system. The Demise of Equality Before the Law and When Some People are More Equal Than Others.

It’s not just powerful men like George Pell whose liberty is at risk when equality before the law no longer matters

Email from Bettina@bettinaarndt.com.au





Independent schools told to reopen or lose funding as National Cabinet discusses coronavirus impacts on education

The Federal Government has threatened to withdraw funding from independent schools if they do not open on a limited basis for the second school term.

The demand makes it clear that schools' funding is contingent upon them opening their doors to students who need to attend.

"We want all schools to be offering that learning environment for those parents who have to work, and for those children where it's safer to be in the classroom," Mr Tehan said. "As part of the funding requirement you have to be offering this to parents whose children you're educating."

Mr Tehan said his concerns were related to a small number of schools he believed were not offering the face-to-face teaching options that public schools were.  "What we want is a nationally consistent approach," he said.

"What we want to do is ensure that when it comes to independent schools, and Catholic schools as well, that they're also providing that learning environment.

"There were some independent schools that weren't offering — for parents who had to work at all year levels — that opportunity for those students to get that safe learning environment."

The Government's health advice has remained that it is safe to send children to school, however that message has been implemented differently across the states and territories.

In-person attendance remains an option in public schools across the country, particularly for parents who cannot keep their children at home.

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 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here