Order in the house

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Joe Biden has capped off his first day as US president by issuing a slew of executive orders that (deep breath):

As ABC reports, Biden is also developing a US$1.9 trillion stimulus package, while, in the likely event Republicans stonewall, incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Bernie Sanders has outlined a plan at CNN to pass the following with a simple Senate majority: increase direct payments from US$600 to US$2000, expand emergency unemployment benefits to US$600 a week, state and local funding, 12 weeks of paid leave, universal pre-K, tuition-free college, cancel student debt, and $15 minimum wage.

PS: According to The Australian ($), Scott Morrison has pledged to work with Biden on combating climate change — a plan that would require Morrison to do something on climate change — and ­regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

FLIGHT TESTING

International travellers coming to Australia from today will need to return a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of departure, a requirement ABC explains is exacerbated by a recent decision by national cabinet to halve the number of passengers allowed into three states.

National cabinet will meet again today to discuss arrivals caps and the vaccine rollout, although no major announcements are expected. Separately, the airline Emirates has announced plans to resume flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane less than a week after cancelling services.

Elsewhere, The Australian ($) reports that new Education Minister Alan Tudge has warned universities it would be “very difficult” to get significant numbers of foreign students back on campus this year.

And according to The Age, Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa — who was forced to quarantine in her Melbourne hotel room after potentially being exposed to COVID-19 on an Australian Open charter flight– has announced she has tested positive.

COST SOULS

Finally, The Guardian reports that Peter Dutton has claimed Home Affairs’ decision to release 34 men after a year in Melbourne hotel rooms — and at least 7 on offshore detention — was a cost-saving measure.

Which, if true, can only mean good things for the several hundred other people seeking asylum who have been detained by Australia, including the Bileola family of four being kept on Christmas Island at a cost of $6 million so far.