This is fine

GOODBYE CURFEW, HELLO FINES

Fines for “unlawful gatherings” have increased under Victoria’s accelerated roadmap to nearly $5000, the ABC reports. Other changes include Melbourne losing the curfew, primary school students returning to classes from October 12 and — with its next step dependent on caseloads rather than dates — potentially hitting the “third step” by October 19 as cases fall to a 14-day rolling average of 22.1.

Both Premier Dan Andrews and chief health officer Brett Sutton have warned that home gatherings remain a key concern even as cases drop, although it is yet to be demonstrated if the pre-existing, relatively-high penalty system actually substantially increased social distancing.

Further north, the ABC reports that Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made an election pledge of $624 million for an additional 2025 police officers over the next five years. The LNP, meanwhile, has promised $33 billion for a 15-year plan to improve Bruce Highway from Cairns to Gympie.

PS: News of Victoria’s new fines comes a day after FOI documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that young men from poor suburbs and towns with high Aboriginal or immigrant populations were more likely to be fined for breaching NSW’s lockdown rules.

STITT TO REPLACE MIKAKOS

According to The Age, former trade union leader Ingrid Stitt will assume a vacancy in Victoria’s cabinet after former health minister Jenny Mikakos resigned. The paper also reports that as the race for pre-selection begins for Mikakos’ upper house seat, the party could have its first Indigenous woman in state parliament with AFL executive Sheena Watt and Labor staffer Prue Stewart among the potential contenders.

The Herald Sun ($) notes that a handful of Labor MPs have (anonymously) hit out at Dan Andrews for instigating Mikakos’ resignation by telling the hotel quarantine inquiry he considered her responsible for the program from April 8 — before which she shared responsibility with Jobs Minister Martin Pakula — until July 8, when his “crisis council of cabinet” approved the transfer of accountability from Mikakos to Attorney-General Jill Hennessy.

PS: Curiously, Andrews’ statement does not diverge dramatically from public updates on the program — he announced on August 13 that Hennessy would take over from Mikakos — nor does it allege that the health minister made the decision to use private security on the “front tier” of hotel quarantine. Which, as news.com.au unpacks, appears to have been influenced by Victoria Police’s preference to assume a “second tier” (i.e. backup) role.

SEEING (THE BENEFIT OF) RED

Finally, The Guardian explains that a new Deloitte Access Economics report calls on the Morrison government to reject austerity policies and spend more despite the government debt — currently at $200 billion — as joblessness is expected to hit 7.9% this financial year, rise to 8% the next year, before easing to 6.8% in 2022-23.

According to the ABC, the report drops ahead of an announcement today by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack that the government will extend subsidies for regional and domestic routes.

It also comes after the Conversation-Economic Society of Australia pre-budget survey found the vast majority of Australia’s leading economists want the government to boost social housing and JobSeeker rather than bring forward personal income tax cuts.

PS: Today also marks the reintroduction of mutual obligation penalties for welfare recipients, after the coronavirus supplement was slashed last Friday in what advocates called “poverty day“.