States and territories have been urged to endorse a new definition of coronavirus hotspots as the federal government turns the screws on border closures.
States and territories have been urged to endorse a new definition of coronavirus hotspots as the federal government turns the screws on border closures.
Friday's national cabinet meeting looms as a major showdown on interstate travel restrictions, with progress hinging on the advice of an expert medical panel.
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham called on premiers and chief ministers to back the hotspot approach, which would guide restarting travel.
"We have many, many thousands of jobs being lost across our travel and tourism industries at present," he told the ABC this morning.
"We will only see more of them lost if borders are kept in place in an arbitrary manner, rather than embracing evidence and using an evidence-based hotspots approach."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled the federal government will go it alone on the new definition if the states don't sign up.
He has floated the Danish traffic light hotspot system, which uses yellow to highlight open borders with cases fewer than 20 for every 100,000 residents in an area.
The orange alert level signals quarantine is needed when case rates exceed 30 per 100,000 people, while a red light bans travel when infection spikes occur.
Mr Morrison wants to see most state border restrictions loosened by Christmas.
Anthony Albanese accused the prime minister of criticising the Queensland Labor government's border closures, while going easy on Liberal-controlled Tasmania and South Australia.
"It's not national and it is not a cabinet," the Labor leader told 4BC radio.
"Scott Morrison chairs these meetings and the premiers tell each other what they're going to do. Then he goes out and has a press conference and announces it."
Victoria is beginning to get its deadly second wave of infections under control, with 70 new cases on Tuesday - the lowest daily increase since early July.
The state also recorded another five deaths, taking the national toll to 657.
Australia's Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, who is leading the work on the hotspot definition, is positive about the falling new case numbers.
Meanwhile, the federal government has pledged an extra $563 million to help the aged care sector as it continues to face scrutiny over the handling of outbreaks in nursing homes.
The pandemic's impact on the economy will be underlined by the June quarter national accounts due on Wednesday.
The Australian economy is expected to shrink by about six per cent, the biggest hit since the late 1950s.
