The federal government's push to allow thousands of extra international arrivals each week is still very much up in the air this morning, with not all states on board. Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack yesterday wrote to premiers asking them to take extra numbers in hotel quarantine to allow more stranded Australians to come home. New South Wales has agreed, but Western Australia's premier has accused the commonwealth of ambushing it with that request.
Melburnians are this morning living inside a 'ring of steel', facing five thousand dollar fines if they attempt to visit regional Victoria where coronavirus restrictions eased at midnight. Regional pubs, hotels and beauty salons are reopening for the first time in months. Small dinner parties in the home are back on and outdoor gatherings of up to ten people are allowed.
As many as 1200 staff at Melbourne's RMIT University will lose work by the end of the year, that is four times the amount previously announced. In a statement RMIT says it's facing financial pressures but will not confirm actual job numbers. The Australian National University has also announced it could lose 465 jobs, while 250 staff at the University of New South Wales are also being made redundant.
And a hurricane which made landfall overnight on America's Gulf coast has weakened, after causing catastrophic flooding and winds of more than 160 kilometres per hour. Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have all declared states of emergency.