Amid ongoing lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, Mr Frydenberg said economic growth would be “almost certainly negative in the September quarter, with a contraction of at least 2 per cent, [but] I am hopeful and confident the economy can come back in the December quarter if, as expected, restrictions ease”.

Economists are divided as to whether Wednesday’s national accounts figures will show the economy shrank in the June quarter. Two consecutive quarters of negative growth will signify the country is once again in a technical recession.

AMP chief Economist Shane Oliver has forecast negative growth of 0.1 per cent for the June quarter, while Commonwealth Bank head of Australian economics Gareth Aird has forecast modest growth of 0.4 per cent.

“Whatever the final number is on Wednesday, it does not change the fact that our economy faces some difficult days ahead,” Mr Frydenberg said. “This is another reason why we must stick to our plan and open up at 70 and 80 per cent. If not now, when?”

He warned that if premiers and chief ministers did not stick to the plan to reopen, then the hit to the economy and jobs would be high, with businesses closing and debt increasing.

“Learning to live with the virus is our only hope. To delay and deny that fact is not only wrong but incredibly unrealistic,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“It’s in no one’s interests for states to be on different tracks when it comes to opening up. It would be ridiculous in the extreme to be able to travel to Canada but not Cairns, or Singapore but not Perth.

“The world is opening up, Australia will open up ... Opening up as one country and in accordance with the plan will not only give people hope but provide a springboard for our economic recovery.”

But in the clearest signal yet that Western Australia was prepared to walk away from the road map, Premier Mark McGowan said on Saturday his state needed higher vaccination levels to reopen and flagged waiting “a few more months” to reach them.

Last week The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age revealed that updated Doherty Institute modelling showed NSW would still be able to begin opening up once the vaccination targets were met - even if there were hundreds of new daily cases in the community, rather than the 30 on which the original modelling was based.

That prompted some states, including Western Australia and Queensland, to express concern about opening up and allowing COVID into the community.

Mr McGowan said on Saturday that Western Australia wanted to remain COVID-free “for as long as we can”.

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/if-not-now-when-frydenberg-warns-states-to-stick-to-the-road-map-amid-recession-fears-20210824-p58liy.html

assange

I distinctively heard the word "magic" from Gladys's lips in regard to the magic number of 70 per cent... I must must say my hearing isn't what it never was and my latest test was that I could hear like a good 90 year old bloke can... as long as the "hush of the wind in the she-oaks*" isn't too loud...

So I was surprised to read:

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state could reach 70 per cent single-dose vaccination coverage within days, having already surpassed 65 per cent.

“At this stage, the double dose at 70 per cent will give us more freedoms. We expect that to land somewhere during October,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“But the next big target I want us to achieve is that 70 per cent single-dose vaccination because then we will have confidence as to when we are going to (reach) that double dose.”

It comes as paramedics in NSW are becoming increasingly stretched by the state’s accumulation of COVID-19 infections, with demand equivalent to the “busiest New Year’s Eve”.

Read more: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2021/08/29/nsw-covid-ordeal-escalates/

Not a mention of magic... disappointing. I might need another hearing test.

* Tinnitus