If you think that means there can't or won't be a community case on day 100+ 1....or any other future days....I think you're kidding yourself.
As borders open up (and close again) and there's more people moving around it will happen - just a matter of where, and when and how contained the authorities decide they want to attempt to keep it.

The time will come where authorities will have to plant the flag and say "this is what is an acceptable of CV within the community and some people will get sick, that's life, grow a few!"
That time is yet far away.

I'm not because I strongly believe that because our idiot politicians have become more interested in open borders than protecting their citizens.

Friends on mine are considering running a book on when the next lockdown will come in NZ

At some stage borders have to reopen full time and some people will get sick - you can't keep living in fear, businesses can't function always waiting for the "next shutdown" which may be the one that wipes them out once and for all.
So I disagree somewhat as your tone implies living in fear is the default position for all time and it can't and mustn't be.

The Virgin boss pretty much said that.

Outrage was off the charts from the snowflakes of this land. #BoycottVirgin was trending immediately after.

How exactly will this country transition to having 1000s of cases a day in 2022. Which premier will be the first mover?

agree largely, except if we’re largely vaccinated we won’t have anywhere near 1000s of cases a day, Israel have been aroun 35 a day for weeks now. Pro rata would put us at about 80/day. And they were bringing the numbers down from a peak of a per capita equivalent of 12,000/day vs our essentially zero

Even at 80% Herd Immunity the likes of these super strains will still spread like wildfire. Israel is starting the upward trend as Delta has arrived. However nobody dies. Those not vaccinated will start choking the hospital systems.

Once we hit 80% we need to move on. The number will end up in the 90s fairly quickly as those not interested in getting the jab soon realise they will end up in ICU as case numbers are irrelevant to the large majority of the nation.

The only restriction I expect once we hit 80% is wear masks if you have a cold, in order not to pass the ‘cold’ onto family or colleagues.

However it remains to be seen how the States will start to render case numbers meaningless, and we can move on finally.

At some point the government needs to say "We believe everyone who wants a vaccine has now had the opportunity to get one and we are therefore reducing border restrictions. If you choose not to have a vaccine, we believe you may be putting yourself at serious risk but we assume you are fully aware of that and accept those risks." Realistically this is probably March next year because such an approach would require a full vaccination program for everyone 12 years and older.

Oh FFS COVID COVID COVID. Isn’t there enough threads about COVID??

My view of Jane Hrdlicka's comments was that the only thing she did wrong was to apologise. She should have just said "Well, maybe it offends some people but I was speaking my mind and there was no malice involved so get over it".

I'm all for being polite to people but this social media pile on has become a lot of white noise. It reminds me of people in my early work career who would do as little work as possible but spend every moment they could in the lunchroom scoffing coffee and pontificating about everything and preceding every sentence with "the next thing THEY will do will probably be...."

Like social media warriors, they add nothing and just try and impose their negativity and twisted opinions on each other.

It often reminds me of that Australian stand up comedian - Steve someone, can't remember his second name - but he did a skit on being 'offended'. He correctly observed that many parents go around saying "I was offended...." yet when their kids come to them and say "Mum/Dad, that other kid called me an idiot...." they respond with "Don't worry, he's a dick". He then hilariously says "Be offended. Nothing's going to happen. It's not like someone's going to be saying I went to the comedy festival and this comedian made fun of our Lord Jesus and I was OFFENDED, then, when I got up the next morning, I had leprosy".

There probably are enough stand alone threads about COVID, but COVID and VA are interconnected as far as Miss Jayne using (or abusing) COVID to access “extraordinary” provisions of the agreement in order to keep staff in a perpetual state of stand up, stand down. I imagine the bonus afforded to her will be eye watering as a result.

To be sure, to be sure!

Ms Jane was stating a fact, not expressing an opinion.

Gigi Foster, a respected economist and regular broadcaster on that well-know right wing ratbag outlet the ABC, stated the same fact and got the same outraged response.

All day, every day, a price is put on lives and decisions are made that it's not worth the cost of saving a life. (Decisions like not having a tower at Ballina.) The decisions are not expressed in those stark terms, but that's the substance of them.

The problem with the response to C-19 is that the politicians have abdicated their responsibility to the medical experts. You ask a medical expert how to mitigate the risk of the spread of C-19 and the consequential deaths and chronic side effects, they'll tell you. And that's their job.

What they aren't asked - because they couldn't tell you the answer - is: what is the cost of those mitigating actions? If we shut down Sydney or Melbourne or whatever, what is the cost in terms of reduced quality of life, curtailed liberties, mental illness, suicides, other medical consequences, lost business and economic downturn?

The pollies are supposed to take responsibility for the decision that the mitigating steps are 'worth' taking, not the medical experts. But even if the pollies 'stepped up' to their responsibilities, they can't make a sensible decision if the costs of the mitigating steps are unknown.

The pollies have been happy to abdicate their responsibilities to the medical experts because, up until recently, they've been 'rewarded' for all of the mitigating actions. For example, Western Australians seem to love being shut off from the rest of Australia and the world.

The economic numbers are great!

Well, in that case, we should just continue with random lock downs of cities and states and keep the international borders closed indefinitely, because it's 'good' for 'economy' (and the popularity of pollies).

But, there's a very very very big cost being paid. I could max out my credit card on a bunch of 'stuff' and curl up in a safe ball of wool in my MacMansion. Materially rich and safe.

But doomed.

And to bring it back to the original topic of this thread, wasn't that the financial operating model of Virgin 2.0 ?:}

Which we do not know.

I’m guessing a Chinese carrier with very deep pockets will buy Virgin when it’s for sale and QF group will become the underdog .
There will be no way to stop the sale as it’s already foreign owned .
I’m really disappointed at the money given to both Airlines , why doesn’t the government demands a share of equity in each at least for the future fund !

I would not be so sure about that.

Yeah sure, a great selling point for any airline at the moment would be ‘we’re Chinese’.

That's not a proper interpretation of the Treasurer's powers under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Impositions Act 2015 and their associated regulations. Airlines fall under the heading of 'sensitive businesses' which means that the Treasurer's approval is required for any transaction involving any foreign investor acquiring a 'substantial interest' (20 per cent or more) of any Australian-registered airline that is valued above $275 million.

Just because approval was given for a US-based company to acquire 100 per cent of a sensitive business that doesn't obviate the requirement for subsequent acquisitions to have to be approved.

FWIW, ex VA A332 -XFG departs MEL today destined for AUH and onward ports :(

Max.