Coroner’s court also investigating allegations doctor was asked to backdate man’s death certificate
A palliative care patient may have been alive when he was transferred to a Perth morgue, according to claims being investigated by the coroner’s court.
The court has confirmed it is investigating the allegations, first reported by Business News, which include claims a doctor was asked to backdate the man’s death certificate in an apparent attempt to cover up the incident.
Continue reading...Jacqueline Taylor tells court she was running desk alone with 96 patients on afternoon Aishwarya Aswath presented
A nurse who inspected Aishwarya Aswath at a Perth hospital has told an inquest into the girl’s death that her triage score was appropriate but says time constraints prevented a more thorough assessment.
Seven-year-old Aishwarya died of sepsis in April last year, hours after presenting to the Perth children’s hospital emergency department with a fever and unusually cold hands.
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Continue reading...Advocates call for immediate action following incidents including suicide attempts among incarcerated juveniles
There have been three suicide attempts by children transferred to an adult prison in Western Australia since mid-July, and 13 incidents of “minor self-harm”, prompting advocates to call for their immediate transfer and wider reform of the juvenile justice system.
Last month the WA government transferred 17 young people, some as young as 14, from Perth’s Banksia Hill juvenile detention centre to an adult jail at Casuarina after “escalating” disruptions from young people. The juveniles are being detained in a separate area from the adult prisoner population.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Northern NSW continues to be hammered by rain and Queensland’s south-east back on flood watch
Lismore residents are being warned they could be hit with more floods as rain continues in northern New South Wales.
The region has already endured repeated severe flooding in recent months and the Bureau of Meteorology said more could be on the way after rain over the weekend.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese arrives for speech; Scott Morrison to step down as leader after conceding defeat; ‘Liberal family suffered a terrible day,’ Peter Dutton says; Labor claims Reid; Zoe Daniel claims victory in Goldstein; Allegra Spender wins Wentworth from Dave Sharma. This blog is now closed
I’m a fairly big footy fan, but not sure how much all these analogies mean to the rest of voters (and I believe kicking into the wind can actually be an advantage in rugby union sometimes?)
On Weekend Today, Scott Morrison managed to turn a question about whether he has BBQ sauce on his democracy sausage into a stump speech about jobkeeper and co-funding the hospital system during the pandemic. We can’t fault him - those are more important issues than what he was asked.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese says meeting ‘about time’ as Scott Morrison says Australia reassured Solomons would not host military base
A meeting between Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, and her Solomons Islands counterpart for the first time since a security pact with China was signed overshadowed campaign announcements on Saturday.
On day 27 of the campaign, and just two weeks out from the federal election, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was campaigning in Perth, while the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was in Tasmania.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese and senior Labor members speak at ALP campaign launch in Perth; Scott Morrison speaks at Sydney rally; Coalition outlines e-safety plan; Greens announce LGBTQ+ equality plan; Victoria reports seven Covid deaths; NSW reports five; South Australia reports two. This blog is now closed
Simon Birmingham is pushed on what the Coalition will actually do on the cost of living but there isn’t a clear answer. See this exchange with Insiders host David Speers:
Q: So essentially to get wages going is to keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last nine years?
David, our plan is a comprehensive economic plan and in contrast to the Labor party. We have outlined clearly plans for … that jobs growth. Jobs growth fuelled by lower taxes and tax relief for Australians that continue to be implemented in terms of lower income taxes, support for more businesses.
David, it is a plan that we’ve outlined in quite a lot of detail, compared to ...
If you look at this year’s budget, small business, a particular focus in relation to investment in technology …
The approach we’ve taken is to fix a particular problem in the housing market and that was the fact that you had to save, of course, for your deposit, takes months and months, years and years, to get that 20% deposit to avoid having to pay mortgage insurance, that was meaning that people were having to pay rent at the same time as saving.
Continue reading...Opposition leader also vows to make gender equity an objective of the Fair Work Act if ALP wins federal election on 21 May
Labor has promised to reduce the cost of medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, roll out new charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and focus on improving pay equity for women if Anthony Albanese defeats Scott Morrison on 21 May.
The Labor leader used the party’s official election campaign launch in Perth on Sunday to unveil a promise to reduce the cost of drugs on the PBS by $12.50. Albanese told the party faithful gathered at Optus Stadium that meant the maximum price for medicines for millions of Australians would be $30.
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Continue reading...A member of the premier’s family contracted the virus earlier this week
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has tested positive to Covid while isolating at home with his family.
McGowan had initially returned a negative test after a family member contracted the virus earlier this week, rendering him a close contact.
Continue reading...After its wettest ever start to the year, Sydney is forecast to have a dry long weekend
It will be a sunny Easter weekend for most of Australia, with light showers scattered across the country predicted to ease as people enjoy the festive period.
After its wettest ever start to the year, Sydney is forecast to have a mostly sunny and dry long weekend.
Continue reading...PM abused and mocked in Edgeworth pub hours after man interrupts Anthony Albanese’s Perth press conference
Scott Morrison has been berated at length by a man angry about pensions and his government’s failure to legislate a federal integrity commission, during a visit to a pub in regional New South Wales.
The prime minister on Thursday shrugged off the exchange from the night before, saying he was “keen to understand” the man’s issues and that he enjoyed hearing from people in the community.
Continue reading...‘Australia is now finally back together’ as final jurisdiction welcomes vaccinated travellers
The arrivals hall at Perth airport was filled with joy and hugs when the first planes to take advantage of Western Australia’s border reopening landed on Thursday.
After spending almost 700 days behind a hard border during the coronavirus pandemic, the “hermit” state of WA has finally welcomed vaccinated travellers.
Continue reading...State had been due to open up to double-jabbed international and interstate travellers on 5 February
The reopening of Australia’s most isolated state has been suspended indefinitely to allow West Australians to get booster shots, as the more transmissible Omicron variant rips through the nation.
Just one month after promising that from 5 February double-vaccinated interstate and international travellers would be allowed to enter Western Australia without quarantine, the WA premier, Mark McGowan, has said that all entrants will need to self-isolate for 14 days, be triple-dose vaccinated and take tests.
Continue reading...Victoria reports 22,429 new Covid cases, six deaths and 1,229 people in hospital; NSW records 29,504 cases and 17 deaths, with 2,776 people in hospital; Scott Morrison discusses Novak Djokovic deportation; Australian surveillance flight to assess Tonga tsunami damage delayed; unions meet over workforce and supply chain shortages. Follow all the day’s news
Prime minister Scott Morrison has appeared on 2GB this morning, confirming Djokovic didn’t comply with entry requirements ... but that is not why his visa was cancelled.
Australia has very clear rules and Australians have been following those rules ... we apply our rules equally in this country and there was a very clear message sent – he wanted to come, he wasn’t vaccinated, well you’ve got to have a valid medical exemption and neither of those were in place. People make their own choices, and those choices meant you couldn’t come here and play tennis.
The idea someone could come and not follow those rules just was not on ... he was wrong, simple as that ... we didn’t give him an exemption, the federal government gave him no such exemption.
And that is that Mr Djokovic would be asked to leave, it is in the remit of the minister to do that, the judges reviewed the process and found the process the minister followed was legal. But to be quite frank, I am on the same page as Mr Djokovic. We’ll move on. And the things I will move on to are making sure to keep food on the shelves of supermarkets as ... people have been interested in the story, it’s been a ... soap opera. But now people are going to focus on the tennis, watch the tennis and also focus on looking after them and one of the big issues right now is making sure we keep food on the shelves at the grocery store.
Continue reading...Brisbane braces for a downpour, Darwin is on cyclone watch, Perth to endure 43C, and other capitals in for a warm and partly cloudy day
Most Australian capitals are in for a warm and partly cloudy Christmas with a chance of a shower in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Sydney was told to expect a maximum of 30C and a warm night with a minimum of 21C, while Melburnians would be able to enjoy a moderate high of 20C before temperatures dropped to 13C.
Continue reading...Bureau of Meteorology’s official prediction for 25 December includes good beach weather for Melbourne and Sydney
Christmas Day will bring warm weather and calm conditions for most Australians, but those in the north should brace for a potential storm, while temperatures are set to soar in the west.
The La Niña downpours of recent weeks are not expected to make an appearance on Christmas Day, with warm and potentially cloudy weather opening the door to outside festivities across most state capitals. The south-eastern cities will enjoy temperatures just shy of 30C, while Queenslanders should prepare for showers. Perth is set for a 40C scorcher and Darwin may be in for a storm.
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Continue reading...Perth police have called off search for Paul Millachip, 57, saying it is apparent that attack was fatal
The wife of a man who is believed to have been killed by sharks off Australia’s west coast has paid tribute to a “wonderful father” .
Paul Millachip, 57, who is understood to have been from the UK, was last seen in the water on Saturday by two teenagers who witnessed what they believed was a shark attack off Port Beach in North Fremantle, Perth.
Continue reading...Proposed law comes after 46,000-year-old rock shelters destroyed but traditional owners say it doesn’t do enough
Traditional owners and their supporters have marched on Western Australian parliament to demand the government halt its controversial new Aboriginal heritage bill, saying it favours mining and isn’t strong enough to stop another disaster like the destruction of Juukan Gorge.
More than a hundred people, many of whom traveled to Perth from the Kimberley and the Pilbara, protested on Thursday about “fundamental flaws” in the draft law, which they say still leaves control of Aboriginal heritage in the hands of mining companies.
Continue reading...New coronavirus cases in New South Wales include aged care worker and healthcare worker, while the NT records one new case
New South Wales recorded 24 new cases of Covid, including an aged care worker believed to be unvaccinated and a second healthcare worker, as the state’s coronavirus outbreak rose to 195.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, expressed concern that “around half” of the new cases on Thursday were out in the community while infectious and urged anyone with symptoms to get tested and isolate.
Continue reading...NSW is bracing for an escalation in local Covid cases as the state government prepares a support package for businesses. Follow latest updates
Okay, so originally we were going to hear from the Queensland leaders at 9am, but this has been pushed back to 11am.
It’s unclear if this is because any big announcements are expected, but it’s worth noting the daily numbers for the state haven’t been published yet, which is a little unsual.
I brought you some quotes earlier from chief medical officer Paul Kelly’s interview with ABC.
Here is a clip if you are keen to hear the words straight from the source!
"AstraZeneca was always available for anyone, in terms of the regulation, from TGA, for anyone over the age of 18. There's a preference for Pfizer until the age of 60."
Chief Medical Officer @PKelly_CBR speaking to @lisamillar after another change to the vaccine rollout. pic.twitter.com/j3YZ3CAVPb