Category Archives: Melbourne

Australia Covid live news update: NSW records 1,405 new cases; Berejiklian unveils roadmap out of lockdown; Victoria records 324 cases; ACT records 15

Posted on by

NSW freedoms come into effect the Monday after 70% over-16 vaccination is achieved; state confirms five more deaths; new case in Qld quarantine; 107 of Victoria’s new cases linked to known outbreaks – follow the latest updates live

An update on another story I did this week regarding those Craig Kelly text messages everyone has been getting.

We know that under the current legislative situation, there’s nothing preventing political parties like the United Australia Party from sending out those text messages, and people cannot unsubscribe from them.

The carriage of messages is generally a commercial matter for telecommunications providers, except in circumstances where there may be offences against the laws of the commonwealth or states or territories.

Both the Telecommunications Act 1997 and Spam Act 2003 contain provisions about implied freedom of political communications. These provisions set out that the acts or parts of them do not apply to the extent they would infringe on any constitutional doctrine of implied freedom of political communication.

There’s a press conference with the PM at 1.40pm AEST.

Continue reading...

Melbourne clinic offers ivermectin despite it not being approved as a Covid treatment

Posted on by

The clinic, which set up an online page to book $85 consultations for the drug, has been listed as a coronavirus exposure site

A medical clinic in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has been offering patients off-label prescriptions for the anti-parasite drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19, despite a lack of evidence for its use in treating the virus.

The clinic set up a dedicated online page to apply for a consultation to be prescribed the drug to treat Covid-19 on its website after receiving an “influx of ivermectin inquiries”.

Continue reading...

Victorian police monitoring ultra-Orthodox synagogue for alleged breach of Covid rules

Posted on by

Video footage recorded earlier in the day appears to show dozens of people entering the building, without wearing masks

Victoria Police are monitoring an ultra-Orthodox synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea as part of an investigation into an alleged breach of Covid public health orders.

Video footage recorded earlier in the day appears to show people entering without wearing masks.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: NSW hospitals brace for cases surge, Scott Morrison faces questions over Father’s Day travel exemption

Posted on by

Gladys Berejiklian under pressure over modelling showing state’s health system to be ‘overwhelmed’ by Covid cases; rapid antigen tests approved for use at home. Follow the latest updates live

The New South Wales government has set a target of zero extinctions of native wildlife in the state’s national parks estate, the first time an Australian government has set the goal.

The environment minister, Matt Kean, said the target, which will apply to all parklands in NSW, was a response to the continued decline of threatened plants and animals and Australia’s status as the country with the highest rate of mammal extinctions.

Related: Zero extinction target for NSW national parks welcomed by environment groups

And the Victorian Liberal’s deputy position is filled, with member for Caufield, David Southwick, scoring the gig.

New VICLib team: Guy and deputy David Southwick. #springst

Continue reading...

Calls for asylum seekers to be freed from detention after Melbourne guard tests positive for Covid

Posted on by

Jeroen Wiemar downplayed the potential for spread at the Broadmeadows facility but advocates fear serious outbreak

Asylum seeker advocates are calling for people held in immigration detention to be released into the community after Victorian health officials revealed a guard at a facility in Melbourne had tested positive for Covid-19.

Victoria’s Covid commander, Jeroen Wiemar, on Sunday confirmed at least one coronavirus case at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accomodation centre in Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Victoria to reveal roadmap out of Covid lockdown as regional NSW under pressure

Posted on by

Daniel Andrews due to unveil ‘modest’ changes to the state’s current lockdown a day after two women died from Covid. Follow the latest updates live

Anthony Albanese had a chat to Triple M Newcastle where he continued to hone Labor’s national plan message when it comes to the premiers:

Well, they all signed up for the national plan. The national plan, of course, provides for various protections to be continued to be available at 70% and 80%. No one wants restrictions. Restrictions affect people’s way of life and their capacity to get around and it hurts the economy. But to be fair to Queensland at the moment, South Australia also, I noticed Scott Morrison never talks about the Liberal states, South Australia and Tasmania and Queensland and Western Australia all have their borders closed to New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT at the moment. That’s a decision that is perfectly understandable. WA is getting the Grand Final in the AFL. Brisbane will get the Grand Final in the Rugby League. And it’s tough times, but these decisions have been made to keep their citizens safe.

If you are thinking that the Victorian numbers are usually out by now, you would be right.

There is a delay this morning (we usually get them around 8.30am) but in the past, when there has been more complicated data to reconcile, it has taken a little longer.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: Morrison announces Pfizer vaccine deal; ACT extends lockdown, three deaths and 1,164 cases in NSW, Victoria 76 cases

Posted on by

Singapore agrees to vaccine ‘dose swap’ with Australia; NSW confirms 1,164 cases and three deaths; lockdown extended to 17 September in ACT; Victoria records 76 new cases; AMA says vaccinations for healthcare staff must be mandatory. Follow the latest updates live

Andrew Leigh to Josh Frydenberg:

Gerry Harvey has now repaid $6 million in JobKeeper out of the $13 billion that went to companies with rising revenue. Gerry Harvey think it is money should be paid back. Why doesn’t the Treasurer?

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

My question as to the prime minister. Most economists expect the economic growth to slow in the June quarter and it is now going backwards in the September quarter. Why does the prime minister not take responsibility for the fact that Australia’s economic recovery was always hostage to his failures on vaccines and quarantine?

Australia is one of the few countries in the world that after the Covid-19 recession of last year saw our economy grow back to a level higher than it was before the pandemic started, and that is before Delta hit, and saw 1 million people, a million people get back into work.

That was the product of economic policies that not only provided significant, in fact unprecedented economic support, both to individuals who had lost hours and had been stood down, through jobkeeper but also through ... the many other measures that supported businesses to see their way through at a time. Particularly last year at the outset of Covid when the uncertainty was at such a level that it was like looking into an economic abyss. And so the certainty that was provided by the government that stepped in with the single largest economic intervention in Australia’s history. Gave businesses, gave families, gave individual employees the confidence to be able to get up the next day and see it through, and do it again, day after day, month after month.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: NSW reports record 1,218 cases and six deaths; Victoria extends lockdown after 92 infections

Posted on by

NSW allows small weddings despite rising case numbers; Victoria’s Delta cluster emerges in bayside Port Melbourne; ACT reports 13 new cases and New Zealand 83. Follow all the day’s news

For those in NSW, a new venue of concern has been released by NSW Health.

⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️

We have been notified of a number of new close and casual contact venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/3F7VnSkGk9

I’m just about to finish up for the day!

But before I leave you in the extremely capable hands of my colleague, Elias Visontay, let’s take a look back at today’s biggest headlines:

Continue reading...

Police say Melbourne anti-lockdown protest ‘most violent in nearly 20 years’

Posted on by

Saturday’s rally was the first time police used non-lethal weapons during a lockdown protest, with at least nine officers ending up in hospital

An anti-lockdown protest held in Melbourne on Saturday was one of the most violent the city has seen in 20 years, Victoria’s top police officer says.

Chief commissioner Shane Patton said his officers had no choice but to use non-lethal weapons to defend themselves from an angry mob that came armed and appeared intent on attacking them.

Continue reading...

Australia anti-lockdown rallies: protesters violently clash with police in Melbourne

Posted on by

Thousands march through streets of Melbourne and Brisbane, as police try to prevent Sydney rally

Anti-lockdown protesters clashed violently with police as thousands of unmasked people marched through the streets of Melbourne on Saturday.

Victoria police said they had made 218 arrests and that six officers were hospitalised during a series of altercations. Police said in a statement the majority of the estimated 4,000 demonstrators “came with violence in mind”.

Continue reading...

Victoria Covid update: Dan Andrews hints at more restrictions after 55 new Covid cases

Posted on by

Premier urges Melbourne residents to follow lockdown rules to the letter and warns Delta outbreak on the verge of ‘getting away from us’

Daniel Andrews has told Victorians he “cannot rule out” introducing more restrictions to curb the state’s coronavirus outbreak after a spike in positive cases that includes 12 in the regional city of Shepparton.

The premier warned that unless Melburnians follow the lockdown rules to the letter, next week’s case numbers “will be like Sydney”.

Continue reading...

Covid Australia live news update: NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; ACT records 22 and Victoria 24; New Zealand cluster rises to seven

Posted on by

NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; Victoria records 24 new local cases as CHO says outbreak disproportionately affecting children; New Zealand cluster rises to seven cases. Follow all the day’s news

A second South Australian MP has been referred to an official investigator over allegations of bullying, AAP reports.

Treasurer Rob Lucas says he has referred allegations against Labor MP Tony Piccolo to the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said just a moment ago that expanding access to the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds was something being worked through.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pushing for a plan.

Parents worried about the effect that lockdowns are having on their kids are now more concerned than ever that their children might catch Covid.

And right now, Mr Morrison doesn’t have a plan for our kids to access a vaccine when it’s safe to do so.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news: NSW to give update; Victoria records 24 cases; nation on edge as more than 13 million under lockdown

Posted on by

Victoria records 24 local cases as state wakes to tougher restrictions; NSW warned cases could hit 1,000 a day; ACT and parts of NT under lockdown. Follow all the day’s news

We are now just waiting for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to step up for the daily Covid-19 press conference where we learn the state’s daily numbers.

We are expecting that in about 10 minutes, so stay tuned.

Sydney radio station 2GB is reporting a staff member from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Syndey has tested positive to Covid-19 and may have been infectious while working.

A staff member at RPA Hospital in Sydney has tested positive to COVID-19. The worker was fully vaccinated but potentially infectious while working on August 10, 11, 12 + 13 in the nuclear medicine department. There has been no transmission to other staff or patients to date.

Continue reading...

Australia secures Pfizer doses from Poland as Victoria chases mystery cases – as it happened

Posted on by

12 Sydney LGAs to get half of the one million extra Pfizer doses secured from Poland; rapid antigen testing to be trialled in some Sydney aged care homes. This blog is now closed

We’ll leave it there for now. Here are today’s main developments:

Police are cracking down on large gatherings in breach of Victoria’s lockdown restrictions, reports AAP.

In the inner city, dozens congregated for a takeaway drink pub crawl event on the streets of Richmond on Saturday, while in Northcote about 200 people gathered for a street party.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: NSW confirms record 390 cases and two deaths; ACT reports two new cases, Victoria 15, Qld seven

Posted on by

Two new Covid cases in ACT; NSW records 390 cases, two deaths; Queensland records seven cases, Victoria records 15 new cases; son of Sydney man who travelled to Byron Bay also charged. Follow all the day’s news

Barr has acknowledged the long waiting times at testing sites throughout the state, and has asked people who have been contacted by ACT Health as close or casual contacts to come forward as priority for testing:

We will be expanding testing capacity, hours of operations and the number of people at each existing testing centre can manage in a day but yesterday was our all-time record number of tests. We expect today will be even busier and we have stood additional testing capacity.

So please, if you do not have symptoms and you are not an identified close contact, you do not need to be tested today. Please, stay-at-home. There will be an opportunity to be tested in the days ahead but the priority right now is to test those people who ACT health have contacted.

The ACT has recorded two new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to six. It has identified 1,862 close contacts and that number will grow.

There are more casual contacts. There were more than 2,000 tests yesterday and results have been received on about 1,330 of them.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: NSW on edge as cases spread in regions; Melbourne waits for news on lockdown

Posted on by

Melbourne faces the possibility of a lockdown extension as shopping centre workers ordered into quarantine; new cases emerge across regional NSW. Follow all the day’s news

Queensland LNP MP George Christensen has spoken to Sydney radio 2GB about being censured through a parliamentary motion yesterday.

The whole House, including the government, voted to support Labor’s motion disassociating the parliament with Christensen’s anti-lockdown and anti-public health measure comments yesterday (although Scott Morrison couldn’t bring himself to name or reference Christensen in his speech and just a hour or so later, cabinet minister Paul Fletcher declined five times on national TV to say he disagreed with Christensen’s views)

Happy Wednesday!

It’s not just hump day; we’re also halfway through the parliamentary sitting. At this stage, there’s a week break and then it’s back into it, but you have to wonder whether any of the east coast MPs will risk going home, given how quickly Covid is changing the landscape. Although, it doesn’t seem like anyone is missing the deputy prime minister, who has been in lockdown in Armidale, and apparently, unable to zoom in for the sitting (he has answered no questions in QT and offered no contributions to debate).

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: NSW records 262 new cases and Victoria 11; Cairns to enter snap lockdown

Posted on by

Victorian clinics to offer AstraZeneca to under 40s as state records 11 cases; Gladys Berejiklian says vaccine rollout ‘is a race’ as NSW records 262 cases and one death; Queensland records nine new cases, with lockdown to end for 11 LGAs today. Follow live

The new drive-through vaccination clinic will have capacity to administer 10,000 vaccines per week. That’s a conservative number, Bromley says, and may be limited by Pfizer supply.

She urges people to book ahead before turning up at the drive-through clinic.

To start it will be 10 cars at a time. Obviously this week all the processes will be reviewed and they’ll make it as big and as fast as efficient as possible. But we’ll start with 10 cars coming through.

Bromley says the rest of the state-run clinics will soon be allowed to deliver the AstraZeneca vaccine to under 40s. Only nine will be used initially, to test demand and the informed consent process.

So we’ll just do that initially, open up the nine hubs and the reason for that is, A, we want to see what the demand is. We want to know that we’re going to be able to manage that and we want to make sure that the process, because there is an additional process, as Brett sort of talked through, for these individuals coming through, they will go through a slightly more rigorous consent process. We want to make sure we got the systems and the workforce all set up perfectly so it’s running smoothly and so it doesn’t impact on the overall efficiency of the system.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: some children aged 12 to 15 eligible for vaccine; NSW confirms 207 cases and 15th death; Qld records 13 cases and extends lockdown

Posted on by

NSW records 15th death; Queensland announces business support package as it extends lockdown in 11 LGAs until Sunday; South Australia restrictions eased; Victoria records two local cases; 300 ADF troops start patrolling in Sydney. Follow latest updates

David Gillespie has been seen in the parliament – so Christian Porter has been chosen to be the acting leader of the house, ahead of Gillespie who is the deputy leader of the house.

Barnaby Joyce will be holding a press conference in 15 minutes to talk extended support for the aviation industry.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: 2 million in western Sydney face tougher lockdown as some construction resumes

Posted on by

Residents of eight local government areas banned from leaving hotspots unless they are essential workers; tradespeople now allowed into clients’ homes. Follow all the day’s news

Oooh, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking early this morning. I wonder if we will get the Covid-19 update at this event or if we will have to wait for the CHO to step up later in the day:

Daniel Andrews is speaking at from 9.45am at a level crossing removal.

NSW is lagging behind many other states and territories when it comes to vaccinating its elderly population, with fewer than 40% of over-70s fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

New data released by the federal government on Wednesday provides a state breakdown of national vaccination numbers for the first time. The figures reveal that of the almost 1 million people over 70 in NSW, 77% have received a first vaccine dose and 39% have received a second.

Related: Just 39% of NSW residents over 70 are fully vaccinated against Covid, despite push for jabs

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: Victoria premier Dan Andrews eases lockdown after 10 new cases; Gladys Berejiklian confirms 172 local cases in NSW

Posted on by

SA to exit lockdown at midnight; NSW records 172 local Covid-19 cases overnight; Victoria lockdown to ease from midnight after state records 10 cases; Queensland records no new cases overnight. Follow all the day’s news

NSW press conference:

Inevitable Berejiklian is now being grill over Victoria’s sucsess which many are viewing as proof that NSW’s lockdown was too little, too late.

Victoria is now coming out of lockdown. Have they now shown us up? Should we have gone down harder and faster? They’ve done two weeks, we’re here in week five, and with no sign of things slowing down.

Oh look, I think it’s important to note that every state has had its own course during the pandemic.

Victoria is emerging out of its fifth lockdown, and I appreciate appreciate people want to make comparisons, but it’s also important to note that every state has had its own course. Every state has its own history of how they’re built with the pandemic.

Melbourne: schools, restaurants and bars open.
Sydney: 172 cases. Highest case number since the borders were shut and edging towards the 200 record.

Continue reading...