Category Archives: Melbourne

Coronavirus Australia live update: regional Victoria restrictions easing but Melbourne lockdown remains; more NSW hotspots

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Talks continue between the state and the federal government on financial assistance as Melbourne faces second week in lockdown. Follow the latest news

Victoria’s press conference ends – we are just waiting for Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg now

Professor Allen Cheng is asked whether Victoria is just unlucky,or whether there are other factors that mean outbreaks spread further than in other states and says:

I think it is really difficult to know. We thankfully don’t have a huge sample size to say what might be different or not. I think there’s always an element of luck in this.

As I said before, if you have a person in the community with infection, it depends very much on who they are. And we certainly that it is 80% of people with COVID don’t transmit to anyone. 20% of them transmit at least to someone at a very small number transmit to a lot of people. So there is an element of luck to it.

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‘Critical’ lack of Covid vaccine supply in Melbourne forcing GPs to turn people away

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Undersupply so severe amid outbreak clinic forced to turn away residents of two care facilities

Melbourne GPs say they are being forced to turn away huge numbers of vaccine-seeking locals, including busloads of vulnerable residents from care facilities, because the commonwealth’s supply of doses has not increased to match the explosion in demand.

The latest outbreak has caused a huge increase in demand for the Covid-19 vaccine in Victoria, and the state is now recording daily vaccination numbers of above 20,000 in primary care, up from the roughly 2,300 doses administered on 24 May.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records three more Covid cases amid speculation over lockdown extension

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Minister Richard Colbeck comes under fire over aged care failures after outbreak in two Melbourne homes. Follow live updates

This has been an ongoing frustration for Mike Bowers and the visual reporters – some committees are throwing their weight around about where photographers and camera operators can stand to do their jobs – which means a lot of photos of the back of people’s heads.

The helpful people at the estimates Economic committee placed our photographic positions behind the heads of the Treasury Officials and Minister giving evidence, do I really have to explain again to members of the Aust senate why this will not work? #notTodayPlease @AmyRemeikis pic.twitter.com/ysRVbOttpy

Katy Gallagher asks Richard Colbeck who is responsible for vaccinating aged care staff.

Three minutes later, Colbeck says it is a “combined” program.

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Victoria takes aim at ‘disgraceful’ lack of federal financial support during lockdown

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James Merlino announces $250m support package for hard-hit businesses and says Canberra’s lack of help is beyond disappointing

Every Victorian business owner should be angry that the federal government rejected calls to provide additional financial support during the state’s fourth lockdown, the state’s acting premier says, as the cost to the economy was estimated to hit $700m.

The acting premier, James Merlino, announced a $250m package on Sunday that included grants of up to $3,500 for as many as 900,000 businesses and specific support for event organisers.

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Greg Hunt says record number of people vaccinated – as it happened

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Residents wake up to first day of week-long shutdown to contain growing number of cases. This blog is now closed

And we’re going to wrap the blog up for the evening. Here is what happened today:

Via AAP:

The Northern Territory’s chief health officer is in COVID-19 quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.

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Bad luck or bad management: why has Victoria had so many Covid outbreaks?

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Medical experts explain how much quarantine breaches, cold weather and pure chance contribute to the spread of coronavirus cases in Melbourne

Victoria has started its seven-day circuit-breaker lockdown – its fourth lockdown since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Other states have also imposed snap lockdowns or restrictions as a result of Covid cases in the community, most recently New South Wales, after a mystery case. But, with the exception of Sydney’s northern beaches cluster, most leaks from hotel quarantine have not resulted in sizeable outbreaks.

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Victoria enters seven-day Covid lockdown with masks mandatory, schools closed and travel banned

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Officials say a week-long lockdown is needed because the coronavirus variant is spreading faster than contact tracers can keep up with

Victoria is entering a seven-day lockdown as authorities work to contain a rapidly spreading Covid outbreak that the acting premier has warned is “running faster than we have ever recorded”.

The government hopes the restrictions – which start at midnight and include compulsory masks, school closures and a 5km travel limit for shopping and exercise – will act as a circuit-breaker after the state reported 11 new cases of the B1617.1 variant on Thursday taking the cluster to 26.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: no further Covid restrictions in Victoria but next 24 hours ‘critical’ as Melbourne cluster grows to 15 cases

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Hundreds urged to get tested after positive cases went to a Collingwood game at the MCG, a salon in Bendigo and more cafes in Melbourne inner-city suburbs

Meanwhile

Water minister Keith Pitt has introduced legislation to establish the office of the Inspector-General of water compliance.

(Its the job he gave to Troy Grant, and a lot like the job David Littleproud gave to Mick Keelty sans powers).

This is well worth a read

Related: Snowy Hydro chief executive tells inquiry he’s known owner of NSW gas plant site for 40 years

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Australia news live: passenger on India flight tests positive for coronavirus; Singapore next potential travel bubble

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One passenger onboard Saturday’s repatriation flight from India tests positive for Covid in Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin. Follow all the latest news live

• Call for medevac-style repatriation flights for Australians with Covid from India
• Stranded cricketers touch down in Sydney two weeks after IPL suspended
• Measures to support refinery industry could cost Australians $2bn over a decade

Health Minister Greg Hunt has stepped up to speak at a press conference in Somerville in Victoria, giving an update on the vaccination program.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier today expressed surprise at a legal loophole that allows students to bring knives into schools.

It comes after a 14-year-old boy at Glenwood High School in Sydney’s North West faces serious charges after allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old boy with a “religious knife.”

Students should not be allowed to take knives into school under any circumstances and I think it doesn’t pass the common sense test.

Even if they’re not using weapons, others might take them from them so I was very taken back when I learnt that.

Schools in NSW are among the safest places in the community, and Glenwood High School is one of those schools.

We are currently working with the department and community representatives to discuss how best to enable students to meet aspects of their religious faith and, at the same time, to ensure our school remains a safe place.

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Victorian treasurer takes swipe at ‘elitist’ men’s only clubs as budget lifts property taxes

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Tim Pallas announces plans to strip single-gender social clubs of land tax concessions traditionally afforded to charities

The Victorian government has taken a swipe at exclusive men’s only clubs, announcing plans to strip them of land tax concessions traditionally afforded to charities and social associations.

Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, is preparing to deliver the state’s 2021 budget next Thursday, and staring down an eye-watering bill from the devastating Covid-19 second wave. In order to raise revenue Pallas has announced new land tax measures, expected to bring in an extra $2.7bn over the next four years.

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Australian neo-Nazi Tom Sewell charged by counter-terrorism police

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Police say the arrests of Sewell and another man in Melbourne followed an investigation into an alleged armed robbery

Australian neo-Nazi Tom Sewell has been charged by police in Victoria over an alleged armed robbery earlier this month.

On Friday, counter-terrorism police arrested two men – 28-year-old Sewell and another 22-year-old – and executed search warrants in Eildon Parade in the Melbourne suburb of Rowville.

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Alleged Isis recruiter Mohamed Zuhbi arrested on return to Australia

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Sydney man charged with terrorism offences after he allegedly travelled to Turkey in 2013 and on to Syria, where police say he recruited foreign fighters for Isis

A 30-year-old Sydney man who is alleged to be an Islamic State recruiter has been arrested and charged with terrorism offences upon his return to Australia.

Mohamed Zuhbi arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Turkey about 4pm on Saturday and was taken into custody by counterterrorism authorities at the airport.

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Has Australia’s economy escaped the pandemic? – Australian Politics podcast

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This week, Katharine Murphy sits down with economics writers Shane Wright and Greg Jericho to discuss the Australian economy. With house prices soaring, stimulus payments being reduced and a budget on the way, what can people expect financially over the coming months?

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Australia news live: Scott Morrison says Brittany Higgins meeting ‘in process’; Victoria to make mRNA Covid vaccine

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State commits $50m to domestic manufacturing of cutting-edge vaccines; former Liberal staffer to ask Scott Morrison to fix ‘systemic coercive control’ in Parliament House. Follow live

That is where we will leave the blog for Wednesday. Thanks for following along. Here’s what made the news today:

The government has closed a loophole that would have allowed Australians to use New Zealand as a stepping stone to travelling to another country following the opening of the Trans Tasman travel bubble.

On Monday, health minister Greg Hunt amended the biosecurity legislation to specify that Australians could not go to any country other than New Zealand. Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not have an outbound travel ban.

Travellers should be aware that international travel to any other country, except New Zealand, continues to pose a significant risk to public health, and for that reason outgoing travel to other countries remains restricted.

“Australians considering travel outside of Australia or New Zealand are still required to apply for an exemption from the outgoing travel restrictions through ABF, and ensure they review the information available on Smartraveller relevant to their destination.”

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Daniel Andrews walking 18 minutes a day as he recovers from serious back injury

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Victorian premier says he’s making ‘steady progress’ after a ‘pretty painful’ few weeks

Daniel Andrews says he’s making steady progress in his recovery from a serious back injury and is now walking about 18 minutes a day.

Victoria’s premier suffered broken ribs and a fractured T7 vertebra after slipping on wet stairs at a holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula on 9 March.

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‘We want to deliver’: Covid vaccine delays hit vulnerable Melbourne tower residents

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Community health groups have nurses, GPs and locals ‘ready to go’, but a lack of deliveries has forced them to cancel vaccination clinics

For the past four months, in the towering Richmond housing estate of Melbourne, community health workers have been hard at work, preparing locals for the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine.

It’s a difficult but vital task. Many of the roughly 2,000 residents are vulnerable or elderly, use shared services and are densely packed into the estate’s five towers, creating a high-risk Covid-19 environment.

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Brittany Higgins addresses March 4 Justice rally as women demand action across Australia

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Former Liberal staffer and Grace Tame among those to address tens of thousands of protesters calling for an end to gender-based violence

Brittany Higgins’ voice shook as she addressed the crowd outside Parliament House in Canberra.

She had decided at the last minute to speak to more than a thousand people, mainly women, holding signs calling for justice for women, for sexual assault survivors and for Higgins herself, who has alleged she was raped by a colleague inside Parliament House.

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‘It’s a funeral march’: French artist JR’s powerful eulogy for Australia’s Murray-Darling

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Exclusive: The street artist’s latest work saw 60 people parade through Lake Cawndilla in NSW, holding aloft enormous portraits of local farmers and leaders as they fight to save Australia’s vital river system

The mood around Lake Cawndilla in western New South Wales on Saturday is funereal but defiant, as a procession of around 60 locals parade through scrub and sand around its banks.

They carry between them a series of 30m-long cloth figures: three local citrus farmers and prominent Baakandji artist William Badger Bates.

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Australia’s travel bubble with New Zealand to resume as Victoria records no new Covid cases

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Quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders entering Australia will restart from Sunday

Australia’s coronavirus travel bubble with New Zealand will recommence on Sunday, the Department of Health has announced.

In a statement issued on Saturday afternoon, the department said “green zone” flights from New Zealand could resume at 12.01am on Sunday, subject to some conditions.

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Australia’s international travel ban and arrivals cap investigated by audit office

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Australian National Audit Office launches inquiry into pandemic border policies, including biosecurity and the adequacy of assistance to those stranded overseas

Australia’s international border policies including the outbound travel ban and inbound arrival caps will be examined by the Australian National Audit Office.

After first proposing the audit in September, the ANAO quietly activated the inquiry in mid-January and has called for submissions on the management of the Australian border to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

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