Category Archives: New South Wales

Australia live news update: WA to ease hard border from 5 February; $1bn defence deal signed with South Korea

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Mark McGowan announces reopening plan after WA hits 80% fully vaccinated; PM confirms international borders to reopen Wednesday for some visa holders; defence deal inked as Korean leader visits; Greg Hunt says telehealth to be made permanent; Victoria records 1,290 new Covid cases and two deaths; NSW records 536 new cases and no deaths; NT to ramp up Covid rules for some communities after 17 new cases; Queensland records one new local case, with 13 reported in SA. Follow all the day’s developments

Time to chat about next year’s election, and the battle the treasurer is facing from an independent in his home seat.

Michael Rowland:

You are now facing, as we know, Monique Ryan in the seat of Kooyong. She’s a Royal Children’s hospital doctor. You’ve labelled people like she, an independent, as a front for Labor and the Greens. What evidence do you have for that?

Well, at the last election, I had an independent who said they were gonna vote for Labor. That’s a pretty clear indication. We’ve also seen plenty of cases where they’ve just mirrored the policies of our political opponents.

But what evidence do we have at this time?

This is a rinse-and-repeat, Michael. What we’ve seen, we’ve seen obviously a lot of funding going into these independents around the rest of the country, and it’s a democracy, so people can put their hand up.

Just on Omicron, you might have caught up with the news just in the last hour or so, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, made an address to the nation there. He’s declared a tidal wave of Omicron case is about to hit the UK.

He’s declared it a public health emergency, and has declared that all British adults over the age of 16 can get a booster shot by the end of the year. Taking that into account, are we being a bit too sanguine about Omicron here in Australia?

We saw the medical advice, and that saw a pause for two weeks of the reopening of the border to international students and to skilled workers.

That was a precautionary measure. But we will continue to listen and follow the health advice, and it has served us well to date.

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Omicron patient hospitalised in NSW as Queensland prepares for thousands of cars to cross border

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Covid vaccine booster shots also fast-tracked on day of large protests in capital cities to oppose mandates

A person in New South Wales has been admitted to hospital infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the first Omicron patient to be hospitalised since it arrived in Australia last month.

It comes as thousands of protesters marched through capital cities on Sunday to oppose vaccine mandates, and Western Australia and Queensland prepared to reopen their borders.

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Australia news live updates: Gladys Berejiklian rules out federal tilt; second woman killed in Queensland floods

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Former NSW premier confirms she won’t run in federal election; second Queensland woman found dead in floodwaters. Follow all the day’s developments

By the way, we are expecting to hear from Scott Morrison pretty soon about the recently Atagi approvals for children’s vaccinations.

Berejiklian:

Well, I promised when the PM and others contacted me and urged me to give it consideration. I promised them and I did for a very short period of time and then obviously let them know that it’s not something I want to pursue and it is just a different direction.

I want my life to change.

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Bondi backpackers hostel Noah’s locked down due to Covid scare as NSW reports 420 cases

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NSW police confirm health department requested assistance at Sydney venue

A Bondi Beach backpackers hostel in Sydney has been placed into lockdown for a second time due to fears of a Covid outbreak.

It is not yet known how many people were staying at Noah’s backpackers hostel or whether the Omicron strain of the virus was present.

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Tennis Australia denies seeking loopholes for unvaccinated players as Novak Djokovic included in draw

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Australian Open organisers say ‘all players, participants and staff’ must be vaccinated as Djokovic, who has not revealed his vaccination status, is included in tournament draw

Tennis Australia has hit back at suggestions it is seeking to exploit a “loophole” in border entry rules so unvaccinated players can compete in the upcoming Australian Open, as it included Novak Djokovic in the draw for the January grand slam.

Djokovic’s inclusion in the tournament draw, which was released on Wednesday afternoon, followed intense speculation about the world No 1’s ability to enter the country.

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Australia live news update: NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law

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David Littleproud says ‘conversations are happening’ about Olympics boycott; NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; three new Omicron cases detected in ACT, six Covid-19 infections overall; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law; ; Victoria records 1,185 cases and seven deaths; NSW records 260 cases and two deaths – follow all the day’s news

A suspected shark attack on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula has left two teens in hospital and shut a beach, reports Callum Godde from AAP.

Emergency services were called to Ocean Grove, south east of Geelong, just after 7pm on Monday.

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Qld border to reopen 13 December, Palaszczuk says; SA premier advised to close border with NSW over Omicron – As it happened

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Annastacia Palaszczuk brings forward Qld border reopening; Steven Marshall ‘very concerned’ by Omicron as SA records four Covid cases; Perth stripped of Ashes series finale; Victoria records 1,073 new cases and six deaths, NSW records 208 cases, ACT six; Katherine lockdown extended as NT records one case; Australia could be renewables ‘superpower’ but has wasted time, Chris Bowen says.

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A New South Wales government plan to control feral horses in Kosciuszko national park will allow horses to remain in the only known habitat of one of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes and risks pushing the species closer to extinction.

Conservationists say allowing horses to continue to roam around some sections of the park will put vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems at risk.

There are lot of reasons even though they don’t get as sick as adults, they have a pretty strong role in spreading it back to family members and of course that can include parents and also, of greater concern, the grandparents. The older you are, the impacts of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater.

The other reason is just so kids can do what kids are meant to do – go to school, play with their friends, do sport, do exercise, do social things.

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Scott Morrison repeats that Australians have ‘had a gutful of governments in their lives’; Peter Cundall dies at 94 – As it happened

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Gardening legend Peter Cundall dies aged 94 as PM repeats that Australians have had a ‘gutful of governments in their lives’. This blog is now closed

Hunt is asked whether states, like Queensland, will hold off opening state borders until at least 80% of kids aged five to 11 are vaccinated given today’s announcement.

Hunt:

There is no reason for that. The Doherty modelling was set out very clearly on the 80% rates for double dosed across the country for 16 plus, and what we have seen now is that in terms of the 12 to 15-year-olds, we have now had an extra 1.8 million vaccinations over and above the Doherty modelling. The Doherty modelling was based on an 80% national rate for double dosed and didn’t include 12 to 15-year-olds.

A bit over a fifth of all cases of Covid are actually in the under 12s. Indeed, some of the early data with Omicron suggests it may actually be higher for the Omicron variant ... While most kids to get fairly mild infection and only a limited number end up in ICU, is great, there are bigger impacts.

Unfortunately about one in 3,000 of the kids who get Covid actually end up with this funny immunological condition called multi-system inflammatory condition. Those kids can end up being very sick for months. It is not the same as long Covid but it has some things in common, and it has a whole range of symptoms where the kid is just not well. That is one of the things we are protecting against by vaccinating children...

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Fair Work Commission rules BHP vaccine mandate unlawful due to lack of consultation

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About 50 workers at the Mt Arthur coalmine had been stood down without pay over the mandate

The Fair Work Commission has ruled a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur coalmine was unlawful because the company did not consult adequately with its workers.

Approximately 50 mine workers were stood down without pay last month after they were told they would be required to have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to enter the work site after 9 November, and that they would need to be fully vaccinated by 31 January next year.

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In Australia’s wet weather ‘tis the season for spiders, mozzies, mice and mould

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La Niña brings more than just rain to eastern states, as some unwanted visitors begin venturing into people’s homes

A surge in mosquitoes, spiders, termites, rodents – and mould – has hit eastern Australia, in what appears to be a fitting end to 2021.

The wet weather caused by the latest La Niña event has helped flush out creatures that may typically burrow or live underground into the open and inside people’s homes.

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Cornflakes, fruit cups and drinking: life stuck in a locked-off Byron hostel

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Anxiety and desperation are setting in for 84 people forced to isolate inside Aquarius Backpackers because of a Covid case

Day three of lockdown at the Aquarius Backpackers, and all Nina D’Angelo craves is a decent coffee.

“I saw a cop drinking one and asked, ‘sir, could I have an almond latte please?’ But really it’s the lack of information that’s getting to me,” she said from her hostel dorm.

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Australia politics live news: Coalition and Labor test new Speaker’s limits in question time; NT records 11 new Covid cases

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Lorraine Finlay also says she doesn’t believe her past political aspirations with the Liberal party will impact her job.

Certainly my past political involvement doesn’t qualify me for the role, but it also isn’t a disqualification from the role.

Now the human rights commission is an independent, apolitical statutory agency. And as the human rights commissioner, let me be very clear, I am not a politician. It is not a political role. And I fully intend to operate within the established framework of the commission.

What I can say is my personal views, haven’t changed, but my role has, and I’m very aware that as human rights commissioner I do need to take a broader perspective and there are a variety of views and opinions that need to be taken into account.

So again, I don’t see this role as my personal soapbox. I’m not a politician by default, I am here to do a very specific job. And I intend to operate very squarely within the framework of the commission to perform these duties.

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The pandemic in 60 seconds: animated maps show how Covid-19 spread across NSW and Victoria

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Using an experimental mapping method, the outbreak of Covid-19 across the two states can be plotted from the start of the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic in Australia has caused almost 2,000 deaths and resulted in close to 200,000 cases.

In the worst-hit states of New South Wales and Victoria, high vaccination rates have now reduced the rate of hospital admissions.

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Australia politics live update: Morrison confirms special visa holders can enter; hundreds leave NT public service over vaccine mandate

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International border changes announced; hundreds leave NT public service over vaccine mandate; Katherine lockdown extended; question time begins in Canberra; Labor and Coalition scrap over PM’s response to protesters’ threats; Victoria records 1,029 Covid cases, three deaths; 180 new cases, one death in NSW. Follow all the day’s news live

Simon Birmingham may be trying to walk back the “both sides” of the so-called freedom protests, which included threats of violence and death against sitting state MPs, but Barnaby Joyce is holding the line. There is a lot of work being done by a small group of people to make sure those protesting aren’t all labelled as “mad”. This is despite that same group of people usually condemning peaceful protests from the left.

Here is Joyce on the Seven network this morning:

There’s not there’s not a person in this building, not any one, I hope exists that says that threatening a person’s life, building gallows, doing all that kind of total garbage is something that is just … we don’t want it.

OK. So, no one is suggesting for one second, we do that. And it’s outrageous.

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Australia news live updates: NSW and Victoria close in on vaccination milestones; NT communities in lockdown after nine new Covid cases

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Almost 90% of Victoria has had first dose of Covid vaccine as state records 1,275 new cases and four deaths; NSW records 176 cases and two deaths as state nears 95% first vaccination dose milestone; two more NT communities in lockdown after nine new cases on Saturday; 16 Covid cases in ACT; thunderstorm warning for south-west WA and severe weather warnings in place across NSW – follow all the day’s news

Speers has asked Chalmers about the anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protestors that took place in Victoria yesterday.

Do you accept that there are some people concerned about vaccine mandates who aren’t necessarily extremists?

You can express a view in this country without dragging around gallows and noose and calling for premiers to be hanged. I condemn without reservation, without qualification, the violent threats being made here, even if the prime minister won’t.

We live in a society, and that means we have obligations to each other to try to tame this virus, to look out for each other, to protect each other, to try to keep each other safe and what the prime minister is trying to do is trying to divide us, trying to diminish that collective effort and undermine all of the good and all of the progress that Australians have made together. He does that with this dangerous dog whistling double-speak that we see from him. He does it by claiming credit for high vaccination rates without taking responsibility for the measures that are necessary to get those rates up.

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‘I can’t see any positives’: return of cruise ships may bring a storm of protest to regional Australian ports

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Post-Covid cruising industry wants picturesque towns on its itineraries, while locals fear the pollution and damage the ships can bring

As a teenager, Dylan Boag couldn’t wait to move to the city, but when he finally arrived, all he could think about was getting back home to the pristine waters of Jervis Bay, 200km south of Sydney.

Today the 30-year-old runs an eco-tourism company in the 102sq km-bay with his partner, Lara Hindmarsh.

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Victoria protests escalate as child under 10 among new deaths – as it happened

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NSW reports 182 cases and ACT 14; anti-fascist activists vow to counter ‘freedom rallies’ they claim have been infiltrated by far-right groups. This blog is now closed

Asked about whether we can expect to see the introduction of a legislation for a federal anti-corruption commission in parliament in the next couple of weeks, Tim Wilson says it’s important that they “get the legislation right”:

Because what we’ve had too often is proposals which are designed to establish, kind of, kangaroo courts, and actually would do more to breed distrust in the political conversation. We’ve seen that particularly in the consequence of what’s happening in Icac in New South Wales.

We want a process that’s based around integrity, that’s been consulted with the Australian community, and is actually going to do the job we need it to do, which is actually to breed trust and strength in the political system, not simply to create show trials, as I’ve seen it many times.

I think this is pretty simple. You’ve got a group of people marching down the street with a life-sized execution device. You’ve got people threatening to kill the premier of Victoria. If you’re any sort of leader, you just condemn that, full stop. You don’t go on and then say, ‘But I understand why people are frustrated.’

I think it is legitimate to point out that Scott Morrison has pulled the sheet out of the Trump handbook here. Lie, deny, blame other people, never take responsibility for anything, try and divide the community, pander to the extreme right – this is Trump without the toupee. And, seriously, I think the Australian people deserve better than that.

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Political leaders condemn alleged attack on MP’s daughter – as it happened

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PM comments after Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick says daughter attacked; Indian PM repeals controversial agricultural laws; rapid antigen Covid testing for NSW primary schools; Victoria records 1,273 new cases and eight deaths; NSW records 216 new cases and three deaths; rain set to hamper search for remains of William Tyrrell. This blog is now closed

OK, jumping back to South Australia where opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has condemned the premier’s decision not to dismiss his deputy premier and attorney general Vicky Chapman after the parliament passed a vote of no confidence against her.

Malinauskas told ABC News Breakfast that this was “a truly extraordinary state of affairs, if not a constitutional crisis”.

It’s an incredibly unfortunate state of affairs in South Australia where premier Steven Marshall has decided to almost literally tear up the rulebook of convention that’s been established over hundreds of years of the Westminster system of government and ignore the parliament’s will [for him to] ask Vickie Chapman to resign her position at deputy premier.

There’s been a motion of no confidence passed in the deputy premier. This is unprecedented. Everybody seems to be putting their fingers in their ears and pretending nothing has happened, particularly the premier himself.

What I accept and what I’ve always defended and been a very strong supporter of is people’s right to protest. But if it’s not peaceful, it’s not protest and it’s something very different.

We have seen extremists, rabid anti-vaxxer and others making all sorts of threats, threats against me, my wife and my kids. That is not my focus, this is about every family’s safety and that’s why we have to work together and that’s what Victorians have done.

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Australia news live blog: Barnaby Joyce dismisses Cop26 ‘talkfest’; snap lockdown for Katherine in NT; Qld eases Covid border rules

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Barnaby Joyce says Coalition has done a ‘great job’ on climate policy; Changes to South Australia quarantine and border restrictions; fully vaccinated travellers can apply for Qld border passes from 5pm; Victoria records 860 new local Covid cases and five deaths; NSW records 165 cases and one death. Follow live updates

Cop26 failed in a bid to phase out coal, news that had its president Alok Sharma close to tears. But not everyone’s disappointed – nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared it a great win for Australia’s mining industry.

He told the Nine Network:

Given the fact that the agreement did not say that coal needs to be phased down or taken out, it is a big green light for us to build more coalmines.

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‘It sucks’: how parts of NSW’s northern rivers reluctantly got vaccinated

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The drive to get the population vaccinated is gathering momentum despite the issue dividing families and straining friendships

It’s fair to say the people in the northern rivers of New South Wales generally do not like being told what to do by the government.

In a region with a free-thinking, anti-authoritarian reputation, and a long history of anti-vaccination sentiment, the requirement to get the Covid jab for work or leisure purposes was never going to find a warm welcome.

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