Category Archives: New South Wales

Australia Covid news live update: NSW records 863 cases, 15 deaths; Victoria records 950 cases, seven deaths; one case in Qld

Posted on by

Worksafe has just issued a statement about charges against the Victorian health department over its hotel quarantine system.

WorkSafe alleges that the Department of Health breached OHS laws by failing to appoint people with infection prevention and control (IPC) expertise to be stationed at hotels it was utilising for the program.

It alleges the department failed to provide security guards with face-to-face infection prevention control training by a person with expertise in IPC prior to them commencing work, and either failed, or initially failed, to provide written instruction for the use of PPE.

Thanks Nino Bucci. Continuing on at the National Press Club, when asked about the implications of Australia’s withdrawal from its deal with France, Turnbull has some strong words:

What seems to have been overlooked is that one of our national security assets is trust, trustworthiness… This is an appalling episode in Australia’s international affairs and the consequences of it will endure to our disadvantage for a very long time.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: NSW outlines reopening plan as state records 787 cases, 12 deaths; Victoria 705 cases, one death

Posted on by

ACT eases some restrictions after recording 19 cases, one death; Gladys Berejiklian announces 11 October as day NSW restrictions ease after state records 787 cases and 12 deaths; Victoria records one death and 705 cases; no new cases in Qld; NT continues with reopening plans; 12 new cases in NZ. Follow all the day’s news

A...scamdemic? AAP reports that a record amount has been scammed from Australians this year.

Australians have lost a record $211m to scams so far this year, with people bombarded by bogus calls and texts purportedly from well-known businesses or the government.

The losses between 1 January and 19 September this year have surpassed the $175.6m reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch throughout 2020.

The prestigious Melbourne University joins several other tertiary institutions in announcing mandatory vaccination policies.

The University of Melbourne will make having a COVID-19 vaccine a compulsory requirement for attending any of its campuses. Exemptions to apply on medical or eligibility grounds. #springst @UniMelb

Continue reading...

Over 50% of Australians over 16 are fully vaccinated; Berejiklian reopening plans coming ‘next week’ – as it happened

Posted on by

All the day’s news, as it happened. This blog has now closed

Enjoy your evening, all, and thanks for having me! Here’s just a taste of what we learned today:

In case you missed this earlier (I did) please enjoy this piece by Arwa Mahdawi on cancel culture, critical race theory and ... sexy seahorses.

It’s very easy to laugh at a bunch of rightwing moms clutching their pearls over sexy seahorses – but there’s nothing funny about the systemic, organised way in which conservatives are trying to rewrite history and restrict freedom of speech.

Related: Laugh at the outrage over ‘sexy seahorses’ – but there’s nothing funny about conservatives trying to rewrite history | Arwa Mahdawi

Continue reading...

NSW frontline medical staff gagged as health system braces for Covid peak

Posted on by

NSW Health and hospital codes of conduct restrict staff from speaking to media, leading to scarce insight into their experiences

As New South Wales hospitals brace for the peak in admissions and overwhelmed intensive care units next month, the voices of those on the frontline are strangely muted.

Often it is family members, union representatives, professional bodies and patients who are providing a window into what life is like for frontline staff in NSW hospitals.

Continue reading...

Is there a link between motor neurone disease and blue-green algae? NSW expert calls for closer look

Posted on by

A neurology professor wants MND to be listed as a notifiable disease to help investigate suspected environmental links

A top neurologist has called on the New South Wales government to list motor neurone disease (MND) as a notifiable disease amid suspicions a cluster of diagnoses in the state could be linked to something in the environment.

Prof Dominic Rowe, a neurologist at Macquarie University, has treated 889 MND patients – many from the NSW irrigation town of Griffith – in the past decade.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: new offshore processing agreement with Nauru; NSW confirms 11 deaths, Victoria one; police await fifth day of Melbourne protests

Posted on by

The Associated Press is reporting an Australian economist who was arrested when Myanmar’s military seized power in February made an appearance Thursday in a court in the capital Naypyitaw, where he will be tried for violation of the official secrets law, his lawyer said.

Sean Turnell had been serving as an advisor to the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was also arrested when her elected government was ousted by the army. Suu Kyi and three of her former Cabinet ministers have also been charged under the law.

Shadow energy minister Chris Bowen gave a blistering doorstop press conference earlier, blasting the Coalition’s climate and energy policy shift.

It comes as federal treasurer, Josh Frydenbrg is due to tell business leaders later today that the government needs to shift towards adopting a net zero commitment.

Josh Frydenberg personally intervened to try and get the chief executive of AGL sacked because he dared to invest in renewable energy. When he was energy minister, he wouldn’t commit to net zero by 2050. He was the architect of the failed National Energy Guarantee.

Yet, now in some sort of bizarre positioning, internally in the Liberal party, he thinks he can be the champion of net zero. Well, he’s got net zero credibility. Josh Frydenberg has net zero credibility when it comes to climate change. He has too often had the chance to act and too often failed.

Continue reading...

Retirement village owner uses squatters’ rights in court bid to claim Sydney property

Posted on by

Australian Retirement Holdings launched legal action in a bid to stop a woman taking possession of her deceased grandparents’ land

The operator of a private retirement village attempted to stop a woman taking possession of her deceased grandparents’ land on the fringes of Sydney, claiming it as their own using squatters’ rights.

Australian Retirement Holdings were using the block of land, owned by Monica Pritchard and her husband, Arthur Pritchard, until their deaths in 1990, as part of construction of a multimillion-dollar development past Campbelltown in south-western Sydney.

Continue reading...

Koala joey back in wild after attack on mother by randy male

Posted on by

A koala joey who fell from a tree while his mother was being harassed during the breeding season has recovered, and is back in the wild with her

A koala joey injured after falling from a tree as an amorous male koala aggressively pursued its mother has made a full recovery and is back in the wild.

The seven-month-old joey was found on the ground at a property in northern New South Wales.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: Victoria records 507 new cases and one death ahead of reopening roadmap release; pools to open across Sydney

Posted on by

Premier Dan Andrews is to release Victoria’s roadmap out of lockdown a day after protests in Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane. Follow updates live

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is holding a press conference in Brisbane. The state has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the community or in hotel quarantine.

Palaszczuk is urging people to get vaccinated after the state controversially made the Pfizer vaccine available to over 60s. She’s urging people to attend walk-in Pfizer clinics.

This is an interesting piece on the people for whom the end of Covid restrictions sparks fear rather than joy.

Racquel Sherry, 49 and based in Sydney, is immunocompromised and afraid.

In the roadmap to freedom, I hear nothing about people like me, other than as a qualifying postscript to the Covid deaths: ‘But they had an underlying health condition’.

Freedom day doesn’t include me.

Related: ‘Freedom day doesn’t include me’: for some, the end of lockdown will be a time of fear

Continue reading...

‘Freedom day doesn’t include me’: for some, the end of lockdown will be a time of fear

Posted on by

Those most at risk from Covid say the easing of restrictions when vaccination targets are met will bring anxiety and danger

“In the roadmap to freedom, I hear nothing about people like me, other than as a qualifying postscript to the Covid deaths: ‘But they had an underlying health condition’,” says Racquel Sherry.

“Freedom day doesn’t include me.”

Continue reading...

‘Like nothing in my lifetime’: researchers race to unravel the mystery of Australia’s dying frogs

Posted on by

After asking for public help with their investigations, scientists have received thousands of reports and specimens of dead, shrivelled frogs

In the middle of Sydney’s lockdown, scientist Jodi Rowley has been retrieving frozen dead frogs from her doorstep.

Occasionally one will arrive dried and shrivelled up in the post.

Continue reading...

Melbourne and Sydney anti-lockdown protests: violent clashes as police arrest demonstrators

Posted on by

Police deploy pepper spray and dodge projectiles as protests held in Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane

Victoria police arrested 235 protesters and three officers remained in hospital on Saturday evening following violent anti-lockdown demonstrations in Melbourne’s inner city.

As the state recorded 535 new cases and one death, around 1,000 protesters gathered in the north-eastern suburbs of Richmond and Hawthorn, forced to make a last-minute change of location after 2,000 police officers formed a “ring of steel” around the Melbourne CBD.

Continue reading...

NSW Covid update: state to trial seven-day home quarantine for international arrivals

Posted on by

Tourism minister announces pilot scheme as NSW records 1,284 new Covid cases and 12 deaths

New South Wales will introduce a home quarantine “pilot” for international arrivals as part of a plan to begin opening international borders even as parts of the state returned to lockdown.

The pilot, which will be run as a partnership between the NSW government and the commonwealth, will trial a seven-day home quarantine program for about 175 fully vaccinated people.

Continue reading...

‘Despicable’: Sydney police stop Muslim mourners from watching funerals from cars

Posted on by

NSW police say people were in breach of public health orders as four men arrested at Rookwood cemetery

In Islam, it is essential that the dead are buried as soon as possible. The body is washed, prayed over, taken to the cemetery and buried, with some small prayer or invocation said by the grave.

It is usually a quick process, sometimes drawn out by lingering family, but one that can be shortened in times of difficulty, such as in a pandemic.

Continue reading...

NSW Covid-19 update: 1,259 cases and 12 deaths with curfew lifted for Sydney LGAs of concern – video

Posted on by

NSW has marked its most deadly day so far during the Delta outbreak with 12 Covid-19 deaths however the case numbers have continued to stabilise with 1,259 cases, 'We’ve seen a stabilisation in the last few days and we don’t want to see that trend go the wrong way', said premier Gladys Berejiklian. The state also hit its 80% target of over 16-years-olds receiving their first dose of Covid vaccine which has meant NSW Health has lifted the curfew in the Sydney LGAs of concern. Berejiklian also reinforced her message that any further easing of restrictions in the future will only be available to those fully vaccinated saying 'there is no grey area. It's very black and white'

► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Continue reading...

Australia Covid updates live: NSW due to hit single dose target; Singapore Airlines cancelling dozens of international flights

Posted on by

Wednesday: NSW is on track to hit its 80% single dose vaccinations today, while Victoria is heading towards 70% by the end of the week – follow updates live

Hmmmmm it’s 8.56am and no Victorian Covid-19 numbers yet. Not happy Jan.

Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg says businesses should be free to deny entry to people based on vaccination status.

He spoke with Nine Network a short time ago:

They control their premises. If they want to stop someone coming in based on the fact they’re not vaccinated then that is their right to do so.

Not only are they protecting their customers but they’re also making for a safer workplace for their staff. We’ve been very consistent on that.

Continue reading...

NSW Covid lockdown restrictions: update to Sydney, regional NSW and Canberra, ACT coronavirus rules explained

Posted on by

Gladys Berejiklian has revealed a roadmap out of lockdown for the state, and an easing of restrictions for some parts of regional NSW. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in NSW and the ACT

The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has revealed a roadmap out of lockdown for the state, and an easing of restrictions for some parts of regional NSW.

From Saturday 11 September, parts of regional NSW that had seen zero Covid cases for at least 14 days emerged from lockdown. One of those areas, Yass Valley Council, was plunged back into a two-week lockdown from Tuesday 14 September after a new Covid case was detected.

Continue reading...

Morning mail: calls to extend aged care vaccination, Covid inequities, and the joy of tinned food

Posted on by

Monday: A union is pushing for a compulsory vaccination deadline of aged care workers to be extended. Plus: why tinned food is no longer the embarrassing option

Good morning. A union is calling for the extension to the compulsory vaccination for aged care workers as the Friday deadline approaches. Analysis of green space in greater Sydney reveals another element of how Covid lockdowns are magnifying inequity. The Taliban will allow women to study in universities in gender-segregated classrooms. And it’s time to stop looking down on tinned fruit and veggies as a lesser choice.

The Health Services Union is calling for the federal government to extend compulsory Covid vaccination for aged care workers beyond Friday’s deadline, saying the sector cannot afford to lose even 5% of its workforce. The federal government has said that 90.8% of staff have now received a single dose of a Covid vaccine and 70.5% two doses. The HSU’s federal president, Gerard Hayes, said the government needed to extend the deadline by between two weeks and a month given existing workforce pressures.

Continue reading...

Victoria to receive ‘surge’ of Pfizer, Moderna vaccine doses as 392 cases recorded – as it happened

Posted on by

Man in his 20s dies in NSW as state records 1,262 new cases; ACT records 15 new Covid cases. This blog is now closed

That’s where I will leave you for today. Here’s a wrap of what we learned:

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has taken to twitter to slam the Berejiklian government for calling an end to the 11am daily press conferences.

“When I feel like I need to be accountable.”

❌ That’s not good enough.

Government accountability isn’t optional.

Reinstate the daily press conferences and bring back the parliament now.#nswpol #auspol

Continue reading...

NSW Labor says Berejiklian must hold daily updates; Queensland to reinstate border bubble – as it happened

Posted on by

NSW confirms record high 1,542 cases; Victoria has linked 149 of its 334 new cases to known outbreaks. This blog is now closed

With that, we’ll wrap up the news blog for the day.

Here were the top headlines today:

Prof Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute that has provided modelling for Australia’s reopening plan agreed to by national cabinet, has responded to NSW’s roadmap to freedom that was unveiled this week.

Of the plan to reopen at 70% double vaccination in NSW, Lewin told ABC’s The Drum: “I think the with situation in NSW, I’d be going slowly, slowly”.

We will see interpretations that will vary around the country and I think that is going to cause confusion.”

When you don’t have optimal TTIQ then you’ve got to bring in public health measures. That’s why this slow exit from the lockdown is probably going to be important.

I think the biggest challenge for NSW at the moment is keeping an eye on the burden on the healthcare system.

Continue reading...