Category Archives: Queensland

Abortion drugs remain inaccessible, unsafe and unaffordable for many Australian women | Gina Rushton

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A dearth of political leadership means abortion drugs remain inaccessible, unsafe and unaffordable for many women

It has been 24 years since the federal government chose the partial privatisation of Telstra over the rights of Australian women to safely terminate a pregnancy with abortion drugs. In 1996, anti-abortion independent Brian Harradine, who held the balance of power in the Senate, agreed to support John Howard’s one-third float of the telecommunications company if the government amended legislation to give the health minister veto to prohibit the import, manufacture or use of abortion drug RU486 (mifepristone).

A perpetual dearth of political leadership in the subsequent quarter century has meant the drugs remain inaccessible, unaffordable and at times unsafe for many women in Australia outside of a certain income or major city.

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Coronavirus Australia: Victoria reports 216 new Covid-19 cases and death of man in his 90s

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Daniel Andrews says effects of lockdown won’t be reflected for weeks as NSW cases linked to Casula pub

Victoria has recorded another 216 cases of coronavirus and one additional death, a man in his 90s, as the state tries to contain the second wave of the virus that returned Melbourne residents to lockdown.

Thirty of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks and 186 are under investigation, with the state’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, saying it was becoming more difficult to quickly trace the source of new infections.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: NSW records 14 new Covid-19 cases as Victoria reports 288 new cases

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Pop-up testing facility to be set up in Sydney hotel car park as Victorian premier says 37,588 tests were conducted in the state yesterday. Follow live news and updates

Victoria is preparing two-million reusable masks for people in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire by the end of July, and a million single-use masks, but in case you want to go and make your own now, you can find a CDC guide on how to make one here.

The Victorian government is going to prepare its own how-to guide for masks in the coming days.

Due to the heightened public health risk with the current outbreak in Victoria, we are asking ALL South Australians with symptoms (fever/chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell) to get tested for COVID-19. https://t.co/daEpRqXyQV pic.twitter.com/lccT3Rvwef

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Coronavirus Australia live update: ‘extremely high’ chance Victoria outbreak has spread to NSW as Melbourne enters lockdown

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The NSW premier is expected to announce new restrictions today as the state tries to contain ‘high-risk situation’. Follow live news and updates

2020 motto: Please scream inside your heart

Japan’s theme parks have banned screaming on roller coasters because it spreads coronavirus. “Please scream inside your heart.” https://t.co/DJjC40H0Ap

Just re-upping, because it seems relevant

The Armchair Epidemiologist pic.twitter.com/t4CvJo3KCL

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Coronavirus Australia live update: prime minister Scott Morrison holds press conference on Covid-19 response as Victoria records 134 new cases

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Confusion over NSW-Victoria border closure as the state’s northern border closes for the first time in a century and Melbourne prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest news

Someone asks about some sort of foreign travel tax? I don’t know - there is a lot in the question, and it’s involving shiz that none of us can even think about until at least July next year, because I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not - but Australia’s international borders ARE CLOSED.

Scott Morrison:

Well, there’s a lot of speculation on all those questions. So I don’t intend to engage in what is the normal budget speculation when you lead up to a budget.

Those matters will be addressed in the budget.

On what we are planning on doing with Hong Kong residents, Scott Morrison says:

We continue to be concerned about issues in Hong Kong as many nations are, and we have remained in close contact with other like-minded countries about this issue.

This is about how we, as a nation, are responding, domestically, to these issues.

On the issue of the broader shutdown of Melbourne - this is a matter that the Premier advised me of and, of course, based on their advice and the advice that I have received from the chief medical officer, then this was necessary.

I hope it isn’t for that long. I hope it’s for a shorter period as possible.

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Queensland policewoman choked and bitten in attack by New Zealand brother and sister

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Court hears officer struggles mentally since the attack: ‘Shame on you both’

A man repeatedly choked then bit a Queensland policewoman as his sister handcuffed the officer after the pair were kicked out of a Brisbane pub.

New Zealanders Hylton Miharo King, 24, and Ariana Thirteen King, 30, pleaded guilty to seriously assaulting the police officer at Mitchelton in May 2019.

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Coronavirus Australia update: Melbourne’s hotspot suburbs in lockdown as Victoria struggles to contain outbreak – live news

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Residents of 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered to stay home from midnight tonight. Follow live

Scott Morrison was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments about singling out Queensland on the Nine network this morning:

Well, I haven’t. There’s an election in Queensland, so I’m not surprised that the political rhetoric is amping up. Look, we’re keeping all of the country together to focus on this. I made similar comments about the changes in borders in South Australia yesterday. So, look, I think you can file that under a Queensland election.

Anthony Albanese was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments yesterday, after she hit back on the border criticism (which included Scott Morrison) and said:

Well, look, I don’t believe that it’s appropriate, and I haven’t sought to politicise a response to the medical issues with regard to borders.

I’m not surprised that Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has shown tremendous leadership in Queensland, is frustrated at the comments of the Prime Minister given he has said time and time again it’s up to the states what happens.

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Melbourne hotspot lockdowns announced as Victoria battles coronavirus outbreaks

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Residents of 10 postcodes ordered to stay at home from midnight on Wednesday

Ten Victorian postcodes will be back in lockdown from midnight on Wednesday and international flights coming into Melbourne will be diverted elsewhere, as the state struggles to get on top of Covid-19 outbreaks and community transmission.

On Tuesday the premier, Daniel Andrews, said a number of Victoria’s cases through late May and early June had been linked through genomic testing to an infection control breach in the hotel quarantine program, prompting him to call for a judicial inquiry.

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Australia Covid-19 active cases and hotspots map: coronavirus stats, numbers and state by state data update

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Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on active and daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as maps, statistics, live data and state by state graphs from NSW, Vic, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response

Due to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in Australia.

Here, we’ve brought together all the figures in one place, along with comparisons with other countries.

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Driver in fatal Ravenshoe cafe explosion should not have been behind wheel, coroner says

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Inquest into deaths of Nicole Nyholt and Margaret Clark finds Brian Andrew Scutt ignored warnings not to drive

The man who crashed his ute into a Queensland cafe, sparking an explosion that killed two people and seriously injured more than a dozen others, should not have been behind the wheel, a coroner says.

Brian Andrew Scutt suffered an epileptic seizure and lost consciousness before veering off the road and slamming into the Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe in June 2015.

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Coronavirus Australia update: NT blocks people from Covid hotspots and Virgin Australia bidder Cyrus Capital pulls out – live news

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State’s chief minister says people from areas with spikes in cases will be quarantined at their own cost; Bain Capital remains only bidder for embattled airline. Follow live

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath spoke to media earlier, urging residents to comply with quarantine orders.

Although we are so fortunate in Queensland to have so few active cases, the fact is, as of today, we have almost 3,000 people in people on quarantine orders. About 880 of that people are in hotels but over 2,000 are quarantining in their homes.

It is absolutely critical that those people remain at home for the 14 days that they are quarantining, that they are not allowing people into their homes and they are not leaving their homes for any reason other than to be tested for Covid.

In response to a twelve-year-old student at Camden High School in NSW testing positive to Covid-19, the state’s health department has set up an additional Covid pop-up testing clinic at Camden Hospital.

The clinic will have walk-in testing with no bookings required and the clinic will be open over the next three days between 10am and 4pm.

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Former Young LNP member says party threw him ‘under the bus’ over offensive video

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Barclay McGain, who was forced to resign over schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture, accuses Queensland LNP of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility

A former Young Liberal National party member forced to resign over a series of offensive social media posts has accused the Queensland LNP of “throwing young teenagers under the bus” and of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility.

Guardian Australia revealed two weeks ago that federal MP Andrew Laming had sacked electorate officer Barclay McGain, 20, who was already under LNP investigation in relation to an offensive video from last year, following questions about subsequent social media posts and messages. McGain also quit the party.

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Australia coronavirus news: Victorians warned to avoid Melbourne hotspots amid fears of second wave – live updates

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Authorities ‘strongly discourage’ travel to and from six council areas that are home to most of the country’s new coronavirus cases. Follow live

Victoria has officially announced its new ministry.

Queensland has reported zero coronavirus cases overnight.

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Victoria to extend state of emergency for four more weeks after spike in Covid-19 cases

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Queensland declares southern state a ‘hotspot’ while South Australia reconsiders decision to reopen its border

The Victorian government has announced it will extend its state of emergency for at least four more weeks and ramp up its police enforcement of lockdown rules after a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The surge has also prompted neighbouring South Australia to reconsider its decision to reopen its border, while Queensland has declared all of greater Melbourne a Covid-19 hotspot.

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Australia’s Covid-19 restrictions and coronavirus lockdown rules explained: how far can I travel, and can I have people over?

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How far can you drive and what are the travel restrictions in NSW, Queensland and Victoria? How many people can you have over at your house in Tasmania, ACT, SA, WA or NT? Untangle Australia’s Covid-19 laws and guidelines with our guide

Australians have been slowly emerging from Covid-19 lockdowns since the federal government announced a three-stage plan in May to ease restrictions across the country.

It is up to each state and territory to decide when and how far they will relax restrictions.

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Australia coronavirus update: major cyber attack under way as Victoria records 12 new Covid-19 cases – live news

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A sophisticated state-based actor is targeting all levels of government and companies in a range of sectors, PM reveals. Follow live

Also, the Five Eyes finance ministers met. Given what their operatives do, a meeting seems superfluous, but ok.

Today Australia hosted a call with the Finance Ministers of the “Five Eyes” nations – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

It was the first of what will be regular calls among the countries to discuss the economic issues associated with COVID-19.

I guess when you don’t have the Global Times, you have to be a little more overt in your silent diplomacy.

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Coronavirus Australia update: PM apologises for ‘no slavery’ comments as Queensland sticks with 10 July border open date – politics live

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Qld deputy premier and health minister says situation will be reviewed at the end of June ‘as we’ve said consistently’. Follow live

Speaking of awkward, Angus Taylor just took a dixer.

So that is a bit awkward, then.

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Coronavirus Australia update: NSW reports zero community transmission as Queensland border challenge hits snag – politics live

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Three new cases of Covid-19 reported were all from overseas travellers and are in quarantine; Queensland high court calls requests from lawyers to access border closure documents ‘a fishing expedition’. Follow live updates

Pat Dodson has spoken in the Senate on the issue of Indigenous deaths in custody:

Thirty years ago, the royal commission that I was part of made recommendations to the parliament - 339 recommendations.

That Commission had been set up by the government. And at that time, there were 99 deaths that we were concerned about in this nation to effect a national Royal Commission never got over 400 deaths since that Royal Commission, and we have 30 years that have passed that have not addressed the underlying issues that give rise to people being taken into custody and consequently die in custody.

Tony Burke’s answer to that same question:

Her politics feeds on outrage. It effectively – for all the talk of proud nationalism, that party has imported an American style of politics here.

I don’t want that style of politics here. I don’t particularly want to join the outrage, because that in fact elevates what she said. I would simply refer to it in the way that I guess One Nation wouldn’t want it referred to – that is importing foreign politics into Australia. We should be better than that. And most of us are.

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Great Barrier Reef: drone footage allows researchers to count 64,000 green sea turtles – video

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Researchers have pioneered a new way of calculating the large green sea turtle population on Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Using drones and a stripe of white paint on the back of adult turtles, the researchers from the Raine Island Recovery Project estimated there were 64,000 endangered green turtles at the Raine Island rookery. The new count shows there may be 1.73 times the number of turtles previously believed and they have now been able to adjust historical data to paint a more accurate picture of the area’s endangered green turtle population

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Coronavirus Australia live updates: NSW, Victoria, Qld and WA provide update on Covid-19 cases – latest news

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Mathias Cormann to appear before Senate committee seeking answers on the government’s botched wage subsidy projections. Follow the latest live

Mutual obligations for welfare recipients return today.

There are now about 1.6m people receiving the unemployment benefit jobseeker.

Mutual obligations return today & will be gradually phased in.

We are in Phase 1 meaning there are no financial penalties for not meeting activity requirements.

We don't have a timeline of each "phase" but I will keep following up with the Minister for more clarity.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian was giving a press conference just now. She was pressed on comments from her police minister, David Elliott, who said yesterday that police would not approve future permit protests that did not comply for the health guidelines.

Does she agree with Elliott?

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