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XPT train stopped at Albury
The XPT train has terminated unexpectedly at Albury this morning, with the Sydney to Melbourne service not crossing the Victorian border.
It is understood passengers boarding in Sydney were not aware they would not make it to Melbourne on the train.
An XPT which left Sydney's Central Station last night has terminated at Albury.Credit:Nick Moir
They have now been placed on a bus service to complete their journey through Victoria to Melbourne's Southern Cross Station.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the NSW TrainLink Melbourne to Sydney XPT service will cease travelling across the NSW-Victoria border from today in preparation for tomorrow morning's border closure.
"Transport for NSW and Department of Transport (Victoria) are currently assessing other public transport services which operate between NSW and Victoria," the spokesperson said.
The XPT will continue to operate between Sydney and Albury.
Do you know more? Contact mary.ward@smh.com.au
Melburnians' travel further restricted after NT introduces quarantine
By Anthony Colangelo
The Northern Territory will require people from Melbourne – or who have travelled to Melbourne – to quarantine for 14 days at their own expense once its borders open to interstate travel.
The NT’s borders are currently closed to all interstate travellers until July 17 and last night Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the greater Melbourne area is now considered a coronavirus hotspot.
“The [NT] Chief Health Officer’s advice is that there are outbreaks in Melbourne suburbs that have not yet been identified as hotspots,” Mr Gunner said.
“This means that from 17 July, anyone who lives in or has visited the greater Melbourne metropolitan area will still not be permitted free access to the Northern Territory.
“Our borders will stay closed to Melbourne until further notice.
“Any arrivals will be required to undertake 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine, most likely at the Howard Springs facility, at their own cost.
“These rules apply to everyone, not just Victorians. That includes Territorians. Territorians should reconsider any planned travel to any location in Melbourne in the near future.”
He did not rule out this order being extended to all of Victoria if deemed necessary.
Victorian government needs to communicate with tower residents better: Shorten
By Anthony Colangelo
Former Labor leader and member for Maribyrnong in Melbourne – where some of the housing commission flats in lockdown are located – Bill Shorten says the residents must be treated better.
“We and the state government needs to do a better job of communicating with people there, and we need to be a bit more switched on,” Mr Shorten, who has spent a lot of time on the ground at the buildings, told Today.
“These [people] are not prisoners. They haven’t broken any laws. So we need to make sure if they’ve got a phone line to ring it gets answered in a timely fashion and they need to know who can assist them with their needs.
“There’s 60 people there with NDIS packages … we have got to switch on even more than the last 72 hours.
“We just need to treat these people as decently as we can.”
Mr Shorten predicted people would lose their jobs over the Melbourne hotel quarantine fiasco.
“I think on balance [Daniel Andrews] has done a good job,” Mr Shorten said.
“I think there has been mistakes made where some of the quarantine travellers from overseas were monitored and kept locked down and so I think there will be heads to roll over that.”
'Do not travel to Victoria': Health Minister asks NSW
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said the two cases recorded in Albury yesterday afternoon demonstrate why the closure of the NSW-Victoria border was necessary.
"They are indicative of why the NSW government has a high level of concern about what is occurring in Melbourne," he told 2GB this morning.
The two cases are in self-isolation at home, Mr Hazzard said.
The Health Minister urged NSW residents to not go to Victoria, even though they are technically not barred from entering the state, just required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return.
"Do not travel to Victoria, you would have to have an extremely necessary reason to go there," he said.
Asked about the feasibility of actually blocking all 55 border crossings, Mr Hazzard admitted they may not all be being patrolled by midnight tonight, but said it would not be worth someone attempting to sneak across.
"But if it isn't, and someone does manage to cross the border – or, as [Police Commissioner Mick Fuller] suggested, swim across the river – then they should know that any Victorian who comes here past midnight tonight is up for a potential $11,000 fine and six months jail."
NSW permits should be available today: Berejiklian
With the NSW-Victoria border set to shut after midnight tonight, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said she is "hoping" permits to enter her state will be available today.
"I know we've had people working through the night to make that possible," Ms Berejiklian told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
The permits will be available for download by NSW and Victorian residents through the Service NSW app and website.
The Premier flagged that closing the border would not be an easy process, and she did not know how long the closure would be in place.
"There will be queues, there will be frustration, there will be lots of questions, but we're doing this to keep everybody safe and to also make sure that the Victorian government has the resources it needs to focus on containing the spread," she said.
"And that's why we're making sure that all of our resources in NSW will be dedicated to this border protection and taking heat off some of those health officials and authorities on the other side of the border."
Addressing comments from the Australian Industry Group this morning that closing the border between the country's two biggest states was like building a Berlin Wall, Ms Berejiklian said: "fair enough".
"But consider this – what if NSW then had to shut down as well?" Ms Berejiklian asked. "Then where would the economy be?"
'Where are the social workers?' asks Melbourne MP
By Anthony Colangelo
The federal Labor MP for the Melbourne electorate of Wills, and a former housing commission resident himself, Peter Khalil, is “very upset” and “very concerned” about the lockdown at nine public housing estates.
Mr Khalil told the ABC on Tuesday morning that he understands the health justification for the lockdown of 3000 residents, but has strong reservations about what was or was not done in the lead up to mitigate the need for such a measure.
“Why wasn't there a reach out to community and faith leaders months ago about communications with respect to the barriers?” Mr Khalil said.
“There was a real lack of notice to the people in the towers.
“People are struggling, as you reported just this morning, with basic food supplies and medication. Where are the healthcare workers? Where are the social workers? Where is the mental health support? There's a big police presence, but what about all of that?”
He said this was not a “Labor or Liberal thing” and the government must try and mitigate risks at other towers in the state immediately.
“It's the fact that people who live in housing commissions are often an afterthought,” Mr Khalil said.
“We need to make sure that communications go to the residents. They use not just translations or fact sheets, but also verbal communications through faith and community leaders that the people listen. I mean, in my own community, I not only sent out letters to migrant communities in community, but did ads on SBS radio because people need to hear it.”
Border closure 'required and necessary': Hunt
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has claimed the closure of the NSW-Victoria border is an example of a local lockdown as was "always planned" in the event of an outbreak.
"Right from the start in February, we've talked about the concept of rings of containment, whether it's been suburbs, broader areas, such as north-west Tasmania, or when it's required, to take that step," Mr Hunt told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has claimed the closure of the NSW-Victoria border is an example of a local lockdown as was "always planned" in the event of an outbreak.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"Now is the moment when we believe that step, for the first time, is required and necessary."
Mr Hunt said it was not a stretch to call the isolation of the entire state of Victoria a "ring of containment".
"There's been a very serious outbreak in Victoria, particularly within the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne, but what we know is that it's not exclusively confined to them," he said, stressing that people were being protected not punished.
The Health Minister asked people affected by the measures, such as those in border communities and locked down towers, to "exercise patience".
"I know it's difficult and I know it's challenging," he said.
"We have been through this already in March and in April. Australians had difficult restrictions put in place. We were able to deal with it, we were able to rise to it, and we were able to flatten that curve."
Today's front pages
Here's what has been making news on the front pages of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age this morning.
Welcome to our live blog coverage
Good morning and welcome to our live blog coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia and abroad.
This is Mary Ward helming our blog this morning. If there's something happening in your community which you think we should be looking into, you can contact me on Twitter @marywardy.
We will be bringing you live coverage throughout the day as NSW prepares to enforce the closure of the Victorian border at 12.01am tomorrow.
Just a reminder that, since 12.01 this morning, there has been a travel ban on all Melbourne residents entering NSW. This means people who live in Melbourne are only able to enter NSW for limited reasons, such as obtaining medical care or fulfilling a legal obligation.
NSW residents will be allowed to return from Victoria at any time, however they will be required to self-isolate for 14 days when they make it back to their home.
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2020-07-06 22:16:00Z
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