Watch live: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking.
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Active cases inn Queensland total 28
By Lucy Stone
Queensland has confirmed two new cases, both in quarantine and close contacts of known cases, bringing the total of active cases to 28.
Health Minister Steven Miles has also paid tribute to Richard, an 81-year-old Queensland patient who came off the Ruby Princess and has spent 77 days in intensive care. He will now be moved to rehabilitation for his future recovery.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is not present at today's press conference with Premier Annastasia Palasczuk and Mr Miles, but is having a "well-earned weekend off", Mr Miles said.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Sonya Bennett is fronting the media instead. It follows heavy criticism of Dr Young's decision to ban a Canberra woman from her father's funeral, only allowing her to view her father's body while wearing full PPE.
Dr Bennett said another case, that of dying man Mark Keans and his family who are all trying to get exemptions to see him, is under discussions with Queensland Health.
The department had previously told the family only one of his four children could cross the border to see him.
She said there were "many" cases of similar family and personal tragedy.
Myer cancels its famous Christmas windows
By Ashleigh McMillan
After almost 64 years of children pressing their noses against the glass in wonder, Melbourne’s famed Myer Christmas windows will not go ahead this year.
The Bourke Street Mall spectacle is a staple of the city’s festive season, with more than 1.2 million Australian and international visitors viewing the windows each year.
The Myer Christmas windows have brought joy to children - and their parents - for decades.Credit:Dominic O'Brien
A spokeswoman for Myer said the department store had been “exploring every possible option” for the windows to go ahead, but the state government’s Sunday road map had made it impossible to proceed.
“However, with the Government’s latest announcements and recommendations we are unfortunately unable to proceed with the windows like we have done in past years,” she said.
The company said it was still working through plans for COVID-safe Christmas shopping inside the store.
Deputy CMO pleads for compassion at closed borders
By Marissa Calligeros
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd has implored state health authorities to show some compassion when making border travel decisions "because we are dealing with human lives".
His comments come after Canberra-based graduate nurse Sarah Caisip, 26, was initially barred from travelling to Queensland to say goodbye to her dying father.
After she fought to enter the state, she was forced to stay in hotel quarantine. Sadly, her father died before she could say goodbye.
Ms Caisip was also barred from attending her father's funeral. Instead, she was taken by paramedics from her quarantine hotel to have a private viewing of her father's body on Thursday afternoon and was forced to wear full PPE.
"This is one of the very cruel tragedies of COVID-19. The separation of families at times of grief and heartache that clearly, at the same time, are in place to protect everybody in the community from COVID-19," Professor Kidd told Channel Seven's Sunrise program this morning.
"Funerals can be one of those events where we can get very rapid spread of COVID-19 and that can often lead to further, very tragic consequences."
Professor Kidd acknowledged that many people would have been shocked to hear Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young defending officials' decision to allow AFL players and Hollywood celebrities, including Tom Hanks, into the state because they were "bringing a lot of money into our state".
"I'm sure that many people were very shocked to hear that," he said.
"It is really important that compassion is part of our decision-making because we are dealing with human lives, but as I said, right at the start, part of the cruel tragedy is that it does have these impacts on families and loved ones at terrible times of personal tragedy."
Lady Pamela skipper heads to court
By Toby Crockford
Skipper of the luxury yacht Lady Pamela has arrived a Gold Coast court and spoken briefly to the waiting media.
Greg Numa, 64, will appear in Southport Magistrates Court today accused of breaching the Public Health Act by providing false information to an emergency officer.
When asked if he will be pleading guilty, Mr Numa replied: “I think that will be obvious”.
Pressure on over West Australians trapped on the wrong side of the hard border
By Nathan Hondros
The WA government is facing pressure to improve the management of its border restrictions, with opposition and Greens MPs calling for clarity and consistency on exemptions for West Australians trapped outside the state.
The 'G2G PASS' online application process, which is used by people wanting to come into WA, came under scrutiny in Parliament this week.
A debate on how the state government is managing its 'hard border' was sparked by stories of people trapped in the eastern states, unable to return home to WA.Credit:
Opposition police spokesman Peter Katsambanis slammed the process for its lack of transparency and consistency and called for a clearer, more consistent approach.
He said the online process, which requires applicants to hand over supporting evidence to justify their claim to come into WA, was causing significant distress to people and was harming families.
"Currently, it appears to outsiders, particularly the people applying for the permits, that an opaque, Byzantine system is being applied in a manner that a Byzantine bureaucracy entails," Mr Katsambanis said.
"This is a difficult time. This is an emotional time. People are struggling. Families are disconnected and are being separated for what appears to be inconsistent and sometimes ridiculous reasons."
Read more: Pressure on over West Australians trapped on the wrong side of the hard border
Restaurant vouchers for Victorian households suggested to boost struggling industry
By Ashleigh McMillan
The head of Australia’s restaurant association says every Victorian household should receive a $100 food voucher, in a plan to save the state’s hospitality industry.
Restaurant and Catering Industry Association (RCA) CEO Wes Lambert said with household spending down, there needed to be a way to encourage “bums on seats” once restaurants reopen.
Under the proposal, households of two or more people in Victoria would receive a $100 food voucher, while singles would receive $50.
The RCA is also calling for grants of up to $50,000 for food businesses to help tide them over until trading is set to return at the end of October, and grants for hiring or buying furniture for outdoor dining.
Mr Lambert said permits for outdoor dining needed to be fast tracked and in place before November.
“Restaurants and cafes and caterers want to be serving customers, it’s in their blood and their DNA, it’s their life. And the best form of recovery for restaurants is customers,” he said.
“The road map is unworkable and unduly punishes hospitality businesses. It is time for Dan to pay for his plan.”
According to the British government, more than 64 million meals were subsidised as part of its ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme across August.
Melbourne City Council deputy mayor Arron Wood is also floating an online voucher scheme across the CBD, with ratepayers to receive a discount at restaurants and small businesses.
The vouchers - which would have a minimum spend attached - are a key plank of Cr Wood’s campaign for Lord Mayor.
He said Melbourne had a chance to “pick up the best ideas as cities around the world revive themselves after the pandemic”, touting a similar scheme in Darwin.
Melburnians could receive one dollar discount for every seven dollars they spend, to support businesses who are “absolutely grief stricken” due to COVID restrictions, he said.
“As restrictions start to ease, we really need to get people back into the city. This is a really great way to spur spending,” Cr Wood said.
“Businesses are calling for, and I’m supportive of, a rework of the roadmap to take better account of the NSW model. The road map has really taken the wind out of their sails.”
Victoria records 43 new cases of coronavirus
Victoria has recorded 43 new coronavirus cases, keeping the closely watched figure in the double digits for the eighth consecutive day as debate continues over Melbourne's curfew.
Another nine Victorians have died from the virus, taking the state's death toll to 710 and the national death toll to 797.
Queensland records two new cases of coronavirus
By Lydia Lynch
Two new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Queensland overnight as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk continues defends the state’s border measures.
Fronting a parliamentary committee on Friday morning, Ms Palaszczuk said she had not had final confirmation on the new numbers but understood both of the new cases were diagnosed in people already in quarantine.
Ms Palaszczuk has faced a slew of questions about border exemption regime following the tragic case of Sarah Caisip who was locked in quarantine while her father died.
“These are very, very difficult times,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “My responsibility is to the five million Queenslanders, to keep them safe. “The advice of our chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, has been extraordinary in keeping Queenslanders safe.”
Ms Palaszczuk said 40 clinicians were working specifically on border exemption applications.
“People don’t think these exemptions are happening, but in fact there were 31,000 freight exemptions that have been granted, I understand 170,000 border zone exemptions,” she said. “I also understand 229 exemptions for specialist workers, health care and compassionate grounds.”
Parents fret for young children's mental health as lockdown drags on
By Adam Carey
When six-year-old Hannah heard about the new "singles bubble" for Melbourne’s extended stage four lockdown, she asked her mother why there couldn’t be a single child bubble, too.
Katie Maynes says her daughter’s only-child status has provided an extra challenge during the long weeks of remote learning, as she and her husband have worried that Hannah is being starved of social contact with other children.
Katie Maynes and her daughter Hannah, 6, have gradually got into the swing of remote learning. Credit:Eddie Jim
"We’re lucky, she plays really well by herself but she hasn’t played with another child for two months," Ms Maynes said.
Hannah is in prep at Plenty Valley Christian College in Doreen. By the time term three wraps up next week, she will have spent more days in her first year of school learning at home than in the classroom.
Ms Maynes is full of praise for Hannah’s teachers who have gone "above and beyond", helping Hannah fix an early problem with her pencil grip, for example.
And while the challenge of juggling work with learning supervision duties – and keeping a child focused during yet another Zoom session – has been manageable, it has not always been rewarding.
Read more: Parents fret for young children's mental health as lockdown drags on
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2020-09-10 23:08:00Z
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