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Victoria records 43 new cases of coronavirus
Victoria has recorded 43 new cases of coronavirus overnight.
Nine more people have died.
Queensland records two new cases of coronavirus
By Lydia Lynch
Two new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Queensland overnight as Premier Annastsacia 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
Ledesma tests positive for COVID-19 as one of eight fresh Pumas cases
By Tom Decent
Former Wallabies assistant and current Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma has tested positive to COVID-19 along with a number of other staff members and players.
Despite the news, Argentina is still hopeful of competing in the Rugby Championship against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in November.
Mario Ledesma during last year's Rugby Championship. Credit:AP
Last week, Argentina announced that six of its players had tested positive for COVID-19 and after another round of tests, it appears the virus is more widespread than first thought.
A statement posted on the Pumas website said: "The national team carried out a new batch of PCR tests. The results of the swabs showed the appearance of positive cases of COVID-19 in some members of the staff. Among them, the coaches Mario Ledesma, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
Read more: Ledesma tests positive for COVID-19 as one of eight fresh Pumas cases
Qatar CEO defends forcing returning Australians into business class tickets
By Kate Rose
Australians stranded overseas have been struggling to get home, with a cap on international arrivals, last-minute cancellations and suggestions they buy business class seats making it difficult to return.
But Qatar Airways has defended the behaviour of airlines as financially necessary when passenger caps mean hundreds of Australians are being turned away a day.
Qatar Group CEO Akbar Al Baker spoke on ABC News Breakfast this morning and said flights are nowhere near capacity, making the long route to Australia a challenge.
"We have between 38 and 42 seats in our business class. And because we have such a limited number of passengers that we can carry, we have no other alternative but to maximise the yield that we get," he said.
"When we have aircraft that is allowed to carry as much as 50 passengers, then, of course, we have a mixed ratio of economy and business class. And I think Australian Government should learn from the system we have here and open up the country to let the Australians that are stranded abroad come back."
In good news, Mr Al Baker said he thought international travel would not take long to return to pre-pandemic levels.
"Travel is in our DNA," he said. "I think that the travel will come back to 2019 levels hopefully in the next two to four years."
Dutton says border restrictions 'inconsistent', 'devastating to families'
By Danielle Cronin
Queensland’s border restrictions are "having a very negative impact on people's mental health and it is really devastating families", Home Affairs Peter Dutton said.
The Queensland MP believed the rules were applied inconsistently in his home state.
"If you are Tom Hanks from California, you are OK. If you are Tom Hanks from Chermside or Castle Hill, sorry, you are not coming in, even to your brother's funeral or your dying daughter," Mr Dutton told Today.
"It is just unacceptable. I think the consequences are very far-reaching and the Premier needs to fix the problem. It is a problem of her making and it needs to be fixed sooner than later."
The plight of Sarah Caisip, 26, sparked national outcry after the Canberra nurse’s plea to attend her father’s funeral in Brisbane was denied because she had to remain in hotel quarantine.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a public appeal for Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to intervene and she accused him of "bullying".
Mr Dutton rejected the premier’s accusation.
"The reality is that the frustration for people here is the inconsistency,” Mr Dutton said.
"The Premier has made a decision to bring the AFL executives to the Gold Coast, to hang out by the pool and the golf course.
"She has made a decision to bring Hollywood stars into the state and to be given the red carpet treatment, and yet Queenslanders and people who are relatives that live across the border in New South Wales or the ACT, for example, don't get into the state to come to a funeral."
"… I don't think she is a mean person. I don't think Annastacia Palaszczuk is a bad person, but I think she is making bad calls and I think the inconsistency is what really annoys people. These are moments that families will never get become back, and the point is they pose no health risk from a COVID perspective at all."
Regional Victoria divided over path to freedom
By Benjamin Preiss
Active coronavirus cases have fallen substantially in regional Victoria but opinions remain divided about whether it should open up faster than the state government’s flagged timeline.
Premier Daniel Andrews raised the prospect on Thursday that regional Victoria could move further towards opening up as early as next week although he stressed there were no guarantees.
There were no new infections in regional Victoria on Thursday with 72 active cases compared to 82 the day before.
Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged regional Victoria may move towards reopening further at the end of next week. Credit:Wayne Taylor
"As it stands now, and I can't guarantee that this is the case, but if the trend continues – and the numbers are very promising – we'll be able to take a step or steps as early as towards the end of next week," Mr Andrews said.
He praised the “amazing efforts” by regional communities to prevent the spread of the virus.
“That's again, pleasing to see those numbers from a very high base, they've stabilised, they've steadily fallen and now we're very pleased to be able to report that there were no new cases in regional Victoria overnight.”
Border closures top of health official agenda amid funeral heartache
By Katina Curtis
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants leading health officials to agree on a national coronavirus hotspot definition as a top priority so he can use the medical advice to pressure premiers to open their borders.
Mr Morrison intervened on Thursday on behalf of a 26-year-old woman who flew to Queensland too late to say goodbye to her dying father and was then locked in hotel quarantine on the day of his funeral.
Sarah Caisip (left) is pictured with her father Bernard Prendergast, 11-year-old sister Isobel Prendergast and mother Myrna Prendergast.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee is having rolling discussions about how to define hotspots, with meetings almost every day. Every state except Western Australia has agreed in principle to work on a process to clearly define hotspots to allow safe travel between jurisdictions.
Government sources said Mr Morrison did not want to pursue the potential for biosecurity powers to be used to force borders open, instead putting a top priority on using medical advice to pressure premiers.
Mr Morrison phoned a radio station after privately pleading with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to let Sarah Caisip join her mother and 11-year-old sister and other mourners. While she was allowed out of quarantine to visit her father's body alone, she was not given an exemption to attend the funeral.
Read more: Border closures top of health official agenda amid funeral heartache
High speed police chase ends with drug charges and a fine for breaking lockdown
By Ashleigh McMillan
A Victorian man who was chased by a police helicopter through Melbourne’s eastern suburbs at midnight and charged with reckless conduct has also been fined for breaking pandemic stay at home directions.
The 23-year-old Keysborough man, driving a Ford Focus XR turbo, passed a dog squad unit while travelling at 200km/h on the Eastern Freeway at around 12am on Friday morning.
He was tracked by the police air wing through the suburbs of Ringwood and Dandenong, where he allegedly crossed onto the wrong side of the road and sped through "a number of red lights" during the pursuit, according to a Victoria Police spokeswoman.
Police used stop sticks on the Eastlink near the Dandenong Bypass, but the car continued on for 10 to 15 kilometres.
The 23-year-old was eventually arrested on Peninsula Link after the vehicle slowed with blown tyres and came to a stop.
"A search of the car, which was bearing false plates, uncovered a quantity of methylamphetamine and cash," a police spokeswoman said.
The disqualified driver has been charged with trafficking and possessing methylamphetamine, two counts of reckless conduct endangering life, recklessly expose police to risk by driving, drug driving, disqualified driving, six counts of commit indictable offence while on bail and other traffic offences.
The man was held in custody overnight and will appear at the Frankston Magistrates Court on Friday morning.
He was also found to be in breach of the stay at home directions issued by the Chief Health Officer and fined $1652.
'It should be lifted': Key crossbencher backs calls to remove curfew
By Noel Towell, Henrietta Cook and Michael Fowler
The key crossbench MP who guaranteed the Andrews government’s state of emergency powers wants Melbourne’s curfew lifted, as retail groups lobby for night-time restrictions to be scrapped.
Reason Party upper house MP Fiona Patten has told The Age that the curfew should go.
“If there are no health benefits to the curfew, then it should be lifted. Victorians need to see progress, we need to know that our sacrifices are having an effect.
Reason Party leader Fiona Patten.Credit:Wayne Taylor
"People need to feel we are moving from stage four to like a stage 3.7 and so on as we go through this process. If we can’t travel more than five kilometres and all businesses are shut, what is the problem with someone walking the dog or having a jog in the evening?”
Her stance on the curfew means the Labor government is unlikely to have the numbers to win votes in the chamber next week when the Coalition ramps up pressure on the contentious lockdown restrictions.
Premier Daniel Andrews defended the restrictions on Thursday following revelations that neither Victoria Police nor Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton asked for Melburnians to be confined to their homes between 8pm and 5am.
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2020-09-10 22:21:00Z
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