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A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Australians will now be able to choose between two types of COVID-19 boosters, after the medical regulator gave provisional approval to the Moderna vaccine to be used as a top-up dose.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration gave the green light for people 18 and over to get a Moderna booster shot, six months after their second vaccine dose.
The administration said Moderna would be able to be used as a booster regardless of what COVID-19 vaccine brand people received during their first two doses.
It comes after the Pfizer vaccine was approved to be used as a booster shot.
More than 500,000 Australians have received their third vaccine dose since the boosters were made available.
The administration said the Moderna booster was approved following the evaluation of safety and efficacy data.
© AAP 2021
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The Queensland border will open to interstate COVID-19 hotspots several days early as health authorities prepare for an influx of travellers from next Monday.
The re-opening date had been slated for December 17, but it has been brought forward to December 13 to align with projections of when the state will reach a vaccination rate of 80 per cent.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state was predicted to reach the 80 per cent target this week, and the December 13 date was chosen to "provide everyone with certainty".
"This is going to be a very, very special time of the year," Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday.
"I know people have said to me personally, some of them haven't seen their grandkids for the first time."
At least 87.37 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have received one jab and 78.67 per cent are fully vaccinated.
To enter Queensland once the border opens, travellers from COVID-19 hotspots must be fully vaccinated and show proof of a negative test taken within three days of their arrival.
Arrivals from domestic hotspots must also get another COVID-19 test on day five of their stay, but only have to wait one week from when they receive their second vaccination dose to enter the state.
The announcement comes as the state reported three new cases in quarantine on Monday, two from interstate and one from overseas.
© AAP 2021
Photo: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (AAP Image/Jono Searle)
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Gardening guru Peter Cundall signed off in 2008 after spending 39 years sharing his passion on television, and has died at his adopted home of Tasmania aged 94.
The long-time host of ABC Television program Gardening Australia, Cundall was a self-taught gardener who helped countless Australians design and grow their gardens.
His family said he passed away peacefully on Sunday after a short illness.
"While he was loved by many, as per Peter's wishes, there will be a private cremation and no memorial services will be held," a family statement said.
His family requested that no images of Cundall be published with the announcement of his death.
Monday's @themercurycomau cartoon: Peter Cundall planted a love for gardening in many Australians - and a lot of that love is still in bloom today! pic.twitter.com/WTxaa14pSp
— Christopher (Tasmanian cartoonist) Downes (@CJDownes) December 5, 2021
Cundall was born to an impoverished family in Manchester, England, on April 1, 1927 and left school aged 12.
His love of horticulture started early and he learned pruning techniques, propagation, planting and heated greenhouse management.
Cundall also taught himself paving techniques, mainly using second-hand materials wheeled from derelict buildings in an old pram.
After working as a milk boy and a tram conductor, Cundall joined the British Army near the end of World War ll and was stationed across Europe and in the Middle East.
He arrived in Australia as a member of the Australian Army in 1950, but was promptly posted to Japan during the Korean War, where he continued to learn his craft.
The tireless green finger embraced the opportunity to study Japanese garden design and rock garden construction.
On his return home he began his own garden design and construction business in Tasmania, specialising in large landscaping projects.
Cundall began his long media career in 1967, launching one of the world's first gardening talkback programs for a Launceston radio station and writing articles for newspapers and magazines.
His association with the ABC began in 1969, when he launched a weekly television program first called It's Growing, then Landscape, before settling on its long-time title of Gardening Australia.
Cundall was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1974, which he used to study garden design and organic gardening around the world, and how gardening programs were made for differing climatic conditions.
Cundall's passion for gardening saw him named a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Australia Day honours.
After he retired from Gardening Australia in 2008 he told AAP he maintained his robust good health through his life was a direct result of his love of the outdoors.
"I put it down to physical work, doing things in the garden, not sitting on your backside, growing healthy food and eating healthy food," he said.
The father of six lived in Tasmania's Tamar Valley and was also recognised for his services to the environment, particularly the protection of wilderness areas in the island state.
In 2006, Cundall was named the Australian Humanist of the Year while in 2005 he was named Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year.
Politically active throughout his career, Cundall protested against Australia's participation in the Iraq war in 2003 and was arrested in November 2009 for failing to comply with police directions while protesting against a proposed pulp mill near his home, for which he was found guilty and ordered to pay court costs of $47.
Outside court, Cundall expressed his disappointment at being found guilty.
"We didn't feel that we broke the law. We didn't feel that we did anything wrong," he said, flanked by supporters.
In 2011 Cundall was one of a group of eminent Australians who signed an open letter calling for a carbon tax in Australia to combat climate change.
His many fans will remember him for his trademark sign-off which now seems even more poignant: "...and that's your bloomin' lot!"
© AAP 2021
Main image: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens / Nicole a Alley
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Covid case numbers in New South Wales are down, but hospitalisations are up.
286 people have been diagnosed and one person with the virus has died.
There are 148 people in hospital, up from 139 the day prior - 26 of those are in intensive care.
There have been seven new cases in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Health District in the 24 hours to eight o'clock last night.
Five of those are from the Wollongong Local Government area and two from Kiama.
There are seven new cases in the Hunter New England Health District.
Two are from the Lake Macquarie LGA, two from Mid Coast LGA, two from Tamworth Regional LGA and one is from Cessnock.
In the Southern NSW Health District there has been one new case.
The case is in the Yass Valley LGA, in Gundaroo, and is linked to a known case.
Figures for the Wingecarribee Shire were last updated on December 3.
There was one new case.
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