Selected
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Selected
- Hits: 146
New Zealand's heightened sensitivity to COVID-19 is undoubtedly driving a tightening of the trans-Tasman bubble.
Jacinda Ardern's government is making no apologies for its safety-first mantra, as it prioritises keeping the virus and in particular the feared Delta variant out of the country.
New Zealand is on a charmed 131-day streak without community transmission, showing the effectiveness of its border policies.
With the least vaccinated population in the developed world, it cannot afford an outbreak.
The "Team of Five Million", referred to ad nauseum by government leaders through the pandemic, ranks 125th in the world for vaccinated people per capita.
Committed to the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, just 15 per cent of Kiwis have received their first jab, placing it below Australia on 18 per cent and the global average.
That's a key reason why Chris Hipkins, the COVID-19 Minister, on Friday reversed a decision to allow Kiwis stranded in NSW by the latest outbreak to come home.
"If the lockdown isn't working and the people haven't been following the rules ... then that does add additional risk for us here in New Zealand," he said.
Last month, the government acted outside its public plan and closed the entire bubble for a week, fearing widespread cases from the Northern Territory gold mine cluster.
"The recent outbreaks and lockdowns across the Tasman, along with the recent scare in Wellington, have served to highlight the risks," Ms Ardern said.
"We need to stay vigilant."
That vigilance has seen the bubble partially shut for two of its first three months, including a month-long closure to Victoria and a week-long complete shutdown.
The clunky responses are devoid of nuance, meaning residents of Tweed Heads aren't able to travel when NSW is suspended due to cases in Sydney, despite their distance.
Similarly, when cases in Brisbane close the Queensland bubble, New Zealand shows little interest in allowing flights from Townsville or Cairns.
New Zealand has now tightened the screws further, mandating a costly pre-departure test (PDT) for all Australian visitors whether they're leaving a place with cases or not.
"Most people should be able to get a test for a couple of hundred dollars," Mr Hipkins said.
"It's just one of the realities of the way the world is at the moment."
Even Tourism Minister Stuart Nash would not go in to bat for his hard-hit operators, while acknowledging the extra cost would defer visitors.
"I make no apologies whatsoever. Keeping New Zealanders safe is by far the number one objective of the government," he told AAP.
"I don't think you'll get any pushback from any Kiwis anywhere."
Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts hopes they can land a more nuanced position.
"PDT is one tool amongst many that the government has ... it should be used when it is required but we hope it does not become a permanent feature," he said.
"Travel is increasingly complicated and expensive, and for many people who would like to come here, it may just be getting too hard."
The trans-Tasman bubble resumed in time for one week of Victorian school holidays, with planes bounding into Queenstown during ski season this week.
Unfortunately for other tourism operators hoping for a trans-Tasman windfall, a further tax-grab is coming.
Citing cabinet documents obtained under disclosure laws, the TIA claims the government is planning to raise border levies in December from $20 to $63 ($A59).
"It is too soon, too impactful on the traveller and will slow down the recovery for thousands of tourism businesses," Mr Roberts said.
Mr Nash - who is hoping to use COVID-19 as a reset to New Zealand's tourism industry, focussing on high-value visitors - did not deny the tax take was coming.
The Napier MP said "a lot of consultation has still to occur" on the final amount, foreshadowing "reasonably substantial change".
BARELY A BUBBLE: TRANS-TASMAN TRAVEL WOE
April 19 - Six months after Australia began allowing quarantine-free travel from New Zealand, New Zealand reciprocates, creating the trans-Tasman bubble.
April 23 - Bubble closes to WA, lasts five days.
May 7 - Bubble closes to NSW, lasts three days.
May 25 - Bubble closes to Victoria, lasts 28 days with stranded Kiwis allowed home after a fortnight.
June 23 - Bubble closes to NSW. Suspension is ongoing until at least July 16.
June 29 - Bubble closes to all states.
July 5 - Bubble re-opens to Victoria, Tasmania, SA, ACT, lasts seven days.
July 10 - Bubble re-opens to WA, NT, lasts 12 days with stranded Kiwis allowed home from Queensland.
© AAP 2021
Image Credit: Nel_Botha-NZ / Pixabay
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Selected
- Hits: 124
He said the NSW government may also make use of federal income support platforms to administer state government-funded financial assistance, if required.
The lockdown of Greater Sydney is due to end on July 16 but both Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet have in recent days admitted it will likely be extended.
NSW recorded 50 new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, 37 of which were active in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
Some 16 COVID-19 patients are currently in intensive care, with four ventilated.
Mr Perrottet on Sunday said he expected the lockdown provisions to be extended and this would, in the absence of JobKeeper, cause major damage to businesses and workers.
He said the government would thus be obliged to splash more cash on assistance, and that a second business support package would be announced later this week.
NSW has already spent $1.4 billion on business support amid the current lockdown.
"Last year there didn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel whereas now the vaccine program is rolling out across the state - this gives hope this will hopefully be the last time we have to go through this," Mr Perrottet told Sky News.
"We're going to have to do more, that's just the reality."
Mr Perrottet was reportedly opposed to the extension of the initial two-week lockdown in Greater Sydney and surrounds due to its effect on business.
While he acknowledged on Sunday that NSW could not currently let the virus run rampant through the community due to low vaccination rates, he said Australians would one day need to adjust and accept the presence of COVID-19 in the community.
"At some point in time we will be opening up the international borders - we can't be living here on the other side of the world as a backwater," Mr Perrottet said.
NSW Health on Saturday issued numerous alerts for venues of concern across Sydney.
They include Coles at Kareela, a KFC in Rockdale, Penrith Barbeques Galore, a Bunnings in Padstow and a popular cafe in Centennial Park.
The busy Broadway Shopping Centre in Ultimo posted on social media it had been alerted to a COVID-positive shopper who visited on Thursday.
Several major outlets, including Aldi, Kmart and JB Hi-Fi, were visited by the case and NSW Health on Saturday evening listed the centre as a venue of concern.
As case numbers grow, Ms Berejiklian urged Sydneysiders to adhere to lockdown rules.
"The vast majority of those (new) cases are close family or friends of people who have COVID," she told reporters on Saturday.
"If you truly love your parents, your sisters, your best friends, please stick to the rules."
After a further update to public health orders, Sydneysiders are now required to wear masks in all indoor areas of construction sites and common areas of apartment blocks.
The new rules come after city-wide restrictions were tightened on Friday afternoon, with exercise now limited to groups of two and only one person per day from each household allowed to leave the house to go shopping.
© AAP 2021
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Selected
- Hits: 142
.jpg)
A five-week-old boy has died after being mauled by the family dog on the NSW central coast.
Emergency services were called to the Jeffs Close, Kariong, home at 2:20 am on Sunday with reports the baby had been mauled.
Officers and paramedics performed CPR on the five-week-old boy but he could not be revived.
The baby's parents were home. The dog, which is owned by the family, has been secured.
There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be prepared for the coroner, police say.
© AAP 2021
Image Credit: Highway Patrol Images, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Selected
- Hits: 135
Ash Barty has hailed her Wimbledon triumph as "nothing short of a miracle" after overcoming serious injury to complete her dream of lifting the biggest title in tennis.
After her three-set triumph over Karolina Pliskova on Saturday, Australia's new champion revealed the full extent of the hip injury that she feared would derail her Wimbledon hopes, just as they'd ruined her chances of regaining the French Open title.
The injury was so bad that her close team, headed by coach Craig Tyzzer, kept the gloomy news from her a month before Wimbledon that she was suffering from an injury which could keep her out until August.
"They kept a lot of cards close to their chest and didn't tell me a lot of the odds, didn't tell me a lot of the information that they'd got from other specialists," revealed Barty after her 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 win over Pliskova.
"I think them not telling me that just proved how much we were up against the odds.
"There weren't too many radiologists in Australia who had seen my injury. In a sense, it was a two-month injury.
"Being able to play here at Wimbledon was nothing short of a miracle.
"I think now to be playing pain-free through this event was incredible.
"It's funny, sometimes the stars align - you can think positively, you can plan, and sometimes the stars do align, you can chase after your dreams.
"Certainly now chatting to them it looked a lot less likely than I felt statistically. I think it's been an incredible month."
Yet Barty never stopped believing in herself and she always had the feeling that there would be a "silver lining" after the trying month where even she recognised that making the first round of Wimbledon would be "touch and go".
"I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, the good moments and the tough moments," she said.
"I felt like I was able to get better and better with each match and trust myself more and more each and every time I stood out on the court.
"Some of my toughest moments have come at Wimbledon. Now some of my most incredible moments have come here as well.
"I think it's just an iconic venue. It's an amazing club. To be able to learn so much from this place, I think I'm a very lucky girl."
After having to be so careful with the injury during Wimbledon, Barty will now go on to Tokyo for the Olympics before flying to New York, attempting to add a gold medal and the US Open title to the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Asked if her body would hold up to the upcoming challenges, Barty said: "I certainly have no fears about my fitness. Of course, some things will happen, that's the life of being an athlete.
"But I know that I've got the very best team around me to prepare me in a way as best as we can."
© AAP 2021
IMAGE CREDIT: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Page 177 of 191