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Australia coronavirus live news: Victoria records no new Covid cases as Melbourne lockdown ends Australia coronavirus live news: Victoria records no new Covid cases as Melbourne lockdown ends
(32 minutes later)
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NSW has become the first state in Australia to automatically ban anyone convicted of serious animal abuse from ever owning or working with animals again, reports Tiffanie Turnbull, from AAP.
A government bill introducing tougher penalties for animal cruelty and bestiality passed the state parliament on Thursday night, after two years of advocacy by Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst.
A psychologist and survivor of domestic violence, Hurst says human and animal abuse often go hand in hand. The new penalties are a significant step towards addressing both crimes, she said in a statement.
She cites one case where a Sydney man was jailed for serious animal cruelty after he stabbed a dog with a pitchfork six times, then hung the dog to a tree and left it to die over many hours.
A petting zoo operator, that man was not banned from working with animals again, she says.
The new NSW legislation is unique in that the ban is for a lifetime and is automatically imposed upon conviction.
Hurst is now urging other states to follow suit.
It should be easier for Australians to get their smartphones, tablets and other devices repaired or replaced, the Productivity Commission has found.
The commission reviewed the so-called “right to repair” in Australia and received more than 300 submissions and comments. Many consumers complained that companies were making it harder and more expensive to get devices repaired by anyone other than the manufacturer.
The most common issues with phones, for example, are smashed screens or the need to replace the battery, but increasingly, companies like Apple and Samsung are making it harder for consumers to repair it themselves – or get it repaired by anyone but Apple or Samsung.
You can read the full report below:
Good news from Queensland.
The sunshine state has recorded no cases of Covid-19 overnight, local or otherwise!
This comes after two unknowingly infected Victorians entered Queensland while their home state was in lockdown and subsequently tested positive on the Sunshine Coast.
The Victorian Royal Commission into Crown will be extended by two and a half months due to the “seriousness of evidence produced through hearings and submissions to date”, the inquiry says.The Victorian Royal Commission into Crown will be extended by two and a half months due to the “seriousness of evidence produced through hearings and submissions to date”, the inquiry says.
Commissioner Ray Finkelstein was due to report by 1 August, but this has now been pushed back to 15 October. His budget has also been pumped up from $10 million to $19.75 million.Commissioner Ray Finkelstein was due to report by 1 August, but this has now been pushed back to 15 October. His budget has also been pumped up from $10 million to $19.75 million.
Acting premier James Merlino said: Victoria’s acting premier James Merlino said:
We established this royal commission to get the answers we need about Crown – and this extension will ensure the scope of evidence provided so far is able to be thoroughly considered.The minister for consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation, Melissa Horne, said the evidence heard at the commission so far was “significant”. The minister for consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation, Melissa Horne, said the evidence heard at the commission so far was “significant”.
Ooh, would you look at that, the Queensland press conference should be at around 10am (AEST). So in about 40 minutes.Ooh, would you look at that, the Queensland press conference should be at around 10am (AEST). So in about 40 minutes.
In terms of today’s press conferences, there are two big ones we are waiting for. Victoria, where we will hear all about lockdown ending and maybe a little about what comes next, and Queensland, where we will learn if there has been any more community spread of Covid-19 on the Sunshine Coast.In terms of today’s press conferences, there are two big ones we are waiting for. Victoria, where we will hear all about lockdown ending and maybe a little about what comes next, and Queensland, where we will learn if there has been any more community spread of Covid-19 on the Sunshine Coast.
No confirmed times on either of these yet, but I will keep you posted.No confirmed times on either of these yet, but I will keep you posted.
Amnesty International has collected new evidence of human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, which it says has become a “dystopian hellscape” for hundreds of thousands of Muslims subjected to mass internment and torture.Amnesty International has collected new evidence of human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, which it says has become a “dystopian hellscape” for hundreds of thousands of Muslims subjected to mass internment and torture.
The human rights organisation has collected more than 50 new accounts from Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who claim to have been subjected to mass internment and torture in police stations and camps in the region.The human rights organisation has collected more than 50 new accounts from Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who claim to have been subjected to mass internment and torture in police stations and camps in the region.
Testimonies from former detainees included in a new report launched on Thursday allege the use of “tiger chairs” – steel chairs with leg irons and handcuffs that restrain the body in painful positions – on detainees during police interrogations.Testimonies from former detainees included in a new report launched on Thursday allege the use of “tiger chairs” – steel chairs with leg irons and handcuffs that restrain the body in painful positions – on detainees during police interrogations.
You can read the full report below:You can read the full report below:
Star swimmer Maddie Groves has pulled out of the Australian Olympic swimming trials just days before the event begins in Adelaide, saying her last-minute withdrawal should be a lesson to “all misogynistic perverts in sport”.Star swimmer Maddie Groves has pulled out of the Australian Olympic swimming trials just days before the event begins in Adelaide, saying her last-minute withdrawal should be a lesson to “all misogynistic perverts in sport”.
Groves, who won two silver medals at the Rio Games five years ago, was aiming to reach her second Olympics at the national trials, which start this weekend and run for six days. But the 26-year-old butterfly specialist, also a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, announced her decision not to compete in a social media post on Wednesday night.Groves, who won two silver medals at the Rio Games five years ago, was aiming to reach her second Olympics at the national trials, which start this weekend and run for six days. But the 26-year-old butterfly specialist, also a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, announced her decision not to compete in a social media post on Wednesday night.
In a separate message posted on Thursday “for emphasis” and to “make them pervs quake in fear from the number of people supporting a statement that threatens their existence”, she made allegations about her treatment by an unnamed individual involved in the sport.In a separate message posted on Thursday “for emphasis” and to “make them pervs quake in fear from the number of people supporting a statement that threatens their existence”, she made allegations about her treatment by an unnamed individual involved in the sport.
Groves wrote:Groves wrote:
You can read the full report below:You can read the full report below:
There is a bit of confusion on the airport front when it comes to travel from Victoria to NSW.There is a bit of confusion on the airport front when it comes to travel from Victoria to NSW.
Anyone else hungry for Krispy Kreme?
That’s right, it’s a doughnut day in Victoria! Hazzah!
A parent whose children attend a Montessori school in regional New South Wales said she was “gobsmacked” to receive an invitation from the school’s founders to an “exciting” webinar held by a macrobiotic food enthusiast, who would teach them how to boost their immunity so they could “choose not to take” the Covid-19 vaccination.
The email was sent by Donna McCulloch, a co-founder of the Thomas More Christian Montessori school in Bega, and said: “a world renown [sic] Marcobiology [sic] Consultant who is a personal friend of mine … is giving important seminars via Zoom from Stockholm”.“I asked him if he would give one for our parents,” the email, which was sent to all parents on 3 June, said.
Tap water from a tiny regional town in Tasmania, which was declared undrinkable three years ago, is now considered the world’s best, reports AAP:
Rossarden’s water treatment plant recently claimed the Best Municipal Water 2021 award at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting event in America.
The global event judged water from five continents, 14 countries and 19 US states.
It is the first time water from Australia has won the award in the event’s 31-year history.
TasWater acting chief executive Juliet Mercer said:
A program to upgrade water infrastructure across Tasmania has seen public health alerts removed from 29 towns. Rossarden in the state’s northern midlands is home to just 42 people.
In this competition, the water was judged under guidelines similar to wine tasting and rated on appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel and aftertaste.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was considered to have the best municipal water in America.
The top bottled water award was given to Ulunom in Japan, while New Zealand’s Fleck Sparkling Mineral Water took out the best sparkling category.
This is a fantastic joke and I’m devastated that I didn’t think of it myself.
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, and his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, have confirmed students will be the first group to travel under a bubble arrangement to be established by the two countries, with Morrison stating it will happen “sooner rather than later”.
Lee confirmed students would be the first priority following talks between the two leaders in Singapore on Thursday.
The Singaporean prime minister said he had discussed with Morrison “how two-way travel can eventually resume in a safe and calibrated manner when both sides are ready.”
You can read the full report below:
The Australian Medical Association say they welcome the release of updated PPE guidelines aimed at protecting health care workers against aerosol transmission of Covid-19.
The association have been campaigning for healthcare workers to be provided with N95 face masks when interacting with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 patients since last year, rather than the simple surgical mask that was previously the norm.
President Dr Omar Khorshid said the updated guidelines went a long way to addressing the concerns of medical professionals.
An important marsupial update:
The penis of an echidna has four heads but only two become erect at any one time. Now, Australian researchers have uncovered why.
Scientists discovered the marsupial has unusual reproductive anatomy that causes male echidnas to ejaculate from only two of their four penile heads at one time.
The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Sexual Development, found that echidna penises have similar features to those of other mammals, including platypuses, but also similarities to reptiles.
The scientists studied the internal anatomy of several echidnas that had been brought into the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland with severe injuries and had to be euthanised.
You can read full report below:
The New Zealand government has cited the 15,000 close contacts of Covid-19 as it extends a ban on Victorians using quarantine-free travel.
Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealand’s pause to “green zone” travel from Melbourne will continue until Thursday 17 June, reports Ben McKay from AAP.
But, New Zealand has begun allowing stranded Kiwis – those who were visiting the state when the lockdown hit – to Aotearoa.
Jacinda Ardern’s government has issued an exemption for NZ citizens and regular residents to travel home, deeming their fortnight spent in lockdown to be equivalent to a fortnight spent in mandatory isolation.
The returning Kiwis must also produce a negative Covid-19 test result in the 72 hours before their flight.
Hipkins said other wannabe trans-Tasman travellers and tourists from Melbourne must wait until the government lifts its ban, and restarts the bubble.
Hipkins said there were still three cases among the outbreak without an epidemiological link to overseas cases, and more than 15,000 close contacts identified that may be at risk.
Anyone that has visited a location of interest in Australia is also ineligible to travel to New Zealand within 14 days of the potential exposure event.
Just on those Victorian floods, reporters Naaman Zhou and Soofia Tariq have all the updates from across the state.
You can read the full report here:
It’s finally Friday, which means no more lockdown for Melbourne!
It’s Matilda Boseley here, and rather than leave my house and take advantage of my newfound freedom, I’m excited to man the blog, and see out the week of news with you.
Although it must be said, it isn’t all good news today.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has reported a 52-year-old NSW woman died from a blood clot in the brain, making her the second person to do so out of 3.6m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine delivered.
Of the 48 confirmed and probable cases of people who have developed clots after receiving the vaccine, 31 have been discharged from hospital and are recovering. Fifteen remain in hospital.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly says Australia is getting very good at diagnosing and treating the condition, reducing the chances a blood clotting incident would be fatal.
Kelly urged people to be informed about the early symptoms of the extremely rare condition, but not be dissuaded from coming forward to get the jab.
Down south, the wild weather in Victorian that yesterday left more than 200,000 people without power, has claimed the life of one man, and put two volunteers in hospital.
Police confirmed on Thursday evening that a man, thought to be in his 60s, was found dead at Woodside in South Gippsland.
A member of the public on Thursday afternoon alerted emergency services to a vehicle “almost submerged” in floodwaters, police said in a statement. Officers attended the scene and confirmed that a man had died.
The circumstances of his death are being investigated and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Two SES members were also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after separate tree-related incidents.
The massive clean up effort will continue today as the state experiences the tail end of the wild weather event.
Okay, with that why don’t we jump into the day.
If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.