Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, has hit out at the news Queensland is considering a hard border with NSW, blasting the situation as "childish".
Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, has hit out at the "childish" way the situation between the Queensland and NSW border is being handled.
Speaking to Nine's Today, Mr Dutton commented on the fact that the NSW premier hadn't been informed about any of Queensland's recent border announcements.
"When you get a premier like Annastacia Palaszczuk making announcements about border closures when Gladys Berejiklian is doing a press conference and she is caught out, the question is asked of her and she knows nothing about it, she hadn’t been contacted by Queensland, well you would imagine she would be a bit miffed," he said.
"I think it is childish."
Mr Dutton's comments come after Ms Berejiklian confirmed once again Queensland premier hadn't given her a heads up about potentially placing a hard border on NSW.
NSW has recorded nine new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
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The NSW Government has received the report on the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess COVID-19 cruise ship debacle.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she'll read the report over the weekend, and respond early next week to the findings.
If you're interested, you can read it for yourself here.
Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Canberra Airport will be forced to close on multiple days due to coronavirus-related travel bans.
The airport will be shut on Saturday, August 22 and Saturday, August 23, with the potential of further Saturday closures.
It comes as the ACT again reported no new COVID-19 infections.
In a statement, Head of Aviation Michael Thomson said the airport is doing what it can to stay open and keep people employed.
"We are committed to the recovery of Australian domestic aviation and the importance it has for thousands of people's livelihood and the economy," Mr Thomson said.
RELATED: State border could be closed until Christmas
Picture: NCA NewsWire
"Yet without a domestic aviation recovery plan in place there will be no Australian aviation and thousands more jobs will be lost. We need a national domestic aviation recovery plan.
"We have been forced to close the airport on 22 and 29 August and we will review this decision with the possibility of future closures. We simply can't keep functioning when aviation travel is down to around 1% of pre-COVID-19 passenger numbers."
Mr Thomson called on all state and territory governments to develop a national aviation recovery plan that "adheres to health authority advice and one that allows people to travel based on a risk assessment and passengers meeting pre-requisites for travel".
"Pre-requisites may include COVID-19 testing, heat screening, mask wearing and any number of other measures that we shouldn't try to guess at now. What's important is that the discussion is had between the health officials, the aviation industry, and governments for a coordinated approach – and that it happens now before it's too late," he said.
"There are levels of risk for everything we do in life but in health, business, and our daily lives we manage risk and carry on – otherwise nothing would ever be achieved."
In addition, six people were issued $1000 PINs and one business a $5000 PIN, including:
Two people have been charged with assaulting police and six people and one business have been issued with COVID-19 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs).
One of those charged with assault was a 14-year-old boy who boarded a bus at Lane Cove, appearing to be heavily intoxicated.
The bus driver told the teen not to board, and when he did anyway, the driver called the police.
The boy then allegedly punched the driver in the head and spat in his face, a statement from NSW Police said, before getting off the bus.
Officers from North Shore Police Area Command located him a short time later, taking him back to Chatswood Police Station, where he allegedly assaulted a police officer who was assisting him to an ambulance.
He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital for observation, and dealt a number of chargers including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and not comply noticed direction re spitting/coughing COVID-19.
In an unrelated incident last night, officers from North Shore Police Area Command attended a home on Spit Road, Mosman, following a call to assist NSW Ambulance Paramedics.
While in the back of the ambulance, a 23-year-old woman allegedly spat in the face of two officers and paramedics, and bit the finger of the male officer.
She was charged with assault police and not comply noticed direction re spitting/coughing – COVID-19.
The school at the centre of NSW's largest COVID-19 outbreak in a school setting has been cleared of wrongdoing by the police.
NSW Police were investigating claims that the Tangara School for Girls, which is now linked to 21 virus cases, was flouting COVID-19 safety rules before the cluster was uncovered.
According to The Daily Telegraph, NSW Police have finished the investigation and found not truth to the allegations.
“The NSW Police force has finalised its investigation and determined no breaches of the Public Health Act or public health orders have taken place,” a spokesperson told the publication.
It follows allegations from parents at the school that choir, mandatory mass and food stalls were still being held at the school, along with social distancing being ignored.
A church in Sydney's northwest has been forced to close for deep cleaning after a parishioner tested positive to COVID-19.
Our Lady of the Angels Church in Rouse Hill has urged members to be on the look out for coronavirus symptoms after the infected person attended Mass at 9am on August 8.
"NSW Health has investigated and determined those who also attended that particular Mass were casual contacts," the church said in a statement.
"This is due to the relatively short duration of the Mass and the COVID-Safe precautions taken by the parish such as no singing, social distancing, and hand sanitising.
"Everyone who attended the Mass will be contacted by the parish and advised to monitor for symptoms until 22 August – 14 days after the Mass. If they develop symptoms, they should seek testing and self-isolate until they receive the result."
The church closed for deep cleaning on August 13 and will reopen on August 15.
"NSW Health have advised there is no risk to parishioners who attended Mass at any other time or on any other day," the church said.
"When our Church reopens on August 15 at 9.00am we require all parishioners to wear masks to Mass – please ensure you bring them with you. Parishioners will also have their temperatures checked upon arrival."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australia needs to have a "reality check" about what living through a pandemic means for the country.
Speaking during a press conference on Friday, Mr Morrison said there were millions of Australians every day doing their best to get through the challenges presented by COVID-19.
"Each and every day, they are all just doing their best to ensure that Australians are not let down during this period," he said.
"And the sad truth is, some days, we fall short. And other days, we don't. On some days, the pandemic gets the better of us, and on other days, it doesn't. And I think we've got to have a reality check about this.
"There are no absolute guarantees in a global pandemic. There are no absolute assurances that can be provided."
Picture: Gary Ramage/NCA NewsWire
The PM said Australians had high stands for how services and facilities should operate, particularly in the school, hospital and aged care sectors.
He said the government and everyone working in those sectors is seeking to live up to those expectations.
"But it's tough. And the challenges are complex. And no-one has had to ever deal with this before," he said.
"The combination of a global recession, a global pandemic, and how that impacts particularly on the most vulnerable in our community. It's tough. And it's going to continue to be tough.
"I said that back in March of this year and even earlier 2020 was going to be the hardest year of our lives. And so it is proving to be.
"But I said Australians would be tested, and we'd measure up. Some days, we wish better than has occurred."
Home affairs Minister Peter Dutton says the Ruby Princess fiasco will likely change the way Australia polices its borders in the future, by highlighting the need to take health risks as well as other potential threats into account.
Speaking to the Today show on Nine on Friday morning, Mr Dutton said “lessons will be learned” from the report, which is due to be handed to the NSW government today.
“I think the borders will be a new environment when we come out of this,” he said. “We will look closely at people for whether they are a criminal or a terrorist threat, but more importantly, or as importantly into the future, whether or not people are a health risk as well.”
But he again deflected blame from the Australian Border Force and suggested changes would come in state health authorities.
It’s the responsibility to this day of state health officials to assess risks, he said, adding “I don‘t employ a doctor or nurse at the airport, at ports.”
“It is nothing to do with the Australian Border Force,” he said. “They look at documentation … they do not conduct testing, they don‘t conduct temperature tests.”
– Lane Sainty, NCA NewsWire
NSW has recorded nine new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
This brings the total number of cases in the state to 3747.
Of the new cases one was a student at the Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook, one worked at Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club, two were household contacts of known cases, one worked at Liverpool Hospital, one was locally acquired with no known source and three were returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
The new case linked to Tangara School for Girls brings the total number of infections in that cluster to 21.
NSW Police are working with NSW Health to investigate claims the school breached COVID-19 safety requirements.
A parent of one of the students claimed to 2GB's Ben Fordham on Thursday that the school had been going against health advice and holding extracurricular activities and events.
"According to this parent, the school has not been practicing COVID-Safe measures. They say the primary school has been doing weekly choir with no social distancing, they’ve continued compulsory mass, students are still taking communion by the hand and teachers are able to take it by the tongue," Fordham said on his radio show.
The parent also claimed there was no social distancing in place at assemblies and a primary school food stall run by the high school students was held last Wednesday.
An inner-Sydney school has closed for cleaning after a student contracted COVID-19.
St Vincent's College in Potts Point announced the infection last night, saying the school would be closed on Friday to allow for contact tracing and deep cleaning.
"From the outset of the pandemic, the College has taken every precaution in line with Government policy to minimize risk," the school said in a statement.
"This is now however the circumstance we are dealing with and we are well prepared to implement our contingency plans."
Picture: Joel Carrett/NCA NewsWire
Another wave of Covid-19 is surging across one Aussie state, with authorities urging residents to have a new booster jab.
The apology follows a major report into Australia’s response to the pandemic that found trust in vaccination programs has declined.
Australia’s health minister is issuing a grim warning about the country’s ability to weather another pandemic.