Daily News Roundup

 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

Queensland will extend its border zone to include five more areas in New South Wales.

From 1:00am on October 1, Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Glen Innes local government areas will be able to travel into Queensland.

It comes as the state recorded zero new coronavirus cases overnight, leaving just 16 active cases overnight.

The extended border zone will include 41 New South Wales postcodes, spanning 11 local government areas.

Residents will have to apply for a border pass to travel into Queensland.

Queensland residents will also be able to travel to those areas from October 1.

“I think this is a great effort to consider how we can make our border zones more effective,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“These areas have a lot in common with Queensland, they do a lot of their business in Queensland so we believe this is the right measure to take.”

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said there were 152,000 residents in the border zones who would now be able to travel into Queensland.

“These are people who might live in New South Wales, but many feel more of an affinity with Queensland,” Mr Miles said.

Victoria has reported 28 new coronavirus cases and three further deaths, as Melbourne’s 14-day daily case average continues to fall.

Yesterday, the state reported two deaths and 11 new cases — the lowest daily infections tally in more than three months.

Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day daily case average is now 32.8, down from 34.4 yesterday.

Regional Victoria’s rolling average remains at 1.6.

Under Victoria’s “roadmap to reopening” Melbourne is set to have some restrictions eased on September 28.

The second step of the roadmap will allow public gatherings of up to five people from a maximum of two households, and childcare to reopen, from that date.

However the roadmap says rules including the 9:00pm-5:00am curfew and the five kilometre radius limit on where people can travel will remain in place until at least October.

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About a third of the 270 pilot whales stranded on a sandbar on Tasmania’s West Coast have died, rescuers say.

The whales got into difficulty on a sandbank at Macquarie Heads — near Strahan, about 190 kilometres from Hobart — yesterday.

Marine Conservation Program wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said rescuers would this morning try to “refloat’ several animals.

“We’ve got animals spread over a large area and in really challenging locations. We’re going to take the animals with the best chance to start with and the ones that we are able to deal with,” Dr Carlyon said.

“Some animals may be simply too big or in an unsuitable location to deal with. So there’ll be a little bit of bit of triage involved.”

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Donald Trump has suggested Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish was faked by his political opponents in the Democratic Party.

After Justice Ginsburg’s death on Friday, her granddaughter Clara Spera released her final statement to Americans: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Mr Trump, however, intends to nominate a successor “without delay”.

Speaking to Fox News overnight, the US President cast doubt on the veracity of Justice Ginsburg’s last words, theorising they were actually written by the Democrats.

“I don’t know that she said that. Or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi? I would be more inclined to the second,” Mr Trump told the network’s morning show Fox & Friends in a phone interview.

“That came out of the wind. It sounds so beautiful. But that sounds like a Schumer deal, or maybe a Pelosi or Shifty Schiff.

“Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t.”

Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. Mr Schiff is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and prosecuted the case against Mr Trump during his impeachment trial earlier this year.

So the President was essentially pointing the finger at his three biggest enemies in Congress.

He was also, by implication, calling Ms Spera a liar, given she is the one who released Justice Ginsburg’s statement, and she said her grandmother had dictated it.