Tourism operators want more help in the face of extended international travel bans 20/1/2021 (See translation in Arabic section) Sydney - M E Times Int'l: Tourism operators faced with indefinite international border restrictions are appealing for more support from the federal government. Australians are being warned that international travel is unlikely to resume until next year even as coronavirus vaccines are rolled out. Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond says the sector cannot survive on domestic travel alone, particularly if state borders keep closing. Meanwhile, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that three of four COVID cases found in hotel quarantine in the past 24 hours were linked to the Australian Open tennis tournament. It now means that seven of eight cases recorded in the past two days are linked to the tournament. NSW Health confirmed there were no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday with two cases recorded in returned travellers. The ACT is removing travel restrictions on people from Sydney’s northern beaches today with 75 people in quarantine to be released.  Johnson extends G7 invite to Australia Canberra: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited Australia to attend this year’s G7 summit held in Cornwall in June. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will look to attend the talks in person with the final decision to be made while monitoring the health advice. Australia has been invited to attend along with India and South Korea.  New $670m hospital announced for Tweed Sydney: Speaking at a press conference in Tweed, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced construction will start on a brand-new hospital for the region as part of the NSW government’s investment stimulus program during the pandemic. “During COVID New South Wales has made sure that we're progressing with all of our critical important projects,” the premier said. She said the new tweed hospital was “one of the largest infrastructure projects” currently in New South Wales. The new building will cost more than $670 million and projections indicate the new state-of-the-art hospital will be completed by 2023. “It is a team effort and we're looking forward to the foundations being laid and the hospital construction proceeding and in 2023 having the good residents of this community using the hospital". Not one to miss an opportunity to take out a political opponent, Ms Berejiklian took aim at the Queensland Premier saying "of course we don't even mind when people north of the border come to use our health facilities because that's the kind of state we are".  Widespread overseas travel unlikely for Australians in 2021 Canberra: Australia’s top health chief has dashed hopes that the rollout of the vaccine will allow people to travel overseas this year, predicting borders will remain closed until 2022. The man who urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to shut the borders last year has made the grim prediction this morning. As the first anniversary of the international border closure approaches on February 1, Health Department chief Brendan Murphy said it’s too early to say whether borders can reopen this year. “I think that that is a big question. I think that the answer is probably no,” he told ABC TV. And he concedes the big reason is that even though the vaccination will stop people getting the virus, we still don’t know if it will stop them spreading it to others. “I think that we’ll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions – even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don’t know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus,” Professor Murphy said. “And it’s likely that quarantine will continue for some time. One of the things about this virus is that the rule book has been made up as we go.” 
Australia 'well positioned' for economic recovery: Treasurer Canberra: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia is "well positioned” for an economic recovery, pointing to the nation’s success on both the health front and the economic front. “We know the road ahead will still be tough,” the Treasurer said. “There will be challenges, it will be difficult as we see, globally, many countries struggle with the health and the economic impacts of COVID-19.” His comments come after the release of Deloitte Access Economics Business Outlook Report for December 2020 which indicated the country’s economy was outperforming expectations.  Berejiklian pleads for state borders to open: 'it's not the way to do it' Sydney: Gladys Berejiklian has pleaded to the Victorian government to consider the impact the border policies are having on residents of New South Wales and Victoria. “It is volatile, every day is a challenge in fighting the pandemic, but to impact thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of lives, by going overboard, I don’t think is the way to do it,” she said. “I appreciate that state premiers have decisions to make on how they manage the pandemic and how they provide health services to their citizens. “At the end of the day, I think all of us need to think of ourselves as Australian.”  ACT opens to the Northern Beaches Canberra: ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced the Northern Beaches local government area will be removed from the state’s list of COVID-19 affected areas in Sydney. The change means people currently in quarantine in the ACT, who have been in the Northern Beaches, as well as people from the Northern Beaches in the ACT, will be no longer required to quarantine. People will be informed of the change by SMS and email from ACT Health. There remain ten COVID-19 affected local government areas: Bankstown City, Burwood, Canada Bay City, Canterbury Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield City, Inner West, Liverpool City, Parramatta City and Strathfield Municipality.  Record national park funding 'great for the economy' Sydney: New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean says a $257 million investment into national parks will create jobs and grow local economies. The investment over the next three years will go towards upgraded walking tracks, camping spots and picnic areas. “Our national parks are not only great for the environment, not only great for our health and wellbeing but also great for the economy,” Mr Kean told media. “That’s why we are spending $257 million over the next three years to upgrade our national parks. This is the biggest single capital investment in our national parks in the history of New South Wales. Mr Kean said the coronavirus pandemic also saw an influx of New South Wales residents flock to the parks. “This is about enhancing the visitor experience for our national parks and at the same time creating jobs and growing our local economies," he said. |
