NSW: One new case of community transmission in a man in his 50s. 06/05/2021 (See Translation in Arabic Section) Sydney- M E Times Int'l: New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed one new case of community transmission in a man in his 50s. She said he had been “very active in the inner East” but thanked him for being vigilant and checking in to the locations he visited via QR codes. “I want to stress that health is undertaking genomic testing in relation to strains that exist in our quarantine system but also the strains that exist in the other states as he may have undertaken travel during that time, or been exposed to people in other states,” Ms Berejiklian said.  Some Sydney trains have been suspended completely due to a 'threat' Sydney: Town Hall train station in Sydney has been locked down after a “threat” was made and commuters around the city were impacted, with major delays to be expected. NSW Police said officers were called about 10:45am on Wednesday, with commuters inside told to evacuate. Officers are conducting a sweep of the inner city transit hub. “Some sort of threat was made,” a police spokeswoman said shortly before midday. “As a precaution, we've locked it down and are doing sweeps of the area. We will continue the sweeps until we are satisfied there is no threat.” A police operation is underway at Town Hall Station with a precautionary search of the area underway. An update will be provided ASAP. Trains were suspended at Town Hall between 11.25am and 12.26pm. “Major flow on delays are affecting the Sydney Trains network. Stopping pattern changes will occur,” Transport for NSW tweeted after services were resumed. Commuters have been asked to delay any non-essential travel or arrange alternative transport. Light rail services were also temporarily paused, but resumed about 11:50am, with delays to some services. Some Sydney trains are completely suspended due to police operation at Town Hall, just had to get off at Stanmore station along with all other passengers  An earthquake has struck the Snowy Mountains region in southern NSW Sydney: An earthquake has struck the Snowy Mountains region in southern NSW on Wednesday, authorities have confirmed. The magnitude 3.2 quake was detected 19 kilometres south of Jindabyne just after 10am, according to Geoscience Australia. Region: Jindabyne, NSW Mag: 3.2 UTC: 2021-05-05 00:15:00 Lat: -36.44, Lon: 148.48 Dep: 10km Local residents have reported feeling a “bang”, but so far there have been no reports of injury or property damage.  A new $ 371 million biosecurity package bolsters Australia's capacity... Canberra: The Coalition Government will bolster its commitment to protect Australian agriculture and regional communities. A new $371 million biosecurity package strengthens Australia’s ability to keep out exotic pests and diseases, and improve our ability to fight an outbreak. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government is stepping up efforts to stop threats such as African swine fever, khapra beetle and foot and mouth disease entering Australia. “Protecting our borders is as much about protecting our livestock, crops and environment from diseases that have the potential to devastate them and the livelihoods they support, as it does the health of Australians during COVID-19 or protecting Australia’s national security,” the Prime Minister said. “Australia’s biosecurity system protects $42 billion in inbound tourism, $53 billion in agricultural exports and 1.6 million Australian jobs across the supply chain. “This investment is about building a protective ring around Australia to safeguard our industry as well as the rural and regional communities that depend on it. There will never be zero risk but we are committed to reducing the risk where possible. Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud said the package is comprehensive. “It complements the reforms we are implementing across our biosecurity system, to make it modern, efficient and keep Australians safe,” Minister Littleproud said. “Those reforms include investment and business improvements to address recommendations made by the independent Inspector-General of Biosecurity, including efforts to manage the unique public health risk posed by passengers and crew on arriving international vessels. “We are investing in technical solutions to keep biosecurity threats out of Australia, including through new screening technologies for people and goods at the border.  MPs burst into Sydney Parliament shouting: 'You are not the President' Sydney: “Disgraceful” scenes played out in the NSW upper house after the government's choice for a powerful position was shouted down by other MPs and overthrown after just 90 minutes in the role. The government sought to end a six-week stalemate over who should be president of the upper house by installing their preferred candidate, even though she failed twice to capture a majority of votes. Liberal Natasha Maclaren-Jones’ tenure in the seat was short-lived and chaotic. After failing to bring the MPs to order and struggling to be heard over shouts of “You are not elected”, she was toppled by a vote of no confidence after just 90 minutes in the chair. “This is the world's worst coup,” Greens MP David Shoebridge said during the heated debate. Liberal MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones' tenure as president was short-lived. Several members called the proceedings a “disgrace”. The debate descended into name-calling, with Labor MP Anthony D‘Adam calling One Nation’s Mark Latham a “fascist” and the latter saying the Labor member was a “parent-hater”. Mr Latham, who supported Ms Maclaren-Jones as president, called the opposition’s defiance a “ridiculous circus”. He was joined by Christian Democratic MP Fred Nile in backing the government’s choice. Liberal MP Catherine Cusack said she also supported the pick, but said the way Ms Maclaren-Jones was installed was a “fiasco”. 
Australian education ‘worth the fight’ at the next election: Peta Credlin Sydney: The draft of proposed changes to Australia’s national curriculum is so flawed, so backward, and so full of indoctrination that “I honestly doubt it can be remediated,” says Sky News host Peta Credlin. “Even the most cursory read of the draft documents make it clear that what’s being sold to us is a step backwards,” she said. “This new curriculum will further dumb down Australian kids.” Ms Credlin noted the changes will push out the requirement to learn the times tables from Year 3 to Year 4 – even though Australian children are “already two to three years behind their counterparts in a country like Singapore”. 
“Is it any wonder that Australian students are being outperformed now; and will keep being outperformed if this is the sort of slack start to learning that’s our current official school standard?" she said. “This is all happening, isn’t it, under a Coalition Government in Canberra? Surely there’s got to be someone inside the Morrison Government with the guts to take on this deep-state leftism. “I can understand that the Morrison Government has a lot on its plate… but what we teach our students and our sense of ourselves as individuals and collectively as a nation, is what will make or break us into the future. “Honestly, what’s the point of having a centre-right government in Canberra if it just continues the centre-left work of its predecessor?”  “The Chinese do not take Biden seriously when he is yet to articulate a clear policy towards Asia.” Australia is “more realistic about where we are” in relation to war with China than the United States is, according to former US naval intelligence officer John Jordan. “The trick is understanding concepts that exist on a spectrum, it’s not all or nothing, it’s not military action or peace, there’s economic, there’s political, there’s intelligence, there’s different domains to conflict,” he told media. “Right now the United States and Australia are engaged in several levels of some domains of conflict with China already, it hasn’t escalated, it hasn’t gotten very hot but certainly in terms economics that conflict has gone to a different level now.” Mr Jordan said one of the issues with the conflict brewing between China, and the United States and Australia is the lack of “coherent strategy” when it comes to dealing with China and it reflects on how US President Joe Biden is seen. “The Chinese do not take Biden seriously when he is yet to articulate a clear policy towards Asia.”  Berejiklian: Covid has shown us how ... can work together to produce world-leading technology, next-generation treatments and life-changing research. Sydney: Premier Gladys Berejiklian has brought together the State’s leading experts in mRNA technology as NSW looks to create a new medical manufacturing and research industry. Ms Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant yesterday met with experts including NSW Chief Scientist Hugh Durrant-Whyte to discuss the capacity of NSW to manufacture mRNA vaccines. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology. However, Australia currently has no long-form RNA manufacturing capacity. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the pandemic has shown us how the private sector, universities and the NSW Government can work together to produce world-leading technology, new-generation therapies and life-changing research. “NSW is well placed to provide the advanced manufacturing workforce training, the scientific expertise and the physical location of a future RNA-based manufacturing hub.” “The state has an established advanced manufacturing capability and is well placed to be the home of mRNA manufacturing in Australia.” Unlike traditional vaccines which use an inactivated virus, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines teach cells how to make protein that triggers an immune response which provides protection from the real virus. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said RNA technology is projected to be a crucial tool in next generation vaccines, therapies and diagnostics.  Electricity Sell-Off: Treasurer and deputy premier refuse to rule out job losses Sydney: The NSW Treasurer and Deputy Premier have refused to say how many jobs will be lost in the Hunter and across NSW when the Government privatises the rest of the NSW electricity network. Under questioning from Labor, Dominic Perrottet and John Barilaro defended the Government’s reckless privatisation agenda, which has driven the sale of $82 million in public assets and cost thousands of jobs. At the same time, infrastructure projects used to justify the privatisation program have blown out by $22 billion. Labor Leader Jodi McKay said 5,000 jobs were slashed at Ausgrid after the Government sold half the electricity provider in 2015, including hundreds of positions in the Hunter region. “How many more jobs are going to be lost when you sell off the rest?” Ms McKay asked the Treasurer. “You went to the last election saying you wouldn’t privatise anything.”  Biden quadruples refugee cap to 62,500 President Joe Biden has announced the refugee admissions cap is quadrupling from 15,000 to 62,500 for this fiscal year – saying the Trump administration’s figure “did not reflect America’s values”. The decision comes after Democrats pressured Mr Biden over his move last month to leave the cap at 15,000, a limit imposed by former president Donald Trump. “This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” President Biden said. “The new admissions cap will also reinforce efforts that are already underway to expand the United States’ capacity to admit refugees, so that we can reach the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions that I intend to set for the coming fiscal year.” According to the Refugee Processing Centre, just 2,050 refugees have been admitted to the US this fiscal year as of March 31.  Labor seeks answers about paying for Australia’s longest tunnel Sydney: NSW Labor is calling on the State Government to come clean about how it will fund the Blue Mountains Tunnel project. The Shadow Minister for Rural Roads Mick Veitch said the Government must release the business case for the Great Western Highway upgrade, which includes a proposed 11km tunnel between Blackheath to Mount Victoria – estimated to cost about $8 billion. “It is nothing more than a pie in the sky idea until we see the business case,” Mr Veitch said. “How will it be funded … another toll road? This Government has a history of cost blowouts on large infrastructure projects.” “If the Government was truly serious about easing congestion, it would have delivered the Bells Line Expressway, which is just a single lane and 40km in some sections. They can’t even keep Bells Line Road open, so how will they build Australia’s longest tunnel?”  Centre to help traumatised youth in Sydney Sydney: Work has started on a $9.4 million residential trauma centre in western Sydney to support children who have lost loved ones through homicide. Grace’s Place, in the suburb of Doonside, will provide counselling to children and young people coping with intense trauma. The centre is named after the late Grace Lynch, the mother of murdered nurse Anita Cobby. Grace became an advocate for crime victims following Anita’s 1986 murder. Grace’s Place is a joint Commonwealth and NSW Government-funded project, with the Commonwealth contributing $6.1 million to construction costs. The centre, due to be completed in late 2022, will provide residential and counselling facilities for up to 12 children and their carers and will be managed by the Homicide Victims Support Group (HVSG). Anita sister, Kathryn Szyzska, said their mother “would feel very humbled that HVSG has named the centre in her honour.”  Reserve Bank of Australia keeps interest rates at 0.1pc Sydney: The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the nation’s official interest rate at 0.1 per cent, despite booming property prices. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said housing markets had picked up, with strong demand for owner-occupiers and first home buyers. “Housing markets have strengthened further, with prices rising in all major markets,” he said. “Housing credit growth has picked up, with strong demand from owner-occupiers, especially first-home buyers. “Given the environment of rising housing prices and low interest rates, the bank will be monitoring trends in housing borrowing carefully and it is important that lending standards are maintained.” The property trend was also been reflected in lending data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday, which showed new home loans in March grew 5.5 per cent compared to February. Mr Lowe said the economy had rebounded strongly with the central bank forecasting gross domestic product to grow 4.75 per cent in 2021 and 3.5 per cent in 2022. “The economic recovery in Australia has been stronger than expected and is forecast to continue,” Dr Lowe said. “This recovery is especially evident in the strong growth in employment, with the unemployment rate falling further to 5.6 per cent in March and the number of people with a job now exceeding the pre-pandemic level.” However Dr Lowe said the RBA was not expecting to increase rates until inflation was within the target band of 2 to 3 per cent. “(The RBA) will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range,” he said. “This is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.” |
