Australia news LIVE Victoria records 334 new local COVID-19 cases one death NSW infections continues to grow as state ramps up vaccination measures

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Former NSW premier Kristina Keneally has confirmed she will nominate for preselection as the Labor candidate for western Sydney lower house seat of Fowler at the next federal election.

In a lengthy statement, the opposition home affairs spokeswoman said he had been approached by ALP branch members urging her to consider nomination, following the retirement of Chris Hayes.

“In recent days I have had many conversations with branch members in Fowler and others in the local community, and I have been touched by their enthusiasm and support,” she said.

She added that her desire to “step up and fight” for NSW communities hit hard by COVID-19 drew her to the lower house. Ms Keneally is currently a senator.

“The communities of Fowler are well-known to me given my time as NSW minister for disability and ageing, minister for planning, and ultimately premier of NSW.

“Families in Fowler face some significant challenges, including job insecurity and housing stress.”

Her decision has caused some unrest among Labor, with Mr Hayes having endorsed a member of the local Vietnamese community, lawyer Tu Le, as his successor in April.

Ms Le told the ABC on Thursday evening that Senator Keneally’s pending move was “pretty disappointing and disheartening”.

“Not just for myself but for the local community to be taken for granted in this way,” Ms Le said.

US President Joe Biden has announced sweeping new vaccine requirements that will affect almost 100 million Americans, declaring he has run out of patience for people who refuse to take advantage of free and highly effective vaccines.

Announcing his most expansive policies to encourage vaccination since taking office, Biden called for Americans to regard getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as a responsibility to the wider society rather than matter of freedom or personal choice.

US President Joe Biden.Credit:AP

The rules, introduced in an attempt to curb the spread of the highly contagious and economically damaging Delta variant, will require all workers at companies with over 100 employees to be vaccinated or to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.

“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said in a direct and unusually blunt message to unvaccinated Americans.

“And your refusal has cost all of us.”

Read the full story here.

Police have charged four Sydney arborists who allegedly returned to regional NSW to doorknock for work after previously being fined and ordered to go home.

Seven men were last week issued fines worth $33,000 after telling police they had been working in the Lake Macquarie region and returning to Sydney on the weekend, including to hotspot local government areas.

About 2.30pm on Thursday, police received a tip off that a group of six arborists were once again doorknocking homes in the region.

Officers spoke to the group before four of the men were arrested and taken to Toronto police station.

They were issued court attendance notices for not complying with noticed direction and not ensuring true and accurate information was provided to Service NSW.

Police say the 41-year-old from Kingswood, 25-year-old from Leumeah, 57-year-old from Colyton and 37-year-old from Whalan had previously been issued fines for breaching health orders.

Police allege the men were operating under a different business name and had removed all company identification from their vehicles.

A fifth man â€" a 33-year-old from Ropes Crossing â€" was fined $6000 for breaching health orders and providing inaccurate information in his permit application.

Investigations remain ongoing into the sixth man.

Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.

The state has recorded 334 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and zero in hotel quarantine. That figure is up from yesterday’s 324 local cases.

The Department of Health says 149 cases are linked to known outbreaks. This means there are, at this stage, 185 mystery cases.

Authorities have not yet said how many cases were isolating while infectious. There was also one death recorded.

We expect to learn more at this morning’s coronavirus update, which we’ll be sure to stream live at the yet-to-be-confirmed time.

There are now 2426 active cases of COVID-19 across the state.

Today’s numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 42,998 coronavirus tests.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has denied claims she went against health advice in announcing future freedoms for fully vaccinated residents.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Credit:James Brickwood

Here’s what Ms Berejiklian had to say on Nine’s Today show:

I listen to the health advice every day and what we need to do is always weigh up that health advice with public policy.

I would never do anything where the health experts completely objected to anything or did not think [it] was safe.

All along this journey it has always been balancing the health risks with mental health, and our ability to move freely and live with COVID.

We are definitely in a transition phase. It is going to be challenging. But a road that all states will have to take, whether you like it or not.

The mayor of Hume City Council, Joseph Haweil, has warned that many residents in Melbourne’s northern suburbs where COVID-19 has taken hold have been unable to get an appointment to receive their first vaccine.

Of the 324 new coronavirus cases reported on Thursday, 195 new infections were in the northern suburbs. Another 102 were in the west.

The Victorian government has begun shifting vaccines from other parts of the state to Melbourne’s north and west, but Health Minister Martin Foley yesterday acknowledged more needed to be done.

“We’re calling on the Victorian government to allow us to play a part in vaccinating residents. We want to make it easier for our community to access the vaccine and we’re in a position to do that,” Cr Haweil said.

“The reality is that many residents can’t get an appointment.”

The Council has experienced nursing staff and bilingual workers, Cr Haweil said, as well as community centres that could be rolled into the program to boost vaccinations.

He wants to see pop-up vaccination sites and mobile jab vans, walk-in arrangements, increased capacity and supply, and a mass communication effort using translators.

Hume has among the lowest rate of vaccination in Victoria.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro was on Seven’s Sunrise a short while ago.

He was asked whether Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant supports the state’s road map. As we mentioned earlier, some public health experts have expressed concerns over NSW’s plan to open gyms, restaurants and cafes once the state reaches its 70 per cent double-dose vaccination target.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Some are worried about what the road map will mean for the state’s hospital system.

Here’s what Mr Barilaro had to say this morning:

I can assure you that [NSW] Health and Kerry Chant support the road map.

I spent weeks if not months on the roadmap, modelling what was happening overseas, looking at the federal government’s road map.

Of course you would like to see us to push it to 85 per cent [fully vaccinated], but there is risk in everything we do, and were confident at 70 per cent.

I want to make it clear ... [if the road map wasn’t endorsed] the KPI would be no hospitalisations, no debts. But we know that’s not the reality.

We have to find a balance.

A recycling centre and KFC restaurant in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, at the centre of Victoria’s growing outbreak, have been added to the state’s list of exposure sites.

There are now 1044 exposure sites listed on the Department of Health’s website.

Overnight, a bunch of establishments have been identified as tier-1 sites, meaning anyone who visited them at the specified time is considered a close contact and needs to quarantine for 14 days.

In Fawkner, a KFC restaurant on Sydney Road was visited by a COVID-19 case on Sunday, September 5 between 8am and 5pm.

At the Visy Board recycling centre on Reo Crescent in Campbellfield, building “N” has been listed as a tier-1 exposure site for Saturday, September 4 between 5am and 2.30pm. The same building has also been listed for Friday, September 3, 5am to 2pm.

The Hampton Road Fish and Chips shop in Essendon West is also listed for Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 8.30pm, and on Monday from 10am until 1.30am.

Many new tier two sites, requiring people to isolate until returning a negative test result, have also been published online.

Visit the Department of Health website for more details.

Top-level Victorian government officials are increasingly frustrated with the speed at which the state’s public health team is developing a plan out of lockdown, as experts call for more measures to control the spread of COVID-19.

As Victoria battles a growing wave of COVID-19 infections concentrated in Melbourne’s north and western suburbs, NSW is preparing to emerge from its lockdown in mid-October, despite having a larger number of new cases.

Premier Daniel Andrews (centre), Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton (left) and COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar this month.Credit:Getty

The release on Thursday of NSW’s exit plan, which would allow gatherings and involve retail and hospitality “cautiously” reopening to the fully vaccinated, has put pressure on Victoria to look ahead.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton’s team was commissioned last month to produce a Victorian lockdown exit plan. Some government figures expected the work to have been completed by now, allowing the government to create positive incentives for Victorians to get vaccinated.

Instead, Victorians have been told only about a minor easing of restrictions at the 70 per cent first-dose milestone, which will include an extension of the travel limit to 10 kilometres and an increase in exercise time to three hours. There has been no indication of what freedoms will be permitted when 70 and 80 per cent of the population is double-vaccinated.

Read more about the situation in Victoria here.

Public health experts have expressed concern about NSW’s road map to reopening its economy, which they say appears to have been driven by industry rather than consideration of the state’s stretched hospital system.

Yesterday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that fully vaccinated people in NSW would be able to visit gyms, pubs and households â€" subject to capacity limits â€" once the state reaches 70 per cent full vaccination. Larger gatherings, in stadiums and theatres, will also be permitted subject to capacity limits for the double-dosed.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a suite of restrictions would ease once NSW hit 70 per cent full vaccination.Credit:James Brickwood

Grattan Institute health economist and former health bureaucrat Stephen Duckett said, even though the plan was subject to the significant caveat that local areas could be placed under tighter restrictions if cases rise, “one person’s freedom is another person’s going to hospital”.

“It is an extremely risky strategy which guarantees an increase in the number of cases and the number of hospitalisations. The question is how NSW Health will cope in this environment,” he said.

More on NSW’s reopening plan here.

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