National:
Last night Tropical Cyclone Seroja hit the coast of Western Australia as a category three storm, with winds as strong as 170 kph.
- Hundreds of residents were left without power and strong winds ripped roofs off houses.
- Premier Mark McGowan said the cyclone was "like nothing we have seen in decades".
- The cyclone has now weakened to a tropical low, now moving south-east between Merriden and Southern Cross.
- There is still a red alert in place for south of Carnarvon to Lancelin.
- There are three evacuation centres set up for those who need it: Irwin Recreation Centre in Port Denison, the Carnarvon Civic Centre and at the Shark Bay Recreation Centre in Denham.
Victoria:
Today the Victorian Government announced it will put a 2 week hold on AstraZeneca vaccinations of people under 50years old.
- Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino said that the hold is to allow time to train staff on how to appropriately explain the risks of the vaccine to patients.
- It will also allow for legal planning, as there have been reports that some doctors don’t want to offer the AstraZeneca vaccine to under 50s because of legal concerns if something goes wrong.
- Merlino also said this will allow time to have information about the possible risks translated into languages other than English, to ensure that all communities across Victoria are properly informed.
- Victoria is asking the federal government to only send shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine to GPs, so that more older people can get vaccinated.
- The AstraZeneca vaccine will still be given to people over 70 years old.
Yesterday Victoria found it’s first new case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine since international arrivals have restarted.
- The person was moved to health hotel last night.
Tasmania:
Last week a former co-worker of the Tasmanian Labor president, Ben McGregor, gave a signed statutory declaration detailing text messages from seven years ago.
- The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, said the messages include a swear word and a photo of Mr. McGregor’s penis
- She said these messages came after he invited her to the pub and she declined.
- Mr McGregor admitted to sending inappropriate messages, but said he apologised at the time.
- After the statutory declaration was received Opposition and Labor Party Leader Rebecca White called McGregor to ask for his resignation.
- McGregor is now threatening defamation action against Ms White for her comments after he announced his resignation.
International:
On Friday Price Philip, husband of the Queen, passed away at 12pm London time, 9pm AEST, at the age of 99.
- Westminster Abbey rang it’s bell once every 60 seconds 99 times to honour each year of his life.
- The flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast and a notice was posted on the gates, however the government asked the public not to gather or leave tributes at royal residences due to concerns about COVID-19.
- There will be a ceremonial funeral for Prince Philip at on Saturday at 3:00pm local time (12:00am Sunday AEST), with only 30 people attending due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- Today Prince Harry arrived back in England to be with his family.
Sources:
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/tas/2021/04/07/tasmanian-labor-candidate-ben-mcgregor-resigns/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11437314
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-09/prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh-dies-aged-99/8496412