Auslan Update - 14 April, 2021

National:

Scott Morrison says he didn’t mean to upset former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate.

  • Christine Holgate has accused Prime Minster Scott Morrison of “bullying” her during the Cartier watch scandal.
  • Ms Holgate gave four senior executives the watches, worth around $20,000 in 2018.
  • Scott Morrison said he was “appalled” by the decision and that if Ms Holgate did not want to stand aside then “she can go”.
  • Ms Holgate said on Tuesday morning to a committee the voice to leave was not her own and she was illegally forced to step aside.
  • On Wednesday, the Prime Minster said he did not intend to offend Ms Holgate. He said he would not apologise for the comments and did not think he needed to call her personally to express that he did not mean to cause her distress.

Victoria:

Motel evacuated as ferocious Apollo Bay fire tears through three shops.

  • A south-west Victorian motel was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
  • Three nearby shops were destroyed in a fire.
  • The cause of the fire is not yet known.
  • Emergency services were called to the town’s main street following reports that a Chinese restaurant had caught fire.
  • An explosion could be heard in one video recording of the fire.
  • Fire fighters battled the fire for more than 3 hours. A hazmat unit was also called to assist with chemicals found in one of the buildings.

Victorian police start searching Mount Hotham for two campers missing for more than a year.

  • Two people went missing from their campsite in the remote Wonnangatta Valley last March.
  • Police have suspicions about what happened to them but unable to trace any of them.
  • Last month, police received what they called an “item of interest”. They will not say what it is.
  • Members of the Missing Person Squad and Search and Rescue officers will search Mount Hotham area today.

Tasmania:

Tasmania casino held ransom.

  • Tasmania’s only casino operator has confirmed it is being held ransom in a cyber-attack.
  • The attack has impacted its pokies machines and hotel bookings system for more than a week.
  • A ransomware attack is when a target's files are inaccessible, and a ransom demands to be paid before it will release them.
  • The incident is being actively investigated by Federal Group, a hospitality company.

International:

  • India’s coronavirus cases were falling but then variants emerged.
    • India’s coronavirus cases were falling but then variants emerged and caused a second wave.
    • People as young as 14 are in hospital.
    • The city of Nagpur, which escaped the worst of the pandemic last year, has now been overwhelmed with the second wave.
    • The number of deaths have reached new heights and now authorities are using busses into hearses to carry the dead en masse.
    • All hospitals in the city have run out of spare ventilators.

Sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-13/christine-holgate-cartier-watches-scandal-committee-hearing/100064972

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/scott-morrison-refuse-apologise-christine-holgate-cartier-watch/100068102

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/apollo-bay-fire-destroys-multiple-buildings/100067324

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/police-move-search-for-missing-campers/100067280

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-13/ransomware-attack-hits-federal-group-casino-operator/100064038

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-13/how-double-mutant-coronavirus-complicated-indias-outbreak/100059714