By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter The creation of a Māori ward has been voted down by Kaikōura District Council, bucking a national trend.The decision follows criticism by the council and Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura…

Police are urgently searching for a man involved in “suspicious behaviour” with a child in South Auckland. The man was seen exiting his vehicle outside Sutton Park School on Vine St, in Māngere, and approaching a child waiting…

A small funeral has been held this morning for a Victorian boy who tragically drowned on a school camp.

Cooper Onyett, 8, drowned in a pool at Belfast Aquatics in the rural Victorian town of Port Fairy just before 11am last Friday.

His memorial took place with a group of 10 loved ones in Warrnambool at 11am after the state government knocked back the family's request for an exemption to hold a larger service due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

LIVE UPDATES: ADF personnel to start door-knocking in Victoria

Acting Premier James Merlino said the family's denied exemption request was a public health decision.

"These are matters and decisions of public health," he said.

READ MORE: Four new local cases in Victoria from more than 47k tests

"This is an awfully tragic case of a child who drowned whilst on a school camp – every parent's worst nightmare.

"In terms of exemptions, I did ask the public health team to reach out to the family, and I know that they did."

The eight-year-old was on his first overnight camp with his Year 2 class from Merrivale Primary School at the time of his death.

EXPLAINED: What you can and can't do for the next week in Victoria

Under stage four lockdown restrictions which came into effect today, a maximum of 10 people can attend funerals along with those running the service.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton did not explain why the request was denied today but gave his condolences to the grieving family.

"This is the most tragic circumstances, I cannot express my sorrow for the family," he said.

"The exemptions team did speak to the family and did assess the request. I was not involved in this personally.

"I understand that the request was declined. I do not know the decision behind it.

"I think these are the most difficult decisions for the exemptions team to make. It will be weighing heavy on them, but our thoughts are with the family at such difficult times."

https://omny.fm/shows/mornings-with-neil-mitchell/heartbroken-mother-pleads-for-lockdown-exemption-t/embed?style=cover

Devastated mother Skye Meinen told 3AW yesterday the cap placed on funerals had made an already difficult time worse and implored for an exemption.

"I'm just hoping that we can gain some sort of exemption," she told Neil Mitchell.

"We've got a whole school that's mourning for a friend."

READ MORE: Victoria battling 'highly infectious' strain of COVID-19

READ MORE: Victorian COVID-19 case caught virus at Sporting Globe pub

Ms Meinen said their family needed community support to get through the tragedy.

"We really need support from family and friends to get through this," she said.

"We've all been so strong and to rip away the support that we've really opened to is just something that I just think would be detrimental."

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A recent traveller returning from Melbourne was left disappointed and concerned with the gap in Covid-19 protocols between Australia and New Zealand.The Australian woman, who has moved to New Zealand with her Kiwi partner, flew…

Scientists in Victoria have developed a saliva test that can detect coronavirus in just five minutes.

The screening test using infrared light technology was developed by researchers from Monash University and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

The preliminary use of the instrument detected COVID-19 in 27 of 29 subjects.

READ MORE: Victoria opens vaccination to anyone aged 40 and over

Monash University Professor Bayden Wood said the technology could be capable of screening 5000 samples a day per instrument, with results available in five minutes.

"The most significant advantages of using this infrared-based technology on saliva samples, include the speed and ease with which the test can be performed, its affordability and the reduced risk to both patients and healthcare workers," Monash University Professor Bayden Wood said.

It also spares potentially infected people the discomfort of the long nasal swabs used in the current tests.

Instead a sample could be obtained by merely dribbling into a sterile container.

Similar technology has also been used by Monash researchers to diagnose malaria and hepatitis.

Researchers suggested the technology could be especially useful in screening people at airports, sporting venues, universities and schools.

The technology was developed with the use of a massive piece of scientific infrastructure called the Synchrotron, a $300 million facility in Melbourne.

The Synchrotron is run by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

READ MORE: Panic buying in Victoria as entire state prepares for lockdown

Victorians have once again stripped supermarket shelves bare as the state settles in to its fourth lockdown.

A drug dealer in the English city of Liverpool thought he was the big cheese — until police got all the evidence they needed to arrest him from a picture he shared of himself holding a small block of creamy Stilton.

Carl Stewart, 39, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court last week after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply heroin, MDMA and ketamine and transferring criminal property.

Were it not for a photo he shared of himself holding the cheese block from the reputable British retailer, Marks & Spencer, he could still very well be supplying large amounts of drugs.

Stewart was arrested after he posted the photo on the encrypted messaging service EncroChat, via his handle "Toffeeforce".

Unbeknownst to him, the service had been cracked by police in Europe. From that, his palm and fingerprints were analysed and police had their man.

Merseyside Police Detective Inspector Lee Wilkinson said Stewart had been "caught out by his love of Stilton cheese".

Stewart isn't alone in having his criminal activities brought to a premature end by his activities on EncroChat. Merseyside Police say around 60,000 users have now been identified worldwide, with about 10,000 of them in the UK alone. All are said to be involved in coordinating and planning the supply and distribution of drugs and weapons, money laundering and other criminal activity

Merseyside Police has arrested more than 60 people as part of Operation Venetic, and three more criminals were sentenced to long-term prison terms on Wednesday. Three more are due for sentencing Thursday.

Shaun Harrison, 33, was one of those, sentenced to 10 years eight months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis. Harrison was caught out after he revealed personal details of himself on EncroChat, on which he went by the handle "Scantbee and Sandferret".

"Merseyside Police, along with law enforcement agencies across the world, will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of those people who think they are above the law, and we will continue to target anyone involved in serious organised crime to keep this positive momentum going," Wilkinson said.

Victoria has woken to its first morning of a seven-day "circuit breaker" lockdown, after new restrictions came into force at midnight.

The closure confines more than six million people to their homes, with limited exceptions, until 11.59pm on June 3, in an attempt to control an outbreak that had spread to 26 people by Thursday.

As the number of exposure sites passed 150 and contact tracers linked 10,000 primary and close contacts to the cluster, Acting Premier James Merlino said yesterday "very strong advice" from public officials had compelled a statewide lockdown.

EXPLAINED: What you can and can't do for the next week in Victoria

"No one wants to be in this position, but I think the community also understands that we've got to follow public health advice," he said.

"We've seen overseas what happens if this thing gets away. We must follow public health advice.

"My view is that as tough as this is for everyone, I think people appreciate that we just got to do this."

All of the cases in the outbreak were linked to either households, the Stratton Finance workplace or through casual links to the City of Whittlesea, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton confirmed.

"That's very reassuring. That's great work of contact tracing."

READ MORE: Full list of Melbourne exposure sites

More than 40,000 tests were processed on Wednesday and the government announced the number of testing sites had been increased to almost 200, almost a quarter of them running to extended hours.

But that didn't stop queues forming from the early hours of Thursday. The Melbourne Showgrounds site reached capacity in just 26 minutes and drivers turning up after 9am were told to expect a four-and-a-half-hour wait at Albert Park.

"Some of the queues looked like they were pretty long so I decided to bite the bullet, get up early and get it done," one testee told 9News.

Victorians now only have five reasons to leave home: shopping for food and supplies, authorised work, care and caregiving, exercising with one other person for up to two hours and getting vaccinated or tested.

READ MORE: Victoria battling 'highly infectious' strain of COVID-19

Victorians in their 40s are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.

"I really encourage everyone, if you're eligible, get vaccinated," Mr Merlino said.

Lines also formed on Thursday at the airport and some hit the road as they tried to bring forward holiday plans to escape the restrictions.

"We thought we'd get out of Melbourne as quick as possible," one lady told 9News on the way to Deniliquin in New South Wales.

There were delays of between two and three hours at a South Australian border checkpoint heading west on the Dukes Highway.

Most were South Australians heading home but the queues also included some regional Victorians looking to escape the lockdown and travellers caught out by the snap measures.

At the airport, holidaymakers tried their luck at escaping despite Qantas and Virgin cancelling more than 25 flights in and out of Melbourne.

"I just want to get out, please let us out … I haven't been to any exposure sites, I haven't been near anyone, I just want to go on holiday – I've cancelled three times," one woman said.

READ MORE: Victoria opens vaccination to anyone aged 40 and over

A former representative rugby player mailed methamphetamine around the country hidden inside face masks during a Covid-19 lockdown, a court has heard.The defendant has pleaded guilty at the Dunedin District Court to six drug charges,…