Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has fronted up to media after the Ministry of Health today admitted undercounting the number of people hospitalised for Covid-19.In a tweet, the Ministry said this has seen the number hospitalised…
Tag Archives: oceania
'Complete knobs': Creative NZ's Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival funding cut slammed again
New Zealand’s top actors Sir Sam Neill, Robyn Malcolm and Michael Hurst have slammed Creative NZ’s defunding of the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival.Malcolm called the agency “complete knobs”, Sam Neill says it made New Zealand…
Covid-19: 'Coding issue' led to virus-related hospitalisation undercount of over 5000 – Ministry of Health
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Dentist made to apologise for tongue-tie surgery on girl, 8, after wound hemorrhage
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'Doomed': Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown calls for Watercare, council staff to stop working on the Government's Three Waters reforms
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has called for Watercare and council chief executive Jim Stabback to stop all work on the Government’s Three Water reforms, which he says are “doomed”.In a letter to Watercare chairwoman Margaret Devlin…
'Frightened, wet, exhausted' animals desperately flee floodwaters
"Frightened, wet and exhausted" native animals have been filmed desperately fleeing floodwaters as the flood crisis continues in Victoria, prompting a plea from rescue groups.
Wildlife Victoria says it has been kept busy since the wet weather began midway through last week, receiving 997 calls in the last 48 hours.
Shepparton local Justin Hunter felt helpless as he witnessed an echidna desperately trying to find higher ground as waters rose around the township yesterday.
READ MORE: Thousands more Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge
Hunter told 9news.com.au he saw something moving in a clump of water and muddy debris before he realised it was a native animal.
"Its nose popped up so I know it was an echidna," he said.
"My partner and I tried to figure out a way to rescue it, but it was too dangerous.
"It was washed away in the current under the causeway so we ran across the road to make sure it came out the other side. It came out and that's when I recorded.
"We stayed there watching until we felt it might reach a tree or branches. It appeared to catch hold of a tree and climb onto branches before we had to leave the area."
READ MORE: Serial killer suspect arrested while 'hunting'
Hunter said his family is on the "high-side" of town, about one kilometre from the floods.
But he's still doing his bit for his community.
"I'm heading off to the showgrounds to sandbag," he said.
"Rapid response team, ADF, and locals are doing an amazing job".
The incident with the echidna comes after a kangaroo caked in mud was rescued from Kiolla Lakes in a flooded area.
Bohollow Wildlife Shelter answered the call and saved the marsupial.
They are pleading with motorists to take extra care on the roads.
"Our wildlife is being pushed out by rising river and creek waters and roos in particular have nowhere to go but onto the roads and into the towns," it wrote on Facebook.
"They are frightened, wet and exhausted.
"Please be considerate of their plight.
"We are doing everything we can to help but slowing down, being mindful and understanding that our wildlife are struggling in these conditions makes a huge difference to them."
READ MORE: 'More rain on the way': Looming weather system stokes flood fears
Wildlife Victoria shared a video of a wombat trying to escape floodwater along a roadside in Ghin Ghin.
The wombat was picked up around 2pm yesterday by a volunteer.
READ MORE: How Victoria's floods crisis will affect the cost of living in Australia
"He was a bit feisty and we had to deal with a couple of brown snakes in the area who were also trying to get away from the floods," Wildlife Victoria said.
"We transported him to our nearby shelter in Yea and got him into a pen with some hay so he could rest.
"He's stable at the moment and we don't think anything is broken but will know more once we can get out of the floods and to the vet."
Wildlife Victoria urged anyone who comes across wildlife in distress to call them, rather than intervene themselves.
"In conditions like this it can be extremely dangerous," it said.
"At this time of year, most of our wildlife are with young including chicks in nests and kangaroo and wombat joeys at-foot and in pouches.
"This makes our wildlife especially vulnerable during extreme weather events.
"We have a trained Emergency Response Team who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and will be able to make an assessment over the phone and provide the most appropriate course of action."
Species that have been most impacted include kangaroos and possums, birds blown from nests and found waterlogged, which leading to potential conditions such as hyperthermia.
"We've had multiple calls from the public reporting mobs of Eastern Grey kangaroos trapped by rising floodwaters and many orphaned ringtail possums that have been found wet and alone on ground," it said.
"We also have reports of displaced wombats where their burrows are flooded and displaced echidnas."
There are currently more than 60 flood warnings in effect across Victoria, spanning just north of Melbourne to the NSW border.
The weather event comes a week after NSW also faced flooding in its central west region.
At the time a WIRES spokesperson told 9news.com.au burrowing animals such as wombats, echidnas and snakes are the most at risk as rain floods their burrows.
With no end in sight to the wet weather, the spokesperson said it's impossible to estimate the true number of dead and displaced animals.
Australia is in the grips of a third consecutive La Niña event, which is not expected to ease until the start of next year.
READ MORE: Hundreds of Victorian roads damaged by flooding crisis
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has urged beachgoers to report any sea turtle tracks and nests, in the hopes it could help save hatchlings as the the wet weather endures.
"With another La Nina summer predicted, sea turtle nests will be in the firing line from increased storm activity," Holly West from NSW TurtleWatch said.
"Nesting turtle tracks disappear from the beach very quickly, so the earlier we are notified about tracks or the location of a potential nest, the better.
"This allows us to monitor the nest from the get-go and act to save the eggs if the nest is at risk of being inundated by high tides or impacted by other threats, such as predators, erosion or light pollution."
READ MORE: Victorians impacted by floodwaters eligible for emergency payments
In 2021-22, 11 sea turtle nesting activities were recorded on NSW beaches.
"From the nests we successfully relocated last year, 376 baby turtles hatched and made their way to the ocean," she added.
"That's almost 400 baby turtles saved by those members of the public who gave us a call."
Middlemore patient death: Hospital slammed over woman's death in damning report
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John MacDonald:Government needs to sort out its priorities
When it comes to knowing what it should be prioritising, this government is hopeless.If you want evidence, where would you like me to start? Centralised control of the health system. A priority? No. Centralising all the polytechs…
Anti-oil activist spray paints Aston Martin showroom in London
Last week a priceless Van Gogh was the target, today it was Aston Martin, the prestige automaker which sells cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
On Sunday Just Stop Oil activists spray painted the luxury car maker's showroom in London and blocked traffic on one of Mayfair's most well-heeled streets.
Demonstrators from the environmental movement want the UK government to immediately halt the granting of any new oil and gas licenses.
READ MORE: Serial killer suspect arrested while 'hunting'
Members from the group blockaded Park Lane around 11am (local time), to the annoyance of frustrated motorists, while one man was filmed spraying orange paint over the front window of a nearby Aston Martin dealership.
"We will not be stopped," the man yelled while splattering the store, calling the UK's drilling in the oil-rich North Sea "genocidal".
In a video of the incident, horns can be heard blaring in the background while one bystander calls the spray painter "a clown".
The group has been ramping up blockades in London over recent weeks.
Two women on Friday threw tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers at the National Gallery, drawing gasps from onlookers.
READ MORE: Thousands more Victorian homes under threat as floodwaters surge
https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1581611304355524609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The pair then glued themselves to the wall beneath the Van Gogh masterpiece, which is one of the gallery's most important treasures.
Last week supporters sprayed the iconic New Scotland Yard revolving sign with orange paint, leading to the arrest of 20 people.
Campaigners plan to gather outside Downing Street every day in October.
READ MORE: 'More rain on the way': Looming weather system stokes flood fear