The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving a bouquet of roses will make would-be lovers a bit poorer this year. A combination of inflation, shipment issues and warm climate conditions have pushed up prices to the extent that some retailers…

Heavy rain and strong winds hammered the North Island yesterday as Cyclone Dovi felled trees and power lines, damaging roads and forcing authorities to close the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Wild weather also saw the cancellation of…

West Australians are being urged to take the Omicron variant of COVID-19 "seriously" as the state recorded 68 new cases overnight.

Of the new cases, 27 are linked to known close contacts, 25 are travel-related cases and the remaining five are being followed up by the state's contact tracers.

No deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported overnight.

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https://twitter.com/MarkMcGowanMP/status/1492693190700572676

Premier Mark McGowan said it was imperative that residents of WA took Omicron "seriously" and urged those who felt unwell to stay home from work and school and get tested.

"It's important for people to remember that at all times, positive rapid antigen test results must be logged with WA health," Mr McGowan said.

"Reporting a positive result is mandatory. Anyone that has tested positive using a RAT test COVID-19 at home or in the workplace should register the result at the website.

"We need to have line of sight of the virus in the community. We are relying on everyone to do the right thing for your sake and the sake of everyone else."

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Mr McGowan said there hasn't been any decision on the state's current border restrictions, with the rules to be reviewed this month.

"There hasn't been any decision on that. What we will do is review this matter over the course of February and we are currently looking at it, as you know," Mr McGowan said.

"The review is based upon the growth in vaccinations, which is going up very quickly, we are basically at 50 per cent third dose."

New locations of interest are now across the North and South Island after the country recorded a record 810 new cases in the community today.A number of locations in Queenstown were visited by a person infected with Covid-19, including…

New Zealand is poised to move into Phase 2 of its Omicron response next week after a big jump in positive cases today. The Ministry of Health reported 810 new Covid-19 cases in the community , up from 454 the previous day. A total…

Emergency services are responding to an incident in the Waikato after a tree fell on a car as Cyclone Dovi continues to wreak havoc across the North Island. The car was travelling along Marshmeadow Rd in Newstead at around 1.40pm…

The Cook Islands government says “silent transmission” of Covid-19 is now likely in the community after a positive case was identified on a flight that arrived in New Zealand from Rarotonga this week.Yesterday, an Air New Zealand…

A man has been taken to Waikato Hospital with serious injuries after a tree fell on his vehicle in Raglan.Police said the incident was reported around 11.30am along Main Rd.”It is understood the vehicle was mobile at the time,”…

New South Wales voters have given the Coalition state government a bloody nose after four by-elections were held yesterday.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has conceded a loss in the former Liberal stronghold of Bega for the first time since the seat' was established in 1988.

Labor's Michael Holland is set to claim a historic victory after a swing of more than 13 per cent, but Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs insists she will not concede defeat.

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She says that she is waiting for results of the postal vote to come through in the coming weeks.

This year there has been an overwhelming reliance on postal votes. And 40 per cent of the vote and they won't start being counted until February 25.

More than 40 per cent of people in the electorate cast postal votes and Electoral Commission officials will not start to count them until next Saturday.

The other Super Saturday results have been called.

Nationals candidate Nicholle Overall has claimed victory for the seat of Monaro, succeeding former deputy premier John Barilaro.

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Liberal Tim James retained the seat for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian's former seat, despite a strong performance by the Independents.

Nine Network Political Editor Chris Uhlmann said the result would be uncomfortable for NSW federal Coalition politicians.

"What would worry them is what we saw in Willoughby where with an Independent running in Gladys Berejiklian's old seat there was an 18 per cent swing (against Liberals).

That could be repeated at this year's federal election where well funded Independents are running against Coalition MPs such as Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney.

In the state seat of Strathfield, Labor candidate Jason Yat-sen Li won, following a large swing against the Liberal party.

The Government has set aside $200,000 to help farmers in the West Coast and other regions who suffered setbacks due to what has already been categorised as the wettest February on record.The funding was announced on Sunday by Rural…