The Ministry of Health has released six new locations of interest, including two bakeries in Tokoroa visited by a Covid-infected person.The ministry confirmed today the case who recently travelled to Blenheim had spent the night…

A witness to a horrific crash that left two people dead is pleading with motorists to think twice about taking risks on the roads.Two people were killed and three others were injured, two critically and one seriously, in the head-on…

A health expert wants double vaccination to be mandatory on all domestic flights, in the wake of the South Island’s first Covid-19 case in more than a year.A person in Blenheim who had flown from Rotorua was announced on Saturday…

Queensland Health has added new exposure sites after two people who were escorted from the state by police tested positive to COVID-19 in NSW.

The two people entered south west Queensland and visited Noccundra, Thargomindah, Cunnamulla, Quilpie and Charleville.

A truck driver who had been in the state has also since tested positive in Victoria, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.

READ MORE: More freedoms announced under Victoria's roadmap

The truck driver had tested negative before entering Queensland but then returned a positive COVID-19 reading after returning to Victoria. He had visited Goondiwindi in regional south west Queensland.

"Obviously this is a concern. This is COVID cases that likely have been active in our community," Mr Miles said.

"The absolute key here is to go and get vaccinated because we don't know how much longer we can be successful."

https://twitter.com/qldhealthnews/status/1451731325703000068

It comes as the Queensland Government launches pop up vaccination clinics at beaches and theme parks in a bid to catch up to the rest of Australia's eastern states with its vaccination rates.

Queensland today hit a milestone – reaching a 60 percent second dose vaccination rate. The state's first dose rate is now at 74.6 percent.

The government is working with Surf Lifesaving Queensland to host the vaccine clinics at 20 beach locations stretching from Port Douglas to Coolangatta.

There will also be vaccination clinics at the state's theme parks to help boost the vaccination rate. The clinics will include locations at Movie World, Sea World, Dream World and the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

By RNZ A 32-year-old man will face significant charges after a serious firearms incident in Waikanae today.The man is due to appear in the Porirua District Court tomorrow where he will face 14 charges including aggravated robbery,…

A candlelight vigil for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has brought out hundreds of mourners in New Mexico, where she was killed when actor and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on a film set.

"I would've been lucky to do another movie with a person like that," Lane Looper, a crew member on the Rust film set where the shooting happened, said.

"She was a wonderful mum and wife and was just a wonderful soul, and I really hope more people like her exist."

READ MORE: Alec Baldwin says his 'heart is broken' after fatal prop gun shooting on movie set

The shooting occurred as the film crew was rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico.

The film's assistant director, David Halls, handed a prop gun to Mr Baldwin and yelled "cold gun", a remark meant to indicate the weapon didn't have live rounds, according to an affidavit for a search warrant for the movie set filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and obtained by CNN affiliate KOAT.

According to the affidavit, Mr Baldwin was handed one of three prop guns that were set up in a cart by an armorer for the movie.

Mr Halls did not know there were live rounds in the gun, the affidavit said.

When Mr Baldwin fired the gun, a live round hit Ms Hutchins, 42, in the chest and wounded director Joel Souza, 48, who was nearby, according to the affidavit.

Ms Hutchins was pronounced dead at the hospital after being airlifted.

"There's no reason to have had a firearm that was capable of discharging live ammo on the set," Steve Wolf, a firearms safety expert, told CNN Saturday.

READ MORE: Alec Baldwin expresses grief over shooting as 911 call released

"A prop gun is a gun that's been specifically manufactured for shooting blanks, not bullets. In fact, the bullets won't fit into a gun that's been modified properly, only blanks will fit into it.

"And that's a safeguard to ensure that live ammo is not loaded into guns that are used on set. So if you don't use the right type of gun, you're not going to get the safety benefit that's been engineered into it."

Saturday's vigil at Albuquerque Civic Plaza was organised by IATSE Local 600 and IATSE Local 480, chapters of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union – which represents workers in various roles in the entertainment industry.

"Our entire alliance mourns this unspeakable loss with Halyna's family, friends, and the Rust crew," the union said in a statement.

"Creating a culture of safety requires relentless vigilance from every one of us, day in and day out."

READ MORE: How prop guns can kill

Local 600 created a verified GoFundMe page for Ms Hutchins' family, and more than US$160,000 ($216,000) had been raised as of early Sunday.

Ms Hutchins is survived by her husband and nine-year-old son, according to the page.

The investigation into how the shooting happened is ongoing.

Before the shooting, some crew members quit over safety concerns on set – including gun inspections and COVID-19 protocols not being followed, according to the Los Angeles Times and other media reports.

There were previous accidental prop gun discharges on set, report says

Three crew members who were on the set last weekend told the Los Angeles Times there were two accidental prop gun discharges before Thursday's fatal shooting.

On October 16, Mr Baldwin's stunt double unintentionally fired rounds after he was told the gun was "cold," two of the crew members, who witnessed the discharges, told the newspaper.

The film's production company told Deadline in a statement it was not notified of official complaints regarding weapon or prop safety on set.

"We will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down," Rust Movie Productions, LLC said in a statement.

"The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company."

CNN has made multiple attempts to reach Rust Movie Productions for comment but has not received a response.

The armorer who prepared the prop gun used by Mr Baldwin was identified as Hannah Gutierrez in the search warrant issued following the shooting.

Ms Gutierrez had recently finished work on her first project as head armorer, she said in a September podcast interview.

"I was really nervous about it at first," Ms Gutierrez said of working as head armorer on the set of the movie The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage.

"I almost didn't take the job because I wasn't sure if I was ready, but doing it, like it went really smoothly," she said in an interview on the Voices of the West podcast, which is dedicated to the Old West.

Her work as armorer ranges from teaching actors how to wear a gun belt to aiming and shooting, she said.

"I think when someone is new and not sure, that's fine. We all start somewhere," Mr Wolf, the firearms safety expert said.

"But you work under somebody's tutelage and you'll practice until you have mastery," he added.

Film production community deeply impacted by Hutchins' death

Many of the mourners at the vigil for Ms Hutchins were members of the television and film industry.

During the vigil, Rebecca Stair, a location manager and a member of IATSE Local 480, told CNN she wasn't a crew member on Rust, but knew everyone on set.

"My heart's been shaking for days, my phone has been going off with all kinds of friends who are going through something similar," Ms Stair told CNN.

"My friend who was the transport coordinator had to stay until 11pm at night arranging shuttle rides home because nobody could functionally drive."

Ms Stair became emotional discussing safety concerns in the industry and burst into tears, saying "a child should have a mother," referring to Ms Hutchins' son.

Jolynne Nieto, another IATSE Local 480 member, told CNN she was hired to work as a hairstylist for Rust, but she turned down the job over safety concerns.

One of her main concerns involved housing for crew members, which was in Albuquerque – 80 kilometres from the film set in Santa Fe, which would add a long commute to an already long workday.

"They told me the terms were non-negotiable on housing which was in Albuquerque while it was being shot at a ranch in Santa Fe, and I felt at this point like we needed to think about safety," Ms Nieto told CNN.

"There was just a few other little glitches that just felt very funny to me."

Ms Nieto said Ms Hutchins' death is "unbearable."

"You don't expect to leave work and not come home – it's unthinkable, it's unbearable," Ms Nieto told CNN.

"We need to take gun safety on film sets more seriously."

A new $10 million tourism campaign will attempt to sell New South Wales to the rest of the country and the world as the state opens up post lockdown.

The advertisement campaign, which was launched today, sells NSW as "a place to feel alive, feel free and to feel new again".

A video ad to be screened on TV and rolled out on social media shows images of Sydney's beaches, abseiling in the Blue Mountains, people camping in outback NSW and trying bush tucker, Aboriginal dance theatre and New Year's Eve fireworks.

READ MORE: New Queensland exposure sites as two escorted out by police test positive

The NSW Government is aiming to get visitors to contribute $65 billion to the state's economy by 2030, and the campaign is a key part of its strategy toward making that happen.

NSW Premier Premier Dominic Perrottet said his government's announcement that it would scrap and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers from November 1 had already been a "gamechanger" for NSW.

"There is a bright future for our state," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said at the unveiling of the new campaign.

READ MORE: Victoria's 80 per cent freedoms to be unlocked this Friday

"We want our people to stay, we want the rest of Australia to visit and we want the world to come and feel and experience the best that NSW has to offer."

"As we open up to not just to Australia, but the rest of the world, I think the images in this campaign will drive the tourism economy here in NSW and take it to the next level."

Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney and Minister for Trade and Industry Stuart Ayres said the new campaign was about offering hope that the worst of the pandemic was behind us and would breathe new life into the struggling tourism industry.

"Over the last 18 months is a devastating impact on the tourism sector: we've seen loss of jobs, we've seen loss of hours, we've seen businesses literally trying to keep their nostrils above the waterline to stay alive," he said.

"But there is a really bright light at the end of this dark tunnel. We've seen this over the last few weeks as we started to reopen our state."

"This is about celebrating the people of NSW… we want to welcome you to come to feel NSW the same way we experience it… we think this is a game-changer for tourism."

The Nationals have backed a Coalition plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 in an historic decision.

The breakthrough came in a vote this evening after the party's MPs and senators debated for more than two hours Prime Minister Scott Morrison's response to their demands.

The majority position was reached amid dire predictions from at least one.

READ MORE: New TV ad launched as some states lag behind in vaccine rollout

"I don't think that people really realise when they hear net zero that means they want to transition you to be a vegan," Nationals senator Matt Canavan told Sky News.

It was accepted not everyone will sign up to the party's decision when the majority rules.

"We appreciate that there will be those that will oppose it and that's fine," Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told 9News.

"That's the culture of the Nationals Party. That's something we celebrate."

The Nationals say they want long-term policy guarantees that ensure agriculture and mining can continue to thrive in a low emissions world.

READ MORE: Why the Glasgow Climate Conference, COP26, is so important

But most are shifting with the tide of opinion.

"To make sure we can give confidence to the Australian public and the global community that we are responsible citizens," Mr Littleproud said.

After the Sunday debate, Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce emerged to break the news.

"We are in support of a process going forward that would go towards the 2050 emissions target," Mr Joyce told reporters in Canberra.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese criticised the prime minister today, saying he was following, not leading.

"This is a government frozen in time as the world warms around it," Mr Albanese said.

But Mr Albanese is also adamant that the federal government shouldn't sign up to any international plan that bans coal-fired power by 2030, saying "we need to keep the lights on".

The Nationals say this is all about protecting their people.

"We've got to be honest with the Australian people, we've got to tell them how we're going to get there and who pays for it," Mr Littleproud said.

A two-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital after being pulled unconscious from a backyard pool in Sydney's west.

Emergency services were called to a property on Charles Street, Blacktown about 12.40pm after the toddler was found in a pool unresponsive.

Paramedics treated the child at the scene before taking him to the Children's Hospital at Westmead in a stable condition.

READ MORE: NSW tourism ad offers the pandemic weary a chance to 'feel new' again

NSW Police attended the scene and are investigating the incident, which is not being treated as suspicious.

Police in Western Australia are searching for a "passenger vehicle" in the disappearance of Cleo Smith, as authorities rule out the missing four-year-old was being stalked.

Cleo was last seen at 1.30am on Saturday October 16 in a tent she was sleeping in with her parents at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, north of Carnarvon.

WA Police Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde today issued a public appeal urging anyone who saw a vehicle driving south towards Carnarvon between 3am to 3.30am on October 16 to contact police.

READ MORE: Locals ramp up their efforts as the search for WA girl Cleo Smith continues

Superintendent Wilde described the vehicle as "a smaller vehicle, probably a passenger vehicle".

He said the vehicle turned out of Blowholes Road and turned south towards Carnarvon in the Glascoyne region.

"What we're hoping for is the persons that were in that vehicle to come forward and make themselves known," Superintendent Wilde said.

He said the individual or individuals in the passenger vehicle are not considered suspects.

"We just want to establish who they were and what they were doing at that time," he said.

Superintendent Wilde declined to speculate as to whether Cleo was in the vehicle in question.

He said two people who were travelling together along the North West Coastal Highway in the early hours of Saturday October 16 had contacted police about sighting the car.

He said if Cleo had been abducted she was probably still in the state.

READ MORE: Land search scaled back for missing WA girl Cleo Smith

"It's more likely, if she has been taken, that she's still within WA," he said.

He said if the little girl had been kidnapped it was "more than likely it was a chance event".

"There's no evidence that Cleo was stalked at all," he said.

Superintendent Wilde said police had CCTV confirmation Cleo had been at the campsite the night before she disappeared.

"Cleo was certainly there, in the campsite, on that evening," he said.

"There's some shacks there with motion-sensor CCTV. It's very limited. From one of the shacks the CCTV there we have reviewed that. We believe that Cleo's voice is heard on the CCTV and from that we've confirmed… and we also have no some further information, evidence from the parents that establishes that certainly, Cleo was there on that evening."

Superintendent Wilde said the CCTV footage picking up Cleo's voice was just after the family arrived at the campsite.

With no sign of her since her disappearance despite a huge land and water search, a $1 million reward has been announced for anyone who provides information that leads to Cleo's recovery.