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Victorian Labor MP Luke Donnellan has announced his resignation from the Andrews government ministry after allegations of branch-stacking were aired at an anti-corruption hearing today.

Mr Donnellan, the Minister for Child Protection and Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, issued a statement this afternoon, saying he had called Premier Daniel Andrews to resign from cabinet.

At the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) hearing today, Mr Donnellan was accused of paying for the memberships of Labor members as part of a branch-stacking operation.

"I accept that I have previously breached party rules while a Minister," Mr Donnellan said.

"But let me be very clear: I never misused public funds or resources in any way. And this has absolutely nothing to do with my staff.

"However, I don't believe it is possible or appropriate to maintain my Ministerial responsibilities given these rule breaches.

"The work to support vulnerable Victorians is too important, especially during the pandemic.

"Serving as Minister in this government has been an incredible privilege and I thank the Premier and my colleagues for that opportunity.

"I also thank my staff and all the department officials who have been working so bloody hard to support the community. You've been marvellous."

Branch-stacking is not illegal but is against party rules.

https://twitter.com/msanto92/status/1447419167485825024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Branch-stacking allegations aired to IBAC

Mr Donnellan's resignation followed Federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne blowing the whistle on branch-stacking within the ALP in Victoria, admitting to being involved and describing the system as "well-entrenched".

The veteran MP gave evidence today in an inquiry before IBAC.

"In whatever way you want to define that, I think you can say that I was connected, if you're talking about payment for renewals of some memberships, yes, and potentially some, as I recall, some memberships – I can't be too specific about which ones I might have paid for," Mr Byrne told the hearing.

READ MORE: Daniel Andrews knocks back IBAC questions

The IBAC probe was launched after 60 Minutes and The Age alleged former party powerbroker Adem Somyurek had directed taxpayer-funded staff members to help recruit non-genuine members into local Labor branches.

Mr Somyurek, who was sacked as a minister and forced out of the ALP, has denied any wrongdoing.

Asked by the counsel assisting Chris Carr, SC, when branch-stacking within the party occurred, Mr Byrne said: "I don't think the system ever stopped, I think the system had been operating through the '90s and continued through the 2000s and the 2010s."

"If people joined a branch, depending on how they joined, monies could then be sort of provided after those members joined," he told the hearing.

"More recently with central branch memberships, the same sort of thing.

"There would be, people would be joined, there would be some monies that would be provided by some source to fund those memberships."

READ MORE: NSW records less than 500 COVID-19 cases as state celebrates 'Freedom Day'

Mr Byrne offered his own explanation.

"There were a very large number of members after I became the Member for Holt in 1999," he said.

"I knew straight off the bat, unless something was done, then we would have a period of time where we would be branch-stacking for the next however long I was in Parliament.

"What I did was I reached out to the Socialist Left and over a period of time tried to negotiate a discussion to minimise branch-stacking," he added.

"I believe – effectively from what I experienced, what I'd been through and what I'd been doing – that branch-stacking was wrong, branch-stacking was corrupt, branch-stacking rips the soul out of the Labor party and the community," Mr Byrne said.

The hearing continues.

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A three-year-old US boy who vanished last Wednesday has been found alive and well after three days lost in the woods.

Christopher Ramírez was reunited with his mother on Saturday near Magnolia, Texas.

"He was smiling, drinking water, and in good shape," Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell told reporters.

READ MORE: What you can do on 'Freedom Day' if you are fully vaccinated

The toddler was taken to a hospital for observation, but Sheriff Sowell said they believe he will be fine.

The situation appeared much more dire a day earlier, when the child's mother, Araceli Nuñez, urged people to come forward with information.

"He needs his mum. Please help me!" she said in Spanish.

The boy had disappeared around 1.30pm on Wednesday, moments after returning home from running errands with his mother and grandmother, CNN affiliate KPRC reported.

The toddler had chased after a neighbour's dog while the adults unloaded their car, Sheriff Sowell said.

The dog returned, but the boy did not, and the family started looking for him.

After about 20 minutes, they called police, Sheriff Sowell said.

Police used four-wheelers, dirt bikes, drones, helicopters, two teams of dogs and heat sensors, but without luck, Sheriff Sowell said.

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More than 100 volunteers and several other agencies aided in the nonstop search, KPRC reported.

Deputies even drained at least one pond, according to CNN affiliates KTRK and KPRC.

Authorities said crews also searched vehicles in the area after they learned the boy was known to hide in cars, KTRK reported.

Finally, on Saturday, a good Samaritan located the child five miles from where he had gone missing, according to KPRC.

"Last night I was in a Bible study that we have every other Friday, and there were a number of people talking about this little boy that's been lost, and it was news to me," the man who found the toddler said in an interview.

"I was prompted then by the Spirit to say, 'You will go look for that boy. You will search the woods.'"

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The following morning, the man said he decided to go help in the search effort.

Less than two hours later, he said he heard a noise.

At first, he thought it was an animal.

Instead, it was the little boy that so many people had been searching for.

"Picked him up. He wasn't shaking; he wasn't nervous; he was calm," the man said.

Sheriff Sowell acknowledged Saturday they are still not sure how the boy was able to survive on his own for three days in the rural, heavily wooded area between Houston and College Station.

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Sydney has emerged from lockdown after more than 15 weeks.

In that time, we've not just been denied time with family, friends, and colleagues but things like haircuts, a meal in an actual restaurant, or a drink at a real-life pub.

It is understandable a lot of people want to do a lot of things – immediately.

But, with more than five million people keen to catch up on all these things after more than four months it may be a little tricky.

So I tried to make bookings at hairdressers, gyms, restaurants, and pubs around Sydney to see how quickly you can expect to get booked.

Just a note – you need to be fully vaccinated or have a valid exemption to do these things before December 1.

READ MORE: Sydney businesses on how they're preparing to reopen

Restaurants

Using platforms that show the availability for many venues like Opentable and The Fork I checked for bookings at a range of eateries.

Many local businesses such as Thai and Indian restaurants across Sydney have seats available throughout October and November.

Italian chain Fratelli Fresh was booked out for dinner for all of October at the Westfield Sydney location.

But the much larger Darling Harbour restaurant had availabilities throughout October and beyond, for various size groups.

Mexican chain Zambrero doesn't appear to take online bookings, nor does healthy burger joint Grill'd.

But both have locations all across Sydney for dine-in or takeaway if you're looking for an easy mid-week meal or family catch-up.

You do need to be fully vaccinated to dine-in and hospitality venues must adhere to the one person per four square metres rule – so expect places to be busier than usual.

READ MORE: Lockdown is over: NSW celebrates lifting of COVID-19 restrictions

At the Meat & Wine Co in Parramatta, there are bookings available nearly every day from when it reopens, however, some sittings only offer a set menu.

Ester, the fine dining restaurant in Chippendale, did not have a single dinner slot available on its website until the end of November but did have a note to call for more information.

Porteno, which runs the Porteno Restaurant in Surry Hills, Bodega 1904 in Tramsheds and the Wyno x Bodega wine bar in the city is reopening on October 12.

At Porteno there are a few slots left for early or late dinner but most weekends through October are booked out. There are tables available for November but again early or late.

Hairdressers

Just Cuts are known for their walk-in business model, which makes things slightly more complicated in a pandemic world of check-ins and contact tracing.

They've introduced an app that works as a digital queue so people are not lining up around salons. It went live at 9am today.

You can check in from up to 15 kilometres away and you'll be alerted when it's your turn to go into the salon.

Because of this, they are expecting there will be wait times at their salons. Website traffic was up 188 per cent on Friday compared to the same day last month.

Salon owners also say they've had a huge influx of messages on social media about appointments and vaccine requirements.

READ MORE: Can I leave my 5km bubble now NSW restrictions have lifted?

New client numbers doubled after the last reopening, so they are expecting to be even busier than last time, serving back-to-back clients for weeks after reopening.

Meantime high-end salon Edwards and Co have more than 2000 appointments across their Sydney salons that needed rescheduling.

Once they make their way through those appointments and then book in everyone who emailed them during lockdown, then they will open online bookings.

They expect to be "fully booked" up until Christmas to catch up on all the missed appointments.

Clients who had an existing appointment will have priority but they are open to everyone. 

Pubs and Bars

Until restrictions ease further, pubs and other hospitality venues need to adhere to the 4 square metre rule and people must remain seated while drinking inside.

Therefore most venues are asking people to book in advance.

For example, The Glenmore Hotel in the Rocks, which has a rooftop with sweeping views of Sydney Harbour, is taking bookings for both lunch and dinner.

Based on the times available it is offering two seatings for lunch and a few for dinner too. There are slots available most days.

Many other watering holes across the city and suburbs will let you walk in for a drink or a meal, but that all depends on the time of day and availability.

NOTE: This information is accurate at the time of publication.

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