Tag Archives: oceania

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How Victoria Police uncovered $1m worth of cannabis in border drug bust

Victoria's locked down country roads have turned into contraband highways, bringing the state's border bandits under the spotlight.

9News can reveal police uncovered $1 million worth of cannabis inside a Mitsubishi pulled over in Barnawartha near the Victoria-NSW border this week.

The 28-year-old driver from the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook told police he was on his way to Sydney.

LIVE UPDATES: Sydney could hit 1000 daily cases this week

But when he couldn't present a permit to officers, they searched the four-wheel drive and allegedly found 50kgs of the drug stuffed inside.

"It just shows that some of those in the criminal world are prepared to take the risks," Inspector Brad Sprague said.

Ali Sadeghi-Iman was charged with trafficking and possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis and remains behind bars.

He is one of many alleged drug runners police have stopped in their tracks along the Hume Highway around Seymour, Shepparton and Wodonga in regional Victoria.

"We're always conscious of what is going up and down the highway," Inspector Sprague said.

The three-day operation targeted stolen cars and also uncovered a number of drug-affected and disqualified drivers.

READ MORE: Victoria reports 71 new cases, hospital cluster grows

Among the drivers was a 24-year-old in Kialla, who performed wheelies on an unregistered bike, unaware he was being watched from above.

In Wodonga, there was also no escape for an alleged 25-year-old speeding driver who ran into a nearby estate to take a rest stop, before dumping his bike metres from the dog squad.

Officers surrounded him as he hid beside a house, impounding his unregistered ride.

"It's extremely dangerous – we see them going through intersections against red lights and travelling on the wrong side of the road," Inspector Sprague said.

READ MORE: PM: Lockdowns 'not a sustainable way to live' in Australia

There are up to 400 officers deployed across the state every day to police COVID compliance.

Victoria Police say there is no way serious criminals can fly under the radar.

Up to 14 people were charged for offences and eight vehicles were impounded across three nights.

The youngest was an unlicensed 17-year-old from Shepparton who allegedly clocked more than 150km/h on a bike.

"We won't tolerate it and we will throw resources at it to curb their behaviour," Inspector Sprague said.

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Child care providers to be given COVID-19 payments during lockdown

Thousands of child care providers and after-school services will be eligible for new fortnightly payments to assist with the financial strain of being in a COVID-19 induced lockdown.

The government today announced that child care services who are in a Commonwealth-declared hotspot will be eligible for payments of 25 per cent of their pre-lockdown revenue.

Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services will be eligible for payments of 40 per cent.

READ MORE: Fears Delta variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible among children

The payments are expected to be available to around 3600 services in Greater Sydney, 900 after-school services in Melbourne and almost 300 services in the ACT.

These providers and services will see the payments in their accounts in around two weeks.

Providers will only become eligible for the payments seven days after a hotspot has been declared, and where states have directed families to keep children at home.

Where kids are still allowed to attend, the supports will kick in four weeks after the hotspot declaration.

READ MORE: Childcare in Melbourne will close to kids of non-essential workers

The new payments will immediately benefit child care services in affected areas of Sydney and the ACT and OSHC services in Metropolitan Melbourne.

All other services in Metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria and regional NSW will become eligible after seven days of lockdown, and payments will be backdated to today.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the payments are designed to stop child care providers from going into administration during extended lockdowns.

"The child care and early education sector is critically important for Australian families and our economy, and these payments will help keep services open and staff employed," Mr Morrison said.

"The sector has been doing an incredible job to provide essential care for Australian kids during the pandemic and we are backing them in while attendance rates are down.

"These payments will ensure our high quality child care and early education centres are there on the other side of these lockdowns."

READ MORE: More families to get child care fees waived during COVID lockdowns

Child care COVID-19 payments: Eligibility list

– Providers and services must be expecting attendance below 50 per cent

– Providers must waive gap fees for families whose children are not attending

– Providers must maintain staffing levels

– Providers must agree to a "fee freeze" for the duration of the monetary support

– Providers must not be accessing other Commonwealth Government funded supports