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Mundine fined again for allegedly breaching COVID-19 restrictions
Former boxing and rugby league star Anthony Mundine has been fined after allegedly breaching COVID-19 public health orders for a second time this month.
NSW Police claim Mundine was seen inside Bunnings in Kingsgrove without wearing a mask.
The 46-year-old is alleged to have entered the store and making a purchase without checking-in on the Service NSW website using the mandatory QR code.
READ MORE: Mundine fined for breaching COVID-19 restrictions
A Bunnings representative is stationed at the entrance to the store to ensure all shoppers check-in.
Officers tracked the former athlete to his South Hurstville home and issued an infringement notice.
https://twitter.com/WesternWilson9/status/1417585042230894594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Mundine told 9News he has an exemption allowing him to shop without wearing a mandatory mask.
He claims he failed to check-in when asked because he left his mobile phone in his car and didn't take it into the shop.
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The outspoken former boxer is already under investigation for a potential covid breach, attending a funeral in Yamba on July 14.
Mundine was fined $1000 on July 7 for breaching travel restrictions and travelling to Ballina.
NSW Police Minister David Elliott said it was "very sad" to see Mundine disobeying the rules.
"It's not a good example for the many people who look up to him," he said.
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How long will it take for NSW to reach its vaccine target?
High vaccination rates have been touted by the NSW Government as the key to life returning to normal, but at the current rate the state is unlikely to achieve its goal before the end of November.
National Cabinet hasn't decided on an official vaccine target for Australia.
But NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set the state's goal at having 80 per cent of adults fully immunised before we can live freely.
READ MORE: PM 'constantly' appealing to ATAGI to change AstraZeneca advice
That would require roughly five million people receiving both doses of the vaccine, equating to 10 million doses.
At the moment, just over 3 million (3,203,383) have been given the vaccine NSW.
In the 24 hours to Wednesday, 66,851 jabs went into arms.
If NSW continues at that rate, it would take about 16 weeks to get through the remaining seven million doses.
This would mean the state could reach its target by the end of November.
READ MORE: 'I cannot control what ATAGI advises': PM's testy exchange with reporter over vaccine messaging
However with lockdown already in its fifth week and no end to restrictions in sight, a three-month wait seems like a high price to pay.
Ms Berejiklian said NSW was currently administering around 300,000 doses in total each week, but the rollout was being limited by supplies of the Pfizer vaccine.
She and Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Wednesday urged all NSW residents over the age of 60 to get vaccinated with AstraZeneca in the hopes this could speed up the process.
Mr Hazzard said that "there was plenty of AstraZeneca around" but community reluctance remained a key stalling point because of "some of the issues that have been raised by the Federal Government".
READ MORE: Australia hits one million vaccine doses in a week
Addressing vaccine hesitancy, Mr Hazzard noted that a person over 60 had a one-in-200 chance of dying if they caught COVID-19 and that was one-in-500 for those over 50.
"If you have the vaccine, you have a one in two million chance of actually dying, so the odds are with you," he said.
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Man to be extradited to Queensland over body found in 'sealed box'
The former flatmate of missing Chinese national Qiong Yan will be extradited to Queensland tomorrow after a New South Wales court swiftly granted the order.
Yang Zhao, 26, faced Sutherland Local Court in Sydney today after being arrested on Monday over Ms Yan's alleged murder.
The order comes as Queensland Police have revealed the body found in a Brisbane apartment earlier this week was wearing distinctive jewellery belonging to Ms Yan.
READ MORE: Man critically injured in Gold Coast stabbing
Mr Zhao briefly appeared via video link in court, where Queensland Police's request for his extradition to the state was quickly granted.
He will be remanded in custody overnight at Kogarah Police Station before being handed over to Queensland detectives and escorted to Brisbane.
Mr Zhao's extradition comes after a "badly decomposed" body found in a Hamilton apartment rented by him was identified as "a female of Asian ethnicity".
Ms Yan's family has also positively identified jewellery found on the body.
Ms Yan was originally reported missing to NSW Police in April after failing to contact her mother and a friend.
Mr Zhao, 26, allegedly told police he did not know Ms Yan's whereabouts.
READ MORE: Thirteen million people in lockdown as Delta variant spreads wider
"He indicated to police by telephone he didn't know the whereabouts of (Qiong Yan) and hadn't seen her for some months," Detective Inspector Tim Trezise said yesterday.
"I believe he stated words to the effect of, 'I think she's moved interstate'."
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'I cannot control what ATAGI advises': PM's testy exchange with reporter over vaccine messaging
The Prime Minister has a "constant appeal" to the vaccine advisory group to change its advice and recommend the AstraZeneca jab to younger Australians.
But Scott Morrison bristled when questioned over mixed messaging around AstraZeneca since he accepted the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommendation in April, and why it was okay to 'appeal' for advice to be changed now.
ATAGI has made two separate recommendations, preferring the AstraZeneca jab only be given to people over 50, then over 60.
"I cannot control what ATAGI advises," the Prime Minister said.
'It's for them to now constantly reconsider how that balance of risk applies'
"Are you suggesting that the government when advised by the technical and advisory group on immunisation, some of the most senior level scientific medicos in the country, tell the government that the preferred vaccine for people of particular ages is 50 then they changed it to 60 that the government should refuse that advice?"
"You've just said there's a constant appeal for them to change that advice," quizzed the reporter.
"Well, sure they're the ones…they're the ones who make medical assessments," the Prime Minister said.
"All through this we have listened carefully and been guided by that medical advice".
Mr Morrison argues the risk profile has changed, and the advice should too.
"It's for them to now constantly reconsider how that balance of risk applies, and provide their advice accordingly," he told journalists during a media conference at the Lodge.
"The situation Australia faces should be managed on the balance of risk as ATAGI has said to me in the past."
On April 8, the day ATAGI was considering it's first advisory, Health Minister Greg Hunt said he had told them "to give your advice, fearlessly and frankly".
"These are difficult moments for government but we haven't hesitated in taking those difficult decisions."
Hours later that advice came back and a late-night media conference was called by the Prime Minister.
"We've always taken the time to ensure we get that advice, consider it carefully and make decisions in the best interests of Australians," Mr Morrison said as he announced the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation had issued an advisory that AstraZeneca was preferred only for those over 50.
"What I said is that we would seek the medical expert advice, and that is ATAGI. That's what they're there for," he said.
Mr Morrison's language around ATAGI has ramped up in recent weeks, with concerns over hesitancy with the Melbourne-manufactured jab because of the changes in advice from the advisory group.
"We're about two months behind where we'd hope to be and where we'd plan to be as a result of the ATAGI advice on AstraZeneca," the Prime Minister said on The Today Show last week amid criticism his rollout was way behind other parts of the world.
ATAGI's weekly meeting on vaccines is being held today.
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