The new community Covid-19 case in Sydney hasn’t impacted the transtasman bubble so far – with New Zealand health authorities deeming it a low risk to public health. The New Zealand Ministry of Health said it did not recommend any…

Australian states and territories have kept their borders open to New South Wales after a new community case of COVID-19, but ordered those who have visited one of a growing list of Sydney exposure sites to isolate and get tested.

Victoria, Western Australia, the ACT and NT are directing residents and visitors who visited any of the Sydney venues to isolate, get tested and then quarantine for 14 days. They're also generally expected to contact local health authorities.

In Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, anyone who visited one of the exposure locations at the specified times is directed to call local health authorities, isolate and get tested.

READ MORE: More health alert locations after Sydney COVID-19 case

WA Chief Health Officer Dr Andrew Robertson said NSW Health would contact its local counterpart if any close or casual contacts were found to be in WA.

"We believe any risk to WA remains very low, but the situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to prevent the chance of any spread of the virus or community transmission in this state," he said.

"We will continue to monitor the situation in New South Wales very closely and issue updated health advice if required."

The man, aged in his 50s, had been "very active in the community" before he tested positive to the virus, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklin said.

Victoria

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1389856383068110849

Queensland

https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1389875399593713664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Western Australia

https://twitter.com/WAHealth/status/1389914204916748290

South Australia

https://twitter.com/SAHealth/status/1389848858570608648

Tasmania

https://www.facebook.com/HealthTas/posts/3975755465844816

ACT

https://twitter.com/ACTHealth/status/1389846055932420103

NT

https://www.facebook.com/NTGovHealth/posts/1110987925971335?__cft__

Friday, April 30:

– District Brasserie, Chifley Square, 11am – 11:45am

– HineSight Optometrist, Sofitel Sydney, Wentworth, 12pm – 1pm

– Barbetta, Paddington, 1:30pm – 2:30pm

– Screening of The Courier at Event Cinemas, Westfield Bondi Junction, 6pm – 8pm

– Figo Restaurant, Rushcutters Bay, 8.45pm – 11pm

Saturday, May 1:

– Joe's Barbeques & Heating, Silverwater, 1pm – 1.45pm

– Tucker Barbecues, Silverwater, 1pm – 1.45pm

– Barbeques Galore, Annandale, 2pm – 3pm

– Barbeques Galore, Casula, 4pm – 5pm

– BP Mascot, Botany Road, 4.30pm – 5pm

Sunday, May 2

– The Meat Store, Bondi Junction, 3pm – 4pm

Monday, May 3

– The Stadium Club, Moore Park, 11.30am-12.30pm

– Azure Café, Moore Parl, 12.30pm-1pm

– The Royal Sydney Golf Club, Rose Bay, 5.30pm-9pm

Tuesday, May 4

– Rug Cleaning Repairs Hand Rug Wash Sydney, Brookvale, 12.30pm-1pm

– Alfresco Emporium, Collaroy, 1pm-1.30pm

– SMITH MADE, Balgowlah, 2.30pm-2.45pm

– Chemist Warehouse, Double Bay, 3.45pm-4pm

– Woolworths, Double Bay, 4.05pm-4.15pm

Australia's car industries wants several licence and government fees given the flick to simplify taxation on drivers.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber wants the Federal Government to overhaul "outdated practices" by removing licence fees, registration fees, stamp duty and the fuel excise.

Mr Weber said drivers should be taxed on how much they use the road.

"It's an opportunity we have now to re-design our tax system around motoring to make it more simplistic and more efficient for users," Mr Weber told 9News.

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Older Australians who use their car less often would benefit most from the move.

Mr Weber also wants owners of electric cars to be rewarded as more get on the roads.

Other states have already implemented plans to tax low emission and hybrid vehicles almost three cents per kilometre to make for the loss in excise.

"Excise on fuel is about 12 billion dollars a year net; well put it another way, for every litre of petrol you buy, you're paying 43 cents in excise that is going to evaporate over time," Mr Weber said.

The Queensland Government is yet to decide on how it will tax electric vehicles.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey told 9News he wants to see the results from other states before making any decisions.

"Queensland is certainly not looking at such a move at this year's budget; we see these moves as very much premature," Mr Bailey said.

Queensland currently has the third-highest number of electric vehicles on the road, and the Minister said the Federal Government needs to do more to keep the numbers rising.

The brother of Stuart MacGill's ex-girlfriend is one of the men charged over his alleged kidnapping in Sydney.

The former Test cricketer was allegedly grabbed just 100 metres from his home in Cremorne on Sydney's north shore and dragged into a car two weeks ago.

Four men were charged today after Detective Acting Superintendent Anthony Holton said that police will allege that the 50-year-old was targeted for financial reasons.

READ MORE: CCTV released over three-day kidnapping of Ibrahim's nephew

Former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill did not alert police of his alleged kidnap for almost a week because of "significant fear" for his safety.

Four men were charged over the alleged kidnapping today after Detective Acting Superintendent Anthony Holton said the 50-year-old was targeted for financial reasons when he was dragged into a car from Sydney's Lower North Shore two weeks ago.

"I believe that the motive was purely financial, he was seen as someone that they could get money from," Mr Holton said.

One of the men charged is Marino Sotiropoulos, 46, the brother of MacGill's former partner Maria O'Meagher.

MacGill and O'Meagher worked together in her Neutral Bay restaurant Aristotles before it was sold.

Sotiropoulos, from Brighton Le Sands in Sydney's south, has been charged with kidnapping and supplying large commercial quantity of cocaine.

Three others – aged 27, 29 and 42 – were arrested in Caringbah, Sutherland and Banksia, in Sydney's south.

Earlier, police said MacGill did not immediately report the kidnapping due to "significant fear" for his safety.

"The delay in reporting was due to the significant fear instilled in the man," Mr Holton said, who did not formally identify MacGill as the victim.

When asked if MacGill owed the alleged kidnappers money, Mr Holton replied: "I'm not able to comment, unfortunately."

"I can say that his kidnapping is not involved in any other backstory that leads to him having to a personal debt to other people that he had to pay back."

He said no ransom was requested.

MacGill was being "purely been treated as a victim" of the alleged kidnapping, Mr Holton said.

"Everyone experiences trauma differently," Mr Holton said, when asked why it took MacGill six days to report the alleged kidnapping.

Mr Holton alleged MacGill had been a victim of a "criminal gang".

The former Australian spin bowler, who was allegedly bundled into a car and driven to multiple locations in Sydney's west and inner-west, suffered minor injuries but did not need medical treatment.

Do you know more? Contact: ms******@******om.au

"To be standing on the street in Cremorne, to to be dragged into a car, to be driven to remote location, physically assaulted, threatened with a firearm (and) held for a period of time then dumped, I think you'd be pretty worried about your own personal safety, the safety of your family and your friends," Mr Holton said.

"I know it's only an hour that he was held. But it would have been a horribly frightful hour to endure."

Four men were arrested this morning after a series of search warrants were executed across Sydney.

The two men in their twenties were taken to Sutherland Police Station and both charged with participate criminal group contribute criminal activity and take/detain in company with intent to get advantage occasion actual bodily harm.

The 42-year-old Banksia man was charged with knowingly direct activities of criminal group and take/detain in company with intent to get advantage occasion actual bodily harm.

Police said MacGill remains "quite shaken" after the ordeal that started about 8pm on April 14 when he was allegedly confronted by the older man near Cremorne.

A short time later the pair was approached by two other men and MacGill was allegedly forced into a vehicle.

He was then allegedly driven to a property at Bringelly, about 50 kilometres west of Cremorne, where the two men, plus another unknown man, allegedly assaulted MacGill and threatened him with a firearm.

About an hour later, MacGill was allegedly driven back to Belmore, in Sydney's inner-west, and released.

The incident was reported to North Shore Police Area Command on April 20, six days after the alleged kidnap.

Officers today raided homes at Sutherland, Caringbah, Brighton Le-Sands, Banksia and Marrickville.

During the raids, police seized including electronic devices, clothing and a vehicle which they described as "relevant" to the kidnapping investigation.

MacGill was a leg-spin bowler who claimed 208 wickets in his 44 Test career.

Investigations by the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad are continuing.

Contact: ms******@******om.au

FOLLOW: Mark Saunokonoko on Twitter

A NSW Liberal MP who nominated himself for President of the Upper House against the Premier's pick has been expelled from the party.

Matthew Mason-Cox, from the conservative wing, secured the crossbench and Opposition votes necessary to replace his fellow Liberal, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, in the big chair.

The contest for the chair sparked a fiery stoush in the chamber, following the retirement of previous president John Ajaka.

READ MORE: 'Fiasco' in Parliament shows why Australians have disdain for leaders

Ms Maclaren-Jones, Premier Gladys Berejiklian's pick for the position, received 20 votes, with 14 for rival candidate Peter Primrose and eight informals.

However, the Labor opposition refused to accept the result, claiming that Ms Maclaren-Jones had not secured an outright majority of the votes.

Nonetheless, this week, Ms Maclaren-Jones claimed the presidency, on the back of legal advice from the Solicitor General and Bret Walker SC, both of whom advised that the informal votes should be discounted.

READ MORE: More health alert locations after Sydney COVID-19 case

However, the Labor opposition erupted, with MP Penny Sharpe likening Ms Maclaren-Jones's assumption of the role to a "coup".

Ms Maclaren was almost immediately ousted in a vote of no confidence, at which point Mr Mason-Cox put his own name forward, winning an outright majority of 23-18.

He was expelled from the Liberal party later today.

The Pakistani national who died in his car after becoming trapped in flood waters during NSW's historic rainfall event has been farewelled in Sydney.

Ayaz Younus was on his first day on the job as a contractor in Sydney's north-west when he became stuck in floodwaters on Cattai Ridge Road, near Hidden Valley Lane, at Glenorie.

He called Triple Zero at 6.25am and made attempts to free himself from the car, NSW Police said.

READ MORE: NSW flood victim identified as 25-year-old Ayaz Younus

Mr Younus was on the phone to emergency services for 44 minutes before contact was lost.

The car was found about 30 metres from the road in six metres of water just after 1pm.

Mr Younus' body was inside.

READ MORE: Thousands return home to piles of debris left behind after unprecedented flood disaster

Today, family and friends farewelled Mr Younus, remembering him as a happy, energetic young man who had recently completed his master degree.

Mr Younus' family had been granted permission to fly in from Pakistan under strict COVID-19 conditions to attend the ceremony.

Sydneysiders are being warned their veggie patches might be poisoning them.

Toxic levels of lead have been found in gardens across the city – with experts warning the contamination carries major health risks.

Professor Mark Taylor said lead's side effects are numerous, but particularly dangerous for children.

READ MORE: New skin gel 'proven' to heal chronic pain

"The effects would include developmental delays, ADHD behaviours, increased irritability, and poorer executive functioning."

Professor Taylor's recent "VegeSafe" program at Macquarie University found that one-third of backyard gardens across Australia are likely to produce food with unsafe levels of lead.

READ MORE: New drug that mimics popular diet could bring relief for migraine sufferers

"Thirty-five per cent of all gardens… had at least one sample that exceeded the Australian guidelines for lead, which is 300 milligram per kilogram."

Older houses, particularly painted ones, and those in areas with heavy traffic, had even higher readings.

Sydney's inner-city gardens were rated the most toxic, followed by the suburbs of Leichhardt, Marrickville, Ryde, Burwood and Strathfield.

Veggie patches in Liverpool, Merrylands and Canada Bay also recorded high risk lead levels.

Blacktown, Baulkham Hills, Carlingford, Hornsby and Pennant Hills get the green garden tick – those suburbs recorded the lowest amounts of lead.

READ MORE: Researchers developing blood test to identify bowel cancer

But there are things you can do to avoid or lower lead levels.

Using a raised garden bed and fresh soil can help stop contamination, as well as avoiding leafy green vegetables, which absorb more lead from the ground.

Professor Taylor said that he doesn't want to discourage veggie growers – just encourage them to take a little extra care.

The battle over the future of Queen St went to the High Court in Auckland today.A spokesman for the lobby group Save Queen St said both sides – Save Queen St and Auckland Council – read out their submissions to Justice Geoffrey…

By Andrew McRae of RNZ Warning: Graphic content in this story might be distressing to some readers. A steadfast determination to tell the truth saw a 14-year-old girl endure months of solitary confinement at a social welfare-run…

A man has been charged with raping a woman who allegedly entered his car thinking it was a ride-share service in Melbourne.

Police allege the man offered the 20-year-old woman a free lift home when she got in thinking his car was a rideshare near the intersection of Peel and Oxfords streets in Fiztroy, about 2.25am April 30.

The 50-year-old allegedly drove the woman to Rowe Street before sexually assaulting her inside the vehicle.

READ MORE: Amanda Brown remembered by Sam Newman as 'loyal and loving'

The woman – who had left a venue on Smith Street – managed to alert a friend via text message and police arrived shortly after.

The driver was arrested last night.

He was charged with two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault today.

The Mill Park man will appear before Melbourne Magistrates' Court this afternoon.