Clarence Valley Council closes beach carparks until April 27 2020

Clarence Valley Council: 

The following beach car parks will be closed from Thursday 9 April until Monday 27 April: 

Turners Beach, 
Yamba and Breakwall (excl. for Farmers Markets) 
Main Beach, 
Yamba Pippi Beach, 
Yamba Blue Pools, 
Angourie Spookys Beach, 
Angourie Main Beach, Iluka (excl. the breakwall carpark) 
South Terrace, 
Wooli (near the Volunteer Rescue Service) 
Minnie Water Foreshore Reserve north of the surf club 
Brooms Head Foreshore reserve near the hall.

The Daily Examiner, 9 April 2020, p.5:

In an effort to stop tourists and local from congregating at Clarence beaches, Clarence Valley Council from today will close nine beach carparks until April 27. 

“NSW Government Health orders are crystal clear around social distancing and gatherings. Our beaches are only open to local residents for exercise and fishing and that’s only OK subject to people complying with social distancing requirements,” council general manager Ashley Lindsay said. 

“Once people finish their exercise they should return home immediately. We don’t want a repeat of what happened on Gold Coast beaches. 

“No holiday-makers should be coming here at this time. 

“Digital signage close to Yamba advising that beach carparks are closed will also be activated to deter visitors from using our beaches. 

“We all need to follow these rules to save the lives of the people we love. Everyone knows someone whose health is compromised. Healthy younger people can get very sick too.” Northern NSW Local Health District chief executive Wayne Jones is urging people who would have ordinarily been travelling to Northern NSW over the break to reconsider their plans, and steer clear. 

“For every person who doesn’t come to our region, it makes it easier for us to manage our own physical distancing needs here in Northern NSW,” Mr Jones said. 

“If travellers stay away, it means there is less chance of new cases being brought into our region.

Queensland tightens the lock on its border with New South Wales

Queensland Government, media releases, excerpts, 10 April 2020:

Arrivals to Queensland – from 12.01am Saturday 11 April 2020

4. A person who arrives in Queensland from another State or Territory of Australia from 12.01 am on Saturday 11 April 2020 will not be allowed to enter Queensland, unless they are an exempt resident or exempt person.
5. An exempt resident or exempt person who arrives in Queensland must self-quarantine if they have been outside Australia in the last 14 days.
6. An exempt resident who arrives in Queensland must self-quarantine if:
1. in the last 14 days, they have been in particular areas of Australia decided by the Chief Health Officer and published on the Queensland Health website (a COVID-19 hotspot), unless the person was in the COVID-19 hotspot for an essential purpose or enters Queensland for an essential purpose; or
2. they are a person mentioned in paragraph 7 item 1(b) (a person moving to Queensland to make Queensland their principal place of residence).......

From 12.01am on Saturday 11 April 2020 the following Local Government Areas in New South Wales are COVID-19 hotspots:

Blacktown 
Canterbury-Bankstown 
Central Coast 
Cumberland 
Inner West 
Ku-ring-gai 
Northern Beaches 
Randwick 
Ryde 
Sutherland Shire 
Sydney 
Waverley 
Woollahra 

Penalties: A person to whom the direction applies commits an offence if the person fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the direction.

Unfortunately for the NSW Northern Rivers region the failure of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to close the New South Wales side of the border means that Queensland residents will in all likelihood continue to cross into our region as non-essential travellers, even though they are aware recreational travel is not on the list of exemptions in the NSW Public Health Order.

Tweet of the Week

Such a coincidence that within a 24hr period so many Aus & UK journos were suddenly struck with an urge to write pieces promoting the sacrifice of the elderly & disabled to protect the economy

— StoneFishHugger (@mnxmoosi) April 9, 2020

"At least the Ruby Princess had a f*ckin captain".....

A musical comment on Scott Morrison's 'leadership' from within COVID-19 partial lock-in.......

Cartoons of the Week

Jess Harwood

Mark David

NSW Liberal Party Minister Don Harwin fined $1,000 for deliberately breaching current COVID-19 public health order

Special Minister of State, and Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts, Liberal MLC Don Harwin - a member of the NSW Parliament for the past 21 years - was caught deliberately floughting the current COVID-19 public health order.


Liberal power broker Harwin (pictured), whose principal place of residence is in well-heeled Elizabeth Bay, was found by The Daily Telegraph on 8 April 2020 at his $1.3 million beachfront investment property.

He has apparently been travelling back and forth to his holiday home from Sydney for the last three weeks, has allegedly been entertaining at least one guest at Pearl Bay in that period and, been seen wandering in and out of stores in a shopping centre on one of those trips back to Sydney.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is refusing to sack Harwin from her ministry.

NSW Police Public Site - News, 9 April 2020:

A man has been issued a $1000 Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) by police conducting inquiries into the circumstances surrounding his recent travels to a holiday home on the Central Coast.

Police were alerted yesterday (Wednesday 8 April 2020), that a 55-year-old Elizabeth Bay man had relocated to a holiday home at Pearl Beach, in contravention of current Ministerial Direction under the Public Health Act.

After reports he had breached the order, the man returned to Sydney today (Thursday 9 April 2020).

As part of inquiries, investigators from Central Metropolitan Region attended the Elizabeth Bay home unit and spoke with the man.

Following further inquiries, the man was issued a $1000 PIN via email just before 9pm, for failing to comply with noticed direction (Section 5 – COVID-19).

NSW Police Commissioner Fuller said the directions are in place to protect the lives of people in NSW.

“Police have been given these powers to ensure the community spread of COVID-19– which we know is devastating communities across the globe – is minimised,” the Commissioner said.

“You only need to look at the statistics to see that people are dying where appropriate measures have either not been established or are ignored.

“No one individual or corporation is above these laws – anyone suspected of breaching the orders will be investigated and if a breach is detected, they will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.

“On behalf of the community, I strongly urge those with information about breaches to contact police.”

Anyone who has information regarding individuals or businesses in contravention of a COVID-19-related ministerial direction is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.

Homelessness an issue in NSW Northern Rivers region during COVID-19 pandemic

The Northern Star, 9 April 2020, p.7:

If you’re sleeping rough and you’re exposed to COVID-19, it’s not simple to self-isolate. 

But it’s expected support services will be put in place for people in that situation across the region. 

Northern NSW Local Health District chief executive Wayne Jones has explained health authorities would liaise with service providers and local councils to make sure help was available for rough sleepers.

He said those experiencing homelessness would be given accommodation support if they need to self-isolate. 

Byron Shire Council’s director of corporate and community services, Vanessa Adams, said she was keen for the council and local agencies to talk with the health district so they could make sure help reaches those most in need.

At the last street count in August 2019, the shire had 171 rough sleepers. Ms Adams said this was “a disproportionately high number of people” for Byron’s population, compared with Sydney’s 330 people living on the streets.

“People who are sleeping rough often have underlying health issues that’ll increase their vulnerability to something like a pandemic,” Ms Adams said.

She said it was “absolutely vital” to help them at a time like this. “It’s not just the accommodation, it’s the services that go with that,” she said.....