REDCLIFFE, Australia — The Australian Queensland government said only a restructure of federal funding will help relieve pressure on the state’s health system. Queensland Health has been grappling with a spike in ambulance ramping amid surging demand for beds for a number of months. Ramping is the procedure when patients are treated in ambulances on hospital driveways until beds become available. More than 1.39 million people were presented at hospital emergency departments between July 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, an 11.6 percent increase over the previous period. Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said population growth has been outstripping bed capacity,…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY, Australia — Criminal charges alleging that Australia’s Home Affairs broke the law before an immigration detainee’s suicide were filed at the “last minute,” a court has heard. Comcare, the federal work health and safety authority, charged the federal government department and its refugee healthcare provider on March 3 with breaching work health and safety laws. The charges state each defendant failed to comply with its health and safety duty and exposed the detainee to a risk of death in early 2019. Iraqi man Milad Abdulrahim Aljaberi, 26, took his own life inside Sydney’s Villawood detention centre on March 4,…
MELBOURNE, Australia — A Victorian government agency will reconsider the grant applications of about 12,000 small businesses worth up to AUD 120 million ($9.34 million). State Ombudsman Deborah Glass has found that thousands of applications for the government’s AUD 10,000 ($7,786.35) Business Support Fund were denied because they remained in draft awaiting further information. Others weren’t processed because forms contained typographical or numerical errors, involving email addresses or other information. “The department made mistakes. People made mistakes,” Glass wrote in her report tabled in state parliament on April 27. “Despite the stress and anxiety caused by Covid-19, in an environment where their…
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian government will consider sending desperately needed oxygen to India, which could also face harsher inbound travel rules because of its coronavirus catastrophe. The national security committee will meet on April 27 to weigh up humanitarian support, with India setting consecutive world records for daily cases. There were more than 352,000 new infections on April 25, as the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany pledged supplies. Australia is considering a request for oxygen and is likely to send non-invasive ventilators to India, where the health system is in extreme crisis. “India is gasping for oxygen,” Health Minister Greg…
HOBART, Australia — Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has something to shout about when his state heads to the polls this weekend. For the fifth quarter in a row, the island state has topped the Commonwealth Securities‘ state of states report as the best-performing economy in Australia, and again followed by the Australian Capital Territory. “Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory solidly held positions at the top of the performance rankings and little change at the top of the rankings is expected in the next few quarters,” CommSec economists Craig James and Ryan Felsman said. “However, there is little to separate five…
CANBERRA, Australia — Malcolm Turnbull has put the onus on state governments to plan for Australia’s energy future as the system shifts to renewables because of climate change. The former Liberal prime minister has become outspoken on climate action since being booted from the top job due to clashes over energy policy within his own party. “To those who say, ‘Why didn’t you sort this out when you were prime minister?’ — this is absolutely state government responsibility,” Turnbull informed an online event on April 27. “The federal government’s levers in this area are very tiny, if existent at all.” Turnbull…
BRISBANE, Australia — Health workers will assess Covid-19 positive crew on board a British-flagged tanker ship after it was permitted to anchor off in the South-eastern Australian state capital of Brisbane. It’s understood the Inge Kosan requested to come to Queensland and is expected to arrive on April 27 or April 28. “This vessel is scheduled to arrive in the coming days, pending weather,” a Queensland Health spokesperson said on April 25. “Health workers will board the ship to assess crew members once it is safe to do so. “Decisions regarding the treatment of confirmed cases will be made following the assessment.” A state…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s women’s shelters and other crisis accommodation services are sounding the alarm over a looming funding cliff as federal and state, and territory governments fight over who should cover workers’ wages. The strapped homelessness sector says it’s set to lose AUD 56 million ($43.5 million) in funding unless governments reach an agreement before the end of the financial year. “I’m really worried,” Homelessness New South Wales chief executive Katherine McKernan said. “If the gap’s not filled, we’re looking at losing over 500 staff across Australia. Primarily the clients that will miss out are women and children escaping domestic and…
WELLCAMP, Australia — Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for all flights from India to be suspended as the Covid-19 outbreak worsens. Cabinet’s national security committee will meet on April 27 to discuss harsher further measures and decide on assistance for the ailing country. Palaszczuk claims all inbound flights from India must be halted to protect Australia from the mutant strain of the virus. “Everyone understands that although this is a tough measure, it’s a necessary measure because what we see in India is a huge second wave, some 300,000 cases a day,” she said. “It’s tragic what’s happening there, and…
MELBOURNE, Australia — A century-old army barracks in Melbourne’s north could become a global manufacturing center for mRNA coronavirus vaccines under a plan proposed by a Victorian Member of Parliament. Frank McGuire has proposed Maygar Barracks, in his electorate of Broadmeadows, could be transformed into a manufacturing facility for mRNA vaccines that could be distributed globally. The 12-hectare site, which was once the training ground for the Australian light horsemen during World War I, is owned by the Commonwealth, and its future is under review. McGuire said the barracks’ history and location — across the road from Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL), manufacturing doses of…