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Two Sydneysiders challenged fines for Covid Public Health Order breaches. Case was run by Redfern Legal Centre in New South Wales Supreme Court. Hearing did not go ahead when the government conceded fines were invalid. Commissioner of Fines Administration then withdrew 33,121 penalty notices . Thousands more such fines across NSW could now be found to be invalid. ... More than 33,000 people who were fined for Covid breaches will get refunds after two Sydneysiders won a landmark test case and the NSW government admitted the fines were invalid. NSW Revenue's Commissioner of Fines Administration Scott Johnson said on Tuesday...

And so into their fantasy world they go. Demolishing reliable coal-power stations and subsidizing intermittent sources of power. Bad enough that Western governments have swallowed the line that climate Armageddon is on the horizon. Worse, much worse, is what they’re doing about it. They seem unable to distinguish between dreams and reality. Two recent developments in Australia add to the overwhelming evidence that Western governments are living their deluisions. Of course, there are many more than two such developments. I’ve just picked two of them at random. The first concerns the Liddell coal power station in the Hunter region in...

Australia’s energy minister asked Sydney and the New South Wales (eastern part of the country) residents to turn off lights and energy-intensive appliances in the evening to prevent power blackouts due to an ongoing energy crunch, The Independent reports. The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, asked residents in a televised address to turn off energy-intensive devices between “6 to 8 [pm]” to mitigate risks of a spike in power during peak hours. He pointed to several offline coal-fired plants because of maintenance and unexpected issues. Reuters notes that 65% of eastern Australia’s power is generated by coal, but more than...

A corruption hearing has heard former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian telling her secret MP boyfriend Daryl Maguire that a public servant's "head would be gone" but only after he "fixed" a grant proposal in his electorate. Ms. Berjiklian today began her evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) as it investigates whether she breached public trust due to the undeclared relationship with the disgraced Wagga Wagga MP Mr. Maguire.... Ms. Berejiklian told the commission she couldn't remember whether she indicated support before or after their advice, but "top of mind" was the potential repercussions of the Orange by-election. "Is...

Just hours after vowing to defy coronavirus vaccination requirements, the licensee of a notorious "freedom" pub in the NSW Hunter Valley has been fined for breaching pubklic health orders. In a social media post on Sunday, the Caledonian Hotel in Singleton pledged to "never give up fighting against the tyrants and evil that threaten our very own freedom and liberties." "Abiding by the law, we will not be invading people's privacy and asking for their medical status. Let's hope that those who uphold the law can do the same," a post from venue management said. The post described the public...

Dom Perrottet@Dom_Perrottet We're moving forward with our staged NSW reopening. A few adjustments to Monday's 70% relaxations and further easing once we hit 80% double vaccinated.

Gladys Berejiklian has made her first public appearance since her shock resignation as NSW premier last week and thanked her supporters for offering her comfort. Ms. Berejiklian emerged outside her electorate office in Willoughby in northern Sydney after five days of not being seen or heard from. She did not attend the vote for new Premier that was held at Parliament House yesterday. Ms. Berejiklian made a brief media appearance with federal Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman and collected some of the dozens of flowers and cards that had been left for her by supporters...

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is set to become the state's next Premier. Mr. Perrottet has secured a deal that will see the Minister for Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres, become the deputy Liberal leader, with Environment Minister Matt Kean becoming Treasurer. The ABC has been told Mr. Perrottet has the numbers to win a Liberal leadership ballot which has been scheduled for Tuesday...

China has confirmed the loss of its Shiyan-10 satellite, despite an otherwise successful liftoff on Monday (Sept. 27). The Shiyan-10 satellite launched to space on a Long March 3B rocket, which lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China around 4:20 a.m. EDT (0820 GMT; 4 p.m. local time) on Monday (Sept. 27). The spacecraft was China's second orbital launch of the day, following the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02D satellite, which was carried by a Kuaizhou-1A rocket that lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 2:19 a.m. EDT (0619 GMT; 2:19 p.m. local...

Australian Labor party Leader Daniel Andrews and Premier of Victoria made headlines again this weekend over his latest outrageous pandemic rule. Daniel Andrews told Australians they would receive no healthcare unless they were vaccinated for the coronavirus.

Yesterday, Florida’s Governor asked if the U.S. needed to reconsider diplomatic relations with Australia over the brutal police state that has taken over several states in the nation. Today, Fox News Host Tucker Carlson outlined some of the details of the police state that has taken over Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. WATCH:Approximately two hours after this Tucker Carlson segment aired, the Premier of Victoria (Melbourne), Daniel Andrews, informed all citizens of the state they must take a vaccine by October 15th if they want to work, and anybody who attempts to protest that demand will be immediately arrested...

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will make a 'significant announcement' at 1pm today after it emerged she is being investigated by the state's corruption watchdog. She has reportedly told colleagues she will be resigning as premier. Liberal MP Peter Poulos told an Upper House inquiry: 'She's going to resign at one o'clock'. The watchdog known as ICAC is investigating whether Ms Berejiklian encouraged or allowed corrupt conduct by her secret ex-boyfriend and former MP Daryl Maguire between 2012 and 2018. It will also probe whether she breached public trust by not reporting any suspicion of corrupt conduct.

Australian Public Health Official Admits That 6 of 7 Recent COVID-19 Deaths Had Been VaccinatedAn Australian government official from the province of New South Wales has admitted that six of seven recent COVID-19 deaths came from the vaccinated. “As the minister said, tragically today, we announced the deaths of seven people who had lost their lives to COVID-19, four women and three men, one person was in their 40s, one person in their 50s, two people in their 70s, two people in their 80s, and one person who was in their 90s, all of those individuals had underlying health conditions,...

Revolt grows after unruly protests. The Police Commissioner of New South Wales has refused to enforce the state’s vaccine passport mandate, revealing that officers will not be checking people’s vaccination status in restaurants, clubs or bars. The government is preparing to pass a mandate that will ban all unvaccinated people from gaining entry to numerous venues up until at least December 1st in a repeat of the segregation scheme that has been adopted in numerous western countries. However, after questions began to swirl about whether businesses would be forced to impose the measures on customers, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller...

While speaking about the vaccination rates in New South Wales, Australian chief health officer Kerry Chant expressed optimism that they’d soon reach a 90 percent vaccination rate for the 16 and over population. Even still, however, she quickly poured cold water on the idea of life returning to normal ever again. "We will not be going back to pre-COVID levels. We are always going to have to be mindful that COVID exists," she said. "We're going to have to engage with booster shots, we're going to have to engage with advice from time to time when we see outbreaks. We're...

I felt the earth move under my feet. Probably quite small in world terms but these things don't normally happen here - Australia is very geologically inactive.

Australia offers a cautionary tale of how an open and free society will quickly become dystopian because of fear.In a tweet that has gone viral, someone asked what the world’s largest prison looks like from space. The answer was a map of Australia. It seems a farfetched claim at first. But seeing the draconian restrictions the Australian government has put in place due to COVID-19, the tweet makes perfect sense.Before March 2020, Australia was often celebrated as a role model of liberal democracy, with free elections, a free press, an independent judiciary, a functioning political system, and a market-based economy....

While rest of the population is ordered not to talk to each other. While Australians were told they shouldn’t even talk to each other under COVID lockdown rules, police officials in Sydney held an office party to celebrate the LGBT community. Yes, really. Mount Druitt Police Area Command posted images to Facebook showing over a dozen employees gathered in close proximity to recognize Wear It Purple Day. The pictures showed the room had been decorated with LGBT flags as the employees prepared to tuck in to a buffet. “Mt Druitt is located in the City of Blacktown LGA – an...

Police responded to 79 protests across New South Wales on Tuesday, more than a third of which were held in the state's north as part of coordinated demonstrations against lockdown measures.... A police spokesperson said information was being collated but so far more than 150 people had been arrested and more than 570 penalty infringement notices issued for health order breaches...

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state's Hunter and Upper Hunter regions will be placed into lockdown from 5:00 pm today. The affected local government areas are Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog, Singleton and Muswellbrook. Ms. Berejiklian said the lockdown was expected to continue until midnight on August 12...