I am currently supporting someone with Omicron and let me tell you: this experience has done nothing except convince me Australia’s governments has squandered every opportunity we gave them by getting so thoroughly vaccinated and cooperating with their lockdowns. (Short thread.)
"Red (Taylor's Version)" is now Taylor Swift's 9th most streamed album ever on Spotify surpassing "Fearless (Taylor's Version)".
It is now the most streamed re-recording in History.
There is a queue of people on foot, 400m long, some of them elderly, in the persistent rain for the walk-in PCR clinic in Scott Morrison’s electorate. The store across the road is price gouging on RATs. Is he at all concerned about the problem in his own backyard?
There has been quite a snafu at Sutherland Local Court as the magistrate couldn’t understand how a barrister didn’t know the consequences of drink driving. Took a while but we have established the defendant is actually a barista. His Honour notes the cop must review his spelling.
Uh hello, it’s not an “uptick in willingness” in young people to get vaccinated - it’s an uptick in permission and access because most of us weren’t eligible until about three weeks ago! You can’t ever say young people haven’t been willing - we just weren’t allowed!
#Covid19NSW
This Australian Open situation is breathtakingly stupid. Pro sports types who literally have COVID being allowed to enter Victoria while the state’s own COVID-free residents in NSW can’t return home and Australians are stranded all over the world with no jobs, homes. Jesus wept.
We held up our end of the bargain when it was excruciating to lose time in lockdown. We did it happily to protect vulnerable people and give the government more time to prepare for this. They wasted it and they betrayed us. Shame on them.
I am single (so no compassionate intimate partner provision for me!) and live alone and I’ve just been scolded by a stranger for saying I’m focusing on reading and cooking to cope while totally isolated in an indefinite covid lockdown? Some of you need to log off and it shows.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison: "By tomorrow one in two Australians will have had their first jab. All we had to do was ask."
No, the government didn't actually need to ask. They needed to make vaccinations available and sow confidence earlier, before we got into this situation.
We abided by lockdown. We masked and didn’t sook about it. We got vaccinated. I’m boosted. We’re trying to return responsibly to life as normal and the reward for that from the government is to give us nothing when we need resources to manage illness when it comes.
Highly paid politicians have decided for themselves they should get free rapids while essential workers, people in low paid and insecure work, and basically everyone else can cope with next to no supply at outrageous, unregulated prices.
Just amazing.
Politicians are getting rapid antigen tests delivered to their electorate offices for free, while essential workers have been forced to search high and low for the crucial swabs.
I am a journalist, covering all manner of news and current affairs, and I confess I have absolutely no idea why you’re all stockpiling things. Why? I feel like I have completely missed some kind of memo? How is this going to help you with coronavirus? I just? What?
We’re not asking for much! I think we’re pretty reasonable! We won’t overreact and will look after ourselves as much as we are able, all we are asking for is RATs and an oximeter and the government squandered the advantage WE GAVE THEM by locking down and vaccinating!
Have just seen a very young woman who grew up in foster care and has been a domestic violence victim dragged before the magistrate for larceny (theft) of a $5 sausage roll from Woolworths because she was hungry. Law enforcement is so completely broken in this regard.
Hi! I am extraordinarily grateful to everyone who has reached out about yesterday. It was a very hard day on the tools but I love my job and I believe press freedom is essential for safe and fair communities everywhere. That’s why we all do what we do.
Okay I know we’re all having fun clowning around right now and that’s good but don’t forget we are not letting up on demanding free rapid tests for every Australian today.
Here’s a general note: if you accuse me of being responsible for or complicit in the actions of this government, I will block indiscriminately. I’m proud of how I use my platform and if you read my work you’ll know how laughable it is to suggest I’m propping up anyone. Thanks!
And if it’s this bad for us - with one person available to provide support, the money to pay for some tests and an oximeter (if we ever find one), and the time to facilitate it - how much worse is it for people who don’t have that privilege?
Just walked into the pub and a bloke just softly howled at me, like a very small wolf. Where do they learn this stuff? Why are they like this? These are not hypothetical questions by the way I am looking for a real answer. It is the year 2022.
We are pretty damn measured about it, really. We’re trying to minimise our pressure on valuable health resources. The two things that would help us help ourselves AND others are RATs and an oximeter and the government has absolutely failed to provide enough of either.
Yes, it’s the middle of the night but how’s this for leadership? The incomparable Australian comedian Celeste Barber has set up an international fundraiser for the NSW RFS. She’s raised more than a million bucks in less than a day. Absolutely unbelievable.
#NSWfires
I know what you’re thinking! Why don’t you contact your local MP and ask for them to advocate for you? Well, I’m a constituent of the electorate of Cook, and it is a matter of public 👏 record 👏 that lately the member’s office does not see fit to respond to my emails! Thanks.
Well there it is. The PMO did indeed receive all three of my emails in August 2020! They simply did not see fit to respond to the local masthead about allegations of misconduct by their government MP’s staff member - or to take any action other than to discuss it with the MP.
Another $100 down the drain for seven rapid tests, more time, more fuel - have I mentioned I’m on holidays? and it’s just lucky I am privileged enough to even afford to buy tests, drive, have a day off in order to help one person who is ill and another who soon could be?
This could have been a calm, unremarkable process of getting the spicy cough if we had the resources to manage it sensibly at home but the resources aren’t there so it’s not calm and it’s not unremarkable. It’s highly, highly stressful.
What is a mostly benign thing that drives you up the wall? For me it’s a lack of self awareness in public. People who slam to a halt in front of you while walking, people who get on a train and stop at the door so you can’t get on, people blithely blocking supermarket aisles.
Fortunately the nice bloke at the chemist does let me fill the provided script on behalf of the positive person so that’s one job done but that’s because pharmacies are good, and not because the state or federal governments came prepared for this.
“We are now at this stage of the pandemic we just cannot make everything free.”
Sorry to everyone who can’t afford up to $30 per RAT, you can either stand in a queue or suffer! The government doesn’t care about you.
The person I am supporting was turned away from a Sydney testing clinic on the 27th after two positive rapid tests. They then had to arrive at 5.45am on the 28th in the cold and rain and stand on their feet in the queue until 8.20am. They had every Omicron symptom by this point.
Hi it’s me I am once again standing in a queue for a rapid test (to support a household waiting to emerge from iso) which may or may not still be in stock by the time I reach the front. This is the indisputable result of government failure.
Reporters ask where Dr Chant is this morning and
@cokeefe9
points out “it’s a health crisis” - the Premier responds “it’s also an economic crisis” which is a bit 😬 in the context?
Okay I’m interested to know: as a full grown adult, what food/s are emotionally just an absolute no for you? I’m not talking about intolerance/allergies, I want to know the stuff you can’t ever get around. Off the top of my head it’s coriander (so original) and rockmelon.
I spend a lot of time sitting in courtrooms and I think: wow there’s a lot of folks who need less getting arrested and more state-sponsored mental health care! Just! All the time!
Now, lots of people will say iT’s JuSt a CoLd. Listen to me: I’m not a panic merchant about Covid. I’ve been minding my business, taking ✨personal responsibility✨ - and the person who is positive did as well, they were just unlucky.
So we’d already driven from the Shire, to Eastgardens, to Maroubra, to Kings Cross on the 27th - 12 pharmacies in total - to find rapid tests to hopefully preempt adding two more people to the PCR queue, and that cost $75 before you add the time, the fuel and the stress.
As a journalist I can usually come up with something to say about basically anything but this. This has had me stumped and in a state of psychological turmoil for several hours now.
Genuine question: do people still think NSW should have locked down sooner or have we generally come to a conclusion it was immaterial against the infectiousness of Delta and it was always going to be about vaccination?
Every single state government and the federal government has a lot to answer for. Are we supposed to believe Hollywood superstars have some magic ability to quarantine safely at home that genuine citizens do not? The disrespect and lack of compassion is just unbelievable.
Then it takes another four days since the positive PCR to get a hold of a doctor on the phone, who says we need an oximeter to monitor the positive person. Can I find an oximeter at 9.30pm at night for someone ill with Covid-19? No! Of course not. Sold out. Everywhere I can call.
I will be on Sky News tonight from about 7pm with
@SharriMarkson
to talk about today. I am borne up by all of your kind words. I will have more to say later but for now I just want to say how grateful I am for my colleague Dylan Robinson, who is a true gentleman.
After 48 hours we had confirmation of what we already knew - that person was positive. However, the person living with them was not. The pair were merely fortunate to be able to continue to isolate from each other in the same household.
When the second person tested negative it became clear we would need more rapids so they could monitor themselves and, if necessary, begin their 10 day iso as soon as possible. This time I had to drive from the Shire to Sans Souci, to Brighton, to Marrickville, to Summer Hill.
The fact Sydney's trains are still limited for the fourth straight day in heavy rain with people jammed in like sardines - unnecessary when we still have Covid about - is just extraordinary. Absolute incompetence. You guys know we don't have Comcars, right? This actually matters.
Good grief how many times do we have to go through the fact that outdoor environments are low risk for Covid transmission? I’m so tired? Just let people have the outdoors so they don’t have to go crazy in an otherwise extremely strict lockdown?
Today the Daily Mail didn't even bother to pretend they weren't literally cutting and pasting my work by and instead just...cut and pasted my work on the latest COVID-19 postcode data. Not a single aspect changed. Can you honestly not.
Lyle, I was there. She wasn’t denied access to the street. She and her crew were denied access to the private people practising their faith in peace. Which is their right, and ours. And historically you haven’t liked it when that was interfered with.
Public property in Australia should never become a no-go zone to appease the sensibilities of any religion. No credible explanation has been given for
@Lauren_Southern
being denied access to a Lakemba street. This is deeply worrying.
When billionaire Simon Holmes á Court bankrolls the fake independents he insists there's no strings attached. It's like when a girl orders a lobster and the 1985 Dom Pérignon on a first date. Nothing is owed there either. But everyone knows exactly how the night will end.
#auspol
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I despise the disrespect and lack of professionalism which is so frequently displayed in various levels of government. Why are they like this? What excuse is there to behave in this fashion? It’s your workplace?
There are lots of people in my mentions who are very concerned you can’t walk down the street in southwest Sydney anymore. So here’s a compilation of clips of me. Walking down the street. In southwest Sydney. Because you can.
I cannot count how many times I have said this in the past three days, but:
I reported on Frank Zumbo's court proceedings in July 2020.
I emailed the Prime Minister's office on August 3, 4 and 5. I received no response.
@ScottMorrisonMP
follow up - Craig Kelly's staff
How long has he known?
"Over the last few weeks I became aware of some other matters.. with the Fin Dept and we have initiated a process that is looking into those precise matters that came to my attention a few weeks ago."
Daisy, I was in Lakemba that day. And countless other days, because that’s where I work. It’s mundanely safe. Perhaps believing Muslim people are intrinsically violent is good for business but I deal exclusively with facts.
Today a barrister unleashed an outrageous attack in open court in which he claimed I don’t know how to report on court and have no idea what I am doing. He subsequently joined the list of experienced barristers whose non-publication attempts I have defeated before the magistrate!
The coffee shop today was blasting Mary’s Song by
@taylorswift13
and then when I walked past the barber shop next door they were bumping Willow. Honestly: that’s power. That’s influence. That’s history. That’s a vibe.
I’m sorry, I don’t care how basic you may think I am, this still makes me laugh out loud. The pandemic sucked/sucks bad but the content has been just incredible.
Lauren, it’s okay. No-one paid any attention to me in Lakemba either. Because no-one has an agenda against you or me in the way you so fear here in southwest Sydney. (You should try the falafel next time!)
I’m a seasoned court reporter. I’ve won every application against a non-publication order I’ve ever made. A court recently overturned a decision it made because I identified a legal error: so the condescension I have to deal with in the justice system is getting *really* old.
Man at court charged with driving with cannabis, MDMA and cocaine in his blood: “Your Honour, I did smoke some weed but I’ve never touched coke and I haven’t had amphetamines in years. But I did exchange some passionate kisses with a woman at karaoke, it’s the only explanation.”
Breaking: ex-MP Craig Kelly’s former chief of staff Frank Zumbo has been found guilty by a magistrate of eight charges related to allegations he sexually touched young female electorate office employees. The Crown is seeking to have him remanded in custody.
@dailytelegraph
I learned a valuable lesson early on in my career and it’s that every politician’s conviction about ~strong border policy~ falls to pieces as soon as you ask what they’d do if it was them, their spouse and their children living somewhere like Kabul when it falls to the Taliban.
As a Christian, I want to categorically say we don’t need any more podcasts about how to do marriage from evangelicals in their 20s, thank you. We’ve had enough. That’s enough.
Police tasered an Aboriginal girl with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability until she lost consciousness, then handcuffed and shackled her after she refused to be interviewed alone over allegations she had been abused.
@australian
One young tradie asked me if Lauren Southern was a model. I told him she's just anti-Islam. He said, "So she hates me?" then laughed, "That's only because she doesn't know I've got all this going on," before making his pecs dance and wandering off.
Not a single day goes by that this disgraceful blight on our nation’s humanity does not haunt me. I would ask what has become of us but we’ve been denying asylum seekers and refugees their rights for what, a decade now? So the question is a bit old now.
BREAKING: Tharnicaa (nearly 4 years old) is being medically evacuated to Perth for treatment of a suspected blood infection. She was hospitalised yesterday on CI after suffering a high fever, vomiting/diarrhoea & dizziness for 10 days. Pls keep our little cockatoo in your hearts.
A NSW Health executive has today sent an all-staff email in which he praised a Lismore father who killed himself and his two-year-old-son as a “wonderful colleague and beloved friend”.
@jmodoh
exclusive on
@dailytelegraph
:
Pleased to see more and more people are discovering the unmitigated fabulousness of Mariam Saab, the ABC evening newsreader who has probably the most spectacular wardrobe in Australian television. Here’s a sample of outfits we have enjoyed in my family group chat:
Today a very experienced male silk told me rather condescendingly to “take a deep breath and calm down”. So I defeated his efforts to get a suppression order on his client’s matter.
In response to a question about Australia not being prepared for life with Covid, the Prime Minister says healthcare workers are doing a great job. True, but what's that got to do with the rapid test shortage and price gouging? That's the government's remit.
Where are they when it's Bondi running hot?
Let me tell you where the most number of COVID cases is in NSW since June 15.
Vaucluse: 24
Bondi Junction: 19
Bondi Beach: 18
...
Bossley Park: 17
Cecil Hills: 14
Where are the cops and horses for the eastern suburbs? Unless?
BREAKING: There will be 100 extra NSW Police Officers in South-West Sydney from 7am tomorrow to ensure COVID compliance in Fairfield, Liverpool and Bankstown.
High visibility police operation launched.
I am speechless that killing a woman - even accidentally - doesn’t result in full-time jail. I just wrote a yarn about a man getting four months for drunkenly smashing into a fence. In this justice system you get more time for killing a fence than a woman.
Every few months a new person will discover this and that’s what my whole Twitter will be about for that entire day. Honestly, I’m just happy if you’re all happy.
This is my equal favourite fact check of my career so far, featuring retired YouTuber Lauren Southern. “Do you see any, British pubs?”
There’s one, right there.
If your partisanship is so essential to you it robs you of compassion for a woman having a miscarriage on the side of a highway, you need to take a good look at yourself. If these people are your mates you need to call them in and tell them to get some perspective. I despair.