Welcome
Good morning. Nick Visser here to get the news going. Here’s what’s on deck:
Leah Stewart, the woman who was bitten by a shark at Sydney’s Coogee beach, issued a thankyou to those who supported her after the attack.
She wrote on GoFundMe: “After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I’m so happy that I’ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this.”
Stewart was in an induced coma after the shark attack and had multiple surgeries, including the amputation of one of her arms.
Meanwhile authorities have begun vaccinating as many of Phillip Island’s little penguins as they can against the H5 strain of bird flu. The island, south-west of Melbourne, has a 5,000-strong colony, which sees a nightly ritual of the penguins returning to the same burrow, along the same path, making them ideal candidates for vaccination. It comes a day after authorities revealed the death of a seal from the flu, the first confirmed mainland mammal fatality.
Stick with us.
Key events
Nightly ‘penguin parade’ undergoes vaccinations for bird flu
The nightly parade of penguins on Phillip Island is a tourist favourite, but has recently taken on a more serious tone, AAP reports.
As the little penguins toddled up the Victorian beach on Sunday night, many were corralled into pens to receive the first of two vaccinations against bird flu. The H5 strain of bird flu first reached Australia’s shores in June and is already confirmed to have claimed the life of one of the penguins in the colony.
With case numbers on the rise, authorities have stepped in to do what they can to defend the 5000-strong colony of little penguins living on Phillip Island, southwest of Melbourne.
The penguin’s nightly ritual of returning the same burrow, along the same path, made them ideal candidates for vaccination, said Phillip Island nature parks reserve manager Ben Thomas said:
We started on some of the quieter penguin pathways to fine-tune the whole process and and get it working as quickly as we can, so we can process as many penguins as we can each night.
We’ve now moved to the western end of the penguin parade, where the larger numbers are, and it’s working really well.
Second fur seal suspected of dying from bird flu
A second long-nosed fur seal is suspected to have died in South Australia from H5 bird flu, just a day after officials confirmed the first death of a mammal on the Australian mainland.
The South Australian government said the second fur seal death occurred offshore at the Pages conservation park. More than 1,000 dead crested terns were found across Troubridge Island and the Pages islands in recent weeks, with the latter a known breeding site for a colony of endangered Australian sea lions, with long-nosed fur seals known to visit the area.
Samples will be taken for confirmatory testing, with results expected in the coming days. The South Australian government maintained that there are no H5 bird flu detections in poultry or livestock and the risk to humans remains low.
“South Australians are encouraged to continue being vigilant in reporting sick and dead birds and other wildlife,” the government said in a statement.
Major housing investment near Perth aimed at increasing apartment builds
Sarah Basford Canales
The National Reconstruction Fund will invest $120m into a $240m advanced manufacturing project north of Perth expected to be able to build 2,000 apartments a year once fully operational.
The announcement this morning also includes a $20m grant from the Western Australian government and a $100m equity investment from Wesfarmers, the owner of popular retail brands, including Kmart, Bunnings and Officeworks.
The Built Living project, which will begin before the end of the year, will be able to build residential apartments at scale through advanced manufacturing. The government says it will deliver apartments up to 20% cheaper and up to 50% faster than traditional construction.
The federal industry minister, Tim Ayres, said:
Australia needs to build more homes, but we also need to build more capability. This project brings advanced manufacturing into the housing supply chain, lifting productivity and helping deliver more homes for Australians.
Welcome
Good morning. Nick Visser here to get the news going. Here’s what’s on deck:
Leah Stewart, the woman who was bitten by a shark at Sydney’s Coogee beach, issued a thankyou to those who supported her after the attack.
She wrote on GoFundMe: “After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I’m so happy that I’ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this.”
Stewart was in an induced coma after the shark attack and had multiple surgeries, including the amputation of one of her arms.
Meanwhile authorities have begun vaccinating as many of Phillip Island’s little penguins as they can against the H5 strain of bird flu. The island, south-west of Melbourne, has a 5,000-strong colony, which sees a nightly ritual of the penguins returning to the same burrow, along the same path, making them ideal candidates for vaccination. It comes a day after authorities revealed the death of a seal from the flu, the first confirmed mainland mammal fatality.
Stick with us.
