Better to hand out a mask than a fine : Calls for free masks to promote mandate
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The NSW government has ordered mandatory face masks in Greater Sydney from Sunday to fight the city s growing COVID-19 outbreak, prompting calls for the distribution of free face masks to keep the public on side.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced face masks would be compulsory in public indoor settings from midnight on Saturday, including on public transport, with a 24-hour grace period before $200 on-the-spot fines would apply from Monday. Children under the age of 12 are exempt, as well as people with certain medical conditions.
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Cloth mask makers across Sydney are gearing up for a spike in demand after the announcement that masks would be mandatory in certain settings in NSW from midnight on Saturday.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced at the daily COVID-19 update that masks would be required in shops, supermarkets and shopping centres, public or shared transport, indoor entertainment such as cinemas, places of worship, and hair and beauty salons.
The mandate takes effect Sunday, with $200 on-the-spot fines for non-compliance from Monday.
Mask maker Sophie Alais.
Credit:Steven Siewert
Mask maker Sophie Alais, co-founder of Saving Face Co, welcomed the announcement as fantastic but also probably overdue .
Why school banking has had its day
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Opinion
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When I was six years old, I was a member of the school banking program.
Every Tuesday I took my banking passbook and a dollar to school and the deposit was duly entered into my bank balance.
At home I had a rectangular money box with the facade of a grand bank building in green and gold and the title Commonwealth Bank of Australia . (You can buy them secondhand for $15-50 depending on the condition).
Money boxes . the tin, right, was modelled on Commonwealth Bank s then head office in Pitt Street. The tin, left, was a model of the bank s building at 48 Martin Place.
The warning signs in the Christchurch terrorist s Australian upbringing
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The warning signs in the Christchurch terrorist s Australian upbringing
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The Australian-born terrorist behind the Christchurch mosque shootings was openly racist at school, experienced family violence at home and had unsupervised access to the internet from childhood.
These details about Brenton Tarrant s early life were revealed last week in a report by the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 2019 terrorism attack in which 51 people were murdered.
Australian Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the Christchurch mosque attacks.
Taking stock of the year that changed us
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Taking stock of the year that changed us
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Reflecting on a year like 2020 is not easy. How did Australia tackle a global pandemic? How did the way we live, work and play change for better and for worse? What does it say about our resilience, and what does it all mean for what s next? Our series Australia’s Pandemic is hopefully a definitive look back at the extraordinary year, unpicking those complex questions and giving our readers some answers.