Author: admin

A man will face court after police discovered a prohibited drug in a car while carrying out border operations.
About 10.20pm on Wednesday 19 August 2020, police were conducting border checks on Thule Street, Barham, as part of Operation Border Closure when they stopped a Toyota Echo, driven by a 47-year-old man.
While carrying out permit checks, officers observed a woman in the front passenger seat allegedly under the influence of drugs.
The woman was treated by ambulance paramedics before being taken to Cohuna Hospital in Victoria.
During a search of the vehicle, officers allegedly located and seized drug-related items including a jar containing a clear liquid believed to be Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
The driver was issued a Field Court Attendance Notice for possess a prohibited drug.
He will appear at Moama Local Court on Wednesday 9 September 2020.
In a separate incident, a man was charged after allegedly failing to comply with a direction on the state’s south coast.

About 8.30pm on Friday 7 August 2020, a 31-year-old man was refused entry to a club on Hargreaves Street, Unanderra.

The man allegedly became argumentative with staff and refused to leave the premises, before moving towards staff and coughing into his hands, saying he had COVID-19. The man left the scene and the incident was reported to police.

Following inquiries, licensing officers from Lake Illawarra Police District arrested a man in a car outside a house on Moran Street, Dapto, about 7.45am yesterday (Wednesday 19 August 2020).

He was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station, where he was charged with not comply with noticed direction re spitting/coughing – COVID-19, stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (personal), excluded person fail to leave premises when required.

He was granted conditional bail to appear at Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday 30 September 2020.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.

The NSW Government today announced an extension of the COVID-19 relief funding for community and mobile preschools to the end of Term 4.
Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell said the continued funding recognises the importance of helping families keep children engaged in preschool education.
“Research clearly demonstrates children who attend 600 hours of preschool in the year before they start school have better outcomes throughout their lives,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Extending this relief funding will help families keep their children attending this critical year of early education.
“COVID-19 has already caused disruption to all of our lives, so it’s more important than ever to ensure families are supported to keep children in quality education and care.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Government is committed to ensuring children have access to vital early education, particularly in the year before school.
“We know these are testing times and that’s why we continue to offer this  vital support to ease cost-of-living pressures and ensure children right across the State have access to the education they need and deserve,” Mr Perrottet said.
“This funding will ensure community preschools remain open and will not be forced to close their doors if enrolments fall.
“Eligible services can opt in for the relief funding to allow them to provide fee relief and maintain staffing levels. Services will be contacted directly with information on how to opt in and access payments for Term 4.”
While the NSW Government provides ongoing funding for preschools, this package provides additional funds to cover parent fees and the impact of falling enrolments.

Ninety new jobs are on offer after major construction finished at the NSW Government’s multi-million dollar Kangy Angy Rail Maintenance Facility.
The purpose-built facility will service and maintain the New Intercity Fleet trains, with around six kilometres of electric rail lines – seven-tracks across at its widest point – a new rail bridge, access roads, offices and amenities.
Minister for Transport Andrew Constance says testing of the facility will continue ahead of the introduction of the New Intercity Fleet later this year.
“The Maintenance Facility has created employment, skills development and business opportunities on the Central Coast during construction and that will all continue into operation,” Mr Constance said.
The facility will be operated by UGL Rail, which is part of the RailConnect consortium contracted to design, build and maintain the new fleet.
“UGL is currently recruiting for roles in engineering, supply chain, supervision, planning, quality and asset management, with more than 90 positions to be filled over the next 18 months,” Mr Constance said.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said substantial landscaping had taken place around the development.
“An important part of the construction phase is the revegetation work with a number of Central Coast native species being planted on-site, including 950 trees and more than 200,000 juvenile grasses, shrubs and trees,” Mr Crouch said.
“It’s fantastic to see that within the vegetation being retained, 30 nest boxes were installed to provide habitat for native animals.”
The design and construction of the facility was delivered by John Holland on behalf of Transport for NSW.

Emergency services workers and volunteers across regional NSW will be better equipped to continue their dedicated service ahead of the upcoming bushfire season following the official opening of four new fire stations, the handover of four new fire trucks, and a boost for paid positions to fast-track hazard reduction.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott, Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson and NSW RFS Assistant Commissioner Peter McKechnie met with members of the Namoi River Brigade to officially open two new stations at Upper Manilla and Namoi River, made possible thanks to a nearly half a million dollar investment by the NSW Government.
“We thank our firefighters for their unwavering efforts over what has been a difficult 12 months in the service. We are committed to providing our firefighters with the best possible equipment and amenities so they can get on with the job they do best – protecting the irreplaceable,” Mr Elliott said.
Mr Elliott and Mr Anderson also joined Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Commissioner Paul Baxter today to open the new $5 million South Tamworth Fire Station and Zone Office.
Mr Elliott said the new station was a significant investment in the Tamworth community that will see the local response to fires and other emergencies improve.
This comes after, only yesterday, Mr Elliott joined Sam Farraway MLC and Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Commissioner Paul Baxter to officially open the new $2.05 million Parkes Fire Station.
“The NSW Government has invested over $14 million in new and upgraded fire stations across the state, and it’s great to have the opportunity to tour regional NSW over the last couple of days to deliver four new stations to local communities,” Mr Elliott said.
Fourteen new State Mitigation crew positions were also announced at Tamworth, Glen Innes, Moree Plains and Armidale to help fast track hazard reduction burns and build bushfire resilience across regional communities.
“These new roles, part of the recent $10.7 million state-wide investment in bushfire preparedness and regional jobs, will support and supplement volunteers and fast-track hazard reduction in areas that need it most,” Mr Elliott said.
The Garah, Wallah and Baan Baa communities are also set to benefit from three new Category 1 fire tankers worth nearly $350,000 each, as part of the NSW Government’s $34.4 million investment in upgrading the RFS firefighting fleet.
The recent investments in the RFS’s bushfire response capability come on top of a record $1.7 billion budget for emergency services in NSW.