Australia news live: Brisbane enters three-day lockdown; Andrew Laming faces calls to quit
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says shutdowns are the only option to deal with outbreak until vaccination is complete; federal MP under pressure over his behaviour. Follow all the latest developments
11.32pm BST
Over the past year, various members of the Redfern Shanty Club found different ways to cope. Robert Boddington, with his thespian’s voice and easy stage patter, gathered a few friends and tried to sing in public places, “just turning up in the dead of night and quietly singing away”. Robin Howard says he got “the shakes”. Emma Norton, a train driver with a soaring Celtic voice, says: “I sang to myself a lot, I guess.”
On Monday night, as restrictions in Sydney were almost completely lifted – with relaxed caps on capacity in bars, and no limits on singing – this devoted and joyous community finally returned to their favourite weekly ritual.
Related: ‘A lot of noise, a lot of joy’: Sydney sea shanty club singers raise the roof in raucous reunion
11.22pm BST
The nation’s stocks of blood after running low after widespread, record-breaking floods across NSW saw a drop in donations, reports Tiffanie Turnbull from AAP.
The Australian Red Cross is calling for more people to roll up their sleeves ahead of the Easter weekend, with O-negative bloods donors in particular need.
O-negative is the universal blood type and can be given to anyone in an emergency, such as a road trauma, when there simply isn’t time to find out someone’s blood type…
Only nine per cent of Australians have O-negative blood, but it makes up 17 per cent of orders from hospitals because it saves lives in emergencies.
We understand so much has been asked of Australians over the last 12 months, from bushfires, to the pandemic and now floods…
While we’ve appealed for donors multiple times already this year, the number of people responding simply isn’t meeting patient demand.
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