The Canberra Times Today

Today is December 24, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, one of Australia's most ambitious smaller airlines says it intends to add Canberra as a destination, and travel restrictions to the ACT for people travelling from Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong will remain through Christmas and likely until at least the New Year.

Today is December 23, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, NSW Health authorities are set to decide what restrictions on movement and gatherings will be in place on Christmas Day, after a day of record testing across the country yielded just 21 cases of COVID-19 nationally, and the former head of the NSW police watchdog has been appointed acting ACT Integrity Commissioner.

Today is December 22, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a senior federal public servant is facing the prospect of time behind bars after emailing sexualised images of young children to a person in the UK, and Canberra's hotels have been struck by cancellations as restrictions on travellers from Sydney leave thousands scrambling to rearrange their Christmas plans.

Today is December 21, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, people entering the ACT from Sydney and its surrounding regions after 11.59pm last night will have to quarantine as the territory government moves to stop COVID-19 spreading to Canberra, and the ACT has recorded one new COVID-19 case in the past 24 hours, according to the territory's health officials

Today is December 18, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Australia's peak medical body says Canberra desperately needs more beds across its hospitals to ease pressure on emergency departments, and plans for a multimillion-dollar bridge across the Molonglo River have been lodged with the ACT government.

Today is December 17, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Canberrans waited longer than anyone else in the country to be treated in emergency departments in 2019-20, as the COVID-19 pandemic saw hospital visits slashed, and public-sector whistleblowers are set to gain the same protections as their counterparts in the private sector, with the government set to overhaul the public interest disclosure scheme.

Today is December 16, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, forty people could lose their jobs as a Canberra recycling company grapples with the fallout from a multimillion-dollar rubbish dumping scam, its directors say, and the ACT government must devise a detailed plan to balance the books and start paying off debt in the wake of the COVID-19 economic crisis, according to Treasury officials.

Today is December 15, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government has welcomed the re-opening of two-way travel across the Tasman Sea. At the moment, New Zealanders can come to Australia without quarantining but Australians have to quarantine there, and as the federal cabinet end of year reshuffle nears this week, only one key ministerial name has been leaked: Education Minister Dan Tehan.

Today is December 14, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT would move to decriminalise the possession of a small amount of illicit drugs including heroin, ice and MDMA under a new bill to be introduced to ACT's Parliament, and the days of government budgets concentrating on longer-term issues are over, a new analysis from Deloitte Access Economics suggests.

Today is December 11, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a controversial $500 million proposal to expand the Australian War Memorial has cleared one of its last major hurdles after the environment minister announced it had her backing, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lavished praise on the Australian Public Service in a speech marking the final sitting day of Parliament for 2020.