A 24-hour nationwide strike by about 2000 delivery workers at StarTrack will go ahead from midnight after the national industrial tribunal rejected the company’s argument that it would imperil health and safety by delaying coronavirus vaccines.

The Transport Workers Union,which represents the striking workers who make up about 70 per cent of the overall workforce,has said it will not knowingly hinder vaccine deliveries through its strike.

That prompted StarTrack to drop its attempt to have the strike terminated and instead try to delay it,the union said.

Though the sides could not come to an ultimate agreement of all sites and services to be exempted from the strike to allow the vaccine rollout to go ahead unimpeded,Fair Work Commission member Ian Cambridge ultimately decided that the risk posed to the community by a potential one or two day strike to vaccine deliveries in some areas was “of very low order”.

The government’s vaccine taskforce has previously said it wasn’t expecting any disruptions from the strike,though Communication Minister Paul Fletcher,who is responsible for StarTrack because it is owned by Australia Post,has criticised the union’s decision to strike during the pandemic.

At issue are what the union says are insufficient job security protections in the company’s pay agreement.

TWU secretary Michael Kaine said the commission had seen through what he called StarTrack’s “deplorable tactic”.

A StarTrack spokesperson said:“Our commitment to deliver for Australians is unwavering. While we respect the decision of the Fair Work Commission,there will be delivery impacts tomorrow,at a time when the delivery of essential items has never been more important.”

More schools in Victoria have been identified as COVID-19 exposure sites.

Authorities listed nearly 50 new exposure sites on Wednesday evening;among them,the tier-1 or close contact Our Lady Help of Christians School at Brunswick East in Melbourne’s inner north.

That school was declared a tier-1 site on Wednesday,September 15 and Thursday,September 16 between 9am and 3.30pm.

Lalor North Primary School - also in the city’s north - was declared tier 1 on Thursday,September 16 between 8.40am and 3.50pm,and on Friday,September 17 between 8.40am and 3.10pm.

Mount Hira College at Keysborough in Melbourne’s south east was declared tier 1 on Friday,September 17 between 8.10am and 3.45pm.

Bacchus Marsh Primary School,about 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne,was declared tier 1 over two days:on Wednesday,September 15 between 8.30am and 9.10am and 3.15pm and 3.40pm,and on Thursday,September 16 during the same timeframes.

Meantime,Green Leaves Early Learning Highlands at Craigieburn in Melbourne’s outer north was declared a tier-1 exposure site on Saturday,September 18,Sunday,September 19 and Monday,September 20 between 9am and 6pm.

Ballarat Gov Hub in the regional city was declared a tier-1 site over five days,from Monday,September 13 through to Friday,September 17,between 7am and 5pm on each day.

Authorities also identified a number of new tier-2 sites,including several venues at Hamilton in south west Victoria,a business complex at Narre Warren and a McDonald’s at Elsternwick,both in Melbourne’s south east,a Costco at Epping in the city’s north,a grocery store in the west,and the Ballarat Gov Hub over several days.

A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be foundhere.

A second major COVID-19 outbreak is unfolding at a south-west Sydney hospital,with 24 patients testing positive in the past week.

The new exposures have occurred across six wards at Liverpool Hospital,a South Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday evening.

Twelve people died when a virus exposure occurred across the hospital’s geriatric and neurology wards earlier this year.

Those infected in the past week included 13 patients and two staff members in the orthopaedics ward,two patients and one staff member in the renal ward,three patients and one staff member in the neurology ward,five patients in the geriatrics ward,one patient in the cardiothoracic ward and an intensive care nurse.

The source of the exposures is under investigation.

“We thank all those at Liverpool Hospital for their continued dedication to providing outstanding patient care to all patients during these most challenging of times,” the spokesperson said.

“There are strict infection control protocols and procedures in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection among patients and staff,which includes regular testing of staff and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment.”

Staff members who were not authorised to speak publicly said Liverpool Hospital was due to open its 10th COVID-19 ward this week.

The Hawthorn RSL has condemned the use of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne today as a rallying point for anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown protesters.

The protestershave since been dispersed by riot police.

The war memorial was a “sacred place for Australians to commemorate those who fought and died for us” and it was “not appropriate to use this location for any protest”,the Hawthorn RSL said in a tweet.

Victorian riot police have used tear gas and fired non-lethal rounds at protesters in Melbourne to disperse them from the Shrine of Remembrance.

The war memorial is now entirely empty.

As the protesters left the Shrine of Remembrance,still chanting “every day” to indicate they will be back to protest again,police followed them through the surrounding gardens and continued firing at them. The protesters are now making their way back into the city.

Today’s protests mark the third day of unrest in Melbourne’s CBD.

The initial protest appears to have been triggered by the Andrews government’s decision to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for construction workers,and was centred on the Melbourne offices of the Construction,Forestry,Maritime,Mining and Energy Union. This is despite the fact that the CFMEU did not support the mandate.

The Victorian secretary of the CFMEU,John Setka,has said he is pro-vaccination but would prefer to persuade union members rather than force them to get the jab.

The CFMEU says the majority of the protesters are not union members and the crowds include far-right extremists.

The protests now seem to be aimed both at lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccinations more generally.

Follow the separate live coverage of the protests here.

NSW Health says stay-at-home orders will be lifted for three local government areas in regional NSW in a staggered fashion.

From midnight tonight,the orders will be lifted in Gilgandra and Brewarrina.

As reported earlier today,lockdowns in the Albury and Lismore local government areas also end at midnight tonight.

Stay-at-home orders will also be lifted in the Narromine local government area from this Saturday,September 25,“provided Narromine has no cases or sewage detections before then”.

NSW Health said Gilgandra,Brewarrina and Narromine had been “deemed low-risk and have not recorded any COVID-19 cases or positive sewage detections for 14 days”.

Some restrictions will remain in place,and the latest rules can be viewed here.

If you are not familiar with thefalcons living in Melbourne’s Collins Street,today might be the day to make their acquaintance.

There is a live feed of their movements on YouTube and the footage today showed one falcon’s reaction to the tremor in Melbourne. Their expression pretty much sums it up.

From all reports,the falcons are alright.

Victoria will be hit by aftershocks in coming weeks and months after the magnitude 5.9 earthquake caused building damage across Melbourne and was felt as far away as Canberra,Sydney,Adelaide and Northern Tasmania.

Geoscience Australia said the epicentre of the earthquake was near Mansfield,about 130 kilometres north-east of Melbourne,at a depth of 10 kilometres,just after 9.15am. It was the largest on-land tremor ever recorded in Victoria.