Here's what you need to know this morning.
Regions nervous about re-opening
As more councils go back into lockdown, the Rural Doctors Association says vaccination rates must be equal across all of New South Wales before regional travel is allowed.
Kyogle in the state's northern rivers, Narromine in the central west and the Snowy Mountains all went back into lockdown yesterday.
Regional travel from Greater Sydney is set to resume when the state hits 80 per cent double vaccination but the association is worried that will be too risky if regional areas continue to lag behind Sydney's vaccination rate.
The association's chief executive, Peta Rutherford, said it was an anxious time for regional health.
"A lot of rural doctors are very nervous around Sydneysiders opening up," she said.
"It's important that the 80 per cent is consistent across every LGA."
Tornado clean up
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) says it's lucky a tornado that hit the Central West yesterday wasn't in a populated area.
The freak tornado destroyed several homes, and left a 30-kilometre trail of destruction in rural areas near Bathurst yesterday afternoon.
Three people were injured and two were taken to hospital.
SES Acting Superintendent Joshua Clark said crews worked late into the night yesterday to try and protect properties.
"This morning, SES crews will be attending the locations where the super cell went through, checking on the properties that were damaged by ensuring the tarps put in place yesterday afternoon and overnight remain in situ on those affected properties," he said.
"It is very lucky where it did eventuate it wasn't a very populated area — it was a rural area on the outskirts of Bathurst — [because] if it had been in a city we would have seen significant damage in that area."
Ageism still rife
The Law Council of Australia says ageism is leaving many Australians over the age of 60 feeling invisible.
Council President Jacoba Brasch QC says ageism is one of the most common forms of discrimination in society, including in aged care.
Dr Brasch says one in four people will be over 60 in New South Wales in a decade's time.
"The age discrimination act really needs to be enforced more frequently ... we'd be keen at the Law Council for the government to be looking at an aged care act which actually specifies the rights of people seeking and receiving aged care," he said.
"Ageism is one of the most pervasive 'isms' if you like, [it is] universally accepted unfortunately."
Coal mine approval overhaul
Sue Holliday was the Director-General of the Department in the early 2000s, and had complete oversight of coal mine approvals.
She said standards need to be set that take into account greenhouse gas emissions.
"The environmental impact statement that supports an application for a coal mine is merely an apology for the proponent and I think we need to get away from that and we need to get into a more clearer, simpler, transparent set of criteria," she said.
A spokesperson for the Planning Department said environmental impacts are subject to a rigorous, independent assessment against quantified criteria.
Controversy over public parkland management
Rules would be relaxed to allow coffee carts at Callan Park in Sydney's inner west and impose a ban on grass parking at Moore Park under a NSW government draft bill.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said the Greater Sydney Parklands Exposure Bill was designed to protect new and expanded public parklands in Western Sydney.
Mr Stokes said a new amendment had been proposed to relax restrictions to allow for arts and culture and food and drink activities to occur at Callan Park while still prioritising not-for-profit and profit-for-purpose uses.
“At the moment, only not-for-profit community facilities, education or health uses are permissible. To me, that seems overly restrictive,” Mr Stokes said.
But Councillor for Balmain Darcy Byrne has called an emergency council meeting over the plan for Callan Park, which he described as privatisation by stealth.
