Over $2.5 million has already been raised after the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund was activated on Wednesday to help victims of the devastating Wooroloo bushfire, according to The West Australian.

The State Government contributed $2 million to the fund after it was confirmed that at least 71 homes have been lost in the blaze so far.

This was followed by more than $60,000 in donations within the first 30 minutes of the fund going live.

Perth’s Lord Mayor, Basil Zempilas, told The West Australian it was just the 50th time the fund had been activated in the past 60 years. The most recent appeal in 2016 raised almost $9 million for the Yarloop bushfire victims.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Basil Zempilas – ‘My heart beats true for Greece and Perth’.

READ MORE: Greek helicopters arrive in Australia to help with the summer bushfire season.

Mr Zempilas said the fund, only activated during the worst emergencies, had contributed $500,000 to the Wooroloo appeal.

“The board met this morning and (the fund) was activated immediately,” Mr Zempilas told The West Australian.

“Clearly there is distress in our community and this is what the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund was set up for.”

Mr Zempilas said the losses suffered by those in Perth’s hills is “heartbreaking” and “that’s why financial contributions from people in the community can be so useful to help them start to rebuild.”

READ MORE: Basil Zempilas: Be proud of your heritage and being Australian.

“You can’t help but think of those people and what they are about to go through once the initial shock and adrenalin that must be running through their bodies starts to dissipate,” he said.

Mr Zempilas added that he expected West Australians would live up to “their reputation of being the most generous people anywhere in the world.”

This news comes as the Federal Government also announced on Wednesday that Western Australians affected by the devastating Wooroloo bushfires will be able to access disaster payments of up to $1000 per adult and $400 per child from 8am today.

READ MORE: Greek Australian Basil Zempilas elected as new City of Perth Lord Mayor.

Meanwhile, Telstra also announced an assistance package, including free phone calls, for customers who have lost services due to the fire.

The package includes mobile call diversion, a boost to data and free calls and reconnection support to those in Gidgegannup, Herne Hill, Upper Swan, Red Hill, Ellenbrook, Bullsbrook, Wundowie, Parkerville and Red Hill.

Perth Hills bushfire at ‘critical’ stage:

Fire authorities battling a massive bushfire threatening lives and homes in the Perth Hills say the situation is at a critical stage as strong south easterly winds push the blaze towards houses on the northern edge of the fire.

Incident controller Peter Sutton said the situation was extremely dangerous, with strong gusts fanning the flames and multiple breakouts ahead of the main fire.

“The situation has become quite critical as we speak,” he told ABC Radio. “We are getting reports of buildings under immediate threat. We’re having multiple breakouts on the northern flank of the fire.”

“We’re really at a critical point in time.”

He said homes were under threat in Clenton Road, Berry Road and Toodyay Road in Gidgegannup, in the Avon Ridge estate in Brigadoon and along the Great Northern Highway.

Wind gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour were forecast to hit the area overnight, pushing the fire in a north-westerly direction.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) warned people in or around Clenton Road, Berry Road and Gidgegannup they were in immediate danger and it was too late to leave.

RELATED: WA bushfire emergency: 80 per cent of properties lost east of Perth.

Source: The West Australian and ABC News.

The House of Assembly of the South Australian State Parliament passed a historic motion on Wednesday recognising the right to self-determination of the indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh, while condemning the attacks by Azerbaijan and Turkey.

South Australia has become the second Australian state to recognise the Republic of Artsakh, following a similar motion passed in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in October 2020.

The motion was introduced by the Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP in the lower house, and seconded by the Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Jayne Stinson MP Member for Badcoe. The Hon Andrea Michaels MP also made a speech in parliament supporting the motion.

The motion condemns the aggression of Azerbaijan and Turkey, particularly in light of the history of ethnic cleansing and genocide of indigenous Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations.

Mr Koutsantonis stressed in his Parliamentarian speech the need to acknowledge Turkey and Azerbaijan’s recent attempts to “commit genocide.”

“I hope today, we can show the same carriage and foresight as previous parliaments and acknowledge current attempts by Turkey and their ally Azerbaijan to once again commit genocide, ethnic cleansing in the traditional ancestral homes of the Armenian people,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“I declare today, my belief is Artsakh is Armenian, it is their home. Their connections to this land is not in dispute historically, factually or presently.”

READ MORE: Greece launches peace initiative for Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict.

In a statement after the motion was passed, the Armenian Cultural Association of South Australia (ACASA) sent their gratitude to Mr Koutsantonis and Ms Stinson for championing the motion.

“We thank Mr Koutsantonis and Ms Stinson for championing this motion and extend our gratitude to all parliamentarians who supported the passage of this non-partisan motion in the name of human rights,” the Association wrote in its statement.

During the war, Azerbaijan targeted civilian areas with weaponised drones and cluster munitions, and razed cities and towns in Artsakh to the ground. According to ACASA, nearly 3,000 indigenous Armenians were killed, and close to 200,000 displaced.

The SA Parliament motion calls for the safe return of Armenian refugees to their homes without further reprisals, and also asks the Federal Government to condemn these attacks.

READ MORE: Huge rallies held across Greece as Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict intensifies.

Source: ACASA.

Up to 600 people associated with the Australian Open have been told to isolate after being identified as casual contacts of a quarantine hotel worker who has tested positive to coronavirus.

Among them is Greek player, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had beaten Australian Alex De Minaur in his first match of the ATP Cup just before the news was announced by Premier Daniel Andrews in an emergency press conference overnight.

READ MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas crushes Australian young gun Alex De Minaur in ATP Cup.

Mr Andrews said the hundreds of tennis players and support staff told to self isolate and await a negative test result.

Tennis officials late on Wednesday night issued a statement about lead-up events for the Australian Open.

“We will work with everyone involved to facilitate testing as quickly as possible,” Tennis Australia, organisers of the February 8-21 event, said.

“There will be no matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday. An update on the schedule for Friday will be announced later today.”

Restrictions reintroduced:

Victoria has reintroduced mandatory masks indoors, a cap on gatherings to 15 people in a household, and the 75 per cent return to work, scheduled to begin on Monday, has been paused.

It follows the diagnosis of a 26-year-old Noble Park, who had been serving as a resident support officer as part of the Australian Open quarantine program.

The infected man last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29 and undertook a PCR nasal test at the end of that shift, returning a negative test result at that time.

He later developed symptoms and got tested, returning a positive result yesterday.

The case will be recorded as a community transmission, the day the state had celebrated reaching a milestone 28 days in a row without a locally acquired infection.

List of exposure sites in Melbourne’s south-east released:

Anyone who visited the following exposure sites at the specified times must be tested and isolate for 14 days:

• Club Noble in Noble Park from 2:36pm — 3:30pm on January 30
• Aces Sporting Club (Driving Range) in Keysborough from 10:00pm — 11:15pm on January 30
• Northpoint Café in Brighton from 8:10am — 9:30am on January 31
• Kmart in Keysborough from 4:00pm — 5:00pm on January 31
• Kmart in Brandon Park from 4:35pm — 5:10pm on January 31
• Coles in Springvale from 5:00pm — 6:00pm on January 31
• Bunnings in Springvale from 11:30am — 12:15pm on February 1
• Golf Academy in Heatherton from 5:19pm — 6:30pm on February 1
• Lululemon, DFO in Moorabbin from 5:00pm — 5:45pm on January 29
• Woolworths in Springvale from 6.30pm — 7.30pm on January 29
• Nakama Workshop in Clayton South from 11:15am — 12:00pm on February 1
• Sharetea in Springvale from 6:45pm — 7:30pm on February 1
• Kebab Kingz in West Melbourne from 11:24pm — 00:15am on February 1
• Exford Hotel in Melbourne from 11:00pm — 11:35pm on February 1

Mr Andrews said the 26-year-old worker had attended a social function in his capacity as a volunteer firefighter.

“We have been through FRV and CFA have been contacting brigades, they have been doing deep cleaning, they in turn have been contacting their members, their staff as well as their volunteers,” he said.

“We are confident people will get the information they need as quickly as possible.”

From Thursday all of the 13 major testing sites in the south-east of Melbourne will open early at 8:00am with additional drive-through lanes added. Additional testing sites will open in Brighton and Monash University.

Fronditha Care announced on Wednesday afternoon the appointment of Faye Spiteri (Tsolakis) as the organisation’s new CEO.

Fronditha Care President and Board Chair, Jill Taylor (Nikitakis) said, “Faye is an exceptional leader who brings very relevant and diverse skills and experience to the role. She is an accomplished executive with a demonstrated successful track record in leadership roles across the government, corporate and for purpose sectors.”

The Board has been transparent about the significant financial and strategic challenges that Fronditha Care is facing. Jill Taylor (Nikitakis) confirmed how vitally important it was to the Board to appoint a new CEO with deep knowledge of the business and someone who could act swiftly to recalibrate the organisation.

According to a press release by Fronditha Care, Faye was chosen as the Board considered her to be the best person to inspire and lead change. She has a wide-ranging background including social policy, service delivery, strategy, people management, communications and commercial acumen. More importantly, Faye has broad cross-sectoral networks and extensive governance expertise which she brings to the role. This includes her experience as the first female President of Fronditha Care and Vice President of the Fronditha Care Board, during her nine-year tenure.

Jill Taylor (Nikitakis) added: “Faye is already very much aligned with the organisation’s culture and brings with her existing relationships with the entire Fronditha Care community including staff, members, volunteers, partners, sector leaders, organisational influencers and other key stakeholders.”

Commenting on the appointment, Mrs Spiteri (Tsolakis) said, “Fronditha Care holds a special place as one of the few independent aged care service providers contributing essential culturally appropriate services to the community.”

She added: “I am excited to be appointed CEO of Fronditha Care and to address the challenges that lie ahead. Given my three-decade passion and commitment to make a difference for the community, it is a privilege to lead the organisation as CEO and, together with the Board and staff, continue the focus on advancing the provision of optimal care outcomes for our elders.”

Formerly known as St Kilda schoolgirl Kimberley Duthie, author and entrepreneur Kimberley Ametoglou has revealed she is battling cervical cancer for a second time.

Kimberley was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year and entered surgery last week. Following the surgery, she was told by doctors that she had an unrelated rare tumour.

“Not where I wanted to be today. Still in shock but I’m staying positive,’’ she wrote on Instagram yesterday.

“I’ve been quiet about this but I’m devastated. When I was under last week during surgery, they found a rare tumour completely unrelated and I have been diagnosed with cancer again.”

“I am about to go in for surgery to mark up margins and measure the size of the cancerous mass. I love you all and I’ll see you once I’m out.”

Ametoglou made headlines in 2010 and 2011 after leaking nude photos of St Kilda players and being caught in a hotel room with player manager Ricky Nixon. She is now releasing a tell-all book about her life, talking about her cancer diagnosis and events with the St Kilda players.

The mum of a four year-old son with husband Demirel Ametoglou, says she has been overwhelmed by support for her personal journey to heal and recover, and to “share my truth”.

“This is one of the most challenging things I have ever done, reminiscing on past traumas and a time in my life that I was at absolute rock bottom,’’ she said.

“I wanted to be able to share what I couldn’t say 10 years ago during many TV interviews.

“NDA contracts have finally expired now it’s 2021 and it’s my chance to finally close a chapter.”