The Sydney Morning Herald Photos of the week October 7 2021

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Former premier Gladys Berejiklian says her successor Dominic Perrottet will be an “outstanding leader” and has urged the people of NSW to support the new leadership as the state emerges from lockdown. Arriving at her Willoughby electorate office on Wednesday morning, Ms Berejiklian took time to observe the floral tributes laid across the entrance to the building. “I just want to say thank you to everybody for the support they’ve shown me, it’s very comforting,” Ms Berejiklian said.Credit:Louise Kennerley

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Karrina Kemp never expected to be living in a tent with three children, but that’s all she can afford while waiting to be allowed to cross the Queensland border. Ms Kemp is one of more than 11,000 Queenslanders stranded in NSW or Victoria while waiting for border passes or exemptions to be allowed across the border. Ms Kemp, 43, is still paying $585 a week rent for her home in Bundaberg, and it costs an additional $360 a week to stay in the tent park in Ballina in northern NSW, where she has spent the past three weeks. She was advised to apply for a border pass, which means the family has to leave their car in Ballina to be towed later, fly to Brisbane via Sydney and pay more than $5000 for hotel quarantine as a family. Credit:Elise Derwin

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Patty Mills on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. The NBA star led Australia’s Boomers to their historic “rose gold” medal in Tokyo and has just signed a $17 million deal. But Eddie Mabo’s unshowy great-nephew, who draws strength and meaning from his Indigenous roots, is also helping to combat racial injustice.Credit:Paul Harris

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Roberto Pia, Rocco Mazziotta, and Aman Maharjan preparing for reopening of the The Fenwick Restaurant in Balmain. People are madly booking restaurants as the lockdown draws to a close. Some restaurants are booked out for November and December already. Credit:Steven Siewert

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The NSW Rural Fire Service conduct a controlled burn in Varoville, and has voiced concern over the increased danger of grass fires this summer.Credit:Brook Mitchell

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If you head south-west from Brisbane, out past Ipswich and into the heart of the Scenic Rim, the highways slowly start regressing into quieter rural roads surrounded by parched paddocks desperate for a spring drink. Take a right turn before you reach Boonah and you head up a road where the bitumen turns into dirt. There, on your right, is a giant tribute to South Sydney Rabbitohs made of hay bales. Reg-Hay Rabbit surveys all before him as the welcome storms roll in over the pastures. Souths fans the Skewes family have built a giant Reggie Rabbit in their front yard in Coulson, ahead of the NRL grand final.Credit:Paul Harris

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Sydney surgeon Gavin Sandercoe has always had an interest in bees, but it was only last year that he decided to roll up his sleeves and try beekeeping, hoping the hobby might yield a better veggie crop and some honey. When the COVID-19 lockdown hit, the bees offered a welcome relief to being stuck inside, especially for Dr Sandercoe who had to close down his western Sydney surgery given the COVID-19 restrictions and pre-planned renovations.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Sydney Dance Company dancer Mia Thompson with her dog Pepe, dances in her living room which she converted into a studio for rehearsals and teaching online, during a covid-19 lockdown in Surry Hills. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Lloyd Hedges, a member of Menai Wildflower Group in Sydney’s south. The disappearance of crimson waratahs from Sydney’s national parks has sent rangers reaching for the spray paint to turn the spectacular native blooms blue, in a bid to deter a rising number of wildflower thefts. A surge in light-fingered bushwalkers ripping the flowers off their stems and pinching them from bushland has triggered warnings their removal could damage fragile populations of the plants, which are a protected species.Credit:James Brickwood

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Lesley Fernando, comforts Narelle Copeland, as Police re-started their search for missing Gomeroi man Gordon Copeland in Moree. Authorities have restarted their search for an Aboriginal man last seen by police outside Moree four months ago after discussions with the coroner and crown solicitors highlighted the need for a more comprehensive search of the Gwydir River.Credit:Tahlor Swan

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Gavin Morris Head of News and Investigation for ABC Nationally. Morris informed staff on Thursday he would step down once his current contract expires in several months after six years at the helm. He said he refused to be a “prisoner” to the opinions of powerful people in his time leading the ABC’s news division, but conceded the role was one of the most taxing and scrutinised in Australian media, and it was the right time to hand over to someone new.Credit:Steven Siewert

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NSW Nationals Leader John Barilaro announces he will resign as NSW Deputy Premier at Parliament House in Sydney. Announcing his departure on Monday, Mr Barilaro said he had been planning an exit from politics for some time but brought the move forward after the recent resignations of Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Aerial acrobat Alex York trains in his backyard. For performers everywhere, lockdown has been particularly hard. Not only are they doing it tough financially but they are also missing out on the lifeblood of every artist â€" getting in front of an audience.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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When Sydney locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Kate Young’s 40th birthday trip to New Orleans was cancelled and her 22-year career in hospitality came to an abrupt end. The changes in her life forced her to ponder some uncomfortable truths that were stowed away in a pre-pandemic world. Along with her brother, Ms Young signed up for the 2020 City2Surf - her first in 32 years - as a way to keep motivated and feel the “gratification” of finishing.Credit:Kate Geraghty

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Surf rider Mona la Cour of Bondi and Joanna Hill make a wave at Bondi Beach. A quarter of a century and a pandemic later, a group of her ex-students from the Women on Waves program â€" ranging in age from late 30s to 60 â€" undertook a gruelling challenge: to surf for 30 consecutive days in September. From dawn to dusk, the women surfed in shifts at Bondi and Maroubra, and blew their male competitors out of the water in the fundraising stakes.Credit:Edwina Pickles

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For some families, the children’s social bubbles brought in by the state government saved the school holidays. But for others, they’ve caused nothing but drama. Meagan Stafford from Glebe said she has enjoyed the sound of children playing in her backyard again, as her three children are all in their own bubbles of three. Her children are also meeting up with a wider circle of friends in the park or to go skateboarding, but being able to entertain friends at home has given them an “extra level of contentment”.Credit:Rhett Wyman

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It did artist Ben Quilty’s “head in” when he moved to NSW’s Southern Highlands only to find that an area chock-full of artists and home to 42 schools lacked a regional gallery. It has taken Quilty five years of fundraising and calling in favours, many repaid with gifts of his paintings, to turn the old dairy on the National Trust property Retford Park near Bowral into the area’s first regional gallery. With hopes of becoming a cultural and tourist hub, the gallery, named Ngununggula, meaning “belonging” in the language of the local Gundungurra people, will open on October 12.Credit:James Brickwood

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Katrina Haslam, a track rider for race horses, is 28 weeks pregnant with her first child but can't be with her partner due to border restrictions. Ms Haslam planned to relocate closer to the birth to reunite with her partner and applied for an exemption over a month ago and was knocked back. She then applied for a border pass at the beginning of September but is still in the queue and growing increasingly anxious as she is now 28 weeks pregnant and will still have to do two weeks’ quarantine when she arrives. For Ms Kemp, one of the most galling things is the NRL grand final being held in Brisbane on Sunday, with the border opened not just for players but their wives and girlfriends. “I’m really angry actually, really deflated,” Ms Kemp said. “Football is not important. Reuniting families and getting people that are locked out should be more important than a football match.”Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Luca Gittany at home with his Blue and Gold Macaw named Thor. COVID-19 lockdowns sent many households looking for animal company in the past two years, and experts say the opportunity for children to bond with a pet during long periods of isolation has significant mental health benefits. Luca Gittany is as diligent as any father when it comes to caring for his brood - spending up to two hours every morning feeding, cleaning and exercising his menagerie of pets.Credit:Brook Mitchell

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Lisa and Andrew Yen with their children Jayden, Mikayla and Jasinta who are excited to return to school. New Premier Dominic Perrottet brought the start date forward to October 25 for all students other than those in kindergarten, years 1 and 12, who return on the 18th. Many parents welcomed the change â€" although some wanted more time to vaccinate their teenagers and some educators worried not enough staff would be vaccinated in time to teach classes â€" as the deadline for having both shots is not until November 8. Beecroft mother Lisa Yen’s children have been counting down the days until they go back to school. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Picnickers Sara Ellis-Jack, Brigid O'Flaherty, Rosie the dog, Sophie Kresevic, Kajani Sri and Diane Kelly gather at Cremorne Point on the Labour Day long weekend. Up to 5 fully vaccinated adults are able to meet outdoors, until October 11 when restrictions will be further eased.Credit:Louie Douvis

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Blooms The Chemist in Royal Randwick shopping centre is launching a new drive-through rapid antigen testing facility for all local businesses operating within Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. An Australian-first, this marks an addition to the next phase of COVID-19 testing capabilities.Credit:Nick Moir

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New leader of the NSW Nationals Paul Toole and new Deputy Bronnie Taylor after a party room meeting following the resignation of John Barilaro, at NSW Parliament. A former school teacher and mayor of Bathurst, the new Deputy Premier Paul Toole will take a markedly different approach to leading the NSW Nationals, according to colleagues who describe him as the polar opposite to his firebrand predecessor.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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Secretary of the Department of Health Professor Brendan Murphy during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Australians infected with the coronavirus will be asked to rely on community care at home to get through the illness under a plan presented to national cabinet amid a dispute over state demands for more federal cash to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

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A storm brews off the coast at Flat Rock Beach in Ballina. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued extending across the state, including Sydney. The bureau said the storms were likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.Credit:Elise Derwin

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Richard Leng Trang, Hend Elhami and Shaye Kinson at Auburn Ruth Everuss pool in Lidcombe. Shaye had been going crazy without swimming laps. She is now keen to get back in the water after the NSW government’s decision to reopen indoor pools earlier than planned. “It is my happy place; I could swim before I could walk,” said Ms Kinson.Credit:Brook_Mitchell

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Governor of the RBA Philip Lowe outside the Reserve Bank in Martin Place. Helping the federal government avoid a double-dip recession and guiding the economy through repeated COVID-19 lockdowns, his extraordinary $237 billion monetary stimulus program and tight control over record low interest rates have helped Australia weather the historic storm.Credit:Louie Douvis

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Australian television and internet personality Abbie Chatfield. “Everyone assumes influencers are idiots who have nothing to say, so when I started speaking about feminism, the US election, my abortion or my vibrator, people paid attention,” Chatfield says. “I have an opinion on everything, and I can’t keep my mouth shut, so people saw me as this kind of anti-influencer influencer.”Credit:Louie Douvis

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Wilson Giles has mental illness and found it especially difficult coping when his work hours were cut back during COVID, and is participating alongside the launch of the Black Dog Institute new white paper, titled Modern work: how changes to the way we work are impacting Australians mental health.Credit:SAM MOOY

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A foggy start to the day over Sydney Harbour as daylight saving begins.Credit:Brook Mitchell

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Gladys Berejiklian announcing her resignation as NSW Premier and from the NSW Parliament due to an investigation by ICAC. As premier, she said it was not an option for her to stand aside while the ICAC inquiry took place, saying she did not know how long that would take and that the people of NSW needed certainty.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

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