New Year’s Eve 2023: heat and hail forecast in Australia’s weather mix as crowds gather early for fireworks

Displays expected in cities across country to ring in 2024 while predicted wild weather on east coast could disrupt revelry

Heat and hail have been forecast across parts of the country as hundreds queue outside the Sydney Opera House to secure front-row seats for the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Lines in Circular Quay began to form at 8am on Sunday as people sought to stake their claim to a view. By 11.24am, organisers announced the Sydney Opera House vantage point is full and advised members of the public to seek alternative options.

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New Year’s Eve fireworks in Australia: ‘your cracker night could end in hospital’, authorities warn

Illegal use of fireworks can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and even jail. Here are the rules around the country

Hefty fines and even jail time are on the cards for those who set off illegal fireworks this New Year’s Eve.

People right across the country used to partake in the annual “cracker night” festival, setting off fireworks in their backyards, but most states and territories began banning this practice in the 1980s.

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Queensland storms: two men in hospital after lightning strikes as hail and heavy rain hit south-east

Several waves of thunderstorms batter state as thousands in region remain without power

Two people have been hospitalised after their vehicles were struck by lightning in two separate incidents in Queensland on Saturday, as severe thunderstorms return to the south-east of the state.

Queensland Ambulance said one man was transported to Caboolture hospital – between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast – in a stable condition after the vehicle he was travelling in was reportedly struck by lightening while on the Bruce highway at about 9.20am.

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Marble Bar to reach 49C as severe heatwave grips parts of Queensland, NT and WA

Conditions 8C to 12C above average across large parts of Australia’s north, with little reprieve for storm-ravaged areas

A severe heatwave is expected to affect parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia heading into the new year.

Large swathes have been put on alert, with conditions 8C to 12C above average.

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‘There’s been some tears’: storm and flood-hit Queensland town battles heatwave as more wild weather forecast

Many homes in Jimboomba are still without power. Now temperatures are nearing 40C, and more storms are forecast

Inside an unassuming hall in Jimboomba, north-west of Queensland’s Gold Coast, Sarah Weir is offering a reprieve from the heat, cool drinks and food, wifi, and even her shoulder to cry on.

“There’s been some tears,” she says.

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Two dead and 15 injured after five-car crash near Lithgow in NSW

The Great Western Highway is closed in both directions and is expected to remain a crime scene for some time

Two people are dead and more than a dozen have been injured in a multi-vehicle crash west of the Blue Mountains in NSW.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the five-car crash on the Great Western Highway at Wallerawang, 15km north of Lithgow, just before 1pm.

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‘Flamin’ hot’ Doritos seasoning causing breathing difficulties in Australian factory workers, union alleges

Smith’s Snackfood Company says it is installing extra fans in Adelaide factory where some workers reported symptoms including eye and skin irritation

Smith’s is installing extra fans in an Adelaide factory after workers claimed they were having difficulty breathing and experiencing skin irritation from dealing with the seasoning used to make “flamin’ hot” Doritos.

SafeWork SA is looking into the claims after the United Workers Union alleged employees at the Smith’s Snackfood Company factory raised significant safety concerns about the “improper handling of strongly irritating substances”.

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Queensland power supply to face strain as heatwave sends demand to near-record levels

Surging consumption comes despite ‘very sleepy period’ for electricity use, energy expert says

Queensland’s electricity supplies are expected to be strained for a second day in a row as the heatwave roasting much of northern Australia lifts power demand to near-record levels.

The mercury exceeded its forecast maximum for Brisbane of 37C by early afternoon and was recently at 38.3.5C, or eight degrees above the December average, Bureau of Meteorology data showed.

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Two people dead and a dozen injured after multi-car crash in NSW – as it happened

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Tasmanian yacht Alive is in the box seat to take out Sydney to Hobart yacht race’s overall honours, with skipper Duncan Hine confident the 66-footer has a winning time on the board.

Hine and his crew finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic yesterday afternoon as clubhouse leaders on handicap time.

It’s a waiting game. We’re looking good, though. I believe we could do it again, but the reality may be different. Now we wait with bated breath to see if anyone can beat our time.

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South Australian shark attack: tributes flow for ‘talented and dearly loved’ teenage surfer

Khai Cowley, 15, was killed by a suspected great white shark off Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.

The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.

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Data reveals most expensive Australian capital to buy petrol – and the cheapest

Drivers in Brisbane bear brunt of record petrol prices this year – ‘only now are we starting to see some relief’

Australian motorists are copping the cost of volatile world oil prices but relief could be in sight.

Drivers in Brisbane bore the brunt of record petrol prices this year, making the Queensland city the nation’s most expensive capital to put fuel in the tank. Regular unleaded cost on average 193.4 cents a litre, an NRMA analysis of 2023 petrol prices across the country revealed.

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Thatcher ‘utterly shattered’ by MI5 revelations in Spycatcher, files reveal

National Archives papers show prime minister tried in vain to avoid inquiry over Peter Wright’s memoirs

Margaret Thatcher was “utterly shattered” by the revelations in Spycatcher, the memoirs of the retired MI5 officer Peter Wright, files released publicly for the first time reveal.

The files also reveal the dilemmas faced by Thatcher’s government in its futile battle to suppress the book, including whether to agree to the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer mediating an out of court “solution”.

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Kerry Packer was proposed as mediator in Thatcher’s fight to stop Spycatcher memoir

Counsel for ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright suggested role for Australian media tycoon but idea was swiftly rejected

The Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer was suggested as a mediator in the fight by Margaret Thatcher’s government to prevent the publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of former MI5 officer Peter Wright, according to newly released official papers.

The offer was made by Wright’s Australian counsel – and future Australian prime minister – Malcolm Turnbull as part of a proposed out-of-court settlement, files released by the National Archives show.

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Drowning deaths: kayaker dies off Victorian coast amid spate of deadly water incidents

Search crew finds body of man near Rosebud beach on the Mornington Peninsula after two-hour search

A kayaker has died in waters off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Emergency services were called to Rosebud beach about 3.30pm on Thursday. There were reports a man on an inflatable kayak had got into trouble and gone into the water up to 800 metres off shore.

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Pair accused of robbing house of alleged triple-murderer Erin Patterson

Patterson allegedly served death cap mushrooms to visitors at the residence, three of whom later died

Two people are under arrest following an alleged burglary at the home of accused triple murderer Erin Patterson in Victoria’s east.

The 49-year-old is currently behind bars charged with three counts of murder after allegedly serving death cap mushrooms in a meal at the residence.

She is also charged with five counts of attempted murder.

A person claiming to be her friend took to social media on Wednesday to ask for help after the Leongatha home was allegedly robbed.

“Need some help from the community,” the post read.

“We have had a friends house broken into in Leongatha 3 times over the last month or so [sic].”

The post claimed several items had been stolen including a car, televisions and vacuum cleaners.

It included several images of a person on what appeared to be the deck of Patterson’s home wearing a cap and cloth over their face.

On Thursday afternoon, Victoria police confirmed officers expect to charge a woman and a man over a burglary in Leongatha on Christmas Eve.

A red MG Sedan was allegedly stolen during the burglary, a spokesperson said.

A woman, 23, and a man, 18, from the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham were arrested in the allegedly stolen car at 1am on Thursday.

Both are expected to be charged on summons to appear at a later date.

Police allege Patterson killed her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.

All three died in hospital days after consuming a meal at her home on 29 July.

She is also accused of attempting to murder Wilkinson’s husband Ian, 68, who spent close to two months in hospital critically ill.

Police will allege she attempted to murder her ex-husband Simon Patterson four times.

Erin Patterson has denied any wrongdoing.

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Teenage boy killed in fatal shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia

Body recovered from ocean off Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy has died after a shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia, police say.

At 1.30pm on Thursday police received reports of a shark attack in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park, on the Yorke Peninsula.

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‘Roaring like the ocean’: campers survey aftermath of Victorian flash flood that left two dead

Tents and caravans were swept away during 30-minute deluge that inundated Buchan campsite

Holidaymakers have described the terrifying moment a wall of water inundated a popular camping site in regional Victoria on Boxing Day, leaving two people dead and millions of dollars worth of damage.

Those who were at the Buchan Caves Campground, about 350km east of Melbourne, said the usually sedate Spring Creek that flows through the reserve became engorged without warning on Tuesday, before sweeping away tents and caravans.

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Queensland weather: state braces for heatwave as thousands face prospect of days without power

Some households could go without electricity into the new year as state endures high temperatures following extreme weather

Areas of Queensland affected by “unprecedented” storms now face the prospect of days without electricity amid extreme heat.

Storms and flash flooding across south-east Queensland have claimed the lives of seven people since Christmas but households have now been warned to prepare for a heatwave.

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Wieambilla shooting: lawyers for Donald Day mount freedom-of-speech defence over alleged threats to police

Arizona conspiracy theorist who was arrested in connection to Queensland terrorist attack seeking to have charges dismissed

A US conspiracy theorist linked to the Wieambilla shooters has argued he was not seriously expressing an intent for violence when he said “the devils come for us, they fucking die”, and as such should be protected by the US constitution’s first amendment.

Donald Day Jr, a conspiracy theorist in Arizona, was recently arrested by FBI agents in connection with last year’s religiously motivated terrorist attack on a remote Queensland property in Wieambilla.

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Chris Minns says police not to blame for Aboriginal imprisonment as country mayors push for crime inquiry

Exclusive: ‘We can’t just put it all on the police’s shoulders’ says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention population

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.

Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime.

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