Category Archives: Bushfires

NSW government recommends proposed expansion of Boggabri coalmine be approved – as it happened

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Uninsured won’t be left behind in flood clean-up

Australians priced out of insurance or underinsured will not be left behind by the federal government as the flood clean-up begins in far north Queensland.

We’re working through what we can do to assist those people as well to ensure that nobody’s left behind as we make the big clean-up effort.

What we’re experiencing in Australia is part of a global phenomenon with reinsurers and global insurers starting to factor in the impact of climate change.

And the impact of those severe weather events and the risks associated with them and insurance policies.

The products are not considered as discretionary spending but rather essential items.

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Australia news live: only 54.3% of Virgin flights and 66.3% of Qantas flights on time last month, transport minister says

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‘Very disappointing results, it is no wonder that so many Australians remain fed up with our major airlines,’ Catherine King says. Follow today’s news updates live

‘Very, very clear’ renewables are the cheapest form of energy, Bowen says

Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, including its storage and transmission costs, the energy minister told ABC RN.

Its conclusions this year are unimpeachable and very, very clear.

The cheapest form of energy is renewable energy, even including the costs that go with renewable energy around storage and transmission.

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Phone service slowly returns to flood-hit areas – as it happened

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Just circling back to QFES assistant commissioner Kevin Walsh, who mentioned the state of the roads and reminded people in the area to be very careful when driving around.

Walsh said:

Monday afternoon was the first opportunity that we had to send in rotary aircraft, so we got rotary-wing aircraft in large numbers up in Far North Queensland at the moment through private contractors and also Australian Defence Force. So they’re very busy in the air and relocating people.

And I think the other message also is to have a look at those roads and the damage that they have sustained. There are many roads still under water where you can not see that damage. So it’s really important for the local people to realise that it’s still very, very dangerous to be driving through flooded waters because you can’t see the damage of the roads underneath it. That’s one of our key messages we’d like the local communities to heed.

So far we’ve only been able to assess about 60 properties. I think throughout today though, we’ll get a better sense of how many properties are affected, and then we’ll be looking for further packages of disaster assistance that will put together or put together with the commonwealth.

But just judging from the other emergencies that I’ve been a part of, we’re talking billions not millions [of dollars].

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NSW bushfires: more than 60 blazes burning including out-of-control fire in Pilliga

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Duck Creek fire in the Pilliga forest burning out of control 20km south of Narrabri, while more bushfires hit Sydney and Hunter regions

Firefighters are tackling more than 60 blazes across New South Wales, including a giant out-of-control bushfire in the Pilliga forest in the state’s north-west that has been fuelling dangerous fire-generated thunderstorms.

The blaze at Duck Creek in the Pilliga forest was burning about 20km south of the town of Narrabri – home to more than 12,000 people – and a similar distance from Boggabri to the east on Tuesday morning.

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Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea, Farrell says – as it happened

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Up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs prevented from reaching Australia

Australian federal police and international law enforcement partners have prevented up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs from reaching Australia throughout the past financial year.

The AFP cannot overstate the amount of harm that 29 tonnes of methamphetamine could have caused to the community if it had not been intercepted by law enforcement.

On average, close to 12,000 Australians are hospitalised from methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin use every 12 months.

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Tropical Cyclone Jasper live update tracker: category 2 storm hits North Qld, more than 14,000 homes lose power, BoM radar track map – latest

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BoM tracker map shows forecast path of category 2 cyclone will hit north of Cairns and Port Douglas on the Queensland coast at about 1pm with heavy rain, 140km/h winds and storm surge predicted. Follow the latest Australia news and weather updates today

Ceasefire ‘can’t be one-sided’

Emergency management minister Murray Watt is also speaking to ABC RN this morning, and was asked about the PM’s joint letter with his New Zealand and Canadian counterparts urging a ceasefire.

[It] shows that we want to work with like-minded countries towards what would be a just and enduring peace. I think the whole world has been pleased to see the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, but what we need to do is move towards a sustainable ceasefire …

I think everyone who watches this conflict unfolds on their television screens, is really disturbed about the loss of life that we’re seeing go on at the moment.

I think that’s the value that a country like Australia can play here by really taking that even-handed approach that does call out the abhorrent behaviour by Hamas, but also as a friend of Israel, calls on them to respect international humanitarian law.

We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.

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Steven Miles confirms run for Queensland Labor leader – as it happened

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Palaszczuk reveals she changed her mind in recent weeks

It was only a couple of months ago that Annastacia Palaszczuk insisted she would lead the Labor party to next year’s state election.

I feel refreshed, I feel energised and I’m absolutely determined to lead the party and this government to the next election. I just want to make that very clear to everybody.

In 2015 Annastacia promised good, decent government for the people of Queensland. That’s exactly what she’s delivered for the last nine years. Congratulations on your premiership. You are one of the true Qld Labor greats

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Australia news live: Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker; festival-goers warned about heatwave conditions

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Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live

James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat

James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.

The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.

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Climate protesters arrested at Port of Newcastle blockade – as it happened

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‘The biggest transformation in our country’s history’

Chris Bowen has been talking about Labor’s plans for reducing emissions, but he’s pressed on the fact that the government has been approving new coalmines and gas projects, which add to global emissions.

The way I see this, David, you can enter into a discussion with your international counterparts which we are doing which is us saying to them, “We will continue to be a reliable energy supplier but we want to work with you on your decarbonisation because we have advantages that you don’t have. We can provide renewable energy.” That is an important conversation to have.

Frankly the approach of others is more a slogan than a policy. We are making the biggest transformation in our country’s history and that involves both domestic policies and strong international engagements, as I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and we have been doing all the way through.

It will be treated in the budget statement of risks and liabilities in the normal fashion. But this is the right policy for the right times to ensure emissions come down and reliability goes up.

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Perth fire downgraded but extreme weather conditions expected for weekend

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Residents warned not to return to fire-affected area as bureau forecasts wind gusts of up to 80 km/h and 39C heat

Firefighters battling a blaze that has destroyed 18 homes in Perth’s outer northern suburbs will face extreme weather conditions across the weekend.

Wind gusts of up to 80 km/h and temperatures of 39C are forecast in Perth by the Bureau of Meteorology, with the fire danger also rated as extreme in parts of the city on Saturday.

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Man found dead after statewide search – as it happened

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Hostage release essential if truce to last, Paterson says

Rewinding to Liberal MP James Paterson’s appearance on RN Breakfast this morning, wheN he said more needs to be done to free the hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza.

We don’t know how many of them are still alive, and their continued release would be essential for any continuing ceasefire because otherwise Israel continues to have a legitimate military objective.

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Australia news live: ‘hunger for justice’ has swept the world, Assange’s father tells Melbourne pro-Palestine rally

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Organisers of Sydney pro-Palestine rallies say they have been attended by 30,000 people, as thousands gather in cities around the country. Follow today’s news updates live

Julian Assange’s father to address pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne

A pro-Palestine rally will be addressed by the father of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, with organisers confident a large crowd is set to attend.

The Australian public are disgusted at the Albanese government’s refusal to call for ceasefire.

We’ve had people come who have never before been to a rally and the following week they return with their relatives and friends.

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How big are the fires burning in Australia’s north? Interactive map shows they’ve burned an area larger than Spain

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La Niña, invasive grass and land management practices are all factors in the larger-than-average bushfires that have burned an area bigger than Spain. This interactive map shows the total area burned, overlaid on different capital cities

Huge bushfires have burned a significant amount of northern Australia in recent months, with the collective area burned larger than many countries, including Spain.

Experts say the massive fires are primarily due to a higher-than-average fuel load built up over the recent wet La Niña years, with an invasive grass species also contributing to more intense burns.

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Australia news live: school strike for climate protests draw huge crowds in Melbourne and Sydney; Albanese says Apec leaders ‘very interested’ in Tuvalu deal

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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says

Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:

If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.

At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.

I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.

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More Australians support providing assistance to Palestinians than Israel in Gaza conflict, Essential poll finds

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But majority want Australia to stay out of the conflict entirely as less than a third of those polled approve of federal government’s response

Australians’ sympathies in the Israel-Gaza conflict have flipped, with more now wanting to provide assistance to Palestine than Israel and a big drop in those who say Israel’s reaction to the 7 October attack by Hamas is proportionate.

The Guardian Essential poll of 1,150 voters, released on Tuesday, also found that Anthony Albanese’s approval rating is now negative for the first time in his prime ministership.

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Wet weather relief for NSW and Queensland firefighters while blazes encroach south of Perth

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Rainfall is expected to fall on Saturday either side of the border after a torrid week of fires claimed more than 60 homes

Communities across Australia’s east coast are hoping a wet weekend will bring a reprieve to firefighters as rainfall starts to set in across New South Wales and Queensland.

But the bushfire threat has arisen in the west as parts of Western Australia experience extreme fire risk with threats to properties south of Perth.

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Wiggles ‘deeply disappointed’ over use of Hot Potato to deter homeless people – as it happened

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Watts has gone on to confirm that there are still 65 Australians stuck in Gaza that the government is “supporting” and are being provided consular assistance.

Watts says Dfat is working to get those individuals to the Rafah crossing and out of Gaza “as soon as possible”.

We know this is an incredibly distressing time for Australians in Gaza and their families and we are providing all possible support we can, communicating through all available channels the best information and options we have about their safety in a very difficult situation.

The circumstances on the ground are incredibly challenging and they are changing on a day to day basis. This is a conflict zone. It is a very difficult operating environment so we do the best job we can in the circumstances.

Crossings like this are the result of an enormous effort from Australian consular officials and diplomats in the region. So many conversations at the ministerial level, foreign minister Wong spoke with her counterparts in the region and we’re grateful that this initial cohort has made the crossing from Gaza to Egypt.

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Qld fires: state will ‘continue to burn’ without rain, as dozens of bushfires flare up across Queensland

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Rural firefighters’ chief says Queensland in ‘survival mode’ amid dry weather, with 53 homes destroyed by fire in the Western Downs

Queensland is in “survival mode” as dozens of bushfires burn across the state and there is no rain on the horizon, the head of the volunteer firefighters association has said.

Firefighters have contained a bushfire at Tara, on the Western Downs four hours west of Brisbane, that destroyed 53 homes and claimed two lives. But fires have flared up to the north and south, with emergency warnings in place on Wednesday for a fire between Warwick and Stanthorpe on the Southern Downs.

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Fires in Queensland tropics – as it happened

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The NSW RFS has confirmed that just after 4am this morning one of its firefighting tanks rolled over 10km south of Jennings in the Tenterfield LGA.

A spokesperson said there were four firefighters on board. They were all taken from the truck, with three being taken to hospital for observation.

They’ve said they’ll be returning to bulk billing, or many of them who are considering a change would stick with bulk billing, for those more than 11 million Australians.

That’s about 60% or more of the throughput of the average general practice. So it’s a huge boost in confidence and funding to a sector that I think is probably in its most powerless status been in the 40 year history of Medicare.

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New NSW fire chief flags mental health focus and financial stability after recent turmoil

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Jeremy Fewtrell says upcoming bushfire season will include ‘periods of really intense activity’ as he takes up commissioner role

New South Wales’s incoming fire commissioner, Jeremy Fewtrell, has promised to focus on financial stability and the mental health of the state’s firefighters as he faces the further challenges of an extreme bushfire season and climate change.

Fewtrell, who takes up the role after his predecessor was sacked amid financial turmoil at Fire and Rescue NSW, also warned the upcoming bushfire season would be challenging, with some “periods of really intense activity”.

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