Category Archives: Tasmania

Man dies in Canberra river as life savers warn of elevated drowning risk over summer holidays

Posted on by

The country has recorded more than 30 drowning deaths in December, including multiple fatalities over the weekend

A 21-year-old man has died while swimming in a river on Canberra’s southern edge, bringing the number of drowning deaths around Australia in December alone to more than 30.

The man was swimming in the Murrumbidgee River at Pine Island reserve, near Tuggeranong, with family and friends on Sunday afternoon but failed to resurface.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Three drownings over weekend add to Australia’s growing toll as lifesavers plead for caution

Posted on by

Drowning deaths in 2024 were overwhelmingly male, accounting for 22 of the 29 lives lost

Another three people have drowned in Australian waters as the summer death toll continues to climb during the festive period.

Police said on Sunday that two tourists were unable to be revived after a group of swimmers were pulled from a rip at a beach on Western Australia’s south-west coast.

Continue reading...

‘He was wedged like an hourglass’: rescuers describe 20-hour ordeal ending with amputation of rafter’s leg

Posted on by

Lithuanian tourist pack rafting on Franklin River still fighting for life in Tasmanian hospital

A 69-year-old Lithuanian man has been praised for his “extraordinary resilience” after emergency service workers were forced to amputate his leg during a 20-hour rescue operation in remote south-west Tasmania.

The man, who remained in a critical condition in Royal Hobart hospital on Sunday evening, had been travelling with a group of 11 tourists on a multi-day rafting trip on the remote Franklin River.

Continue reading...

Man’s leg amputated in near 20-hour effort to free him from rocks in Tasmania’s Franklin River

Posted on by

International visitor aged in his 60s fighting for life in hospital after accident on rafting trip on Friday

A man has had his leg amputated and is fighting for life after a complex 20-hour rescue in south-west Tasmania, after he fell into a rock crevice during a rafting trip with friends.

The international visitor, aged in his 60s, was pack rafting along the Franklin River when he slipped and became trapped between rocks in rapids on Friday afternoon, acting assistant police commissioner Doug Oosterloo said.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Bushfires force evacuations in Victoria’s west as wild weather menaces Australia’s south-east

Posted on by

Firefighters battle two out-of-control blazes as other communities brace for winds, storms and possible flash flooding

Two out-of-control bushfires in Victoria have forced townships to evacuate and destroyed at least one home as parts of Australia’s east remain on alert for fires while being hit with wild winds and storms.

Firefighters were on Sunday working to contain the fires in Victoria’s west, with flash flooding and heavy rainfall possible in the state’s north-east, south-east New South Wales and north-east Tasmania.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Bushfire evacuations in Victoria’s west as conditions prompt catastrophic danger warnings

Posted on by

Gellibrand, Dereel and Kadnook residents told to leave as total fire bans declared across parts of South Australia and Victoria

Several communities in Victoria’s west have been urged to evacuate as firefighters work to control a number of bushfires.

A short-lived heatwave has brought hot, dry and windy conditions to much of southern Australia, with total fire bans in place and some areas experiencing catastrophic fire danger.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Hobart, Darwin and Canberra ranked among top 10 global cities with lowest air pollution

Posted on by

Sydney the worst-ranked Australian city at 150th, receiving a poorer score than London

Three Australian cities are among the top 10 global cities with the lowest levels of air pollution, according to analysis of nearly 400 cities worldwide.

Hobart (third), Darwin (fourth) and Canberra (10th) topped the list, based on air pollution data analysed by Auto Trader, an online vehicle trading site.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Manufacturer of Tasmanian jumping castle in which six children died unclear on how many pegs supplied, court hears

Posted on by

Operator of company that set up equipment at Devonport school accused of only using four pegs to secure jumping castle instead of eight

Chinese manufacturers of a jumping castle that became airborne, killing six children, have been unable to detail how many pegs are usually supplied with the inflatable equipment.

Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt died during end-of-year celebrations in 2021 at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Hanson-Young calls for investigation of live music ticketing allegations; culprit flees botched ram raid with arm on fire

Posted on by

Follow today’s news live

The federal government has announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranian individuals it says is “contributing to Iran’s missile program.”

A statement from the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Iran’s missile program “poses a material threat to regional and international security”, with the 1 October attack on Israel a “dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war.”

Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilising actions.

We’re holding ministers accountable when the premier of Tasmania refused to. This project – for people who don’t know – is $500m over budget, five years delayed.

It’s a completely debacle. Someone needed to take responsibility. The premier [was] saying he wouldn’t do that, the parliament decided it would act and, at the last moment, the deputy premier resigned.

Continue reading...

Noise from new Hobart AFL stadium will ruin symphony orchestra’s historic concert hall, CEO fears

Posted on by

Caroline Sharpen says ‘there’s no precedent in the world’ for a concert hall having to deal with 23,000-seat stadium just 170 metres from its stage

The $775m bid to bring an Aussie Rules team to Tasmania will place the state’s symphony orchestra in an unenviable world-first position, which could threaten its future existence.

The plan to build a home for the newly formed Tasmanian Devils AFL team will see a 23,000 seat capacity sports and music stadium constructed on a historic Hobart foreshore site just 40 metres from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s purpose-built performing and recording headquarters, the Federation Concert Hall.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Mona’s Ladies Lounge wins appeal in bid to continue barring men from entry

Posted on by

Tasmania’s supreme court handed down its decision in the discrimination case on Friday, sending it back to a tribunal

Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) has won an appeal in the state’s supreme court in a bid to continue barring men from entering an installation known as the Ladies Lounge.

The exhibit was closed in April after Tasmania’s civil and administrative tribunal ordered the museum to admit men to the female-only space, upholding a Sydney man’s complaint that the museum had discriminated against him on the basis of gender.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Plunging temperatures and rain forecast for Sydney in end to ‘walk-on-the-beach weather’

Posted on by

‘Significant’ change will lead to rain, BoM says, with temperatures tumbling in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane

After a warm start to spring, temperatures are forecast to plummet across Australia’s eastern and south-eastern states in the coming days.

“We are expecting a significant change to come for much of the east and south-east of the country,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jonathan How said, with New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Brisbane forecast to experience cooler weather in the coming days.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Privacy experts shocked as Hobart council agrees to beam live CCTV footage into police station

Posted on by

Sharing livestream from 330 council-operated cameras with force via ‘portal’ in Hobart police station labelled ‘a massive intrusion on rights’

Police in Hobart have been granted real-time access to footage from hundreds of city council CCTV cameras in a move labelled “so intrusive and oppressive” by the Australian Privacy Foundation.

The CCTV partnership between Tasmania police and the City of Hobart was announced on Thursday but has been operating secretly for weeks.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Canberra shivers through coldest September morning ever as south-east Australia records freezing temperatures

Posted on by

Capital’s weather falls to -6.9C on Monday while parts of inland NSW drop below zero and SA town has coldest September morning in more than 62 years

Much of Australia’s south-east shivered through freezing temperatures overnight, with another frosty morning forecast for Tuesday before temperatures warm back up.

Canberra marked its coldest September morning on record, reaching -6.9C on Monday. The previous September record of -6.8C was set 12 years ago in 2012.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Weekend cold front to bring hail, snow and chilly winds to parts of east coast

Posted on by

BoM modelling shows chance of above average rainfall for eastern states in coming months, and high bushfire risk for parts of NT and Queensland

A cold snap will hit Australia’s south-east over the weekend, with cool winds and rain sweeping up through Tasmania to Brisbane from Friday evening.

Victoria will face chilly weather, showers and potential thunderstorms on Saturday, with Melbourne expecting up to 10mm of rain and potential hail amid daytime temperatures of just 12C.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Warm, wet spring could bring severe storms to Australia’s south-east

Posted on by

Bureau of Meteorology says higher-than-average temperatures and moisture levels could spell more wild weather

Emergency services are preparing for a stormy spring as the clean-up continues after wild winds swept across south-east Australia.

Higher-than-average temperatures and moisture levels could spell more wild weather ahead, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

‘This has been an extreme event’: Tasmanians take stock of damage after record flooding

Posted on by

Derwent Valley residents say the water rose at a frightening pace in the biggest flood since Meadowbank dam was built

Everything is saturated in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley.

The sodden ground is scattered with debris. Large trees and branches have been moved upriver. It is eerily quiet.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: parts of Victoria told to plan for up to 72 hours without power; two Tasmanian emergency workers injured during floods response

Posted on by

Weather situation overnight in Victoria has led to about 1,900 calls to the SES for assistance. Follow today’s news live

Delays predicted at Melbourne airport amid strike action

Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted, with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am at the domestic airport.

Continue reading...

About 600 homes damaged, 35,000 without power in Victoria amid wild weather

Posted on by

The south-east of the country is taking a battering and there is more to come as a ‘very strong cold front’ moves through on Sunday

Emergency services have warned Victorians to expect more destructive winds as a powerful cold front heads towards Melbourne, while Tasmanian residents and businesses along the Derwent River prepared to evacuate on Sunday, as wild weather batters the south-east of the country.

Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, said severe weather had already damaged more than 600 homes and left 35,000 without power, and would continue into the early hours of Monday morning.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

More August temperature records expected to fall amid warm weather and winds across east coast

Posted on by

Unseasonably strong winds and record-breaking warm weather has been forecast to continue through the weekend


Winter has ended in Australia with weather records broken across the country – with expectations of August temperature records being broken on the final day of the month.

Amid wild winds in the country’s south, a warm run of weather was expected to continue through the weekend in central and southern Queensland, along with north-eastern New South Wales. Brisbane is expected to see multiple days of over 30C.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...