Floods, hail, intense storms heading for NSW and Victoria, prompting new emergency warnings

Bureau has predicted 50mm-100mm of falls for communities already suffering flooding after many months of drenching rain

  • Want to get the Morning Mail to your email inbox every weekday? Sign up here

A band of intense rainfall and thunderstorms is about to drench many already overflowing rivers and flooded communities in New South Wales and Victoria, forecasters warn.

Stretching from southern Queensland to Tasmania, many areas will see up to 50mm of rainfall between Sunday and Monday morning, with 100mm or more expected in south-eastern parts of New South Wales and north-east Victoria.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

BoM rebranding aimed to overcome ‘negative associations related to the acronym’, internal documents reveal

In late 2021, the Bureau of Meteorology was telling staff ‘the point of this change is to build trust’ and public trust could ‘save millions of lives’

The Bureau of Meteorology told staff it wanted to avoid the BoM nickname due to “negative associations related to the acronym”, newly released documents about the agency’s aborted rebranding reveal.

That explanation was dropped from a later version of an internal style guide, however, with that document stating the bureau was simply focused on “reclaiming our name”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Covid cases surge nationally as ‘fourth wave’ hits – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Albanese on Xi Jinping: ‘we will no doubt be at the same meetings’

Will Anthony Albanese meet with China’s president Xi Jinping in the coming week? He’s staying mum.

What I want to see with the relationship with China is cooperation where we can, but we of course will maintain our Australian values where we must. So dialogue is always good, a meeting is not locked in at this point in time. But we will no doubt be at the same meetings. The East Asia summit, the G20, and Apec is going to be a busy time in international diplomacy.

Now this act is just disgusting, targeting women who have had a pregnancy termination is about as cowardly as you can get.

I just want to say to those women this morning, we hear you, we are with you, and we love you. If you need help, please reach out and we are absolutely determined to target the criminals who have done this disgusting act.

Continue reading...

Flood-hit communities on high alert with heavy rain to sweep across much of Australia

Widespread showers and storms forecast for Sunday could cause rapid river rises and flash flooding in parts of NSW and Victoria

Parts of Victoria and New South Wales could be hit with new flood emergencies as soon as this weekend, with heavy rain forecast to cause rapid river rises and flash flooding while also putting further pressure on already-full catchments.

“Forecast rainfall in coming days will likely push many rivers and creeks back into moderate to major flooding, as well as prolonging existing flood peaks,” the Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Medibank hacker demands ‘US$1 per customer’ ransom; ‘rotten egg gas’ problem in navy patrol boats

Defence officials say there is an issue with hydrogen sulphide in the vessels’ waste systems. Follow the day’s news live

Coalition’s staff cap has fuelled lack of payment integrity, Shorten says

Bill Shorten goes on to criticise the NDIS staff cap implemented by the Coalition government:

When there were 180,000 participants in the scheme, the staff numbers were around 3,500 to 4,000. And the government of the day said, ‘OK, no more staff.’

Now the scheme has half a million people-plus, and what’s happened is that we’ve brought in contractors or labour hire or partners in the community and the scheme hasn’t been well, in my opinion, supervised and well loved.

I don’t blame someone for seeking to get support for the child. What does make me wonder is the state school systems providing the support for kids with developmental and learning delays? Are they doing enough or not? How can you force their hand to do it so that these people aren’t going on the NDIS?

Originally, when the NDIS was created, it was to be a 50/50 split, at the moment the federal government is paying 64% to 66% of the scheme and states are paying in the mid 30s.

Continue reading...

Coalition complains of ‘witch-hunt’ during question time – as it happened

Federal government paying contractor $900,000 for review of naval shipbuilding

The federal government is paying a contractor $900,000 to carry out a new review of naval shipbuilding issues with the findings due by January.

Australia has the expertise and capability. What we don’t have yet is the scale to deliver the graduates and skills in the quantities required …

I’m here to tell you today is that whatever submarine design ends up being chosen, we won’t be able to build and operate it locally unless we address the fundamental issue of Australia’s workforce capability gap.

Nuclear science should clearly be the first cab off the rank for this program, but this approach will also be necessary across the broader advanced capabilities of Aukus including in cyber and computing, engineering, space and quantum physics.

An Aukus pathways program, jointly developed with Defence, could feature a portfolio of tailored degree programs providing a pathway for students to gain qualifications in an Aukus-related field and then progress to a position in Defence working on Aukus programs.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: $591m cost of cancelling French submarines revealed in Senate estimates; Bob Brown charged with trespass

Tony Burke is also being quite conciliatory about David Pocock’s concerns about the bill.

Asked by Patricia Karvelas if he is prepared to make more amendments to the IR bill, Tony Burke says that is standard after a senate inquiry process.

I suspect there’ll be more to come.

Continue reading...

Government urged to split IR bill to help low-paid people now – as it happened

Migration system review will focus on process

For those wondering, here is a little more detail on the migration review Clare O’Neil announced this morning.

Accessed the name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address for around 9.7 million current and former customers and some of their authorised representatives. This figure represents around 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million ahm customers and around 1.8 million international customers.

Did not access primary identity documents, such as drivers’ licences, for Medibank and ahm resident customers.

Medibank does not collect primary identity documents for resident customers except in exceptional circumstances.

Accessed Medicare numbers (but not expiry dates) for ahm customers. 

Accessed passport numbers (but not expiry dates) and visa details for international student customers.

Accessed health claims data for around 160,000 Medibank customers, around 300,000 ahm customers and around 20,000 international customers.

This includes service provider name and location, where customers received certain medical services, and codes associated with diagnosis and procedures administered.

Additionally, around 5,200 My Home Hospital (MHH) patients have had some personal and health claims data accessed and around 2,900 next of kin of these patients have had some contact details accessed.

Accessed health provider details, including names, provider numbers and addresses.

Did not access health claims data for extras services (such as dental, physio, optical and psychology).

Did not access credit card and banking details.

Continue reading...

Body found of second man who died when ute was swept off causeway in NSW floods

Floods crisis continues across NSW and Victoria although waters are subsiding in parts of the country including Forbes and Wagga Wagga

The body of a second man who died when a ute was swept into New South Wales flood waters last week has been found in the southern tablelands, as towns throughout the state and in Victoria remain on high alert.

NSW police confirmed on Sunday that police divers had found the man’s body after the ute was swept off a flooded causeway in Bevendale, about 280km south-west of Sydney, on Monday.

Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

One thousand residents urged to evacuate as central west braces for flood peak – as it happened

Pregnant woman and midwife among 10 rescues in NSW town of Forbes. This blog is now closed

Victorian Labor lead narrows in polls in lead-up to state election

The Victorian election race appears to be tightening three weeks out from polling day, with Labor in danger of slipping in to minority government, AAP reports.

The AMA analysed the documentation these media reports relied on and, like the department, found nothing – not a skerrick of evidence – to support the claims made in headlines splashed across some news organisations.

The AMA has acknowledged consistently that while some fraud does occur, the vast majority of doctors are doing the right thing. And we have seen the mental toll these reports have taken on Australia’s doctors.

The minister has again highlighted the impact of years of cuts and neglect of Medicare, and, while this latest review may identify potential savings that could be made, what Medicare really needs is genuine reform and an injection of new funds.

Continue reading...

Flood waters continue to rise in NSW town of Forbes with peak expected Saturday night

La Niña brings an increased chance of above average rainfall for Australia’s north and east and a lingering risk of flooding for the months ahead

Flood waters continued to rise in the New South Wales town of Forbes, where there had been 10 flood rescues and more than 237 calls for help in the past 24 hours, including for a pregnant woman.

The woman, whose water broke on Friday, was transported across the middle of the river in Forbes to the town’s hospital by a local volunteer, where she could be cared for by doctors and nurses.

Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Ed Husic says government must intervene in gas market; Pocock backs fossil fuels super profits tax

Industry minister says gas companies are ‘not picking up the signals’. Follow all the day’s news live

Gas supply not a problem, ‘glut of greed is’, industry minister says

Husic:

This is not a shortage of supply problem; this is a glut of greed problem, that has to be basically short-circuited and common sense prevail.

The pricing mechanism is the one that I think needs to be seriously examined.

The LNG exporters are offering gas to the domestic market at prices they couldn’t reasonably expect on the international market.

We have the ACCC looking at that [code of conduct] and that code of conduct is to help better guide the way in which these contracts get negotiated … in terms of the other areas, we want to work through that internally.

If you look at what the treasurer has said over the last few days, he is examining those type of options and again that will be in the mix of things he thinks through.

I think the bigger focus long-term is the price mechanism.

Continue reading...

Two men missing in NSW flood waters as Gundagai braces for worst flooding in 33 years

Search continued for two people swept off ute near Boorowa as prime minister said he hoped for positive news

Anthony Albanese says he is concerned about two men missing in flood waters after their ute was washed off the road in central New South Wales.

As the Riverina town of Gundagai braced for its worst flooding in 33 years, the State Emergency Service undertook 39 flood rescues in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning.

Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Treasurer says inflation ‘number one challenge’ – as it happened

We’ve been bringing you some of the news about rain causing more flooding in NSW. Here are some visuals from Wagga Wagga in southern NSW and the Newell highway in the state’s central west.

Jacinta Allan avoids question of whether families returned from Syria would be welcome in Victoria

The first group of families the wives and children of Islamic State fighters arrived in Sydney over the weekend from Syria and are now living in the community in Sydney. Will Victoria accept returnees?

I was with the premier [Daniel Andrews] on Sunday at a at a media event… where the premier was asked this direct question and I’ll give to you the answer he gave on Sunday which is these are very sensitive security matters. They are primarily the province of the federal government, it would not be appropriate -

As a matter of principle, will you accept them [in] Victoria? Or have you asked for them not to come during the election campaign?

We’ve not, Patricia. There is a … As I think we’ve seen from the media reporting around this issue, this is a very careful matter. There is a very -

Sure, but as a matter of principle, do you think returning citizens – they’re Australian citizens – should be allowed to live in Victoria?

I would really direct you to the federal government and the federal … I think you would appreciate that this is not a simple yes or no proposition because there needs to be robust and careful assessments that are not undertaken by the Victorian government. They’re undertaken by the federal government and the federal Department of Home Affairs.

And if they do all the checks and balances, should they be welcome in Victoria?

Firstly it’d be entirely inappropriate to cut across that and secondly, I am in no position to run a commentary.

Continue reading...

Victoria endured its wettest month on record in October, SES says

Comes as Victorian and federal governments announce $877m package for flood recovery

Victoria has endured its wettest month on record, the State Emergency Service says, as it warned the flood risk may continue across the state for up to two months.

On Tuesday the SES’s chief of operations, Tim Wiebusch, said October was both Victoria’s wettest month on record and the busiest for his volunteers.

Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Sydney woman killed in Seoul crowd crush ‘loved by all’ – as it happened

Andrews pledges to cooperate with Labor on fixing any loopholes found in visa regime

ABC Radio asks Andrews about reports in the Nine papers of significant gaps in Australia’s visa regime allowing migration agents and fixers to set up so-called visa farms.

I would encourage the Labor government to have a look at the issues in that report and see whether or not there are concerns, there are loopholes and if so I can assure them I will work very cooperatively to get them fixed.

Your department was found to have leaked details of a boat turnback which had come from Sri Lanka on election day this year … and yet you’re criticising this government for … allegedly leaking?

It was a deliberate decision that was taken on the day. And the reason that that decision was taken was because of transparency, and for deterrence ... the issue was that there was a lot of a lot of criticism about discussions of boat arrivals and the fact that we, as a Coalition, were very concerned about whether or not there would be increases in boat arrivals.

Now on election day, when that boat arrived, and I was advised of it early in the in the morning and the prime minister at the time, Scott Morrison would have been advised either before or after – I’m not sure when he was actually advised of that … The decision was taken that in the interests of transparency, the information would be released and it would be released by the agencies responsible because that was the most apolitical way to release that information.

Continue reading...

AFP foil plan to import $1.6bn of liquid meth in coconut water bottles – as it happened

People have been cleared to return to their homes as flood threat eases in Victoria, but the Bureau of Meteorology is warning of renewed flooding in parts of NSW. This blog is now closed

Chalmers on the size of government debt and making it ‘sustainable’

The treasurer is asked whether the government will consider rethinking taxes like GST and PRRT.

We have already found $22bn in savings, $28.5bn in budget improvements overall. We kept real spending growth flat across the forward estimates. We have got the debt down over the forward estimates. We have let 99% of the temporary revenue surge from higher commodity prices flow through to the budget.

That is good progress when we have shown in doing that … you can move sensibly on all fronts, restraint, trimming spending, sensible tax reform, you can make the budget more sustainable and that will be the task of the two or three budgets remaining in this parliamentary term as well.

We need to work out how do we maintain a focus on Australians with a disability and their families, how do we put them front and centre, and at the same time make sure that spending on the NDIS is sustainable and important part of that is making sure we get value for money for every dollar that is spent in what is a really important, really, really important service that we provide to Australians.

I do understand there is a substantial part of the community that would prefer that that PRRT take was higher.

We haven’t been working up an option to do that to change the PRRT arrangements but the treasury has been commissioned by my predecessor and by his predecessor to do some of this work around the taxing point in the PRRT.

We do want to make sure Australians get a good return for their resources. We need to balance that against the investment that’s been made into the sector. When I get that advice from I will engage in it a meaningful way and I will listen to it.

We have seen I think as you acknowledged in your first question, on this topic, company taxes are up quite substantially. That’s a good thing and we have let that flow through to the budget. The PRRT, there’s a modest increase. I will wait to see what the treasury advises us on the conclusion of the review that my two predecessors put in place.

Continue reading...

‘I love you all!’: boy sucked into stormwater drain in Melbourne praises rescuers after amazing escape

Boy, 11, was riding bike when sucked into drain and under road before he managed to grab on to metal grate when his helmet caught

An 11-year-old boy has had an amazing escape after being sucked into a flooded stormwater drain and washed 10 metres under a road in Melbourne.

The boy was riding his bike with a friend in Altona Meadows on Thursday afternoon when he accidentally rode across a submerged drain and was sucked underwater.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Narrabri evacuated as flood waters enter homes in saturated northern NSW

Hydrologist says flood levels similar to last year but this time the water has nowhere to go, prolonging the disaster

About 1,500 residents in Narrabri, in the north-west slopes of New South Wales, have been told to evacuate as the flooding crisis continues across swathes of eastern Australia.

There were 121 current emergency warnings in place across NSW on Tuesday, including 22 directing people to evacuate or move to higher ground, as swollen rivers threatened homes.

Continue reading...

Australian budget forecasts heavy hit to economy due to floods and disasters

Estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of flooding

The increasing frequency of weather disasters will take its toll on the economy in the near term and force the government to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to build resilience for more to come.

As Australia endures its third La Niña event in as many years, the budget estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of the flooding across the country’s south-east.

Continue reading...