Workload from treating high number of extremely unwell children means patients may face 12-hour wait
Melbourne parents with sick children may face waits of more than 12 hours at the Royal Children’s hospital emergency department as it buckles under demand.
The hospital, in a statement on Monday evening, warned families should seek alternative care where possible given it was dealing with more than 90 patients in its emergency department.
Continue reading...Sydney Water says filtration systems under extreme pressure amid floods, as all Melbourne beaches declared unsuitable for swimming
Just a quarter of Sydney’s largest drinking water catchment, the Warragamba Dam, is safe for consumption, prompting fears residents will need to conserve water.
Ben Blayney, the head of water supply and production at Sydney Water, said the past year’s floods had placed extreme pressure on the city’s water filtration system.
Continue reading...Foreign minister says ‘Australia stands with Ukraine’ following reports a Russian missile landed in Polish territory killing two people. Follow the day’s news
ABC Radio asked Simon Birmingham about reports from this morning that a Russian missile has hit Poland near the Ukraine border: The shadow foreign affairs minister says:
This is deeply, deeply troubling news.
If an accident occurs it can result in a real escalation ... it shows just how dangerous a game Russia is playing.
We can’t expect instant miracles, but the ultimate test of dialogue will be the outcomes that are received if this dialogue is successful, to see breakthroughs in regard to those trade barriers... and also critically the just treatment of Australian’s detained in China.
And then of course challenges in terms of engagement within the region, that we must continue to argue for China to respect international law, international rules and norms
Continue reading...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...Victorian education department investigating after teacher accused of playing ‘explicit and blasphemous’ video to class
A Melbourne school has been accused of forcing a Muslim student to watch a cartoon depicting Muhammad in class, prompting an investigation by the state government.
A teacher at the college, in Melbourne’s north, allegedly played an “explicit and blasphemous” cartoon to the class that depicted the prophet Muhammad, according to the student’s father. The Victorian education department is investigating the incident.
Continue reading...Census data shows Sydney’s northern suburbs had highest WFH proportion, with lowest in regional areas such as Maryborough in Victoria and Taree in NSW
Areas with higher incomes in NSW and Victoria were more likely to have a higher percentage of people working from home during the pandemic, according to a Guardian Australia analysis of census data.
The data provides further evidence of how differently people in areas with different socioeconomic backgrounds experienced the pandemic.
Continue reading...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.
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Continue reading...Leader of the opposition to give his reply to the treasurer Jim Chalmers’ first budget. Follow the day’s news live
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi will give notice of a private senator’s bill she will introduce today aiming to halt the indexation on student loans and increase the repayment threshold to above the median wage.
Faruqi says it is one way which would help ease the cost of living burden on people with student debt:
Student debt is no small problem. About three million people in Australia have the burden of student debt.
At a time when the cost of living is biting hard, governments can no longer ignore the student debt crisis and its impacts.
What we have said all the time is that we want wages to grow, and we want them to stay growing. Not to have a short-term growth and then have at the expense of potentially higher unemployment.
So that’s the first thing. The second thing is we’ve got to get an IR system that drives productivity. That’s not about working harder for less, it’s about working smarter. It’s about creating the environment where people use new technology, where they innovate, where they share ideas, where they open new markets, where they have more skilled people.
Continue reading...Court hears children of late cricketer wrote a letter of support for Jarrod Grech describing him as ‘lovely’
A Melbourne street artist has been spared a criminal conviction after being pursued by police for painting a mural in tribute to late cricketer Shane Warne.
Jarrod Grech, 35, faced Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage over a tribute he painted on a Carlton wall in March.
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Continue reading...Over on Sky News, the questions were all about the next budget:
Host: Joining us live now in Canberra is the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. Prime minister, good morning to you. So, a safe budget to pay for your election commitments. Are tax increases and spending cuts next?
Hang on, Pete. We’ve just had the budget last night. You’re now talking about future budgets. Let’s talk about what we did last night. What we did last night was to fulfil our election commitments, provide cost-of-living relief with cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, more paid parental leave, more support for affordable housing. And we want to get wages moving again. We did all that without putting pressure on inflation by targeting our investments in things like infrastructure, improving the National Broadband Network, making sure that there’s that growth in the economy without putting pressure on inflation. That was our focus last night. And we managed to achieve it.
Look, we inherited a trillion dollars of debt, Peter, as you know. We inherited a trillion dollars of debt with not much to show for it. What we did last night was to make $22bn of savings. We took the revenue gains that have come through, 99% of those revenue increases from the higher costs of fuel and energy, we put them straight to the budget bottom line, 99% of them. So it was a responsible budget that saw a significant drop in the deficit to $37bn from what was anticipated. That is a responsible thing to do. Because we want to make sure that we fight inflation because that is necessary if we’re going to get real wages moving in the way that we want them to.
Continue reading...Film-maker Amiel Courtin-Wilson says Uncle Jack ‘gave people space to be themselves … in a way that afforded them unique dignity’
A crowd waving Aboriginal flags has lined St Kilda Road in Melbourne to send off Indigenous elder and storyteller Uncle Jack Charles after his state funeral.
The actor, musician, activist and member of the stolen generations died at Royal Melbourne hospital on 13 September after suffering a stroke. He was 79.
Continue reading...Melbourne Water chair John Thwaites, who was water minister when the wall was approved, will excuse himself from the review
Daniel Andrews has dismissed concerns over the independence of a review into the impact of a flood wall built to protect Flemington racetrack, which will be conducted by an organisation chaired by a former minister of the government that approved the structure.
The track was spared by Friday’s flooding while homes in neighbouring suburbs including Maribyrnong and Kensington were inundated, with some residents believing the wall pushed flood waters away from the track and into their homes.
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Continue reading...Andrew Jones says Victoria Racing Club was ‘entitled’ to protect its property from floods
The flood wall built to protect Flemington racetrack from inundation has had “unintended consequences for neighbouring residents”, the chief executive of Racing Victoria has conceded, as homes surrounding the track began the clean-up from devastating floods.
Andrew Jones told Channel Nine the flooding of the suburbs of Maribyrnong and Kensington was “a difficult situation”, and expressed sympathy for those affected.
Continue reading...Evacuation orders in place across Tasmania and Victoria due to flooding, including in parts of suburban Melbourne’s north-west
Flood-hit communities in north and north-west Tasmania are entering a “danger period” as rivers rise, with evacuation orders current for multiple towns and part of Launceston.
Victorian communities also remain on high alert for dangerous flooding, with residents in six towns urged to leave their homes and move to higher ground.
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Continue reading...Seventy flood warnings in place across Victoria, with 10,000 people without power and 40 schools and childcare centres shut. Follow the day’s news live
‘Walk the talk Labor’: Spender urges government to help households decarbonise
Independent MP Allegra Spender has taken to social media to urge the Albanese government to take action supporting Australian households as they decarbonise:
Our families and businesses are hurting. Sovereign risk is not a defence when the super profits are being made because of a war.
Continue reading...Queensland police say officers had been called to Edmonstone Street in South Brisbane around 3pm. This blog is now closed
Treasurer says surging electricity costs will make inflation ‘hang around longer’
We brought you the grim news on the blog yesterday that the head of Alinta energy has predicated a 35% increase to retail electricity bills next year, as energy providers juggle phasing out fossil fuels alongside investment in renewables.
I think one of the reasons this inflation will hang around longer than we want it to is because there are expectations around these electricity price rises being more problematic for longer.
You’ve said the government would put the economy above politics, can you really say that’s what you doing if you leave the stage-three tax cuts in place as they are?
I can say that, and I think what people will see in the budget in two weeks’ time is some difficult decisions in difficult times.
Our job is to make sure that our budgets are perfectly calibrated to the economic conditions as we confront them.
Continue reading...Qantas apologises for disruption and delays after passenger allegedly entered security gates without being screened on Tuesday morning
Federal police have shut down a section of the Melbourne airport terminal and ordered passengers from a plane ready for takeoff after an apparent security breach.
A Qantas passenger allegedly entered security gates without being screened on Tuesday morning, which led to other passengers having to evacuate the area before being re-screened.
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Continue reading...Criticism mounts of Victoria’s police oversight model, with Andrews government urged to establish new watchdog
A Victorian community legal centre that specialises in police misconduct matters has stopped taking calls from the public because of funding shortfalls amid calls for the Andrews government to establish a new police watchdog.
The Police Accountability Project, which is based at Inner Melbourne Community Legal Centre, is only taking on new clients referred to it by other lawyers and the most egregious cases, as it can no longer operate a phone intake line that had previously serviced as many as 400 people a year.
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Continue reading...Two people were arrested and later released without charge over the protest at the National Gallery of Victoria
Two Extinction Rebellion activists glued themselves to a prized Pablo Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria to draw attention to environmental causes ahead of the state election next month.
The protesters – who were arrested and later released without charges being laid – used superglue on Sunday to attach themselves to Picasso’s Massacre in Korea, which was on loan to the gallery as part of its Picasso Century exhibition. The NGV said in a statement the artwork, which was protected by a perspex glazing, was not harmed.
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Continue reading...Trough tracking over NSW towards the coast is bringing intense rainfall and the risk of flash flooding, Bureau of Meteorology says. This blog is now closed
Storey warned despite blue skies in some areas this morning, heavy rain will set in from the afternoon through to tomorrow.
That heavy rain coming on top of saturated soils and catchments and dams that are already full and overflowing [we] can really see that flooding risk escalate really, really quickly. Not only riverine flooding risk, which we’re monitoring closely, but that flash flooding risk, in particular. A lot of roads may see flash flooding affecting them very, very quickly and catching people unawares.
There is definitely a flood fatigue situation across many, many parts of the state. And in particular in the west and the south of the state as well, who have been experiencing major flooding now for what feels like the best part of a year. Many areas in the west and south are still subject to major flooding as we speak, and with the heavy rains continuing in those areas in the coming days, that’s going to exacerbate that risk.
Unfortunately, the bureau’s forecasting an above-average rainfall storm and flood season, so we’re probably gonna see many more events like this over the coming months.
With the expected heavy rainfall impacting the Hunter, Greater Sydney, and Illawarra over the next sort of 24 hours, so our key focus is on that flash flooding risk in those areas.
If you are in those affected areas or travelling through those affected areas, monitor those conditions and never drive through floodwaters. A lot of roads are already flooded in many parts of the state and will be flooded in the coming 24 hours. So, make those smart decisions for yourselves and your families. And the smartest decision you can make is to never drive through those floodwaters.
Continue reading...