Category Archives: New South Wales

Devastated farmers say latest NSW floods likely to raise fruit and vegetable prices further

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Growers in Sydney basin and Hunter region say flooding is ‘soul destroying’ and it will take some time to get back on their feet

The catastrophic weather in New South Wales is likely to come back to bite at the supermarket checkout, with peak farming bodies warning the floods will put further strain on supply chains.

The NSW Farmers president, James Jackson, said he would be “most surprised” if inflationary pressures did not result from the ongoing floods.

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Rain relief for Sydney as storms move north, but BoM still forecasts wetter than average winter

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Conditions set to ease from Thursday as scientists predict ‘increasingly common’ intense weather events as a result of global heating

Sydneysiders can expect some much-needed relief from the deluge that has swamped the city, as conditions begin to settle from Thursday, but the north of the state may be next in line for a drenching.

Record rainfalls have been hammering the NSW coastline all week, resulting in more than 100 evacuation orders being issued and 23 local government areas being declared natural disaster zones.

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Australia live news: Jacinda Ardern meets Daniel Andrews; NSW floods ‘far from over’ as Sydney rain continues; RBA interest rates announcement

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Jacinda Ardern meets with Daniel Andrews; Dominic Perrottet warns heavy rain forecast in NSW; federal disaster payments available to 23 flood-affected areas; RBA interest rate decision due; Victoria records 16 Covid deaths, NSW records 14, Queensland records 11. Follow the day’s news live

The federal government is making disaster relief payments available to 23 flood-affected areas in NSW, with emergency management minister Murray Watt saying the assistance would be “uncapped”.

Watt announced early on Tuesday that the federal and NSW governments were making assistance available through the commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements.

These are uncapped payments, they are demand-driven and they will be available for anyone who qualifies.

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Efforts to move cargo ship stranded off Sydney suspended after tow lines snap in wild weather

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MV Portland Bay anchored in a sheltered position after wind and torrential rain prevented towing the ship to safety

Efforts to tow the stricken cargo ship MV Portland Bay to deeper waters were suspended overnight after lines being used to pull the vessel broke in extreme weather.

As wild winds and torrential rains continued to lash Sydney’s coast, it could be Wednesday before it was safe to tow the 170-metre ship into port.

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NSW floods: Sydney braces for two more days of flooding as state smashed by rain and wind

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SES perform 252 flood rescues overnight and thousands urged to evacuate as threat of inundation remains in Hawkesbury and Nepean

The New South Wales State Emergency Service reported more than 5,300 requests for assistance on Monday night, including 252 flood rescues, mainly of drivers stuck in cars and residents needing to be relocated.

The wild weather continued in NSW through the night, with heavy rain and strong winds lashing the state.

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NSW police accused of ‘oppressive’ tactics against subjects on secretive blacklist

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Lawyers say the ‘preventive policing’ suspect target management plan, which disproportionately focuses on Indigenous youth, uses potentially unlawful tactics

The New South Wales police have been accused of using “oppressive” and potentially unlawful tactics on subjects of a secretive blacklist disproportionately used to target young Indigenous people.

Documents released under a parliamentary order have for the first time revealed how police in the state are instructed to use the suspect target management plan, or STMP, an opaque tool previously found to have utilised “unreasonable” and “unjust” tactics against its targets.

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Australia news live: man drowns as Sydney floods continue; NSW SES commissioner warns area dams above 100% capacity

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Man drowns after boat capsizes in Abbotsford; vaccination mandates to ease on international flights; PM says ADF available as thousands are urged to evacuate in Sydney flood crisis; 30 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. Follow all today’s news, live

Karvelas asks about that time Pocock was arrested for chaining himself to mining equipment to protest against a coalmine expansion in New South Wales and whether, given this history, whether he could support legislation that would allow the construction of new mines.

Pocock answers that the IPCC was “very clear” that keeping warming below 2C means “we can’t approve and open up new fossil fuel projects” but adds “we have to actually be getting targets in place and then having the policy to have an orderly transition to renewables”.

My sense is that the community does want something legislated. We actually have to be able to legislate something and move forward and so I’m committed to being constructive when it comes to action to make sure we legislate something, and look at other ways how to ramp that up over time but crucially to be looking after regional communities who have relied on fossil fuels for generations.

In terms of the 43%, I have been very open saying that I’d like to see a higher target, but my sense is that what Australians really want is a target to be legislated. We have to actually bank some of these gains and I want to see a target with integrity. There’s some real concerns about the way that we’re actually getting to whatever target we set and that will be my focus.

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Two children diagnosed with first cases of diphtheria of the throat in NSW this century

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Unvaccinated two-year-old and six-year-old from northern NSW diagnosed with potentially deadly bacterial infection

A toddler is in intensive care and a second child has been hospitalised after contracting the first cases of diphtheria of the throat in New South Wales this century.

Diphtheria is a contagious and potentially deadly bacterial infection. It affects the throat and tonsils in its most severe form, resulting in a greyish-white membrane forming that can make it hard to swallow and breathe.

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Australia surpasses 10,000 Covid deaths as authorities warn of another wave of infections

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Federal health minister Mark Butler says new BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants increase the risk of reinfection

Australia has surpassed the grim milestone of 10,000 Covid-19 deaths, as authorities urge people to remain vigilant against the disease.

The country’s toll from the virus stood at 9,984 on Saturday, and tipped past the 10,000 mark with Sunday’s numbers.

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Sydney flooding: communities evacuated and residents rescued as torrential rain batters region

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NSW State Emergency Service issues emergency alert text messages as severe weather threatens low-lying areas

Thousands of people in low-lying areas around Sydney are being asked to evacuate as residents and holiday-makers face “dangers on multiple fronts” in the region’s third major flooding event since March.

Emergency services minister Steph Cooke warned affected communities between Newcastle and Batemans Bay needed to be prepared to evacuate “at short notice” and should reconsider travel plans as an east coast low set in.

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Driving rain batters NSW coast as authorities warn of flooding and landslips

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WaterNSW is preparing for Warragamba Dam to spill after days of persistent rain pushes water levels to capacity

New South Wales residents are being warned the current bout of wet weather hitting the east coast is only going to get worse, with more rain, powerful winds and surging seas on the way.

Two Australian Defence Force helicopters have been made available to assist with rescues as areas of the state brace for intense rainfall and possible flooding.

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Airport chaos disrupts holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of Australians

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Technical issues, wet weather, school holidays and staff shortages blamed for long queues

As airport queues stretched out the door on Saturday wreaking havoc on the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of travellers, Sydney airport said people arriving too far in advance for their flight was exacerbating problems caused by wet weather, school holidays and continuing staff shortages.

In Sydney, Guardian Australia understands there were technical issues with luggage check-in systems across several domestic airlines on Friday and Saturday, which have contributed to long queues at baggage drops.

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Three rescued from flood waters; abortion rights protests; 54 Covid deaths – as it happened

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SES warns of flooding across saturated NSW; airport chaos spreads from Sydney to Melbourne; Anthony Albanese meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris. This blog is now closed

Flights have been cancelled, ticket prices are through the roof and queues are out the door at Sydney airport as travellers looking to jet off have been caught up in more chaos.

More than two million passengers are expected to pass through Sydney airport during the July school holidays and it is not clear whether the airport will be able to handle the massive demand over the coming days.

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Guardian Essential poll shows NSW Coalition’s primary vote falling below 40%

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About 37% of respondents intend to give the Coalition their first preference vote, while Labor’s primary vote remains the same

The New South Wales Coalition faces a tough road to re-election, with the latest Guardian Essential poll showing its primary vote falling below 40% as it defended the controversial appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a New York trade role.

However, 49% of voters approve of Dominic Perrottet’s performance as premier since he took over the job from Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned amid a corruption investigation last year.

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More rail chaos for Sydney commuters as government and unions fail to reach deal

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Strike action expected on Wednesday and Friday next week after agreement to modify fleet left unsigned

A second dose of rail chaos is likely to hit Sydney commuters next week, with more union action threatened.

The NSW government and the rail union failed to come to an agreement on Friday afternoon, after hopes for a deal emerged amid the travel disruption.

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Nation records 33 Covid deaths as Victoria reports fifth monkeypox case – as it happened

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Mark Butler urges Australians to get boosters as new subvariant circulates; nation records 33 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Australia ‘deeply concerned by continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights’

Penny Wong, minister for foreign affairs, released a statement last night saying Australia remains “deeply concerned” by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights.

Australia remains deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights, freedoms and autonomy, two years since the imposition of the National Security Law.

The National Security Law has been applied broadly to arrest or pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, the media, trade unions and civil society. The electoral reforms imposed by Beijing in 2021 have further eroded Hong Kong’s democratic governance.

This will be the fourth time the government has offered to make the changes, announced the changes, and then backtracked as a result of internal politics.

I’m just not sure where we go from here but our members are resolute. We are going to continue fighting to get these trains made safe, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

It’s going to be a very messy day. It’ll be a weekend timetable with other trains taken out of it.

The families of the railway workers right now could be having $3,000 deposited in their account, instead of having that money spent on modifying perfectly good trains.

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New eradication zone established and 600 hives destroyed as NSW bee industry battles varroa mite

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Producers and apiarists remain concerned about future almond harvest and potential for mites to carry deformed wing virus

As many as 600 beehives and at least six million bees have been destroyed and another eradication zone has been established in New South Wales following the deadly varroa mite outbreak.

Concerns remained around almond harvest as well as the threat of the mites having a virus of their own, compounding problems for the state’s bees after the deadly parasite was discovered last week at hives near the Port of Newcastle.

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Unseasonal deluge to bring wet and windy end to Australia’s east coast winter dry spell

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New South Wales and Queensland set for coastal showers with wet weather to last into mid-next week

The winter dry spell is set to end this week with the east coast of Australia set to receive a deluge leading up to the weekend, while record-breaking rainfall is expected for parts of northern Australia.

A cold front moving towards the east coast will bring coastal showers and wet weather to most of the New South Wales and Queensland coast.

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Lismore ice-cream factory ‘will need to stand down 240 people’ unless flood support extended

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Norco says 44 workers who lost homes would be affected if government assistance ends

An ice-cream factory will stand down 240 workers in Lismore next month – including 44 who lost their homes in floods earlier this year – unless government support is extended.

Michael Hampson, the chief executive of Norco, the factory operator, said the decision came in the absence of further details of any federal assistance and confirmation the state government would not contribute to any further support package.

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Police concerned about impact of The Teacher’s Pet on witnesses, Chris Dawson murder trial hears

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Lead investigator said they were cautious with the reliability of witnesses who had appeared on or listened to podcast about Lynette Dawson’s disappearance

The lead investigator into Lynette Dawson’s disappearance has said in court he was concerned about whether journalist Hedley Thomas could have contaminated evidence through his podcast, The Teacher’s Pet.

Detective senior constable Daniel Poole returned to the NSW Supreme court on Wednesday to give evidence in Christopher Michael Dawson’s murder trial.

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