Illegal use of fireworks can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and even jail. Here are the rules around the country
Hefty fines and even jail time are on the cards for those who set off illegal fireworks this New Year’s Eve.
People right across the country used to partake in the annual “cracker night” festival, setting off fireworks in their backyards, but most states and territories began banning this practice in the 1980s.
Continue reading...The Great Western Highway is closed in both directions and is expected to remain a crime scene for some time
Two people are dead and more than a dozen have been injured in a multi-vehicle crash west of the Blue Mountains in NSW.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the five-car crash on the Great Western Highway at Wallerawang, 15km north of Lithgow, just before 1pm.
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Tasmanian yacht Alive is in the box seat to take out Sydney to Hobart yacht race’s overall honours, with skipper Duncan Hine confident the 66-footer has a winning time on the board.
Hine and his crew finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic yesterday afternoon as clubhouse leaders on handicap time.
It’s a waiting game. We’re looking good, though. I believe we could do it again, but the reality may be different. Now we wait with bated breath to see if anyone can beat our time.
Continue reading...Search crew finds body of man near Rosebud beach on the Mornington Peninsula after two-hour search
A kayaker has died in waters off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Emergency services were called to Rosebud beach about 3.30pm on Thursday. There were reports a man on an inflatable kayak had got into trouble and gone into the water up to 800 metres off shore.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ‘We can’t just put it all on the police’s shoulders’ says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention population
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.
Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime.
Continue reading...Royal Life Saving Society chief says Australians may not be ‘as strong swimmers as we believe’ as December toll hits 22
Another person has drowned in New South Wales, adding to the rising drowning death toll that has prompted a warning from lifesavers at what is considered the deadliest time of year.
Four people were pulled from the water at Port Stephens on Wednesday afternoon, including a 33-year-old man who could not be revived and died at the scene.
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Cricket begins
Day two of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan has just started in Melbourne. You can follow the latest on our separate live blog here:
Continue reading...Two campers in Victoria and three friends on a fishing trip in Queensland among 10 lives lost as storms ravaged eastern Australia
The body of a man has been discovered in flood-affected regional Victoria, taking the death toll from storms that wreaked havoc on eastern Australia over the Christmas period to 10.
Victoria police received information on Wednesday that it was believed a man was camping with a woman who was located deceased following flash flooding in Buchan in East Gippsland on 26 December.
Continue reading...About 39kg of the drug was found by a fisherman on Tuesday, before a similar amount was discovered in Newcastle
A fisherman on Sydney’s northern beaches is one of several members of the public to discover packages containing 124kg of cocaine that have washed up on the New South Wales coast, sparking a police investigation.
NSW police on Wednesday confirmed its state crime command were investigating after the packages were discovered on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle from Friday. The initial barnacle-encrusted discoveries sparked a warning against removing or opening any more that were discovered.
Continue reading...Nine-year-old girl and three men confirmed dead after boat capsized in south-east Queensland among death toll
The death toll from Australia’s Christmas storms has risen to nine, as the Gold Coast mayor warns his city is “not out of the woods”.
The people confirmed dead include a nine-year-old girl whose body was found after she was feared lost in stormwater drains in Brisbane.
Continue reading...Emergency services called to Penrith Beach on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacing
A man’s body has been found after a search at a newly opened beach in Sydney’s west.
Emergency services were called to Penrith Beach just after 2.30pm on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacing.
Continue reading...Two women reported missing in flood waters in Gympie as Bureau of Meteorology warns of further thunderstorms on Boxing Day night
Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to continue to batter the east coast until at least Wednesday evening, as thousands of households remained without power on Boxing Day.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for large parts of the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland coasts, covering metropolitan areas as well as some regional areas.
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What’s causing the storms?
Senior meteorologist Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology just spoke to ABC News about the severe thunderstorms hitting the east coast.
[It is] primarily driven by some warm humid air in the low levels of the atmosphere, which is partly contributed to by a ton of warm ocean temperatures off the east coast of Australia providing a lot of that warmth and humidity into the atmosphere.
We also have a big low pressure system higher up which just provides that extra energy and support which allows these thunderstorms do develop and grow, and as you say, they have been causing extensive disruptive weather over the last few days.
Continue reading...Boxing Day weather also predicted to be volatile across NSW, Victoria and Queensland, with more thunderstorms and rain forecast
A woman has died and more than 100,000 homes been left without power as a result of severe thunderstorms in south-east Queensland on Christmas night, with warnings of more bad weather to come on Boxing Day across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Intense storms affected all three eastern states on Monday, with more than 1,200 calls for help to state emergency services and Sydney airport recording its wettest Christmas Day on record.
Continue reading...The Bureau of Meteorology warns of more thunderstorms and heavy rain for large parts of Australia’s east coast
Queenslanders and parts of New South Wales have been told to hunker down amid Christmas Day warnings for large hailstones, heavy rain and possible flash flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued thunderstorm warnings on Monday afternoon for parts of Queensland’s southern interior and the north of the state,
Continue reading...NSW police say no one should open or remove any of the packages after finding seven washed ashore
New South Wales police have issued a warning to the public about packages suspected of containing cocaine washing up on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle.
At least seven packages – with “significant barnacle growth” on the outer plastic wrapping – have been found on beaches since Friday night, and police on Sunday warned people not to open or remove any further finds.
Continue reading...NSW SES warns heavy rain may cause flash flooding with storms forecast across three states from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day
Residents of Australia’s eastern states have been warned to prepare for severe storms forecast over the Christmas weekend.
Thunderstorms are expected between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day across a broad region, including much of New South Wales and south-east Queensland and spreading down into Victoria.
Continue reading...Further testing should be done to reduce the risk of local tank water being contaminated by mercury, expert says
An independent study of rainwater tanks near the Cadia goldmine in central west New South Wales has detected unsafe levels of mercury in some residents’ drinking water, nine months after widespread water testing conducted by NSW Health found no unsafe results.
The results come from an independent testing program conducted by Dr Ian Wright through the Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN), which took water samples from kitchen taps and the top and bottom of rainwater tanks at 42 properties near the mine, between August and November 2023.
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Continue reading...Officer, who cannot be identified, was charged in November with driving under the influence and high-range drink driving
A senior New South Wales police officer charged with allegedly crashing a work car in Sydney’s NorthConnex tunnel after getting drunk at a work function earlier this year has pleaded not guilty.
The high-ranking detective, whose identity is being kept secret under a court order, was charged in November with driving under influence of alcohol and high-range drink-driving, nearly six months after the May incident.
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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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