Category Archives: New South Wales

Flood warnings in Victoria and NSW – as it happened

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Birmingham against a windfall tax for oil and gas companies

Birmingham says he is opposed to a windfall tax for oil and gas companies to help assist with rising energy prices.

We don’t think that simply slugging a tax in relation to companies is going to do anything for the energy prices of Australians. You’ve got to fix supply in the gas market to provide for genuine outcomes there, and those types of taxes will actually only hurt you in the longer term because they will act as an investment disincentive and you have less supply for the future.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has previously said limiting global heating to 1.5C as set out in the Paris agreement meant there can be no new oil, gas or coal investment beyond 2021.

A windfall tax is not about shoring up gas supplies, but generating revenue which can re-invested in new renewable energy projects and other decarbonisation projects.

I strongly support recognition and have done for many years and, of course, the debate around the voice has come along subsequent to early efforts to try to achieve Indigenous recognition. When it comes to the model for the Voice, I do think Australians deserve to see more detail and have more answers about how it will work, how it will be constituted and how it will make a difference. I understand the very passionate views by those who argue for the voice and I don’t wish to see them disrespected in any way, but I also acknowledge that there are strong Indigenous views of doubt and question about whether the voice will be actually effective in achieving any substantial change on the ground in relation to Indigenous disadvantage.

We are going to be asked to support a constitutional change for a model that is as undefined by the government in relation to that model. It is not unreasonable to want to see the detail of the model.

An economy growing as strongly as possible, keeping unemployment as low as possible – those are the things that our government managed to achieve, with strong economic growth in our last year in office, with unemployment down to 50-year lows, creating the conditions for economic growth to help to drive productive wages growth.

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Evacuation order issued for Condobolin; Albanese says renewables can fight inflation – as it happened

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Lachlan River is at major flood level and SES predicts a record peak of 7.8 metres on Monday. This blog is now closed

Poppy seed tea warning

Australians are being warned not to drink poppy seed tea, promoted on popular social media platforms, after a spate of poisoning cases across Australia linked to the home-brewed sedative.

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NSW floods: Condobolin waits behind 3km wall of sandbags as record peak flows west from Forbes

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Forbes mayor criticises decision to base recovery team in Parkes as towns and villages downstream wait days for peak

The New South Wales central-west town of Condobolin is experiencing the worst flood in its history and the expected peak is still days away.

The State Emergency Service has predicted the Lachlan River at the town 100km west of Forbes will peak at 7.8 metres on Monday – a record flood height. On Saturday afternoon an evacuation order was issued for low-lying parts of the town.

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The cost of losing the politics of pokies in the gaming machine capital of Australia

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Despite moves to reform the system by the NSW premier, two MPs doubt that much will change

During his final fortnight in New South Wales parliament, the outgoing minister Rob Stokes did his best to beat the drum for poker machine reform in his state.

In two blistering speeches, Stokes attacked the power of the clubs sector, saying it had become “distorted and disfigured” by its reliance on the $3.8bn in yearly pokies revenue and calling for the introduction of a cashless gambling card.

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News live updates: Medibank, Optus among companies shunning privacy law hearing in ‘collective failure of corporate Australia’

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Greens senator David Shoebridge has criticised notable absences at a Senate committee looking at privacy laws today. Follow the day’s news live

ADF personnel to help in NSW as government works on dedicated disaster workforce

Murray Watt is asked about a permanent disaster workforce to assist during national disasters and their clean-up, given the pressure put on the defence force.

The ADF does certainly play a role, particularly in the recovery phase. And just yesterday we activated more defence forces to go into western New South Wales to assist so over the next couple of days, we expect to see 200 defence force personnel helping there to top up these state-based services. But the reality is all of this is putting a huge amount of pressure, whether it be on those state-based services or the ADF. And that’s why in this budget, we committed over $30m to a volunteer veteran organisation called Disaster Relief Australia to sort of top up the kind of services that are available for communities, particularly in that clean-up phase.

But we’re going to be keeping on doing some work on this about what we need to put in place as a country to supplement the ADF and I’d be hopeful that we might be able to bring that to a conclusion around about the budget next year.

There’s insurance costs so let alone the huge damage bill that individuals are going to be incurring themselves.

So I think everyone is unfortunately going to be having to put their hands in their pockets for for this unfolding event that just won’t go away.

So even if we weren’t to get any more rain, we’re going to be looking at even more damage from the existing flood waters. And, as I say, I think we’re likely to see more. We’ve also got to remember that we haven’t yet seen the cyclone season start whether that be in north Queensland, Western Australia or Northern Territory. So unfortunately I haven’t got a lot of good news for people except for the fact that there is unlikely to be a lot of rain over the next couple of days. So that’s a good thing.

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Central NSW braced for more flooding as Lachlan River set to hit 70-year-high level

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Forbes braced for second inundation in a fortnight as woman’s body found in Eugowra flood waters after ‘wall of water’ decimates NSW town

Communities in New South Wales are braced for more flooding with warnings of historic river rises and prolonged peaks in the state’s central west.

Across the state, the authorities have issued 117 warnings and 23 “evacuate now” orders, including for central western Forbes and Gooloogong, Gunnedah in the north-east and the southern border town of Moama.

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NSW floods: Amber Stevens airlifted from atop a water tank with her baby, husband and two dogs

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‘We rang the SES but they couldn’t get to us, there was no boat,’ says the resident of Tichborne in the state’s central west

Amber Stevens went to bed on Sunday night expecting her paddock could get a little wet, nothing more. You didn’t get big floods in Tichborne – hadn’t for 70 years.

The next evening, she was huddled on top of a water tank, with her baby Finn, husband and two dogs, watching a sea of flood water engulf her home in the usually barren central west of New South Wales.

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News live: Penny Wong condemns Russia’s deadly missile attacks; Deliveroo to end operations in Australia

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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

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Proposed NSW disaster authority would have ‘virtually unfettered’ land-clearing powers, Greens say

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Conservation groups have also condemned the legislation, with National Parks Association ‘extremely alarmed’

A proposed new natural disaster authority in New South Wales would have “virtually unfettered” powers to overturn environmental protections and could result in the clearing of national parks, crossbench MPs and environment groups have warned.

The state’s planning minister, Anthony Roberts, introduced a bill to parliament on Monday to create a “Reconstruction Authority” dedicated to disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction.

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After 41 years, controversial Christian crusader Fred Nile prepares to leave NSW parliament

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Some say the former head of the Christian Democrats may have ‘mellowed’ over time – but the 88-year-old says he hasn’t changed his views

One of the final acts in the long, divisive career of the Rev Fred Nile may have been thwarted by an administrative error.

In the New South Wales upper house last week, Nile had been due to begin the debate on a bill he co-authored with the progressive MP Alex Greenwich to reform the protection of Indigenous culture and heritage.

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Veterinarians warn horse owners in Australia’s flood zones to guard against Japanese encephalitis

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Warm weather and stagnant flood waters have created ideal conditions for mosquito-borne diseases

Veterinarians have warned horse owners to be on the lookout for symptoms of Japanese encephalitis as widespread flooding and warmer days creates “the perfect storm” for mosquito-borne diseases across eastern Australia.

It comes as the Australian Medical Association has urged people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and to get vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis if they are eligible, after a slow vaccine uptake in at-risk communities.

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Australia news live: immediate evacuation orders as central west NSW faces dramatic floods; record early voting in Victoria

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The SES has said the Lachlan River is rising faster than originally forecast. Follow all today’s news

Some issues ‘we have raised will be solved overnight’: Chalmers

Albanese has said there are no preconditions ahead of the meeting with Xi but Karvelas is pressing Chalmers on what could be on the table. He’s staying pretty tight-lipped but here are some of his answers.

We’ve made it really clear for some time … that these trade sanctions are not in Australia’s interests, and we want to see them lifted.

I don’t think anybody pretends some of the issues China has raised, certainly some we have raised will be solved overnight, but again we give ourselves a much better chance where there is engagement and dialogue.

Australia’s made its views clear over a long period of time when it comes to the detention of these two people.

What’s Australia’s ambition here?

We seek a more stable relationship with China.

We will speak up for our national interest where necessary, but we believe engagement is important to give ourselves the chance to work through some of these issues if we’re talking to each other.

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PM’s meeting with Chinese president confirmed – as it happened

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Andrews rules out deal with the Greens and independents in event of minority government

Dan Andrews was also asked what would happen if Labor finds itself in a minority government situation – will it do a deal with the Greens?

No deal will be offered and no deal will be done.

And independents – no deals with independents?

No deal will be offered and no deal will be done.

So if you’re in a minority situation and you hold more seats than the Liberal party, what happens? You go back to another election?

Well, I think what the best thing to do, and what happens, Michael, is we work hard for the next 13 days, we work hard to put a positive and optimistic plan out there, and we’ll see what the verdict of Victorian voters is. I’m arguing, I’m urging people to vote for a strong, stable majority Labor government, to vote for your local Labor candidate.

The new SEC – government-owned, not private for-profit, but government-owned electricity, so owned by every single Victorian – creates nearly 60,000 jobs – 6,000 of those will be apprentices. It will be 100% renewable electricity. These companies can’t be relied upon to replace themselves. They’ll just put another profit machine in place. We need to make sure that we’re looking after pensioners, we’re looking after families and, indeed, businesses. And without electricity, there is no economy, so we have to replace them. And we choose to replace them with a public option – a government-owned option. An option that’s owned by every single Victorian.

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South Australia suffers biggest blackout since 2016 as weather system brings more flooding to inland NSW

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Severe storms continue to drench exhausted communities as a humid air mass prompts flash flooding alerts in eastern Australia

Wild storms have caused the biggest blackout in South Australia since the entire state went dark in 2016, as flash flooding caused havoc in parts of New South Wales and Victoria.

More than 423,000 lightning strikes were recorded in SA on Sunday. Heavy winds downed trees and SA Power Networks received more than 500 reports of fallen wires.

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Albanese meets Chinese premier Li Keqiang at summit – as it happened

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Victorian opposition vows to restrict gas produced in the state from being exported in a bid to reduce household bills; Anthony Albanese speaks to Chinese premier Li Keqiang at East Asia Summit gala dinner. This blog is now closed

Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during a Dallas airshow, federal officials said, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Officials didn’t immediately make clear how many people were on board the aircraft or if anyone on the ground was hurt. Nonetheless, an ABC News producer – citing reporting from a colleague – said on Twitter that at least six people, all crew members, were feared dead after the crash.

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PM appoints new special envoy to south-east Asia – as it happened

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PM gives address at Asean summit in Cambodia underscoring Australia’s commitment to partners and to regional values

Infectious diseases specialist Dr Noor Bari says the situation unfolding with the Majestic Princess is serious for more reasons than many believe.

She says that despite cruise line companies upgrading their HEPA/UVC air intake systems, a critical number of cases on board can quickly overwhelm the limited facilities on board.

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Majestic Princess: cruise ship passengers disembark in Sydney after mass Covid outbreak

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Covid-positive passengers told to stay away from public transport after biggest single outbreak since Ruby Princess

The Majestic Princess cruise ship – carrying about 800 Covid-19 positive passengers – has docked in Sydney and passengers have disembarked in the city.

The ship docked at Circular Quay early Saturday morning, having sailed from New Zealand. It will depart Sydney for Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.

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‘A cop out’: staff condemn NSW parliament’s statement on cultural problems

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Exclusive: ‘Statement of acknowledgment’ fails to recognise Indigenous, culturally diverse or LGBTQIA+ perspectives, say critics

A “statement of acknowledgment” of widespread cultural problems within the New South Wales parliament currently fails to recognise the experiences of Indigenous, culturally diverse and LGBTQIA+ staffers, with one calling it “a cop out”.

A draft form of the acknowledgment, made in response to workplace issues identified by the damning Broderick report, has been circulated ahead of the final to version being delivered in parliament on Tuesday.

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Covid-19 case numbers exploding across Australia as fourth wave takes off

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Chief health officers urge people to take up protective measures as Covid hospitalisations double in some states

The number of active Covid cases has exploded across the country as Australia enters its fourth wave, prompting renewed warnings to protect vulnerable aged care residents.

Jurisdictions collectively recorded more than 58,000 new cases of Covid in the past week, with some states reporting a doubling in the number of people hospitalised with the virus.

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

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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.

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