Category Archives: New South Wales

Dominic Perrottet urges people in NSW to stay out of flood water – as it happened

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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.

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Early interventions ‘missed’ as NSW struggles with shortage of school counsellors

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Figures show there is one counsellor for every 650 students, despite inquiry recommending ratio of 1:500

A dire shortage of school counsellors means New South Wales students are going without disability assessments and early interventions as staff scramble to triage the most serious cases, including suicide risks, sexual assaults and teen pregnancies.

Department of Education figures obtained by Guardian Australia reveal there was one counsellor for every 650 students across the state in August, not accounting for staff on uncovered leave – meaning the reality was far worse.

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Spring has stung: thousands of bluebottles wash up on Sydney beaches

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Heavy rainfall and rough surf has contributed to large numbers of stingers appearing along the NSW coast in the third, and biggest, bluebottle event of the year

Armadas of bluebottles have washed up on the shores of Australian beaches this week as heavy rainfall causes agitated surf conditions.

The jellyfish have been spotted on the shores of Sydney beaches, including Bronte and Manly, with sightings continuing up and down the east coast. Maroubra beach was closed on Friday due to dangerous conditions and “large numbers of bluebottles”.

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Sydney engineer, 74, allegedly confessed to killing wife when arrested, court told

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Steven Hastings Barker is accused of murdering his wife, Christine Barker, at their Bronte home on Thursday evening

A civil engineer from Sydney’s eastern suburbs allegedly gave police a detailed account of killing his wife when they arrested him, a court has been told.

Steven Hastings Barker, 74, is accused of murdering his wife, Christine Barker, at their Bronte home on Thursday evening.

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Albanese meets Solomons PM – as it happened

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Anthony Albanese meets with Solomons Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare, who reiterates ‘no foreign military bases’ pledge. This blog is now closed

Skill shortages ‘an indictment on the failure to plan’: skills minister

The National Skills Commission’s annual update of the skills priority list is out today, showing the number of occupations facing skills shortages have almost doubled in past year.

Well, I wouldn’t say exactly that. I would say, though, it is very high that we have so many occupations where there are significant shortages.

I mean, the fact that it almost doubled in a year speaks to a labour market that is crying out for skills. But also, it is an indictment on the failure to plan, invest in education and training to have the skills our labour market, our economy and our employers need and our workforce need so that they can find good jobs.

We do need to make sure, 1) the investment in education and training is in the right places so that we supply the skills needed for our economy now and into the future. And, of course, 2) we need to have a much faster way of delivering on the skilled migration pathways for industries that are crying out for skills. And whether they be nurses or tech worker, baggage handlers. Wherever you look across the economy, there are shortages and it is a very significant priority of this government.

Conditions haven’t changed that significantly.

The government went to the last election saying again and again they would honour the legislated tax cuts.

In the time since we’ve seen in Australia interest rate rises yes ... but we’ve seen an Australian economy that continues to perform very strongly.

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Sydney marks its wettest year on record, smashing past 1950 high-water mark with three months to spare

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Severe weather warning in place for state’s inland regions as ongoing deluge sees flooding on rivers in west of NSW

Sydney is officially experiencing its wettest year on record as widespread drenching rain puts many parts of western New South Wales on flood alert.

The previous annual record of 2,194mm of rain, which had stood since 1950, was broken at 12.30pm on Thursday after 27.2mm of rain fell at Sydney’s Observatory Hill Bureau of Meteorology station since 9am.

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Australia news live: flood warnings issued as east coast braces for heavy rain and storms

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Kieren Perkins has backed diversity in sport at the national press club and Manasseh Sogavare, the PM of Solomon Islands, is due to arrive in Australia this afternoon on a flight from Singapore. Follow the day’s news live

Fire extinguished in Sydney shopping centre

Maria Kovacic elected NSW Liberals president

The election next March will be hard fought.

Our party will be talking directly to our community, including western Sydney and the regions, about how the Perrottet Government can improve their lives and help their families.

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Optus tells Victorians whose licences were exposed in data breach to register with roads body

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Optus yet to give specific information about what to do next to those who used Queensland driver’s licences or a passport to sign up

Optus on Wednesday wrote to Victorian victims of its data breach whose driver’s licence details have been exposed, telling them they need to register with the state’s roads authority.

The embattled telco also wrote to New South Wales licence holders on Wednesday, telling them that although their licence numbers had been exposed they did not need to apply for new permits because the state uses a dual number system that adds an additional layer of protection against identity theft.

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Sydney on track for record annual rainfall of 2.2 metres as eastern states brace for flooding

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Flood watch alerts issued for almost 40 waterways in NSW and severe weather warning in western parts of state

Sydney is on track to set a new record for its wettest ever year, with more than two months still to go, as the city braces for another 100mm of rain over the next few days.

The soggy city has recorded 2,129mm of rain between 1 January and 4 October – just 65mm shy of the record set in 1950, when the annual total reached 2,194mm.

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Banks raise interest rates in response to RBA – as it happened

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Australian dollar drops and shares bounce higher on reserve bank’s dovish move. This blog is now closed

Sexual violence rife on dating apps

Dating apps need to better protect their users after a study revealed high rates of sexual violence, stalking, assault and unwanted sharing of explicit images, AAP reports.

This is highly concerning given the significant and potentially long-term impacts associated with these victimisation experiences.

These impacts include poorer health and wellbeing, including overall life satisfaction, social isolation and lower self-esteem, as well as increased risk of re-victimisation.

Considering the long- and short-term implications for victim-survivors after experiencing these harmful behaviours, there is an obvious need to develop mechanisms for protecting users.

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Dominic Perrottet denies teal threat is behind NSW ministers’ bid to move to lower house

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Pollster and federal independent both say the Liberal government should be concerned about shift towards teals

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has denied his party is mounting a coordinated defence against teal independents by installing high profile Liberal women as candidates in at-risk seats.

Two female upper house ministers have announced their hope to run in the lower house, including the metropolitan roads minister, Natalie Ward, who on Tuesday announced her intention to run in Davidson.

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NSW redevelopment plan poses ‘very real threat’ to Sydney’s Central station, National Trust says

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The Trust’s state conservation director wrote letters to the public and organisations citing concerns over the plan’s scale and impact

The National Trust has criticised the New South Wales government’s plan to revamp and reimagine Sydney’s Central station, claiming that the scheme “presents a genuine and very real threat to Australia’s greatest station”.

The trust’s NSW conservation director, David Burdon, wrote to members of the public and organisations for “help in saving the iconic Sydney Central station”, citing concerns over the scale and impact of the plan that would build over a portion of the heritage-listed site.

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Powerhouse Parramatta: entertainment centre ‘masquerading’ as a museum has high flood risk, inquiry finds

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NSW parliamentary committee releases scathing appraisal of decision to build $1.34bn project on site with ‘very real flood risks’

The New South Wales government’s controversial $1.34bn Powerhouse Parramatta project is in danger of becoming an entertainment and events centre “masquerading” as a museum, and the ongoing risk of flooding to a priceless collection still has not been comprehensively addressed, according to the findings in a NSW upper house inquiry.

Tabled in parliament on Friday, the committee report also delivered a scathing appraisal of the state government’s contentious decision to dismantle Victorian mansion Willow Grove to make way for the Parramatta museum, saying it had “robbed Parramatta of its rapidly dwindling heritage”.

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NSW renames national park over pastoralist Ben Boyd’s links to slavery in Pacific

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New name Beowa means orca in Thaua language and comes after consultation with Aboriginal and South Sea Islander communities

A national park in New South Wales that was named after a pastoralist linked to the slave trade has been renamed.

The move to rename Ben Boyd national park was announced last year and new signs were installed at Beowa national park near Eden on Friday.

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NSW on alert after more than a dozen cane toads found an hour north of Sydney

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Agriculture minister says size of colony in Mandalong indicates there could be many more of the toxic intruders in the area

New South Wales is on alert after more than a dozen cane toads were found on a private property an hour’s drive north of Sydney.

The state’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) biosecurity helpline confirmed a report had been made by a member of the public on 19 September after a “number” of cane toads were found at a property in the rural town of Mandalong, west of Lake Macquarie.

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Melissa Caddick’s severed foot could have floated to beach after 93 days under water, expert says

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Oceanographer tells inquest it was entirely possible Caddick’s body entered the water when she was last seen in November 2020

An ocean expert says the severed foot of missing alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick could have travelled from Sydney cliffs before washing up on the NSW South Coast months later.

An examination of goose barnacles found on the foot show it was likely floating off the NSW coastline for three to seven days before appearing on Bournda beach – 400km from Caddick’s Dover Heights mansion.

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Australia news live: government asks Optus to pay for new passports after data breach; severe thunderstorm warning for Sydney

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Prime minister says Labor believes ‘Optus should pay, not taxpayers’ after customer data compromised. Follow the day’s news

Election wash-up

As we reported yesterday, the AEC will be appearing at the electoral matters parliamentary committee hearing this morning.

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‘Confused’ Anthony Koletti excused from giving evidence at Melissa Caddick inquest

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Coroner tells husband of businesswoman who vanished in late 2020: ‘If you are unable to give truthful answers that is not going to assist me’

The husband of alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick was too distressed to continue giving evidence at his wife’s inquest on Wednesday after saying he couldn’t understand the “confusing” questions.

Anthony Koletti returned to the witness box at the New South Wales coroner’s court but the deputy state coroner, Elizabeth Ryan, asked him to step down about lunchtime as his answers were not helpful.

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‘Early signs get missed’: moves to support Australian families whose children refuse to go to school

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Expert says it’s vital to change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal

Teachers across New South Wales will learn to deal with families struggling with school refusal, with about a third of students in years 1 to 10 missing more than 90% of classes over the course of a semester last year.

But an expert on the problem said it is vital that all states and territories change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal.

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Canola field selfies: Australian farmers warn tourists against ‘dangerous’ social media trend

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In spring, Instagram is awash with people posing in yellow fields, but farmers say the fad is a risk to biosecurity and people’s safety

A social media trend where eager tourists drive out to flowering canola fields, jump fences and seek out the perfect selfie is becoming “dangerous” and a growing biosecurity risk for farmers.

Two weeks ago, Tim Condon was driving over the crest of a hill at about 90km/h near Harden–Murrumburrah in southern New South Wales when he had to slam on the brakes. He said two cars of families with little kids were spread out across the road taking photos of the canola.

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