Category Archives: New South Wales

Parents forced to spend hundreds to chaperone teenagers at Splendour in the Grass after late rule change

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Under-18s who can’t find adult supervision for music festival scramble to resell tickets

Splendour in the Grass, one of Australia’s largest outdoor music festivals, has been thrown into chaos, with changes to terms and conditions of entry made less than two weeks out from the event.

Young ticket holders for the 2022 festival – the first held in three years due to Covid-19 – learned on Monday that if they are under the age of 18, they must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

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Sydney’s North Cronulla beach almost vanishes after wild weather causes severe erosion

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A lifeguard tower was left teetering on a cliff edge and had to be relocated, after constant huge swells battered the shoreline

Part of Cronulla beach has been closed to the public for safety reasons after a lifeguard tower was left teetering on a cliff edge and had to be relocated, after constant huge swells eroded the beach.

Weeks of rain and wild weather have severely eroded beaches in some coastal regions of New South Wales.

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End of rapid Covid test and telehealth subsidies criticised – as it happened

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Payments extended to eight more local government areas and sped up to prioritise victims over auditing; free Covid rapid tests for concession card holders to end this month. This blog is now closed

A new campaign has launched today to tackle racism by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Chin Tan, the race discrimination commissioner, was on ABC Radio this morning discussing the campaign he says calls on all Australians to reflect on the causes and impacts of racism, not only on its victims but Australia’s collective wellbeing as a society.

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Victoria defies health advice for mask mandate as new Covid wave worsens nationwide

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Elective surgeries are again at risk of being delayed with predictions hospitalisations may exceed past Covid waves

The Victorian government has ignored health advice calling for mask mandates in schools, early childhood and retail settings amid a warning that hospitalisations during the current wave of Covid and flu infections may exceed earlier peaks.

As Covid reinfection rates rise nationwide, Victoria on Tuesday joined Queensland in encouraging residents to don masks without requiring them to do so.

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Some NSW flood warnings remain but relief for Sydney from extreme weather

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Moderate flooding on parts of Bogan and Darling and minor warnings for Wollombi Brook, Lachlan, Macquarie and Lower Hunter rivers

Flood warnings across several New South Wales rivers are still in place, but Sydney is beginning to experience some relief from weeks of extreme weather.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued minor flood warnings for the Wollombi Brook, Lachlan, Macquarie and Lower Hunter rivers on Monday.

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Home buybacks in flood-prone NSW ‘cheaper’ than plan to raise Warragamba Dam wall, experts say

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Infrastructure NSW says buybacks on Sydney’s fringe could cost $5.2bn but expert argues price would be ‘nowhere near’ that

A large-scale property buyback scheme in flood-affected parts of the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley would cost more than $5bn, according to the New South Wales government’s own estimates.

But experts have questioned the price tag, saying more targeted buybacks would be cheaper than the Coalition government’s plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

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Nation records 13 Covid deaths as WA and ACT reduce official reinfection period – as it happened

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Police questioning three people after man’s body found near Brisbane train station

Three people are being questioned about the suspicious death of a man whose body was found near a train station in inner Brisbane, AAP reports.

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Queenslanders encouraged to wear masks as nation records 13 Covid deaths – as it happened

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On pandemic leave payments – which are coming to an end – Speers asks Butler about the decision by the government not to extend them. Butler responds that ending these payments was necessary because of the budget.

This emergency payment was designed by the former government and the state governments. It’s a co-owned scheme that came to end an on 30 June. We are one trillion in debt and at some point emergency payments of this type have to be wound up as we move to a new phase. That’s the decision that former governments took and it’s a decision we have decided to follow as well.

There’s state rules to isolate. These emergency payments have to be wound up at some point.

I accept whenever you end an emergency payment of this type it’s going to impact people. I deeply regret that. But at some point these emergency payments simply have to be wound up. We don’t have the financial capacity to keep making them forever. They were intended to wind up on 30 June, that was the decision taken by the former government, and all state governments who are co-signatories to that scheme and it’s a decision we had to continue.

Butler: In this phase of the pandemic mask mandates and things like that are best done in a targeted way. There’s mask mandates in aged care, in health facilities, on public transport, in airplanes. And if you’re in a crowded indoor space with no ability to socially distance you should give strong consideration to wearing a mask.

Speers: Again... You only need to go to the movies or a shopping centre or the footy to see how ineffectual a recommendation is. So many people not wearing masks. Wasn’t one of the lessons of this pandemic, mask mandates for a fixed period, work?

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At least 77 Covid deaths; Albanese pays tribute to Abe; NSW counts cost of floods – as it happened

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Foreign minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart in Bali, breaking three years of diplomatic hostility. This blog is now closed

Collaery case: ‘only stress if you’re being shot at’

One of the biggest stories of the week was the announcement from the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, that the government would drop its long-running case against lawyer Bernard Collaery.

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NSW floods: government names recovery coordinators as rain and big surf set to return

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Sunshine broke over flood clean-up efforts in areas west and north of Sydney and Sunday rainfall is unlikely to cause further flooding

Flood waters and river levels dropped in areas west and north of Sydney on Saturday as sunshine broke over clean-up efforts at thousands of homes and businesses.

The New South Wales government named two coordinators to oversee recovery efforts and said inspections of 2,285 premises so far had found 239 were not liveable.

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Man charged after nine-year-old girl is shot and injured in Sydney

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Girl suffers non-life-threatening injuries after being shot outside her home in the southern suburb of Connells Point

A man has been charged after a nine-year-old girl was shot outside a home in Sydney’s south.

The child was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries as the state’s anti-bikie and organised crime squad hunted for the alleged gunman.

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Australia news live: fourth covid vaccine dose to be offered from 11 July; NSW rain and flood risk move north

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In his speech, Jason Clare also lamented the fact that although the target of 40% of people aged 25 to 34 having bachelor degrees had been achieved, a separate target for 20% of enrolments to be from people from low socioeconomic backgrounds had not.

Instead, it had “barely moved” from 15%, from when the target was set in 2008. Indigenous enrolment was less than 10%.

I don’t want us to be a country where your chances in life depend on your postcode, your parents, or the colour of your skin. None of us want that. But that’s where we are today. I am not naive, I know this is hard to shift.

And that, at its core, is what the Australian Universities accord will be about: a reset. And an opportunity to build a long-term plan for our universities, together. Drawing on the advice of the leadership in this room, your staff, unions, business, students, parents and all political parties.

Looking at everything from funding and access to affordability, transparency, regulation, employment conditions and also how universities and TAFEs and other higher education and vocational education providers and training institutions work together.

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More than 15m bees destroyed in NSW to contain deadly varroa mite parasite

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Hives along state’s central and mid-north coasts and in north-west destroyed as bee lockdown continues

More than 15 million bees have been euthanised across 31 infected premises in New South Wales as the fight to contain the varroa mite continues.

Bees from 1,533 hives have been destroyed between the NSW central and mid-north coasts, as well as at Narrabri in the state’s north-west, the state’s agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders, said. “It’s a significant number of bees,” he said.

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Fears two monkeypox cases were transmitted locally and could mark spread of disease in Australia

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NSW has confirmed 11 cases and health authorities are urging people to be aware of symptoms

Monkeypox may be spreading in Australia after New South Wales found infections among the state’s 11 confirmed cases that could have been transmitted locally.

NSW Health says nine of the infections were probably acquired overseas but two may be local cases, which suggests community transmission could be occurring, especially among men who have sex with men.

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Federal government pledges $1,000 disaster payment for NSW flood victims as threat moves north

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Deluge moves to Hunter and mid-north coast as Anthony Albanese announces one-off payment to people in 23 areas

The federal government will provide one-off $1,000 payments for people in 23 flood-affected areas across New South Wales, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced on Wednesday, as the flood threat moved north.

Rain eased in areas of Sydney hit by flooding but concern remained for the state’s Hunter and mid-north coast regions, with flooding expected to continue into Wednesday evening.

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More major warnings issued as focus turns to mid-north coast – as it happened

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Sussan Ley criticises Labor over flood response

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley is upping the Coalition’s attacks on the Labor government over the floods, asking why they haven’t activated disaster recovery payments for affected residents.

We have already announced a wide range of support for people but I think it’s fair to assume that there will be more coming.

I can’t commit to anything specific like that but what I can tell you is that from the weekend, I began talking with our authorities about what we could do to make sure that any disaster support we approved got out the door quickly.

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Former NSW paramedic loses appeal against dismissal for ‘disgusting’ emails

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Brian Knowles admitted to denigrating colleagues but claimed to be victim of ‘witch-hunt’ in appeal to Industrial Relations Commission

A former senior New South Wales paramedic who helped a manager get into an Elton John concert without a ticket and used “disgusting” language while denigrating his colleagues has lost an appeal against his dismissal.

Brian Knowles, a former duty operations manager, appealed to the Industrial Relations Commission about the decision to sack him, saying he had been the victim of a “witch-hunt” by the Ambulance Service of NSW.

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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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