It was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill category two – but flooded streets and cut-off communities show an intensity that nobody saw coming
A lifelong resident of Machans Beach, just outside Cairns, Euan Williams had seen plenty of cyclones before. Once ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper passed over the community on Wednesday last week as a category-two storm, that confirmed it. It wouldn’t amount to much.
“Being locals, a cat two’s sort of like a run of the mill cyclone,” he said.
Continue reading...Floods exceeding 1977 levels expected, Steven Miles says, as heavy rain leaves 10,500 homes without power
Cairns airport has been closed in anticipation of record flooding in the far north Queensland city as the state premier, Steven Miles, declared a “serious weather emergency” in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
On Sunday afternoon Miles said flood levels in Cairns were expected to exceed the previous record of 1977 and there were “significant concerns” for many communities in the far north.
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Up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs prevented from reaching Australia
Australian federal police and international law enforcement partners have prevented up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs from reaching Australia throughout the past financial year.
The AFP cannot overstate the amount of harm that 29 tonnes of methamphetamine could have caused to the community if it had not been intercepted by law enforcement.
On average, close to 12,000 Australians are hospitalised from methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin use every 12 months.
Continue reading...Major flood warnings for state’s far north as storm system moves towards Northern Territory
A 10-year-old girl is fighting for life after being struck by lightning as more wild weather descended on Queensland, causing major flooding in Cairns.
The girl was injured at a private property in Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast at 2.30pm on Saturday during severe thunderstorms due to ex-Cyclone Jasper.
Continue reading...NSW Ambulance expects 10% uptick in calls and Bureau of Meteorology warns of the chance of destructive afternoon storms
Large parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland are experiencing a heatwave, with extreme risk of fires around Sydney, health warnings for the effects of prolonged heat and the chance of destructive storms.
Temperatures in Sydney are forecast to hit 34C on Saturday, but further west it will be hotter still, with Penrith set for 36C and Richmond 36C, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Continue reading...Fate of more than a dozen islands ‘hangs in the balance’ because of climate crisis, with vexed questions about maritime jurisdiction
More than a dozen of Australia’s coral islands that help to extend the country’s maritime jurisdiction are at high risk of disappearing because of climate change, according to a study.
The fate of the low-lying islands now “hangs in the balance”, said the scientist who led the study, with rising sea levels, marine heatwaves, intensifying weather systems and ocean acidification compounding the risk.
Continue reading...Weather system at moderate risk of strengthening into cyclone again mid next week as it moves west across Gulf of Carpentaria
Residents in flooded far north Queensland are bracing for more rain as ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper moves slowly westward over Cape York Peninsula.
The system is expected to hit the Gulf of Carpentaria by late Sunday or on Monday as it edges towards the Northern Territory, but has slowed significantly.
Continue reading...Miles raises state’s reduction target to 75% by 2035, one of the most ambitious in the country, in a move praised by environmental groups
Steven Miles has used his first speech as Queensland premier to announce an ambitious emissions reduction plan for the state in a move praised by environmental groups.
On Friday, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s newly anointed successor raised the state’s target to 75% by 2035. Queensland had previously promised just 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. The previous objective was even lower than the targets set by Scott Morrison in 2021.
Continue reading...PM says: ‘Hamas can have no role in the future governance of of Gaza, and we need to work towards a political solution.’ Follow the day’s news live
Focus on mental health
The government will be injecting $456m into digital mental health services – including Lifeline and Beyond Blue – to give people to with anxiety and depression better access to mental health services.
Some people go through situational distress through a relationship breakdown or a job loss or bereavement, and they need relatively short periods of support. They might not have a diagnosable mental illness, but they’re certainly distressed and they need support and that really is what the digital investment we’re looking at today is particularly targeted that there are people who go through periods of anxiety and depression and better access.
There’s definitely a gap there for people with more complex needs, but better access which is the scheme that provides Medicare rebates for psychological therapy, the one that we’re talking about, that is not designed to pick up those people and really we need to find alternative systems of support for them.
That is really the concerning growing area of need in the country, not just here in Australia and other countries as well.
They’re now close to $100 a session on average, but there’s many that are higher than that as you indicate. So affordability is a driver of inequity as well and so we’re looking at ways in which we can put out different systems for people who just don’t have the capacity to pay those sorts of gap fees.
We’ve made clear that we will always make the ADF available to states and territories when it’s needed. But we do need to have some other options in place.
We’re a lot better prepared as a country than we were heading into black summer four years ago.
At the federal level, things have significantly changed. We’ve now got one coordinated Emergency Management Agency rather than responsibilities being split between different agencies. We’ve started building a national emergency management stockpile for the very first time, we’ve got the largest fleet of firefighting aircraft that Australia’s ever seen.
Continue reading...Leader will refocus climate debate on job creation in rural areas to remove tension between resource-rich regions and urban south-east, sources say
The incoming Queensland premier, Steven Miles, is expected to announce on Friday that the state will lift its lagging emissions reductions targets, among a number of “day one” initiatives to be unveiled by the new state leadership.
Miles will enter a caucus meeting on Friday as the only candidate for the Labor leadership vacated by the retiring premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk.
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Jimmy Barnes recovering after open heart surgery
Jimmy Barnes has made it through his open heart surgery and is recovering in the ICU, supported by his wife Jane.
I’m happy to let you know that our Jimmy has made it through his surgery and is now recovering in the ICU. We’re so grateful for the incredible medical team looking after him. Thank you all.
Continue reading...More than 36,000 homes without power but BoM downgrades storm to tropical low despite warning of more rain and high winds
Far north Queenslanders faced damaging winds and life-threatening flooding after Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall and moved inland.
Minor flood warnings were issued for the Daintree, Tully, and Mulgrave rivers on Wednesday but the Bureau of Meteorology downgraded the storm to a tropical low.
Continue reading...BoM tracker map shows forecast path of category 2 cyclone will hit north of Cairns and Port Douglas on the Queensland coast at about 1pm with heavy rain, 140km/h winds and storm surge predicted. Follow the latest Australia news and weather updates today
Ceasefire ‘can’t be one-sided’
Emergency management minister Murray Watt is also speaking to ABC RN this morning, and was asked about the PM’s joint letter with his New Zealand and Canadian counterparts urging a ceasefire.
[It] shows that we want to work with like-minded countries towards what would be a just and enduring peace. I think the whole world has been pleased to see the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, but what we need to do is move towards a sustainable ceasefire …
I think everyone who watches this conflict unfolds on their television screens, is really disturbed about the loss of life that we’re seeing go on at the moment.
I think that’s the value that a country like Australia can play here by really taking that even-handed approach that does call out the abhorrent behaviour by Hamas, but also as a friend of Israel, calls on them to respect international humanitarian law.
We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.
Continue reading...BoM issues warnings as radar forecasts intense rain, destructive winds and possible flash flooding in parts of Queensland
Tropical Cyclone Jasper has intensified into a category 2 system and is producing damaging wind gusts that will increase as it continues to approach the north Queensland coast.
The cyclone, which was situated 125km off the coast of Cairns on Wednesday afternoon, has left thousands of homes without power and caused heavy rain and strong winds in the state’s far north.
Continue reading...Lehrmann, 28, is accused of raping a woman twice in October 2021 but denies the allegations
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers intend to cross-examine witnesses in an attempt to prevent allegations he raped a woman in Toowoomba from proceeding to trial.
Lehrmann, 28, is accused of twice raping the woman in October 2021, and the charges have been subject to a committal process since January to determine if there are sufficient grounds for a trial.
Continue reading...Independent body to review plans for Olympic and Paralympic games as new premier and deputy distance themselves from Palaszczuk-era policies
Queensland’s new leadership team have signalled a “pause” on the controversial $2.7bn Gabba rebuild while they reconsider their approach to the 2032 Olympics.
In a backflip announced on Tuesday, premier-to-be Steven Miles said he would establish an independent body to oversee infrastructure for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games amid mounting criticism of the Palaszczuk government’s in-house alternative.
Continue reading...Having built a public reputation as a wisecracking political warrior, the premier designate is attempting to show he’s up to the task
At his first press conference as Queensland’s premier-in-waiting, Steven Miles came across as a man fighting his own instincts.
Miles, who built a public reputation as a wisecracking political warrior, spoke about the approaching Tropical Cyclone Jasper and his plans for government with little emotion or animation.
Continue reading...BoM expects storm to strengthen into category 2 cyclone on Tuesday before arriving near Cairns in far north Qld on Wednesday afternoon
Residents in north Queensland have been told to prepare for up to five days without power, amid warnings that the approaching tropical cyclone Jasper could dump 500mm of rain in 24 hours.
Jasper is expected to intensify on Tuesday, ahead of making landfall north of Cairns on Wednesday afternoon.
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Education review due
Education minister Jason Clare spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier about the much-anticipated review into Australia’s education system, released today.
You talk about entrenched disadvantage in our schools, this report tells us we’ve got one of the most segregated school systems in the OECD, not by the colour of your skin but the size of your parents’ pay packet. Children are more likely to fall behind at school if they’re from a poor family and from the bush, but if they’re at a school where a lot of people are experiencing disadvantage it’s even harder to catch up. There’s a number of things we need to do to turn that around.
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Palaszczuk made decision ‘in the interest of the state’, Swan says
ALP national secretary Wayne Swan has spoken to ABC RN about Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s resignation announcement yesterday.
That’s always ever present for any leader at any time but I think she made the decision in the interest of the state and I think in her own interest as well.
I think people are sensibly discussing what the options are and if one candidate has a pretty clear majority then I think it would be unlikely that you’d see a battle, because it would simply be very difficult for the government over a period of time when they need to re-establish a leader in the job.
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