Category Archives: Queensland

Australia news live updates: Qld and NSW flood death toll rises; WA Covid cases expected to surge; Japanese encephalitis cases suspected

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Queensland announces financial support of $558.5m for flood-affected communities as NSW insurance claims estimated to have hit $1bn. Follow live

There are 28 people in intensive care in Victoria at the moment, with eight on ventilators. There have been 5,721 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

There are 45 people in intensive care due to Covid in NSW. There were 10,017 new Covid cases recorded yesterday.

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Japanese encephalitis virus declared ‘nationally significant’ as NSW woman in intensive care

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Virus spreads through mosquito bites and people in regional areas who are in contact with pigs may be at particular risk

Australia’s chief medical officer has beefed up the nation’s response to the Japanese encephalitis virus as New South Wales reports its first case.

NSW Health confirmed on Friday night a woman from the NSW-Victoria border region was in intensive care in a stable condition with the virus, marking the state’s first case after outbreaks in Queensland and Victoria.

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‘Heartbreaking’: Australia’s east coast reels from worst floods in living memory

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Queensland and NSW bear the brunt of catastrophic weather conditions that have claimed 16 lives

When Jenni Metcalfe returned to her Brisbane home to survey the damage as the nearby river peaked, water had already risen a metre up the back wall. There was nothing she could do. “I sat in the gutter and watched it and cried,” she said.

The east coast of Australia has been battered by more than a week of torrential rain, as communities begin to survey the wreckage of fatal flash flooding that has left townships looking like war zones.

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Australia news updates live: fresh flood warnings for NSW as more rain due, Qld schools stay shut

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Hundreds of thousands of NSW residents are still under evacuation warnings or orders as Hawkesbury-Nepean region remains a major concern; Victoria records 26 Covid deaths, NSW records two. Follow all the day’s news

Resilience NSW commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has told ABC radio that flooding across the state was worst than predicted:

Unprecedented levels [of flooding] experienced up in northern NSW, flood levels that came in well above what was forecasted … And at the same time we’ve still got serious flooding concerns in Hawkesbury and Nepean ...

We’ve also formed up a significant taskforce, comprising of firefighters … the Australian defence force. So working shoulder to shoulder with business owners, with property owners, homeowners ...

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Australia news live update: fourth NSW flood death confirmed; Ballina mayor calls for help; more ‘high impact’ storms forecast for Queensland

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Fourth NSW flood death confirmed; residents in parts of north-west Sydney told to prepare to evacuate their homes; Ballina mayor calls for ‘desperate help’; Queensland premier warns ‘high-impact’ storms could lead to more flash flooding; Warragamba Dam spills; drivers still stranded on M1; at least 59 Covid-related deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news

My colleagues Josh Butler and Sarah Martin have an interesting story this morning on how the Australian anti-vaxxer groups are pivoting to pro-Putin messaging and Ukraine conspiracy theories.

Here’s a bit more on the second death in Lismore, via AAP.

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Floods in Queensland and NSW: what we know about areas affected, and what’s likely to happen next

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Eight people have died, more are missing and hundreds have been rescued as flooding hits Brisbane, Lismore, Murwillumbah and Grafton

A major flood event has impacted communities from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, with Brisbane’s CBD inundated and a record-breaking flood in Lismore.

Here’s a summary of events so far, and what is forecast to come:

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Australia news live update: Lismore flood level breaks 1954 record as Perrottet warns worse to come in NSW; Queensland death toll rises to eight

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NSW premier says ‘unprecedented’ floods expected to get worse; Lismore residents call for help on social media as flood level hits record high; Australia lists Russia as ‘do not travel’ zone; Frydenberg discusses financial support for Ukraine ahead of Scott Morrison’s call with president; at least 12 Covid-related deaths recorded. Follow the latest updates live

Josh Frydenberg was asked if he believed the Russian president Vladimir Putin could turn the invasion into Ukraine nuclear.

He says it’s no secret that Putin may have ambitions beyond simply controlling Ukraine.

No one wants to see an escalation ... but these are the dangers of the times and the insanity of what Putin has done ... I’m worried there could be an escalation beyond the borders ...

I’m worried that there could be an escalation beyond the borders and no doubt. That’s what other European nations or neighbouring countries are concerned about ...

Just to get a sense of when will we find out the amount of money we’re committing to this issue ... we’re working the details through you will find out probably today.

I mean, we’re going to start with an initial payment. It will be in the millions, and it’s not going to be the same sort of quantum that United States or the United Kingdom would provide but you know, where we can ...

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Brisbane flood: warning up to 15,000 properties could be inundated as river reaches peak

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Eight people have died and three are still missing after heavy rain battered south-east Queensland

Queensland authorities estimate up to 15,000 properties could be affected by flood waters as the Brisbane River reached its likely peak on Monday morning, inundating low-lying areas in the city’s central business district.

Heavy rain lasting more than three days unabated in Brisbane eased at midnight on Monday, removing some of the strain that had choked suburban floodways and dumped unprecedented volumes into dams.

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Devastating floods wreak havoc in Queensland and NSW – in pictures

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Brisbane and Queensland’s south-east are set to endure more wild weather as the state grapples with a flood crisis. With the death toll from floods in Queensland and New South Wales rising to seven, severe weather warnings remain in place across 900km of Australia’s eastern seaboard

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Flood waters surge across Brisbane and south-east Queensland as ‘rain bomb’ threatens lives

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Heavy rainfall expected to continue overnight, with northern New South Wales next in the line of fire

Flood waters continued to rise across Brisbane, south-east Queensland and other parts of the state on Sunday night as a “rain bomb” dumped significant volumes of water into the city and put more than 1,000 homes at risk.

In some parts of Brisbane, flooding and damage has already been more severe than the 2011 floods, which killed 33 people and caused widespread damage.

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Australia live news updates: Victoria records 15 Covid deaths, NSW 11 and Qld eight; flood fatalities as Queensland battered by rain

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Man found dead in Stones Corner and SES volunteer dies responding to call for assistance north-west of Ipswich

Leach says people are ignoring warnings to not drive through floodwaters.

Unfortunately, not. We keep saying,” If it’s flooded forget it.” Please don’t drive through. You don’t know how deep it is, how swift it is, you don’t know what’s underneath those waters.

We’ve had over 80 rescues of people. Our message is really clear: Please don’t drive through floodwaters. Back it up, find an alternate route.

For us it is anywhere south of Hervey Bay through to the Gold Coast and west to Toowoomba, south of South East Queensland is completely saturated and there is no signs of this system letting up any time soon.

We’ve just responded in the last hour to Noosa- we put out an emergency alert - a very big thunderstorm (is passing) over the Noosa area and we are now responding to requests for assistance up there. But we are still busy in the Lockyer Valley, Ipswich, northern Brisbane suburbs but it could happen anywhere.

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Life-threatening floods forecast for Queensland as Sydney records wettest summer in 30 years

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Some areas of northern NSW and south-east Queensland could receive 300mm amid more wild weather in coming days

Sydney has experienced its wettest summer in three decades and the most humid season in 10 years, with more torrential rain forecast for the New South Wales north coast and south-east Queensland over the coming days.

The heavy rain and flooding has already led to three deaths – two in Queensland and one in NSW.

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Australia news updates live: Morrison announces sanctions and travel bans for Russian individuals; 23 Covid deaths recorded

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Scott Morrison announces targeted sanctions and travel bans for Russian individuals after Cabinet committee discusses Australia’s response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine; Victoria records 17 Covid deaths, NSW records six. Follow all the day’s news live

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has called for a health-first approach to alcohol and other drug use.

This comes after reports of the Reason party’s Fiona Patten introducing a private member’s bill to institute a decriminalisation model in Victoria.

Instead of a punitive approach via the criminal justice system, Victorian police would instead issue a mandatory notice and referral to drug education or treatment to people possessing a drug of dependence or who are believed to have used a drug of dependence. Compliance with this process would result in no finding of guilt or criminal record.

It is similar to the Portuguese model introduced in 2001. Of the more than 32,000 drug arrests in Victoria in the year leading up to September 2021, 80% were for drug use or possession only rather than trafficking large drug quantities.

RACGP president Dr Karen Price said saving lives and reducing harm must always come first:

Alcohol and other drug use is, primarily, a health issue that should be managed by health professionals, including GPs.

Almost everyone knows someone who has been negatively affected by alcohol or other drug use in some form, it cuts across all demographics and all segments of society. So, if you declare a “war on drugs” you are declaring war on someone’s partner, family member, colleague, or friend – it just makes no sense.

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Australia news live updates: Queensland and Victoria to lift mask rules as nation records 33 Covid deaths

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Clive Palmer cancels press club appearance; foreign minister condemns Russia’s declaration of Ukranian separatist independence as PM says Russia should ‘step back’; defence responds to China’s claim about laser incident; NSW and Victoria both record 14 Covid deaths, Queensland records five; mask rules lifted in Victoria from midnight Saturday and in Queensland next week. Follow the latest updates live

Jumping back to the Sydney train situation for a moment and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary, Alex Claassens, is discussing the return of limited train services with ABC News Breakfast:

Apparently, where we ended up late last night was we negotiated an outcome where trains will run today. We finally managed to get the management team to see some common sense and today they will be operating a service roughly around the half-hour to 15-minute mark.

They will then try and improve on that during the day. We will work together as much as we can to try to get as many trains on the tracks as we can, and you can imagine our disappointment yesterday morning when we got up like everybody else in Sydney to realise some genius had made a decision to cancel all of our train services.

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Australia news live updates: Perrottet urged to work with union over NSW train dispute; international border reopens; 17 Covid deaths

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Perrottet urged to work with union over NSW train dispute; Peter Dutton says all signs on Ukraine ‘pointing in one direction’; at least 17 Covid-related deaths; Australia’s international border reopen for the first time in nearly two years. Follow the latest updates live

AGL Energy has rejected a takeover bid by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian asset management giant Brookfield, saying the preliminary offer “materially undervalues the company”.

Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures made the extraordinary offer to take over Australia’s most polluting company on Saturday, with a goal to shut its coal power plants earlier than planned.

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Queensland man charged with murder after allegedly sawing off another man’s leg

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Police allege the 36-year-old used a circular saw to cut off a 66-year-old man’s leg at an Innisfail park

A man has been charged with murder after another man died when his leg was allegedly cut off by a circular saw in a far north Queensland park.

Police allege the men – aged 36 and 66 – drove together to Innisfail’s Fitzgerald park before 4am on Saturday and sat under a tree.

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Australia news live updates: WA hard border to come down on 3 March; nation records 39 Covid deaths

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Premier Mark McGowan announces border reopening date; Bob Katter raises concerns over gun trafficking bill; at least 39 Covid deaths recorded; PM says federal government had no power ‘to prevent’ Port of Darwin sale; ACT to ease restrictions from tonight. Follow all the day’s news

Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles was on Today earlier alongside Peter Dutton, discussing Ukraine and the week in parliament.

Karl Stefanovic:

Richard ... it’s been a big week. The PM labelled you in parliament the Manchurian candidate, you little Chinese spy, you, hey?

(Laughs) Well, obviously not. But I think tossing around patriotism in that way and using it as a political football, I mean ... I’m not particularly hurt by it but it does pay quite a disrespect, I think, to those men and women who we ask to put on a uniform each and every day and to literally put their lives on the line for that very concept.

These are really encouraging numbers and yes, of course, hours worked were down to the Omicron shock and the fact that more people have been getting more jobs. We can expect things to ramp up very quickly as we get the lifting of restrictions, the opening of international borders and get back to normal.

We’ve already got the borders open to those skilled moderate workers and backpackers ... this is all about making sure we get more jobs back, maintain the growth and get that 4.8% figure potentially even down to a number starting with three.

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Australia politics news live updates: Rudd accuses Liberal party of ‘appeasing’ China; NSW nurses strike; at least 36 Covid deaths

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Victoria records 20 Covid deaths, NSW records 16; former Labor PM hits out at Peter Dutton; Morrison government prepares legislation that would speed up the deportation of foreign-born criminals convicted of violent or serious sexual offences. Follow live

Prime minister Scott Morrison has accused judges of handing out sentences that allow foreign-born criminals to dodge deportation.

The government will introduce legislation so non-citizens who have been convicted of a crime are easier to kick out. He tells 2GB radio that judges are giving out more lenient sentences so people are not captured under current laws. He says:

The judges are handing down sentences that allow people to get around this.

We want to make sure we can punt them.

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Australia live news updates: Scott Morrison says he ‘understands’ Canberra antivax protesters; NSW records 32 Covid deaths and Vic 19; Perrottet tested in byelections

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Pauline Hanson mobbed by Canberra protesters as Lifeline book fair forced to cancel

From AAP:

Queensland’s health chief is “personally reluctant” to repeal a venue vaccine mandate before the end of winter and says it could in fact be the very last pandemic restriction ditched.

The state’s Omicron outbreak peaked on January 25 with 928 patients in hospital and 71 in intensive care, well below a predicted 3000-7000 general admissions and an ICU intake of several hundred.

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Scott Morrison says he ‘understands’ Canberra antivax protesters amid skirmishes with police

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Prime minister says Australia ‘a free country’ and blames states for Covid vaccine mandates

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, says he understands the concerns of anti-vaccination mandate protesters, with thousands of people again marching in Canberra.

The protesters marched on Parliament House on Saturday, chanting and waving flags, and shutting down streets around the capital. About 100 people leapt barricades and faced off against police, who were also monitoring the crowd with drones and helicopters.

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