Category Archives: Queensland

Tropical Cyclone Alfred live updates: wind and rain intensify as category 2 storm nears south-east Queensland and northern NSW

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Saturday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as cyclone bears down

We have a news story this morning about the impact the cyclone is already having on life in Queensland.

Fallen trees and giant stands of bamboo blocked the single road to our farm until the army and council brought heavy machinery to clear a path some time after.

We were without running water or power for days, maybe weeks, the packing shed a makeshift kitchen where we ate meals cooked off a gas barbecue and drank instant coffee made with rainwater and UHT milk to the hum of a generator.

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Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bears down on Queensland

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Disability employment provider Help asked jobseekers to perform telephone appointments before later clarifying they were voluntary

Private employment agencies across Queensland have given jobseekers the impression they still need to perform their mutual obligations, despite there being a pause across large swaths of the state while it prepares for Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The mutual obligations scheme forces jobseekers to complete tasks such as applying for jobs or attending training, or risk their payments being stopped.

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Cyclone Alfred live updates: BoM tracking map forecast shows category 2 storm hitting Brisbane and south-east Qld; landfall in Queensland and NSW delayed as storm slows – latest news

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Friday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Speaking of preparations, adjunct senior lecturer at the Centre for Disaster Studies at James Cook University Yetta Gurtner gives advice here:

Chalmers confident insurance companies ‘know their responsibilities’

I’m confident they know their responsibilities and obligations to people.

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Cyclone Alfred update: NSW and Queensland prepare for flooding as authorities urge ‘do not underestimate this storm’

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BoM warns of hazards from ‘erratic’ storm and forecasts show it slowed again and downgraded to a category one storm when it makes landfall between Friday and Saturday morning

Millions of people in Queensland have hunkered down while residents in parts of northern New South Wales have been ordered to evacuate as Australia’s east coast prepares for wild weather brought by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The slow-moving storm is now expected to make landfall in Queensland late on Friday or on Saturday morning, later than was forecast earlier in the week, after the category two system “spun around on itself” and briefly stalled overnight on Wednesday.

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Brisbane schools and public transport shut as Cyclone Alfred to hit later than expected

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Parts of Queensland and NSW prepare as BoM weather forecast shows Alfred making landfall between Maroochydore and Coolangatta

Schools, airports, public transport and most businesses are beginning to shut down in Brisbane and across south-east Queensland, as authorities advised Tropical Cyclone Alfred will likely arrive later than expected.

Advice to residents is now that Alfred’s track to the coast has slowed, and that it will likely cross the southeast Queensland coast at some point on Friday.

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Crisafulli urges residents to prepare as storm approaches – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Read the latest Cyclone Alfred news update here

Sandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – Wells

The federal sports minister, Anika Wells, also spoke on the Today Show this morning from Brisbane and said it was the “calm before the storm”.

At the moment that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a big couple of days ahead for south-east Queensland. We’re more than up to the task, but everybody’s doing their bit.

So everyone’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.

We know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there is going to be powerful surf, coastal erosion, and it will be followed by significant rain that can last a couple of days. So we’re really urging people to be alert, to be prepared, just like the SES is.

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Tropical Cyclone Alfred: Queensland evacuations begin as storm path tracks towards Brisbane

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Up to 20,000 homes could be flooded, with beachside and low-lying suburbs most at risk, city council flood map shows

Queensland authorities are advising some residents to leave coastal properties in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, amid warnings that a storm surge of up to 1 metre higher than typical tides could inundate communities.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Australian Defence Force assets have been placed on standby to respond to the looming storm, which was tracking towards the heavily populated coastline between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

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‘Be prepared’: Tropical Cyclone Alfred changes direction and heads towards Queensland coast

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Weather system bears down on south-east Queensland with BoM forecasting landfall between Brisbane and Sunshine Coast

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has made a dramatic right turn, and is now “heading towards the Queensland coast”, the state’s premier has warned.

Alfred had been gradually heading in a generally southerly direction for 12 days, but changed course on Tuesday as expected.

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Ocean rower Aurimas Mockus stranded by cyclone off Australia’s east coast safely rescued

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Lithuanian rower’s two-day wait to be rescued off Queensland comes to an end

A Lithuanian rower has been rescued off the Queensland coast after he was caught in a tropical cyclone’s 130km/h winds and monster waves.

Aurimas Mockus ran into trouble about 740km east of Mackay while attempting a 12,000km Pacific Ocean crossing from San Diego to Brisbane in his solo rowing boat.

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Cyclone Alfred forecast: people urged to prepare for the worst as storm bears down on south-east Queensland

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Residents warned to stock up on food and water and secure properties as BoM predicts Alfred will make landfall near Brisbane

People have been warned to leave or prepare for the worst, with a tropical cyclone on track to cross a densely populated part of Australia’s coast for the first time in 50 years.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is looming off Queensland’s coast, threatening to bring heavy rainfall, damaging winds and monster waves.

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Four million Queenslanders warned they could be in ‘firing line’ when Cyclone Alfred heads towards coast

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Bureau of Meteorology says guidance ‘favours landfall on Thursday’ as premier David Crisafulli warns ‘large system presents big challenge’

Tropical Cyclone Alfred will “likely” turn towards major population centres in south-east Queensland this week, with authorities warning more than 4 million people from Bundaberg to the Gold Coast that their communities could be “in the firing line”.

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, said on Sunday the system could cause serious and potentially dangerous coastal erosion, flash flooding and strong winds.

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‘I need to survive’: rower attempting to cross Pacific activates emergency beacon off Queensland near Cyclone Alfred

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Australian navy ship heading to Coral Sea after Aurimas Mockus calls for help one week out from reaching Queensland

A Royal Australian Navy ship is bound for the Coral Sea after a Lithuanian man attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean from San Diego to Brisbane got into trouble.

Aurimas Mockus activated his emergency beacon on Friday night about 740km east of Mackay, Queensland, and 90km west of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

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Weather tracker: six cyclones swirl simultaneously in southern hemisphere

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Bianca, Garance and Honde churn across Indian Ocean as Alfred, Rae and Seru spin through south-west Pacific

An uncommon meteorological event unfolded on Tuesday when six named tropical cyclones were active simultaneously in the southern hemisphere, several in close proximity to one another.

Three developed in the south-west Pacific. Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on 20 February in the Coral Sea to the north-east of Australia, reaching an intensity equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on Thursday with sustained winds of 105mph (170km/h) and gusts at about 140mph.

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Cyclone Alfred threat eases as BoM says it is now less likely to cross Queensland coast

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Alfred is creating hazardous weather conditions from Townsville south to K’Gari, with gale force winds forecast on the Great Barrier Reef and dangerous surf between Yeppoon and Hervey Bay

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is becoming less likely to make landfall on the Queensland coast after it briefly intensified to a category four.

Alfred briefly strengthened to a category four overnight but has since been downgraded back to a category three.

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Tropical Cyclone Alfred forecast: system yet to intensify as it lingers off Queensland coast

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BoM says category 2 tropical cyclone is about 930km north-east of Mackay and path is tracking slowly south through Coral Sea

A slow-moving tropical cyclone off north-east Australia is expected to linger in the Coral Sea for at least the next few days, but forecasters say there remains a risk the system could eventually turn towards the Queensland coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology says category 2 Tropical Cyclone Alfred is about 930km north-east of Mackay, and is tracking slowly south through the Coral Sea.

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‘Dangerous, highly manipulative’ sect leader among 14 jailed for Elizabeth Struhs’ manslaughter

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Eight-year-old’s parents and 12 other members of Toowoomba religious group the Saints are responsible for her ‘slow and painful death’, judge says

A “dangerous, highly manipulative” Queensland religious sect leader has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars for the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs while her parents have been handed jail terms of more than 14 years each.

They are among 14 members of Toowoomba-based religious sect the Saints sentenced to prison in the Queensland supreme court on Wednesday after they were found guilty of manslaughter over Elizabeth’s January 2022 death by diabetic ketoacidosis.

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Rajwinder Singh linked to Toyah Cordingley’s shallow grave through DNA and ‘distinctive’ car, court hears

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Singh, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, owned Alfa Romeo sedan ‘similar’ to one seen on CCTV in areas where Cordingley’s phone was located, jury told

A man accused of murder can be linked to a young woman’s shallow grave on a beach via DNA samples and a “distinctive” European car, a jury has heard.

Rajwinder Singh pleaded not guilty in the supreme court on Tuesday to the murder of 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley, more than six years after the young woman’s body was found at an isolated far north Queensland beach.

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Australia news live: Woodside doubles profits thanks to record production of oil; funnel-web spider shortage threatens antivenom program

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Australia’s largest oil and gas producer has doubled its profits to $5.6bn. Follow today’s news live

Senate estimates will be back under way today, and AAP has flagged a little of what we can expect:

Creative Australia bosses, including the chief executive, Adrian Collette, will front an estimates hearing and it’s expected they’ll be questioned about the selection body’s shock decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.

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Man bitten by shark off Queensland’s Moreton Island in second attack in less than a month

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Victim is in a stable condition at a Brisbane hospital with abdominal and leg injuries, authorities say

A man is recovering in a Brisbane hospital after being bitten by a shark and airlifted for treatment from a Moreton Bay island.

The man, who is reported to be 29, was mauled in the waters off the bay side of Moreton Island near the Wrecks Walking Track shortly after 3pm on Saturday.

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Australia news live: Jim Chalmers meeting with US Treasury to discuss Trump’s steel tariffs; one dead after police standoff in Tamworth

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The treasurer will continue to lobby US officials for an Australian exemption to steel and aluminium tariffs

Greens want Labor’s new Medicare plan implemented before election

The federal Greens have welcomed the Albanese government’s plan to significantly boost bulk-billing rates, as part of an $8.5bn policy, but claimed its campaigning influenced the decision.

Greens pressure works. In a wealthy country like ours everyone should be able to see a GP, psychologist, dentist or nurse with their Medicare card.

It’s good Labor has adopted part of our plan to help people see the GP for free. Now let’s make it law before the election.

Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation. That is an ongoing discussion that we’re having with our American counterparts. I don’t expect he will conclude those discussions on steel and aluminium while I’m in DC.

I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of those conversations, nor do I expect those discussions will necessarily be concluded this week, to be upfront with you.

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