What we learned today, Thursday 22 May
That’s where we’ll wrap up this evening. Here’s a snippet of what happened today:
More than 488,000 people were isolated and 600 rescues have been performed amid disastrous flooding as intense rainfall continued in New South Wales. Emergency services expected flooding to continue into the weekend.
The Liberals and Nationals have agreed to delay announcing their frontbench lineups after Sussan Ley and David Littleproud held crisis talks to reunite the Coalition just two days after the dramatic split.
Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has accused the Liberals of breaching trust inside the Coalition, in a spectacular swipe after a letter to Michaelia Cash was leaked to media.
The Erin Patterson trial has heard evidence from a digital forensics expert about data recovered from electronic devices provided to police by Patterson.
Children as young as 10 will face adult jail time for a range of new offences after Queensland passed its second tranche of controversial youth crime laws.
Organising bosses of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have welcomed the Queensland government’s plan to override more than a dozen planning laws to build Games venues.
Mobile telco Circles.Life has paid a $413,160 fine for breaching identity verification rules.
Australia is seeing a surge in respiratory illnesses, with record-breaking interseasonal flu cases since the start of the year.
We’ll be back with you bright and early tomorrow with more news, so look after yourselves until then.
Updated
Murray Watt knocks back objections to North West Shelf extension
The environment minister, Murray Watt, has knocked back two last-minute objections to Woodside’s North West Shelf extension, clearing the way for a final decision on the controversial development.
Greenpeace and the Conservation Council of Western Australia were among groups opposing the expansion who were denied reconsideration related to the project, communicated to them via Watt’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water on Thursday.
Officials said the request did not meet the requirements for reconsideration and did not include “any substantial new information about the impacts” of the project.
Watt is set to meet with members of the Labor Environment Action Network, an influential grassroots organisation within the Labor party, on Thursday night, following his visit to Western Australia this week.
The deadline on a decision on Woodside’s plan to extend its gas processing plant in WA’s remote north-west out to 2070 is due by the end of the month, one of the first major political challenges for Watt in his new portfolio. His decision follows a six-year assessment process involving state and federal authorities.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Will the Ross and Rachel of Australian politics patch things up?
Take the Taylor Swift songs off your Spotify queue, put the ice-cream back in the freezer and hold fire on the angry diary entries: the Liberals and Nationals might not be breaking up after all.
The extraordinary conscious uncoupling of the Liberals and Nationals, their plans to go their separate ways and work on themselves, lasted exactly 48 hours and 30 minutes – the time between 11.45am on Tuesday, when David Littleproud said he needed time to think, and 12.15pm on Thursday, when he told a hastily-convened press conference that he was willing to give things another go.
The Liberals and Nationals, the Ross and Rachel of Auspol, are still on a break, but they’re talking about patching things up. It remains … messy.
Read the full analysis here:
Updated
Andrew Wilkie asks could the crossbench be the opposition
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has been speaking to Afternoon Briefing about the possibility of the minor parties forming the official opposition, if they outnumbered the Liberals.
Noting that it wasn’t necessarily “a firm proposition” but rather “a suggestion that we need to think about this”, Wilkie said if the Coalition’s separation becomes a divorce, and the Nationals sit on the crossbench, then:
Depending on what happens in Caldwell and Bradfield, the crossbench and the Liberal party might have the same number of members, or the crossbench could even have won more than the Liberal party, and I think that does raise the question, you know, by what right does the Liberal party become the opposition?
It sounds like a very unlikely turn of events, given the diversity that would be on the crossbench, that we would be able to operate collectively, but I reckon that would be no more surprising than what we’ve had in the previous parliament, where you have the Nationals with people like Matt Canavan, form a coalition with the Liberal party with people like Richard Archer.
Diversity is a fact of life and you deal with it. It’s an interesting question I put to the government, why would the Liberal party be made to be the opposition? Why couldn’t the crossbenchers be the opposition? So it is something to talk about.
Updated
‘More emergency warnings likely,’ NSW SES says
The NSW State Emergency Service has performed 600 flood rescues and recorded more than 4,600 calls for assistance since the flooding began in the Hunter and Mid North Coast.
The SES’s regular floods update this afternoon says there are 149 active warnings for the region, 37 of which are at Emergency level and 86 at Watch and Act. More than 48,000 people are currently isolated due to flood waters.
There are 500 rescue boats and nine helicopters active between the Hunter and Coffs Harbour, and they say more resources are on the way.
Major flooding is occurring on the Manning, Paterson, Hastings, Williams, Nambucca and Macleay rivers, and renewed river rises were likely into the weekend as forecast rainfall totals exceed 150mm to 200mm in a 24-hour period. With intense rainfall moving south towards Sydney, the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley can expect minor to moderate flooding from Friday, and people in the area should stay alert to warnings.
NSW SES assistant commissioner Dean Storey said:
Although rainfall may be reprieving in some areas, we haven’t seen the end of renewed river rises in northern NSW and people should not become complacent.
More emergency warnings will likely be issued, and if you are asked to leave, please do so. Our volunteers and partner agencies are working around the clock, prioritising rescues and getting help to those who need it most, but we want people to leave if they’re asked to do so.
We are likely to see major riverine flooding continue on several catchments into the weekend, and flash flooding remains a significant risk.
Here is the latest list of evacuation centres:
Dungog RSL Club
Club Gloucester
Club Taree
Manning Point Bowling Club
Wingham RSL
Bulahdelah Golf Club
Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club
Kempsey Showground
Panthers Port Macquarie
Coffs Harbour Club
Sawtell RSL Club
Nambucca RSL Club
Old Bar Bowling Club
Wauchope Showground
Coopernook Hall
Updated
Erin Patterson trial: jury is told four factory resets were performed on mobile
A digital forensics expert says four factory resets had been performed on a mobile phone Erin Patterson provided to police after the beef Wellington lunch.
Shamen Fox-Henry, from Victoria police’s cybercrime unit, has told the jury no data could be retrieved from the phone due to the factory reset.
Prosecutor Jane Warren shows the jury a table which Fox-Henry says shows four factory resets that occurred on the device.
The first is dated 12 February 2023. The three others occurred in the week after the lunch on 2 August 2023, 5 August 2023 and 6 August 2023.
The factory reset was performed locally the first three times and remotely the last time, the table shows.
The trial has adjourned for the day. We’ll bring you more live updates tomorrow from 10.30am.
Updated
Greens councillors say decision to move homeless kitchen for Vivid is ‘cruel’ and ‘could have been avoided’
In Sydney, Greens councillors are now calling out as “cruel” the decision to move along a community homeless kitchen out of Martin Place to make way for Vivid.
Guardian Australia broke the story today that the soup kitchen, which serves hundreds of meals each week to Sydney’s homeless community, has been told at the last minute that they will not be able to set up during Vivid, leaving them nowhere else to go.
Greens councillor Matthew Thompson said:
Someone’s screwed this up. This is a cruel outcome that could’ve been avoided. Pushing aside a community kitchen that has operated for 15 years in Martin Place for a state sponsored commercial festival? With only a couple days’ notice? It’s not good enough.
Sydney’s homeless deserve support and dignity – instead, their community kitchen is being moved on to make way for some flashy lights and hordes of tourists.
We’ve got thousands sleeping rough, countless more unable to afford food, and instead of doing more we’re moving on a key lifeline for them.
The Greens will be moving at our next council meeting to review how we protect public space for community services and the increasing number of rough sleepers and ensure this never happens again.
Updated
Disaster recovery allowance activated for flood-affected areas in Hunter and mid north coast
The federal government’s disaster recovery allowance (DRA) has been activated for areas in the Hunter and mid north coast of New South Wales that have been affected by recent floods.
The payments – up to 13 weeks of income support for workers and sole traders who have lost income as a direct result of these floods – will be available from 2pm AEST this coming Monday 26 May, for those who live or work in the Kempsey, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Mid-Coast and Dungog LGAs.
The payments are separate and in addition to the joint commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
DRFA is administered by the NSW government and people can check their eligibility for DRA on the Services Australia website, and make a claim through MyGov.
Updated
‘It’s just constant, there’s no break from it,’ resident of NSW mid north coast says of rain
Clancy Barnard is a resident of Valla Beach near Nambucca Heads. He says there had been unprecedented rainfall and by Thursday morning the water table was “already really high”:
The rain is so loud on the roof, we’ve locked everything up and I’m putting headphones in.
It’s just constant, there’s no break from it.
It’s not windy – it’s moving really slowly. It means you’re not getting those cyclonic winds that can be really scary.
But it also means that because it’s moving so slowly there’s just so much water in the system.
Barnard has worked as nature campaigner in the environment movement and as a campaigner for the independent candidate Caz Heise in the seat of Cowper during the federal election campaign.
He expresses anger at what he says was a lack of action to help communities adapt to climate change:
This is climate change and it’s outrageous that both our [local] state and federal MPs when in government didn’t invest in climate preparedness.
People are losing their properties … and they’re uninsurable.
Updated
Littleproud says decision to split not made ‘out of vengeance or anger’
David Littleproud says of decision to split from Liberals:
What I want to see is that we continue to work together because I think that is in the nation’s best interest. And I’m committed to that – I was committed to that on Tuesday, which was a tough day and a sombre day, a day where we made a decision not out of vengeance or anger but out of the fact that we had got to this juncture. And the fact that we have now got to the point where the Liberal party room is going to meet to determine those challenges that we had in accepting the Coalition agreement, I think, is a positive move. And it shows leadership, and strength of leadership, that we will have that meeting and we will be able to have a determination of where the Liberal party gets to out of that.
Updated
Erin Patterson trial: jury shown mushroom and dehydrator photos on tablet seized by police
Back to Erin Patterson’s trial.
The jury has been shown photos of a dehydrator and mushrooms on a plastic tray found on a tablet seized by police from Patterson’s house.
The jury is shown the photos extracted from the Samsung tablet by police.
The modified date for the dehydrator photo is 30 April 2023 – just under three months before the beef Wellington lunch.
Shamen Fox-Henry, from Victoria police’s cybercrime unit, says this means the photo was found in a Google photos application on the device.
The jury has also been shown photos which include text about cancer.
One photo, modified on 4 May 2023, includes information about ovarian cancer.
Another photo shown to the jury includes information about brain lymphoma.
Updated
Littleproud on decision to split from Liberals: ‘we couldn’t wait for months’
Nationals leader David Littleproud has been speaking to the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing after the announcement today that both the Liberal and Nationals leaders have delayed announcements of frontbench line-ups to make space for further negotiations over the Coalition.
Littleproud said at the time the split was announced, the only process that was put to the Nationals was “in terms of what Sussan said would take place with a long-term process of policy review that could take months”.
Littleproud said:
Unfortunately we couldn’t wait for months and when a shadow cabinet needed to be appointed before we came back to parliament it was going to be beyond the return of parliament, so we were in a decision process that we had to make in terms of the time that was provided to us.
Updated
‘Areas have flooded that have never flooded before,’ says resident of Tinonee, NSW
Clare Rourke lives on the Manning River at Tinonee, near Wingham and Taree.
Her house is on higher ground and had not been affected by flood waters but she had watched the river rise quickly this week:
The river level is normally about 11.5m below our house. It got to about 1.5m.
She said what stood out about the current flood, compared with flooding that hit the area in 2021, was the pace at which the river had risen:
I think that’s why people have been so stranded. Areas have flooded that have never flooded before and it was just so fast.
The combination of the rapid river rise and the flash flooding caught people off guard.
Updated
Brisbane Olympics organisers welcome plan to override planning laws to build venues
Organising bosses of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have welcomed the Queensland state government’s plan to override more than a dozen planning laws to build venues for the Games, saying the facilities are needed “as fast as possible”.
Brisbane 2032 organising committee president Andrew Liveris told press on Thursday afternoon that the legislation being pushed through parliament by the Liberal National party’s state Olympic minister, Jarrod Bleijie – which would override heritage, environment laws and the Planning Act itself for the venues – was “going to be key to fast-track the approval processes” for Queensland to put on “the greatest show”.
In her first outing as the new chair of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission for the 2032 Games, Mikaela Cojuangco-Jaworski also backed the planning bypass.
Jaworski and Liveris were asked by the Guardian whether they shared concerns raised by the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, which made a submission to parliament that the bill “sets a dangerous precedent for the observance of the rule of law in Queensland”.
Jaworski said in a brief response to that question:
What we know, it’s fast-tracking and not circumventing.
Liveris said that environmental standards were a “key question” for the IOC:
It is really, literally, in case you don’t know, there’s a lot of bureaucracy in our planning approval process, so it’s really fast-tracking and making sure, no circumnavigating the actual laws and regulations.
Opponents of the $3.8bn, 63,000-seat venue at Victoria Park, which would be the event’s main venue, hope to challenge that stadium at court.
Asked about her priorities in planning the Games, Jaworski responded first by talking about breaking ground on stadiums, though Liveris indicated that may not take place with Victoria Park until late next year.
Updated
Warren reads more messages allegedly sent by Patterson to the jury on 6 December 2022:
No nothing. But also more happened. Don rang me last night to say that he thought there was a solution to all this if Simon and I get together and try to talk and priya together [smiley face emoji] and then he also said Simon had indicated there was a solution to the financial issues if I withdraw the child support claim? My head nearly exploded and I was like what?? And don goes oh sorry just ignore what I said I don’t want to get involved.......... I’m so sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to be uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their sons personal matters are overriding that so fuck em.
The jury is then shown messages sent by Patterson on 7 December 2022.
His parents sent me a message yesterday afternoon and Simon sent me one last night but I’ve read neuther and I don’t think I will. I don’t want to hear it. Simon’s will just be horrible....
A participant in the group chat asks Patterson on the same day if she will still attend her in-laws’ church.
She replies:
I haven’t been to their church in months. The kids go with Simon every second Sunday and come to one with me in Leongatha the other Sunday.
Another message reads:
His mum was horrified I had claimed child support. Why isn’t she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim.
Circles.Life pays $413m for identity rules breach
Mobile telco Circles.Life has paid a $413,160 fine after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) found the company had failed to adequately verify customer identities when porting mobile numbers that led to scammers stealing numbers and accessing victims’ bank accounts.
Acma found Circles.Life had breached the rules 26 times in January and February 2024 in failing to do adequate identity checks, leading to victim losses of at least $45,000 when the scammers were able to access their bank accounts through two-factor authentication using their mobile numbers.
The investigation found customer service agents of a third-party company hired by Circles.Life did not follow the procedures, but Circles.Life was ultimately responsible.
Acma member Samantha Yorke said it was deeply concerning:
This kind of fraud can also lead to ongoing emotional impacts and stress as people have to recover their digital identities.
The company was previously fined $199,800 for similar rules breaches in August 2022.
The company is reviewing its compliance, and has voluntarily committed to contact all victims with an offer of compensation.
Circles.Life will cease operations in Australia with all customers transferred to Amaysim.
Updated
Erin Patterson trail: Facebook messages read to jury
Messages allegedly sent by Erin Patterson in a Facebook group chat have been read to the jury in her triple murder trial.
The prosecution recalled Shamen Fox-Henry, from Victoria police’s cybercrime unit, to give evidence this afternoon.
Fox-Henry tells the court the Facebook messages were extracted from a mobile seized from Patterson’s house.
Prosecutor Jane Warren reads the messages to the jury which are allegedly sent from Patterson, from the profile name “Erin ErinErin”.
The jury is shown a number of messages sent in a group Facebook chat on 6 December 2022 – more than seven months before the deadly lunch.
Simon’s dad contacted me this morning to say that he and Gail had tried to talk to Simon about the matters I raised and to try to get “his side” but he refused to talk about it other than to signal he disagreed with what I said. Beyond that he won’t talk about it. So don said they can’t adjudicate if they don’t know both sides...... This family I swear to fucking god.
I said to him about fifty times yesterday that I didn’t want them to adjudicate [smiley face emoji] nobody blood listens to me. At least I know they’re a lost cause.
I wonder if they’ve got any capacity for self reflection at all? I mean clearly the fact that Simon refused to talk about personal issues in part stems from the behaviour of his parents....
Updated
“Give these blokes the clothes off my back”: here’s some footage of the SES performing a flood rescue in NSW, filmed by a resident of Taree.
Record-breaking surge in respiratory illnesses
Australia is seeing a surge in respiratory illnesses, with record-breaking interseasonal flu cases since the start of the year.
Data from the Immunisation Coalition shows there have been 80,105 cases of flu as of 19 May. There have also been 41,800 cases of RSV and 58,322 cases of Covid-19, according to the most recent national report up to 4 May.
Prof Paul Griffin, an infectious diseases physician from the University of Queensland, says the country is experiencing a record-breaking surge in respiratory illnesses, with interseasonal flu cases the highest ever seen for this period.
This year’s cases are well above what we’ve seen for the past five years, for January, February, March and April, very clearly.
Griffin says we still don’t know what the high number of cases will mean for the rest of the season – “we don’t know till we’re in it”.
However, “it does mean, with that number of cases already, low vaccination rates, the impact is already very significant and more significant than it should be because we’ve got a very small proportion of people vaccinated.”
With that much flu already, it’s very clear we need to have as many people vaccinated as possible and we’re well below that. The vaccine rates are still terrible.
Griffin urges everyone to get vaccinated for flu, as well as consider taking other steps to prevent getting infected, like hand hygiene and air purifiers and even mask wearing for high risk people.
Updated
Thank you for joining me on the live blog today. Handing over now to Stephanie Convery who will keep you updated through the evening. See you back on the blog tomorrow.
Coalition breakup could be resolved within days
A possible resolution to the Coalition’s spectacular breakup could happen within days, as Liberal MPs prepare to hold two crucial meetings to discuss the next steps forward.
Having watched the drama from the National party on Thursday afternoon, Liberals will attend a virtual partyroom meeting at 5pm today.
A second meeting is planned for early next week, to discuss policy demands from the junior Coalition partner.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud have agreed to pause announcing their frontbench line-ups as they attempt to bring the two parties back together.
Less than 48 hours after splitting with the Liberals, Littleproud insisted any reconciliation was still contingent on the four key demands being met.
They include the introduction of nuclear power, break-up powers for the supermarkets, a $20bn regional fund and improved regional telecommunications guarantees.
Updated
Second body recovered from NSW flood waters
A body has been recovered from flood waters on the mid-north coast, believed to be that of a missing man.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Huntington Road near Rosewood about 8.50pm last night after reports a man was stuck in flood water while driving, NSW police said in a statement. Police, SES, Fire and Rescue and Rural Fire Service officers searched the area but could not find the man or vehicle.
Their search resumed this morning, when the body of a man was found near Rosewood about 8am.
The body is believed to be that of a missing man in his 30s, though it is yet to be formally identified.
Investigations into the man’s death have commenced, and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
This is the second body recovered from the region amid flooding.
Updated
Deputy mayor of Port Macquarie shares community reactions as coastal city inundated
Lauren Edwards, deputy mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, said Short Street, in the heart of town, had also been inundated:
The last images I saw of Short Street, which is a vulnerable area, the water was more than halfway up inside the buildings there.
Edwards said the communities in her council area had endured flooding in 2021 and had only narrowly missed the effects of cyclone Alfred earlier this year.
At the moment what I’m hearing and noticing is people are very focused on what they can do to help each other.
A lot of what I’m seeing is information sharing, people noticing animals that aren’t doing well. Everyone is on pause, whether you work outdoors or indoors, we are all on hold and trying to minimise movement around the local government area.
Everyone is on pause, watch and wait, and trying to help each other because it’s still unfolding and we don’t quite know what the peak will be.
Updated
Parts of Port Macquarie have been cut off by flooding
Lauren Edwards is the deputy mayor of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
She told Guardian Australia there had been further warnings for people to evacuate from some low-lying areas of Port Macquarie today and some parts of the coastal city had been cut off:
It’s still unfolding here but unfortunately we have started to see the levels [of the Hastings River] come up to major flooding.
There’s definitely a lot of evacuation orders now. SES has issued them for a range of locations now, more streets will close, the main northern street into Port Macquarie, the Hastings River Drive is cut off.
And of course our local government area is on both sides of the Hastings River so clearly we have communities quite affected now.”
Edwards said an evacuation warning had been issued for the low-lying Port Macquarie suburb of Settlement Point earlier today.
Updated
Council officer involved in grocery search for toxic mushrooms testifies in Erin Patterson trial
More from Erin Patterson’s trial.
The jury has heard from a council officer tasked with visiting Asian grocers as part of the investigation into the lethal beef wellington served by Patterson in July 2023.
Troy Schonknecht, who worked as an environmental health officer at the City of Monash council in 2023, has begun giving evidence.
He says he was contacted by the Department of Health in the days after the lunch. They were requesting help searching for suspected toxic mushrooms that may have been bought at an Asian grocer in Oakleigh, Clayton or Mount Waverley.
Schonknecht was then tasked with visiting Asian grocery stores in these suburbs, the court hears.
He says the scope provided by the department was narrowed to shiitake or porcini mushrooms. The scope also involved mushrooms in clear bags that did not have commercial packaging or branding.
The jury is shown a document titled “Mushroom Investigation – Monash City Council”. It shows the stores Schonknecht visited and includes details and photographs of mushroom products.
The jury heard previously that Patterson told a toxicology registrar at Monash Health that the mushrooms used in the beef wellington were bought at an Asian grocer and may have been dried shiitake or porcini.
Schonknecht’s evidence will continue when the trial resumes at 2.15pm.
Updated
Nurse gives evidence in Erin Patterson’s murder trial
A nurse has given evidence at Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial about her hospital presentation two days after the deadly lunch.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges
The prosecution called Mairim Cespon, a registered nurse, who was working at Leongatha hospital on 31 July – two days after the lunch. She says Patterson presented at the hospital complaining of diarrhoea and nausea since the evening of the lunch. While Patterson was at the hospital on 31 July, Cespon collected a bowel motion sample from her, the court hears.
The jury is shown a bowel chart for Patterson completed by Cespon on that day.
It shows five bowel movements by Patterson between 10am and 11.50am. The consistency of each is described as “liquid”. Three “medium” amounts and two “small” amounts were collected.
Cespon says after the first movement, Patterson told her “it does look like a wee but it’s a bowel motion”. Cespon reads her notes to the jury which state the liquid “looks like urine”.
Asked about her appearance, Cespon says Patterson was “distressed and emotional”. She says:
She was just saying she feels unwell.
Under cross-examination, Cespon agrees she observed liquid with small brown bits. She says she has seen other patients with diarrhoea with similar bowel movements.
Updated
Old Bar resident: ‘a national disaster should have been declared’
Earlier we brought you news of Miranda Saunders, the station manager of 2tlp 103.3 Ngarralinyi, who broadcast live to the flooded Old Bar community for 15 hours on Tuesday from her kitchen, to bring comfort to people who’d lost power.
She made the decision to head to the radio station and collect outside broadcast equipment on Monday, just in case of road closures.
From 7am to 9pm, I was on air … bringing comfort, connection, and critical updates to our community during one of the toughest days we’ve faced.
Saunders says the feeling across the community is “absolute devastation”. She hasn’t been personally affected by the flooding, but her sister-in-law, along with her husband and four children, had to evacuate their home by boat late yesterday as flood waters entered their home.
I know so many people that had to leave or are staying to try save their homes. In 2019, we had the fires. In 2021, the record floods. And now this. In Taree … streets are waist deep. Wingham is completely underwater.
Here in Old Bar, lots of stuff is washing ashore as Farquhar Inlet is one of the entrances for the Manning River, so we have church chairs, lounges, mattresses, even live cows, council barriers and people’s shoes. A national disaster should have been declared on Tuesday afternoon … our first responders do an incredible job, but they are overwhelmed.
Updated
Searches under way for two missing people on mid-north coast amid flooding
Searches are under way for a woman and man missing in separate flood-related incidents on the mid-north coast.
A woman was travelling between Armidale and Coffs Harbour last night when her 4WD reportedly became trapped in flood waters at 7:45pm on Morora Rd, Brooklana, NSW Police said in a statement.
Police and SES officers searched the area but were unable to find the woman or her vehicle. Their search resumed this morning, when the woman’s vehicle was found at Brooklana. Officers are working to access the vehicle and inquiries continue.
In a seperate incident, police received a report about 9:20pm last night that a man failed to return home after walking near a flooded roadway at Nymboida. Police, SES, RFS and FRNSW officers searched the area but could not find the man. Their search resumed this morning.
Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Dead livestock found as major flooding across NSW continues
Locals are reporting dead cows washing up on beaches amid destructive rains and flooding in the NSW Hunter and mid-north coast regions.
One Facebook user posted a photo of a tagged cow washed up on One Mile Beach, Forster. Another replied with a photo of a different tagged cow washed up on Back Beach, Black Head, which falls in HazardWatch’s alert to monitor severe weather conditions.
Updated
Sussan Ley confirms Liberals will discuss Nationals policy demands after Littleproud yields on shadow cabinet solidarity
Liberal leader Sussan Ley has confirmed further negotiations will occur over the coalition agreement and that the Liberals will further discuss the Nationals’ policy demands.
She has also confirmed she will pause her announcement of a shadow ministry, which was expected today, to allow more time for discussions with David Littleproud and her Liberal colleagues.
“It has always been the Liberal party’s objective to form a Coalition and we welcome the Nationals’ decision to re-enter negotiations,” Ley said.
This morning, David Littleproud has made a public statement that the Nationals are willing to accept shadow cabinet solidarity as part of a Coalition Agreement.
This is the first time this commitment has been made and I welcome it as a foundation to resolve other matters. Earlier today I wrote to, and met with, David inviting him to re-enter good-faith negotiations. I am pleased he has accepted.
In relation to the policy positions proposed by the National party room, consistent with my consultation commitment, the Liberal party will consider these, utilising our party room processes.
Updated
Littleproud says it is ‘the intent of everybody’ that Coalition and Nationals reunite before parliament sits
There have been a few questions in this Nationals press conference about the timeline – of policy reviews, of party room meetings, of decisions. The Liberals will need to appoint a shadow cabinet before parliament sits at the end of July, Littleproud says, so “there’s some clear timelines without having to define them”.
He says it’s a “reasonable assumption” that the resolution of the split, whatever that is, would have to happen before then. He continues:
And I think that that would be the intent of everybody. Because it would be great to walk in as a shadow cabinet together, and that’s the process that will now happen.
But I don’t want to put specific days or weeks on it, and I don’t think that that is constructive. I think that this is a positive development. One that does show good faith and that’s why I wanted to reciprocate today by this.
Updated
McKenzie says leaking of pre-split letter from Nationals to Liberals is breach of trust
Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has accused the Liberals of breaching trust inside the Coalition, in a spectacular swipe after a letter to Michaelia Cash was leaked to media.
First published by news.com.au, the letter from McKenzie to Cash, sent before the split, warned the Nationals would have to consider whether it continued to sit with the Liberals in the Senate after Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s defection to the Liberals.
Asked about the letter in the press conference with David Littleproud, McKenzie said the correspondence was seeking “a resolution” with the Liberals about the Nationals’ party status. McKenzie was critical that there was “a lot of leaking going on, it would seem, of texts, of letters, of conversations” in the Nationals split.
She said:
I don’t think it’s in anyone’s interests for those matters to leak, because it actually breaches and breaks trust.
Updated
Nationals and Liberals agree to delay naming shadow ministry as negotiations to reunite reportedly under way
Sussan Ley and David Littleproud have agreed to delay naming frontbench positions for the Liberal and National parties, in a sign the fractured Coalition could reform before Parliament returns in July.
After two leaders held direct talks on Thursday morning, Littleproud said he had sent home Nationals MPs from Canberra and wanted a resolution to the historic breakdown announced on Tuesday.
Littleproud said the Nationals would maintain their four key policy demands but were prepared to give the Liberals time to consider policy changes stemming from the 3 May election loss.
The Nationals are demanding the opposition maintain policies for the introduction of nuclear power, forced break-up powers for the big supermarkets, a $20bn regional infrastructure fund and telecommunication service guarantees in the bush.
Asked if he could trust Ley, Littleproud said yes and that he was prepared to delay naming his senior appointments:
We will allow this process to take place. I think this is a far more important development.
In a major sign reconciliation could be possible, Littleproud confirmed the Nationals would be prepared to accept a lifting of the Howard-era moratorium on nuclear policy in Australia, rather than for a government-owned and operated network of nuclear power stations.
Updated
Finnish ambassador readies car to compete in Australia’s cancer-fighting ‘Shitbox Rally’
A quick update on the outback diplomacy saga we reported on in April: the countdown is on for Finland’s ambassador to Australia, Arto Haapea, who will navigate the Shitbox Rally from Perth to Darwin this June.
His vehicle – a 2005 blue Toyota Camry dubbed the “Happiest Car in the World” – has been decked out with all the trimmings, covered in stickers and is of course proudly waving a Finnish flag from its roof racks.
“Honorary Australian” Valtteri Bottas, a Finnish F1 driver who won the 2019 Grand Prix in Melbourne, took to Instagram yesterday to wish the ambassador good luck.
He offered his expert driving advice, which was to “send it.”
Haapea was inspired by the US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, who took part in the rally from Adelaide to Perth, crossing the Nullarbor in a beat-up Ford Falcon.
The Shitbox Rally has gained a cult following in the 15 years since its 2010 inception, raising $50m for the Cancer Council – a cause close to Haapea’s heart as a cancer survivor.
The Finnish team has set a $30,000 fundraising goal and has received a strong response from Australia’s Finnish diaspora so far.
Updated
Nationals consider Coalition split backdown
The Liberals and Nationals have agreed to delay announcing their frontbench lineups after Sussan Ley and David Littleproud held crisis talks to reunite the coalition just two days after the dramatic split.
Ley instigated a meeting with Littleproud on Thursday morning in an attempt to broker a peace deal between the two parties.
Guardian Australia understands the Nationals are prepared to commit to shadow cabinet solidarity and give the Liberals more time to consider their four policy demands.
Asked if there was a chance the Coalition could reunite, Littleproud said: “Of course there is”.
Updated
Nature groups say Victorian budget for environmental survival ‘pitifully small’
Environment groups say nature and biodiversity has been short-changed by the Victorian budget.
Environment Victoria welcomed new money for efficient electric hot water and home insulation, but raised concerns about the lack of support for nature or threatened species.
The nature campaigner, Greg Foyster, said “If the government wants to invest in the great outdoors for the longer term, we need to see a massive increase in funding for parks and reserves, biodiversity programs and saving threatened species”.
The Parliamentary Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline recommended increasing funding for parks and reserves to 1% of gross state product. One percent doesn’t seem too much to ask to ensure the survival of all the animals, plants, wetlands, forests and special places in Victoria, but the current funding is pitifully small.
Energy and environment department funding was down overall in 2025-26 compared to the previous year. The budget also included a 19% cut to environment and biodiversity, and a reduction in funding for the management of public land and forests of 26%.
The Victorian National Parks Association said the budget also locked in previous cuts to Parks Victoria and fisheries officers, with few new initiatives for nature.
“Last year we saw Parks Victoria hit with severe staff cuts, arbitrary reviews and the sacking of an experienced CEO. That’s no way to treat the agency responsible for looking after the places millions of Victorians love and rely on,” said the VNPA’s Matt Ruchel.
Friends of the Earth Melbourne said it welcomed the continued focus on the energy transition, though it also called for greater acceleration away from coal and gas:
The government continues to encourage recreation in nature, but has not committed to funding for parks management to manage increases in recreational users. The parks system is already underfunded, and there have been staff losses across DEECA and Parks Victoria.
Updated
Taree community bands together in face of devastating floods
Community members in Taree have banded together as flooding continues to inundate the NSW Hunter and mid-north coast.
Shirley Thatcher has been running a Facebook group updating residents on evacuation centres and emergency warnings. Her and her partner are in a safe area without current flooding and are “just staying at home while this crazy weather is going on”:
We’re lucky that we did a grocery shop last weekend, so have plenty of food … I’m just trying to keep everyone informed on what is happening in the area.”
Meanwhile, a car detailing service has been offering free emergency water extraction services to as many residents without insurance as they can reach until it’s no longer safe to continue, while other businesses have been offering free food and hot showers.
At St Joseph’s primary school in Taree, locals have been taking care of five horses that were rescued by boat after becoming stranded.
Miranda Saunders, the station manager for 2TLP 103.3 Ngarralinyi, broadcast to the Old Bar community for 15 hours on Tuesday from her kitchen to bring comfort to people who had lost power but still had battery-powered radios and similar devices. She told ABC News “if it wasn’t for community spirit there, thousands of people would still waiting to be rescued”.
Updated
Focus is on immediate flood assistance, Kristy McBain says
McBain is talking to how the government can can address damaging weather events. The federal emergency management minister is speaking live:
We came to government in 2022 saying that we have to work more on disaster mitigation and resilience, which is why we put in place the Disaster Ready Fund. And it’s really important that we are working with local communities on infrastructure and asset protection.
We’ve heard directly from local councils and insurance companies that there has to be money put in to mitigation, resilience and response efforts and that Disaster Ready Fund is absolutely doing that job now.
We know that we’ve got the review, which is the way in which the three levels of government need to react to these incidents together, and we’ll respond to that over the course of this term.
But I think it’s really important right now, when we’re in a disaster, to focus on what’s at hand, and right now what’s at hand is the safety of people across the mid-coast as well as the Hunter, and making sure that we are assisting people where they are right now.
Updated
Emergency management minister links floods to climate crisis
Climate change is bringing “more devastating events like this” to Australia, federal emergency management minister Kristy McBain says.
She is speaking live:
I don’t think that there is a question out there that climate change is having a significant impact on weather events right across the world. In Australia here, we’re not immune to that. We’re seeing more devastating events like this happen more frequently.
Updated
Rain will ease on Friday, emergency management agency spokesperson says
Heavy rainfall on the NSW mid-north coast will persist until Friday, a National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson says.
He is speaking live:
Heavy rainfall on the New South Wales mid-north coast today. It is remaining persistent and severe weather warnings are current. The activity will ease on Friday, which is promising. But I just want to reinforce that it remains persistent at the moment. There is areas that have had localised very heavy rain, and that will spread south along the Central Coast and southern New South Wales coast and further inland today.
There’s a cold front also that will spread across New South Wales early next week bringing some damaging winds.
Updated
Flood-hit residents to get up to 13 weeks of disaster allowance, federal minister says
People affected by flooding in Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Dungog and the mid-coast council areas will have access to up to 13 weeks of disaster allowance.
The federal emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, is speaking live:
What we’ve seen over the last couple of days is some intense activity focused mainly on the mid-north coast and across the Hunter.
Today I’ve enacted the disaster recovery allowance to look initially at four local government areas. Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Dungog and the Mid Coast Council area. That is to assist people who have been impacted with up to 13 weeks allowance of lieu of them being able to undertake their usual course of employment.
Updated
And back to the floods.
Drone footage shows flood waters around Smithtown, NSW along the Macleay River:
Mark Butler says Medicare urgent care clinics have reached milestone of 1.5m visits
Medicare urgent care clinics have now treated more than 1.5 million Australians, saving the health system an estimated $254m in avoided hospital visits, according to the government.
The clinics are designed to provide faster care to patients, who would otherwise would be waiting as a lower-priority presentation at emergency departments for problems such as fractures or eye injuries.
They also provide their fully bulk-billed care for issues that need to be seen to quickly but a GP isn’t available, often after hours or on weekends.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said on the occasion of the “new milestone” reaching with over 1.5 million visits:
In two short years, Medicare urgent care clinics have become a vital part of Australia’s health system and clocked up 1.5 million free visits.
They’re starting to take the pressure off hospitals and patients, delivering fully bulk billed care quickly and with no appointment needed.
By July next year, another 50 urgent care clinics will open their doors to patients, and four in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a Medicare urgent care clinic.
You can read more about how the model functions here:
Updated
Queensland youth crime laws pass parliament after late-night session
Moving away from NSW flood news for a moment.
Children as young as 10 will face adult jail time for a range of new offences after Queensland passed its second tranche of controversial youth crime laws.
The “adult crime, adult time” laws now include 20 more offences after passing through during a late-night sitting in Queensland parliament on Wednesday. Young offenders can now face lengthy adult sentences for attempted murder, rape, sexual assault, torture and kidnapping.
It is the second wave of the laws that were central to the Liberal National government’s pitch to voters at the 2024 election.
Other states and territories have also cracked down on youth crime amid Queensland’s law changes. The Northern Territory is strengthening its bail laws after the fatal stabbing of a 71-year-old Darwin store owner allegedly at the hands of a teenager.
Victoria recently removed remand as a last resort for children, while NSW has made it harder for 14 to 18-year-olds to be released on serious charges while out on bail for similar offences.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Pacific Highway submerged as major arterial remains closed near Taree amid NSW floods – video
Summary of NSW floods press conference
Summarising that media conference with the NSW premier and emergency services just now: one man has died and authorities hold grave fears for three people reported missing in unprecedented flooding on the NSW mid-north coast.
The premier, Chris Minns, said the region had experienced a very difficult 48 hours and more heavy rain was expected.
Updated
NSW police and premier hold 'grave fears' for three people reported missing in floods
Acting NSW police commissioner Peter Thurtell confirms a 60-year-old woman in the Dorrigo area, a 25-year-old man in the Wauchope area, and a 49-year-old man have been reported missing.
The 25-year-old is believed to have driven into flood waters and a vehicle is reported missing. The 49-year-old is believed to have walked into flood waters.
“That’s all yet to be confirmed,” Thurtell says.
I don’t want to pre-empt any results of anything, but obviously, as we said, we hold grave fears for all three individuals.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, also said “we’ve got grave fears” for the three people:
The grim reality is that the community on the mid-north coast will have to brace for potentially more bad news in the day ahead. It’s not what we want to hear, but unfortunately this disaster was major.
Updated
Three missing in NSW floods
Three people have been reported missing amid floods inundating the NSW hunter and mid-north coast. Acting NSW police commissioner Peter Thurtell is speaking live:
Sadly, as the premier has already indicated, one life has already been confirmed lost. And we have reports of three other people missing.
I know the message has already gone out, and the premier and the commissioner of the SES have just mentioned it, really, the danger of driving or walking through flood waters cannot be understated, and people need to avoid doing that.
Updated
State emergency services minister on rain levels: ‘These aren’t the records that you want to break’
The emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, says the state government is “throwing every single thing we’ve got” at the response to the rains and floods inundating NSW’s Hunter and mid-north coast regions. He is speaking live:
Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased gentleman. As you’ve just heard, we’ve got an incredibly volatile situation.
I said a few days ago that this will break some records, and these aren’t the records that you want to break, but we’ve seen more rain and more flooding in the mid and the north coast area than we’ve ever seen before.
We’ve seen an impact that’s affecting tens of thousands of people. But we’ve also seen the way that our emergency services have responded.
Around 2,500 personnel are on the ground, including SES, police, ambulance, fire and rescue, surf lifesavers and marine rescue, Dib says.
We are throwing every single thing that we’ve got at this incident.
Updated
SES commissioner says flood-affected zones are still an ‘active environment’ for rescues
Wassing says affected commuties have not seen this level of flooding in living memory. The NSW SES commissioner says new flood rescues requests have continued to come in this morning:
We continue to have flood rescue calls come in. We have worked through nearly all of the flood rescues from the previous 24 hours, but again already this morning we’ve had another 33 flood rescue requests this morning. That shows that this continues to be a very active environment for us.
I do acknowledge for the communities that we are dealing, within many communities, record floods. So, in the living memory of those local communities, they have not seen this level of flooding.
Updated
SES commission urges people to be ‘situationally aware’ and listen to emergency warnings
The NSW SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, says there are 140 flood warnings active in affected Hunter and mid-north coast regions, with 34 of those being emergency warnings.
He urges people in affected areas to listen to warnings, but to also be “situationally aware”. Wassing is speaking live:
When we say emergency warnings, they are around evacuations through to either, in some cases … moving to higher ground or isolating areas.
I will continue to stress the importance of heeding the warnings and that this is about us trying to help the communities prepare well in advance to any potential flood waters.
We still have a very active situation in the context of the rainfall of 100mm through to embedded storms [storms embedded within other cloud layers]. The embedded storms will continue to see flash flooding.
The flash flooding is a high risk [for] anyone that is travelling on the roads, and again you need to be situationally aware and not just rely on the warnings. We will continue to put the warnings out, but you cannot just rely on the warnings. If you live in areas that you feel that you’re unsafe or have concerns, that is a very good time to actually relocate, in many cases.
Updated
Chris Minns gives update on NSW floods response
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking live alongside the minister for emergency services, Jihad Dib, and the NSW SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, about flooding in the Hunter and mid-north coast.
The premier says:
This natural disaster has been terrible for this community. It’s affected a wide number of people. It’s affected tens of thousands of houses and, as a result, we are bracing for more bad news.
Minns says another 100mm of rain is forcasted over the next 24 hours, with falls reach as high as 200mm and 300mm in isolated areas.
Again [this] is not what we need, given the huge amount of rainfall that’s fallen in the last 48 hours.
Rivers around Taree and Kempsey are stable or slightly receding, “however there is more rainfall in the mountains and we can’t guarantee that it will not peak again,” the premier says.
Updated
Coffs Harbour resident warns of potential significant flooding after months of saturated conditions
Mark Graham is a resident of Coffs Harbour where there has been intense rainfall overnight that is expected to continue today. He told Guardian Australia:
I’m in the very middle of Coffs Harbour and we have had persistent torrential rainfall for many, many hours through the night.
This is on top of months of saturated conditions, so all this heavy rainfall is immediately running off. If it doesn’t ease up we will have really significant flooding problems.
Graham said the forecasts predicting the heavy rain would continue today and potentially into tomorrow were “a real worry”. He said:
The oceans are at such high temperatures, there’s so much heat in the oceans it’s just driving these extreme events.
Updated
Port Macquarie underwater as floods hit
Pictures are in of flooding in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, this morning as a slow-moving trough inundates the east coast.
Updated
Abbott says Liberal National split like ‘walking away from political family’
Abbott likens the coalition split to “walking away from political family”. The former prime minister said on 2GB:
Let’s not shoot yourself in the foot by walking away from your political family, which is effectively what’s happened here.
I mean, the Liberals and the Nationals have been the most successful political partnership in Australia. They’ve governed the country for 51 of the last 76 years. Generally speaking, they’ve done a pretty good job. Why blow it all up just because we’ve suffered a disastrous loss?
I mean, work out what went wrong, sure, but it wasn’t the coalition that was at fault here. It was the fact that we did not adequately prosecute our good policy, and we didn’t adequately create a contest with the Labor party. People did not vote against the fact that the Libs and the Nats are together. They voted against the fact that we were not a sufficiently clear alternative to the Labor party.
Updated
Tony Abbott says Liberals were in policy agreement with Nationals pre-election
Abbott says the coalition split is “inexplicable” given the policy issues the Nationals sought guarantees on “were all things that the Liberal party had agreed with the Nationals on pre election”.
The former prime minister said on 2GB:
If they can be policy pre-election, it’s hard to see why they couldn’t be policy post-election, subject, of course, to the usual joint party room shadow cabinet processes. So it does seem to be pretty inexplicable given that all of these things could have been dealt with in the normal way, through the normal processes.
Updated
Abbott says Liberal-National split ‘recipe for permanent poor government’
Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott calls the coalition split “deeply regrettable,” and says the Liberals and Nationals “need to get back together again as soon as possible”. He is speaking on 2GB:
The history shows that the coalition wins together and loses separately. The Liberal and the National party, they win together and they lose separately. And I think it’s very important that there is a strong and clear alternative to a deeply underwhelming government. And if the Libs and the Nats go their separate ways, we won’t have one strong opposition. We’ll have two opposition parties that are fighting each other as much as they’re fighting a bad government …
It’s a recipe for permanent poor government in our country. So I think for our country’s sake as well as for their own sakes, the Liberal party of the National party need to get back together again as soon as possible.
Updated
The Hunter and mid-north coast of New South Wales have been inundated with heavy rainfall since Tuesday, and subsequent flooding has resulted in hundreds of people being rescued by the SES.
Guardian Australia’s Nick Evershed and Josh Nicholas have created interactive maps to show the extent of the rainfall, areas affected by flooding, and how the rainfall compares to historical averages.
Check them out here:
Nationals MP warns flooding will affect food production and the cost-of-living crisis
Kemp says local producers will be struggling for months after intense rains and floods have inundated the New South Wales Hunter and mid-north coast regions.
The Nationals MP is speaking on ABC News Breakfast from Wittitrin:
The Macleay is the second fastest-flowing river in flood in the southern hemisphere. We have significant impacts to farmers and shopkeepers. Everyone is doing it tough in a cost-of-living crisis at the moment and now we’ve got to deal with the recovery from such a large event like this and that’s not even to the fact that we haven’t even got through the response phase yet because we are expecting further rises with the rain that’s coming at the moment. I’d expect our graziers, shopkeepers, vegetable-producers, to all be struggling in the next few months
Updated
Nationals MP gives update from Wittitrin
The Nationals MP Michael Kemp is speaking on ABC News Breakfast from Wittitrin, where he is isolated at home as rain inundates the New South Wales Hunter and mid-north coast regions.
He says:
I’m isolated at home. This is my farm behind me. In Kempsey CBD we’ve seen the height of the river reach 6.88m. It’s a major flood warning. We have many, many isolated communities throughout the Macleay, all the way out to South West Rocks and Crescent Head. We have seen three to four rescues by the wonderful SES through the night and we’re expecting significant rain today.
Updated
Victorian police investigating suspicious house fire after three injured
Police are investigating a suspicious house fire that sent a woman and two children to hospital with serious injuries in Victoria, last night.
Emergency services were called to reports of a blaze at a residence in Chadstone about 9:40pm, Victorian police said in a statement.
A woman and two children were evacuated and taken to hospital with serious injuries.
“At this stage, the fire is being treated as suspicious,” police said. An investigation is under way and a crime scene has been established, where an arson chemist will attend later today.
Updated
Minns: ‘We’ve got to do better’ on Sydney rail network
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says “we’ve got to do better” after Sydney commuters experienced severe disruptions after a high-voltage wire collapsed on a train on Tuesday afternoon, crippling the city’s rail network. He said on ABC News Breakfast a short while ago:
I think the commuting public has been sick of the service that hadn’t been provided. It’s a basic requirement of the state government to get people to and from work on time and we haven’t been doing it. We’ve got to do better.
We’ve put about $1.5bn into the infrastructure of the heavy rail network, so that’s not including the metros that run, that we’re building underground at the moment. That’s the heavy rail infrastructure, but we need to make sure it runs well and appropriately.
We need to focus on punctuality. And communication is a key thing. Sometimes there’s a major disruption to the network and it’s easier for families to organise their lives if the news comes through at 6:00pm rather than 6:00am. It’s too late in the morning if you’ve got kids and the job starts soon and there’s a lot of things happening so they’re things we need to clear up. I know we’re on a short leash and we’ve got to do better.
Updated
PM shares statement after death of man on NSW mid-north coast
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has shared a statement on the death of a man in floods in NSW.
“This is devastating news that a man has died at a residence impacted by flooding on the New South Wales mid north coast,” the PM said in a written statement.
“The thoughts of all Australians are with his loved ones and the community at this time.”
Updated
Minns says community ‘no doubt bracing’ for more bad news after flooding death
The NSW premier is “bracing for more tough news” following news of a death in the state’s inundated mid-north coast.
Chris Minns said on ABC News Breakfast:
It’s devastating for that man and his family and his friends. [It’s] a tight-knit community on the mid-north coast, and to lose anyone in these natural disasters is obviously horrifying. So I’m very sorry for that man’s passing.
We should be bracing for more tough news over the next 24 hours. We’re very grateful we got enormous amount of expertise, emergency service personnel and thousands of volunteers who are on site, but when you have major natural disasters, obviously, you get terrible news as a result, and that community no doubt will be bracing in the next 24 hours.
Updated
Premier apologises to flood-affected residents experiencing ‘anxious’ hours-long waits for rescue
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says waiting hours for flood rescue response must be an “incredibly anxious period”. He is speaking on ABC News Breakfast.
2,500 workers, 500 vehicles and boats and 13 helicopters make up the major emergency response operation, Minns says. Asked about a listener who waited six to seven hours for rescue, the premier says:
I’m sorry about that. That would be incredibly anxious period, waiting that period of time for a rescue.
I can assure the public that we have got a massive emergency service contingent on the Mid North Coast. There’s 2,500 emergency service workers including 2,200 SES volunteers and professionals that are on site. Over 500 vehicles and boasts, 13 helicopters, hundreds of drones, so this is a major operation.
Unfortunately, we’re getting better at deploying resources because of natural disasters and the reason for that is because we’re seeing more of them, not less.
Now, the job will be, as we move through the immediate response, we got to get to recovery and make sure these communities can get back on their feet as soon as possible. But as you have just heard, it’s a resilient community, they’re incredibly tough and I expect them to do that pretty quick.
Updated
Man found dead in flooded NSW home
A man’s body has been found in a flood-affected home in Moto on the NSW mid-north coast.
Emergency services were called to a property on North Moto Road about 3pm yesterday after reports a body was located, NSW police said in a statement.
The body of a 63-year-old man was found in a residence affected by flooding.
Police have launched an investigation and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
Updated
Thousands could be isolated in Kempsey as Macleay River breaks levee
50,000 people have been warned they could be isolated today including in Kempsey on the mid-north coast, where the Macleay River has overtopped a levee and is still rising.
Major flooding will continue to impact other nearby areas like Macksville and Port Macquarie.
Farmers have lost livestock washed away by flood waters.
Others are working to help get some of them back, taking to community Facebook pages to track down owners for cattle that have washed up on their properties.
Evacuation centres have been set up at Dungog, Gloucester, Taree, Manning Point, Wingham, Bulahdelah, Tuncurry Beach, Kempsey and Port Macquarie.
The emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, said the commonwealth was working with the NSW government to provide support in 16 local government areas.
“These floods and severe weather are having a huge impact on communities,” she said.
The Insurance Council of Australia said the flooding could be catastrophic, with significant flooding in similar areas in 2022. “We are closely monitoring the severe weather across the entire state,” the council’s chief executive, Andrew Hall, said.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
More than 100 waiting for rescue amid vast deluge
Tens of thousands of people are isolated, while hundreds have been rescued from disastrous flooding as intense rainfall continues.
The heavy falls across the NSW Hunter and mid-north coast regions in recent days have spread to the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands as a slow-moving trough dumped rain along Australia’s east coast.
Falls between 200 and 300mm in the next 24 hours are likely and may lead to flash flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology warns, around the north coast communities of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Woolgoolga, Sawtell and Dorrigo.
The bureau said the trough was expected to contract southwards this afternoon.
More than 100 warnings are in place, with local residents in the path of flooding urged to head to higher ground and evacuate if they can.
SES Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said conditions through the night into this morning had been challenging.
“We’ve seen continual rainfall and very fast flowing rivers which, when combined with flooded roads, have made it very difficult to access some isolated people,” he said.
While dozens of rescues have been completed overnight, they continue to be received.
In the past 24 hours, the SES has carried out about 340 flood rescues and used helicopters to winch stranded residents off their roofs as they responded to 1023 incidents.
More than 100 rescues were outstanding this morning, the SES said.
More to come in the next post.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Thank you to Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’ll be keeping you posted from here. Let’s go!
Weather bureau expands NSW severe weather warning
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued a severe weather warning shortly after 4am which expanded the zone from the already badly hit Hunter Valley and mid-north coast regions to include the Northern Tablelands, Northern Rivers and North West Slopes and Plains.
“Areas of heavy rainfall are expected to persist through Thursday as a weak low-pressure system develops within the trough, and it slowly moves further southwards throughout the day,” the BoM warning said.
It said heavy rainfall was forecast to continue over north-eastern parts of the state overnight on Wednesday and during Thursday bringing 24-hour rainfall totals of up to 300mm in some areas.
“Locally intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is also possible for parts of the mid-north coast district and adjacent Northern Tablelands during Thursday,” the notice said.
“This includes Kempsey, and coastal areas around Coffs Harbour and Nambucca Heads. Six-hourly rainfall totals between 100 and 150mm are possible with 24-hourly rainfall totals reaching between 200 and 300mm.”
Some 115 warnings were in place on Wednesday night, with local residents in the path of flooding urged to head to higher ground and evacuate if they could. The SES carried out more than 300 flood rescues on Wednesday alone, using helicopters to winch stranded residents off their roofs.
The NSW SES commissioner, Michael Wassing, said rescue conditions had been difficult and dangerous.
“I cannot stress enough that it is important to heed the warnings of evacuations,” he said. “I cannot guarantee that our crews will be able to immediately rescue people.”
“Super saturated” river catchments were responding quickly to the rain, he said.
Evacuation centres have been set up at Dungog, Gloucester, Taree, Manning Point, Wingham, Bulahdelah, Tuncurry Beach, Kempsey and Port Macquarie.
The federal emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, said the commonwealth was working with the NSW government to provide support in 16 local government areas.
“These floods and severe weather are having a huge impact on communities,” she said.
Read our full story here:
Updated
Transport NSW says Sydney train network back on schedule
Sydney’s rail network is again running to its regular timetable, transport authorities have confirmed in time for the Thursday morning peak, after a horror two days of network outages and delays caused by downed electrical wires that trapped a passenger train on Tuesday.
Transport for New South Wales said “passengers can expect a good frequency” across both suburban and intercity lines.
A “full timetable” will run on Thursday, with the exception of two damaged train sets which have been scheduled to run at a time of day with “minimal impact”. In a statement, Transport for NSW said:
We thank the engineering crews who worked tirelessly to fix the issues on the ground, the operations staff in the rail operations centre who got us back to timetabled services, and the station staff who helped passengers through a very difficult period.
We acknowledge how frustrating these past couple of days has been for passengers and apologise for the disruption.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has apologised to commuters, pledged a fare-free day on the transport network this coming Monday and launched a snap review into the incident.
Minns said the downed wires “happened at the worst possible location at the worst possible time” on Tuesday.
You can read about the vulnerability of Sydney’s rail network to widespread delays from a single point of failure, and the agency’s “archaic” internal communications approach, here:
Updated
Sussan Ley’s office rejects Bridget McKenzie’s claim on 7.30
The reason for the Coalition split remains a point of dispute between the Liberals and the Nationals after the Senate leader Bridget McKenzie’s claim – that Nationals shadow cabinet members’ ability to vote against shadow cabinet decisions in the parliament was not part of the Nationals’ demands – was swiftly denied by Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s office.
McKenzie told ABC’s 7.30 program Ley could not guarantee policies on divestiture powers for supermarkets, mobile phone coverage for regional Australia, lifting the moratorium on nuclear and the retention of the $20bn regional Australia future fund.
She refused to. She put it in writing. We put that to our party room and our party room decided we were to leave the coalition.
When asked whether Ley was lying when stating Nationals’ shadow ministers wanted to break cabinet solidarity as a condition of a new agreement, McKenzie said it was “not part of our consideration” and the demand was limited to those four policy areas.
McKenzie said:
Well, Sussan Ley wasn’t part of our party room discussions. I was. I won’t go into the details of that, but I can categorically tell you why we made the decision we did and what that was based on. It’s why we sought, in writing from the Liberal leader, her guarantee around those four policy areas.
7.30 host Sarah Ferguson read out a statement from Ley’s office refuting the claim:
‘It is not correct to subject that shadow cabinet solidarity was not a sticking point’, and they – that is, Sussan Ley’s office – have that in writing.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it will be Rafqa Touma to take the wheel.
With 48,000 people already stranded by flooding in the New South Wales Hunter Valley and mid-north coast regions, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe warning for “prolonged” heavy rainfall that also includes the adjacent areas of Northern Tablelands, Northern Rivers and North West Slopes and Plains. Some areas could cop 300mm over the next 24 hours and there was also a risk of life-threatening flash floods. More coming up.
The reason for the Coalition split remains a point of dispute between the Liberals and the Nationals after Bridget McKenzie claimed last night on the ABC’s 7.30 program that Nationals shadow cabinet members’ ability to vote against shadow cabinet decisions in the parliament was not part of the Nationals’ demands – a claim denied by Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s office. More coming up.
