Greens want permanent windfall tax
Greens senator David Shoebridge told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the Greens would want to see a windfall model for gas companies floated as a potential in reports today, and then it could potentially be legislated in the next sitting fortnight.
He said:
It’s a matter of urgency. We’ve these large gas corporations again making record super profits from a war, and from conflict, and ordinary Australians are paying through the nose for energy.
There is no better time than the next fortnight to legislate for a windfall tax and then let’s make it permanent.
Let’s put some real meaningful tax on the gas industry so we can afford the things we need.
We can start by taxing windfall profits next week and start providing basic relief for Australians in a cost of living crisis.
Uber to lift prices by 6% from next week
Uber has announced it will lift fare prices by an average of 6% across Australia from next week.
It’s said to be a broader pricing adjustment, and not a temporary fuel surcharge, which will result in additional earnings for drivers. The fare increasers will vary across cities and towns, depending on time of day. It will apply to a range of Uber products, excluding Uber Max.
A spokesperson said.
From next week, we will be updating Uber fares which will increase driver earnings by an average of 6% across Australia. These changes build on work already underway and reflect our ongoing commitment to better supporting driver earnings over time.
We know operating costs, including fuel, remain front of mind for many driver partners, making continued support more important than ever. Alongside these changes, we’ll continue investing in initiatives like our Uber Pro program, which offers discounts on fuel and EV charging, as well as other savings to help reduce expenses.
It follows DiDi earlier this week:
Crisafulli criticises lack of resources for BoM
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has criticised the federal government for not properly resourcing the Bureau of Metereology.
He told reporters that he wasn’t criticising BoM itself, but he has criticised the resourcing of BoM from both sides of government.
He said:
There’s not sufficient gauges and wind radars in what is a large part of the state….We’re seeing it time and time again.
Whether that’s our friends in the north-west and the south-west of the state, who are trying to determine how high water will rise and how quickly, with limited gauges, whether that’s people in this situation, who don’t know about wind speeds and would love nothing more than to have radars from multiple different angles determining how big a system is and where it’s going, a lack of investment in those resources is challenging.
And I - I won’t take a backward step in that. An investment into that will save lives.
Queensland drivers told not to drive through floodwater
Some areas hit by Cyclone Narelle have seen over 300mm of rain, and Queensland police state disaster coordinator, Chris Stream, has urged drivers not to drive through floodwater.
He said since the start of the season, over 90 rescues have had to be carried out for people driving through flood water, and in one case there were two people who died.
Tragic set of circumstances, and absolutely avoidable.
Do not let stupidity shorten your life.
Driving into floodwaters can have fatal consequences, and can place emergency services responders and others at risk when they have to rescue you.
Family sheltered from Narelle in shipping container
David Crisafulli said that Archer River in Cook Shire in a period of six hours jumped from 5m to 13m, and water went over the bridge.
Just south of there, there was a family on a cattle station who had to take shelter in a shipping container, he said.
We’re told they’re OK and they have communicated to us they are OK but a difficult situation for them.
He said crews would be going to Coen and Lockhart river to restore power for those still without.
On road closures, he said Peninsula Development road is closed between Laura and Coen and Coen and Weipa.
Road access between Cairns and Cooktown to the Cape communities of Coen, Lockhart River, Aurukun, Weipa, northern peninsula area remains impacted by flooding.
The Burke Development road is closed between Normanton and Chillagoe.
The Mulligan highway is closed, from Cairns and Cooktown and Coen.
Updated
Queensland premier says Narelle direction is ‘good news story’
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, is holding a press conference to update on Cyclone Narelle.
He said Narelle has moved west and is sitting 100km north-west of Coen. It crossed on the east coast between Lockhart River and Coen.
He said:
It threaded a needle between both.
While there’s some damage we’ve seen, and some rain and some wind, that’s an incredibly good news story.
Incredibly good news story.
Initial reports are minimal damage, with some trees down, he said.
The water is back on in Coen, but some properties are still without power.
Crisafulli said the system will cross the western part of the Cape later on this evening, and for communities in those areas – particularly Aurukun and Weipa, the intensity will continue to pick up, as well as rainfall.
He said:
So, the challenges remain the same as we saw on the east coast.
Wind, storm surge, rain and then flooding.
But those communities are prepared.
And the reports we’re getting from the ground, we just had an update from all the councils, overwhelmingly, that people are very well prepared, very well prepared for it.
Shadow resources minister invokes Trump phrase in arguing for fuel security
The federal shadow resources minister, Susan McDonald, indicated the Coalition would oppose reported proposals for a new levy to tax windfall gas company profits.
She told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing the government had a $283bn windfall recently and questioned where it had gone.
We are not sure what the government is doing with the resources money it earns.
Resources, gas, two of the biggest dollar earners for the country, we need to continue encouraging additional investment, additional projects, not just because it’s good for us financially, but it’s good for our national security and our national interest.
She said the Coalition alternative is “drill, baby, drill”, which the host, Patricia Karvelas, pointed out is a Trump phrase, and asked where that drilling would happen.
McDonald said more offshore projects should occur like in the Great Australian Bight, “places where we can see great reserves for oil and for gas”, and she does not support world heritage listing for the bight.
Updated
Victorian man charged over role in syndicate to steal high-end Toyotas
A 27-year-old Doveton man has been charged over his alleged role in an international syndicate allegedly stealing high-end Toyotas and exporting them to the United Arab Emirates for profit.
Police intelligence alleges the syndicate stole more than 150 vehicles worth over $20m in Victoria, before relocating them to Queensland, where another 60 vehicles were stolen.
Police allege many of these vehicles were stolen by accessing the vehicle’s onboard computers via wiring.
The man has been charged with conspiracy to commit theft of motor vehicle, theft of motor vehicle, and handling stolen goods in relation to 46 incidents alleged to have occurred between August and September last year.
He was bailed to appear at Melbourne magistrates court on Thursday 26 March.
Investigators seized three motor vehicles, multiple electronic devices and business and banking records from the addresses.
Police will allege the man was using a commercial premises in Cranbourne West as a base of operations where the stolen vehicles were placed into shipping containers.
The shipping containers were then transported to the Port of Melbourne, headed for the UAE.
Investigators believe the companies moving the shipping containers were doing so without the knowledge of what was inside.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle continues to barrel west across Cape York
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is weakening but remains a severe category 3 storm as it moves west across Queensland’s Cape York peninsula.
The latest update from the Bureau of Meteorology shows the storm was about 90km north-west of the small town of Coen at 1pm Queensland time, delivering wind gusts up to 185km/h.
Narelle is travelling at about 20km/h and is forecast to keep moving west. The next major settlement in Narelle’s way is Aurukun, which lies to the south of the current predicted path.
By tonight, Narelle will hit ocean again over the Gulf of Carpentaria where it is expected to re-intensify to a category 3 system and make landfall late on Saturday night or early Sunday near the island of Anindilyakwa on the Top End’s east coast.
Updated
Cook Shire mayor says local communities have fared well during cyclone
Cook Shire mayor Robyn Holmes said that so far local communities, such as Coen – which was predicted to be worst hit – had fared well.
She said there would be some water restrictions in place in the coming days but did not expect any problems with food supplies.
“We thought it was going to be much worse than it was,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say we’re out of the woods yet because of the flooding though.”
She said Coen had received 89mm of rain overnight, and rivers were rising rapidly.
Authorities said there are currently 11 warnings still in place from Cape York to Cape Melville, but there have been no rescues so far.
“It will be some time before we find out how widespread the destruction is,” Queensland premier David Crisafulli said.
He said parts of far north Queensland were already dealing with swollen catchments from recent prolonged rain.
Updated
Still no reports of serious incidents caused by Cyclone Narelle
Queensland Police Service says there have been no rescues or reports of serious incidents by people currently sheltering through Tropical Cyclone Narelle spreading across Cape York as of 2pm local time.
The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed that the cyclone had made landfall as a category four system at 7am near Coen, and had severely impacted communities including Coen, Lockhart River, and Archer River.
People were told to expect strong wind gusts greater than 250 km/h, heavy rain, following and coastal storm surges.
Updated
Australia receives its lowest ranking in the World Happiness Report
Australia has fallen four spots in the World Happiness Report to 15th, below countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium.
The report draws the majority of its data from the Gallup World Poll, which measures the attitudes, behaviours and wellbeing of people from across more than 140 countries.
The explanatory factors in the report include social support, generosity, freedom, perceptions of corruption, healthy life expectancy and GDP per capita.
Australia was one of the top 10 countries in the world for generosity but ranked 44th in the world for freedom. This is the lowest Australia has been on the rankings in the 20 years the report has been published.
The happiest countries were the following:
Finland
Iceland
Denmark
Costa Rica
Sweden
Norway
Netherlands
Israel
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Read about last year’s results here:
Updated
Virgin Australia to hike airfares
Virgin Australia will lift the prices of its airfares as jet fuel prices soar.
A spokesperson for the company said:
Costs across the aviation sector continue to rise, now significantly exacerbated by the situation in the Middle East. We are making necessary fare adjustments to reflect these cost pressures.
Virgin did not confirm how big the increase would be.
Qantas nearly two weeks ago announced international air fares would rise, but not domestic fares. Virgin Australia, Qantas’s main competitor on domestic routes, did not comment on prices hikes at that time.
Virgin had hedged to protect 85% of its fuel costs in the first six months of 2026 from price fluctuations, it reported in February.
Cathay Pacific, AirAsia and Thai Airways are among the airlines to have lifted ticket prices to cover higher jet fuel costs due to sustained disruption to oil supply from the US war on Iran.
Other businesses are also starting to lift prices as fuel costs surge, such as rideshare giant DiDi, with Uber, DoorDash and Australia Post among those weighing whether to add charges.
Updated
Family outside Coen weathering cyclone inside shipping containers
On a cattle station 50 kilometres north of Coen, Debbie Jackson, her husband Kevin and their family, and a family friend, are currently inside shipping containers on their property, with the eye of Tropical Cyclone Narelle yet to reach them.
Debbie says her family had been awake all night, when at 3am, the wind started to blow. Around 8am, she says it “really intensified”.
Having lived in Cape York for more than four decades, she says she had been through tropical cyclones before, but none like the one they are experiencing right now.
As it passes through, she says:
No one can get here right now. You won’t cross any of the creeks getting here now.
We’ve been through a couple of cyclones but this one is probably the worst one, but you’ve just gotta batten down the hatches and ride it out.
There’s usually a howl, like, you could hear a howl coming before the actual cyclone, but this one, there wasn’t .. it’s just really loud.
We’ve lost roofs there and a tree fell on our unleaded fuel tank, so we have lost all of our unleaded fuel. Not sure if the generator shed is still standing, I’ve gotta wait for the eye (of the cyclone) before we can go and check on that.
Debbie says the property has lost all power, and is currently on “inverter power at the moment because the trees have taken out our power”.
‘We’re fairly lucky,’ Queensland SES says of cyclone impact
Queensland State Emergency Services regional director, Wayne Coutts, says the community response and the impact of the cyclone in northern Queensland had meant the area had been lucky so far.
I guess we’re fairly lucky. As the cyclone was fairly narrow and moving reasonably quickly, [it] didn’t go straight over Coen, as we thought it might, but closer to Lockhart than we thought possible.
Again, the communities would be really congratulated on what they’ve done and their preparations as it goes through.
He said there had been no rescues so far.
Updated
Power restored for most affected by Cyclone Narelle
Emergency services have been providing an update on the situation from Cyclone Narelle in Queensland.
Queensland police’s Supt Kevin Fitzgibbon said in the grand scheme of things, the impact on the ground has been fairly minor, mostly power loss. He said energy supplier Ergon had been doing a good job, and the number of homes without power had decreased from 1,000 to about 100.
He said:
There will be some ongoing disruptions.
Ergon will have to disconnect some power to towns like Wujal Wujal, Ayton and Bloomfield in order to fix the current outage at Rossfield.
There were some brief outages around Hope Vale and Cooktown, but they’ve all been repaired.
Lockhart River has been without power since 9am local time this morning, and Fitzgibbon said Ergon would need to send people out to get it back up and running.
Updated
Thanks for staying with our live news coverage today. I’ll leave you with Josh Taylor for the afternoon’s breaking news.
Coen resident says she ‘got off lightly’ as cyclone hit
Sara Watkins from Coen says they “got off pretty luckily”.
They took shelter at the local pub, the Exchange hotel, which is made of brick. But they’ve since returned home, after the wind dropped off. Watkins said:
The bulk of the storm and the heavy wind and rain was about two hours ago, and it’s as much as it is still raining and windy, it brightened up quite a bit. So I’m kind of hoping we’re on the other side of it and the next couple hours, it’ll be over.
The wind was intense for a period of time earlier today, she said, and there’s a risk of flood from the Coen and Archer rivers. But she said the storm seems to have tracked north.
“We got off lightly,” she said.
Watkins said the south side of the town has lost power, but their section still has it. They’ve been able to maintain communications using battery power though, she said.
We got really lucky that we were just slightly south of it [the storm]. So the damage hasn’t been too bad.
Updated
Iranian women’s football team welcomed to Tehran – in pictures
Members of Iran’s women’s national football team have been welcomed back to Tehran, after their participation in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Two members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then Turkey’s border with Iran.
Updated
Foreign affairs minister talks with US secretary of state
Penny Wong spoke with her US counterpart, Marco Rubio, on Friday morning.
The pair discussed the conflict in the Middle East, Iran’s retaliatory attacks and strikes in the strait of Hormuz.
Wong and Rubio also spoke about international efforts to ensure safe passage of vessels through the strait. The call follows similar discussions with Wong’s European, Malaysian, Singaporean and Korean counterparts this week.
She is also due to speak with India’s foreign minister, Dr S Jaishankar, this afternoon.
“Secretary Rubio and I discussed the conflict in the Middle East and the Iranian regime’s escalating reprisal attacks, particularly on civilian and energy infrastructure,” Wong said.
I expressed Australia’s condemnation of Iran’s deliberate attacks on merchant vessels in and around the strait of Hormuz. Iran’s actions have triggered severe global energy shocks, causing oil and fuel prices to surge, which is putting pressure on households, industries and supply chains.
We agreed that the international community must keep working together to ensure critical waterways are not held hostage by the Iranian regime.
Australia does not want to see the conflict continue to escalate.
Updated
Queensland police charge 70-year-old for pro-Palestine slogan
A 70-year-old protester has become the third Queenslander charged under laws banning a pro-Palestine slogan.
Jim Dowling, 70, was charged after attending a rally against Boeing on Wednesday. He was allegedly holding a sign which read “from the river to the sea Brisbane will be free of Boeing”, with Boeing crossed out.
A spokesperson for the Queensland police said the man was arrested at about 1pm on Albert Street in the CBD.
“The man has since been issued with a notice to appear in Brisbane magistrates court on 14 April for the offence of recital, distribution, publication or display of prohibited expressions,” the spokesperson said.
The act requires that using the prescribed expression might reasonably be expected to cause a member of the public to feel menaced, harassed or offended, but that person does not have to exist.
Pro-Palestine protester Liam Parry was the first charged under the laws for allegedly using the expression a single time at a rally last Wednesday.
An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the alleged slogan was on a shirt.
Updated
More than 100 fuel stations without diesel in NSW as shortages grow
At least 107 fuel stations in NSW do not have any diesel, while 42 have no fuel at all amid supply issues caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, confirmed the numbers to reporters this morning. Yesterday, Minns told parliament about 80 stations, primarily independent operators, did not have access to diesel, and about 40 did not have any fuel, urging consumers not to panic buy. On Monday, the government said about 32 out of 3,000 fuel stations in the state were experiencing partial or total shortages.
Minns, who has been reluctant to discuss contingency plans publicly, was asked today about the government’s potential use of emergency rationing powers. He said: “We’re preparing for every eventuality, but I don’t want to jump the gun.”
Under the state’s Energy and Utilities Administration Act, the premier has the power to declare an “energy supply emergency” if fuel supply is “disrupted to a significant degree” in all of part of the state.
The energy minister, Penny Sharpe, would be given wide-ranging powers to control the distribution of fuel including directing it to specific regions, ordering suppliers to sell fuel to particular customers and authorising authorities to take control of businesses that supply fuel.
Minns has already flagged contingencies to ensure fuel for hospitals and emergency services, in particular diesel for ambulances and generators. But at a press conference yesterday, he said he did not support measures to prevent trucks from other states filling up in NSW.
My concern about that border protection process is that it will be met with the reciprocal response … I think we’ve got to do this together.
Updated
Labor minister says ‘no one can predict’ fuel supply
The health minister, Mark Butler, has suggested no-one can predict whether Australia will keep receiving fuel supply shipments after April.
Supply ships are on their way, set to reach Australia for the rest of March and into April, Butler told Channel Seven this morning. Butler went on:
Beyond that, no one anywhere in the world really can predict exactly the position is going to be in in terms of fuel supply. …
Ultimately, these scenarios are not within the control of Australia or any other country in Asia. This is a war being fought out between the US, Israel and Iran, and quite when it ends is ultimately a matter for those three countries.
Our job as governments, all governments is to plan for all of the scenarios we think are possible over the coming weeks and months.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, earlier today dismissed suggestions Malaysia could prioritise its own fuel needs and cut supply to Australia.
Chalmers calls in financial regulators for emergency talks on war in Iran
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has held talks with the Council of Financial Regulators on Friday, discussing the war in the Middle East and its implications for the Australian economy.
The council includes the leaders of the Reserve Bank, Asic, and Apra. The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, attended the special meeting, along with the ACCC boss, Gina Cass-Gotlieb, and the assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino.
“Australia has a strong and resilient financial system that is well placed to confront global instability, and that was the clear message from regulators today,” Chalmers said in a statement.
“While Australia is not immune to global challenges, we have strong economic fundamentals and our banking system is well capitalised.”
Chalmers says he has also been in touch with New Zealand’s finance minister, Nicola Willis, on Australia’s responses to the conflict and fuel security plans.
Updated
Archer River set to flood homes as Cyclone Narelle brings heavy rain, resident warns
Debbie Cameron at the Archer River roadhouse says the Archer river is rising and will inundate her house. They’re preparing to flee to a hill nearby, but can’t go yet because the winds remain at full pelt. They’re hoping the wind will drop before the water rises.
“She’s devastation here,” Cameron said.
All the big trees have upturned. The river is halfway up the campground.
She said “massive” mango trees, pine trees and mahogany trees had collapsed, some of them onto sheds and other buildings.
“We’ve got buildings crushed, sheds down,” she said.
I don’t think there’s a leaf left on any tree.
Cameron described the wind as a “roar” and said it had been going for more than three hours without dropping off. They’re taking cover inside a brick house.
All the outside bits are flying off it, but the house is still sound in itself.
‘Stay in place’ as cyclone sweeps through, Queensland premier warns
People in regions affected by Topical Cyclone Narelle should still stay where they are, the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has said.
Crisafulli has just told the ABC:
Our message to people is to stay in place. Overwhelmingly people have heeded the message.
Some minor damage has been reported so far but it was still “early days”, Crisafulli said:
[The cyclone is] going at a pretty reasonably quick pace which means it will go to that western part of the cape where there are a number of smaller communities and, we’re told, will intensify once it reaches the water there in the gulf.
Crisafulli said he planned to visit the state’s far north over the weekend. Teams have been on the ground providing support to affected areas where it is safe, he said:
We are really, really grateful for those efforts. In many cases you got people who have come from other parts of Queensland to be there and be on the ground and that is something we really are genuinely grateful for.
Updated
No reports of casualties from Cyclone Narelle, police say
Chris Stream, deputy commissioner for the Queensland police, tells ABC News there are no reported casualties at this point from Cyclone Narelle.
Stream said:
We do have reports of minor damage, say, for instance, in Cooktown, we have got a tree down into an unoccupied house. We got vegetation that is damaged some of the electrical infrastructure network through there. Ergon [Energy] crews are are getting out where they can in between the wind and the rain to restore that as fast as they can.
Coen, the town in the path of the Cyclone, appears to have avoided serious damage so far, he says.
There are reports obviously of debris being cast across the town, but we have no reports of any significant damage at this point.
Watch: Winds and heavy rain hit Coen as Cyclone Narelle makes landfall
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle losing intensity and is now a category three storm
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is, as expected, losing intensity as it moves west across Cape York in far north Queensland, with the Bureau of Meteorology confirming the system is now a category three storm.
The cyclone’s centre has taken a slight northward shift and an hour ago was 45 km north of Coen and travelling west at 21km/h.
The system is delivering sustained winds near the centre of 155 km/h with wind gusts to 220 km/h, the bureau’s latest track map confirms. Expect another update in about three hours time.
Updated
Albanese calls for de-escalation in Middle East conflict as Australia sends aircraft and missiles
The prime minister says Australian missiles and surveillance aircraft are on the ground in the Middle East, repeating calls for the conflict to ease.
Albanese denied Australia was out of step with allies, who have condemned Iran’s attacks and offered to contribute to help ships pass through the crucial strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran.
He said:
We want to see the strait of Hormuz opened. We’re offering support and have support on the ground in the region, including an E7 aircraft, including the [air-to-air missiles] we have supplied to the United Arab Emirates. …
We reiterate our calls for Iran to do the right thing and to allow for international passage to occur. The freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle and we again call for a de-escalation.
Albanese said Australia would “examine whatever we can do to provide assistance,” when asked if the country would join allies to get ships moving through the strait.
Updated
Albanese suggests mosque hecklers ‘don’t like’ outlawing ‘extremist organisations’
Anthony Albanese has suggested people who heckled him while he visited Lakemba mosque this morning were unhappy he had banned Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Albanese denied he had been “rushed out” and said his visit had been well received. He said:
Look, I have seen some of those reports and they’re just simply not accurate. There were 30,000 people-plus at Lakemba this morning. Overwhelmingly the reception was incredibly positive. I walked through the crowd to the mosque and not a single person heckled.
There were a couple of hecklers inside, they were dealt with. Contrary to what’s been suggested, no one was rushed out, we just sat there, it was dealt with. … Some people don’t like the fact that we have outlawed extremist organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir, and that brought a response from a couple of people.
But if you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000, that should be put in that perspective.
The Islamist group was targeted by hate speech laws brought in by Albanese in the wake of the Bondi massacre.
Updated
Five groups bidding for the Whyalla steelworks, PM says
Anthony Albanese has confirmed there are five consortiums bidding to take over the Whyalla steelworks.
He said:
All of them are very serious that it’s been nutled [sic] down to. It says something about how good this product is, how good the workers are here and the skills that they bring to their day-to-day work that you have five consortiums putting forward very serious bids because they want to run this operation. …
Sovereign capability is absolutely critical but we want to make sure that we get the right result out of this, that we do it just once, and any successful bidder has to show that they plan for the long-term future of this amazing national asset.
Updated
Iran condemns Australia’s military aid to US war
Iran’s foreign affairs ministry says Australia is on the “wrong side of history” after it deployed military assets to the United Arab Emirates during the US-Israel war on the regime.
While Australia says it has not sent naval support to the Strait of Hormuz, as we reported earlier, the Australia government last week confirmed it had sent a surveillance aircraft and missiles to the Middle East to help defend the United Arab Emirates from Iranian attacks.
Asked about the deployment on the ABC’s 7.30, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the country could not distinguish between offensive and defensive operations:
What [the] Australian government is doing is taking [the] side with the aggressors against Iran.
It is very regrettable that the Australian government has decided to be on the wrong side of history by taking side with the blatant aggressors against Iran.
NDIS fraudster sentenced to three years in jail
A 60-year-old woman has been sentenced to three years in jail and ordered to repay nearly $300,000 over criminal exploitation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Mumthaj Begam Kantara, also known as Begam Kantara, was sentenced in the Melbourne county court on Friday, after investigation by the government’s fraud fusion taskforce.
A former Victorian NDIS provider, a court found she exploited people with a disability from non-English speaking backgrounds to defraud the NDIS.
Kantara pleaded guilty to 14 counts of issuing fraudulent payment requests against the plans of six NDIS participants between 2019 and 2022.
Investigators found Kantara targeted vulnerable participants from Melbourne’s Turkish and Arabic-speaking communities who spoke little to no English.
It was the second jail term imposed over NDIS fraud in two days. A former disability services company worker was sentenced to three years’ jail, with nine months to be served on Wednesday.
Jenny McAllister, the minister for the NDIS, said:
If you exploit people with a disability and try to defraud vulnerable people who speak English as a second language, you do not belong in the NDIS.
You belong in prison.
Updated
Watch: footage shows winds lashing Coen on Friday morning as Cyclone Narelle approaches
Army evacuating Northern Territory residents as cyclone approaches
The Australian Defence Force is evacuating 500 people from the Northern Territory to Darwin ahead of Tropical Cyclone Narelle’s arrival in the NT on Saturday night, the government says.
The ADF is also standing by in case of other requests for support from Queensland or the NT, the minister for emergency management, Kristy McBain, has told the ABC.
ADF members have already been supporting communities voluntarily with flooding near Katherine and the Daly River, she said.
Electoral commission asked to look at One Nation’s use of Gina Rinehart plane
On the eve of the South Australian election, Labor has asked the electoral commission to take a look at One Nation’s use of a plane registered to mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s company S Kidman & Co.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and Cory Bernardi used the plane for multiple flights around SA.
Bernardi said he would pick up the tab for the private transport, in the wake of questions about whether it breached SA’s ban on political donations.
A Labor spokesperson said:
Pauline Hanson flew in from her home in Queensland to SA using a billionaire’s private plane.
We have asked the electoral commission to look at One Nation’s use of a private plane provided by a billionaire to fly into and around SA, and whether it is allowable under SA’s political donation laws.
Updated
Israeli government says ‘no one surprised’ Australia not sending navy to strait of Hormuz
Following from our previous post, the Israeli government earlier this morning said it was no surprise Australia had not sent naval support to the Middle East.
David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesperson, was asked about Australia’s decision on the ABC. He said:
That’s a decision for Australia. I don’t think anyone had a lot of high expectations for your current government, judging on how they’ve acted in the past … So no one here in Israel was surprised at that.
Mencer pointed to the Israeli government’s warnings to Australia to address antisemitism, saying those warnings had gone unheeded. Asked why Israel was continuing its war on Iran, he said:
Because the regime is still intact and we will not allow this regime to build up again to oppress their own people and attack us again. …
When they say ‘death to Israel, death to America’, you in Australia may think you’re immune to these threats, but we here, and that’s 2,000 years of Jewish experience teach us very, very clearly, when someone says they wish to wipe you off the face of the Earth, we believe them.
Updated
Government wants war in Middle East to end, says Bowen
The Albanese government wants the conflict in the Middle East to end, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, has said.
Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada have issued a joint letter, condemning Iran’s attacks attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
They were ready to contribute to ensuring safe passage through the Strait, they said. Countries have previously avoided sending their navies to the warzone.
Australia has not signed the letter or offered to send ships. Bowen was asked about the letter just earlier. He said:
We certainly agree with the sentiment that we want Iran to stop its actions … Certainly the sentiment, that we want to see this situation in the Middle East sorted and Iran has a responsibility, is one that we support.
Delta confirms four flight attendants injured by turbulence on approach to Sydney
Four flight attendants on a flight descending into Sydney were injured by turbulence, Delta Airlines has confirmed.
Continuing from our last post, the airline shared more details about the event.
The Delta flight 41 from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered brief turbulence upon its descent into Sydney, with four crew members reporting injured and three taken to hospital for further evaluation.
The Airbus A350 had been carrying 245 passengers, none of whom reported injuries, and 15 crew members.
A spokesperson for Delta said:
Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and our customers, and our priority is taking care of the impacted crew members.
Updated
Three people taken to hospital after turbulence on flight from LA to Sydney
Three people were taken to hospital from Sydney airport this morning with injuries from reported turbulence.
Flightradar 24 shows a Delta flight 41 from Los Angeles to Sydney touched down at Sydney airport just after 6:40am local time, coming to a stop at 6:47am. The flight had been due south-west but turned north-west about 50km from the NSW coast, to fly into the airport from Sydney’s north.
Ambulances were called to Sydney airport at about 6:45am, a spokesperson for Ambulance NSW said. Paramedics assessed five patients at the scene for injuries believed to be related to turbulence on the flight, with three taken to Royal Prince Alfred hospital with “varied minor injuries” including to their back, the spokesperson said.
Patients at the hospital declined to share their condition with the media.
Updated
More fuel could be released from national stockpile if needed, Bowen says
The energy minister has said Australia could release more fuel from its strategic reserves should petrol or diesel start to run short.
Chris Bowen emphasised that Australia has enough fuel supply while acknowledging the government had powers to ration fuel if needed.
Bowen said the strategic reserve of fuel was part of the government’s contingency plans if fuel supply dried up in late April, by which time all the fuel shipments booked before war broke out will be complete. He said:
Our plan involves continuing to work with industry to ensure refineries are working full-pelt. We will release more of the strategic reserve if we have to, but only if we have to. It’s there for a rainy day … If I’m satisfied that releasing that strategic reserve is necessary to ensure supply to Australians, I won’t hesitate, but only in that eventuality.
Bowen was also asked whether petrol rationing was being considered. A week ago, he was clear the option was not being contemplated, but today he said this:
Governments have powers, should supply be very severely disrupted, but the important message for Australians is that supply is not being disrupted at this point.
Asked about reports the government has considered raising taxes on gas exports, Bowen repeatedly said he wouldn’t comment on cabinet processes.
You expect the treasurer and treasury with his senior ministerial colleagues to be working through potential options.
Updated
Australia’s only two oil refineries will keep their government subsidies
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, has announced the federal government will keep subsidising Australia’s only two remaining oil refineries.
Viva’s Geelong refinery and Ampol’s Lytton refinery in Brisbane will continue receiving fuel security payments to continue making petrol in Australia, after six months of negotiations over an existing deal, Bowen said.
Bowen added that renewable energy sources were securing Australia’s electricity needs:
No international crisis can impact the sun or the wind and the fact we now have more renewables in our grid into our system is more secure as well as being cheaper to run .
Newspoll: More than one in five set to vote for One Nation in SA election
A Newspoll published in The Australian this morning shows (as all the other polls do) Labor cruising to a crushing win in tomorrow’s South Australian election.
And it shows One Nation’s support is 22% (as did a YouGov poll in The Advertiser yesterday) but that the Liberals are sitting on just 16% (YouGov had them at 19%).
What will it mean? You tell me. My only prediction is that there will be some who, seeing the Liberals get smashed, conclude that means the party should move further to the right.
The One Nation vote is lumpy, so it could mean a rural or regional seat is sitting on 40% but a metropolitan seat on 10%. They could pick up a few seats or none – preference flows along with that lumpiness make it hard to predict.
Former federal firebrand senator Cory Bernardi – who stands by some pretty appalling comments he made back in 2012 – is set for an eight-year term in the upper house, and will likely be joined by one or two others.
Stay tuned tomorrow, we’ll be here watching the tally room.
Coastal north Queensland faces flooding before tides ease today, BoM says
Tropical Cyclone Narelle should leave the Cape York peninsula by tonight, BoM senior meteorologist Angus Hines says.
After making landfall an estimated two hours ago, the cyclone is “carving a path” between the Lockhart River and Coen, Hines told the ABC.
Rivers could burst “anywhere across the Cape York Peninsula” with those north of the Daintree river at most risk, he said.
Low-lying coastal areas also face inundation and flooding as tides rise, with Cairns already facing high water levels, though tides are expected to ease over the course of the day, Hines said.
The cyclone is expected to cross the Cape York peninsula over the next 12 hours and reach the Gulf of Carpentaria coastline by 10pm this evening, before resurging as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone impacting the Northern Territory on Saturday night.
Updated
Gas export profits demand new tax, Australian Conservation Foundation says
The Australian Conservation Foundation has called for an immediate new 25% super profits levy on all Australian gas exports.
Surging energy prices amid war in the Middle East are expected to hand windfall profits to Australian gas exporters.
The government has asked Treasury to work up options to impose a new levy on gas companies, the ABC has reported. The energy minister, Chris Bowen, did not reject calls for a new tax this morning, saying it was a matter for the treasurer.
The ACF’s chief executive, Adam Bandt, said the revenue from a new tax could be directed towards households under strain from rising petrol prices. He said:
It’s disgraceful that oil and gas corporations are profiteering from human and environmental destruction by hiking their prices. In the coming budget, the federal government can and should tax big gas corporations to fund cost of living relief.
The federal government can provide relief for Australians being stung by high prices at the petrol station and the supermarket checkout by reining in the greed of the gas giants.
The Greens have also called for a 25% tax on gas exported from Australia, which they say would have generated $17bn in annual revenue based on pre-war numbers.
Updated
Flooding and road closures as cyclone hits far north Queensland
The Cook Shire council in far north Queensland is reporting floods have closed five roads and hundreds of customers are without power.
Foxton Avenue/Kid Street, Finlayvale Road, Mossman Mt Molloy Road, Peninsula Dev Road and Rykers Road have been closed to traffic this morning as they’re overtaken by flood waters. Photos on the flood camera boards show Coen’s bridge and south-bound roads have been overtaken by water.
Power outages have left 73 customers without electricity in Coen plus 105 more farther south, the council estimates.
A Coen business owner, Sara Watkins, says winds picked up and strengthened over the last three hours. The Exchange hotel, where she is sheltering, still had power, she has told the ABC.
The community is waiting for the council to supply food and drinking water when it is safe to do so, Watkins says. Herself and another store owner believe they have 10 days’ worth of tinned and frozen food as long as power is restored and keeps freezers working. Watkins adds:
There was a bit of anxiety but everyone got themselves prepared. They stocked up on food, we sold a lot of camping gas stoves. Everyone is really ready for it.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle had 195km/h winds at landfall
The Bureau of Meteorology has just confirmed that Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle made landfall at around 7am Queensland time with sustained winds of 195km/h, making the system a “top-end Cat 4.”
That means that Narelle was only 5 km/h short of being a category 5 system at landfall.
This perhaps explains why in the past 24 hours there has been some uncertainty in the forecasts over which category the storm would be as it crossed the coast.
Queenslanders ‘have their wits about them’ as Tropical Cyclone Narelle hits, premier says
Queenslanders are being careful and following safety warnings as Tropical Cyclone Narelle hits, the state premier says.
David Crisafulli says people in far north Queensland are experienced with severe storms and paying attention to alerts to prepare.
The overwhelming reports were that people were doing the right thing … [The cyclone is] a big system but people have got their wits about them. They know what to do.
Nearby councils have helped people find shelter in evacuation zones, with residents seeking refuge and leaving towns like Coen, in the cyclone’s path, Crisafulli says:
We said first and foremost – you need to have a plan and stick to it. And for most people, that means going into a safe room in their own home.
Others will choose to go and be with friends or family, which is always another good option if they believe that their home, for example, predates 1982, which is when the new building systems came in.
Others chose to go and seek refuge in one of the council refuge centres and the council, which is the Cook Shire council in that case, accommodated those residents in Coen.
Updated
Rainfall totals over 500mm expected from cyclone, 300 power outages
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has continued to provide updates on Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle as it makes landfall.
There have been over 300 power outages, 73 in the town of Coen, which sits right in the cyclone’s path, Crisafulli said. Essential services could lose power and some areas could face long-term power outages but teams are standing by to reconnect them, he said.
We are going to experience loss of electricity and the damage is likely to be significant with a system of this size.
Health services are in position on the ground and 14 schools have been closed, Crisafulli said. Telecommunications companies have set up generators and fuel capacity to try to keep contact lines online.
Flash and river flooding is expected and heavy rain has been recorded, with 150mm in the last 24 hours at Wenlock River and nearly 150mm at Wujal Wujal and Coen, the BoM’s Matthew Collopy said.
Rainfall totals could exceed 200mm from Ingham up the coast to Lockhart River and across the Cape, while north of Cooktown rainfall will exceed 500mm, he said.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle hits Cape York coast
The Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is crossing the Cape York coast “as we speak” as a category-four system, senior BoM forecaster Matthew Callopy says.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has just spoken, saying:
There is the prospect the eye of the system might pass over the town of Coen. If this occurs, people will feel great intensity and then a lag. It’s really important that people don’t leave their homes.
We’re expecting storm surge as far south as Cairns.
There are 14 schools in the area that are closed. Everything north of the Daintree in the Cape area will be closed.
I want to assure Queenslanders that final preparations have been made. You saw footage of our emergency services staff going door-to-door. That is still happening.
Crisafulli continues:
My message to Queenslanders is very clear: stay where you are. It’s a remote part of the state. It’s not a highly populated part of the state, but it’s a part of the state that matters to us.
Just know we will flick the switch from response to recovery.
Updated
Fuel stockpile flowing to service stations, Bowen says
Chris Bowen has said service stations are starting to receive the millions of litres of fuel released from national stockpiles.
Bowen said a “low single digit” percentage of the country’s service stations were “fully out of fuel”, while speaking to ABC Radio National.
Australia is home to about 7,000 petrol stations, so at least 70 are out of fuel, or 1%. In New South Wales alone, the state government yesterday said about 40 petrol stations had no fuel and another 40 had no diesel.
A week ago, Bowen authorised fuel companies to release nearly a fifth of their mandatory reserves. He’s confirmed most of that – 519m litres – is beginning to flow to terminals and service stations across the country:
It predominantly flows from Brisbane and from Geelong, which is a lot better than having it flow from Texas, where it used to be held … It does take time to get to every single service station, but it is already flowing.
Bowen also sidestepped questions on whether the government should levy a new windfall tax on gas exporter profits, as energy prices surge:
The treasurer’s made clear that tax reform is on the government’s agenda, and he’s considering the way to maximise the efficient collection of tax in Australia, but that’s not something that I’m focused on at the moment.
Updated
Listen now: How Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is changing politics – Full Story podcast: Newsroom edition
Following on from that poll suggesting One Nation could wipe out the Nationals, this morning’s Full Story podcast covers the minor party’s surge.
Guardian Australia’s Josephine Tovey, Mike Ticher and Sarah Martin explain why the electorate is flocking to the rightwing political movement, and what major parties can do to win voters back.
Listen to the Full Story podcast here:
Nationals facing One Nation wipeout: new poll
A new poll suggests the Nationals would be wiped out by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation if a federal election was held today, with minor party replacing the Coalition as the largest opposition force in the parliament.
A new Capital Brief/Demos Au poll – run using the Multilevel Regression and Poststratification (MRP) polling method – finds Labor would win 77-86 seats in the lower house, with One Nation winning 46-55 seats.
Demonstrating the dire straits facing the Coalition, the poll finds the Liberals would win 9-15 seats and the Nationals just 0-2. The Greens and the crossbench would win just a handful of seats.
Seats where One Nation is firmly in front include; Fairfax (QLD), Fadden (QLD), Canning (WA), Forrest (WA), Wright (QLD), Lyne (NSW), Monash (VIC), Capricornia (QLD), Dawson (QLD), Hinkler (QLD), Wide Bay (QLD), Grey (SA), Nicholls (VIC), Flynn (QLD), Parkes (NSW), Wannon (VIC), Cowper (NSW), Gippsland (VIC), Maranoa (QLD), Calare (NSW), Indi (VIC), Mallee (VIC), Groom (QLD).
Polls are not predictive – especially with the next election not due for two years – but the numbers will be a wake-up call for the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, and the new Nationals leader, Matt Canavan.
Tomorrow’s South Australian state election is firming as the first major test of One Nation’s polling surge.
The MRP model generated primary vote share estimates for all 150 House of Representative electorates. It uses age, gender, education, income and other demographic information.
Updated
Energy minister dismisses Malaysia’s warning on fuel imports
Chris Bowen has dismissed warnings Malaysia could cut its supply of petrol to Australia, saying the south-east Asian government had not threatened any Australian imports of fuel.
Australia imports billions of dollars of oil and petrol from Malaysia each year. A Malaysian embassy spokesman has told the Australian Financial Review the country would prioritise its own needs before considering demand from overseas.
Bowen, the energy minister, said there was no threat to Australia’s fuel supply from Malaysia. He told ABC Radio National:
It’s a very broad statement by the Malaysian government, just a general sort of statement there. It wasn’t a particular announcement that they were taking any particular action.
Malaysia produces refines a lot more fuel than Malaysia or Malaysians would need at any given time. We continue to talk to all our partners across Asia at various levels.
The Malaysian government has taken no action to threaten the supply of fuel to Australia and all the ships that we’d expected to arrive have arrived. But we continue to engage them.
Updated
Greens call for windfall tax as surging gas prices give exporters ‘free ride’
The Greens are urging the federal government to slap a 25% levy on gas exporters as early as next week to raise billions of dollars in revenue to capture windfall profits as global energy prices soar amid the war in the Middle East.
The minor party’s leader, Larissa Waters, wrote to Anthony Albanese yesterday offering to pass a new bill in the Senate over the next fortnight as parliament returns.
On Wednesday night, Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, which it shares with Qatar, in a move expected to significantly raise gas prices. The US president, Donald Trump, has also claimed the US would “massively blow up” the gas field if Tehran strikes Qatar in a retaliatory attack.
Waters wrote:
Even if the war ended tomorrow, the restoration of these production facilities will take months to years. While this supply shock will hit consumers and businesses right around the world, it will produce a deep and sustained financial windfall to Australian LNG exporters.
The Greens claim a 25% tax on gas exported from Australia would have generated $17bn in annual revenue based on pre-war numbers.
Waters added:
This $17bn in revenue could easily be dedicated to urgent cost of living relief, such as free public transport for the duration of the fuel crisis. Millions of Australians are doing it tough, and these rich corporations should not get a free ride while people are going backwards.
Updated
‘Eerie feeling’ as water shut off and electricity to be lost in far north Queensland
Far north residents in the path of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle say they have taken shelter as winds begin to swirl in the remote Cape York Communities.
Sara Watkins, the owner of Coen Mechanical and the Little Bush Pantry in the township of Coen – population about 330 – say they moved to a more secure brick building when the winds picked up about 4am, local time.
The wind has really started to pick up, you can hear a couple of things moving around outside.
Watkins said there had been an eerie feeling in the town waiting for the storm. Now all they can do is watch as the cyclone arrives.
Until the wind started it was so still. It was raining but it was really still. That’s not like Coen, when it rains it pours and the wind moves about.
In Coen there are a lot of old properties that have been through cyclones in the past, they are standing but they’re not cyclone rated by any means.
Water services have been turned off but locals in Coen say they still have power. That will likely be shut off as well in the coming hours.
Updated
Waves of near-record heights smash Cairns coastline
One of the challenges posed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is the lack of weather monitoring infrastructure in remote parts of Cape York.
The only weather radar in the cape is at Weipa – on the western end – and that radar is starting to show rainfall and winds from Narelle.
BoM senior forecaster Kristy Johnston told ABC Radio Far North that wind monitoring in the cape was “quite sparse” and that most of the observations about Narelle had been made by satellite.
The nearest wave monitoring station is in Cairns, more than 600km from the northern cape, where Narelle will cross later this morning.
Waves of more than 4m were recorded in Cairns. That is unusually high – comfortably within the top 10 highest ever recorded.
Updated
Property damage, power outages expected from Tropical Cyclone Narelle
Tropical Cyclone Narelle has been moving towards Australia “very swiftly overnight” and will cross the coast “in the next hour or so”, BoM senior meteorologist Angus Hines says.
The system is still on track to bring widespread damaging or destructive winds and heavy rainfall with possible flooding across the Cape York Peninsula, Hines has told ABC TV.
While the system has been downgraded from category five to category four, it will still bring wind gusts over 200km/h and even as high as 250km/h, Hines says:
Winds of that speed are pretty hard to imagine if you haven’t experienced them before. They are just so, so strong, capable of uprooting really large trees or completely stripping them of their branches.
It can also cause extensive damage to properties in the path of those very strong wind gusts as well as power outages.
The cyclone is expected to take 12 to 18 hours to cross the Cape York peninsula and move into the Gulf of Carpentaria, Hines said. It will likely strengthen and intensify back to a severe tropical cyclone by the time it arrives on the eastern side of the Top End of the Northern Territory on Saturday night.
Updated
NSW pushes for per capita GST model after worst distribution yet
The New South Wales government will call for the distribution of GST according to overall population share when it lodges its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into 2018 goods and service tax reforms today.
NSW, Australia’s most populous state, emerged as the main loser from this year’s GST carve-up, its share shrinking from 86c to 82c for every dollar its residents pay, the lowest since the tax was introduced in 2000. By contrast, Western Australia received an extra $5.5bn, thanks to the 2018 sweetheart deal struck with the then treasurer, Scott Morrison.
Under the deal, WA is guaranteed to receive no less than 0.75c back from every dollar it pays.
The NSW government says a per capita distribution would see it receive an additional $3.2bn next financial year. As a compromise, it has also suggested reverting to the pre-2018 model, but with the federal government funding a guarantee no state received less than 50 cents for every dollar it pays in GST.
The state treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, says:
The whole of the federation would be better off if we allocated the GST by population share, with the federal government using their balance sheet to prop up the smaller jurisdictions.
That is what we are arguing for. But we are also presenting a compromise proposal to push for change.
Updated
Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall in ‘next hour or two’: BoM
BoM meteorologist Kristy Johnston is giving an update on Tropical Cyclone Narelle to ABC Radio Far North.
She says the system is expected to make landfall between Lockhart River and Coen “in the next hour or two”.
“We do know that cyclones do have a bit of a habit of their movement being interfered with by the coast and sometimes they stall … I’m not sure that this is going to happen here, it’s got quite a good western trajectory.
Narelle has been downgraded to a category four but Johnston puts that in context: the sustained winds from the system are 195km/h and the threshold for a category-five system is 200km/h.
It is expected to maintain its intensity as it moves inland, as [a] category four [system] as it moves past Coen, [and is] still expected to be a category two or three as it’s moving over the peninsula.
Johnston says locals should expect the strongest winds to last six to 12 hours.
Updated
Iranian footballers ‘have been taken hostage by Australia’, Tehran official says
Iran’s foreign affairs ministry has suggested the country’s two remaining footballers who sought asylum in Australia are being forced to remain in the country.
Five of the seven members of Iran’s women’s soccer team who claimed asylum in Australia last week later changed their mind and have returned to the country.
Australia’s Iranian diaspora has raised concerns that the country’s regime may have pressured some players to return home.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 program, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, was asked if the two remaining players were being kept in the country against their will. He replied: “I guess so.”
Baghaei reiterated claims that the women were taken “hostage” in Australia:
They didn’t seek asylum. They were forced to. They were coerced to. They didn’t do it voluntarily.
Baghaei said he was “quoting their coach” in making the claims.
They were invited to go to a room under the pretence of clarifying the doping or something like that. And then they put the paper beside them ... you can be given asylum.
Updated
Hello, I’ll be taking you through today’s breaking news. Thanks to Martin Farrer for opening our live blog.
Fuel taskforce will prioritise regional areas, says minister
The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a new fuel taskforce will prioritise regional areas as petrol and diesel flows from the nation’s stockpile.
Yesterday the Albanese government appointed Anthea Harris, the former chief of the energy regulator, to head a national fuel supply taskforce.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30, King said the taskforce would ensure the released fuel reached service stations that had run out of supply “as soon as possible”:
There is a priority that fuel does go to regional areas and the places where it is needed.
They have to come out of the storage tanks, as you can imagine. There has to be arrangements and we are doing work that would ordinarily take weeks. It’s being done in days to ensure it does get to those petrol stations.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle on track to hit Queensland coast as category-four storm
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is on track to make landfall in Cape York this morning, likely as a “high end” category-four storm.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update suggests the system – which had been tracking as a category-five tropical cyclone – has weakened slightly overnight but remains a significant danger to a number of communities in Queensland’s north.
Sustained winds of 195km/h – with wind gusts up to 270km/h – have been recorded.
Satellite imagery shows Severe Tropical #CycloneNarelle moving over the Coral Sea at around 25km/h on Thurs. The eye of the cyclone is clearly visible, as are bands of showers emanating from the system, bringing heavy showers to the tropical north. Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh pic.twitter.com/z1Tgn0xXi3
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) March 19, 2026
Emergency warnings have been issued for the Lockhart River, Port Stewart and Coen.
Narelle is expected to make landfall between 7am and 10am, Queensland time (8am and 11am AEDT). Tracking maps show the cyclone heading directly towards the small town of Coen.
It remains about 110km from the community and is moving about 21kmh.
Cyclones typically weaken when they reach landfall but the intensity of Narelle means it could remain destructive as it crosses Cape York and eventually reaches communities in the western cape.
Authorities are warning of combined threats – strong winds, heavy rain, flooding from already-swollen river systems and a storm surge as the cyclone arrives in conjunction with a high tide.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Luca Ittimani with the main action.
There’s plenty of news about but the main action this morning is in far north Queensland, where a huge and fierce storm is about to make landfall.
Tropical cyclone Narelle has dipped just below the most severe category-five level as it approaches the coast, with the town of Coen bracing for a hit.
Narelle will make landfall within hours and we’ll bring you all the news as it happens.
