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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Nino Bucci and Emily Wind (earlier)

Wild weather across three states – as it happened

Brittany Higgins X (Organization) Ashley Paul Griffith Linda Reynolds Anthony Albanese Australia Rory Amon Victoria Anne Hollonds Bruce Lehrmann
Anglers fish from a pier on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne on Monday as wild storms batter Australia.
Anglers fish from a pier on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne on Monday as wild storms batter Australia. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

What we learned; Monday 2 September

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Here is a wrap of the main stories on:

We will see you back here tomorrow.

Updated

Sydney council loses court fight over inquiry, shutdown

A local council embattled by claims of widespread dysfunction has failed in a court bid to stop the NSW government appointing administrators and holding a public inquiry, AAP reports.

A damning interim report found problems with Liverpool city council’s recruitment processes, procurement irregularities and allegations of a toxic work environment.

Justice John Robson found the interim report had been published without procedural fairness to the council.

However, he rejected claims that the NSW minister for local government Ron Hoenig or the deputy secretary of the Office of Local Government Brett Whitworth showed actual or apprehended bias in releasing the report.

He dismissed the majority of the case and ordered submissions on costs.

Liverpool city council can appeal against the decision.

Updated

Closing submissions in Reynolds-Higgins defamation trial continue

Rachael Young SC, Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, says Linda Reynolds’ damages must be assessed by “how far her reputation has fallen” since mid-2023, not when the allegations publicly aired in February 2021.

Young says the evidence shows that “harm and hurt” to Reynolds from Higgins’ social media post in July 2023 was small or nonexistent.

Young quoted a British politician, who once said: “For a politician to complain about the press is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea.”

Young said damages for politicians, whose reputation is often not changed as a result of defamation trials, have historically been quite small as a result.

Higgins’ defence said the hurt and damage was primarily experienced in February 2021 and not as a result of the three social media posts published by Higgins in mid-2023.

Updated

Higgins’ lawyer continues closing submissions in Reynolds’ defamation case

Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, is now turning to one of her client’s social media posts in 2023, accusing Linda Reynolds of attempting to “silence” sexual assault victims.

Young points to Reynolds’s submission to the ACT board of inquiry in 2023, run by Walter Sofronoff.

In Reynolds’ 2023 submission, she said new or expanded offences should be introduced in the ACT. Those laws should prevent people from “deliberately publicising allegations of an alleged criminal act, where that person has a reckless disregard, or is recklessly indifferent, to the risk of hindering a court, tribunal, commission, board or other entity in the exercise of its functions in a legal proceeding or an investigation by doing so”.

The senator said:

We submit that individuals should be deterred from using the media and/or Parliamentary forums to advance their own interests in relation to an alleged criminal offence that ought properly be the subject of the criminal justice processes.

When shown the submission in court last month, Reynolds said it was not her intention to recommend the laws extend to sexual assault complainants.

Young said Higgins’ claim on social media that Reynolds was trying to “silence” sexual assault victims through the submission was justified.

Damaging winds still a threat in Victoria

A severe weather warning remains in place for a huge section of Victoria, according to the latest emergency warning.

Vic Emergency says damaging winds could affect people from Warrnambool, in the state’s south-west, all the way to the far east of the state, stretching to the NSW border.

Evidence from Linda Reynolds and her partner ‘confused’ and ‘inconsistent’, court told

Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has argued evidence given by Linda Reynolds and her partner, Robert Reid, was “confused”, “inconsistent” and “at worst ... designed to minimise their keen and partisan interest” in the 2022 ACT criminal trial against Bruce Lehrmann.

Young pointed to contemporaneous notes kept by Reynolds’ psychologist, April Jones, which noted the senator was “very distracted” by the case but was “comforted” that her partner, Reid, was attending the trial.

The notes read: “Rob in Canberra keeping an eye on the case”.

Young said Reid’s “interest” was an “understatement”, alleging he was a keen eye for the senator in Canberra while she was on an international trip.

The criminal trial against Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Higgins in Parliament House was aborted due to juror misconduct. He pleaded not guilty and has always denied the allegations. A second trial did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.

Updated

Reynolds-Higgins case continues

Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, told the court during his opening arguments that pictures and correspondence of Higgins during her time in Perth showed a “young” and “vivacious” young staffer in the two months after her alleged rape.

Reynolds told the court last month she was in “no way skilled or experienced to be having those sorts of conversations”.

The fact she was smiling in pictures on the campaign trail “does not diminish the fact she was suffering distress”, Young added.

Young pointed to a series of text messages she said showed Higgins was struggling during her time in Perth on the campaign.

In one message, Higgins wrote she was “beyond shitty” with how her boss, Reynolds, was dealing with the alleged sexual assault, adding: “I was literally assaulted in [Reynolds’] office and I collectively maybe took 4 days off/was offered jack shit in terms of help.”

Young added Reynolds failed to offer a “basic human response” by following up with Higgins about her welfare following the 1 April 2019 meeting and while she was campaigning in Perth.

The trial continues.

Updated

Here’s the latest from the Reynolds-Higgins case

Rachael Young SC, Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, is outlining the ways she argues Linda Reynolds “mishandled” her former staffer’s allegation of rape.

Young said Reynolds’ claim she was “not a counsellor” for Higgins was strictly true. But it remained that she was her boss and that the event had happened in her ministerial office.

During a meeting between the Liberal senator and Higgins on 1 April 2019, Young said Higgins was concerned about losing her job and became upset after the upcoming federal election was raised.

Young said Higgins had to choose between going to Perth to help with the Liberal party’s campaign or working from home in the Gold Coast to be with family and her support network.

Young said given these events – and after being told by Reynolds she should talk to somebody else – show the meeting was mishandled.

Updated

Environment watchdog powers may be weakened to pass parliament, PM says

Anthony Albanese says the government is considering watering down a proposal for a new independent environment watchdog in a bid to get the legislation through parliament.

The Greens and crossbench senators have called on the government not to further weaken the “already weak proposal” for a new national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by abandoning a plan to allow the regulator to handle development proposal decisions.

Such a move would mean the proposed agency would only handle law enforcement and compliance.

You can read more on this story here:

Updated

Reynolds-Higgins case resumes

We’re back from the lunch break in Perth for the defamation case brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against Brittany Higgins.

We’re resuming with Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, who continues to deliver her closing arguments. We’ll update you shortly.

The climate crisis and weather warnings

There’s a lot of wild weather about, and as we know, that’s because of the climate crisis. Here is a piece from Saturday in which Graham Readfearn spoke to some experts about some of the “gobsmacking” weather recorded in August:

Updated

Emergency fire warning near Tomago in Hunter region

The NSW rural fire service has issued an emergency warning for a blaze near Newcastle, in the state’s Hunter region.

According to the warning, issued at 3.20pm, the fire is burning near Tomago, and anybody nearby is being warned to shelter immediately as it is too late to leave.

According to the warning:

A bush fire is burning in the vicinity of Old Punt Road approximately 3km south of Heatherbrae. The fire is burning in an easterly direction towards the Tomago Road. The fire has burnt through 9 hectares and is yet to be controlled. People in the vicinity of Tomago Road and Westrac Drive are advised to seek shelter now or as the fire approaches to protect yourself from the fire. It is too late to leave.

Updated

More from the Reynolds-Higgins case

The eighth and final piece of evidence was evidence and contemporaneous notes from AFP deputy commissioner Leanne Close.

Close attended Reynolds’ office on 4 April 2019 for a meeting about the alleged sexual assault, documenting the discussion in an official diary at the time.

Close’s notes record that Reynolds told her she and Brown “became aware on Tuesday that this happened on Saturday night - on my couch there”.

The notes said the minister pointed to the couch and said “we found out through a DPS report”.

Close provided evidence in the trial last month, saying she was “surprised” and immediately concerned when she realised they were meeting at the location of the alleged assault.

“I was thinking, we’re sitting in the middle of a potential crime scene that hasn’t been forensically examined and I also was concerned about the security implications of two people being in the senator’s office having sex on a couch,” she said at the time.

On Monday, Young said Reynolds’ claims she did not about Higgins’ alleged rape prior to 1 April 2019 should be rejected.

The closing arguments will resume after the break at 2.15pm Perth time.

More on the Reynolds-Higgins case

Young said other pieces of evidence included Reynolds’ concern for Higgins’ involvement in the incident and limited memory prior to the 1 April 2019 meeting.

Young said Reynolds knew she had been offered employee assistance services, that she was seeing a doctor following the incident and that Brown had gone to the finance department for further advice on how to help Higgins.

As shown in an email to the court dated 29 March 2019, Finance’s advice said going to the police should be Higgins’ choice and that she should be made aware of sexual assault and family violence help line, 1800Respect.

Reynolds also told the court in August she was comforted that Higgins’ father was visiting her in Canberra shortly after.

Young said Reynolds’ instructions to Brown to refer the case to the Australian Federal Police demonstrated she thought a sexual crime might have occurred.

No one “reasonable” involves the federal police unless they suspect a crime has occurred, Young argued.

Updates from the Reynolds-Higgins case in Perth

We’re breaking for lunch in Perth where Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has been delivering her closing arguments in the defamation case brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds.

Shortly before the break, Young outlined to the court the eight pieces of evidence she said would demonstrate Reynolds knew Higgins had allegedly been raped in her office prior to holding a meeting there on 1 April 2019 with her.

The first piece of evidence was the Department of Parliamentary Services security incident report signed off on Wednesday 27 March 2019 and handed to Reynolds and her then chief of staff, Fiona Brown.

The report “ought to have rung alarm bells” to the senator, Young said, as it detailed Higgins appeared to be affected by alcohol and was later found by security officers on a couch in the then minister’s office in a state of undress.

Updated

Violent winds lead to flight cancellations

At least 90 domestic flights scheduled to depart from Sydney Airport had been cancelled on Monday because of high winds, Guardian Australia understands.

More on that story here:

Hailstorm hits Melbourne

Hail blanketed the ground in Melbourne this afternoon, only to be replaced by sunshine minutes later.

Melbourne’s inner west and the CBD were hit about 2.40pm, with the sun out a short time later as the wild weather continues.

Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Nino Bucci will be taking you through the rest of our rolling coverage this afternoon. Take care.

Grass fire continuing to burn north of Newcastle

Just earlier we reported that a grass fire in Tomago, north of Newcastle in the Port Stephens region, had been upgraded to a watch and act alert.

The NSW RFS said it is continuing to burn in an easterly direction towards Tomago Road, and is “expected to impact within the next two hours.”

Tomogo Road is currently closed between the intersection of Cabbage Tree Road and Masonite Road to the Old Punt Road roundabout, it said.

More domestic flight cancellations at Melbourne and Brisbane airports

At Melbourne Airport, eight departing flights have been cancelled, and ten arrivals cancelled, amid the strong winds.

And at Brisbane Airport, five departures have been cancelled and six arrivals.

Dozens of flights cancelled amid strong winds in Sydney

A spokesperson from Sydney airport said it is using just one of its three runways due to the high winds:

Due to high winds Airservices Australia are operating our east-west runway, which may cause some delays throughout the day. We encourage passengers to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.

Sixteen domestic flights out of Sydney have been cancelled, according to the airport’s website, while 24 domestic arrivals have also been cancelled.

A severe weather warning remains in place for damaging winds. The Bureau of Meteorology says damaging winds averaging 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts of around 100km/h are likely.

Updated

Housing approvals bounce back but market still subdued

A surge in new apartments has fuelled a rebound in sluggish housing approvals, as the federal Coalition floats the possibility of withholding GST payments from states if they don’t meet construction targets.

As AAP reports, there was a 10.4% increase in the number of dwellings given the green light in July, driven by a 32% jump in new apartments, Australian Bureau of Statistics building approval figures show.

While the monthly figures were a boost from a 6.4% drop in June, approval numbers are still down 5.1% compared to the five-year average.

The jump in July approvals has been driven by an increase in high-density housing, with more than 2500 apartments signed off in buildings that are nine storeys or higher.

The Coalition has flagged the possibility of withholding GST and infrastructure payments from jurisdictions if they fail to meet housing targets. Opposition infrastructure spokesperson, Bridget McKenzie, said the measure could be a way to put pressure on states to ease the housing crisis.

The resources minister, Madeleine King, hit out at the proposal, warning it was a way of denying states such as Western Australia their share of GST.

The proposal coincides with the Greens launching a plan for increased protection for renters. The party said it would set up a renters protection authority to enforce national standards for tenants.

Updated

Grass fire in NSW Hunter region upgraded to watch and act

A grass fire in Tomago, north of Newcastle in the Port Stephens region, has been upgraded to a watch and act alert.

The NSW Rural Fire Service said the fire is burning in the vicinity of Old Punt Road, moving in an easterly direction towards Tomago Road.

Anyone near the industrial area in Enterprise Drive and Westrac Drive is being urged to prepare now.

Reporter: The across-the-board nature of the state’s cost-of-living relief does put more money in the pockets of people who are already spending and increases inflation, doesn’t it? Should it not be means-tested?

Jim Chalmers responded:

I don’t believe that the energy bill relief being provided by the WA Labor government is putting upward pressure on inflation. I do believe it’s helping people with their energy bills.

Let’s not lose sight here of what the Cook government and the Albanese government are trying to do. We recognise that people are doing it tough and we’re helping them with cost-of-living measures. In the tax system, energy bill relief, and in all the other ways I’ve mentioned today.

Higher interest rates slowing the economy, treasurer says

Asked if he had lost confidence in the RBA, the treasurer Jim Chalmers responded, “Of course I haven’t”.

A reporter also asked if rate rises are necessary, given the fact that inflation is “sticky”, and if blaming the RBA for “smashing the economy” is undermining their job?

Chalmers said he didn’t believe so:

I think it’s a fact – if you look at the economic data – that higher interest rates are slowing our economy. That’s a fact. That’s not an opinion. That is very clear from the data. That’s not taking a shot at anyone – that’s just recognising the facts of our economy right now. Of course when there are interest rate rises in the system, that has an impact on household budgets and an impact on the economy more broadly.

I don’t second-guess decisions taken by the independent Reserve Bank. I don’t pre-empt future discussions that they might make.

Chalmers said he wouldn’t discuss personal conversations he has had with the RBA governor, when asked about this.

‘The Australian people expect me to tell it like it is’: Chalmers on RBA rate rises

A reporter asked if repeated comments that the RBA is “smashing the economy” is an attempt to influence them? Jim Chalmers responded, “No.”

He said “higher interest rates have an impact on discretionary spending and retail trade and household savings – all the things that we see objectively in the data.”

Chalmers also said he “cherish[es] the independence of the Reserve Bank” and works closely with the governor:

Where our interests align and where our objectives align is on getting on top of this inflation challenge in our economy, which doesn’t smash people who are already doing it tough enough. I think it’s self-evident the interest rate rises already in the system are putting people under pressure and slowing our economy. And I think the Australian people, frankly, expect me to tell it like it is. And I’ve been making that point for some months. What I said overnight wasn’t new.

Treasurer defends comments that RBA is ‘smashing the economy’

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to reporters from Perth.

He has been asked about comments he made overnight, that the ­Reserve Bank is “smashing the economy” with its rate rises. Chalmers defended his comments and said he has been “making very similar points for some months now”.

The comments that I made overnight – those are things that I’ve been saying for some months now. They’re not new comments. Our objectives are aligned with the Reserve Bank, but we have different responsibilities.

I take responsibility for the government’s economic plan, which is all about turning big Liberal deficits into big Labor surpluses, rolling out cost-of-living relief in the most responsible way, fighting inflation, but doing that in a way that doesn’t smash an economy which is already weak.

Updated

Firefighters gain upper hand on fire northwest of Sydney

As we flagged earlier, the NSW RFS says it has gained the upper hand on a fire at Yarramundi, in the Hawkesbury area.

Children at the nearby Yarramundi YMCA camp had been safely relocated to the YMCA at Penrith. The RFS said Springwood Road is still impacted due to a number of downed trees, and shared these photos to X:

Gambling reform advocates dismayed after government defers action on national regulator

Gambling reform advocates have blasted the Albanese government for ruling out a national gambling regulator and pushing ahead with a partial TV ad ban only.

The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, yesterday said that the recommendation for a national regulator “would involve states and territories handing over their powers to the commonwealth”, confirming that “at this point, that is not in the discussions”.

The comments come ahead of cabinet today, which will finalise Labor’s plan to ban gambling ads online, in children’s programming, during live sports broadcasts and an hour either side, but limit them to two an hour in general TV programming.

Continue reading the full story below:

Reynolds engaged in ‘campaign of harassment’ against Higgins, court hears

The Liberal senator Linda Reynolds engaged in a “campaign of harassment” against Brittany Higgins, a court has heard.

Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, is delivering her closing arguments in Perth this morning and has claimed it was Higgins who experienced harassment from the former defence minister and her former boss.

Young said there were three key examples to demonstrate this claim:

Read more about Reynolds’ evidence as a witness during the first week here:

Taking questions, the PM was asked if the government would like to see a rate cut before the end of the year?

He said the RBA is independent. When pushed for his view, Anthony Albanese said:

I do have a view. My view is that the Reserve Bank are independent and that’s my view, and we don’t give instructions to the Reserve Bank. They’ll make their decisions.

Updated

Deputy PM provides update on submarine rotational force program

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, have been speaking to reporters in Perth.

Marles said the first meeting between the Commonwealth, state and local government levels was held in Rockingham on Friday, to discuss the submarine rotational force – including infrastructure and housing.

Earlier this year, defence housing had an open approach to market around the construction of new houses in this area, the leasing at volume of houses.

We’re also boosting the capacity, the accommodation capacity, here on Garden Island at HMAS Stirling, but we’re working very closely with both the Western Australian government and the local municipality to make sure that all those issues around infrastructure and accommodation and health, as you mentioned, are there up and ready by the time we get to 2027 which will be the beginning of the submarine rotational force.

Updated

Children relocated from YMCA camp amid bushfire

Earlier, the New South Wales RFS issued a watch and act alert for a bushfire near a YMCA camp at Yarramundi, in the Hawkesbury region. The fire is burning in an easterly direction along Springwood Road.

The RFS has just provided this update on X:

A number of children who were at the Yarramundi YMCA camp have been safely relocated to the YMCA at Penrith…

Firefighters have gained the upper hand on the fire. The fire has now been downgraded to an Advice level. Residents in the area should continue to monitor conditions.

Tasmanian workers have severe but non-life threatening injuries: minister

Tasmania’s police, fire and emergency management minister Felix Ellis has provided more information about the two workers who were injured in Tasmania overnight, while responding to the weather event.

Last night, a couple of road crew workers were injured as they were doing some work to repair from storm damage. As I mentioned, our hearts go out to them. I understand some of their injuries are quite severe. They are non-life-threatening.

'Significant delays' expected in returning power to 37,000 Tasmanians

Back at the Tasmanian emergency services press conference, fault lead from TasNetworks Ben Duffy has been speaking about the power outages.

He said at the peak of storm activity last night there were 47,000 without customers across the state, mainly around the north and northwest.

At the moment, its around 35,000 to 37,000.

We’ve seen extensive damage to powerlines … and our crews are working tirelessly today to assess that damage and restore where we can. We will see significant delays in restoration.

Obviously we’re working very hard with local government to provide places of safety throughout the state. At the moment, we have around 12 community centres available to those members of the community that are impacted.

He said some customers have already been without power for two days, and delays may be experienced “up to the next five days”.

Updated

Reynolds an 'unreliable' witness, Higgins' lawyer tells court

Rachael Young SC, Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, has told the court Linda Reynolds is not a reliable witness.

Young is outlining in her closing arguments 25 issues the defence has with Reynolds’ defamation case against Higgins. Among those is the Liberal senator’s reliability as a witness.

Young said Reynolds was “eager to argue her case” rather than answer simple questions. Young characterised some of Reynolds’ responses as “self-serving”, adding she could not answer simple questions without having them repeated numerous times.

Young said, on a number of occasions, Reynolds claimed she couldn’t answer questions without access to contemporaneous notes. Young said this showed the senator’s independent memory of what she knew on 1 April 2019 was unreliable.

Young said that the alleged conspiracy by Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, to “destroy the senator and bring down the Morrison government” could not be proven.

Young said the evidence instead showed Reynolds harassed Higgins by leaking confidential documents to the Australian newspaper and gave the impression of partisanship during the criminal trial against Bruce Lehrmann.

Reynolds also demonstrated she wanted to “shut off” the option for sexual assault complainants to go to the media or Parliament, Young said, as outlined in her submission to ACT board of inquiry, helmed by Walter Sofronoff.

Young said this amounted to trying to “silence sexual assault survivors”.

The hearing continues.

Jason Milliner said the two workers who were injured during the emergency response overnight were contractors for State Growth.

Certainly our thoughts go with those two workers who were injured assisting with the current weather event. We certainly wish them a very speedy recovery.

50 roads closed across Tasmania amid flooding

Jason Milliner, commander of the southern district with Tasmania Police, is next to speak. He told reporters that police attended 528 incidents overnight across the state.

He said there’s currently around 50 roads closed across the state, and police were focused on the Derwent Valley given the evacuation warning.

If you don’t need in those areas, please don’t be there. Please don’t be on those roads. If you are driving on the roads in hazardous conditions, just remember your safety, remember your distance between the vehicle that you’re driving the vehicle in front of you – headlights on, slow down, and be cautious with your driving. Community safety is of paramount importance to us.

Parts of Tasmania expected to become inundated over the next 24-48 hours

Just circling back to the emergency services press conference in Tasmania:

Mick Lowe is continuing to take questions from reporters. He said there would be areas which will become isolated over the next 24 to 48 hours:

And we ask people to make informed decisions and understand the danger in and around the areas they’ll be living or working in…

Floodwaters are very, very dangerous. We ask anyone to please not play or walk or drive through floodwaters. It is a serious situation. The last thing we want to see is a loss of life through people just not behaving or not assessing the risk correctly.

Updated

Brittany Higgins’ lawyer begins closing arguments

Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has begun with her closing arguments, describing the Senator Linda Reynolds’ claims as “meritless” and focused on the “wrong target”.

Young told the WA supreme court Reynolds’ “dogged focus” on events occurring in 2021 and 2022 demonstrated her focus was not on the three social media posts in 2023 she sues upon.

Young said the Liberal senator had tried to characterise Higgins’ motives as “sinister” and “gratuitous”.

Higgins’ lawyer said while Reynolds had outlined the hurt and distress she experienced by the events in 2021, it was Higgins who held the “heaviest burden”.

Higgins ultimately had an “altruistic purpose” in coming forward about her alleged rape and felt her “continued silence” would make her complicit in Parliament House’s poor workplace behaviour, Young said.

The hearing continues.

• This blog post was amended on 2 September 2024 to make it clear Rachael Young said Linda Reynolds had tried to characterise Brittany Higgins’ motives as “sinister” and “gratuitous”. A previous version incorrectly stated that Young said Reynolds’ motives were “sinister” and “gratuitous”.

Updated

Almost every SES member in Tasmania has assisted with response during past week

Mick Lowe, executive director of the SES, is next to speak. He said there were 347 requests for assistance last night.

That’s coming off a busy week that’s seen around 760 requests for assistance since Tuesday with this prolonged weather event that we’ve been working through…

There are currently 20 warnings that are in place, with one emergency warning to evacuate which is in the Derwent River, and around the Meadowbank area. We’re continuing to monitor these conditions. Overnight, we are expecting some damaging winds tonight.

He said crews were “fairly fatigued at this point after several days of action” and are being rotated.

I think we’ve had almost every SES member who’s on our books in and around the community helping over the past week… It’s about 700 fantastic volunteers across the state.

He said the two workers who were injured were not SES volunteers.

Update on flooding in Tasmania

Simon Lewis, senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, is next to speak with the media in Tasmania. He said the strong wind gusts had subsided, “but we’re not completely out of the woods”.

We are starting to see winds and gustiness ease across the state today, but… we’re obviously very concerned about the flooding.

We’ve had significant rainfall accumulations over the last 6-7 days across many parts of the state. The most significant flooding is occurring in the Derwent River catchment, but we’re currently forecasting record levels just below Meadowbank Dam, which is translating to a flood peak expected near the major flood level this evening about Macquarie Plains.

Fortunately, further downstream at New Norfolk, it doesn’t look as though we’ll see quite such significant flooding, with the flood forecasts for there currently expected to remain minor.

Two Tasmanian emergency workers injured

Emergency service personnel in Tasmania have been providing an update on the flooding across the state, particularly in the Derwent Valley where an emergency evacuation warning has been in place.

They said effects on businesses and homes are starting to be seen in particular areas of flooding. They also said two workers were injured overnight:

Overnight, we’ve sadly had two workers who’ve been injured while they’ve been undertaking their work, and our hearts go out to them and their loved ones, and it’s a reminder to our community that we have people doing very difficult work in very trying conditions, and we appreciate the community’s understanding as we work through that.

Updated

Highway closure south of Sydney amid grass and bush fires

A bushfire has broken out along the Princes Highway, south of Sydney, impacting traffic.

One of two southbound lanes between Princes Highway and Appin Road have been closed, according to Life Traffic. Emergency services and Transport for NSW are responding to the incident.

Motorists are urged to reduce their speed and exercise caution. The NSW RFS wrote on X:

Firefighters remain on scene of a fire burning on the eastern side of the Princes Highway at Maddens Plains. The southbound lanes of the Princes Highway have been closed.

Meanwhile, the M4 motorway between Roper Road and Wallgrove Road in Sydney has been closed in an eastbound direction due to bushfire smoke impacting visibility.

Flooding in Tasmania: in pictures

Here’s some images from Tasmania, which has been hit by flooding over the weekend.

Updated

Search continues for teen swept from rocks in South Australia

Police are continuing to search for a missing 16-year-old boy who was swept from rocks on an island south of Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.

SA police said in a statement that a police helicopter was searching waters near Granite Island for the Blair Athol boy, who went missing about 3.15pm on Sunday.

In a statement, police said:

Police and volunteers from the State Emergency Service are conducting foot searches of the area. Volunteer Marine Rescue and Surf Lifesaving SA vessels are on standby.

The search effort is being hampered by dangerous weather conditions in the area.

Updated

The final week of Linda Reynolds’ defamation case against Brittany Higgins has kicked off in Perth.

It doesn’t appear Reynolds herself is in the court yet this morning.

We’ll bring you updates as they come up.

Victorian premier defends Commonwealth Games blowout figure

Jacinta Allan stands by the estimate of cost blowouts of the $6.9bn Commonwealth Games after sporting officials in Scotland estimated they could host the event for $220m.

Commonwealth Games Scotland has outlined a proposal to host the event for a fraction of the cost. The model would be scaled down compared with Victoria’s proposal, with just 10 sporting events compared with 21. Most of the cost – $200m – would come from Victorian taxpayer money secured as compensation for the state’s axing of the games.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Allan said Victoria had been willing to step in to host the games if it provided long-term benefits for the state’s regions.

But when it became clear that more than $5bn for a 12-day sporting event just didn’t stack up, we made that decision. We are already delivering the sporting infrastructure, the homes, investments in regional tourism that were always the reason why we were focused on this.

What other jurisdictions may or may not be doing with the Commonwealth Games Federation, is a matter for them.

Last year, the Victorian government cancelled the state’s Commonwealth Games, citing costs ballooning from an estimated $2.6bn to almost $7bn. A report by the state’s auditor-general, released in March, stated the updated cost was “overstated and not transparent”.

Updated

Holiday park releases statement of condolence for woman who died when tree fell on cabin

Tasman Holiday Parks has released a statement of condolence, after a woman died at Merool on the Murray, in Moama, when a tree fell on her cabin overnight.

Officers found the body of a woman, aged 63, in the wreckage. A man, aged 63, was treated by paramedics for injuries to his right hand, and taken to Echuca hospital for further treatment. NSW police said a report will be prepared for the coroner.

In a statement, a spokesperson with Tasman Holiday Parks said:

We are devastated by the tragic events overnight at our park, Merool on the Murray, in Moama. Emergency Services are currently on site.

We extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of both cabin occupants and our thoughts are with the gentleman currently being treated in hospital.

We are also providing immediate support for our team on site who are understandably very distressed by this terrible accident. We will provide updates when available.

Albanese makes statement on six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas

In a post on X, Anthony Albanese wrote:

It is devastating to learn that six Israeli hostages have been killed by Hamas. Australians offer our deepest sympathies to their loved ones and all those who grieve their loss. Every innocent life matters.

The suffering and destruction from this conflict must come to an end. We stand with the international community in calling for the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Updated

Closing arguments in Higgins-Reynolds defamation case to be heard today

The closing arguments in the defamation case brought against Brittany Higgins by her former boss the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds will be heard on Monday, concluding a rollercoaster four-week trial.

Reynolds is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts, published in July 2023, which the Liberal senator claims damaged her reputation.

Higgins is in part claiming a defence of truth, saying Reynolds mishandled her rape allegation and did not properly support her.

Witness evidence over the weeks has dealt with the alleged harm Reynolds faced by the posts but has also spanned other events across the five-year period after Higgins alleged she had been raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann in the then defence minister’s office in Parliament House in 2019.

Lehrmann denies raping Higgins and his criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct. He is appealing a federal court finding in his failed defamation trial, which found, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Higgins.

Over the trial’s four weeks, the court has heard from a slew of politicians, including former prime minister Scott Morrison, journalists, staffers and family and friends of Higgins and Reynolds.

The closing arguments are expected to conclude by Wednesday. We’ll update you shortly once they begin at around 10.30am Perth time.

Children’s commissioner urges focus on child wellbeing at upcoming national cabinet

Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said it had been a tragic start to National Child Protection Week, after a second child has died in youth detention in less than a year.

Hollonds is calling on the PM – and leaders of all Australian governments – to make child wellbeing a key priority at national cabinet on Friday, after she tabled this report to parliament less than two weeks ago.

This devastating death of a child in the care of the state reminds us of all the other children who are also suffering every day, because of the failure of Australian governments to honour our promise to protect the human rights of our children. Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 but has failed to embed its principles into domestic laws.

Thousands of children each year are failed by inadequate support from health, education and social service systems, resulting in the child protection and child justice systems being chronically overwhelmed. The basic needs of Australia’s most vulnerable children – such as housing, enough food to eat, education and health care - are not being met.

In a rich and developed country these are preventable problems of our own making. These children are falling through the gaps created by our neglect and governments’ lack of action based on decades of evidence.

Brisbane childcare worker Ashley Griffith pleads guilty to child sexual abuse

Brisbane childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith has pleaded guilty to committing more than 300 offences against children between 2007 and 2022.

The 46-year-old was indicted on 307 charges in the Queensland district court this morning, before judge Anthony Rafter. The court room is packed, with some watching while standing.

Griffith appeared in person, wearing a striped polo shirt and jeans. A member of the court staff read each indictment, with Griffith saying “guilty” in a quiet voice to each.

The charges include raping a child under 12, indecent treatment of a child under 12 under his care, making indecent videos, and making child exploitation material. All of Griffith’s victims were girls he taught as a childcare worker at various centres.

A further 13 charges were dropped by the prosecutor at the start of the hearing.

The court will sentence Griffith at a later date.

Teal Independent considering running for seat of Pittwater in byelection

Jacqui Scruby, who ran against former Pittwater MP Rory Amon at the 2023 NSW election is considering running again.

Amon has been charged with 10 child sexual assault offences against a teenage boy after an investigation into an alleged assault on Sydney’s northern beaches. He said in a statement he denied all the charges and was resigning from state parliament. He also resigned from the Liberal party.

Amon won the seat by just 606 votes at the 2023 election. In a statement yesterday, previous candidate Jacqui Scruby said:

The resignation of Pittwater’s Liberal MP in relation to very serious criminal charges is confronting news and many in our community are in shock.

A lot of people in Pittwater, as well as journalists, have asked whether I will run as an independent again. I am taking time this week to hear from the community about what leadership and representation the people of Pittwater want.

I won’t be commenting further on Mr Amon’s case. It is now a matter for the police, the justice system, and the Liberal Party.

Updated

‘Terrible tragedy’: PM mourns teen’s death in custody

An Indigenous teenager’s death in custody has been labelled a “terrible tragedy” by the prime minister, AAP reports, but the federal government will not intervene.

A 17-year-old boy was found dead in his cell at the Banksia Hill youth detention centre in Perth about 10pm on Thursday, becoming the second person to lose their life in youth detention in WA in less than a year.

Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to premier Roger Cook about the matter. He told ABC radio:

This is a terrible tragedy. There needs to be, of course, a proper investigation.

Albanese has taken his cabinet to WA for a full ministry meeting, and Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy is expected to visit Banksia Hill today. But he confirmed his government would not step in, noting youth justice came under the purview of the states and territories.

The commonwealth isn’t about to take over the juvenile justice system of the states and territories. Canberra is a long way from WA … services historically have been best delivered by state and territory governments.

This incident follows the death of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd in October 2023 after he self-harmed in his cell at a Banksia Hill annexe site.

  • Lifeline: 13 11 14

Updated

Group takes on laws against hosting ‘lesbians born female’ event

The hearing into a case of alleged gender identity discrimination is under way in Melbourne as a gender-critical lesbian group takes on laws that prevent it from hosting “lesbians born female” events.

The Victoria-based Lesbian Action Group (LAG) is asking the administrative appeals tribunal to overturn the Australian Human Rights Commission’s October decision that it cannot exclude transgender or bisexual women from its public events.

The group had applied for a special exemption from Sex Discrimination Act laws that make it unlawful to discriminate against trans people, claiming that spaces for “lesbians born female” are necessary for equality and for the advocacy and wellbeing of lesbians.

But the commission was “not persuaded it is appropriate and reasonable to make distinctions between women based on their biological sex at birth or transgender experience”.

It is the second case in the same number of weeks to be exploring gender identity discrimination laws at the federal level. In August, the landmark case of Tickle v Giggle in August found in transgender woman Roxanne Tickle’s favour.

Should the tribunal find against the LAG, it is possible that the case could head to the federal court.

Updated

Victorians should plan for up to 72 hours without power, Commissioner says

A reporter asked about the power outages that have swept the state, and whether it could take up to a week to restore, like last time. Rick Nugent responded:

Last time there was over 530,000 homes without power, it was a very significant storm as well and there’s only a finite number of resources that are available.

We are advised and are led to believe that the vast majority will be back on power, I expect there will be some delays with that.

I did so yesterday to the community, please plan for 72 hours, be ready for 72 hours in the event that for some reason, it does take that long.

Updated

Taking questions, Commissioner Rick Nugent was not able to say if the woman who died in Moama was a local or on holidays.

As we reported earlier, the woman died after a tree fell on a cabin in southern NSW.

That matter is being investigated by NSW Police and they will provide a report to the coroner, but we don’t have any of those details.

The meteorologist said there would be a more pleasant day tomorrow, wind another cold front expected to impact on Friday:

After we get through that, the good news is we see a return to a more pleasant day tomorrow… On Friday [there will be] another passage of a cold front, we will have to issue severe weather warnings again.

But it looks like a standard springtime passage of a cold front with the damaging winds likely be confined to the more elevated parts of the state.

Kevin Parkyn said the coastal hazard warning remains in place for damaging surf, with waves above 8m recorded at Cape Bridgewater near Portland.

They will be with us for another 12 hours before we see a gradual reduction in those significant wave heights.

Kevin Parkyn said the severe weather warning for damaging winds could be cancelled tonight:

The expectation is that that warning will contract to largely coastal areas and Gippsland later this afternoon and with any luck, we’ll be able to cancel that warning tonight which I’m sure everyone will be relieved about.

141km/h wind gust recorded at Port Phillip Bay

Kevin Parkyn from the Bureau of Meteorology is now speaking with the media in Victoria.

He listed some of the notable wind gusts that were recorded:

When we look at some of the wind gusts that have affected Victoria in the last 12 hours, we saw 146km/h recorded at Wilsons lighthouse, 141 at Mount Hotham.

Those are not too unusual, it is pretty windy in those locations, but what is impressive is the wind gust recorded at Fawkner Beacon in Port Phillip Bay – 141km/h and that’s gotta be close to a record.

  • A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the wind gust was recorded at Faulkner Peak, rather than at the Fawkner Beacon.

Updated

Some homes may be uninhabitable after strong winds in Victoria

Circling back to the press conference in Victoria:

Commissioner Rick Nugent said that of the 2,800 calls for assistance the SES received, 1,452 remain active.

Many properties have been damaged due to this weather event, the storm that came through. There are some homes that are [un]inhabitable, we do not know how many yet because impact assessments need to be undertaken.

Updated

Tiger handler reportedly mauled at Gold Coast theme park

A tiger handler has been mauled at a Gold Coast theme park, according to media reports.

The Gold Coast Bulletin reported on Monday morning that a tiger handler at Dreamworld was rushed to hospital after a “nasty” encounter with a big cat left her with “multiple deep lacerations”.

A Queensland Ambulance Service media spokesperson confirmed that paramedics had transported a woman from Dreamworld Parkway to Gold Coast University “with arm injuries following an incident involving a tiger” at about 9am.

The woman, in her 30s, was in a stable condition.

Updated

Many Victorian volunteers missed out on Father’s Day celebrations

Commissioner Rick Nugent from Emergency Management Victoria is now speaking to the media, and noted that many volunteers missed out on Father’s Day celebrations yesterday:

Many of our volunteers and emergency service workers missed out on spending Father’s Day with [their families], so I really do thank them for their commitment and effort and professionalism.

I also want to thank the community – it is clear to us that community did listen to the messages over the past couple of days. They heeded the messages and took action, many people were not on the roads at the high-risk period and we are really pleased with that.

Updated

School closures, remote learning in Victoria amid weather

Jacinta Allan said that two government schools are closed today amid the strong winds, and “a number of non-government schools [also] asked their students to learn remotely today”.

Updated

121,000 without power across Victoria

The Victorian premier said around 121,000 people across the state are currently without power.

Jacinta Allan said almost 700 Telstra fixed-line customers were also not able to make or receive calls.

That work is being done to coordinate the response and restore services as quickly as possible.

People are still being urged to avoid necessary travel where possible, but if they need to go, “"please check the local warnings, please drive to local conditions and be mindful of fallen trees and debris that may be across local roads”.

More than 2,800 callouts for assistance in Victoria

Jacinta Allan said the SES had received over 2,800 calls for assistance since 7pm last night to 10am this morning.

Mostly for fallen trees and building damage, and to give you a sense of just how remarkable the response is from our SES – more than half of those cases have already been cleared …

That 2,800 number is expected to increase as Victorians assess the damage over the course of this morning.

Updated

Coastal communities urged to take shelter

Jacinta Allan said there is expected to be “localised” weather events today, following the severe weather overnight.

We are particularly urging communities in those coastal areas to prepare and take shelter … Areas of potential risk include the south-west coast, including the Bellarine Peninsula, parts of Geelong, Mornington Peninsula, Dandenong Ranges, Yarra Ranges, Alpine regions and also Macedon Ranges.

Updated

Jacinta Allan addresses media about severe weather in Victoria

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is speaking to reporters amid the severe weather lashing the state.

She sent her “deepest sympathies” to the family and loved ones of a woman killed after a tree fell on her cabin at Moama.

Allan also thanked crews who “worked overnight and are continuing to work through [today] for their incredibly selfless work during these difficult times”.

Updated

Government shouldn’t have excluded LGBTQ+ people from census, Thorpe says

Lidia Thorpe also said it was an “insult” to exclude the LGBTQ+ community from the 2026 census, and accused the government of being “very good at backflipping”.

She told ABC News Breakfast:

I thought it was an absolute insult from the beginning to not include gender diverse people, LGBTIQ people in the census. It’s our community, we are part of that community, and you can’t have governments deciding who is in and who is out of an community … I’m glad they have backflipped, but shouldn’t have done it in the first place.

Lidia Thorpe weighs in on NT government move to lower age of criminal responsibility

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was on ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning, and was asked about the Northern Territory plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10.

Country Liberal party chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, made the announcement last week after a landslide victory in the territory election.

Asked if she was concerned about the ages of children getting caught up in this system, Thorpe said:

In our community [10-year-olds are] still our babies … the prime minister needs to take leadership on raising the age of legal responsibility. The majority of children are First Nations children and the majority of children locked up have a disability. We’re locking up children with disabilities and the system is not broken – the system is designed to create harm, cause harm, and that’s exactly what it’s doing.

We need to have these kids back in the community having connection to country and culture and song and dance and that’s the sense of identity that, you know, I grew up with and a lot of our people grow up with, but this is what’s been robbed from these children. They’re not being educated in these systems, they’re not being loved in these systems, and when they come out, they are worse than when they went in. So, you know, this is about political points-scoring.

Updated

Victorian assess damage to properties after night of strong winds

Victorians have been assessing damage to their properties this morning, after awaking from a night of strong, gusty winds.

One Melburnian awoke to find a greenhouse had blown into their back yard – which they assume “belongs back over the fence”.

Another awoke to find their roller door, which had just been replaced, was bent in the winds:

Another person captured this “fresh blizzard blast” along Mentone Beach this morning:

And one Geelong resident said in their 40 years living there, they had “never seen winds as strong or continuous as the past week”, describing the weather as “horrendous”.

Updated

Meteorologist provides update on strong winds

Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Sarah Scully, has been speaking with ABC News Breakfast about the strong winds across southern Australia.

She described the weather situation overnight in Victoria, which has led to a huge number of calls to the SES for assistance – around 1,900.

We had the very strong cold front that pushed across Victorian and Tasmania overnight, moving through the Melbourne area around 2am … That front is moving into eastern parts of Victoria with the winds becoming locally destructive through that area there, but it’s still very windy through Melbourne and through on and south of the ranges of Victoria.

Scully said those winds are expected to start increasing across eastern NSW throughout today, particularly around Sydney in the next couple of hours and into the afternoon. This is coupled with an elevated fire risk for the Illawarra and greater Sydney.

She also said Tasmania’s peak windy night was on Saturday, and last night the focus was more on rainfall, with widespread totals between 40-60mm.

Updated

Strong winds impacted flights into Melbourne overnight

The strong winds overnight have had an impact on flights arriving into Melbourne.

Cebu Pacific flight 5J49 was meant to arrive at 11.18pm last night, but diverted to Brisbane and instead got to Melbourne at 5.27am.

Meanwhile, Vietjet airways VJ81 was meant to arrive at 11.41pm but diverted to Canberra, arriving at Melbourne at 2.53am.

Star suspended from trading by the ASX

The Star Entertainment Group has been suspended from trading by the Australian Securities Exchange.

According to a market announcement, it has been suspended “for not lodging the relevant periodic report by the due date”.

This comes after the Star entered a trading halt on Friday, after an inquiry into the casino operator handed down its report.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology has shared this forecast of the windy conditions ahead today, set to pick up again later in the week.

Large tree snaps from its roots in Melbourne

An Altona Meadows resident has shared footage of a large tree in their yard, which snapped from its roots during the damaging winds overnight:

Housing values growth cools nationally, demand falls

Australian home values have risen for a 19th consecutive month, AAP reports, but growth has slowed as more buyers are priced out of the market.

A cooling housing market over winter has been flagged, with CoreLogic data revealing a national growth of 0.5% in August. It’s slightly above the 0.3% increase recorded in July, according to its Home Value Index update released today.

But the pace of growth has slowed with the quarterly increase in national home values (1.3%) less than half the growth rate in the same three-month period in 2023, when it was 2.7%.

CoreLogic’s head of research Eliza Owen says the monthly gains were led by Perth, with a 2% increase, followed by Adelaide with a 1.4% rise and Brisbane with 1.1%. Monthly growth in Sydney was milder at 0.3% and home values fell slightly in Canberra, Melbourne, Darwin and Hobart.

Housing values cannot keep rising at the same pace in the midsized capitals of Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane when affordability is becoming increasingly stretched.

Particularly in the context of elevated interest rates, loosening labour market conditions and cost-of-living pressures.

Updated

Five bush and grass fires in NSW not yet contained

There are currently 37 bush and grass fires across New South Wales, the RFS says. Five of these have not yet been contained.

With Total Fire Bans in place for the Shoalhaven/Illawarra and Greater Sydney areas, strong winds are expected to pick up considerably over the coming hours.

Half of residents around Derwent River have evacuated ahead of major flooding

Mick Lowe, executive director of the Tasmanian SES, has been providing an update to ABC News Breakfast.

He said crews had been out door-knocking amid the evacuation warning, with major flooding forecast for the Derwent River.

We understand about half of those residents have now left their houses. We continue to encourage people to leave the area. Houses will become inundated and there are going to be a lot of houses in those rural communities that are going to become isolated over the next 24 to 40 hours.

In the past 24 hours the Tasmanian SES has received more than 340 calls for assistance, which Lowe said was “significant for a small jurisdiction like ours”.

The issue that we’re facing at the moment is the sheer volume. We are having to triage calls. We understand that there are a number of calls that are outstanding at the moment. We continue to work through those, and will do so throughout today and into this evening.

Updated

‘Everyone knows someone’: calls to expose rural DV risk

The quiet seclusion of a farm, winding rural roads and close-knit communities are all selling points of country life. But as AAP reports, those bucolic charms can also pose a threat to women experiencing domestic abuse.

Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Delia Donovan said:

Women exposed to family and domestic violence can be stuck ... and no one even knows what’s going on. In small communities women are also hesitant to report to the police; they’re really frightened of the backlash because everyone knows someone.

Donovan said the unique threats faced by rural women, such as the availability of farm weapons, poor transport connections and limited housing, need to be better recognised.

The state’s peak body for specialist domestic violence services is supporting the NSW Country Women’s Association’s annual awareness week calling for greater action on gendered violence.

The CWA’s campaign calls for sustainable funding for victim support services, as well as programs that can target perpetrator risks like gambling and drug and alcohol abuse.

Domestic Violence NSW has been lobbying for a 50% boost in baseline government funding for frontline services, along with a continuation of a trial that supports victim-survivors navigate the legal system.

Updated

Victorian energy minister says its too dangerous to make repairs in some areas

Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, says there were 141,500 homes without power across the state as of 8am.

This would continue to fluctuate as the weather progresses across the state, she said, following last night’s extreme wind.

There are hundreds of crews on the ground responding to the outages, but there are some areas where the conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs. Please stay safe: keep away from fallen powerlines.

Updated

Australia records warmest August on record

Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has reported that Australia just had its warmest August on record, with a mean temperature anomaly of +2.43°C compared with the 1991-2020 average.

He said this capped off Australia’s second-warmest winter on record.

Sydney had its hottest August day since 1995 last Friday, passing 30C.

Updated

‘Very dry and potentially dangerous’ fire conditions in NSW

NSW Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd spoke with the Today show just earlier about the strong winds forecast for the state, and elevated fire risk about the Illawarra and greater Sydney.

He said winds were slowly picking up about the coast, expected to peak around lunchtime and into the afternoon, “and that’s definitely driving up the fire danger”.

So through the Illawarra we’re expecting extreme fire danger, and for the greater Sydney area [there’s a] high fire danger …

Fires do start in these kind of conditions. They’re likely to escalate and escalate quickly and then potentially could actually impact on people or property. So that’s why those total fire bans are in place for those two areas today – and we want people to adhere to those warnings.

Shepherd said it’s not unusual to see fire bans in place at this time of spring, but typically “we do tend to see it more in the north of the state”.

We’ve seen a quick swing basically from being very wet across winter now to being very dry and potentially dangerous.

Updated

Major Queensland highway to remain closed after fiery crash

A major Queensland highway may remain closed for days after a fatal crash resulted in an explosion, damaging the road.

As AAP reports, the male driver of a ute died in the fiery head-on collision with a B-double semi-trailer on the Bruce Highway, near Bororen in central Queensland, early on Friday. The truck driver suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital.

The truck was carrying 42.5 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in fertilisers, when it exploded after the crash. The blast produced a damage radius of 500m and left a crater in the highway.

A section between Gin Gin and Calliope has been closed since Friday and is expected to remain shut off to motorists for days.

The state’s transport minister, Bart Mellish, said his department was handed back the site from emergency services on Sunday. It will now look to reopen the road to a single or dual lane operation over the “next couple of days”.

They’re working around the clock to get this section of the Bruce Highway sorted. This has obviously had a pretty big effect on the local area, with some pretty large diversions in place.

Inspections are under way to assess the road to determine whether it can be resealed and opened to motorists.

Updated

Speed reduced on West Gate Bridge amid gusty winds

The speed on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge has been reduced amid the gusty winds. VicTraffic said the speed had been reduced to 40km/h.

Please obey overhead lane signals, and drive with caution. Ensure your load is secured before departing, and watch out for debris blowing on the roadway.

Coastal warnings for NSW and Victoria amid damaging winds

A vigorous westerly airstream across Victoria is leading to large and powerful waves along the south-west, the Bureau of Meteorology says, and is expected to last until late today.

Tides are expected to be near or higher than the highest tide of the year.

Abnormally high tides are possible along the Gippsland coasts until late Monday. Damaging surf conditions are occurring over south-west and central coastal parts of the state, between the SA/Victoria border and Cape Otway and between Blairgowrie and Wilsons Promontory.

These conditions may produce localised damage and coastal erosion. Beach conditions in these areas will be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed area.

A 7.9m wave was recorded at Cape Bridgewater at 02:30am this morning.

Meanwhile in NSW, marine wind warnings are in place for much of the coast. Gale warnings are in place for Sydney’s enclosed waters, and the Macquarie, Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra, Batemans and Eden coasts.

Strong wind warnings are in place for the Byron and Coffs coasts, as well.

Updated

More than 25,000 without power in Tasmania

Meanwhile in Tasmania, more than 25,000 are without power, according to TasNetworks. The energy provider said on Sunday:

With more destructive winds expected, our highest priority remains the safety of our people and the community and although crews are still working hard to restore supply, the current weather conditions continue to make working at heights too risky in some areas. Customers are still advised to expect long delays.

Updated

Crews working to restore power across Victoria

Energy providers across Victoria have provided updates, as crews work to assess and resolve widespread power outages across the state.

Around 106,000 customers are without power with AusNet, who said crews are currently in the field assessing damage – “but weather is still affecting the network and it is very hazardous, so this may take a little longer than usual”.

United Energy said it is working to restore power to more than 20,000 customers across Melbourne’s south-east and the Mornington Peninsula. The hardest hit areas are in Dromana, Hastings, Flinders, RedHill, Mt Martha, Mount Eliza and Frankston South, it said.

CitiPower and Powercor said its crews were working to restore power for 34,600 customers, with extra crews responding to more than 239 individual jobs.

The hardest hit areas include Victoria’s southern region, the south-west coast, Geelong and the northern region including Shepparton.

And according to Jemena, 925 customers are without power.

Updated

Albanese’s approval rating slides in Newspoll

Satisfaction with the prime minister and the opposition leader has slumped, according to a Newspoll that puts support for Labor and the Coalition on a level pegging.

As AAP reports, the survey conducted for the Australian and published today registered disapproval for PM Anthony Albanese up four points to 54% while his approval rating fell two points to 41% – an overall reading of minus 13 that is the lowest for the Labor leader since 2022 election.

The opposition leader Peter Dutton’s support dwindled as well in the poll, also ending with a minus 13 net satisfaction rating.

The survey had Labor and the Coalition tied on 50% each on a two-party-preferred basis – the same result as the prior Newspoll three weeks ago.

On primary votes, the survey said the Coalition is down one point to 38% while Labor was unchanged on 32% and the Greens also level on 12%.

Support for other minor parties and independents remained steady on 11% while backing for One Nation rose one point to 7%.

The survey of 1,263 voters was conducted online between 26 and 30 August.

Updated

Victorian SES receives 1,900 calls for assistance

The Victorian SES chief operations officer, Tim Wiebusch, has just provided an update on the damaging winds across the state.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said there was been more than 1,900 requests for assistance overnight.

Certainly a very windy night and we’re still seeing an influx of calls this morning as people start heading off to work or school or other activities.

He said 1,350 calls related to trees coming down, either on to buildings or on to cars.

Fortunately no one [is] in those cars at this point in time. We have seen just over 350 homes that have been seen some level of damage as a result of the wind overnight.

Earlier the SES said it was receiving a significant number of calls, urging people to “please be patient and keep trying”.

Updated

Albanese government to open consultation on foundational supports system

The Albanese government has announced it will open consultation on the foundational supports system later this month.

Securing the passage of its NDIS legislation through the Senate after a last-minute deal with the Coalition has laid the groundwork for establishing supports outside the disability insurance scheme.

The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said the government will begin public consultation with “people with lived experience and their families and carers, disability organisations [and the] broader sector” about what support outside the NDIS “should look like”.

For these supports to be effective they must be shaped by the experiences, insights and voices of Australians with disability and their families.

The supports will be established outside the NDIS and will be jointly funded by the states and territories and federal government.

The first stage of consultation will cover general supports and open in the second half of September. It will be opened through webinars, online questionnaires, in-person events across the country and written submissions.

Consultations on targeted supports for specific groups will open in October.

Communications firm The Social Deck has been contracted by the Department of Social Services to assist with the consultations.

Updated

More than 100 intersections without power in Victoria

VicTraffic says more than 100 intersections across the state are without power, while road and lane closures are in place amid fallen trees and debris. You can view the full map of impacts online here.

Meanwhile, buses are replacing trains between South Yarra and Sandringham due to “extreme weather conditions causing damage”. There are also major delays on the Craigieburn line.

Strong winds are continuing to impact the overall train network:

Strong winds continue to impact the train network with some power outages and debris on the tracks causing delays. Please check before you travel for the latest information and stay safe.

Updated

Delays predicted at Melbourne airport amid strike action

Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted, with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am at the domestic airport.

Around 700 screeners and other airport security workers for Danish-based multibillion-dollar facilities management company ISS are taking protected strike action in order to demand what they say is a just pay offer from their employer and Melbourne arport.

The strike will come at a peak time for business travel between Melbourne and Sydney.

The international airport’s screeners made headlines recently when US actor and comedian Eric André claimed he was racially profiled in Melbourne airport’s security line when he was “pulled out of a lineup and put in a special line” where he was “sniffed thoroughly” by a security dog.

The comedian alleged the incident took place while travelling by Qantas international via terminal 2 at Melbourne airport, en route from Los Angeles to Brisbane.

Updated

Government and ABS to ‘work through issues’ regarding census, PM says

Sticking with Anthony Albanese for a moment, the prime minister also gave some new comments about the census question debacle.

After confirming the new questions on sexuality, gender identity and sex characteristic variations had been ditched last Sunday, the government faced a week of criticism from its own backbench, advocacy groups as well as political opponents.

The government later said the proposal had been dumped in an attempt to avoid “divisive” debates. Albanese returned from the Pacific Island Forum and said there would be one question on sexuality in his first comments on the issue. He later said that “nothing had changed” and the government was being consistent.

Yesterday, social services minister Amanda Rishworth said the proposed questions shown to the government by the ABS were too complicated. Albanese echoed that view later on Sunday saying some of the forwarded questions “weren’t appropriate to be tested”.

(The ABS goes through a rigorous process ahead of each census, testing each proposed new question before it becomes part of the documented sent to Australian households.)

Albanese said the government and ABS would “work through these issues”.

My government values every Australian, regardless of who they are, regardless of their sexuality, their race, their faith, their gender, we value every single Australian and people should be valued and respected for who they are, including their identity, and we’ll work these issues through constructively.

The ABS were going to go out and test some questions last Monday, why two years in advance is a matter for them, and that’s why we put a pause on that so that we could consider appropriate, appropriate questions that were easily understood by people when they get the census.

Government ministers have pointed to other avenues to collect data, which Albanese also appeared to reference.

The census in today’s world, with these little things that you’re holding there [pens and phones] there’s a range of data collected. It’s not all collected by paper and pens in 2026 and that is why we’ll work it through constructively.

Updated

National cabinet to discuss youth justice taskforce

Anthony Albanese says national cabinet will discuss the idea of a national youth justice taskforce. The PM was asked about the National Children’s Commissioner suggestion at a press conference late on Sunday, and said:

We’ll discuss [it] with [the] states and territories. I’ve got a national cabinet meeting this week. We discuss cooperatively with states and territories, and one of the things that we can always do is learn off best practice and have them engage with each other as well.

But Albanese maintained the ultimate responsibility remained with the states.

These services are delivered at the state level, the juvenile justice systems. The commonwealth do not have a direct role in them, but we’ll work cooperatively, and I’m sure that states and territories as well need to learn from these experiences.

The issue of youth justice is once again dominating the national agenda after a 17-year-old killed himself in a WA youth detention facility. He was the second teen to kill themself in just 10 months in the state’s youth justice system. Albanese said:

As I said, this is a terrible tragedy. This is the second in the last year, and we know that that is of great regret and will be a cause of much pain for the people who’ve lost loved ones.

  • Lifeline: 13 11 14

Updated

Albanese ministry in Western Australia

It’s all about Western Australia this week with the Albanese ministry in the west as it works to bed down seats ahead of the next election.

Anthony Albanese flew to Perth on Sunday along with senior ministers to kickstart the political assault.

Yesterday it was all about energy after the WA capacity investment scheme auction success (Chris Bowen said it was six times over-subscribed) and energy will continue to play a starring role while the ministry is in town.

The government is attempting to refocus the agenda on cost of living and its energy plan, with Peter Dutton’s nuclear sketch in its sights.

Updated

Circling back to the damaging winds and risk of flooding in Tasmania

The executive director of Tasmania SES, Mick Lowe, said there has been 347 requests for assistance overnight.

Over the next 24 hours, we are expecting weather conditions to ease across the state, however the risk of damage and flooding has not passed.

With damaging winds and rainfall, we’re seeing trees down across the state and I urge people to be alert, especially when driving on the roads.

Twenty warnings are currently in place, with an emergency warning to evacuate now in place for the Derwent River – as we flagged just earlier. Lowe said:

[Properties] face a significant risk of flooding and it is likely roads and properties will become inundated by flood waters and become inaccessible.

Two evacuation centres are open – one at the Derwent Valley Sport and Recreation Centre on Derwent Terrace in New Norfolk and another at the Memorial Hall in Circle Street.

Updated

More than 100,000 without power in Victoria

In Victoria, around 103,000 remain without power amid the severe weather.

A strong cold front over central Victoria to the east of Melbourne will continue to move rapidly eastwards today, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

The strength of these winds aloft, combined with scattered lines of showers and a few thunderstorms will continue to bring damaging winds to parts of the state today.

Conditions are expected to gradually ease throughout the state during late afternoon and evening today.

East of Melbourne, damaging winds averaging 50 to 65km/h with peak gusts of around 110km/h are forecast early this morning. West of Melbourne, winds averaging 50 to 65km/h with peak gusts of around 110km/h are forecast.

Here are some notable wind gusts recorded in the past six hours:

  • 133km/h wind gust was recorded at Mount Gellibrand

  • 131km/h wind gust was recorded at Falls Creek km/h wind gust was recorded at Cape Otway

  • 113km/h wind gust was recorded at St Kilda Harbour

  • 109km/h wind gust was recorded at Casterton

The Victorian SES says it is currently receiving a significant number of calls.

If you need emergency assistance for storm damage or flooding, please be patient and keep trying.

Updated

Extreme fire danger for Illawarra

There is an extreme fire danger rating across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven today in New South Wales.

There is also a total fire ban in place for the Illawarra/Shoalhaven and the greater Sydney region, which has a high fire danger rating today.

The far north coast, and the south-western region, also have high fire danger ratings today.

This comes as a severe weather warning for damaging winds is in place across parts of NSW and ACT today. For Sydney, the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, south coast and the Hunter, damaging winds around 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts of around 100km/h are possible.

Sustained 92km/h winds with 113km/h gusts were recorded at Thredbo at 2:43am this morning.

Updated

Woman killed after tree falls on cabin

A woman has died after a tree fell on a cabin in southern New South Wales, near Albury.

New South Wales police said it received reports a tree had fallen on a cabin at Moama about 3.50am this morning.

Officers found the body of a woman, aged 63, in the wreckage. She is yet to be formally identified.

A man, aged 63, was treated by paramedics for injuries to his right hand, and taken to Echuca hospital for further treatment.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Police were unable to say whether the tree was brought down by the damaging winds currently lashing parts of the state.

Updated

Evacuation order for parts of Tasmania amid flooding

A flood emergency warning has been issued for parts of the Derwent Valley in Tasmania.

Major flooding is likely along the River Derwent this morning, with Meadowbank, Glenora, Bushy Park, Gretna, Macquarie Plains and surrounding areas likely to be impacted.

TasAlert says that over the next six hours, some properties are likely to become isolated or inundated, property is likely to be threatened by flood waters, and driving conditions may become dangerous.

Following heavy rainfall in the last few days, the River Derwent below Meadowbank Dam is currently at 6.92m and rising, likely to exceed the major flood level (7.30m) this morning. It may peak near 7.50m later this afternoon.

There are 10 watch and act alerts in place for flooding across the state.

A severe weather warning for damaging winds is also in place for much of Tasmania’s west coast, including King Island and Furneaux Islands.

A 157km/h wind gust was recorded at King Island airport at 10:38pm last night. A 141km/h wind gust was also recorded at Mount Read, and a 135km/h gust at Cape Grim.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning, and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.

There’s lots of wild weather about today, with severe weather warnings for damaging winds in parts of NSW and the ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. More than 100,000 Victorians remain without power, with trees down and buildings damaged, and in Tasmania, there are emergency warnings in place amid flooding.

Meanwhile in NSW, there is an extreme fire danger rating for the Illawarra, and total fire bans in place for the Illawarra and greater Sydney. We’ll bring you the details on all of this shortly.

The Albanese ministry is in Western Australia this week as it works to bed down seats ahead of the next election. Amy Remeikis will bring us the latest on this in a moment.

And Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am.

As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or email – emily.wind@theguardian.com. – with any thoughts, feedback or tips. Let’s get started.

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