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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty and Stephanie Convery (earlier)

Queensland records 11th flood death; Australia reports 48 Covid deaths – as it happened

New South Wales Queensland Australia Lismore Covid-19 Sydney Dominic Perrottet Steph Cooke Shane Warne Victoria
State Emergency Service members seen near a flooded area in Richmond, New South Wales
State Emergency Service members seen near a flooded area in Richmond, New South Wales. Six deaths have been confirmed from the floods in NSW and 10 in Queensland. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

With that forecast for the days ahead (it does not look at all good, I’m afraid), we will close this blog now. Many thanks for your company, comments and correspondence. Be well, all of you.

The last word, today, must go to SK Warne. Teaching Kevin Pietersen all about Ashes cricket...

Vale.

Warne on Pietersen and the Ashes

More rain, hail and winds forecast for NSW coast over coming days

We know the next few days are turning wet again for the NSW Central Coast. Before then, there’s some wild weather around, with inland parts of NSW currently facing the threat of severe thunderstorms.

Large hailstones have been added to the “intense rainfall” and damaging winds that have been forecast for much of eastern Australia in the past week or so. That’s potentially bad if you’re between Dubbo and Bega.

Meanwhile, the bureau’s forecast for Sunday-Tuesday looks like some more heavy rain in the Sydney basin, such as in the Penrith area:

Flooding on the Nepean part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean was a problem a couple of days ago, and could be again.

Meanwhile, down the river at Richmond the forecast falls are almost as big (as they are in Sydney itself):

As you can see in this warning, the Hawkesbury could be back at major flooding levels having dropped back below them today:

Adding to all that local rain and runoff (everything is saturated) will likely be more spilling from Warragamba Dam.

The gauge at the dam – which is about 80% of the city’s reservoir capacity – collected 237mm in 48 hours last week to start spilling at the peak daily rate of 315,000,000,000 litres (or 315 gigalitres).

Cumulated falls in the Sunday-Tuesday period may come close to those totals:

In short: renewed evacuation warnings and orders might not be too far off.

Updated

Emergency services crews have reached the northern rivers town of Coraki, cut off for days by flood waters...

Updated

National Covid-19 summary

Australia’s vaccination numbers

  • There have been 54,505,583 vaccine doses administered in the national Covid-19 rollout up to Friday, including 92,169 recorded in the previous 24 hours.
  • More than 96% of people aged 16 and over have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 94.58% are double vaccinated.
  • A total of 11,818,742 people have received more than two doses – with a booster or top-up shot – an increase of 74,172 on the previous 24 hours.
A health care worker fills a syringe with Pfizer vaccine at a Covid-19 mass vaccination clinic in Perth
A health care worker fills a syringe with Pfizer vaccine at a Covid mass vaccination clinic in Perth. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Australia’s Covid numbers

* 26,063 new cases:

10,017 in NSW

5,721 in Victoria

4,152 in Queensland

2,289 in Western Australia

1,861 in South Australia

941 in Tasmania

696 in the ACT

386 in the Northern Territory

* The national death toll is 5,402 (+47)

Victoria 2,590 (+24)

NSW 1,938 (+10)

Queensland 589 (+12)

South Australia 188

ACT 34

NT 28

Tasmania 26 (+1)

WA 11

(Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states)

Hong Kong hospitals are struggling to cope with a surge in Omicron variant cases
Hong Kong hospitals are struggling to cope with a surge in Omicron variant cases. Photograph: Marc Fernandes/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Global coronavirus numbers

  • Cases: at least 443,419,476
  • Deaths: at least 5,988,994
  • Vaccine doses administered: 10,565,608,733

*Data current as at 1700 AEDT on 5 March, taking in federal and state/territory government updates and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures

Updated

A wrap of the NSW premier in the flood-ravaged north of the state. From AAP:

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said images and words cannot convey the catastrophic level of devastation wrought by floods in northern NSW, as he vowed not to “spare a dollar” in the recovery effort.

“The stories that we’ve heard up here, the images that we’re seeing, do not do justice to what we’re seeing on the ground,” the premier said from Lismore on Saturday.

“The strength and resilience of the people of Lismore, the strength and resilience of the people of the northern rivers, was on full display today.

“But after everything we’ve gone through as a state over the last few years I know we will get through this, as challenging as it seems.”

Dominic Perrottet alongside NSW emergency services and resilience minister Steph Cooke
Dominic Perrottet alongside NSW emergency services and resilience minister Steph Cooke. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/AAP

Perrottet said his government was “not going to spare a dollar” when it came to flood recovery.

The death toll from floods in NSW now stands at six, with the most recent fatality a man believed to be in his 40s whose body was found near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah, on Friday afternoon.

The premier said housing and homelessness would be a significant challenge in northern NSW through the recovery effort.

“People are hurting across the state, people are hurting in this particular area,” the deputy premier, Paul Toole, said.

“This is a catastrophic event and we know that they need help right now.

“This is going to be a long journey but the NSW government will stand side-by-side with these communities.”

The minister for emergency services and resilience, Steph Cooke, became emotional addressing criticism of State Emergency Service workers, calling it “unwarranted”.

“I know the SES has come under a bit of heavy fire in the last few days,” Cooke said.

“You guys have done an incredible job, particularly up here in the northern rivers.”

Cleanup efforts after the floods in Lismore
Cleanup efforts after the floods in Lismore. Photograph: Jason O’Brien/AAP

She said SES volunteers worked up to 20 hours a day carrying out rescues and helping people to safety.

The minister said the SES had her full support and the support of the NSW government.

In the northern rivers, some locals claimed on social media people in regional areas had been poorly serviced by the SES.

Cooke, who will soon take on the role of flood recovery minister, said NSW had asked the federal government for 5,000 Australian Defence Force personnel to help with the cleanup.

She said a group of 900 would arrive on Sunday.

“We’re really hoping that that does ramp up closer to that 5,000 mark really quickly, and we would really welcome that.

“When you see the task at hand in the streets of Lismore, we need every one of them.”

The cost in NSW is now more than $240m, according to the Insurance Council of Australia, while estimates taking in Queensland claims reached more than $1bn on Friday.

The ICA said it had received 67,537 flood-related claims, 24% from NSW and 76% from south-east Queensland.

A child paddles a boat in flood water in Richmond
A child paddles a boat in flood waters in Richmond. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

The federal government has meanwhile extended one-off relief payments to another 28 local government areas, the emergency management minister, Bridget McKenzie, and government services minister, Linda Reynolds, said.

“We continue to closely monitor the flood emergency and our hearts go out to those people whose lives are being devastated,” McKenzie said in a statement.

“We have made financial help available now because we know the economic impact of disasters like these are felt long after the flood water recedes.”

Toole earlier announced farmers would be able to access $15,000 immediately through commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements.

Grants of up to $75,000 are available for primary producers in disaster-declared local government areas.

Updated

This heartbreaking image from Lismore...

Updated

Fine start from the Australian vice-captain in the World Cup.

The Guardian’s liveblog is here. England has a mountain to climb, 311 to win...

Updated

Ben Doherty here, helming the blog awhile. Thank you Steph for your indefatigable endeavours.

But in further troubling news.

Queensland floods death toll rises to 11

Queensland police have reported their divers have recovered the body of a woman in water at Mudgeeraba this morning. According to a statement:

A co-ordinated extensive search operation was launched this week for a 42-year-old woman believed to be missing in flood waters at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast.

The woman was reported missing on Tuesday, March 1 and was last seen on Sunday, February 27 travelling in a vehicle on Gunsynd Road near Bonogin Creek.

Multiple police, Polair and dive squad officers have been searching in the area the vehicle was last seen.

Forensic examination and analysis will be required to confirm the woman’s identity with police to prepare a report for the coroner.

This brings the death toll from the floods in that state to 11.

Updated

There is a protest in Sydney ahead of the Mardi Gras parade today, and it appears to have marched down Oxford Street within the last hour.

Updated

South Australia records 100 Covid hospitalisations

South Australia has reported 1,861 new Covid-19 cases.

There are 100 people with Covid in hospital, 10 in intensive care.

Updated

The message from the NSW premier today is basically “whatever it takes” – how that will play out in practice for communities like Lismore, though, remains to be seen.

Updated

Steve Krieg, the mayor of Lismore, takes the mic briefly.

“You can’t call this a flood event, it’s a natural disaster of the highest order,” he says.

He is also adamant that the community can rebuild.

Perrottet follows him: “We need these communities the thrive again.”

Updated

Cooke continues:

We have operations occurring right across the state today. There’s a risk of thunderstorms and heavy rainfall right across the east coast and right down even into that Riverina area ... As the premier has indicated, if you’re the subject of an evacuation order or an evacuation warning, please do as the emergency services ask. If you’re the subject of a warning, please pack that emergency bag and be ready to go on short notice.

Updated

Stephanie Cooke, the NSW minister for emergency services and resilience, is up now. She says:

I just wanted to give the community an update to say that over the past couple of days there’s been 14,148 damage assessments. And of that, 946 premises have been deemed uninhabitable. So the task around housing and accommodation is absolutely enormous. And the premier this morning, the deputy premier indicated to government we’ll be doing everything we can to explore every available option in relation to helping people get back on their feet in the short term, medium and long term, and ultimately back into a place that they can call home. So that’s a focus of ours as well.

Updated

Dominic Perrottet gives NSW flood update from Lismore

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, is up now – he’s begun by expressing thanks, sympathies and similar sentiments to the flood-affected communities and the emergency services who have responded.

He passes over to the deputy premier, Paul O’Toole, who says they are expecting another 900 Australian Defence Force personnel rolling out tomorrow to help with the flood cleanup. They are hoping that will increase in the future.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media in Ballina on Friday
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media in Ballina on Friday. Photograph: Jason O’brien/AAP

Updated

We’re expecting the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, to speak to the media very shortly – he’s in flood-stricken Lismore today.

Updated

More on those summer temperatures: an interesting – and worrisome – sign is how warm Macquarie Island was during February. As the BoM says:

Macquarie Island, one of Australia’s remote islands about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica, had its highest summer temperature on record on 8 February when it reached 17.0°C. Both the 17.0°C on the 8th and 14.6°C on the 9th exceeded the previous annual record of 14.4°C on 10 December 1984. The extraordinary high daily temperatures were likely due to a local Fohn wind effect in a west-southwest airstream.

This is an exceptional event in statistical terms, as temperature variability at Macquarie Island is usually very low, especially in summer. Before this event, the record daily maximum temperature anomaly at Macquarie Island in February was +3.5°C – this has been more than doubled in one go to 8.2°C, a February record by 4.7°C and a record for any month by 2.6°C.

It might be a remote area, but the Southern Ocean is an important influence on Australia’s climate. Big departures from long-term averages generally don’t augur well.

Updated

Amid all the warnings, the Bureau of Meteorology has found time to post some of its monthly weather reports for February – if not yet for the summer.

On the rainfall last month:

And as for summer rainfall as a whole:

February mean temperatures were pretty close to the long-run norm, unless you spent it under a rain cloud:

Summer, meanwhile, was almost three-quarters of a degree above the 1961-90 yardstick used by the BoM.

Updated

Tomorrow’s forecast for south-east Queensland is not good.

Western Australia records 28 Covid hospitalisations

WA has reported 2,289 new Covid-19 cases. There are 28 people in hospital with no one in ICU with Covid at this stage.

Updated

Northern Territory records one Covid death and 48 people in hospital

The Northern Territory has reported the Covid-19 death of a man in his 50s from a remote community in East Arnhem.

There were 386 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the NT in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

There are currently 48 people in hospital, with eight requiring oxygen. There are two patients in ICU.

Updated

Victorians awaiting their third Covid-19 vaccine are being asked to donate blood to aid research, AAP reports.

Some 60.5% of Victorian adults have received three vaccine doses.

The innovation and medical research minister, Jaala Pulford, met with Covid researchers on Saturday.

She said the state’s Covid-19 Vaccines Collection biobank, located at the Doherty Institute, was seeking up to 1,500 blood donors to aid research:

This new biobank will be a key part of managing coronavirus going forward while allowing researchers to monitor the effects of vaccines and prepare for any new strains.

Victoria’s innovation minister Jaala Pulford visits the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne
Victoria’s innovation minister Jaala Pulford visits the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

The biobank will provide insight into the effectiveness of vaccines and the long-term effects of Covid-19, while also helping experts prepare for new strains of coronavirus.

Victorians due to receive their third dose are eligible, with donors providing blood samples over two years, including before and after receiving a third jab.

Pulford said the elderly, people living with HIV, healthcare workers, people who’ve been infected with coronavirus and those who are immunocompromised are strongly encouraged to apply.

Updated

Queensland faces further severe storms as the mud army of volunteers continue with the flood clean-up, with early estimates suggesting the damage bill could top $1 billion
A resident cleans a house as the mud army helps clear debris from homes affected by flooding at Fairfield in Brisbane. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated

$558.5m announced for flood-affected communities in Queensland

Financial support is now available for small businesses and organisations in Queensland’s flood-affected communities, AAP reports:

The federal and state governments have announced an initial $558.5m package for the state.

Grants of up to $75,000 will be available to primary producers, while there will be $50,000 grants for small businesses and not-for-profit organisations, and $20,000 grants for sporting and community clubs.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said on Saturday: “From the start of these floods we have said we are in this together and this extraordinary assistance package is an example of just that.

“We will continue to work with all impacted communities, and local governments, to identify what additional support may be required as Queensland’s recovery commences.”

One person was still listed as missing in the south-east Queensland flood zone on Saturday morning.

The elderly man was seen falling from a boat on the Brisbane River near Breakfast Creek on 26 February.

Ten people have died in the major floods in Queensland triggered by days of record-breaking rain which pummelled the state’s most heavily populated region between Gympie and the NSW border.

Whole communities remain cut off by flood waters, close to 8,700 properties are still without power and up to 17,000 homes and businesses have been submerged and damaged.

Conditions eased on Friday, and while thunderstorms and showers are forecast over the next few days, the Bureau of Meteorology is not predicting widespread significant rainfall.

Catchments in the flood watch area remain very wet and rain may cause localised rises in creeks and rivers, but it’s not expected to worsen the current flooding situation.

Australian Defence Force members – referred to as the mud army – help clear debris from homes affected by flooding at Fairfield in Brisbane
Australian Defence Force members – referred to as the mud army – help clear debris from homes affected by flooding at Fairfield in Brisbane. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated

Some new photos showing flood devastation in the NSW northern rivers region:

Flooding across the NSW northern rivers has caused mudslides and destruction across the region
Flooding across the NSW northern rivers has caused mudslides and destruction across the region. Photograph: Yaya Stempler/The Guardian
An aerial shot from Mullumbimby
An aerial shot from Mullumbimby. Photograph: Yaya Stempler/The Guardian

Updated

Australia’s drugs regulator has admitted that new social media advertising laws restricting the way therapeutic goods such as vitamins, supplements and skin products can be advertised on social media will be not be possible to enforce in cases where brands and social media influencers are posting from overseas.

The laws come into effect from July, and will bring social media advertising of therapeutic goods in line with regulations that apply to radio, television and other media.

Anyone who receives payment or other incentives to promote a product, whether it’s vitamins or an anti-fungal cream, will not be allowed to offer a testimonial on social media based on their personal experience of using it. This includes using “before and after” photos – a hallmark of many promotions for spurious products that claim to promote weight loss.

Read the full story:

Updated

Flowers, soft toys and tributes are seen outside Hillcrest primary school in Devonport, Tasmania
Flowers, soft toys and tributes are seen outside Hillcrest primary school in Devonport, Tasmania. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

More than $1.4m in donations will soon flow to the families of six children killed in Tasmania’s jumping castle tragedy, after legal issues over an online fundraiser were resolved.

Six Hillcrest primary school students were killed and three injured when the castle and several inflatable Zorb balls became airborne during final-day celebrations in December.

Zoe Smith, who grew up in Devonport, set up a GoFundMe page in the days after to help the families from her hometown, which received about 18,300 donations and raised $1,460,360.

However, the donations came up against legal hurdles in February, with the release delayed by complex issues managed by the state government and legal representatives of the fund’s initiator.

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, on Saturday said those issues have since been resolved, with the funds ready for release ahead of another fundraiser.

“I am pleased to confirm the outstanding legal issues surrounding the release of funds raised by Ms Smith’s GoFundMe campaign have today been resolved,” he said in a statement.

“Ms Smith’s legal representatives will shortly begin making contact with the families impacted by the Hillcrest tragedy to commence the funds distribution process.”

He described the fundraising as “nothing less than extraordinary”.

The AFL was holding a pre-season fixture between Richmond and Hawthorn at Devonport Oval on Saturday afternoon, which will act as a further fundraiser.

A flood of tributes left outside the school following the tragedy were collected by Devonport city council for use in a permanent memorial.

Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt, Addison Stewart and Chace Harrison died in the incident, which is being investigated by the coroner.

Updated

From our friends at AAP:

Australians are being warned about a potential rapid antigen test trap, with some outlets selling unapproved kits.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved more than 30 different tests for use in Australia that meet the country’s safety and effectiveness requirements.

RATs that fail to pick up at least 80% of positive cases are not approved.

“Unapproved versions may not work as expected, or work at all,” the medical regulator warned on Friday.

“(Unapproved RATs) have not been assessed by the TGA, meaning they do not come with the same assurances of safety, effectiveness and quality as those that have met Australian regulatory requirements.”

Concerns are also being raised about the repackaging or relabelling of tests that didn’t have all the components inside.

A rapid antigen test
A rapid antigen test. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

The warning comes as tens of thousands of Covid-19 cases are still being recorded across the country.

NSW registered another 10,017 infections on Saturday morning, while there were 5,721 in Victoria, 4,152 in Queensland, 941 in Tasmania and 696 in the ACT.

There were also a further 10 virus-related deaths in NSW in the latest reporting period, 24 in Victoria and 12 in Queensland.

Meanwhile, anyone who tests positive to the virus and is isolating during the NSW floods emergency is being urged to comply with evacuation orders.

Covid-positive people arriving at relief centres must notify staff, wear a mask and physically distance.

Updated

In case you missed yesterday evening’s post here, Steph Cooke, the NSW emergency services and resilience minister (and newly minted floods minister) was unable to join the daily emergency floods teleconference yesterday evening because she couldn’t get phone reception.

That, of course, perfectly illustrated the telecommunications problems that still beset the flood-hit northern rivers region of her state.

Cooke and the premier, Dominic Perrottet, are still touring the region, including a visit to Lismore. Neither were on this morning’s call, but telecoms again featured prominently, with the federal Labor member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, asking why one of the telcos wasn’t on the call.

Elliot also asked about troop deployment and was told there are 280 Australian Defence Force members on the ground, with a couple of thousand coming. It’s still not clear, though, when and where they will be deployed when they arrive.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet alongside newly minted floods minister Steph Cooke at SES headquarters in Ballina yesterday
Premier Dominic Perrottet with newly minted floods minister Steph Cooke at SES headquarters in Ballina yesterday. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/AAP

Thousands of people will have ongoing housing issues, but the immediate focus remains looking at how to support those who remain isolated.

One big issue is how many people will need to remain in evacuation centres and for how long. The use of private caravans will be among the topics of this evening’s call.

Also of concern was the danger to communities of exposure to contaminated water, and it seems many people are getting sick. People need to get more information about the threat and how to deal with it.

The Liberal MP Catherine Cusack said the authorities should aim to empower local people rather than bring them in from Sydney.

The Indigenous community displaced from Cabbage Island – you can read more about their plight here – was also mentioned as an issue needing management.

Tamara Smith, the Greens MP for Ballina, says Airbnb accommodation is one way that people are being housed.

Smith and fellow Greens MP David Shoebridge last week called on the government to establish “a dedicated, highly resourced, permanent agency” to be available to be deployed rapidly to assist the relief efforts like this one.

It’s an idea that hasn’t had much attention yet but deserves more heed. With scientists telling us that global heating affects EVERY weather event (some more than others), we’re likely to be needing such an agency more and more.

Updated

Queensland records 12 Covid deaths with 276 people in hospital

Queensland has reported another 12 Covid-19 deaths.

There are 276 people in hospital with 21 in ICU.

In the last 24 hours, Queensland recorded 4,152 new Covid cases.

Updated

ACT reports 39 Covid hospitalisations

The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 696 new cases of Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, with 39 people in hospital and two in ICU.

Updated

Insurance claims from NSW flood crisis estimated to have hit $1bn

More on the NSW flood crisis from AAP:

The NSW premier will visit Lismore after the city’s worst ever flood crisis left six people dead and looks set to cost insurers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The cost of the floods in NSW alone is now more than $240m, according to the Insurance Council of Australia, which said estimates from the total number of claims from NSW and Queensland peaked over $1bn on Friday afternoon.

The ICA said it had received 67,537 flood-related claims, 24% from NSW and 76% from south-east Queensland.

Concerns have been raised about the depth of the NSW government’s preparation, resourcing and response to the disastrous floods, with the premier, Dominic Perrottet, acknowledging on Friday it was likely mistakes were made.

Those will be identified when the government conducts its reviews and the premier pledged to “resource every level of government to a level that will provide protection to the people of our state”.

Perrottet, who will visit Lismore on Saturday, announced the emergency services minister, Steph Cooke, will soon take on the role of flood recovery minister.

Cooke said: “The immense scale of the flooding is unprecedented and we are putting equally unprecedented resources into the significant cleanup and long-term recovery effort.”

Updated

There is something happening on the ground in the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It may just be a ripple, or it could be a roar – another crack in Australia’s political landscape arising from the pandemic.

The full impact won’t be known until election night, but the number of people finding resonance with the “freedom” message of Clive Palmer’s United Australia party cannot be ignored.

The UAP has attracted some controversial figures and candidates, including at least two who have espoused views in support of Vladimir Putin. But disaffected voters right across the country, particularly from the migrant communities of western Sydney and western Melbourne that were hard hit by lockdowns, are also signing up to join the Palmer movement.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Last night was a historic one for live music in Australia, writes Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen: one of the world’s biggest rock bands travelling especially to play a full-capacity, one-night-only stadium show to 30,000 people – in a regional city, no less.

Announced just nine days in advance, the gig brought tourism back to the regions and large-scale live music back to the country, being the first concert of this size and scope in Australia since the pandemic began.

Read more here:

Updated

Four days ago Tasmanians Rachel Lehmann Ware and her husband, Duncan, received the call.

They had spent the past few nights in the basement of the school they worked in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital at the heart of the Russian invasion.

The couple and another teacher had 30 minutes to get to the other side of the city. It was their only hope to get out.

Lehmann Ware said:

I don’t know what the CEO did to get them, but he got us seats on the train and it’s almost impossible. We had 30 minutes to get there. We got there with literally 30 seconds to go. The driver, he was screeching down the streets of Kyiv.

The couple is now safely in Chernivtsi, a city in western Ukraine that is acting as a short-term haven for people trying to cross the border to Romania or Moldova.

Read more:

National Covid-19 summary

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia. We’ll add to this post as the state updates roll in.

NSW
Deaths: 10
Cases: 10,017
In hospital: 995 (45 in ICU)

Victoria
Deaths: 24
Cases: 5,721
In hospital: 250 (28 in ICU)

Queensland
Deaths: 12
Cases: 4,152
In hospital: 276 (21 in ICU)

Northern Territory
Deaths: 1
Cases: 386
In hospital: 48 (2 in ICU)

Tasmania
Deaths: 1
Cases: 941
In hospital: 16 (4 in ICU)

Western Australia
Deaths: 0
Cases: 2,289
In hospital: 28 (0 in ICU)

South Australia
Deaths: 0
Cases: 1,861
In hospital: 100 (10 in ICU)

ACT
Deaths: 0
Cases: 696
In hospital: 39 (2 in ICU)

Updated

Tasmania records one new Covid death, 16 people in hospital

The state has also recorded 941 new Covid cases.

The federal government is also offering Shane Warne a state funeral, per this long statement from prime minister Scott Morrison.

Updated

Australia’s national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research is to receive a $30.5m federal funding boost, AAP reports.

Announcing the pledge, health minister Greg Hunt said the work of the Lowitja Institute encompassed all areas that contribute to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, including social and cultural determinants.

In a statement on Saturday, Hunt said:

Improving health and social equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is one of Australia’s key heath challenges. Research is the driver to deliver safe, quality and culturally appropriate health care.

Hunt said all 20 projects supported by the Lowitja Institute in 2020-21 were led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, said Indigenous-led research would continue to be an important part of the government’s Closing the Gap framework aimed at reducing Indigenous disadvantage:

The institute has built extensive networks with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers, peak bodies, health organisations and communities to drive a comprehensive, collaborative health research program.

Updated

It was dry and sunny in Melbourne 10 days ago when Kimberley Reid was looking at images being spat out by a weather forecasting model – all isobars, arrows and splodges of orange.

The phenomenon forming in the atmosphere off Queensland’s coast – about 1,500km (930 miles) north-east of Reid’s computer screen – was nothing remarkable yet, but the channels of moisture she saw in the pictures are the subject of her PhD.

“Atmospheric rivers are quite easy to see,” she says. “I thought it didn’t look that strong. I was holding back from tweeting. I didn’t think it was going to get that big.”

Reid says atmospheric rivers are long, narrow regions between one and three kilometres up “characterised by really strong water flow. It is like a running river in the sky.”

A few days later, the river got stuck over an area of the Pacific Ocean a few hundred kilometres north of Brisbane.

Rain became torrential – like a tsunami from the sky. Politicians called it a “rain bomb”.

Reid has calculated how much water was in the river as it was flowing over Greater Brisbane.

The city itself got almost 80% of its annual rainfall in only six days up to 28 February, when the system started to move south. Brisbane had only ever recorded eight days of more than 200mm before the 2022 floods. But it saw three in a row.

Reid says over the course of the two heaviest days of rain, 26 and 27 February, enough water flowed in the atmospheric river above the city to fill Sydney harbour – that holds about 500bn litres – almost 16 times.

Read more:

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has offered a state funeral for Shane Warne.

Updated

Residents in NSW’s mid-north coast have been evacuated overnight ahead of more rainfall, as the state government announces funding for flood-affected primary producers, AAP reports.

The State Emergency Service ordered residents in low-lying properties in Croki to evacuate by 2.30am on Saturday, including people who live on Barton St, Ferry Rd and Reid St.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned flooding is possible near Croki about noon on Saturday during high tide, due to flooding around the Manning River, as dozens of flood warnings remain in NSW.

The warning comes as deputy premier Paul Toole announces primary producers can access $15,000 immediately through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Grants of up to $75,000 are available for primary producers in disaster-declared local government areas.

Toole said on Saturday:

We know it’s going to be a long road to recovery for our farmers, however this funding means they’ll have access to immediate support as well as in the crucial period of rebuilding ahead.

Updated

A bushfire burning north of Perth that had threatened homes and lives has been downgraded to a watch and act level, AAP reports.

The fire, which started on Friday near Gray Road in Bindoon, about 84km north of the West Australian capital, was downgraded as it was contained and stationary.

The alert area stretches from Hidaway Drive to the east, Forrest Hills Parade to the south, Teatree Road to the west and Mooliabeenee Road to the north in the western part of Bindoon.

Authorities said late on Friday evening that there was a lot of smoke in the area but no longer a threat to lives or homes.

“Although there is no immediate danger you need to be aware and keep up to date in case the situation changes,” the alert reads.

Updated

The scale of the devastation in the areas around Mullumbimby is quickly becoming apparent, reports Christopher Knaus and Susan Chenery.

It’s another disaster site in what are now being described as the worst floods in living memory.

The death toll rose to 16 on Friday, including six in NSW, after the body of a man in his 40s was found south of Murwillumbah, just north of Mullumbimby. Four more people have died in flood-ravaged Lismore and the estimated cost of claims across Queensland and NSW is now just over $1bn.

For Rosie Wild, as she grapples with what comes next, the $1,000 disaster payment offered by the federal government seems grossly inadequate.

It’s a frequent complaint in the area. There’s general goodwill towards the state emergency service and Australian Defence Force who are working in the region, tirelessly, to help.

But many who spoke to Guardian Australia are also clear on one thing: the state and federal government response in the area has been insufficient.

Read the full story:

Labor MP and shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers has been speaking on the ABC. He’s in Slacks Creek, in Queensland, and his comments about the floods are drawing attention to the Morrison government’s mostly un-spent disaster fund:

The people of Australia, particularly in these flood-affected communities, have been there for each other and now we need the federal government to be there for them.

There are some disaster payments being made available, but what this has really shone a light on is the Morrison government announced this big $4bn fund for emergencies and they didn’t spend any of it, and so all of that important mitigation that could have been done with some of that money hasn’t been done, so it has made communities more vulnerable than they should be, including communities like those in northern New South Wales and throughout south-east Queensland.

So, we’ve had three disaster seasons now since those billions of dollars were announced. We’ve got a policy to direct some of that money towards mitigation. That will also have a positive impact when it comes to insurance. The government has made the big announcement, but not followed through and that has made us more vulnerable than we need to be.

Updated

Social media is flooded with tributes to Shane Warne this morning but here’s a particularly special one.

If you’d like to read more, we’ve got a separate, dedicated liveblog going over here just for tributes to Warnie:

“I’ve never been to war before, but when you see a dead body and you know you just have to report it and then keep going. How do I even explain what this is?” said Kietah Martens-Shaw.

The 29-year-old has this week paused her life as a wellbeing and mental health entrepreneur in Byron Bay to work as an emergency responder conducting rescues in the flood ravaged areas around New South Wales’s northern rivers.

Her transformation is much like that of Mullumbimby, which has turned from a laid back community into a disaster zone.

The devastation in nearby Lismore dominated media attention in the aftermath of flooding this week. However over in “Mullum”, where the flood waters didn’t rise as high, the extent of damage is now becoming apparent.

Read the full story:

Fire and Rescue NSW have done us all a great service this morning by telling us about how they saved Sadie the dog from a tree, where she had been trapped for three days. According to the firies:

Crews from Lismore fire station were dealing with a major fuel leak emergency in Union Street, South Lismore, around midday on Wednesday 2 March, when one of the firefighters heard a whimper nearby.

He borrowed a kayak and went to investigate, discovering ‘Sadie’ the Bull Mastiff cross, entangled in vines, up to 5m off the ground.

The firefighter and a colleague fashioned a hook and eventually freed the dog.

She was taken to a vet and has been reunited with her owners.

Sadie is believed to have been swept away by floodwaters and into the tree before water levels subsided, trapping her.

Good girl, Sadie. You’re all right now.

Updated

Victoria records 24 new Covid deaths, 250 hospitalisations

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

Updated

NSW records 10 new Covid deaths, 995 hospitalisations

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

Updated

Once the waters recede it’s the smell that hits you: an unmistakable, miserable earthy stench that is impossible to forget once it has invaded your nostrils.

Brisbane resident Rachael Roberts has been through floods twice, first in 2011 and now in 2022:

The smell – oh my God – it’s putrid ... It’s this dank smell like clothes that have gotten wet and haven’t dried properly and another layer of something like sewage – it’s stuck on everything and you can’t escape it.

That smell is going to sear in the consciousness of thousands of south-east Queensland and NSW residents as they return to their flooded homes for a long and difficult clean up process over the next days and weeks.

Combined with the sight of your flooded home, it can be an overwhelming experience. Here, experts and people with experience of flooding share their suggestions for how to make the process as safe and smooth as possible.

Updated

Flash flooding warning now in parts of Victoria.

Trent Zimmerman also made some comments earlier on the flood crisis, connecting it to climate crisis (something we’re hearing this more and more from people in leadership roles – including from Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday):

Mitigation from climate change obviously has to be a focus for the federal government, particularly as we learn more about its impacts on the Australian continent and the government is spending billions of dollars in various areas from drought resilience to mitigation from the impact of climate change, but this has to be a growing area for governments, both state and federal, because whilst it’s always hard to identify a single event being due to particular factors and obviously we do know that we have El Nino affecting us in a big way at the moment, but we know that events like this will increase in frequency and severity and that’s why global action on climate change is so important.

Edited to add: I’m not sure if that’s an error of transcription or a misquote, but La Niña is the climatic phase associated with heavy rainfall, not El Niño.

Updated

We’re hearing from Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman now, who is speaking about Ukraine. Asked whether he thinks Australia has been dogged enough in its sanctions on Russia, he says:

I think Australia has led the way, pushing for a on the Swift payment system, supporting actions in the International Criminal Court. We have now put in place sanctions against 400 Russian leaders and oligarchs, obviously taking whatever actions we can to support the international sanctions regime. I still think we are seeing it evolve and stronger [sanctions] will be needed. It is incredible that in the 21st century we see a leader of a major power willing to take such dire actions against civilians in an unwarranted and unjustified way. These are scenes that none of us ever expected to see in Europe in our lifetime.

The latter part of that comment is a little awkward – as many commentators have been saying, since this conflict began, we have seen major powers take dire actions against civilians in other parts of the world.

Updated

The assistant commissioner of the NSW State Emergency Services, Nicole Hogan, has just been speaking on ABC News Breakfast, giving an update on the situation there.

She says they are preparing for the possibility of “a reasonable amount of flooding” on the mid-north coast as rain is expected to hit areas that are already affected by the deluge:

We have the impacts and the significant flooding that is still occurring in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. We have also got the Sydney metropolitan flooding within the western Sydney area that is still continuing as well, and we have some flooding that was within the Central Coast but we are also preparing for the potential for flooding in the mid-north coast with the upcoming weather in the next 48 hours.

The rain is likely to hit areas that are already impacted by flooding, so we could see renewed river rises in some of those river catchments, but we really need people to just be aware of their surroundings.

Updated

The SES has begun giving the all-clear for evacuated residents to return home in Sydney after the city dodged the bulk of the rain, AAP reports.

Essential Energy said on Friday it had restored power to 37,500 customers in the north of the state, with 13,500 to go.

In western Sydney, Endeavour Energy estimates it will be several days before flood-damaged electricity infrastructure can be assessed after power was turned off at more than 900 low-lying properties along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo rivers on Thursday.

The Hawkesbury River could again peak at a moderate flood level near Wisemans Ferry on Saturday afternoon. The SES is warning the river, north-west of Sydney, could hit 3.5 metres about 1pm with the high tide.

The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued a moderate flood warning for Tuggerah Lake, north of Sydney. The SES says moderate to major flooding is possible along the Hawkesbury and Lower Nepean Rivers from Sunday with more rain forecast.

Over the next four days parts of NSW could see up to 100mm of rain and parts of the Hunter up to 150mm with severe thunderstorms, heavy rains and damaging winds forecast, said the BoM.

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York said:

We are not past the danger period yet. The rivers are very high, fast-flowing.

Further rain over the weekend falling in saturated catchments could cause renewed river rises in areas already devastated by flooding.

Cash management providers Prosegur and Armaguard have delivered cash to Casino, Byron Bay and other towns around northern NSW as electronic payment systems were taken out of action and ATMs ran out of notes.

Updated

There’s a lot of weather about today. Rain has hit Victoria overnight – it’s not at the levels of what New South Wales and Queensland have seen by any means but there are still severe thunderstorm warnings out from the Bureau of Meteorology for heavy rainfall in Melbourne, as well as Gippsland areas and parts of the northern country and north central forecast districts.

Good morning. Stephanie Convery with you bright and early this Saturday with the Australian news blog.

Ten people have now died in major floods in Queensland, triggered by days of record-breaking rain pummelling the state’s most heavily populated region between Gympie and the New South Wales border.

Whole communities remain cut off by floodwaters, 15,000 properties are without power and up to 17,000 homes and businesses have been submerged and damaged. An elderly man was last seen falling from a boat on the Brisbane river near Breakfast Creek on 26 February is still missing.

In NSW, six deaths have now been confirmed, the most recent fatality being a man believed to be in his 40s whose body was found near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah, on Friday afternoon. More than 280 ADF troops have been deployed in northern NSW to help clean up after devastating flooding

The relationship of the floods with climate crisis has become an increasingly common refrain. The Australian Medical Association released a statement yesterday calling for more to be done to mitigate the impact of climate change after the floods, while the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said: “Let’s face it, it is climate change. I have never seen so many natural disasters.”

We will also bring you all the latest Covid news, including in Western Australia where authorities are managing almost 10,000 active cases after the state recorded another 2,137 infections. The health department believes WA remains on track to replicate modelling which predicts a peak of about 10,000 daily cases in coming weeks.

There’s been a sudden spike in suspected cases of Japanese encephalitis virus, a disease that spreads through mosquito bites. People in regional areas who are in contact with pigs may be at particular risk. A human case of the virus was detected in Queensland, and one in NSW yesterday. The Victorian government said there were eight suspected cases of JEV infection in Victoria since last week, including six people who have been hospitalised. Two children under 10 are among them. All cases are awaiting confirmation.

Yesterday Alan Tudge announced he won’t return to the frontbench before the election after the findings of the Thom report. Dr Vivienne Thom did not find sufficient evidence that Tudge’s conduct in relation to former adviser Rachelle Miller breached ministerial standards. We’ll keep you posted on any further potential fallout from that, as well as all the day’s politics news.

And of course Australia and the cricketing world is reeling from the death of Shane Warne. Follow the latest here.

If you see something blog-worthy, tweet me @gingerandhoney. Otherwise grab a coffee, and let’s crack on.

Updated

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