What we learned today, Wednesday 2 March
And with that, we are going to put this blog to bed. Thank you so much for going through the stories with us today.
Before we leave, let’s recap the big ones:
- The flood death toll in New South Wales rose to five after two bodies were found in Lismore and one on the Central Coast
- North Richmond, north-west of Sydney, was ordered to evacuate as authorities fear Redbank dam may fail
- Annastacia Palaszczuk says there are more ‘high impact’ storms expected in Queensland, potentially leading to more flash flooding.
- Ballina’s mayor Sharon Cadwallader says the shire is calling on the Australian Defence Forces for help, with the SES is struggling to stay in contact with people in need of rescue
- A police officer is being hailed as a hero after he dived through a window to rescue a 93-year-old woman in her flooded Lismore home
- It was revealed 145,000 disaster payment applications had already been made across NSW and Queensland
- Victoria records 28 Covid-19 deaths, NSW reported five Covid-19 deaths, Tasmania records 868 new cases, ACT reported 1,053 new cases, WA recorded 1,780 new cases, SA recorded 2 deaths and 2075 cases, QLD records 24 deaths and 5,011 cases, and NT records 624 new cases.
Have a great evening, and for those in flood-impacted areas - stay safe and stay dry.
Updated
Following the Prime Minister of Australia’s announcement that Australia will provide defensive military assistance to Ukraine, a Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III departed RAAF Base Richmond for Europe on 2 March 2022, carrying critical military equipment and medical supplies.
Australia will join other allies and partners to help the people of Ukraine to defend their nation, following Russia’s senseless and illegal invasion of Ukraine sovereignty.
This is a photo sent by Sam Magnusson showing the Hawkesbury River outside their property in Lower level Richmond. She says it is almost at capacity.
We’ve got an update from the NSW SES North Coast incident controller.
An important message for those in the #Lismore area from the #NSWSES North Coast Incident Controller.
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) March 2, 2022
Stay updated with the latest 👇
NSW SES: https://t.co/BCnxAe6tsR@BOM_NSW: https://t.co/I4qsVXugCe@LiveTrafficNSW: https://t.co/yxFFvZCD4Z pic.twitter.com/XmJyqjtXsf
UPDATE
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) March 2, 2022
⚠️⛈️Slow moving thunderstorms bringing heavy rain, large hail and damaging winds #NSW. #Lismore storms are inbound over the coming hours.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning is current.
See latest at https://t.co/jJWt2wlxel pic.twitter.com/4gTPX02paH
Updated
Flood coverage can involve a few moving targets.
One of them is how much Warragamba Dam will spill.
We were quick to report earlier today that Sydney’s main dam was spilling and that the spill rate could reach or even exceed the March 2021 flood levels.
Back then the rate was as much as 440-460 gigalitres a day (there’s a bit of disagreement). Well, as almost a throwaway line near the end of the NSW government press conference this evening to announce the evacuation, deputy premier Paul Toole tossed in the number of 600GL.
After a bit of scrambling, we’ve been able to confirm that the 600GL a day rate is the worst-case scenario. Let’s hope the flows fall far short of that.
If you can picture the size of Sydney Harbour, that’s about 500GL. A gigalitre is a billion litres.
Updated
US president Joe Biden has thanked Australia for banding together with the free world to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, AAP reports.
In his first State of the Union address, Biden said Russian president Vladimir Putin is more isolated from the world than ever before due to the range of sanctions imposed by Western nations and blocs.
“The free world is holding him (Putin) accountable along with 27 members of the European Union ... as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand,” he said.
Biden said military, economic and humanitarian assistance would help Ukraine in its “fight for freedom”.
Thirty million barrels of oil from the US strategic reserve will also be released, as will a further 30 million from the reserves of around 30 countries around the world, Biden said.
Australia’s energy minister Angus Taylor confirmed Australia would support the action of the International Energy Agency to release oil stocks to stabilise global markets.
Updated
Here is the full list of evacuation orders and warnings for the Sydney region:
- Parts of North Richmond in Sydney’s northwest have been ordered to evacuate immediately, with the SES warning the nearby Redbank Dam is likely to fail.
- Parts of Chipping Norton, Lansvale, Milperra and Picton, southwest of Sydney, have been warned to prepare to evacuate also.
- Major flooding, similar to the 2021 floods, is expected along the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, at Menangle, North Richmond, Penrith and Windsor.
- Moderate flooding is also likely along the Georges River, at Liverpool and Milperra.
Evacuation orders and warnings in place for the NSW North Coast:
- Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Casino, Maclean, Woodburn, Ballina, Ballina Island, Lawrence, Lennox Head, Ulmara, Coraki, Wardell, Tweed Heads, Bellingen, Murwillumbah, Lismore, Kyogle, Tumbulgum and more.
- Flood warnings have been issued for the Tweed, Wilson, Clarence, Bellinger and Hastings rivers.
Updated
What is a 1-in-1000 year flood?
— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) March 2, 2022
It is NOT a flood that occurs once every 1000 years. It is a flood height that has a 0.1% chance of occurring at that location in any give year.
You can have two 1-in-1000 year floods in the same year!
Updated
Police officer dives through window to rescue 93-year-old Lismore woman
A police officer is being hailed as a hero after he dived through a window to rescue a 93-year-old woman in her flooded Lismore home.
The woman was found lying on a floating mattress just 20cm below from the roof.
Two NSW police officers and a team of SES volunteers were conducting search and rescue operations in the Lismore CBD on Monday when the rescue took place.
On Barnes Street, the officers heard a faint call for help from inside a home, with water up to the eaves of the house.
One of the senior constables dived through an open window and found the woman floating on a mattress, with no more than 20cm of room between the roof and the water level, NSW police said.
The woman was pulled from the home on a boogie board, through the open window and onto a waiting rescue boat.
The NSW police minister Paul Toole said this was just one example of the courage shown by police, emergency services and volunteers this week.
There are dozens of similar stories across all emergency services personnel working alongside members of the public to save lives.
This is the true meaning of community, and I am thankful to every police officer, every volunteer, every community member who has helped. There is no doubt in my mind that these acts of bravery have saved countless lives.
Updated
NSW authorities have warned communities at risk of major flooding in the Sydney region to prepare to evacuate as the Hawkesbury-Nepean river continues to rise.
Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main reservoir, was already spilling at a rate in excess of 70 gigalitres a day on Wednesday after torrential rainfall over its catchment exceeded earlier predictions, according to a NSW government official.
If you find an Eel and don’t kiss it you are a coward.
ONLY IN QUEENSLAND: This woman found an Eel in a Logan street- gave it a kiss- and let it go!! @9NewsQueensland @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/xu8Dwg2Xoa
— Peter Fegan (@PeterFegan9) March 2, 2022
Australian authorities say they have rescued 51 children from harm during a global operation targeting the making and distribution of child abuse material.
More than 100 Australians are facing in excess of 1,000 child abuse charges as part of Operation Molto, which was coordinated nationally by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.
Updated
'Rain bomb' causing floods is actually an atmospheric river, expert says
Politicians have enthusiastically embraced the term “rain bomb” to describe a weather system that has flooded parts of NSW and Queensland. But there’s no such thing, some experts say.
Meteorologists say it’s actually an atmospheric river that’s less like a bomb and more like a conveyor belt, delivering a relentless stream of moisture-laden air, AAP reports.
The west coasts of the US and Canada are frequently walloped by one dubbed the Pineapple Express, which transports moisture over 4,000km from around Hawaii.
“We don’t have any names for them here in Australia,” says Ben Domensino, a meteorologist from Weatherzone.
“But it’s common for these atmospheric rivers to affect eastern Australia.
“All an atmospheric river is, is a very long area of winds, blowing in the same direction over the ocean. It drags moisture thousands of kilometres. When those winds meet a landmass, the air rises and the moisture is converted into rainfall.”
In the case of the system swamping Australia’s east coast, the area of the ocean the winds are blowing over has extended up towards New Caledonia.
“These winds have been blowing across that stretch of ocean, and pushing moisture that evaporated from the ocean, towards Australia,” Domensino says.
Updated
North Richmond evacuation plans prompted by rises in the river heights like this: @BOM_NSW pic.twitter.com/n4BEPMcfqE
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 2, 2022
SES commissioner warns of 'significant flash flooding' in Sydney
York:
I also must caution you that this is an intense rainfall, and we have seen record levels that we haven’t seen in recorded history.
So even though your (area) may not be mentioned in some of these alerts, just be aware that it may the waters may rise and be alert and be prepared.
But certainly in relation to that evacuation order near the Redbank dam. It is important that you leave that area and leave it now.
And those other areas it’s important that you are prepared – for the rest of the metropolitan area, very significant rainfalls, significant flash flooding and a danger if you are travelling around anywhere in the metropolitan area.
So be careful, make sensible decisions, don’t drive through flood waters and make sure that you and your family and friends remain safe.
There will be evacuation centres open and you can go there if you need temporary assistance where there are people there ready to help you. But again, make sensible decisions and be careful and make sure you remain safe.
Updated
York said residents in that area need to prepare to leave now.
We have an evacuation warning and we’re trying to give you as much notice as possible to prepare in case you do have to evacuate. And we’re doing it now so that you’re really ... alert to what might happen if things escalate throughout the evening. We don’t want to leave it to the middle of the night before you start thinking about it. You need to be prepared now.
Updated
North Richmond ordered to evacuate as Redbank dam may fail
Carlene York is the SES commissioner and she is up now.
York:
As you’ve heard, we just recently issued an evacuation order for the area in North Richmond downstream of the Redbank dam because it may fail.
I want all those residents to make sure they do evacuate from that area. We’ve seen the effects of this as it’s passed down through the coast ... right through into the metropolitan area and now going down into the south coast.
We’ve had extensive rainfalls down in the Illawarra Shoalhaven and the south coast as well.
Updated
He says the danger will extend towards the Richmond, Windsor and Penrith areas. There is an evacuation order in place for the North Richmond area south of Redbank dam.
As we go into tomorrow make sure that you can access our warnings via phones or on the internet. And also listen to any advice ABC radios, TV networks wherever you can do this.
Make sure your weather aware tonight and tomorrow because places that were impacted by the March 2021 Floods are likely to be impacted again, as many rivers are likely to experience similar level to what we saw in March 2021.
He said the flood warnings will continue into the night and the morning and people need to be aware. The BoM will keep the updates coming.
We’ve seen it rise many metres in the afternoon and are continuing to rapidly rise and that water is going to continue to make its way down.
Updated
The SES is giving an update in NSW. They say the situation is badly deteriorating in metropolitan Sydney and the Hawkesbury and Nepean River areas.
Dean from the Bureau of Meteorology is up:
A dangerous situation is evolving. We expect the rain to continue tonight, as well as into tomorrow and things are already saturated. So I just want to reiterate as well, major flood warnings are current for parts of the Hawkesbury and the Nepean.
Updated
Our photographer at large Mike Bowers is currently in Windsor, north-west of Sydney. He said the Hawkesbury River is rising really quickly there at the moment.
He took the pictures below 16 minutes apart and they show about a 20cm rise in that time.
Updated
Up to 150mm of rain forecast for Sydney on Thursday
The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its forecast for rainfall in the Sydney region, and it’s not very promising (even ducks wouldn’t be happy).
The harbour city is now looking at 120mm to 150mm on Thursday, up from a previous forecast this morning of 50 to 70mm. Wollongong to the south can expect similar totals, with the chance of thunderstorm for both.
What’s not so clear is how much more rain they expect for Wednesday. So far, Sydney’s been spared the worst of the falls, with about 10mm since 9am, although inland areas such as Richmond have collected 84mm, with another 80 to 120mm forecast for Thursday.
Warragamba, home to Sydney’s main dam, had almost 100mm in the six hours from 9am to 3pm. That area is looking at another 80 to 100mm on Thursday.
Not surprisingly given the spill from Warragamba, the dam is 100% full, WaterNSW said. The entire dam network is sitting at 99.2% and it’s a fair bet they will all be spilling by the end of this rain event.
Along with the warnings about floods and heavy rain, if you happen to be near Sydney, watch out too for strong wind gusts and dangerous surf, the latter up and down the NSW coast.
Updated
Science & Technology Australia president, Mark Hutchinson, is speaking at the National Press Club today, releasing an estimate that the five-year $1.6bn commercialisation of research fund announced by the Morrison government could generate $17.6bn in economic activity.
The estimate is based on applying the current rate of commercial return to just half the fund ($800m). Science & Technology Australia believes the fund will pay for itself if just 5% of innovators backed are successful.
Hutchison said:
If we can turn more of our great Australian science into startups in the years ahead, it will generate vast economic returns for our nation.
We can shape a new era of economic opportunity to create jobs for our kids and grandkids – and make Australia one of the world’s rising science and technology superpowers.
Having a new research commercialisation fund will be a gamechanger for Australia.
It can bridge the investment gap before private venture capital markets are willing to step in – and turn more great Australian science and technology into new jobs and companies.
Updated
After the federal government released its national plan to end violence against women and children, the National Women’s Safety Alliance has urged higher ambition by calling on all parties to commit to a 30-year pledge to end violence against women, including through use of binding interim targets.
NWSA chief executive, Dr Renee Hamilton, said:
The national plan will set the agenda for how Australia prevents and responds to gender-based violence – and it needs to aim higher. The national plan commits to end gender-based violence but it does not say when and it does not say how.
Ending gender-based violence in a generation is not out of reach. It is preventable. We know what drives it, it’s gender inequality. Much like targets for climate change or global poverty, a long-term target to end gender‑based violence would drive action outside of the political cycle.
Collective action and investment now from all levels of government, corporates, institutions and the broader Australian community would drive real change. It would mean the next generation would not live in a country where one woman a week is murdered by her current or ex-partner.
Updated
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has commented on the impact of the floods and Russian invasion of Ukraine on Australia’s economy.
On floods, Frydenberg said its impact will be determined by whether it harms “critical supply chains and infrastructure” like the Queensland floods in the March quarter which disrupted major ports and mines. He acknowledged there would be a “big clean-up bill” but said the total impact was “unclear”.
On Ukraine, the treasurer said Australia has “very little direct economic exposure to Russia and Ukraine”, which make up less than 0.2% of Australia’s total trade. We also have “very little direct financial exposure”.
Frydenberg did note that Russia holds $8bn of Australian government bonds, and the Australian office of financial management has confirmed we are NOT going to default on bonds by not paying interest to Russia.
He said:
Australia is going to restrict the ability of Australians and institutions to deal with the Russian central bank. [And limit] their ability to deal with foreign reserves including the $8bn of bonds.
Frydenberg said interest payments are a “very minor matter”, and the important thing is they can’t sell the bonds to prop up the rouble.
Updated
The SES has just announced an evacuation order for people in parts of North Richmond downstream of Redbank Dam.
If you are in the area, you must evacuate now.
Community members who have been asked to evacuate are encouraged to seek assistance from friends and family in the first instance, but if that is not possible, there are a number of evacuation centres near affected areas.
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) March 2, 2022
Find your closest evac centre at: https://t.co/BysuzSMj1V pic.twitter.com/PySTkcbBEk
The NSW State Emergency Service is preparing to tell the public in flood-exposed areas of Sydney and the Illawarra to get ready in case they have to evacuate.
As per the recent post, Warragamba Dam on Sydney’s western edge is spilling at the rate of more than 70 gigalitres at 1pm and rising, elevating the risk of flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River downstream.
Stephanie Heard, an SES spokesperson, said the organisation was preparing to give advice on evacuations in case they were necessary. She confirmed the Warragamba spill was one factor, as well as the forecast heavy overnight rain for the region.
People who may need to be evacuated should prepare an emergency pack and gather pets, which evacuation centres will be able to accommodate.
The kit should include key valuables but also Medicare and other ID. More details can be found here.
Again, the bureau’s flood warning for the river can be found here.
Updated
Death toll rises to five in NSW floods
The flood death toll in New South Wales has risen to five after the body of a man in his 70s was found in a Lismore apartment.
Police say the man was found by SES volunteers inside a flooded unit in south Lismore.
It brings the state total to five.
Updated
The company behind the Snapchat app has said the government’s proposed privacy bill and social media defamation bills are not workable for the company, arguing it would go against many of the other privacy and ethics rules the company abides by.
Henry Turnbull, Snap Inc’s head of public policy in the Asia-Pacific, told a hearing of the parliamentary committee examining social media and online harms that parts of the government’s proposed privacy bill are invasive rather than trying to protect privacy, specifically the requirement for online platforms to obtain consent from parents for people under 16 to user the service.
He said it would mean the platforms would collect much more personal information.
He said:
There’s a whole host of privacy and ethical reasons about whether that’s actually a good idea. But if you’re just thinking about how you make it work, you’re essentially mandating the collection of ID both by younger people, but also their parents in order to make that work and mandating tech companies to collect that information. I don’t think that is in keeping with the aims of the bill. I think it would be difficult to see how we could comply with that.
On what the government has called the “anti-trolling bill”, which is actually is about unmasking anonymous commenters for the purposes of suing them for defamation, Turnbull said he can’t see how companies that are concerned about privacy could comply with it:
The complaint scheme that they’re proposing would essentially mandate companies to hand over the personal information of users without their consent to people who feel that they have been defamed or insulted online ...
Again, I struggle to see a world in which privacy-focused platforms [who are] committed to protecting their users’ data and complying with the priorities of data privacy regulators around the world could do that in good conscience.
Turnbull said the regulatory environment in Australia could be improved by a single online safety law that covers all aspects of online platforms. Snapchat has 5 million users in Australia.
Updated
At Coles in the centre of the Richmond township, shoppers are busy stocking up on essential supplies in anticipation of floods, as the heavy downpour continues.
Toilet paper limits of one per person have been reinstated, while the only sugar on offer is caster and coconut sugar due to stock supply chain challenges coming out of flood-affected Bundaberg in Queensland.
Store manager George Moutos says the floods have brought up “a bit of anxiety” with customers, who are stocking up to make sure they have enough food for their homes after the devastation last March.
“Flour, bread, pasta, toilet paper, all the essentials,” he says. “The locals have been through it before, so they understand the preparations for this. The community is used to it, it’s only 12 months ago this happened … like Groundhog Day.
“The way the next 24 hours plays out, we’ll see how bad it gets.”
Updated
Warragamba Dam spilling more water than predicted
Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main reservoir, is discharging water at the rate of more than 70 gigalitres a day and rising, a government official tells us.
The spill, which began at 3am on Wednesday, is much more than authorities had expected, with the 70 gigalitre figure past at 1 pm.
While Sydney itself has so far been spared most of the heavy rain from the developing east coast low, inland areas including the Warragamba catchment have been receiving big falls.
The rain gauge at #Warragamba Dam has received over 120mm in the last 28 hours, with similar totals in other parts of the dam's catchment area. This includes 48mm in the last 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/y3du5u14hG
— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) March 2, 2022
The Bureau of Meteorology has lately lifted its warning for flooding on the Hawkesbury-Nepean, which is downstream from Warragamba, to major levels.
Flooding could match March 2021 flood heights, the bureau said, if rainfall overnight and into Thursday reached predicted amounts.
The bureau’s warning covers Menangle Bridge, Camden, Wallacia, Penrith, North Richmond, Windsor, Sackville, Lower Portland, Wisemans Ferry and Putty Road.
The spill at Warragamba could exceed the 440GL a day March peak, this flood’s top spill rate is expected on Thursday, said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly.
That amount is about the size of Sydney Harbour, coming down one river.
Updated
Woolworths has just extended its purchasing limits to all Queensland stores and is re-routing supplies from South Australia as it attempts to deal with a growing stock crisis.
The floods have cut off the usual supply lines from the state’s south, leading to significant shortages as far as Mt Isa, in the far north-west of the state, which sits almost 2,000km from the flood zone.
Both Coles and Woolworths have already introduced purchase limits in an attempt to temper demand and panic buying in some regions, but Woolworths on Wednesday afternoon announced it was extending the rules to all Queensland stores.
The rules, reminiscent of those seen at the worst stages of the pandemic, will limit customers to two packs for items such as paper towels, facial tissues, flour, rice, long-life milk, fresh milk, mince, sausages, and chicken. Customers will only be able to buy one pack of toilet paper.
Woolworths says it is also activating contingency plans to supply more stock to Queensland and flood-affected areas. Alternative inland distribution lines are being used to circumvent flood waters and road closures in the state’s south-east, bringing in stock from South Australia and using routes via Emerald, in central Queensland, to supply the state’s north.
Woolworths director of stores, Jeanette Fenske, said:
As floods continue to ravage the east coast, critical supply lines into northern NSW and throughout Queensland have been impacted by road closures, limiting how quickly we can get stock into flood affected regions.
To help ensure more customers have access to food and essentials, we’ve introduced product limits on select categories across Queensland and select northern NSW stores while we work through these disruptions.
We have contingency plans in place and are doing everything we can to safely get stock into our stores via alternative road routes. We know the coming days are expected to bring more extreme weather as rain travels south and we will continue to monitor the situation closely, planning ahead for potential disruptions in NSW.
We thank customers for their understanding and encourage them to be mindful of others in the community and only buy what they need.
Updated
The manager of Ballina’s community radio station, Jenny Ellenbroek, said floodwater was at the door of the Cherry Street building at 9am.
The water is at the doors of the council chambers and the Paradise FM station – that whole Cherry Street area, the water is now knee-deep.
High tide was at 9am, the water didn’t come in and we hope we’ve dodged a bullet.
Ellenbroek said the CBD had also lost internet access.
Nobody has internet and most people have also lost phone signal, and so that’s really impeding being able to tell anyone what’s going on.
She said West Ballina was totally inundated.
Lots of businesses out there have gone under. It’s hard to tell from where I was whether the river has held its banks in the CBD area, but it would appear that in West Ballina that hasn’t happened.
She said SES volunteers were out in CBD, which is under evacuation orders.
We are in absolute awe and shock of this, because this is not generally what happens in Ballina, but of course it’s collided with a 1.8-metre high tide, it’s creating havoc.
Updated
Ballina is still the midst of a protracted flood peak, with emergency workers responding to almost 500 calls for help. However, phone and internet services in most parts of the coastal town are patchy or out.
The CBD lost power at 8.30am, just before the 9am high tide. The SES predicts 6,000 properties in the Ballina area will be impacted by flood waters.
Rural Fire Service spokesman Stephen Kada said emergency services were “working with utilities to rectify” the communications and power outages.
“It’s a very dynamic and changing situation for all of the far north coast, Ballina in particular [where] we’ve been made aware of outages,” Kada said.
He said emergency services had a standalone communications service, so their helicopter and boat rescues were continuing, but acknowledged many may not be able to contact authorities.
“The protracted flood peak in the area will continue for a number of hours. We are monitoring it, and when those water levels start receding, will get into more areas.
“Right now, we are still very much in the response stage.”
The SES have responded to 238 requests for assistance in Ballina today with another 239 outstanding, but on social media, people outside the area are searching for family members no longer contactable by phone.
RFS, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Ambulance and NSW police are also in Ballina with the ADF and interstate police from Victoria and South Australia en route.
Ballina’s mayor, Sharon Cadwallader, said the communications outages were a major challenge.
“We are having major communications issues. How can people call in for help if they can’t get through?” she said.
“We need desperate help, we need helicopters, we need everything thrown at Ballina at the moment,” she said.
Cadwallader said West Ballina had been impacted by the flood water on 9am high tide and surrounding rural areas were inundated.
“The water is starting to go back a bit, but it will certainly turn around and come back the other way. Ballina Island has been evacuated – not everyone, because there are pockets of Ballina that are high enough.
“We just don’t know what the water is going to do, either, when it does come back. There is still a lot more coming down from the Bungawalbin Basin and the Wilsons River into the Richmond River, it is still coming full force towards us.”
Cadwallader said the situation was so desperate they had called on Surf Lifesaving to assist.
“They are helping, doing an amazing job. It’s all hands on deck here.”
Updated
Residents in flood-hit Kingscliff, on the Tweed coast, are only being allowed five at a time into the local Woolworths due to food shortages caused by road flooding.
With no fixed line internet available in town, residents are instead having to queue at usually neglected ATMs.
Having waited for their cash, they can then join the 50-metre queue to get into Woolworths or the line of cars vying to get into the town’s only petrol station, which has had a permanent traffic jam out front since early this morning.
If you’re not cleaning up in Kingscliff today you’re queuing - for food, petrol or even that quaint old thing called cash. No internet = no eftpos. The ATMs haven’t been this busy in years pic.twitter.com/GeZtPUOf0l
— Conal Hanna (@conalhanna) March 2, 2022
Everyone is raring to go but unfortunately the Chinderah clean up can only move as fast as the water recedes. pic.twitter.com/i7rdpWSB84
— Conal Hanna (@conalhanna) March 2, 2022
It is pretty hot in Chinderah today, and scrubbing mud from houses is hard work, but I don’t think anyone will be taking a dip. pic.twitter.com/MnriASrPzF
— Conal Hanna (@conalhanna) March 2, 2022
Updated
Responding to calls from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners for a Medicare restructure and extra mental health training for GPs, the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) has urged the federal government to first consider greater access to MBS items for credentialed mental health nurses.
GPs shouldn’t be the first and only group of health clinicians to consider when planning to tackle Australia’s growing mental health crisis, ACMHN interim president, Prof John Hurley, said.
Credentialed mental health nurses are highly-skilled mental health clinicians who’ve undergone a meticulous assessment by the ACMHN.
Instead of relying on a workforce that still needs mental health training, the government would be well-advised to consider the readily-available credentialed mental health nurse workforce first.
At the moment, credentialed mental health nurses can only provide very limited services under Medicare, making it infinitely harder for them to work independently and help more Australians who require mental health support.
That’s despite the fact that they have qualifications that are equal to those of other mental health clinicians.
With one in three psychologists having closed their books to new patients, not giving mental health nurses greater access to MBS items is “illogical,” he said.
With the review of the Better Access program underway, we hope that the federal government will take a close look at the skills of qualified mental health nurses, and finally give them the recognition they deserve.
Updated
We’ve got an update from the BoM here:
Severe Weather Update: major flooding ongoing; East Coast Low off NSW. Video current: 1.00pm AEDT 2 March 2022
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) March 2, 2022
Know your weather, know your risk. For the latest forecasts and warnings, go to our website https://t.co/XaTtI3QlwZ or the #BOMWeather app. pic.twitter.com/U9rUW388DH
Updated
QLD reports 24 deaths and 5,011 cases; SA records two deaths and 2,075 cases
QLD has reported 24 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours. The state has 5,011 new cases; 312 people are in hospital and 26 are in ICU.
Today we have recorded 5,011 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) March 2, 2022
Sadly, 24 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Full details ➡ https://t.co/2vvTmli7qN… pic.twitter.com/TmEN5m08w2
In South Australia, two people have been lost to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. There are 2,075 new cases with 112 people in hospital, and of those, nine are in ICU and one is ventilated.
South Australian COVID-19 update 02/03/22. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsG87wo or contact the South Australia COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/KdhJNAhPrC
— SA Health (@SAHealth) March 2, 2022
Updated
National Covid summary
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 59 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 1,053
- In hospital: 40 (with 0 people in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 5
- Cases: 10,650
- In hospital: 1,072 (with 5 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 24
- Cases: 5,011
- In hospital: 312 (with 26 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 2
- Cases: 2,075
- In hospital: 112 (with 9 people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 28
- Cases: 7,126
- In hospital: 264 (with 37 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 1,780
- In hospital: 16 (with 0 people in ICU)
As flood waters recede, local business efforts to clean up on the ground are extending from Lismore across north-eastern NSW.
Louis Hollman, of Louis Hollman Electrical, spent recent days in a boat with two colleagues trying to collect people stranded at their homes.
“I was seeing houses submerged in water, families losing everything,” Hollman told Guardian Australia. “Now the water is going down, we are seeing what is left.”
He says most switchboards and electric metre boxes need to be replaced. “Getting at least some power back is essential.”
His wholesalers in Lismore went underwater in the floods, “so we don’t even have any gear”. But having “no power makes it even more unsafe”.
“You can’t cook fresh food, or keep water cool,” he said. “At night time, even having just one light makes you feel less lonely.”
In Casino, just a 40-minute drive from Lismore, T & W McCormack Real Estate have been helping with locating, mustering and transporting livestock that “floated away”. Matthew McCormack told Guardian Australia: “There are cattle everywhere on the outskirts of town, unaccounted for and not retrieved yet.”
He said cattle are coming from local farms, after being “washed away off the edge of the banks” from areas like Coraki, Woodburn and Broadwater. “We get a lead off one, then it goes from there. We pick them up out of town, and have a steady yard system on the edge of town where we bring the cattle back to.”
McCormack added: “The cattle are pretty stressed ... So we get them on some feed, water, and let them settle down.”
There are at least “a couple hundred” lost cattle that McCormack is aware of.
LISMORE FLOOD UPDATE : Friend tells me of someone he knows who has lost 300 head of cattle. They just floated away.
— James O'Brien 🏳️🌈 (@jcjobau) February 28, 2022
Updated
I am driving into Richmond now with photographer Blake Sharp-Wiggins, where water is already accumulating on major roads and drivers are being diverted from flood waters as the massive downpour continues.
Sections of Bourke Street off Blacktown Road have been barricaded off due to rising flood waters, while the nearby Richmond Golf Club is amassing pools of water.
On Richmond Road, traffic is building up as drivers avoid minor flooding, causing potholes and road damage.
Police are directing traffic away from the area.
Roads are starting to get inundated with water in Richmond. This is College St, just near the centre of town, now virtually inaccessible. @GuardianAus @cait__kelly pic.twitter.com/h9LtkQCTuj
— Caitlin Cassidy (@caitecassidy) March 2, 2022
Updated
Part of Lismore’s CBD. pic.twitter.com/fIxh7C6Sp8
— James Wilson (@WesternWilson9) March 2, 2022
Palaszczuk said the Inspector of Emergency Management would carry out a review into how the response was conducted – as is normally done with natural disasters. It will be tabled in parliament and released publicly.
Let me say this: this was an extraordinary rain event the likes of which we haven’t seen across the state, where many records have been broken.
Anyone who went through it knows that we haven’t seen [something] like that for quite some time.
Updated
Palaszczuk says if people can safely go to work and school, they are allowed:
We’ve actually said that if people can return to work safely they can. Our train network is slowly starting to come back, some of it will be open tomorrow.
The Centenary Highway and Ipswich Motorway were cut the other day, so that actually stopped a lot of people moving around.
It is very slow still to get around, so if people don’t have to be on the roads they should think about their movements and discuss it with their employers. Same goes for schools.
Updated
Palaszczuk warns 'high-impact' storms could lead to more flash flooding
Annastacia Palaszczuk says there are more storms expected this afternoon and on the weekend, potentially leading to more flash flooding.
This could lead to localised rising in creeks and streams that respond quickly to heavy short-duration rainfall.
There is a low probability but potentially high-impact scenario of isolated, very dangerous thunderstorms with giant hail, destructive winds, and locally intense rainfall during Thursday afternoon and evening.
So could I please urge everyone in the south-east to please tune in to radio, media outlet and listen to BoM updates – there is some concerns about these very dangerous thunderstorms.
We are not over all of this, we are not out of the woods yet.
Updated
Palaszczuk says there are “very dangerous thunderstorms” expected in flood zones on Thursday afternoon.
She says 30,000 people across the state are still without power and the recovery bill is expected to be over $1bn.
Updated
We are just going to jump to Queensland, where the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, was giving an update. She says about 2,000 homes and businesses have been impacted in the Gympie area.
The initial assessment is, and of course not all the assessments have been done yet, but at least 160 have major impacts to them. So we will be working with the community, working with the mayor of the coming weeks and months to rebuild the Gympie area.
She says about 600 people are without power. She gives a big thank you to the community for evacuating when asked and helping out.
Some tough days ahead. Some people have lost a lot of things, and it is going to be tough with that road to recovery.
Updated
Perrottet:
And you know, we are in a unique situation right now where we are dealing with evacuations and rescues and keeping people safe, and saving lives [and] at the same time planning for recovery and getting communities back on their feet as quickly as possible.
We are going to have people returned to their businesses, returned to their homes, and [finding] them in a tragic state.
Updated
Perrottet said some people are not listening to the warnings because they have gone through floods before. He highlights how dangerous this time is.
Our people in New South Wales are incredibly, incredibly resilient. We have gone through hell and back over the last four years, particularly our regional communities, whether it’s been drought, or coming off the back of the bushfires, the floods, a pandemic.
Everyone has been affected. So my key message would be – and I shouldn’t even have to give it, because it’s bloody common sense, and that is – we look after each other.
Updated
Perrottet is asked if warnings were as effective as they could be – and answers by highlighting how many natural disasters NSW has gone through recently. Many of these have been directly linked to climate change.
This is not the first time we’ve gone through this. This has been – over the last four years – natural disaster, after natural disaster, after natural disaster.
And there’s been key learnings along the way, particularly in relation to warnings, particularly in relation to the clean-up. One of the concerns that we have, and we keep saying it at every press conference, is follow the instructions of the SES.
I’ve heard today, first-hand, many stories from the SES about when those evacuation warnings are provided, that people don’t follow that instruction. When the evacuation orders are issued ... they in certain circumstances are not followed.
And I think a lot of that has to do with previous experience, but what we’re seeing here is an unprecedented event.
Updated
Perrottet is asked about unconfirmed reports relating to more deaths in the area. He says he cannot confirm, but more deaths are likely:
It is possible that we will see more people die as we move through this challenging, difficult time.
But what I do know is that the coordination from a state government, our emergency operation centres with our State Emergency Service, working with the RFS ... and then working with the commonwealth and the ADF, they are doing everything they can provide the care and support that people need in these affected areas.
Updated
The Premier said he flew over Ballina and Lismore earlier, and saw the “devastating” damage. He has written to the PM to get more funding which he says will “be turned around today”.
He also said people needed to heed the warnings from emergency services and evacuate if told to do so.
Perrottet:
It is an unprecedented event, an unprecedented situation, that requires an unprecedented response.
We have volunteers on the frontline putting their lives at risk to keep people safe.
Updated
Cooke says the government is working to make sure people are getting the support they need.
It will be a long road ahead. But I know that if we all work together, if we pull together and we simply don’t give up.
Updated
NSW minister for emergency services and resilience, Stephanie Cooke, has just been speaking in Sydney.
I had the opportunity of course with the premier to head up into the sky and view some of the floodwaters from the air, and all I can say is: what I have seen is beyond anything that I could have ever imagined.
The widespread flooding is just simply extraordinary. And you’ve got two options. I think at that point, you either run for the hills, so to speak, or it strengthens your resolve and from my perspective, and as the premier stated, we stand firm with our communities.
We will continue to work alongside [them] at a very, very difficult time. The floodwaters are only now really starting to recede. That will continue over the days ahead.
Updated
Special minister of state, Ben Morton, has also confirmed he has Covid-19 after the PM announced he tested positive for the virus earlier.
“I am not experiencing any significant symptoms, only a mild headache,” Morton tweeted.
“I will continue to fulfil both my ministerial and electorate responsibilities while isolating in Canberra, before returning to Western Australia.”
It is not known where he caught the virus.
Now Ben Morton #auspol pic.twitter.com/rMAV2cP3YP
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 2, 2022
Updated
Flood insurance claims keep rising
The insurance industry continues to count the cost of this week’s ongoing floods over south-eastern Queensland, northern NSW, and we expect the central NSW region, including Sydney.
So far the Insurance Council of Australia says insurers have received 48,220 claims related to the flooding.
That is about just over half from yesterday’s claims tally, with about three-quarters of the claims in Queensland. Some 84% of total claims relate to property, with the remainder motor vehicles.
So far the ICA hasn’t got an estimate of the dollar cost.
S&P Global Ratings, though, has had a stab, placing the extreme rainfall and flooding as a $1bn-plus insurance event.
“This exposure could increase to $2bn with ongoing Brisbane River inundation in urban areas and as the storm cell moves further into NSW,” S&P said. “This would place the insurance exposure alongside that of Australia’s largest flood events.”
The rivals are January 2011 floods in Brisbane which cost a normalised $2.1bn, and the $3.2bn cost of that city’s 1974 floods.
For insurers Suncorp Group, the net loss from this event will be $75m and for Insurance Australia Group it will be $95m, about 10% of earnings for the year, it said.
Updated
From AAP:
Probuild owes $14m to its workers and unknown amounts to more than 2,300 creditors with the federal court told the embattled building construction giant was in a “nightmarish” situation.
More than 1,000 directly employed workers’ livelihoods are in jeopardy – along with contractors and sub-contractors across a long supply chain – after the firm was placed into administration by its South African parent company last week.
Barrister Hamish Austin, acting for Probuild administrator Deloitte, on Wednesday told the federal court that 786 workers across 19 different projects were out of pocket.
He said the best-case scenario was to maintain operations while a buyer was sought.
But he said administrators needed more time to identify who owned all sorts of things from tools and scaffolding to leases.
“The mind boggles at the amount of work the administrators are required to get across,” Austin said. “And you’ve got the nightmarish prospect of construction projects ongoing in real time, [with] any disruption likely to be extremely costly.”
Austin added that about 300 more creditors had been identified this week who appeared unaware of a planned meeting on Friday relating to the administration.
“We don’t want a meeting where we have a significant body of creditors who aren’t present,” he said.
Justice Jonathan Beach granted an extension for the administrators to locate all relevant property and creditors.
Probuild’s parent company, Johannesburg-listed builder Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO), last week said it was pursuing “several options” to raise the capital needed for Probuild to continue, with Deloitte appointed as administrator.
Two other businesses under WBHO Australia – Monaco Hickey and WBHO Infrastructure – were also placed into administration.
Deloitte is planning a sale and recapitalisation process to secure a new owner for the businesses.
WBHO has blamed Australia’s “hardline” Covid-19 border closures, lockdowns and months of enforced working from home rules that emptied city office blocks and shopping malls.
Updated
Supermarkets struggling to get stock
I’ve been looking at grocery shortages across Queensland and New South Wales this morning.
The floods have cut off highways and hit supermarket supply chains across the region. Woolworths and Coles have both shut down a number of supermarkets directly affected by the floods and implemented purchase limits elsewhere, leaving those in the disaster zones struggling to get the basics. But the impact is being felt far further than the flood zones.
Up in Mt Isa, more than 20 hours drive from Brisbane, supermarkets are struggling to get stock. Trucks that were expected from the south-east have, understandably, not arrived. There’s little certainty of when new stock might come.
Joe Da Silva, who owns the Foodworks in Mt Isa, said he is running low on “pretty much everything”. His customers don’t have the option of driving to the next town, he said.
Fresh produce is particularly low, he said, and the nearby Coles and Woolworths are having similar problems.
I’m empty, very much, and I keep saying ‘we don’t have it, so we can’t sell it’. If nothing comes, I have nothing to sell.
Down in Central Queensland, the situation is largely the same. The Longreach Fruit Barn has been forced to shut its doors due to low stock, creating a flow-on effect for other local businesses, who use it as their source of fresh produce. They have been promised new stock on Friday. Fruit Barn’s owner Sam Tweedale said his customers have been understanding.
Given that the region has been in drought for a long time, they just understand that these weather events are what they are and there’s no point really complaining about it. You can’t change it, I guess, at the end of the day.
Updated
The normally sleepy town of Chinderah, on the banks of the Tweed River, is bustling today as volunteers armed with gumboots and generators descend to help locals clean out their flooded homes.
Large piles of furniture sit in the spots usually reserved for wheelie bins out the front of people’s houses after even locals who have lived here 50 years were caught by surprise at how far the floodwaters reached on Monday night.
The river height got to 2.95 metres, exceeding previous floods in 2017 and 1954.
Some of the worst-hit are the region’s caravan parks, which are home to numerous permanent, often elderly, residents.
The clean-up is likely to go on for days as the region remains without power and some houses are still waiting for water to recede.
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Cait Kelly and I will be with you over this afternoon. There is lots of news to cover so let’s get into it.
If you want to tweet me this afternoon: @cait__kelly
First up, this from my colleague Tamsin Rose:
New South Wales opposition leader Chris Minns has tested positive for Covid after one of his sons contracted the virus earlier this week. He posted a picture of his positive rapid test to his social media accounts on Tuesday afternoon.
He said:
Looks like I’ll be stuck inside for now. But for anyone leaving the house, please make sure to stay safe. Don’t walk or drive through flood water.
On Monday he took to social media to say he would be isolating for a week after his son tested positive.
Looks like I'll be stuck inside for now.
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) March 2, 2022
But for anyone leaving the house, please make sure to stay safe. Don't walk or drive through flood water.
For the most up to date weather advice and warnings, head to - https://t.co/8ZefmJ8Bhr pic.twitter.com/glg8ld78TL
That’s it for me for now. I’m going to hand over the blog now to Cait Kelly to take you through to the afternoon.
Fourth NSW flood death confirmed
A third person from Lismore has died in the NSW flood crisis engulfing northern NSW as greater Sydney braces for a deluge, AAP reports.
“We’ve recovered a third body this morning,” NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole told reporters on Wednesday.
“That was a male in the CBD of Lismore. That now takes our total deaths to four.
“This is terrible ... one life lost is too many.”
The latest fatality comes after the body of a woman in her 80s was found inside a South Lismore house on Tuesday afternoon. She was the second elderly woman to die after being trapped in a flooded home in the area.
Another man who disappeared in floodwaters in Lismore on Sunday is presumed dead, while a man died on the Central Coast on Friday.
Updated
I have to say, watching the federal treasurer start a slideshow presentation detailing the strength of the economy as Australia’s most populous state is under water or preparing to be under water is an experience I won’t forget any time soon ...
Updated
Frydenberg:
There are now more Australians in work than at the start of the pandemic. With our labour market also outperforming all major advanced economies in the world. In stark contrast, in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Italy, employment is still well below pre-pandemic levels.
Frydenberg says 375,000 jobs were created in December and unemployment fell to 4.2% from 5.2% in October.
Interestingly the federal Treasurer makes a point of highlighting that the wages share of GDP has grown:
The wages bill of the economy, otherwise known as compensation of employees, grew by 2% for the quarter and is up by 5.3% through the year.
Updated
The Australian economy grew by 3.4% in the December quarter, which Frydenberg says is the “strongest growth rate in 46 years”.
Today’s national accounts again demonstrate the enormous strength and resilience of our economy, even in the face of the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression.
Updated
Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg is speaking now in Canberra, where he opens with a statement about Australia’s economy with comments about the situation in Ukraine.
We are all invested in this fight, because what is at stake is far more than the sovereignty of one nation. What is at stake is the future of the liberal, international, rules-based order.
Frydenberg says both the floods and the situation in Europe will impact Australia’s economy.
Updated
Ballina mayor calls for 'desperate help'
Ballina’s mayor Sharon Cadwallader says the shire is calling on the Australian Defence Forces for help, as phone and internet services are failing, and the SES is struggling to stay in contact with people in need of rescue.
“We are having major communications issues, how can people call in for help if they can’t get through,” she said.
“We need desperate help, we need helicopters, we need everything thrown at Ballina at the moment,” she said.
Cadwallader said she couldn’t say how many people needed help, but West Ballina was impacted by the flood water on 9am high tide and surrounding rural areas were inundated.
The SES has predicted that 6,000 properties in the Ballina will be impacted by flood water.
“The water is starting to go back a bit, but it will certainly turn around and come back the other way.
Ballina island has been evacuated, not everyone because there are pockets of Ballina that are high enough.
“We just don’t know what the water is going to do either when it does it does come back. There is still a lot more coming down from the Bungawalbin Basin and the Wilsons River into the Richmond River, it is still coming full force towards us.”
She said power and communications outages were also making it difficult for the SES to fuel their rescue vessels.
Cadwallader said the situation was so desperate they had called on Surf Lifesaving to assist.
“They are helping, doing an amazing job. It’s all hands-on deck here.”
Updated
There’s a lot happening right now, but there is some confusion here about the number of deaths in Lismore that were announced at the press conference.
Officially we know of three deaths in Lismore: two women and a man, whose death was announced this morning.
However, Toole responded to a question about unconfirmed reports of additional deaths that four people had died.
We are working to clarify the situation.
Updated
After discussing the severity of the event at Lismore and what authorities are doing to respond to the crisis, Toole is asked about whether the government had done enough to prepare and says there was no way to know things would be this bad.
The ground is saturated. Depending where rainfall lands, how heavy it is and how quickly it actually floods, that’s where we’re seeing areas of flash flooding. We’ve got levee banks around Lismore. They’re 10m. No one would have predicted we were going to see a 14.4m rainfall event or flooding in that area.
Updated
Asked what the government was doing to mitigate damage from flooding, Toole then launches into an extraordinary attack on those who have opposed efforts to raise the height of Warragamba Dam. Full statement here:
Today is an important message for those that want to stand in the way of building dams or raising dam walls. This actually impacts on people’s lives. It impacts on protecting people’s property. I say to those people get out of the way. Stop coming up with excuses and not allowing these dams to be built or raised where they need to be. Stop using the excuse of a moth. A moth is not a precedent to say that is better or more important than human lives. I say that protecting property and human lives should be the number one priority, not protecting some moth. Look at those images. Look at those images of people in the north of the state standing on roofs, losing everything, losing their homes, their property. We don’t want to see that happening and that’s why we should be building more dams and raising dam walls.
Updated
Deputy premier says third body recovered in Lismore
NSW deputy premier Paul Toole says four people have died in Lismore, but would not comment on unconfirmed reports of deaths.
At the moment, the worst thing we could do is speculate or have fear or scaremongering going on. I will release those details. The police will release those details once we have confirmation of incidences or loss of life.
This morning, I said we’ve recovered a third body. That was a male in the CBD of Lismore. That now takes our total deaths to four. This is terrible. This is terrible. One life lost is too many [and] these are communities that have been impacted, families, loved ones that have been impacted by these losses.
Updated
The SES issues specific warnings to those around the Warragamba Dam, which started to overflow at 3am this morning, telling those with family or stock animals in the area to “action their plans” to ensure their safety.
Special mention is made to those in the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain.
Some of the areas we are looking at around the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain are the same areas that were affected last year with substantial lightning and we are expecting this might be as bad as we saw last year. We know the devastation that can cause in the community. And what we don’t want to do is lose any more lives.
Updated
SES speaking now:
The SES area of operations is between the Queensland border and Victoria border.
SES are responding to multiple flood rescues in Ballina and warning communities down through the coast to be aware of the situation, prepare and heed evacuation warnings.
I remind people that you may not be inundated in your houses, but your routes of evacuation may be cut off, and may be cut off very quickly. Just because you cannot see the water doesn’t mean that we aren’t asking you to leave those premises ...
Updated
The BoM is asking people to stay up-to-date with the latest warnings, particularly those that live in the catchment area of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, as many rivers will experience flooding “in the coming days”.
Updated
Moore:
Severe weather warnings are current with heavy rainfall and damaging winds extending from the mid north coast all the way towards the south coast of New South Wales. That does include the communities of Newcastle, Sydney metropolitan area, Wollongong, inland towards the Blue Mountains and also the communities as we move down into the south coast of New South Wales. We could see widespread 50-100mm in this part of the world, with isolated totals in excess of 200m. These totals will likely, particularly around the 200 millimetre mark, lead to life-threatening and dangerous flash flooding.
Updated
Moore:
Heavy rainfall associated with these storms will likely lead to renewed river, creek and stream rises as well is already saturated soils and catchments. We have a break now but unfortunately some more shower and storm activity is on the way tomorrow.
Moore says significant rainfall has been recorded in Penrith, Wollongong and the Illawarra area, which will continue today in the Hunter down through to metropolitan Sydney.
Updated
Dean Moore from the Bureau of Meteorology speaking now, saying that while conditions have eased in north-east New South Wales, conditions are still severe with heavy rain and lightning.
Particular concern is early tomorrow morning and throughout the day, we could see hit and miss severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and possibly even large hail.
Updated
Residents in parts of north-west Sydney told to prepare to evacuate their homes
Sydney residents are being told to prepare for flash flooding following substantial rainfall over recent days.
Over the coming days, it is going to be tough here in places of Sydney and also tough further south in the state. Today, the focus is on Sydney. We are expecting heavy rainfall over the afternoon into the night and into tomorrow. Warragamba Dam started spilling at 3am this morning. I say to those people in the areas of Richmond and Windsor, if you are getting a knock on the door, if you are asked to leave, please leave. Please do this for your own safety.
Updated
Hello! We’re jumping now straight into the NSW press conference ...
Updated
And with that I will hand over to Royce Kermelovs to take on the news from here.
The Biden administration has welcomed the Australian government’s decision to provide military aid to Ukraine.
The Pentagon has released a statement saying the issue came up during a meeting between the US deputy secretary of defense, Kathleen Hicks, and the secretary of Australia’s Department of Defence, Greg Moriarty, in Washington DC on Monday US time:
Secretary Moriarty conveyed to Deputy Secretary Hicks the Australian government’s decision to provide lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine. The Deputy Secretary welcomed the announcement as a demonstration of Australia’s enduring commitment to global peace and security.
Moriarty and Hicks also discussed progress on the security partnership known as Aukus, which in addition to plans for Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines is meant to trigger increased cooperation among the US, Australia and the UK on other “advanced capabilities”.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon, Eric Pahon, said the meeting included a discussion on governance processes for the trilateral partnership and efforts to bolster information-sharing:
They also discussed Alliance management issues, to include defense industrial base cooperation and pending U.S. strategic reviews. Deputy Secretary Hicks and Secretary Moriarty committed to working closely to advance Alliance priorities and objectives to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Updated
Australia's GDP up 3.4% in December quarter
Australia’s economy expanded at a quarterly pace of 3.4%, seasonally adjusted, in the December quarter compared with the previous three months. There was a range of forecasts given the challenges of estimating the impact of the omicron Covid strain.
On an annual basis, GDP expanded at an annual rate of 4.2%.
The quarterly result was slower than some of the big banks had predicted, with Westpac tipping 3.3%, ANZ 3.6% and CBA 3.7%.
The household savings ratio fell by about one-third to 13.6% from 19.8% in the previous quarter as households spent up.
Sean Crick, acting head of National Accounts at the ABS, said:
After experiencing a fall of 1.9% in the September quarter due to a number of state lockdowns, the Australian economy recovered in the December quarter, growing 3.4% and surpassing the pre-Delta June quarter 2021 level.
More to come soon.
Updated
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is isolating after testing positive to Covid-19. He’s put out a video on his Facebook page just now, updating about the remote meetings he is holding in regards to the ongoing floods in NSW and Queensland.
You can hear in the video he sounds a bit unwell.
Updated
Taxpayers are set to foot an almost $2m bill for the police response to widespread anti-vaccination protests that shut down parts of Canberra earlier this year, AAP reports.
ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan said policing efforts cost $1.9m so far and the demonstrations are continuing.
Gaughan said the protests were expected to take place each weekend in the lead up to the federal budget on 29 March.
“We’ve been having protests since 12 December in the territory, and they really haven’t stopped,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
“With the continuance of the protests, I anticipate numbers to increase.”
Discussions on whether the costs would be covered by Canberra taxpayers or nationally was yet to be determined.
Talks are set to take place between the ACT and federal governments on how costs would be handled.
Gaughan said about 500 protesters were still in Canberra and the surrounding region.
ACT police along with their NSW counterparts are monitoring the protests.
While police have described the demonstrations as largely peaceful, 23 arrests have been made.
The largest protest took place in February, when more than 10,000 people marched on Parliament House, demonstrating against Covid-19 vaccines and vaccination mandates.
Gaughan said it was not known whether upcoming demonstrations would be similar, but big gatherings are expected on federal budget night.
“The thing that aggrieves me the most, we haven’t had the ability or the opportunity or the resources to do what I consider to be normal policing,” he said.
“It doesn’t just affect me, it affects my national colleagues, who have given me substantial resources to deal with these protests over the two-month period.”
Protesters shut down major roads in Canberra during the demonstrations, targeting media organisations, along with Parliament House and city centres.
Large numbers camped out on the lawns outside the National Library before they were kicked out and moved to a campground in Canberra’s north, which became a makeshift headquarters.
A stand-off then ensued between protesters and police when they were told to leave because the site was needed for the Canberra Show.
Warragamba Dam spills
The #WarragambaDam has hit capacity and has started to spill. While the dam spill was forecast, it has started earlier than predicted. Stay up to date and take all warnings seriously. For current warnings visit: https://t.co/I4qsVXddAe @BOM_NSW pic.twitter.com/42Ks6J8Hwp
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) March 2, 2022
Updated
ACT reports 1,053 new Covid-19 cases
The ACT has recorded 1,053 new Covid-19 cases, with 40 people in the hospital and none in intensive care.
(1/2) ACT COVID-19 update (2 March 2022)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) March 2, 2022
💉 COVID-19 vaccinations
▪️ Aged 5-11 years (1 dose): 78.5%
▪️ Aged 12+ (2 doses) 98.6%
▪️ Aged 16+ (3 doses): 68.2%
🦠 COVID-19 case numbers
▪️ New cases today: 1,053 (596 PCR and 457 RAT) pic.twitter.com/5YW6rwYgkS
A team of nine from Sikh Volunteers Australia have driven from Victoria to NSW overnight to provide fresh meals and water to the Lismore community hit by floods.
They left Melbourne at 6am yesterday and arrived in Woolgoolga NSW at 6am today. They have been preparing food in a Sikh temple since.
“We have received lots of calls from Lismore,” a spokesperson told Guardian Australia. “They are especially asking for water.”
“We know we can’t do everything, but we can help a little bit.”
Four of the volunteers will be heading to Lismore this evening.
9 volunteers from @AustraliaSikh drove 20 hours overnight from Melbourne to Woolgoolga, NSW.
— Rafqa Touma (@At_Raf_) March 1, 2022
They left VIC at 6am yestrday, arrived in NSW at 4am today, and have been preparing fresh meals for #Lismore since. #NSWFloods @GuardianAus @joshgnosis pic.twitter.com/65IsQsfyI8
Updated
Just on the five Covid-19 deaths reported in NSW today, the health department says they were: one person in their 70s, two people in their 80s, and two people in their 90s.
Two people were from western Sydney, one person was from Sydney’s eastern suburbs, one person was from the state’s central west, and one person was from the Riverina region.
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Despite the rain in Sydney ...
Anti vaccine mandate protesters are braving pouring rain to protest outside NSW State Parliament. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/MUB3umwW3k
— Amelia Brace (@AmeliaBrace) March 1, 2022
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As the east coast low moves closer to coast, we’re going to get more rain over Sydney and over the catchments of the city’s dams.
Warragamba Dam, which accounts for 80% of Sydney’s water, was at 99% full yesterday and started to spill from about 3am this morning, the NSW government said.
The peak of the flows out of the dam will likely come tomorrow and there is the potential for major flooding at North Richmond, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
For Sydney, the heaviest rain is likely later today or early tomorrow, according to Weatherzone’s Ben Domensino.
To read more, please check out our story:
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Tasmania records 868 new Covid-19 cases
Tasmania has recorded 868 new Covid-19 cases, a dip on the number reported 24 hours earlier, AAP reports.
Wednesday’s daily figure follows 957 fresh infections on Tuesday, the island state’s highest count since 19 January.
There are 5,076 documented active cases statewide, the 15th day in a row the number has risen.
There are 12 people with Covid-19 in hospital, with nine of those being treated specifically for virus symptoms. Two patients are in intensive care.
Tasmania has recorded 12 virus deaths since reopening borders on 15 December and a total of 25 since the beginning of the pandemic.
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There will be a press conference at 12pm at the NSW state emergency service centre with deputy premier Paul Toole, NSW police deputy commissioner Mal Lanyon, NSW SES commissioner Carlene York, Resilience NSW commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons and the Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore.
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Food being helicoptered in to hundreds of Coraki evacuees
New South Wales police are coordinating a helicopter food drop to about 300 flood evacuees sheltering at a church in Coraki, some 30km south of Lismore.
Coraki resident Rudi Maxwell, who is sleeping in her car at the church evacuation centre with her dogs, said the evacuee have food but their supply is running low.
Maxwell said:
They are aware that food is needed here, so they are loading up the helicopter and sending it over from Casino shortly.
They have been really good at getting everyone fed and we have running water and it’s so hard to tell how many people are here, it’s so chaotic, a lot of us camping out in our cars. There may be upwards of 300 people and about that many cars as well.
There are no beds, people are sleeping on the floor of the church and in their cars. There are about a dozen or so houses that didn’t go under … and they are giving people couch space, floor space, whatever they can, a tent, caravans.
Everyone is doing what they can.
Across the Northern Rivers supermarkets are running out of fresh produce, with major highways to the region cut from the north and south.
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The number of NSW schools closed has risen to 192, says education department secretary Georgina Harrisson. She says: "The number of students [affected] is running into the 1000s at this point." #nswpol #nswfloods @GuardianAus
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) March 1, 2022
A man is still missing and about 150 homes in Logan are underwater but other parts of south-east Queensland are beginning to clean up after the region’s worst floods in a decade, AAP reports.
Police continue to search the swollen Brisbane River for the elderly man, who fell from a boat near Breakfast Creek on Saturday.
Nine people have already died in floods triggered by relentless rain that has pummelled some parts of the region for up to a week.
South of Brisbane, major flooding was occurring on Wednesday in Waterford, Loganholme and Beenleigh ,where the Logan River has inundated about 150 homes after rising higher than it did in 2017 when ex-tropical cyclone Debbie lashed the region.
In Brisbane, the river has dropped to a minor to moderate flood level for the first time in two days.
More than 19,000 homes and businesses in Brisbane, Gympie, Ipswich and Logan have been damaged along with roads, bridges and other infrastructure by the widespread floods.
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Almost 90% of the recommendations in Victoria’s royal commission into mental health are underway, new figures show.
The scathing royal commission report into the state’s mental health crisis was tabled in parliament one year ago today.
Deputy premier and mental health minister James Merlino said the review required a “fast, hard start”:
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, that’s exactly what we’ve done. Progress on 64 of the 75 recommendations ... almost 1,000 additional mental workers just in this first year. There’s a really long way to go but I’m proud of the progress we have made.
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Schools closed across northern NSW
Flooding has caused the closures of 179 schools across northern New South Wales, with some unable to operate due to roads being cut and others being inundated by water.
Education department secretary Georgina Harrisson told NSW budget estimates 130 government schools, 21 catholic schools and 28 independent schools had been affected during the crisis so far. Harrisson said:
We know some of those schools need to be closed because the roads are cut and you can’t get there and we don’t envisage that there’s necessarily damage to the schools.There are other schools that are in the middle of the floodwaters. I’ve been speaking to a few principals up there who know that they’ve lost quite a bit at their school.
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Drivers still stranded on M1
Drivers remained stranded on the M1 motorway south of the Tweed River this morning, with many of them now stuck for more than 48 hours.
Rahjah McNae was driving a truck full of chicken to Aldi when he was halted by flood waters on Monday morning.
He has spent the past two nights with 100 other vehicles on an isolated “road island”, with flood waters on either side, of which there are several stretching down the Pacific Motorway.
I got access to the road yesterday as part of a group bringing fresh fruit and water, and found a resilient community pooling resources.
By text message this morning, McNae has confirmed they are all still waiting, and reported “some loss of community” as patience begins to fray with the ordeal.
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Ballina CBD loses power and internet
The manager of Ballina’s community radio station, Jenny Ellenbroek, says flood water is at the door of the Cherry Street building and the CBD of the coastal town lost power around 8.30am.
“The water is at the doors of the council chambers and the Paradise FM station – that whole Cherry Street area, the water is now knee-deep,” she said.
“High tide was at 9am, the water didn’t come in and we hope we’ve dodged a bullet.”
Ellenbroek said the CBD had also lost internet access.
“Nobody has internet and most people have also lost phone signal and so that’s really impeding being able to tell anyone what’s going on.”
She said West Ballina was totally inundated.
“Lots of businesses out there have gone under. It’s hard to tell from where I was whether the river has held its banks in the CBD area, but it would appear that in West Ballina that hasn’t happened.”
She said SES volunteers were out in the CBD, which is under evacuation orders.
“We are in absolute awe and shock of this, because this is not generally what happens in Ballina, but of course it’s collided with a 1.8 metre high tide, it’s creating havoc.”
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With the flood emergency across parts of NSW, it's all hands on deck. Our volunteers have been working shoulder to shoulder with @NSWSES, other emergency services, councils, community groups and everyday people to help prepare and protect communities. We say thanks. #nswrfs pic.twitter.com/tOKrK22Yd2
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) March 1, 2022
The SES is predicting that around 6,000 properties in the Ballina area will be impacted by the rising Richmond River over coming hours, with high tide at 9.25am.
Ballina is about 40km east of Lismore, and Lismore’s flood water – still above the major flooding mark – will be making its way to the ocean in coming days.
SES spokesman Andrew McCullough said SES warnings now cover an area of 10,800 people after evacuation orders were issued for the town’s CBD late yesterday afternoon, with a warning to be out by 7pm.
The local hospital was also evacuated late last night, with 55 patients moved to a Ballina secondary school.
“With the 6,000 properties, it doesn’t mean they will have full flooding impacted,” McCullough said.
He said some houses would have water over the floors, while others will have flood water through their gardens.
“Because it’s tidal, so close to the ocean, we will be watching this very closely over the coming hours where it ends up,” he said
“We’ve sent out evacuations, certainly as a precaution, because we believe there will be a lot of water in Ballina in the coming hours.”
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A research lab which aims to bring back the Tasmanian tiger is set to be established at the University of Melbourne.
The lab, established by a $5m philanthropic donation, will focus on developing technologies for thylacine de-extinction as well as marsupial conservation.
Lab leader Prof Andrew Pask said his team’s research consisted of nine steps to bring the extinct apex predator back, the first of which was sequencing its genome in 2017.
Pask said:
The funding will allow our lab to move forward and focus on three key areas: improving our understanding of the thylacine genome; developing techniques to use marsupial stem cells to make an embryo; and then successfully transferring the embryo into a host surrogate uterus, such as a dunnart or Tasmanian devil.
The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936. Pask said the species had a compelling case for de-extinction, as its habitat has remained largely unchanged.
Pask said:
While our ultimate goal is to bring back the thylacine, we will immediately apply our advances to conservation science, particularly our work with stem cells, gene editing and surrogacy, to assist with breeding programs to prevent other marsupials from suffering the same fate as the Tassie tiger.
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Dutton says only China can stop Russia taking over Ukraine
Russia taking over Ukraine is all but an inevitability that only China can stop, defence minister Peter Dutton says.
AAP reports Dutton said although Russia’s mission has so far been frustrated by the “heroic” resistance shown by Ukrainians, the sheer weight of force wielded by Moscow cannot be ignored.
“It’s more and more worrying as the days go by. Russian soldiers – as we know through history – are a very brutal force, and the carnage we’re seeing right across the Ukraine is very confronting and it’s going to intensify,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.
Overnight Russian commanders intensified their infiltration of Ukrainian urban areas, warning Kyiv residents to flee their homes and deploying rockets on the city of Kharkiv.
Dutton said despite support for Ukraine from Australia and other international partners, only China’s president Xi Jinping can stop the progress of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s troops.
“The pressure really should be on President Xi to pick up that phone and, instead of offering comfort, offering words of direction to President Putin that he should withdraw from the Ukraine as quickly as possible,” he said.
But Australia is not considering sanctions against China at the moment, the defence minister confirmed.
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NSW reports five Covid-19 deaths
New South Wales has recorded five Covid-19 deaths, with 1,072 people in hospital and 45 of those in ICU.
There were 10,650 positive tests recorded: 6,944 RAT & 3,706 PCR.
COVID-19 update – Wednesday 2 March 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) March 1, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 95.8% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 94.3% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/vAMHMszOWs
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Victoria records 28 Covid-19 deaths
Victoria has reported 28 Covid-19 deaths. There are 264 people in hospital, and 37 of those in intensive care.
There are 7,126 new cases.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) March 1, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/EgjAGXyRHy
NSW police have charged a man over alleged fraud related to Covid-19 relief payments in Wollongong and Lake Illawarra last year.
NSW police say business relief grant and test and isolate payments were allegedly made in 11 different names for more than $44,700.
A 31-year-old man was arrested in Corrimal after two search warrants were executed in two residences in Corrimal and Albion Park in mid-January.
Police have seized a motorcycle, laptops and prohibited drugs.
The man has been charged with dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, and publish etc false misleading material to obtain advantage, and granted bail to appear in Wollongong local court on Wednesday.
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My colleagues Josh Butler and Sarah Martin have an interesting story this morning on how the Australian anti-vaxxer groups are pivoting to pro-Putin messaging and Ukraine conspiracy theories.
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Here’s a bit more on the second death in Lismore, via AAP.
A second elderly woman has been found dead in her home in northern NSW, as greater Sydney braces for potential flooding amid torrential rain northwest of the city.
The body of the woman in her 80s was found inside a South Lismore house on Tuesday afternoon, NSW police said. Another woman in her 80s was found dead in her Lismore home earlier in the day.
Lismore mayor Steve Krieg says the flood-ravaged city is bracing for more deaths as Fire and Rescue search homes and businesses “probably with the sole purpose to make more grim discoveries, unfortunately”.
“There’s so many houses to go through. So many people still unaccounted for,” he told ABC TV on Wednesday.
“That is, unfortunately, the main job of the day today and we just really need people to stay away ... to let these people do the worst job imaginable.”
There are also grave fears for a man who disappeared in floodwaters in Lismore on Sunday and is yet to be found.
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Palaszczuk is asked whether there was enough warning given to people over the weekend ahead of time. She said the advice changed.
The councils send out those alerts because they do the flood mappings. And then if they need assistance, the state steps in and then we also put out those warnings. But, the interesting thing is, on [Sunday] it was a low peak, then it was a medium - this was advised by the bureau, and then it was a high. So, that was three changes in the one day, and I can tell you the mapping and the hydrologists were working around the clock to look at those impacts.
Asked whether Wivenhoe Dam has been managed properly, given water will still need to be released in the coming days, Palszczuk says the amount of rainfall over Brisbane was around four Sydney Harbours and it was being controlled:
They have to. If we don’t get the water levels down, [if] there’s another extreme event, then there will be flooding. And I don’t want to see that happening. ... We have to go by the book and they’re abiding by the manual.
But there’s a full review at the end of all these events. You only have to look at what is happening from the Mary River system going into Maryborough and going into Gympie. That’s not related to Wivenhoe. You have to look at is happening in northern New South Wales, that’s not related to Wivenhoe.
So everyone needs to remove Wivenhoe from this equation at the moment, focus on the flooding event that happened because of the phenomenal rainfall and then you have Wivenhoe, that actually stored from the catchment, the equivalent of four Sydney Harbours. If it wasn’t there, it would’ve been catastrophic.
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The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is on ABC News Breakfast and says there is good news that the river is easing this morning.
She says it is a big flood recovery ahead, with up to 150 homes in Logan impacted and 200 in Ipswich hit. Palaszczuk says she will be heading up to Gympie later this morning now that the Bruce Highway has just reopened.
She said she expects the damage bill to be in the millions, if not the billions.
She said:
It’s not just people’s homes and their businesses, it’s also the road networks, it’s the parks, it’s so widespread, across such a large area.
Lisa, you we know from time to time we experience weather events or floods that are contained to a particular region. This went right across the south-east. Now we’re seeing the system move southwards. We’re seeing the impact on northern New South Wales, and I understand it’s heading to Sydney as well.
So a very, very large damaging system and, you know, it sat across Brisbane and the south-east for at least four days, longer than we were expecting it to, or as we were advised from the bureau.
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Linda Reynolds says it is too soon to say how many people will apply for disaster recovery payments.
When asked by host Patricia Karvelas whether the $1,000 payment rate – which was set in 2006 – is enough for those who have lost everything, Reynolds says it’s a payment for people who have lost everything to get food and clothing, and would not say whether the rate should be increased.
She said people who cannot work will also be able to access the disaster recovery allowance, which will pay as income support over 13 weeks.
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145,000 disaster payment applications made
The government services minister, Linda Reynolds, is on RN Breakfast, and she said there have been 145,000 claims for disaster recovery payments associated with the floods in 35 local government areas declared a disaster in NSW and Queensland, with 90,000 submitted yesterday alone.
She says the government has already paid out 35,000, which is $35m paid out so far.
She said 95% of claims have been received so far through myGov, but people are also able to call Services Australia over the phone if they have no internet access.
The department is in the process of putting staff in evacuation centres to help get recovery funds out, she said.
So given the unprecedented nature of this disaster, we’ve already got a teams out at evacuation centres in Brisbane. And as it’s safe to do ... that’ll roll out to 11 evacuation centres today to help people with social workers and also to provide other services Australia support, OK, so in short, we can get that we are acting very very quickly.
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Ballina mayor Sharon Cadwallader has revealed that one of the town’s three evacuation centres had to itself be evacuated last night.
Ballina’s CBD is covered by what the mayor described as “low level floodwaters” this morning, with surrounding suburbs inundated and the local hospital also evacuated overnight.
Speaking on ABC North Coast this morning, Cadwallader said the Cherry Street Sports Club evacuation centre had to itself be evacuated late last night, with crews on site taking people to higher ground until 3am.
HAPPENING NOW: Karl is on the ground in #Ballina, where the SES has issued emergency warnings over "life-threatening" flood levels in the next few hours.
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) March 1, 2022
Latest #floods coverage, live on Channel 9 and at https://t.co/PCMsYM5WPF. pic.twitter.com/7Wmso3iEiE
A number of residents in a small town on the Logan River in south-east Queensland are being checked on after their homes were cut off by floodwaters, AAP reports.
A major flood warning is still current for the Logan area south of Brisbane, where the water level has set new records from the peaks seen five years ago.
Emergency crews were checking on the welfare of the residents of Waterford on Wednesday morning after the lower part of the Logan River rose.
The river level is sitting at 10.7 metres, above the 2017 peak of 10.6 metres seen during Cyclone Debbie, after peaking on Tuesday afternoon at 11.15 metres.
“The Logan River at Waterford is expected to continue to ease, however, river levels will remain above the major flood level (9 metres) for the majority of Wednesday,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Water levels at other areas along the river at Parklands and the Maclean Bridge are slowly falling and will continue to do so through the day.
Some 8,000 homes in the Logan area are without power.
Meanwhile, other areas in the state’s southeast have started a massive clean-up after the devastating flood sparked by a “rain bomb” that killed nine people and ruined thousands of homes and businesses.
Queensland police remain concerned for the fate of a man still missing after he fell from a boat into the Brisbane River at the weekend.
The massive clean-up effort will target at least 18,000 homes, prompting Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to revive the “Mud Army” that helped the city recover from floods in 2011.
But the BoM continues to warn “severe weather” could return, disrupting the recovery effort.
“We are looking at a return for showers and storms late Wednesday into Thursday and Friday,” spokesperson Jonathon How said.
“We could see localised heavy falls of 50mm to 100mm each day, as well as damaging winds and small to large hail.
“So very much the message to those people in southeast Queensland – the danger isn’t over just yet.”
The port of Brisbane is still closed but most schools are reopening on Wednesday with around 80 to remain shut, down from 550 the day before.
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Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s representative has resigned from the board of a company related to Origin Energy. Falcon Oil & Gas, the company in question, is part of a joint venture on a gas project in partnership with Origin in the Beetaloo Basin.
Activist investors have called for Origin and other companies, including Rio Tinto, to review their partnerships with Russian oligarchs and make sure that no dividends flow to Vekselberg and others who are sanctioned by the US and UK.
Vekselberg is not subject to Australian sanctions, which were expanded last week following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last night, Vekselberg’s representative on the board of Falcon Oil & Gas, Maxim Mayorets, “agreed to step down as a non-executive director of the company with effect from today’s date”, the company said in an announcement to the London stock exchange, where it is listed.
Falcon owns a little under 20% of a project in the Beetaloo that is being explored for gas, with the remainder belonging to Origin. So far, Origin, which is running the project, has paid all the costs of exploration.
In a statement, Origin said it was “appalled by the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine” and had “no direct contact” with Lamesa Holdings, the company through which Vekselberg has invested in Falcon, or any other Falcon shareholders.
“Nor do these investors have any influence over activities in the Beetaloo Basin,” Origin said.
“Nevertheless, given the Russian invasion, Origin is concerned about Lamesa Holdings’ investment in Falcon. Origin has expressed its concerns directly to Falcon, and acknowledges the company’s responsiveness, noting the announcement that Russian businessman Maxim Mayorets has agreed to step down from the Falcon board effective immediately.”
We also have some overnight updates on what Australian super funds – who hold your retirement savings – are doing about their investments in Russian companies amid calls for them to divest.
Retail workers’ fund Rest tells Guardian Australia it “intends to divest any direct portfolio holdings of Russian securities in accordance with our members’ best financial interests and regulatory sanctions”.
“Our equity and bond managers are already not permitted to initiate any new, or add to any existing, Russian positions,” a spokesperson said.
Russian assets make up less than 0.1% of the assets held by retirement savers using the fund’s “Core Strategy” option, while its “Sustainable Growth” option “does not currently have any exposure to Russian holdings”, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, construction industry fund CBUS says it has limited purchases of Russian shares since 2018.
They currently make up about 0.1% and “will continue to be reduced when practical and we are continuing to monitor the situation closely”, a spokesperson said.
IFM Investors, a group through which industry super funds make investments into things such as airports, toll roads and the like, said it had “no direct investors nor investments that are included on relevant global sanctions lists”.
“IFM has no direct exposure to Russia through its infrastructure, debt and private equity portfolios,” it said.
“IFM does have a global listed equities indexing capability, where it manages money indexed to the MSCI All Country Index, which includes very limited exposure to Russia.”
Australia’s biggest super fund, AustralianSuper, has yet to say anything about its investments in Russia.
You can read more about Australian business and its scramble to divest and distance from Russia here:
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Good morning
Hello and welcome to the Australian news live blog for Wednesday, 2 March. I’m Josh Taylor and I will bring you the news this morning.
Here’s what we know so far.
A flood warning has been issued for Sydney as up to 150mm of rain is expected today. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of potential life-threatening weather along the east coast of the state right down to the Victorian border.
The bureau said:
Heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is forecast to develop over parts of the Hunter and Metropolitan, Illawarra, South Coast and parts of Central Tablelands and Southern Tablelands forecast districts during Wednesday. Six-hourly rainfall totals between 80 and 120mm are likely.
Locally intense rainfall leading to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is possible, with thunderstorms with six-hourly rainfall totals up to 200mm [also] possible.
An evacuation order was issued for Ballina, on the far north coast of New South Wales, and overnight the local hospital was evacuated.
The mayor of the nearby town of Lismore, Steve Krieg, confirmed on ABC News this morning that a second person had died in the flood in the town.
Clean-up works are underway in Brisbane as nine deaths have now been confirmed after the flooding in Queensland.
And finally, in case you missed it last night, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. He will be working, while in isolation with his family, on the emergency response to the floods and responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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