Here's what you need to know this morning.
Flood-affected residents protest outside PM's home
Flood-affected Lismore residents have driven a truckload of muddy wreckage to Kirribilli, where they are demonstrating outside the Prime Minister's home.
Police stopped the truck from entering Kirribilli Avenue, so the flood victims dragged the damaged furniture and artwork down the street.
"I want him (Scott Morrison) to understand the level of loss our community has been through," Lismore resident Kate Stroud said.
“Imagine piles 50 times this size outside every house.”
The group wants action to halt climate change and a meeting with Mr Morrison.
Koudra Falla said they were angry they could not meet with him when he visited Lismore.
"I had to swim under my house at three in the morning in hectic rapids because we could hear our neighbours calling for help," he said.
Another resident Melveena Martin said: "To think that our Prime Minister came to our town and wouldn't even speak to us and hid from us is absolutely deplorable."
NSW federal police base home to new cybercrime centre
The federal government has today launched a new Australian Federal Police facility in NSW, dedicated to combating online crime.
With $89 million in funding, the Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) will be based in the AFP’s headquarters on Goulburn Street in Sydney.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the new facility would become an essential part of the National Plan to Combat Cybercrime.
“During the pandemic, cybercrime became one of the fastest-growing and most prolific forms of crime committed against Australians,” Ms Andrews said.
“Using far-reaching Commonwealth legislation and high-end technical capabilities, the AFP’s new cybercrime centre will aggressively target cyber threats, shut them down, and bring offenders to justice.”
Paramedics and NSW ambulance dispute comes to a head
The paramedics union and NSW Ambulance will return to the negotiating table today, ahead of planned industrial action.
A meeting in the Industrial Relations Commission, between union representatives and NSW Ambulance, has been set for this morning.
That meeting comes as the two parties remain at loggerheads over staffing and conditions.
The union said paramedics were being overworked during COVID-19, with not enough staff to cover all stations.
But the ambulance service insists investment in operations is at record levels and 750 additional staff have been recruited during the past four years.
Emergency calls will still be answered today, the union said.
COVID-19 deepens teacher shortage
The current upswing in COVID-19 cases is seeing more teachers absent from schools, the NSW Teachers Federation says.
According to the state's education department, out of more than 2,000 public schools, two returned to home learning last week and 10 had some year groups online.
Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said it was worsening the shortage of teachers in some schools.
"These changes in operations are due to the effect of infection rates and absenteeism," he said.
"But, in addition to that, the teacher shortage in some schools before COVID, during COVID and even now, they start each day with three or four teachers down."
Gunman on the run after Western Sydney shooting
Police are searching for a gunman after a man was shot and seriously injured at Hebersham in Western Sydney yesterday afternoon.
The 39-year-old victim was outside a home on Bletchley Place and suffered significant blood loss before being rushed to Westmead Hospital.
Witness Denise Guthrie said a toddler's birthday party was happening when the gunfire started.
"We were just here enjoying it, didn't even get around to having the birthday cake and we suddenly heard what we thought was a balloon popping," she said.
"But [it] turned out to be gunshots, and we heard someone yelling. There were at least five shots fired and you could hear the guy screaming."
Forensic officers spent the afternoon examining the crime scene and said it was a targeted shooting.
