Key events
Continuing on from our last post, here is the full list of affected routes, as per Transport for NSW:
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Berowra to City via Gordon
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City to Berowra via Gordon
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City to Emu Plains or Richmond
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Emu Plains or Richmond to City
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City to Parramatta or Leppington
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Parramatta or Leppington to City
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City to Liverpool or Lidcombe via Bankstown
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Liverpool or Lidcombe to City via Bankstown
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City to Macarthur via Airport or Sydenham
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Macarthur to City via Airport or Sydenham
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Hornsby to North Shore via City
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North Shore to Hornsby via City
Delays to Sydney train services due to person near tracks
Transport for NSW says there are interruptions to a number of Sydney train lines “until further notice” due to a person near the tracks at Redfern.
The affected lines include the Airport and South line, Bankstown, Inner West and Leppington, North Shore, Northern and Western lines. Transport for NSW said:
Allow extra travel time due to a person near the tracks at Redfern. Stops may change at short notice and services may be delayed. Please listen for announcements and check information screens before getting on trains.
My colleague said their express train has completely halted at a station, and the driver said “it may be some time” before they move again.
Two people safely rescued from yacht at Nowra
Two people have been safely rescued from a yacht on the state’s south coast, New South Wales police have confirmed.
As we flagged earlier, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it received a distress beacon alert about midday yesterday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. The 19-metre vessel is believed to have sustained a mechanical issue and is taking on water.
A rescue operation was launched, with officers making contact with a 60-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman on board. They were approximately 170 nautical miles south-east of Sydney Heads, at about 1am today.
The rescue operation was suspended overnight due to extreme weather conditions, and resumed at first light. About 7:25am, the man and woman were safely rescued from the vessel uninjured, police said.
They are now on board the NSW police boat Nemesis, travelling to Sydney. It is anticipated the Nemesis will arrive at NSW Police Marine Area Command late tonight.
Emergency management minister on requests for federal recovery funding
The minister for emergency management, Jenny McAllister, is speaking with ABC RN about the extreme weather events across the southeast over the past week.
Asked if she has received any formal requests for federal assistance with the recovery yet, McAllister said not yet – but “that’s not unusual.”
We’ve been in regular contact at an agency level with the authorities in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania. I’ve personally been in contact with my ministerial counterparts. Their focus, understandably, has been on response, on managing these conditions as they’ve unfolded for some of these communities.
Thoughts will turn today and in the coming days [to] recovery, and we’d expect to start hearing from our counterparts about any measures or assistance they might require from us at that time.
Attorney-general working with state counterparts on youth justice issues: Chalmers
Jim Chalmers was also asked about the second death of a teenager in youth detention in less than a year. The Aboriginal teenager died at Banksia Hill in Western Australia after calling out from a cell prior to his death.
The Children’s Commissioner has asked the government to form a taskforce with other Australian governments around the country to look at what’s going on in justice systems (you can read more in yesterday’s blog here). Will this be considered?
Chalmers responded:
Obviously, these are the sorts of things that are in the domain of the attorney-general Mark Dreyfus. Obviously, incredibly concerning what we saw in detention over on this side of Australia. And I think in an ongoing way, the attorney-general works with state attorney-generals and others to do that. But I don’t want to front run that. Obviously that will be something that Mark is working through with his state colleagues.
‘Important we speak plainly about economic challenges’, treasurer says
The treasurer said that higher rate rises are not the only driver of people’s economic pain, also pointing to volatility around the world.
But Jim Chalmers told ABC News Breakfast it is “important that we speak plainly about our economic challenges”.
And one of the challenges that people have, particularly people with a mortgage, is that interest rates have gone up. That’s put extra pressure on people and slowed our economy. I don’t think that it is a controversial point to make.
Chalmers responds to opposition criticism on RBA comments
Q: The opposition says you’re dodging responsibility by not taking joint responsibility for the government’s economic decisions alongside the RBA’s independent decisions. Is that fair?
Jim Chalmers responded, “of course not.”
The [opposition wants] higher interest rate, because they think that the more people are hurting, the more it will suit their political objectives. And we should see their commentary in that light.
We’re in the third year of a three-year parliamentary term and they still don’t have any costed economic policies and they don’t have any economic credibility. They say all kinds of things. They’re not my focus. My focus is on the cost of living pressure that people are under right now…
Peter Dutton’s focus is on dividing people, and I think that that is what this commentary of the last couple of days has shown again.
Treasurer flags ‘soft and subdued’ economy in tomorrow’s GDP figures
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, was also up on ABC News Breakfast this morning. He was asked for his predictions ahead of the latest GDP figures being released tomorrow.
He said most economists are expecting the figures to show an economy “which is soft and subdued.”
We’re not expecting lots of growth in the June quarter … But really, what we’ve got here is a combination of global economic uncertainty combining with higher interest rates and persistent price pressures here in Australia. Those things are combining to slow our economy quite substantially, we expect. And we’ll learn more about that tomorrow.
Chalmers was again asked about comments he made on Sunday – that the RBA was “smashing the economy” with its rate rises – and he defended this as being “entirely consistent with things that I’ve been saying for some months.”
I think that it would be a bit strange, frankly, if the treasurer of Australia couldn’t point to the sorts of things that are slowing our economy.
Tasmania ‘not out of the woods yet’, premier says
The Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, just spoke with ABC News Breakfast about the weather situation still impacting the island state.
He said it’s been a “very worrying time for people in Tasmania”, with winds up to 187km/h at its peak, as well as flooding around the Derwent River:
It appears that flood levels are easing, which is good … But I have to say that we’re at field capacity. The ground is saturated. So any drop of rain, of course, can add to that.
Rockliff said about 20,000 connections were still without power – about 600 jobs TasNetworks would need to respond to.
So not out of the woods yet. Still a lot of work to do [with] roads damaged, trees over powerlines. It’s been quite a destructive few days. But, of course, Tasmanians always dig deep, as indeed all Australians do in these times of adversity, and today is no different.
The premier said he has heard from PM Anthony Albanese, who offered his support.
At least 40,000 in Victoria still without power
Crews are continuing to restore power to Victorians after strong winds damaged powerlines and left thousands without power.
According to AusNet, there are still 37,500 without power, and according to Citipower and Powercor, there are 17,484 customers still affected.
As of yesterday, United was working to restore power to 3,739 customers. It said on social media:
We have restored power to over 43,063 customers as crews continue repairing the power network that was extensively damaged during last night’s wild weather.
Crews are responding to more than 380 individual faults, replacing power poles, reconnecting fallen powerlines and repairing other electrical infrastructure damaged by trees, branches and other debris.
Jemena said 80 customers were still affected, and that most homes and businesses in the Footscray area had their power restored.
Most Australians support drug injecting rooms, research shows
Most Australians support medically supervised drug injecting rooms despite only two life-saving facilities existing nationwide and the recent scrapping of plans for a third, AAP reports.
Research published today found opposition to supervised injecting rooms has declined markedly over the past 20 years, down from 38% to 27%. It is half that of supporters (54%) while an increasing number are considered ambivalent (18%).
The Burnet Institute study noted the waning opposition came amid consistently negative media reporting about Melbourne’s first injecting room that suggested otherwise. Plans for a second facility in the CBD were scrapped in April:
Senior researcher Dr Amanda Roxburgh said the data “suggests there is greater support than some media stories would suggest.”
Many of the community locals in both North Richmond and in Kings Cross (around the existing services) are supportive, as they know it means fewer public overdoses and discarded injecting equipment on the streets in their suburbs.
Uniting NSW/ACT, which operates Sydney’s injecting room, says its staff have reversed 11,500 overdoses.
Damaging winds forecast for elevated parts of central Tasmania
A severe weather warning for damaging winds remains current in Tasmania.
Similar warnings for New South Wales and Victoria – which were lashed by strong winds yesterday and at the weekend – have been cancelled.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a vigorous south-westerly airstream will redevelop over central parts of Tasmania early this morning, bringing the risk of damaging wind gusts to elevated terrain.
Strong winds around 50-60km/h with damaging gusts stronger than 100km/h are possible over elevated parts of the Central Plateau, North West Coast, Central North and Midlands districts this morning. But the winds are expected to ease below warning thresholds by late morning.
There are also a number of moderate flood warnings that remain in place, including for the Macquarie River, Mersey River, North Esk River, the River Derwent and South Esk River.
In NSW, a severe weather warning for damaging surf is current for Lord Howe Island, but has been cancelled for other parts of the state.
Tamsin Rose
NSW to phase out placement of children in unaccredited emergency accomodation
The placement of children in unaccredited emergency accommodation, including hotels and motels, as part of the New South Wales foster system will be phased out within six months.
The NSW government will announce the changes today after a scathing report from the Advocate for Children and Young People found the use of such options was not a “suitable nor appropriate environment for children and young people”.
Alternative care arrangements (ACAs) can cost more than $2m per child per year and have cost the state $500m, according to Families and Communities minister, Kate Washington.
Since I became minister, I’ve made it very clear that vulnerable children do not belong in hotels, motels or caravan parks with shift workers instead of foster carers… The Minns Labor government’s ban on ACAs is a critical step towards making the child protection system sustainable, and will put vulnerable kids on safer paths to brighter futures. Under our government, unaccredited emergency accommodation will become a thing of the past, which is long overdue.
According to the government, there are 39 children currently in these forms of accomodation and suitable alternatives have been found for each child.
More on the NSW foster care system from NSW state reporter, Catie McLeod:
Tamsin Rose
NSW government to announce changes to procurement policies
The New South Wales government will announce today changes to policies governing procurement to support more jobs and businesses in the state.
Domestic manufacturing and government procurement minister Courtney Houssos said the reforms would “support our local industries and give them new opportunities to secure a larger slice of the NSW government’s $42bn procurement spend”.
The government will announce its intention to legislate the creation of the Jobs First Commission to oversee and enforce local content measures, including forcing the NSW procurement board to make agencies engage with local suppliers before going to tender for projects worth more than $7.5m and agencies made to explain what happened if a local provider was not selected.
The moves are being welcomed by business and unions alike, with Business NSW chief executive Dan Hunter saying the decision would “supercharge” manufacturing and drive innovation.
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey welcomed targets for apprentices and trainees on major projects to “build the skilled workforce of tomorrow”.
Rescuers searching for two people on yacht in rough seas off NSW
Rescuers are attempting to reach a yacht with two people on board in rough seas off the NSW south coast, AAP reports.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it received a distress beacon alert about midday yesterday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. Media reports named the stricken 19-metre-long yacht as the Spirit of Mateship, which the ABC reports has been in several Sydney to Hobart races.
AMSA said it was dealing with up to five-metre seas and 70-90km/h winds.
Emergency authorities said a rescue was likely to be attempted at first light today if weather conditions allowed. A water police vessel was making its way to the scene.
Two Royal Australian Navy ships and an RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft were also involved in the rescue operation.
Police had earlier said the yacht “is believed to have sustained a mechanical issue and is taking on water”.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’ll be with you for most of today, bringing you our rolling coverage.
See something that needs attention? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
Sarah Basford Canales
Second day of closing arguments in Reynolds-Higgins case
The second day of closing arguments in the defamation trial against Brittany Higgins brought by the ex-defence minister, and her former boss, Linda Reynolds, will begin shortly.
Yesterday Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, said the Liberal senator’s “dogged focus” on events in 2021 and 2022 during the trial demonstrated her focus was not on the three social media posts in 2023 about which she is suing.
Young said the “harm and hurt” Reynolds experienced for the 2023 social media posts was small or nonexistent because, by that point, her reputation had already been “baked in”.
The defence also said Reynolds’ failure to do a welfare check on Higgins was an example of how she mishandled the incident. Young said:
It’s those basic human responses we say are missing from this narrative.
Young also said it was Reynolds that engaged in “persistent” harassment against Higgins. This was demonstrated by three key moments, Young said:
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Reynolds called Higgins a “lying cow” after the allegations became public;
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The senator “repeatedly” backgrounded a columnist at The Australian with confidential documents about Higgins’ commonwealth settlement;
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Her correspondence with Lehrmann’s then barrister, Steven Whybrow, during the 2022 criminal trial in the ACT gave an impression of partisanship.
The hearing is expected to begin slightly earlier today at 9.30am Perth time, starting with the remainder of the defence’s closing arguments.
Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, will then begin his closing arguments.
Clean up begins after wild weather leaves one person dead
Extreme weather across three states is expected to ease as the clean-up gets under way after strong winds left a woman dead, homes destroyed and towns on flood watch, AAP reports.
The wind and rain, which started on Sunday night, resulted in the death of a 63-year-old woman after a tree struck a cabin at a holiday park in Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border.
At one point more than 120,000 Victorians were without power, and 660 homes were damaged on Monday after a night of pulsing winds and abnormally high tides.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said that while the worst of the weather had taken place, some damage was still to come.
We’re expecting the winds to gradually ease from the west … and for all of the wind warnings to be cancelled by late (Monday). However, winds of this strength do have the potential to bring down trees, branches that may cause property damage, that may cause power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
Some low-lying properties in Tasmania may become isolated by flood waters and property, and livestock could be at risk from flood waters, according to the bureau.
Evacuation warnings have been issued for residents in the Derwent River, Meadowbank to Macquarie Plains and Styx River at Bushy Park to Macquarie Plains and surrounds.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight stories before Emily Wind comes along to take you through the day.
There could be more trouble ahead for the Albanese government after the latest statistics showed the number of Palestinians applying onshore for protection visas has continued to grow, rising from 119 in May to 157 in June and 176 in July. The official statistics will increase pressure on the federal government over its decision to require them to come to Australia on visitor visas first.
Top Australian executives can earn hundreds of times what the average worker brings home. But how much does a teacher, salesperson or an electrician earn? And how does that compare to a federal politician or the boss of an ASX300 company, one of the 300 largest public companies in Australia? We’ve created an interactive quiz to test your best guesses.
Rescuers were attempting to reach a yacht with two people on board in rough seas off the NSW south coast. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had received a distress beacon alert about midday on Monday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. Media reports named the stricken 19-metre yacht as the Spirit of Mateship. More details soon.
Liverpool city council in western Sydney could be placed into administration after it failed in a court bid to stop the NSW government appointing administrators and holding a public inquiry amid claims of widespread dysfunction. A damning interim report found problems with council’s recruitment processes, procurement irregularities and allegations of a toxic work environment.
And severe weather is expected to ease today after Monday’s wild weather caused power cuts, floods and wind damage across the nation’s south-east. More on the latest soon.
