ADF to be deployed to Kimberley to help flood-hit remote communities
Paul Karp
The emergency management minister, Murray Watt, has said the federal government has approved Australian defence force assistance for the WA floods.
Watt told Radio National:
I think the floods that we’re seeing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are probably the most serious right now. Although of course, they’re continues to be extensive flooding in South Australia, as that’s what water weaves its way down the Murray river. Menindi, in south-west New, South Wales has experienced flooding as well. And on top of all that we do, have some localised bushfires south of Perth. So there are quite a few difficult situations going on around the country …
It is pretty extraordinary that somewhere that gets as much rainfall as the Kimberley and particularly places like Fitzroy Crossing have actually seen record peaks in the last few days. So that really is saying something about the volume of water.
We’ve been working very closely with the Western Australian government to ensure that they have any support that’s needed at a federal level. Of course the initial response to any natural disaster is led by the relevant state government. But late on Tuesday night, I approved a request from the Western Australian government for ADF assistance, particularly personnel and aircraft to relocate people from Fitzroy Crossing and some of the surrounding communities if that was needed.
Watt said he was concerned that Fitzroy Crossing, with 1,500 people, and 50 very small remote Indigenous communities could be isolated for weeks.
The WA government has been able to open two evacuation centres, and Watt said the ADF could provide assistance in helping to relocate people to Broome if required.
Watt continued to warn that the federal government doesn’t want the ADF to be stretched “too far” because its role is “primarily as a security measure for our nation”.
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Antarctic visitor numbers to top 100,000 for the first time
Peter Hannam
Antarctica is a place many of us would like to visit, given its appeal of its icy wilderness. Well, the numbers heading to the deep south will exceed 100,000 for the first time this summer.
As it happens, later this month marks the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s voyage beyond the Antarctic Circle – the first known crossing (and return).
We take a closer look at the rising interest in “continent seven” as some people have called it, in this article:
With more cruise vessels being built specifically for Antarctic voyages (most of which typically launch from Argentina), those visitor numbers are going to continue to rise. That will add to biosecurity risks and make it harder for the industry to self-manage.
As with the Arctic, the far south is warming faster than other regions of the world, altering many things. The extent of sea ice appears to be one of them:
Murray Watt warns against politicians criticising China’s travel policy
Senator Murray Watt has said it is “unhelpful” calling China “hypocritical” for critiquing countries implementing entry restrictions on travellers while it plans to make Australians take a PCR test ahead of arrival.
Watt was on Sky News, and said it wasn’t appropriate for politicians to enter debates on the policies of other countries:
I don’t think it’s really helpful for politicians to be getting into labelling the actions of other countries.
What we’ve decided to do on behalf of the Australian people is take a decision about entries into Australia.
Obviously it is a fact that China is requiring a similar requirement of Australians entering the country, and again I guess that reflects the kind of policies that they’ve decided to take in relation to their own country.
‘Challenging night’ for WA fire crews in south-west
Earlier today, Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Peter Thomas said it had been a “challenging night” for fire crews in the south-west, as bushfires threaten the region.
Thomas was speaking to ABC Radio Perth, where he said strong winds had made the situation more difficult overnight, and urged residents to leave if they can:
So our volunteers from the Donnybrook area across the south-west [who have] come to deal with this incident.
We’ve had some strong winds that have been coming consistently from the east, but been fairly strong and making it challenging for our crews.
They’ve done some great work in protecting the homes in that area and containing the fire currently to where we’d like it to be, and hopefully today with a bit more work we can have that fire cleaned up in a few days.
Australian Open should ban Russian players, Ukraine envoy says
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia has called on Australian Open organisers to ban Russian players from competing in this year’s tournament.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko said this morning that the Australian Open should take the same approach as Wimbledon in banning Russian players in an act of solidarity with his country.
He said he will be looking to meet the head of Tennis Australia to make the case:
When we allow sportspeople from Russia to participate in the Australian Open, we do exactly what Putin wants.
It doesn’t matter what flag Russian Federation players compete under. It has Ukrainian blood on it.
It would be a great shame if Tennis Australia proceeds. It goes against the strong stance that Australia itself – as a government and as a nation that stands up to bullies – has taken in support of Ukraine.
I request that Tennis Australia reconsider what seems like an unprincipled position and send a strong message to the Kremlin by banning participants from the Russian Federation. I will be seeking a meeting with the Chair and CEO of Tennis Australia to put my Government’s position and to understand why Tennis Australia has not followed the lead of Wimbledon.
NSW wind turbine on fire
A wind turbine west of Goulburn in NSW has caught fire, with authorities saying that though the fire is out of reach, it poses no risk to surrounding properties.
The Rural Fire Service said there was a fire at the top of the turbine at Breadalbane.
RFS spokesperson Greg Allen told the ABC crews have been at the site since 6am, and that the fire is contained:
Crews have also created an exclusion zone around the base of that turbine and monitoring for any grassfires that may occur.
The fire is contained though and it’s likely crews will be on the scene for some time today.
At this time of year RFS crews and fire agencies are most likely dealing with grass and bushfires
This is quite a unique incident.
‘You don’t want to have a new variant coming in and then find out afterwards’
The head of the Chinese Australian Forum, Simon Chan, has said the government’s decision to implement restrictions on arrivals from China was “not unreasonable”.
Chan was speaking to ABC Radio this morning, where he said that the lack of information coming out of China was a concern:
You don’t want to have a new variant coming in and then find out afterwards. It’ll be too late.
I spoke to a lot of Chinese Australian friends that I have and generally they do think it’s not unreasonable to make that decision.
It’s not as if they have to go into quarantine. It’s probably better to take that precaution than to feel they should have done that later.
Bushfire warning in south-west WA
An emergency bushfire warning has been issued for a fire threatening lives and homes in south-west Western Australia.
The warning covers southern parts of Thomson Brook, Brookhampton, Grimwade, Kirup, Mullalyup, Newlands, Noggerup and Upper Capel in the shire of Donnybrook.
Authorities are warning people in an area bounded by Brookhampton Road to the north, South West Highway to the west, Kirup-Grimwade Road to the south and Thompson Brook Road to the east that they are in danger and need to act immediately.
Authorities are also warning that the fire is out of control, unpredictable and moving west.
Drivers are advised the safest route out of the fire-affected zone is along the South West Highway in a northerly direction towards Donnybrook.
ADF to be deployed to Kimberley to help flood-hit remote communities
Paul Karp
The emergency management minister, Murray Watt, has said the federal government has approved Australian defence force assistance for the WA floods.
Watt told Radio National:
I think the floods that we’re seeing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are probably the most serious right now. Although of course, they’re continues to be extensive flooding in South Australia, as that’s what water weaves its way down the Murray river. Menindi, in south-west New, South Wales has experienced flooding as well. And on top of all that we do, have some localised bushfires south of Perth. So there are quite a few difficult situations going on around the country …
It is pretty extraordinary that somewhere that gets as much rainfall as the Kimberley and particularly places like Fitzroy Crossing have actually seen record peaks in the last few days. So that really is saying something about the volume of water.
We’ve been working very closely with the Western Australian government to ensure that they have any support that’s needed at a federal level. Of course the initial response to any natural disaster is led by the relevant state government. But late on Tuesday night, I approved a request from the Western Australian government for ADF assistance, particularly personnel and aircraft to relocate people from Fitzroy Crossing and some of the surrounding communities if that was needed.
Watt said he was concerned that Fitzroy Crossing, with 1,500 people, and 50 very small remote Indigenous communities could be isolated for weeks.
The WA government has been able to open two evacuation centres, and Watt said the ADF could provide assistance in helping to relocate people to Broome if required.
Watt continued to warn that the federal government doesn’t want the ADF to be stretched “too far” because its role is “primarily as a security measure for our nation”.
Phone torch guides rescuers to men stranded on esky
Four men have been rescued after clinging to an esky and a lifejacket to stay afloat after their boat sank off the coast of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Police sent the Volunteer Marine Rescue’s Mornington unit to find the men after they lit an emergency beacon to alert authorities.
One of the men used his phone torch to help guide the group’s rescuers in the dark.
All four men, three aged 27 and one aged 26, were rescued without injury.
Skipper Rick Cooper of the Volunteer Marine Rescue unit told Today it was all in a day’s work:
The beauty of the technology is that we had a position to go to, to get them.
They were very cold when we found them, we could get straight to them, their beacon gave us an exact location. We got there and there we found them, very cold and glad to see us.
We got them out of the water and into blankets and got them checked before they went home.
The beauty of waterproof phones means they were able to guide us, and were on the phone with police. It was a textbook recovery for us.
Woman in critical condition after beach rescue near Noosa
A woman is in a critical condition after emergency services pulled her from the water at a beach on the Sunshine Coast.
She was taken to Sunshine Coast University hospital after paramedics performed CPR at the beach for half an hour.
Emergency services said a man and a woman were swimming at Coolum beach, south of Noosa, when they faced some trouble. The man was able to get to shore, but the woman, a 27-year-old from France, needed to be rescued.
Three ambulances and four police cars attended the scene.
Geelong woman injured in helicopter crash speaks
The mother who was critically injured during the fatal helicopter collision on the Gold Coast has spoken out for the first time about what happened before the accident.
Thirty-three-year-old Winnie de Silva says she heard a “huge bang” moments before the chopper dropped to the ground, killing four people and critically injuring three, including her nine-year-old son, Leon.
De Silva told the Herald Sun she gripped her son’s hand as she watched the pilot desperately try to regain control of the aircraft:
We didn’t know what to do … it all happened in a second. The only thing I could see was death in my eyes.
I didn’t want to see death in my eyes so I closed them and held my son’s hand beside me.
Good morning
Good morning from rainy Sydney, Mostafa Rachwani with you for the first Thursday of 2023.
We begin with reports that China is considering resuming importing Australian coal after more than two years, as relations between the nations ease. Bloomberg is reporting that the country’s National Development and Reform Commission held talks with four major importers, with imports potentially resuming as early as 1 April.
It comes with entry restrictions on travellers arriving from China set to begin today, as critics continue to ask why Labor implemented the measure against advice from the chief medical officer.
Elsewhere, footage obtained by 7News shows the inside of the cockpit of one of the helicopters that was involved in the deadly collision earlier this week. The footage shows a passenger apparently warning the pilot that something was wrong. Channel Seven says the footage will be passed on to investigators.
Ex-tropical cyclone Ellie is hovering over Broome, but is expected to slowly begin moving eastwards later today. Heavy rainfall continues to batter the region, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing severe weather warnings for intense rainfall and damaging winds for parts of Kimberley, north interior and Pilbara districts. A major flood warning has been maintained for the Fitzroy River, which has inundated towns along its banks.
We will bring you more on these stories and everything happening across the country, stay tuned.