NSW braces for hot conditions with 12 active fires burning across the state
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner, Rob Rogers, told ABC News Breakfast he was bracing for hot conditions across the state, increasing the risk of fires.
There are 12 active fires burning across the state, five of which aren’t contained, with particular concern around the Hunter Valley area. All are at an “advice” level.
We’re going to see elevated temperatures to a large part of the state. That’s going to continue. Winds are going to pick up to 20km/h to 30km/h. We’ll see [a cool] change come through later today. Ahead of that change, people would be aware the wind picks up, so that’s going to be a danger period.
Crews will be working very hard. We’ve had helicopter winched-in crews yesterday in a number of fires. We’ll be doing that again this morning with large air tankers to try to get containment on these fires as quickly as we can.
Rogers said a “real concern” for the service was grassfires, with vegetation lush as a result of heavy rain – but now dry and a fuel risk.
Certainly not in the last decade, we haven’t seen the amount of grass that’s out there.
Key events
I will now be handing over to my colleague, Elias Visontay, who will take you through the rest of the day. Thanks for joining me.
Australia’s best TV for 2024
And now, to look back …
Our fabulous staff have curated the best Australian television of 2024, just in time for summer holidays. With weather this hot, why not grab a fan and settle into the couch?
My particular recommendation goes to Territory, for the drone shots and stellar acting performances.
Police investigating after Melbourne cyclist attacked
Police in Victoria are investigating an alleged attack on a female cyclist in Melbourne.
The 33-year-old was riding her bike on a cycling track in Glenroy on 14 December at around 11.20am when she came across an unknown man standing in the middle of the track, jumping up and down and waving his arms, police allege.
He did not move so she had to swerve, and as she rode past, he pushed her off the bike. She fell to the ground, and he began to kick her multiple times, police allege.
The cyclist was able to get away and run to an intersection after repeated assaults, police allege, where she called 000 and was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
Kylea Tink calls for national approach on cyberstalking and technological abuse
The independent member for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, has called for a national approach to tackling escalating domestic and family violence issue of technology-facilitated abuse (TFA), including cyberstalking and the use of tracking devices.
It comes with Tink’s launch of a new report into the findings of a policy roundtable series into the topic, coinciding with the festive season, and historical spike in domestic violence cases.
Tink:
The clear message I have heard from victim-survivors, service providers, researchers and first responders is that technology-facilitated abuse is widespread, rapidly growing, not well understood across the community and overlooked by policymakers. We need to act now to stop this growing issue escalating further.
Australia cannot tackle domestic and family violence if we do not tackle technology-facilitated abuse.
Most people now presenting to a domestic violence service have some sort of surveillance technology attached to them. Some services say it is 100%.
According to the e-Safety Commissioner, four in five Australian women have experienced or are experiencing some form of technology-facilitated abuse, while a recent NSW crime commission report found one in four people who bought GPS tracking devices since 2023 have a history of domestic violence.
NSW rail workers vote to take industrial action after Christmas
New Year’s Eve plans could be derailed across NSW after rail workers voted to take industrial action after Christmas, the Australian Associated Press reports.
A majority of 8,000 members backed various forms of action including strikes from 28 December, the Rail Tram and Bus Union NSW trains division said today.
“They’re very frustrated with the lack of engagement by this government,” the union’s secretary, Toby Wearne, told Nine’s Today Show.
Everything is on the table but we haven’t decided exactly what is going to occur over the next couple of weeks.
The aim was to be the least disruptive to the public, he said. But NSW opposition leader Mark Speakman dubbed the plans “extraordinarily selfish”.
This Christmas, they’ve managed to gift-wrap chaos for the people of NSW.
The Minns government and various unions representing rail workers have been at loggerheads for months, failing to resolve their differences through two weeks of intense negotiations at the start of December.
Both parties were before the federal court on Monday as Transport for NSW tried to halt industrial action in the leadup to Christmas. The court is expected to deliver a decision in coming days but its order will not cover the latest vote.
Workers want a 36% increase over four years while the government has offered 11% over three years.
The premier has said he can’t say yes to the rail unions while denying the claims of nurses and other workers “reaching reasonable settlements” in 2024. State police won a 40% payrise in November.
Adam Morton
Australia would emit far more climate pollution – more than 1.7bn extra tonnes of carbon dioxide – between now and 2050 under the Coalition’s nuclear-focused plan than under Labor’s renewable energy dominated policy, analysts say.
The country’s annual emissions are about 440m tonnes of CO2. If correct, the extra 1.7bn tonnes of pollution could add about four year’s worth of pollution to the atmosphere over the next 25 years.
See the details here:
Pesutto faces party room challenge after losing Deeming defamation case
Victoria’s opposition leader will face a fresh party room challenge following his defamation loss amid calls for exiled MP Moira Deeming to return, the Australian Associated Press reports.
Five MPs have signed a motion calling for a meeting on Friday to bring back Deeming into the Liberals after the federal court found party leader John Pesutto defamed her.
The group of MPs said they wanted to give their colleagues “the chance to do the right thing”.
“It is a simple matter of fairness,” they wrote in a joint statement, shared by the opposition’s emergency services spokesperson, Richard Riordan.
As Justice O’Callaghan’s judgment makes clear, the justification put to the party room for Moira Deeming MP’s expulsion was fundamentally flawed.
Liberal party members, and indeed all Victorians, expect their elected Liberal members to act with integrity, and to do right by our colleagues as we would by the state.
As a team we look forward to closing this sorry chapter for good and moving on rapidly with decency and integrity.
Exclusive: NSW’s abortion deserts revealed
Just three of NSW’s 220 public hospitals routinely offer abortions, according to new research by the University of Sydney, which has mapped the state’s abortion access for the first time.
“Abortion deserts”, where the nearest abortion service is more than 160km away, are widespread across the state. See how accessible – or inaccessible – it is in your area.
All 15 local health districts and the health minister, Ryan Park, refused to answer questions from Guardian Australia about which hospitals provide abortion healthcare and what happens to women who need abortion services when none are provided in their district.
Abortion is basic healthcare that is legal in NSW.
New ABC managing director appointed unanimously by board
Back to breaking news this morning, and ABC’s chair, Kim Williams AM, has confirmed the incoming managing director of the broadcaster, Hugh Marks, was appointed by the ABC board unanimously after an extensive domestic and international search.
Williams said Marks was “unusually well-qualified” to lead the ABC’s editorial and creative production teams online and in audio and video.
Hugh is a highly successful media executive, with more than 30 years’ experience in Australia and internationally … this breadth of experience is rare and will be critical to the ABC as we look to further strengthen our reach and engagement with the Australian community.
Hugh was a standout candidate, not only for his experience across every facet of the media, but for his strong track record of leading media organisations and driving substantial and sustained audience engagement. He is the right person to lead the ABC as we plan right now for renewal and investment.
Marks comes to the ABC after nearly three years at Dreamchaser – a contemporary Australian content studio he cofounded and co-led. He said it was an “amazing time” to be working in media.
There are so many opportunities to deliver quality news and entertainment to Australians, but choices to make in what we prioritise in doing so. Making the right choices is what will determine our success into the future.
The ABC is an iconic and formidable media organisation. No other institution has the reach and impact of the ABC, and it is a privilege to lead the ABC workforce as we confront the many technology and programming opportunities before us.
Indonesian legal expert says Bali Nine release indicates Subianto signalling he is ‘someone the west can engage with’
A leading expert on Indonesian law, Prof Tim Lindsey, has told the Australian Associated Press Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, will be “easier to deal with” than Joko Widodo following the release of the Bali Nine.
What I think he’s doing is sending a signal globally that despite his terrible history of human rights, he’s someone the west can engage with.
It means it’s much easier for countries that have abolished the death penalty, like Australia and the EU, to engage with him.
Despite the previous president’s tough-on-drugs stance, there would not be major concerns in Indonesia about the repatriation, Lindsey said.
This is a president who had a massive landslide win … and he’s still in the middle of their honeymoon period. He has got a huge political capital and it’s something he can probably get away with.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the agreement had been reached with his Indonesian counterpart on humanitarian grounds rather than a prisoner swap.
Former Nine CEO Hugh Marks to lead ABC
To some breaking news now.
The former chief executive of Nine Entertainment, Hugh Marks, has been appointed managing director of the ABC.
The national broadcaster confirmed this morning that Marks would start in the new year, replacing David Anderson.
The outgoing director announced earlier this year he would be stepping down from the role, months after being reappointed for a second five-year-term.
In a statement to the ABC, Marks said his priorities were to focus on areas of excellence and not spread itself too thinly.
All Australians, when they want to know the truth, or the facts, or at least the different perspectives on an issue so that they’re informed, know that they can come to the ABC and trust that it’s that place that they’re going to get [that].
Just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean you should do it. We should just focus [on]: What is it that we can do well? How can we do it well? Focusing on those things and making choices to prioritise on the things that you can do well, I think, is a discussion we’re all going to have to have.
Marks led Nine Entertainment for five years until 2021, overseeing its merger with Fairfax Media.
NSW braces for hot conditions with 12 active fires burning across the state
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner, Rob Rogers, told ABC News Breakfast he was bracing for hot conditions across the state, increasing the risk of fires.
There are 12 active fires burning across the state, five of which aren’t contained, with particular concern around the Hunter Valley area. All are at an “advice” level.
We’re going to see elevated temperatures to a large part of the state. That’s going to continue. Winds are going to pick up to 20km/h to 30km/h. We’ll see [a cool] change come through later today. Ahead of that change, people would be aware the wind picks up, so that’s going to be a danger period.
Crews will be working very hard. We’ve had helicopter winched-in crews yesterday in a number of fires. We’ll be doing that again this morning with large air tankers to try to get containment on these fires as quickly as we can.
Rogers said a “real concern” for the service was grassfires, with vegetation lush as a result of heavy rain – but now dry and a fuel risk.
Certainly not in the last decade, we haven’t seen the amount of grass that’s out there.
Fire officer says risky conditions now characteristic of a ‘typical Victorian summer’
Fire Management Victoria have had a “really busy night” battling major blazes across the state.
The agency’s chief fire officer, Chris Hardman, told ABC News Breakfast it was really pleasing fires at Creswick and Candook had been downgraded and no lives or assets had been lost. All fires burning in Victoria are at an “advice” level, with residents urged to ‘stay informed’.
We’re not certain if there were any minor assets, but certainly no reports of any house losses at the moment, which is great news for local residents.
Hardman said around 300 firefighters were still located at the active blazes, with “many days’ work ahead of them” continuing to mop up and black out the fires.
I have to say to community members that we’re in a typical Victorian summer now where you do get this slow buildup of heat and fire weather, and every 7 to 10 day cycle, we get a very significant warming event this time of year.
It’s going to be really important that we support the firefighters getting on top of the blacking out to make sure those fires don’t spread out again the next time it warms up.
Islamaphobia envoy shocked by scale of problem in Australia
Malik told the ABC the sheer scale of Islamophobia had surprised him during his engagements across Australia.
My engagements were not with victims of Islamophobia … I was really talking to representatives of organisation that represent Muslim youths, women and imams.
From these consultations, everyone had a story about their brushes with Islamophobia, and that was genuinely a shock to me.
The Albanese government announced it would appoint the British Australian public servant in October as the special envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia after months of delays.
His three-year term reports directly to the prime minister and the minister for home affairs.
