Dry lightning ignites Grampians fire front as community faces ‘devastating loss’
Firefighters are continuing to battle an out-of-control blaze north-west of Melbourne that has destroyed two homes and an accommodation lodge.
Country Fire Authority (CFA) chief officer Jason Heffernan appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning to provide an update. He said crews had been working “very hard” overnight on the Little Desert fire and the fire in the Grampians.
Melbourne wasn’t let go either, with a grassfire very early this morning in Altona that needed to be responded to by Fire Rescue Victoria and assisted by the CFA.
Today, attention will turn back to the western part of the state. Crews will continue to black out and overhaul that fire ground as residents continue to return into the township of Dimboola to check their properties … unfortunately we’ve seen that loss of property there and the Nature Lodge as well, which will be devastating for the local community.
Key events
The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning ahead of launching an updated disability strategy to improve accessibility for 5.5 million Australians living with a disability. It will have a particular focus on homelessness and housing.
What the strategy will do is actually get all levels of government … making sure that when it comes to homelessness services, there will be a particular focus on meeting the needs of people with disability. And when it comes to building homes, there will be a focus on making sure that those homes are more accessible as well so that people with disabilities have more choice over where they live.
Rishworth was pointed to a spot of intriguing local news for her South Australian electorate, with reports that her main opponent for the Liberal party will be another Rishworth – her cousin.
How do you feel about that?
Rishworth replied that she hadn’t been in contact with her opponent, while adding “it’s a democracy”.
Anyone can run. So I’ll be putting what I stand for and my record forward at this election and I’m really proud to stand by the fact that I’ve fought very hard for my electorate every single day that I’ve been the local member and I’ll be standing on that record.
Third man charged over alleged bashing of off-duty police
A third man accused of involvement in a bashing that left two off-duty police officers in hospital has been hit with charges, AAP reports.
Emergency services were called to the popular Sydney entertainment precinct of Enmore Road in Newtown on 22 January, where they treated the officers, including a 25-year-old who was unresponsive.
An off-duty nurse gave him CPR until paramedics arrived and he was taken to hospital. Both police have since been released from care.
Koby Weaver, 20, and Danai Deneiderhavsein, 18, faced Downing Centre local court last Friday on charges relating to the incident but neither received bail.
Police confirmed on Wednesday that a 22-year-old man was also arrested in Enmore on Tuesday afternoon.
He has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in the company of others.
Police did not issue him bail and he will face the Newtown local court on Wednesday.
Weaver was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, while Deneiderhavsein was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company
A court was last week shown a brief phone-camera clip said to capture part of the alleged confrontation.
Woman due in court over alleged murder in Coffs Harbour
A woman has been charged following an investigation into the alleged murder of a man on the New South Wales mid-north coast last year.
About 4.15am on Thursday 26 September 2024, emergency services were called to Kurrajong Street, Coffs Harbour, following reports of an assault.
Officers found a 41-year-old man suffering injuries to his upper body and he was taken taken to Coffs Harbour hospital, where he later died.
A 24-year-old man was charged by police and remains before the courts.
Following further inquiries, police arrested a 38-year-old woman at Coffs Harbour police station yesterday and she was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and carry a cutting weapon upon apprehension.
She was refused bail to appear before Coffs Harbour local court today, Wednesday 29 January.
Teens charged after fatal NSW motorcycle collision
Three teenagers have been charged following the death of a motorcyclist in regional New South Wales on Tuesday.
About 7.15am, officers attempted to stop a ute that had been reported stolen from Moree, on the Kamilaroi Highway, west of Gunnedah.
It allegedly failed to stop and a pursuit began before it collided with a motorcycle.
Police stopped to assist the rider, who was critically injured. He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics but died at the scene.
The ute allegedly continued through Gunnedah on to the Oxley Highway and further police attended to assist and initiated a second pursuit.
At Carroll, east of Gunnedah, the ute left the road with three occupants allegedly running from the scene. Following a search, three boys, all aged 14, were arrested and taken to Tamworth police station.
A 14-year-old boy, who police will allege was the driver, has been charged with 15 offences including aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death and fail to stop and assist, while the other two boys, both aged 14, have each been charged with five offences.
All were refused bail to appear in a children’s court on Wednesday.
Greens choose western Sydney candidates for election
The Greens have launched two women to run in Barton and Watson in the upcoming federal election as focus turns to Labor’s hold on western Sydney.
Deputy Greens leader and NSW senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi today announced the preselection of Manal Bahsa as the candidate for Barton and Jocelyn Brewer as the candidate for Watson.
Jocelyn is a former teacher, parent and psychologist. She is ready to fiercely fight for change for her community. Manal is a practising lawyer and a woman of colour who lives in the heart of Barton. She will be an authentic, powerful voice for her community. We will keep Dutton and his Coalition out, but the truth is that Labor has abandoned western Sydney, and people have had enough.
Brewer pointed to tax reform of bid corporations, free dental and mental health services and the climate crisis and key policy platforms, while Bahsa said she was a “passionate advocate for civil rights”.
While I was born in Australia, my family’s diverse heritage has deeply shaped who I am – my mother is of Greek and Ghanaian descent, and my father is Lebanese.
To me, Australian democracy is about more than just elections – it’s about valuing the inherent dignity of every individual and ensuring everyone has the right to live free from oppression, discrimination and fear.
Heffernan said the Grampians fire had grown to 5,000 hectares overnight as a result of dry lightning on the western side of the national park.
It will continue to burn for some time and be a challenge for firefighters in the days and weeks to come, particularly as we see warmer weather returning to the state.
A lot of work is now starting to be done on the private farmland adjoining the Grampians National Park in anticipation for that warmer weather later on this week and into next week. And it’s just so devastating for the local community, but also devastating for our First Nations people there. As we know, the Grampians is full of such rich heritage for our First Nations people.
Dry lightning ignites Grampians fire front as community faces ‘devastating loss’
Firefighters are continuing to battle an out-of-control blaze north-west of Melbourne that has destroyed two homes and an accommodation lodge.
Country Fire Authority (CFA) chief officer Jason Heffernan appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning to provide an update. He said crews had been working “very hard” overnight on the Little Desert fire and the fire in the Grampians.
Melbourne wasn’t let go either, with a grassfire very early this morning in Altona that needed to be responded to by Fire Rescue Victoria and assisted by the CFA.
Today, attention will turn back to the western part of the state. Crews will continue to black out and overhaul that fire ground as residents continue to return into the township of Dimboola to check their properties … unfortunately we’ve seen that loss of property there and the Nature Lodge as well, which will be devastating for the local community.
Gallagher on the chances of interest rates cut
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, is appearing on ABC Radio National ahead of today’s inflation numbers.
Asked if she was confident the RBA would cut rates, she replied the government had been making sure the decisions it took “don’t work against the RBA” and “the statistics speak for themselves”.
When we came to government inflation had a six in front of it, now it has a two in front of it.
Gallagher said there had been “quite extraordinary” job creation in Labor’s term, with 1.1m additional jobs, almost half going to women, and wages growing “for the first time in a decade”.
Asked if Labor would implement further cost-of-living relief if there was no rate cut, she pointed to the upcoming budget, due to be handed down on 25 March.
We get that people have been doing it tough, feeling under pressure, which is why throughout the budget we have found very responsible ways to find some relief from that … As we are putting our budget together, obviously we are mindful of the economic conditions, how people are feeling and whether there are any responsible decisions we can take.
Labor adds homelessness focus to disability strategy
Australians with disabilities experiencing homelessness will be prioritised as the government commits to disability reforms, months after a scathing royal commission into the sector, AAP reports.
The updated disability strategy, which acts as a framework for policy commitments from state and federal governments, will include an additional homelessness priority area, commitment to a new community engagement plan and three fresh action plans.
The updated plan will be unveiled by social services minister Amanda Rishworth in Melbourne on Wednesday. She said the plans set out the “specific steps” governments would take to drive change:
For the first time, they also include a number of national actions that all governments will work on together, with the disability community, to ensure people with disability right across Australia experience the benefits.
The review was led by an advisory council, chaired by Jane Spring, who said the peak bodies and disabled community were looking for better coordination of services.
Spring said three new targeted action plans would include better housing services, a plan for safety, rights and justice of Australians with disabilities and a commitment to better data collection.
The strategy review was one of 222 recommendations from the landmark disability royal commission. Ten months after the report was released, the government committed to fully implementing just 13 of the recommendations.
Funding boost for uni agriculture programs
Four universities have received $1m in funding to run agriculture pilot programs in a bid to attract students to the profession.
The funding, allocated in the federal budget, will go to Charles Sturt University, the University of Queensland, Australian National University and Charles Darwin University, to run over 2025 and 2026.
The assistant minister for education and agriculture, fisheries and forestry, Anthony Chisholm, said the work liaison pilot program aimed to undo “preconceived stereotypes” about working in the agricultural sector.
Some students, especially those in our cities, can see a career in agriculture as something that’s only for those who live in the regions or for those whose family own land that can be used to operate an agribusiness.
AgConnections aims to break down these misconceptions and build on the diversity of the industry, by highlighting and encouraging women and Indigenous Australians wanting to pursue a career in agriculture.
What’s been happening with the weather
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Sarah Scully appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning to run through the severe weather that has been hitting Australia this week – from heavy rainfall to extreme heat and fire danger.
Scully said the focus of the heat moved out of Melbourne on Monday to New South Wales, with widespread temperatures reaching 40 degrees on Tuesday.
Really gusty southerly changes pushed through the Sydney area around 4pm … the mean wind with that buster just to the south of Sydney was 80km/h gusting to 90km/h so it really packed a punch and dropped temperatures by 10 to 15 degrees as it moved through within the hour.
Meanwhile, further north, Queensland was hit with 200mm of rain in some parts on Monday and Tuesday, particularly the far north. Scully said the BoM was monitoring five different tropical low developments across the waters of northern Australia.
Scully:
There’s a few that we’re keeping a particular eye on. One of those is the low sitting off Cairns. From tomorrow there’s a low chance of it developing into a tropical cyclone and that risk increases towards the weekend to moderate but there’s also tropical lows set to develop through the Gulf of Carpentaria and another one in the Coral Sea and as well two off the north-west coast of WA.
New health cyber sharing network aims to improve data protection
Natasha May
A cyber “neighbourhood watch” for healthcare providers and industry is being set up to help protect Australians’ most sensitive information from cyber threats.
Recent cyber-attacks on healthcare organisations, including health funds and hospitals, have led the federal government to award $6.4m to CI-ISAC, a not-for-profit organisation providing cyber threat intelligence, to create a health-specific, information-sharing and analysis centre.
The new health cyber sharing network will enable organisations across the sector – including public and private hospitals, health insurance providers, medical clinics, as well as a large number of health and medical-related third-party suppliers and vendors – to exchange cyber security threat information more quickly, within a secure and confidential environment.
David Sandell, the CEO of CI-ISAC Australia, said:
The health and medical sector holds a large amount of incredibly private and personal medical and financial information. We have already seen several high-profile data breaches in the health sector, and the new network can help members reduce their cyber risks. Cyber-attacks can also greatly disrupt important health services, and this industry cannot afford interruptions with patients’ wellbeing at stake.
The national cyber security coordinator, Lt Gen Michelle McGuinness, said:
Many in the healthcare sector would know well the philosophy that prevention is better than a cure. This also applies to cyber security and is the driving concept behind this grant.
Strong industry collaboration and enhanced threat detection through the work of CI-ISAC will increase the protection of Australians’ sensitive health data.
Good morning, readers. It’s Caitlin Cassidy here to take you through the news of the day. Thank you as ever to Martin Farrer for kicking us off this morning.
Federal funding for free internet extended
Krishani Dhanji
Thousands of families with school children will be eligible for free internet, with the government announcing $4.9m to extend the free school student broadband initiative to June 2028.
The program was due to end in 2025, which the government says is currently accessed by more than 23,000 families.
Under the extension up to 30,000 places will be available for eligible families who have difficulty accessing internet connections.
Communications minister Michelle Rowland said it would ensure more families didn’t have to deal with the “burden and uncertainty of mobile internet usage and data cost” so their children could do their homework.
The school student broadband initiative is making a serious difference for thousands of families who now are able to enjoy the benefits of having reliable internet at home – a must in our increasingly digital world.
Coalition has narrow lead over Labor, poll suggests
The Coalition holds a narrow lead over Labor ahead of a federal election that must be held by mid-May, a Roy Morgan poll suggests, Australian Associated Press reports.
The survey puts the coalition on 52% to Labor’s 48% on a two-party-preferred basis, unchanged from the pollster’s reading of support in the previous week.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton both visited Western Australia this week in what is seen as unofficial election campaigning.
On primary votes, Roy Morgan said the coalition was down 1.5 points to 40.5% while Labor’s support was up one point to 29.5%.
Support for the Greens fell 1.5 points to 11.5% while backing for the other minor parties category slipped 0.5 points to 3.5%.
One Nation gained two points to 6% and support for independent candidates rose 0.5% to 9%.
The likelihood of a February interest rate cut
Mortgage-holders will be about $8,000 better off on average if a slowdown in inflation paves the way for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut rates as expected, AAP reports.
Data to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday is widely tipped to show core inflation for the December quarter was substantially lower than the RBA’s forecasts.
With underlying inflation moving sustainably back to target and Australia’s economy growing at its slowest rate since the 1990s – outside the pandemic – the door should be opened to an interest rate cut in February, Deloitte Access Economics partner Stephen Smith said.
On the other hand, tightness in the labour market, elevated government spending and a falling Australian dollar were militating against a cut.
But Smith still expects 75 basis points of cuts in 2025 followed by a further 75 basis points in 2026. He said:
By the end of the rate-cutting cycle, a household with an average-sized mortgage and a variable mortgage rate would be around $8,000 better off in today’s dollars.
Read more in our preview story
Verdict due in Struhs murder trial
Andrew Messenger
The verdict in a mammoth trial of 14 members of a Toowoomba religious sect accused of causing the death of an eight-year-old member with diabetes is expected to be handed down in Queensland today.
Elizabeth Struhs died on 6 or 7 January 2022, allegedly of diabetic ketoacidocis due to not being provided insulin.
Her father, Jason, is on trial for murder, as is Brendan Stevens, the head of the Toowoomba order, known as the Saints.
Elizabeth’s mother, Kerrie, and brother Zachary are charged with manslaughter, alongside 10 other members of the Saints.
The Queensland supreme court sat for nine weeks last year before Justice Martin Burns adjourned the case to consider his verdict in September.
The Saints, who repeatedly told the court that they believe Elizabeth will be raised from the dead, refused legal counsel and did not enter pleas. Pleas of not guilty were entered on their behalf.
Jason Struhs allegedly withdrew some of his daughter’s insulin on 1 January 2022 and all of it two days later. As her health deteriorated, the Saints are alleged to have sung and prayed for her healing or resurrection, and are accused of not calling an ambulance.
If Jason Struhs and/or Brendan Stevens are convicted, it would be the first time a person has been convicted of murder in Queensland “by reckless indifference”.
Justice Burns will begin handing down his judgment, which is expected to be lengthy, at 11.30am Brisbane time.
In a separate case, Kerrie Struhs was convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life when Elizabeth fell into a coma in 2019, also as a result of her type-1 diabetes.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Caitlin Cassidy for the bulk of the day.
It’s not often that the release of economic statistics can be described as highly anticipated. But it holds true for millions of Australians about today’s inflation numbers and their potential impact of interest rates. And that’s not to mention Anthony Albanese, who is trailing Peter Dutton in the polls and could do with a better story to tell about the economy. More coming up and the figures are out at 11.30am.
Verdicts are expected later this morning in the trial of Jason Struhs and 13 other members of the religious group he belonged to over the death of his eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who suffered from diabetes.
One of the people attending the commemoration at Auschwitz was Australia’s attorney general, Mark Dreyfus. Three of his grandparents died at the hands of the Nazis and today he writes a moving piece about the “shocking rise in antisemitism in Australia” and how attempts to politicise the issue must be rejected. He simply says: “Today I say never again.”
