Australia news live: PM says Trump tariffs ‘not a friendly act’ but rules out levy on US imports; more than 4,000 properties still without power in NSW​on March 12, 2025 at 2:27 am

Queensland Police have launched an operation in response to what they allege are “opportunistic offenders” looting properties during severe weather.

Anti-looting patrols of affected areas will be conducted under Operation Xray Secure to “disrupt and prevent crime, protect properties and enhance community safety,” according to a QLD Police media release.

There have already been several arrests related to separate incidents during these “proactive patrols” on the Gold Coast and Brisbane overnight.

Allegedly a vehicle was broken into and items stolen in the flooded carpark of a unit complex at Labrador, which police were called to just after 6pm. They found a 26-year-old man nearby, allegedly with a knife. Police will allege he was found with a knife, drug utensils and stolen property. His charges include stealing by looting in a natural disaster.

On Brisbane’s south, police were patrolling in Rocklea around 11pm when a vehicle with allegedly false registration plates was observed in flood waters. Police allege the driver, a 44-year-old man, was found in possession of 10 sets of vehicle keys, drug utensils, and house breaking implements. The man allegedly attempted to run from police. He has been charged with property and traffic offences.

And on Brisbane’s north, police patrolling at Nudgee Beach just after midday yesterday allegedly observed a man “with a machete in his pants”. The 27-year-old has been charged with one count of possessing a knife in a public place.

A number of property offences are alleged to have occurred across the southeast overnight and are under investigation, the statement said.

More than 110 police have arrived in the southeast from Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton to support police and emergency services response to the ongoing severe weather. They join 249 officers already deployed along local police.

Back teals if you are a ‘double hater’, Holmes à Court tells voters

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court is at the National Press Club, imploring frustrated voters to back teal independents at the 2025 election.

Tony Windsor – an independent who held the balance of power during the Gillard minority government – is in the room, and there are a couple of remarks on whether this is a sign for the upcoming election.

Holmes a Court says across the globe, voters have turned against incumbents, or away from the major parties entirely. In the US, he says the “double hater” phenomenon saw support go to Trump, an “outsider”.

We are not America – we are not destined to follow them – but we are grappling with the ramifications of massive geopolitical changes, while facing a range of crises here at home …

If you’re angry with the political system, if you are perhaps a ‘double hater’, in Australia we have a much better option.

Climate 200 will support 35 candidates at this election, with millions of dollars in donations behind them.

But Holmes à Court told the press club the organisation doesn’t choose candidates nor run campaigns.

Climate 200 does not start campaigns. Climate 200 does not run campaigns. Climate 200 does not target seats or select candidates.

Queensland police appeal for information in investigating death of woman found in Brisbane River

Queensland police have asked for public assistance in investigating the circumstances of the death of a woman found in the Brisbane River in February.

The body of 49-year-old Crystal Beale was found early in the morning on 22 February after a member of the public observed it in the Brisbane River at Yeronga and called emergency services.

Initial investigations indicated the death was non-suspicious. After further investigations, however, including the results of a postmortem, police now believe Beale’s death was suspicious, QPS said in a statement today.

Detective Acting Inspector Rod Watts said several lines of inquiry were being examined including collecting CCTV in the West End area on the night of Friday 21 February.

Watts said:

We believe Crystal was near the Brisbane River at Orleigh Park, West End and on Ryan Street, West End late on Friday February 21.

Our investigation has centred around collecting CCTV from this area and we are now making an appeal to anyone who may have been in this area between 9.30pm on Friday February 21 and 1am the following morning and has seen Crystal or any suspicious behaviour to please come forward.

As this is an ongoing investigation, police are limited in what details we can disclose, but we are confident people saw Crystal on the night and they have information that will assist with our inquiries. We are urging anyone with any information, no matter how small, to contact police.

A CCTV image, released by police, of Beale from the night of Friday 21 February at a restaurant in Sunnybank showed her with long brown hair, wearing a long white dress with a brown leather shoulder satchel across her body. Police urged anyone with information that may assist with investigations to contact them.

Watch: NSW police minister refuses repeatedly to answer when she was told caravan plot was fake

Here’s some footage of that back-and-forth in NSW budget estimates that we mentioned earlier, in which the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, repeatedly refused to answer questions from the Greens’ Sue Higginson about when she was told the Dural caravan plot was not a terrorist threat or attack, and was asked why she allowed the parliament to be “bombarded” with legislation on a “false basis”.

Queensland Labor accuses government of scrapping mining lease inquiry under ‘cover of a cyclone’

Queensland’s Labor opposition has accused the government of using the cover of Cyclone Alfred to scrap an inquiry into mining leases.

The Queensland’s Law Reform Commission had been considering ways to improve the way the Land Court handles contested resource leases.

It had been scheduled to publish recommendations in coming months.

The shadow attorney general, Meaghan Scanlon, accused the government of using the “cover of a cyclone” to axe the inquiry.

The attorney general, Deb Frecklington, said she had first met with the head of the QLRC on 25 February, “well before” there had been predictions of a cyclone in South East Queensland.

It was finally axed on Tuesday, as the cyclone was bearing down on Brisbane.

The opposition also criticised the government for closing a committee advising the government about youth crime, also during the cyclone period.

Frecklington called it “Labor’s Independent Ministerial Advisory Committee” and said government had appointed a minister for victims which would replace it.

Cyclone-hit families eligible for up to $900 in hardship grants from today – Scully

Hardship grants of $180 will be available for individuals in impacted LGAs from midday today, Paul Scully said.

Payments of $180 for immediate food, medicines and other relief will be available. We’re encouraging people to apply online with those. As I said, they’ll be available from midday today. A reminder, $180 for individuals that have been impacted in one of the LGAs that have been disaster declared, where you’ve been evacuated or had 48 hours of power outage, up to $900 per family.

If you in in an impacted region, you can learn more about disaster relief payments here:

Seventeen homes have been found uninhabitable in Lismore following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the NSW minister for planning and public spaces said.

Paul Scully addressed press alongside Saffin and authorities earlier today:

Damage assessment process is under way. As I said, we’re shifting from response to recovery. We want to make sure that we’re getting out and checking out as much not only infrastructure but also houses and the like. We’ve completed around 1,700 damage assessments so far. Seventeen homes have been found to be uninhabitable and a further seven with serious damage. We’re getting support to those people to see where we may be able to provide additional assistance.

Scully said 4,100 properties remained without power, but “work will continue until full power is restored”.

Lismore emergency centre winding down, local MP says

The Lismore emergency operations centre is in the “wind-down stage” days after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Janelle Saffin says.

The Lismore MP and authorities gave an update earlier today as the flood clean-up continues. Saffin said:

We’re in the emergency operations centre and … you can see today it’s in the wind-down stage. That’s a good sign. That means we’re going from response to recovery, and that is important for the community.

Queensland rainfall and flood waters easing after cyclone – Crisafulli

The Queensland premier has updated parliament about the response to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

David Crisafulli said rainfall has eased and floodwaters were beginning to recede.

I will shortly be appointing a disaster coordinator to lead the recovery.

He said the State Emergency Service had completed an additional 400 tasks in the past 24 hours.

They have never received as many calls for assistance as in the response to Alfred. The SES has done more than 13,000 jobs throughout the event.

Forty have been people rescued from flood waters during the disaster.

Crisafulli said 57,913 people were still without power, while 390,000 homes had been reconnected. The last homes were scheduled to be reconnected by the weekend.

Parliament itself was delayed by a day by the storm and many rooms are still closed, covered in mould.

Black market tobacco ‘bankrolling very bad criminal gangs’ – Butler

Butler told ABC Radio Melbourne that the extra money for tobacco enforcement will help federal police trace criminal activities, go after the money and seize it in the same way they do in other areas of crime.

The health minister said:

This is an infrastructure we have targeted at other criminal activity, we’ll extend it to tobacco.

We want to go harder at tracking these people down, bringing them to justice … This is criminal activity that undermines our public health campaign to stamp out smoking essentially. But it’s also bankrolling some very, very bad criminal gangs with their criminal activities like drug trafficking and sex trafficking.

I think people out in the community, whether they’re retailers or otherwise, think that this is a relatively innocuous thing to do, to sell these cigarettes at cheap prices, but ultimately you’re bankrolling some very bad criminals.

Labor gives $157m boost to fight illegal tobacco

The federal government will give law enforcement agencies an additional $156.7m to help them tackle the tobacco black market.

The package adds to the initial $188.5m announced at the start of last year which provided funding for a major Border Force crackdown and strengthened cooperation between the commonwealth, states and territories to combat illicit tobacco.

This new funding, health minister Mark Butler says, is focused on breaking the business model of criminal networks by dismantling their business capabilities and confiscating illicitly-gained assets and monies.

It will be used to step up funding for the Australian federal police, increase international collaboration to better understand the sources of the illegal trade, enable use of emerging technology at the border and commit more money to the Office of the Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarettes Commissioner.

States and territories will receive $40m to support them to establish local level increase their compliance and enforcement capability, and strengthen regulatory authorities’ cross-jurisdictional partnerships.

Forrest meets the king in London

Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest met with King Charles at a sustainability summit overnight.

Forrest, who is executive chairman and founder of tech company Fortesce, was among CEOs and government leaders attending the global Terra Carta Roundtables and Exhibition at Hampton Court Palace, London. He joined SMI chief executive Jordan-Saifi in welcoming the king at Clock Court, according to the Oxford Mail.

The summit – hosted by the Sustainable Markets Initiative founded by King Charles five years ago – “set out the economic case for a transition to a sustainable future”, according to a media release.

Caravan plot a hoax but fear it created was ‘very real’ – PM

Albanese confirms the caravan plot was a “hoax”, but says that does not dismiss the fear it created for the Jewish community:

It was a hoax and the police have done a thorough and full investigation. They gave full briefings in appropriate forums and briefings were available to others who chose not to receive them.

I make this point that the fact that it was a hoax does not mean that it didn’t create fear for the Jewish community. It did. While it was a hoax and the motivation was about criminal activities and not related to those issues, the fear that it created was very real and that is absolutely understandable that people felt that fear.

Albanese says he knew of fake terrorism plot ‘for some time’

The prime minister has moved on to answering questions about the “fake terrorism” caravan plot. Albanese says he has “known for some time”.

I was informed appropriately by the AFP and what I did was engage and support the AFP, not engage in the sort of nonsense that we saw from the Coalition. You had a leader and deputy leader who in question time, in parliament, I called for them to get briefed by the AFP and by our security agencies. I have known for some time what the AFP thought and what the Asio and security agencies thought about the events that occurred, including the caravan.

What I chose to do in spite of some of the media commentary and in spite of the criticism of the opposition, was to act in our interest, back [our] security agencies, back the Australian federal police and allow them to do their job. And that is what responsible leadership looks like, not the commentary that we saw from members of the Coalition.

Albanese dismissed the prospect of charging the US to use defence bases in Australia, when asked by a reporter. The prime minister says it is in Australia’s best interest to upkeep a defence relationship with the US.

He is speaking live:

We will engage constructively with the United States. It is in Australia’s interest to have the defence relationship that we have with the United States. It is also in the United States’ interest. We will continue to point out that the United States’ interest are not served by today’s decision.

‘This is not a friendly act’: PM on Trump’s tariff

Albanese continues, saying Trump’s tariff on steel and aluminium imports is disappointing given “Australia has a close relationship with the United States”.

It is disappointing. Australia has a close relationship with the United States. Friends need to act in a way that reinforces, to our respective populations, the fact that we are friends. This is not a friendly act. But it is imposed on every country, that is important. In terms of the competition aspect, every country’s exports on aluminium and steel into the United States will have the same tariff.