Thousands without electricity in Byron Bay region and in Queensland as waves top 10m in Tweed area. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – WellsThe federal sports minister, Anika Wells, also spoke on the Today Show this morning from Brisbane and said it was the “calm before the storm”.At the moment that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a big couple of days ahead for south-east Queensland. We’re more than up to the task, but everybody’s doing their bit.So everyone’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.We know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there is going to be powerful surf, coastal erosion, and it will be followed by significant rain that can last a couple of days. So we’re really urging people to be alert, to be prepared, just like the SES is. Continue reading…Thousands without electricity in Byron Bay region and in Queensland as waves top 10m in Tweed area. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – WellsThe federal sports minister, Anika Wells, also spoke on the Today Show this morning from Brisbane and said it was the “calm before the storm”.At the moment that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a big couple of days ahead for south-east Queensland. We’re more than up to the task, but everybody’s doing their bit.So everyone’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.We know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there is going to be powerful surf, coastal erosion, and it will be followed by significant rain that can last a couple of days. So we’re really urging people to be alert, to be prepared, just like the SES is. Continue reading…
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now up to provide an update on the cyclone and the federal government’s response.
He said the Australian Defence Force is now formally engaged in the response:
I said yesterday that we would put the ADF on standby, and we have now received a formal request … The ADF is now engaged as of right now.
First Nations suicide rate triple other Australians
The suicide rate of First Nations Australians is three times higher than the rest of the population and deaths are far more prevalent among young people, AAP reports.
A report from the Victorian Coroner revealed 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by suicide in 2024. The figures are a 42% jump since 2022, with the average age of death for men being 37 and 29.6 for women.
Some 56.6% of Indigenous people who died by suicide from 2020-2024 were under 35. This was compared to 30.2% of non-Indigenous people who took their own lives.
In the four years until 2024, one third of First Nations suicides were in men aged 25-34, while the most common age for women was between 18-24.
The analysis also revealed a geographical divide, with 54.9% of suicides in First Nations peoples in regional areas and 45.1% in metropolitan areas.
This contrasts with the rest of the population, where two thirds of suicides occurred in metropolitan areas.
Stressors included diagnosed or suspected mental health conditions, interpersonal concerns, substance use, exposure to family violence and contact with the justice system, court data revealed.
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13YARN 13 92 76. Lifeline 13 11 14.
Two separate watch and act bushfire warnings in Victoria
A watch and act alert has been issued for Buninyong and Scotsburn near Ballarat, amid an out of control bushfire.
The fire is travelling south towards Scotsburn, and locals are being urged to leave now.
Firefighters are responding, and the fire has not yet crossed the Midland Highway.
In a separate warning just north, locals at Mount Clear and Mount Helen are being told to prepare to leave, amid an out of control fire.
A bushfire at Mount Clear is travelling from Olympic Avenue in a southerly direction towards Timbertop Drive. The warning reads:
A wind change is expected around 3.00pm. This will cause the fire to change directions towards Woowookarung Regional Park. Conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable.
Tyrrell backs Greens move, with one exception
Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell has backed the Greens policy for a prices commission – but believes this should sit within the existing ACCC rather than a new organisation.
She wrote in a statement earlier today:
There’s a fascination with setting up new government bodies that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to establish and maintain. We have enough of those already. I want a prices commission that’ll save taxpayers more money than it’ll cost them to run.
Tyrrell has been advocating for supermarket chain Aldi to come to Tasmania, arguing that “when Aldi comes to town, prices at other supermarkets go down”.
Greens unveil plan to make price gouging illegal
The Greens have unveiled a plan to make price gouging illegal by the middle of this year.
As part of a plan unveiled today, the Greens would introduce a new corporate watchdog to monitor for price gouging in supermarkets, also creating a Prices Commission, with powers to subject supermarkets to fines or being broken up.
The commission would begin 1 July this year, it said, with the ability to make referrals to the existing ACCC, “which would also be strengthened with additional resourcing.”
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said that in a “wealthy country” like Australia, “everyone should be able to afford the basics, but people are getting smashed at the checkout.”
People are worried about rising grocery prices and the soaring cost of living, but governments aren’t acting … Experts predict a minority government this election. The Greens will keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to make price gouging illegal.
Number of fatal farm accidents doubled in 2024
The number of fatal accidents on Australian farms doubled in 2024, according to data released by Agrifutures today.
The research by AgHealth Australia found that 72-on farm deaths were reported in 2024, up from 32 in 2023 and higher than the five-year average of 53 on-farm deaths per year.
Fourteen of the fatal accidents involved side-by-side farm vehicles, 10 involved quad motorbikes and eight involved tractors. Three deaths involved livestock, two involving cattle and one involving horses. Five of those killed were less than 15 years old, and 87% were male.
A further 133 non-fatal injuries were reported, most of which were in Queensland. Quad bikes were the leading cause of non-fatal injury, followed by horses, cattle, side-by-sides, motorbikes, and tractors.
AgHealth Australia farm safety research manager, Kerri-Lynn Peachy, said the increase was above expected annual fluctuations.
It’s clear from the data we must urgently improve our actions and attitudes, working in collaboration across the agriculture sector, to drive improvements in farm safety, which in turn will increase productivity.
Even one death on-farm is too many and we all have a role to play in bolstering farm safety as the sector aims for zero on-farm fatalities.
Some Queensland courthouses to close amid tropical cyclone
A number of Queensland courts will close tomorrow and Friday amid Tropical Cyclone Alfred, including:
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Brisbane (QEII courts of law)
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Ipswich district court
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Beenleigh district court
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Southport district court
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Land court
Chalmers welcomes GDP growth figures
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has welcomed those GDP growth figures announced earlier today, declaring “the Australian economy has turned a corner”.
Australia’s gross domestic product, which measures economic activity, rose by 0.6% compared with 0.3% in the previous three-month period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced earlier today. The annual growth rate is at 1.3%.
At a press conference, Chalmers said:
Growth is picking up in the Australian economy and the Australian economy has turned a corner. That’s the overwhelming evidence from today’s national accounts.
These numbers reflect the very substantial and very encouraging progress that Australians are making together in our economy. Inflation is down, incomes are strengthening, unemployment is very low, interest rates are coming down and now growth is picking up as well.
The Australian economy expanded faster than expected in the December quarter, signalling an improvement in the financial health of the nation.
Australia’s gross domestic product, which measures economic activity, rose by 0.6% compared to 0.3% in the previous three-month period, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The annual growth rate is at 1.3%.
Cameron McCormack, a senior portfolio manager at investment firm VanEck, said:
While GDP is still well below Australia’s historical average of 3.34% annual growth, the modest GDP growth in an environment of tighter monetary policy indicates the economy is heading towards recovery.
Crucially, per capita GDP increased by 0.1% during the quarter after years of going backwards. The per capita figures are a gauge of living standards, and have suffered a prolonged period of weakness.
The data, released today, could indicate that households are feeling better about their financial position shortly ahead of an election fought on cost-of-living pressures.
However, stronger-than-expected GDP typically makes a rate cut less likely.
Dave Emerson promoted to CEO of Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia has promoted its chief commercial officer, Dave Emerson, to be the airline’s new chief executive officer.
The airline announced the appointment today, after a more than 12-month search for a replacement for current CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who said she would be stepping down in February 2024 in an abrupt announcement that fuelled speculation she had been pushed out by the company’s private equity owners Bain Capital.
Emerson has served as Virgin Australia’s chief commercial officer since 2021 and has had a 25-year career in aviation and tourism that has included a stint at America West Airlines. He will formally assume the role on 14 March.
Hrdlicka said Emerson was “an excellent choice” to succeed her and that now is the “perfect time to transition leadership” ahead of a four-year growth plan for the airline.
In recent weeks, the government and competition watchdog have greenlit Virgin’s plans to return to international long-haul flying through a partnership with Qatar Airways, which has also moved to take a 25% stake in the Australian carrier.
Virgin Australia has repeatedly delayed its much-anticipated return to the stock exchange, seen as a key step in returning to its former scale of operations when it was a publicly traded company before its pandemic-induced restructure.
Meteorologists mapping the trajectory of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are now predicting it will move directly over Brisbane, with the city roughly aligning with the centre of the storm.
The Bureau of Meteorology, in its latest update of its Alfred tracker map issued a short time ago, shows the cyclone moving directly over Brisbane late on Thursday and into Friday.
The updated prediction also suggests the strongest winds are expected to be experienced on the Gold Coast.
This is because, on the current prediction, the area is just to the south of the eye of the storm, which can experience the strongest winds because cyclones rotate clockwise, meaning the strongest onshore winds are underneath the eye of the storm.
Albanese says he will stay on east coast despite WA travel plans
Anthony Albanese was asked about reports the Coalition has backed down on its threat to break up big insurance companies to improve competition, instead focusing just on supermarkets.
But the PM said the focus today was solely on the cyclone response:
I haven’t seen what Angus Taylor has said … I have been focused on the needs of Queenslanders and people who live in northern New South Wales.
The PM said he was due to travel to Western Australia on Friday and Saturday but will now likely stay on the east coast. And with that, the presser wrapped up.
Chelepy says communities won’t be forcibly evacuated
Asked if people who are most at-risk would be forcibly evacuated from their homes, acting commissioner Shane Chelepy said this would not happen:
We don’t go around and forcibly dragged people out of their homes, that is not what we do. We support Queenslanders and we give them all the advice they need to make the decision on whether or not to leave or stay …
If those people don’t leave their home we take the details, we understand that they are there, and, as always, we prepare our resources to respond.
Chelepy stressed the danger of the situation and said in the past, crews have conducted more than 250 rescues from rooftops in one evening.
That’s really dangerous for us operating and is really dangerous for you.
Vast majority of Queenslanders are safest by staying home, premier says
David Crisafulli said that for the vast majority of Queenslanders the best thing to do right now is to stay home.
We’ve outlined the storm surge areas, we spoken about those riverine flooding areas, but the vast majority of Queenslanders will not be in one of those and the safest place for you and your family is in your home … for the duration of the event. And particularly if the eye of the cyclone was to pass over you, that is temporary reprieve. So my strong advice is to stay in your home.
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