More than 20 schools closed amid Queensland floods
Fifteen state schools and 10 independent schools are closed across Queensland amid widespread rain and flooding overnight.
All of the following state schools are due to reopen when the severe weather has subsided, according to the state’s education department:
Aratula state school
Ashwell state school
Blenheim state school
Forest Hill state school
Grandchester state school
Jandowae prep-10 state school
Kogan state school
Moonie state school
Mount Alford state school
Mount Sylvia state school
Mount Whitestone state school
Tent Hill Lower state school
Thornton state school
Warra state school
Centenary state high school will reopen when a damage assessment and repairs are complete, the department says.
Meanwhile, the list of independent school closures can be viewed in full here.
Key events
Nine apologises for “photoshop” image of Victorian MP
The Nine Network have apologised to a Victorian MP after an automated editing process resulted in an inaccurate image of her appearing on last night’s news bulletin.
Georgie Purcell, the Animal Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria, had earlier posted on X that the edited image had “enlarged” her breasts and made it appear she was wearing a “more revealing” outfit which exposed her midriff.
“Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP,” Purcell posted.
Hugh Nailon, the director of 9News Melbourne, said the network sincerely and unreservedly apologised to Purcell.
He said:
I would like to sincerely apologise to Georgie Purcell for a graphic error that occurred in last night’s bulletin. Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting. As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original. This did not meet the high editorial standards we have and for that we apologise to Ms Purcell unreservedly.
Coroner refers death of Dunghutti teenager Jai Wright to Department of Public Prosecutions
The NSW state coroner has suspended an inquest into the death of Dunghutti teenager Jai Wright and referred the matter to the Department of Public Prosecutions to consider whether a criminal charge should be laid.
Wright died in February 2022 after an unmarked police car collided with the trail bike he was riding in Eveleigh, in Sydney. He was 16 years old.
Following the decision of state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan, Wright’s parents, Lachlan Wright and Kylie Aloua, released the following statement:
Almost 2 years ago, we received a call, one of the calls that as a parent you never want to receive, about Jai having an accident. We rushed straight to the hospital and we were by our son’s side as he passed away. Ever since then, we have been searching for the truth. We need to know the truth so that we can live our lives and move forward.
This referral has given us a lot of hope, we have faith that we will get justice for Jai.
I would just ask all our family and friends to let this process play out because negative comments could hurt future legal proceedings, and believe that at the end we will get our truth and get our justice.”
CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service, Karly Warner, said the organisation is “proud to stand alongside Jai Wright’s family and community”.
We share their immense grief and determination to ensure what happened to Jai never happens again.
Jai is one of at least 558 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died in custody and police operations in a little over 30 years since the Royal Commission. Scrutiny and accountability are essential in stopping this national shame.
Country Fire Authority of Victoria member dies at shed blaze in Portland
The Country Fire Authority of Victoria has confirmed one of its members died while attending a shed fire in Portland this morning.
In a statement, the CFA said the volunteer collapsed at the scene, with his brigade colleagues, along with Fire Rescue Victoria and Ambulance Victoria, administering CPR.
Despite their efforts, the member could not be revived.
Our deepest sympathies go out to the member’s family, friends and colleagues at the Portland Brigade. Our wellbeing team is providing support to all involved at this sad time.
CFA will provide further details once they are available.
Life-threatening flash-flooding threatens Queensland’s Moreton Bay area
Eden Gillespie
Severe thunderstorms could spark life-threatening flash-flooding in Queensland’s Moreton Bay council area, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
The BoM said the slow-moving thunderstorm is forecast to impact south-west Caloundra and northern Bribie Island by 10.50am AEST and Wamuran by 11.20am AEST.
Motorists have been urged not to drive through flood waters and to avoid unnecessary travel.
As of 9am AEST, Bribie Island Road outbound was closed after the stretch of road was inundated with water.
Peter Hannam
Retail sales retreated in December after November sales dragged spending forward
Australians reduced their spending more than expected at the end of 2023, underlining weak consumer confidence but also the growing popularity of Black Friday and other November sales.
Retail turnover was off 2.7%, seasonally adjusted, last month compared with November, the ABS has just said. Economists had expected a 2% decline. November’s increase was itself also revised a bit lower, with spending up 1.6% rather than the 2% initially reported by the ABS.
“The large fall in retail turnover in December was caused by a fall in discretionary spending,” said Ben Dorber, ABS’s head of retail statistics. He said consumers brought forward some of their usual December spending to November to take advantage of Black Friday sales.
While there was a large seasonally adjusted fall in December, retail turnover rose 0.1% in trend terms. This shows that underlying retail spending remains subdued when we look through the volatile movements over recent months in the lead up to Christmas.
Department stores had a poor month, with turnover down 8.1%.
All states posted a drop in spending last month, with turnover down 3.8% in both WA and the ACT:
We get CPI numbers for both the December quarter and December itself tomorrow. Based on today’s relatively weak spending figures perhaps a few economists might want to trim their forecasts for price increases. Let’s see.
Man drowns at popular Hobart wharf spot
A 27-year-old man has died after falling in the water at a popular wharf in Hobart, the third drowning in the area in about four years, AAP reports.
Police were called to Princes Wharf about 10pm last night after reports a man and woman had fallen into the water.
The woman was able to swim to a nearby ladder, get out of the water and raise the alarm. Detective Inspector David Gill said:
The man, who could not swim, struggled to stay on the surface.
Two passing members of the public initially entered the water to help the man, with police attending shortly afterwards finding all three men struggling.
Three police officers pulled the man on to a police vessel moored nearby, with the two members of the public climbing out of the River Derwent using a ladder.
The man could not be revived by police or paramedics. Gill said:
We’re in the process of notifying next of kin so we’re unable to provide further details about the victim at this stage.
I would like to recognise the heroic efforts of the passing members of the public who entered the water in an attempt to rescue the man [and the] outstanding efforts of our responding police and emergency service personnel under very difficult circumstances.
EU expresses solidarity with Australia over Medibank cyber-attack
The European Union has released a statement expressing solidarity with Australia on the impact of cyber-attacks against its health sector.
This follows Australia’s move to use cyber sanction powers for the first time against a Russian citizen in connection with the Medibank Private data breach:
In the statement, the high representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, noted that millions of records containing sensitive information were stolen, and some published on the dark web.
He said the European Union and its member states “strongly condemn continued malicious cyber activities targeting essential operators, including those in the European Union, notably through ransomware attacks”.
We remain committed to tackle cybercriminals by strengthening cross-border law enforcement cooperation against ransomware, and continue to support operators of essential services to increase their resilience and strengthen our efforts to deter and respond to malicious cyber activities through joint diplomatic action … We also call upon States not to allow their territory to be used for malicious cyber activities and to take appropriate action against actors conducting such activities.
The European Union and its Member States will continue to promote a global, free, open, secure and stable cyberspace, notably the work on the establishment of the UN Programme of Action to this end.
Tamsin Rose
Hospital staff ‘literally performed a miracle overnight’, health minister says of Sydney shark attack victim
New South Wales government ministers have praised the efforts of bystanders who worked to save a young woman bitten by a shark at Elizabeth Bay last night.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, health minister Ryan Park said it had been a “horrific incident”.
I want to personally thank the bystander. I understand it was a vet who went and assisted that person quite possibly saved their life. I also want to thank the paramedics and emergency service personnel as well as the staff at St Vincent’s who have literally performed a miracle overnight and kept this person alive … Our thoughts are with that person as they go through that recovery and rehabilitation.
The deputy premier, Prue Car, said she was “reeling” from news of the attack and thanked those who helped the young women.
I want to say a special thanks to that legend of a bystander who came in and I believe made a makeshift tourniquet … and actually stabilised her before paramedics arrived on the scene. What a legend. Thank you so much for possibly saving that young woman’s life after a pretty shocking incident.
Peter Dutton says Coalition will respond to Labor’s stage-three tax changes ‘in June quarter’
Opposition leader Peter Dutton spoke to the media just earlier from Perth, where the shadow cabinet is meeting.
He was asked about the government’s changes to stage-three tax cuts, but wouldn’t come forward with an alternative proposal.
He flagged he would be making an announcement “in the June quarter”.
I wasn’t planning on making an announcement this week in any case.
We’ve got a lot of work [to do, looking] at the forward estimates numbers, the medium term and into the out years as well, [with] question marks about whether Labor’s policy is properly costed, question marks about whether it’s inflationary … we’re weighing all that up and we’ll make an announcement [in due course].
Benita Kolovos
Victorian government to support repair works of Captain Cook monuments
Jacinta Allan says the Victorian government will provide support to both the Port Phillip and Yarra councils to repair and restore their monuments to Captain Cook, following vandalism.
Yarra Council is considering removing their memorial of Cook from Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North as it has become the subject of repeated vandalism, most recently on Sunday when it was broken from its base and spray-painted in red with the words “cook the colony”.
Another statue of Cook in St Kilda, part of Port Phillip Council, was toppled on eve of Australia Day.
Asked about the incidents, Allan said:
On the Port Phillip monument, we’ve been making contact with the council [and] I’ve got no further updates at this stage … On the monument in the City of Yarra … we need the council to be a willing partner in restoring and repairing damaged monuments like the ones in Yarra. So the Yarra City Council will need to resolve it if it wants to see that reinstated and we stand ready to support that, as I’ve indicated with Port Phillip as well …
I think I’ve made my views on this quite clear last week, this sort of vandalism has no place anywhere, whether it’s in monuments or other public buildings.
Benita Kolovos
Jacinta Allan is asked whether the decision not to ban duck hunting was a “captain’s call”.
This is in reference to comments made by Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell yesterday, who told 3AW radio:
We know that there’s been a lot of internal dissent within the Labor party for quite some time now about duck shooting, but there’s just a handful of senior people at the top who are making captain’s calls and going against parliamentary inquiries, their own members and even their own ministers.
You can read more on what Purcell said on yesterday’s blog, here.
Back to Allan: When asked about the “captain’s call” comment just earlier, she refused to answer the question.
I’m not going to go into cabinet considerations … Every cabinet discussion is robust because it should be. We are making decisions that affect the Victorian community and this one was no different. There was a discussion, there was a resolution that saw the minister’s submission supported … the government’s position not change on this issue.
Benita Kolovos
‘I don’t follow my husband’s view on all things,’ Jacinta Allan retorts
Jacinta Allan is asked by a reporter whether her husband’s view on the sport impacted her decision. She hit back at the suggestion:
I don’t follow my husband’s view on all things, and I’m sure if he was here, he would confirm that. I don’t think it’s appropriate to reflect on the views of people’s partners in informing their decisions.
I have had a long held view on this issue. I’ve been around this issue for the best part of 30 years as someone in my local community or as a local representative. I’ve had this view, the same view. I’ve been consistent on this view for the entire time. I’ve been a member of parliament and as I said, I think it’s expected that men and women who served in the Victorian parliament come to the table with their own views, not those of their husbands.
Someone asked what was her personal view on duck hunting, and she replied:
It is a legitimate recreational activity. So whilst I have not participated in the activity, I’ve always had the view that it’s a legitimate recreational activity.
Victorian premier defends duck hunting decision
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended her cabinet’s decision to ignore a government-led inquiry that recommended a ban on duck hunting.
At a marathon cabinet meeting yesterday, ministers decided to reject the parliamentary inquiry’s recommendation to ban the practice but will introduce tougher penalties and training requirements for hunters.
At a press conference in Melbourne’s outer north today, Allan said:
I want to thank everyone for sharing their views on this issue. It is one [with] many and varied views across the Victorian community and indeed we saw in the report itself that there was not a consensus position reached in the report, and cabinet took its time yesterday to consider that report.
As a consequence of that consideration, the minister announced there was no change to the government’s position.
Warming ocean bringing bull sharks further south and closer to coasts for longer, scientist says
Speaking to the ABC, senior shark scientist Dr Amy Smoothey said while there is no evidence bull shark numbers are increasing in Sydney Harbour, scientists are researching the effects of the east Australian current:
We know that bull sharks travel down along the east coast of Australia when the water temperature is warming. In summer, they come from Queensland.
Because of the strengthening of the east Australian current that brings the warm water down, they’re going further south than ever before, and staying around our coasts for longer periods of time than they would have done 10 or 15 years ago.