Queensland deluge forecast to continue for days
A persistent deluge is hitting rain-soaked northern Australia with floodwaters still rising, leaving some people isolated, without power and desperate for swollen rivers to subside, AAP reports.
The heaviest rain has fallen between Lucinda to Townsville in northern Queensland as the Bureau of Meteorology warns the big wet will continue for days.
Nearly one metre of rain was recorded at Paluma Dam in Townsville in the last 48 hours, while Ingham has copped more than 400mm in the past day.
The BoM has issued a severe weather warning from Tully to Ayr that’s likely to bring isolated falls of 300mm on Monday.
The continued deluge has led to swollen waterways with major flood warnings in place for the Herbert River, the Ross and Bohle River, the Horton River and the Upper Burdekin River.
Meteorologist Dean Narramore said persistent widespread rain would subside in the afternoon but increase again from Tuesday.
The State Emergency Service was under pressure on Sunday night with 11 swift water rescues and nearly 400 calls for help for leaking ceilings, roof damage, flooding, evacuations and felled trees.
Two people were saved from the roof of their car that was submerged in flood waters in Woodstock around 7pm, while another person was rescued from a truck stuck in floodwaters in Basalt.
Key events
Josh Butler
The government came under fire late last year after it was briefed out to journalists that proposals to curb gambling ads wouldn’t be introduced to parliament in 2024 – shortly after communications minister Michelle Rowland had said “we are aiming to have it done this year.”
Government ministers gave varying responses as to the delay. Sports minister Anika Wells claimed “this wasn’t reform that was ready to go”; while assistant treasury minister Andrew Leigh suggested the government’s proposal was finalised, and that the government could “put it to the parliament immediately”.
Albanese, on The Daily Aus, denied there had been legislation.
“There was legislation that was shelved in November, right?” host Billi Fitzsimons asked.
Albanese replied: “No.”
Fitzsimons pressed: “So you’ve never considered banning gambling ads?”
Albanese replied: “No, we’re considering a range of measures, but there has never been legislation.”
What we are doing is consulting on a range of measures – what more can we do to address problem gambling? As I said, we’ve done more than any government in history, since Federation. We accept that there’s more to do, and we will do more.
Josh Butler
PM vows to ‘do more’ on gambling ads
Anthony Albanese has again defended his government’s inaction on curbing gambling advertising, claiming “there has never been legislation” produced by Labor to address the issue but promising “we will do more” on the issue.
The prime minister has appeared on a podcast with The Daily Aus, in the latest instalment of both he and Peter Dutton seeking to connect with listeners of popular local podcasters. Asked about gambling ads, the PM repeated his usual talking points that Labor had “taken more action on problem gambling than any government since Federation”, listing action on the self-exclusion register Betstop, and banning the use of credit cards.
“There’s more to do,” he said, before countering that “there are no ads for poker machine gambling, which is overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly where losses are.”
We accept that there’s more to do, and we will do more.
Asked further about why the government hadn’t taken up the recommendations of late Labor MP Peta Murphy to ban ads for sports betting, Albanese replied: “Well, which gambling ads?”
Ministers get amongst it with the voters of tomorrow
Meanwhile, the minister for early childhood education, Anne Aly, and the education minister, Jason Clare, are having a “great time” at a childcare centre in Canberra this morning following the federal government’s announcement to introduce legislation for subsidised care three days a week.
Aly said the bill would mean 100,000 more families across Australia would have access to the guaranteed care.
We’re … having a great time with some of the littlest Aussies here in Garran and talking to the staff here. When you look at the children here and you watch them play and you see their interactions, you get a bit of an understanding of just how important early childhood education and care can be in children’s lives.
Changing the activity test to ensure that there is a three day guarantee means that every family, no matter what their circumstances, and every child, no matter what their background, no matter what their postcode, no matter where they live, and no matter what their parents’ circumstances are, has access to good quality early childhood education and care.
Clare pointed to comments made by Peter Dutton on Insiders yesterday that he would cut “wasteful spending”, without announcing the scale until after the election.
He won’t tell you where the cuts will be. Well, you don’t have to be Einstein to work it out. It’ll be cuts to childcare, cuts to aged care, cuts to Medicare. It’s the same old story from the Liberals on repeat … My message to the Australian people is, if you don’t know, vote no. And if you do know what he’s going to cut, you would never, ever vote for this bloke.
Minister points to emergency payments for Queensland flood victims
The emergency management minister, Jenny McAllister, spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier on those emergency payments that have been activated for those impacted by flooding in north Queensland.
McAllister also says four ADF helicopters have been made available to support state emergency services, and defence personnel are working with local authorities on the ground in Townsville.
There are payments to support people who need to replace bedding or household goods that have been damaged by water. There are payments to allow people to make safe a home if they are uninsured and their home requires urgent repairs. There are payments for people who’ve been evacuated.
Really the best thing to do is to get online and see what the Queensland government has stood up and start to look at whether or not you may be eligible for those.
PM briefed on Queensland floods
Anthony Albanese says he’s received a briefing from Canberra on the flooding in north Queensland.
The federal and Queensland governments have activated disaster funding for parts of Townsville, Gordonvale, Hinchinbrook and Palm Island Council areas.
That includes emergency payments of $180 for individuals, and up to $900 for families of five or more.
In the worst of times we see the best of Australians.
And in recent days, I’ve seen Australians helping one another in their time of need.
This morning at the National Situation Room in Canberra, I received a briefing on the work underway to help those affected by the floods… pic.twitter.com/TOsb9386i5
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 2, 2025
Australian youth justice ‘persistently’ breaches human rights, inquiry told
A Senate inquiry is looking at Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system this morning, with advocacy groups pushing for national standards.
Save the Children Australia’s CEO, Mat Tinkler, says standards should be developed and enforced to ensure the human rights of children are protected.
The fact that state and territory governments persistently and systematically breach human rights in youth justice shows it is well past time for the federal government to step up.
Save the Children Australia is calling on the government to create a national taskforce and develop a 10-year strategy for national youth justice reform.
We acknowledge the very real concerns around community safety – everyone has a right to feel safe in their homes and in their communities – however all the available evidence suggests the current approach to the youth justice system is not working.
The committee is due to report back to parliament by 1 July.
Petra Stock
Energy reserves can meet south-eastern demand amid heatwave – Aemo
The Australian energy market operator (Aemo) says there are sufficient energy reserves to meet expected demand on Monday, with extremely hot temperatures forecasted in Adelaide (41C) and Melbourne (39C).
It comes as one expert warns children are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, as they return to the classroom for the start of the school year.
You can read more about that here:
Tory Shepherd
Greens campaign to ‘get billionaires out of politics’
The Greens are gearing up to take on Australian billionaires including Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart in Queensland.
Rightwing groups Advance Australia and Australians for Prosperity are also in their sights. The party says billionaires are spending big to influence the election results.
Members will doorknock, fundraise and letterbox, and have rented billboards that say “get billionaires out of politics”, featuring Palmer, Rinehart and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Greens democracy spokesperson Larissa Waters accused Australia’s richest people of trying to “stop the surge of Greens and independents that have changed the face of our parliament, and elect Peter Dutton”.
The Greens MP for Griffith, Max Chandler-Mather, said people wanted “big money out of politics”.
Billionaires and big corporations think they can export US-style divisive politics into Australia but standing in their way is a people-powered, community movement.
The Greens themselves appear to be preparing to run their most expensive local campaigns ever in Brisbane. The Queensland party has received more than $400,000 in donations since the start of November, including a $200,000 injection from the federal branch.
A spokesperson for Advance Australia said it “will not be listening to lectures about division” from the Greens.
The Greens are only crying about Advance because we are taking their agenda seriously and holding them accountable to the Australian people.
Queensland deluge forecast to continue for days
A persistent deluge is hitting rain-soaked northern Australia with floodwaters still rising, leaving some people isolated, without power and desperate for swollen rivers to subside, AAP reports.
The heaviest rain has fallen between Lucinda to Townsville in northern Queensland as the Bureau of Meteorology warns the big wet will continue for days.
Nearly one metre of rain was recorded at Paluma Dam in Townsville in the last 48 hours, while Ingham has copped more than 400mm in the past day.
The BoM has issued a severe weather warning from Tully to Ayr that’s likely to bring isolated falls of 300mm on Monday.
The continued deluge has led to swollen waterways with major flood warnings in place for the Herbert River, the Ross and Bohle River, the Horton River and the Upper Burdekin River.
Meteorologist Dean Narramore said persistent widespread rain would subside in the afternoon but increase again from Tuesday.
The State Emergency Service was under pressure on Sunday night with 11 swift water rescues and nearly 400 calls for help for leaking ceilings, roof damage, flooding, evacuations and felled trees.
Two people were saved from the roof of their car that was submerged in flood waters in Woodstock around 7pm, while another person was rescued from a truck stuck in floodwaters in Basalt.
Jonathan Barrett
Local stock exchange to open sharply lower in tariff fallout
Australian shares are set to open sharply down this morning as traders prepare for a global trade war sparked by Donald Trump’s new tariff regime.
The US president has set in train 25% import taxes for Canada and Mexico across all products other than Canadian energy, which will face a 10% tariff. China will also have 10% tariffs, with the new impositions scheduled to start on Tuesday.
ASX futures point to a sharp fall of about 1.2% when trading commences later this morning. New Zealand’s benchmark index was down about 1.8% after the first few minutes of trading.
The incoming tariffs, and retaliation from targeted nations, are expected to lead to volatile trading this week. Any deal that would mitigate the size or scope of the tariffs could also spark a rebound ahead of the proposed 4 February deadline.
Brokerage firm IG said a contraction in global trade and higher inflation was a headwind for equities and a positive for the US dollar and gold.
The Australian dollar, which is viewed as a risk currency and highly exposed to the Chinese economy, is trading at 61.65 US cents, the lowest level since mid January.
Amanda Meade
Lattouf the first to give evidence in case against ABC
Antoinette Lattouf will be the first witness today in the unlawful dismissal case she has brought against the ABC in the federal court.
Courtroom 16A in the law courts building in Sydney is the setting for a parade of ABC leaders, many of whom have left or are leaving their positions in coming weeks: ABC chair Ita Buttrose; managing director David Anderson; content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor and Steve Ahern, who hired Lattouf for a casual role when he was acting head of capital city networks.
Ahern, who departed last year, was responsible for hiring casual local radio presenters and Oliver-Taylor first became aware that Lattouf was hosting Sarah Macdonald’s Mornings program on the first day of her five-day ABC contract on 18 December 2023, according to the Fair Work Commission ruling.
The commission found in June that Lattouf had been sacked after the ABC argued she was not fired because she was a casual and she was paid in full for the week.
Lattouf has been a working journalist since 2007 and from 2022 has been freelancing as a commentator across television, podcast, radio and social media. She is the author of a book titled How to Lose Friends and Influence White People.
Major teals backer tops list of political donors
Dan Jervis-Bardy
A major backer of the teal independents has topped the list of political donors ahead of the 2025 election.
Robert Keldoulis and his investment firm Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited donated a combined $1.1m to Climate 200 in 2023-24, according to figures revealed by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on Monday.
Visy chairman Anthony Pratt (pictured below) was the second biggest donor, handing $1m to Labor.
Marcus Catsaras rounded out the top three, donating just under $1m to Climate 200, the fundraising vehicle that backs the teal independents.
Conspicuously absent from the list was billionaire Clive Palmer, who has topped the list in recent years after funnelling tens of millions of dollars through his company Mineralogy into his party United Australia Party.
Palmer donated $117m ahead of the 2022 election, which delivered just one seat – Victorian Ralph Babet’s place in the upper house
The AEC figures come as Labor attempts to clinch a deal on electoral reforms which are designed, in part, to block Palmer-style campaigns.
The changes would cap individual donations at $20,000 and limit spending to $800,000 per electorate, or $90m nationally.
The donation disclosure threshold would be lowered from $16,300 to $1,000, giving the public a much deeper insight into who is bankrolling the nation’s politicians.
New Victorian bushfires flare
New fires have emerged in the Otways and upper Murray River as firefighters grapple to contain blazes amid a three-day-heatwave.
Victoria’s chief fire officer, Chris Hardman, told ABC News Breakfast areas of risk remained at the Little Desert and Grampians national park fires, where emergency evacuation warnings have been issued.
But he said thunderstorms and dry lightning had caused “a number of new fires” over the weekend in addition to stoking previously contained fires to break their containment lines.
The key areas of risk still are Little Desert, there’s an emergency warning for the Morea area, and certainly for the Mirranatwa area in the Grampians … But more important than that, we are now picking up new fires. There are three fires in the Otways – north of Apollo Bay – so firefighters are working incredibly hard with heavy machinery to get in close to those fires to do everything that they can to contain those fires before they become a problem.
And we also had some fires up at … the upper Murray River. We had some reports of property loss and those losses will be assessed today by firefighters when they can get on the fire grounds in the light of day.
Sydney shooting and car fire reported overnight
NSW police have launched an investigation into a public shooting and car fire in Sydney’s south-west overnight.
About 1.10am, police were called to an avenue in the Bankstown region following reports of multiple shots being fired into a business. No injuries were reported.
A short time later, police were called to a street in Bass Hill where a car had been set alight. Fire and Rescue Crews attended and put out the blaze but the car, which will be forensically examined by police, was destroyed.
Inquiries into both incidents are ongoing.
Man, 21, to face court over alleged antisemitic abuse in Bondi
A man will face court in Sydney today charged with intimidation following alleged antisemitic abuse in Bondi at the weekend. Guardian Australia understands the incident is not related to eggs and verbal abuse towards five women on Saturday evening.
Officers attached to Strike Force Pearl were patrolling the Bondi area about 7.40am on Saturday when they were flagged down by a woman reporting antisemitic abuse by a man allegedly seen in the yard of private premises in Flood Street.
Following inquiries, the 21-year-old man was arrested at a unit in Bondi about 1.30pm yesterday by officers attached to inner west police area command.
He was taken to Newtown police station and charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm – personal. The man was also charged with destroy or damage property for an unrelated incident at Newtown on Wednesday 15 January and breach of bail.
Two outstanding warrants for unrelated domestic and personal violence and shoplifting offences were also executed.
He has been refused bail to appear in Newtown local court today.
A total of 12 people have now been charged under Strike Force Pearl.
Cash was also pointed to a newly unveiled Labor ad campaign targeting cost of living which warns Australians will be “worse off” under Peter Dutton.
She was not impressed.
Wow. After two-and-a-half years in government, literally destroying the lives of the Australian people with their cost-of-living crisis, the best that Mr Albanese can come up with is they don’t like Peter Dutton.
I think Australians are sick and tired of this government. I think Australians will look at this ad, just like they look at the empty promise of $275 off their energy bill, just like they look at the empty promise of cheaper mortgage mortgages or cheaper interest rates.
You know, Mr Albanese needs to stop focusing on the negative and for once start focusing on delivering cost-of-living relief to the Australian people. Australians have had enough.
Cash also indicated that when parliament returned tomorrow, the Coalition would push to legislate minimum mandatory sentences for the display of public hate symbols amid rising instances of antisemitism.
Cash: Trump a ‘man of action’ and Coalition would have ‘exact same attitude’
Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash has called Donald Trump a “man of action” and indicated a Peter Dutton government would operate with the “exact same attitude” if elected.
Appearing alongside independent member for Kooyong Monique Ryan on the Today show this morning, Cash batted away whether the US president had become “quite emboldened” this time in office and could be difficult to manage.
We successfully worked with the Trump administration last time we were in office … under a Coalition government, you can work with a Trump regime … He’s showing that he’s a man of action. He was overwhelmingly re-elected by the American people … The American people, they expect action. And that is what they’re getting. And they’ll get the exact same attitude under a Peter Dutton government. And I can assure you, just like last time, we will work successfully with the Trump administration.
The comments follow Dutton’s announcement of a new Elon Musk-style crusade for “government efficiency” and reducing the public service.
Victoria bushfire evacuation warnings as others told too late to leave
A string of emergency evacuation warnings have been issued in Victoria as the state grapples with the start of a three-day heatwave.
Residents in Mirranatwa in the Grampians national park have been ordered to leave immediately before conditions become too dangerous, while Peronne and Morea at the Little Desert national park have been told to take shelter now.
Vic Emergency:
There is a bushfire at Little Desert national park that is not yet under control. The bushfire is travelling from Little Desert in a westerly direction … This fire is threatening homes and lives. It is too late to leave the area safely so you must take shelter now.
