Australia news live: woman killed after tree falls on cabin; tens of thousands without power after night of wild storms

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The Bureau of Meteorology has shared this forecast of the windy conditions ahead today, set to pick up again later in the week.

Large tree snaps from its roots in Melbourne

An Altona Meadows resident has shared footage of a large tree in their yard, which snapped from its roots during the damaging winds overnight:

Housing values growth cools nationally, demand falls

Australian home values have risen for a 19th consecutive month, AAP reports, but growth has slowed as more buyers are priced out of the market.

A cooling housing market over winter has been flagged, with CoreLogic data revealing a national growth of 0.5% in August. It’s slightly above the 0.3% increase recorded in July, according to its Home Value Index update released today.

But the pace of growth has slowed with the quarterly increase in national home values (1.3%) less than half the growth rate in the same three-month period in 2023, when it was 2.7%.

CoreLogic’s head of research Eliza Owen says the monthly gains were led by Perth, with a 2% increase, followed by Adelaide with a 1.4% rise and Brisbane with 1.1%. Monthly growth in Sydney was milder at 0.3% and home values fell slightly in Canberra, Melbourne, Darwin and Hobart.

Housing values cannot keep rising at the same pace in the midsized capitals of Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane when affordability is becoming increasingly stretched.

Particularly in the context of elevated interest rates, loosening labour market conditions and cost-of-living pressures.

Five bush and grass fires in NSW not yet contained

There are currently 37 bush and grass fires across New South Wales, the RFS says. Five of these have not yet been contained.

With Total Fire Bans in place for the Shoalhaven/Illawarra and Greater Sydney areas, strong winds are expected to pick up considerably over the coming hours.

Half of residents around Derwent River have evacuated ahead of major flooding

Mick Lowe, executive director of the Tasmanian SES, has been providing an update to ABC News Breakfast.

He said crews had been out door-knocking amid the evacuation warning, with major flooding forecast for the Derwent River.

We understand about half of those residents have now left their houses. We continue to encourage people to leave the area. Houses will become inundated and there are going to be a lot of houses in those rural communities that are going to become isolated over the next 24 to 40 hours.

In the past 24 hours the Tasmanian SES has received more than 340 calls for assistance, which Lowe said was “significant for a small jurisdiction like ours”.

The issue that we’re facing at the moment is the sheer volume. We are having to triage calls. We understand that there are a number of calls that are outstanding at the moment. We continue to work through those, and will do so throughout today and into this evening.

‘Everyone knows someone’: calls to expose rural DV risk

The quiet seclusion of a farm, winding rural roads and close-knit communities are all selling points of country life. But as AAP reports, those bucolic charms can also pose a threat to women experiencing domestic abuse.

Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Delia Donovan said:

Women exposed to family and domestic violence can be stuck ... and no one even knows what’s going on. In small communities women are also hesitant to report to the police; they’re really frightened of the backlash because everyone knows someone.

Donovan said the unique threats faced by rural women, such as the availability of farm weapons, poor transport connections and limited housing, need to be better recognised.

The state’s peak body for specialist domestic violence services is supporting the NSW Country Women’s Association’s annual awareness week calling for greater action on gendered violence.

The CWA’s campaign calls for sustainable funding for victim support services, as well as programs that can target perpetrator risks like gambling and drug and alcohol abuse.

Domestic Violence NSW has been lobbying for a 50% boost in baseline government funding for frontline services, along with a continuation of a trial that supports victim-survivors navigate the legal system.

Victorian energy minister says its too dangerous to make repairs in some areas

Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, says there were 141,500 homes without power across the state as of 8am.

This would continue to fluctuate as the weather progresses across the state, she said, following last night’s extreme wind.

There are hundreds of crews on the ground responding to the outages, but there are some areas where the conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs. Please stay safe: keep away from fallen powerlines.

Australia records warmest August on record

Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has reported that Australia just had its warmest August on record, with a mean temperature anomaly of +2.43°C compared with the 1991-2020 average.

He said this capped off Australia’s second-warmest winter on record.

Sydney had its hottest August day since 1995 last Friday, passing 30C.

‘Fires do start in these kind of conditions’: NSW RFS inspector

NSW Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd spoke with the Today show just earlier about the strong winds forecast for the state, and elevated fire risk about the Illawarra and greater Sydney.

He said winds were slowly picking up about the coast, expected to peak around lunchtime and into the afternoon, “and that’s definitely driving up the fire danger”.

So through the Illawarra we’re expecting extreme fire danger, and for the greater Sydney area [there’s a] high fire danger …

Fires do start in these kind of conditions. They’re likely to escalate and escalate quickly and then potentially could actually impact on people or property. So that’s why those total fire bans are in place for those two areas today – and we want people to adhere to those warnings.

Shepherd said it’s not unusual to see fire bans in place at this time of spring, but typically “we do tend to see it more in the north of the state”.

We’ve seen a quick swing basically from being very wet across winter now to being very dry and potentially dangerous.

Major Queensland highway to remain closed after fiery crash

A major Queensland highway may remain closed for days after a fatal crash resulted in an explosion, damaging the road.

As AAP reports, the male driver of a ute died in the fiery head-on collision with a B-double semi-trailer on the Bruce Highway, near Bororen in central Queensland, early on Friday. The truck driver suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital.

The truck was carrying 42.5 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in fertilisers, when it exploded after the crash. The blast produced a damage radius of 500m and left a crater in the highway.

A section between Gin Gin and Calliope has been closed since Friday and is expected to remain shut off to motorists for days.

The state’s transport minister, Bart Mellish, said his department was handed back the site from emergency services on Sunday. It will now look to reopen the road to a single or dual lane operation over the “next couple of days”.

They’re working around the clock to get this section of the Bruce Highway sorted. This has obviously had a pretty big effect on the local area, with some pretty large diversions in place.

Inspections are under way to assess the road to determine whether it can be resealed and opened to motorists.

Speed reduced on West Gate Bridge amid gusty winds

The speed on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge has been reduced amid the gusty winds. VicTraffic said the speed had been reduced to 40km/h.

Please obey overhead lane signals, and drive with caution. Ensure your load is secured before departing, and watch out for debris blowing on the roadway.

Coastal warnings for NSW and Victoria amid damaging winds

A vigorous westerly airstream across Victoria is leading to large and powerful waves along the south-west, the Bureau of Meteorology says, and is expected to last until late today.

Tides are expected to be near or higher than the highest tide of the year.

Abnormally high tides are possible along the Gippsland coasts until late Monday. Damaging surf conditions are occurring over south-west and central coastal parts of the state, between the SA/Victoria border and Cape Otway and between Blairgowrie and Wilsons Promontory.

These conditions may produce localised damage and coastal erosion. Beach conditions in these areas will be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed area.

A 7.9m wave was recorded at Cape Bridgewater at 02:30am this morning.

Meanwhile in NSW, marine wind warnings are in place for much of the coast. Gale warnings are in place for Sydney’s enclosed waters, and the Macquarie, Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra, Batemans and Eden coasts.

Strong wind warnings are in place for the Byron and Coffs coasts, as well.

More than 25,000 without power in Tasmania

Meanwhile in Tasmania, more than 25,000 are without power, according to TasNetworks. The energy provider said on Sunday:

With more destructive winds expected, our highest priority remains the safety of our people and the community and although crews are still working hard to restore supply, the current weather conditions continue to make working at heights too risky in some areas. Customers are still advised to expect long delays.

Crews working to restore power across Victoria

Energy providers across Victoria have provided updates, as crews work to assess and resolve widespread power outages across the state.

Around 106,000 customers are without power with AusNet, who said crews are currently in the field assessing damage – “but weather is still affecting the network and it is very hazardous, so this may take a little longer than usual”.

United Energy said it is working to restore power to more than 20,000 customers across Melbourne’s south-east and the Mornington Peninsula. The hardest hit areas are in Dromana, Hastings, Flinders, RedHill, Mt Martha, Mount Eliza and Frankston South, it said.

CitiPower and Powercor said its crews were working to restore power for 34,600 customers, with extra crews responding to more than 239 individual jobs.

The hardest hit areas include Victoria’s southern region, the south-west coast, Geelong and the northern region including Shepparton.

And according to Jemena, 925 customers are without power.

Albanese’s approval rating slides in Newspoll

Satisfaction with the prime minister and the opposition leader has slumped, according to a Newspoll that puts support for Labor and the Coalition on a level pegging.

As AAP reports, the survey conducted for the Australian and published today registered disapproval for PM Anthony Albanese up four points to 54% while his approval rating fell two points to 41% – an overall reading of minus 13 that is the lowest for the Labor leader since 2022 election.

The opposition leader Peter Dutton’s support dwindled as well in the poll, also ending with a minus 13 net satisfaction rating.

The survey had Labor and the Coalition tied on 50% each on a two-party-preferred basis – the same result as the prior Newspoll three weeks ago.

On primary votes, the survey said the Coalition is down one point to 38% while Labor was unchanged on 32% and the Greens also level on 12%.

Support for other minor parties and independents remained steady on 11% while backing for One Nation rose one point to 7%.

The survey of 1,263 voters was conducted online between 26 and 30 August.

Victorian SES receives 1,900 calls for assistance

The Victorian SES chief operations officer, Tim Wiebusch, has just provided an update on the damaging winds across the state.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said there was been more than 1,900 requests for assistance overnight.

Certainly a very windy night and we’re still seeing an influx of calls this morning as people start heading off to work or school or other activities.

He said 1,350 calls related to trees coming down, either on to buildings or on to cars.

Fortunately no one [is] in those cars at this point in time. We have seen just over 350 homes that have been seen some level of damage as a result of the wind overnight.

Earlier the SES said it was receiving a significant number of calls, urging people to “please be patient and keep trying”.

Albanese government to open consultation on foundational supports system

The Albanese government has announced it will open consultation on the foundational supports system later this month.

Securing the passage of its NDIS legislation through the Senate after a last-minute deal with the Coalition has laid the groundwork for establishing supports outside the disability insurance scheme.

The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said the government will begin public consultation with “people with lived experience and their families and carers, disability organisations [and the] broader sector” about what support outside the NDIS “should look like”.

For these supports to be effective they must be shaped by the experiences, insights and voices of Australians with disability and their families.

The supports will be established outside the NDIS and will be jointly funded by the states and territories and federal government.

The first stage of consultation will cover general supports and open in the second half of September. It will be opened through webinars, online questionnaires, in-person events across the country and written submissions.

Consultations on targeted supports for specific groups will open in October.

Communications firm The Social Deck has been contracted by the Department of Social Services to assist with the consultations.

More than 100 intersections without power in Victoria

VicTraffic says more than 100 intersections across the state are without power, while road and lane closures are in place amid fallen trees and debris. You can view the full map of impacts online here.

Meanwhile, buses are replacing trains between South Yarra and Sandringham due to “extreme weather conditions causing damage”. There are also major delays on the Craigieburn line.

Strong winds are continuing to impact the overall train network:

Strong winds continue to impact the train network with some power outages and debris on the tracks causing delays. Please check before you travel for the latest information and stay safe.