1 month ago
More rain expected over next 24 hours in NSW, premier says
Chris Minns is up now and he says the weather is still unpredictable:
The weather pattern is still somewhat unpredictable. We’re expecting some increased rainfall over the next 24 hours.
There is anticipated to be some more rainfall in the day ahead. Now we don’t want to alarm people, but that’s something certainly that everybody’s watching very closely over the next day.
There’s some good news out of Lismore. The only evacuation notice that’s still in place is for Lismore north, and I know that as soon as it’s safe, SES will lift that evacuation order, get people into their houses as soon as possible.
There are under 10,000 homes, about 9,800 homes and businesses in the Northern Rivers, that are still without power. That’s down from a high of 43,000 homes in the last three days.
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Jane Golding from the BOM is up:
The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are still sitting over South East Queensland and northern New South Wales, and we’re expecting to see rain more generally, over the northern New South Wales coast for a good couple of days.
Yet the risk of heavy totals is really just this morning and early afternoon. So that’s some good news.
She says there are still warnings in place up the coast and the area to the north of lismore and on the western slopes should get a thunderstorm today.
Damian Johnson, New South Wales emergency services deputy commissioner, is up now. He has some numbers for us:
In the last 24 hours, we’ve had 635 incidents and more than 1,100 calls for support. Unfortunately, we’ve had another 18 flood rescues in the last 24 hours. The vast majority of the public and the community are heeding the warnings, and I thank you for that.
Approximately 10,200 people, 4,500 dwellings are currently under emergency warnings across the state. There’s also approximately 1,800 residents that are isolated now. They might be isolated from food supplies, from medicines and other essential requirements. If you require assistance, please call 132 500.
It’s currently 135 warnings throughout the state, and 23 of those are emergency warnings.
Minns says NSW owes ‘huge debt of gratitude’ to SES
Minns says the SES has learned from the 2022 flood, when they were criticised by the community in Lismore for being light on the ground. This time around they were there in force from the start, he says.
Minns:
We owe them a huge debt of gratitude. And I’m sure Northern Rivers will show their hospitality to these people when you see them in the street in the days ahead, buy them a coffee or maybe a beer if their shift is over, but it’s been a fantastic effort. I think it’s very clear, very clear that the SES has heard loud and clear the messages and the learnings from 2022.
So thanks to the SES, you’ve been absolutely fantastic, as have all emergency services that have been deployed to the regions in New South Wales, police, fire, rescue, paramedics, the RFS, everybody’s been fantastic.
Evacuation centres will be closed when threat is over, Minns says
Minns is asking everyone to be careful, to avoid any power lines that are down in case they are still live, and report them.
He also says they will be closing down the evacuation centres:
I want to apologise in advance, but we have to draw a very clear and understood line in relation to evacuation centres, when the immediate threat of the storm is no longer felt by the community. We will not continue to operate them, and as the day wears on, we will be closing down evacuation centers.
I don’t want people to be disappointed when the government announces that we’re not continuing with their operation, once the threat has been relieved inside those communities.
Lismore businesses getting ready to open again, Minns says
Minns says businesses in Lismore are beginning to open their doors, and getting ready to trade.
There’s 2,000 essential energy workers in the region, many of which were pre-positioned before the tropical cyclone hit the region, and they’ve done an incredible job connecting communities as soon as possible.
I understand from friends in the Northern Rivers that many businesses in Lismore are getting ready to open their doors and trade as soon as possible, which is fantastic news. Can’t wait to see those communities back on their feet as soon as possible.
You can’t do that without electricity. I don’t want to under-emphasize how complex and difficult the task was for essential energy to get that power back on, we really in a huge debt of gratitude.
More rain expected over next 24 hours in NSW, premier says
Chris Minns is up now and he says the weather is still unpredictable:
The weather pattern is still somewhat unpredictable. We’re expecting some increased rainfall over the next 24 hours.
There is anticipated to be some more rainfall in the day ahead. Now we don’t want to alarm people, but that’s something certainly that everybody’s watching very closely over the next day.
There’s some good news out of Lismore. The only evacuation notice that’s still in place is for Lismore north, and I know that as soon as it’s safe, SES will lift that evacuation order, get people into their houses as soon as possible.
There are under 10,000 homes, about 9,800 homes and businesses in the Northern Rivers, that are still without power. That’s down from a high of 43,000 homes in the last three days.
We are expecting an update from the NSW premier and the SES soon.
Australians’ life satisfaction at lowest since Covid, survey finds
The latest Australian University election monitoring survey has found one in three Australians have reported financial stress and a similar proportion believed their lives have worsened over the past year, pushing life satisfaction to its lowest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
On top of this, more than half of Australians believed the lives of their children would be worse.
ANU professor Nicholas Biddle said:
Everyone can see the real struggle younger Australians have in getting a foot in the property market, which appears to be translating into pessimism about the future.
Pessimism reduces trust in government institutions and confidence in the federal government is at its lowest point since the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires.
One third of Australians expressed confidence in the federal government, down from half after the previous election.
Though two in three respondents were content with democracy, this does not reflect a “deep dissatisfaction” among economically stressed groups, the report warned.
- With AAP
‘For lower-income households, renting is essentially impossible’,’ economist says
On the grim rental report, PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said:
Australian renters are facing the toughest conditions in at least 18 years. Households across the income distribution can afford to rent the smallest share of advertised rentals since at least 2008.
The current alarming state of rental affordability is a substantial deterioration from conditions before and during the pandemic. Rents nationally are up 48% since pre-pandemic, while typical household incomes have only increased 19% in the same period.
For lower-income households, renting is essentially impossible. This highlights just how crucial Commonwealth Rent Assistance and community housing is for lower-income Australian households.
The silver lining for renters is that conditions appear to be improving. Rental availability, while still limited, is starting to increase and the pace of rent growth is slowing. While rents are still likely to grow this year, we expect the pace of growth will continue to moderate.
Rental affordability reaches record low
Australia’s rental affordability has reached a new record low, according to the new REA Group Rental Affordability Report.
The report found that typical-income households earning roughly $116,000 could afford to rent just 36% of rentals advertised between July and December 2024 – the smallest share of properties since 2008.
Typical-income households spending 25% of their income could afford just 36% of rentals advertised on realestate.com.au over July-December 2024.
For households at the 30th percentile of income earning roughly $70,000, almost no rentals (just 2%) would have been affordable over July-December 2024.
