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Locals call for rebuilding of bridges around flooded NSW town of Moulamein
A council decision to remove dozens of bridges and lower the road level around Moulamein is under scrutiny as unprecedented flood waters cause millions of dollars in damage.
The small Riverina town has been cut off for 10 days due to record flooding of the Edward River, which is predicted to reach 6.3m over the weekend. It is expected to remain isolated through December.
The main road from Moulamein to the nearby town of Barham is now under water. It used to be higher and had “50 bridges in 50 miles,” said Moulamein grower Jeremy Morton. But over the last 30 years, as the bridges began to reach the end of their life, the council decided to remove them and lower the road level.
Read the full story here:
All Australians will be cheering the Socceroos, PM says
Albanese is also asked the unavoidable question (about tomorrow’s Socceroos match):
I stayed up the other night to watch the Socceroos and a few people were a bit dusty in the parliament the morning after. It was a magnificent victory …
All Australians will be standing and cheering with the Socceroos tomorrow. I sent a message to the Socceroos overnight, and I look forward to tomorrow morning … [Argentina’s] Lionel Messi is, of course, a legend of the game, but a good team always beats a good individual and I look forward to the Socceroos continuing to make Australia proud.
Anthony Albanese wishes Brittany Higgins well
Anthony Albanese, taking questions from reporters, is asked about Brittany Higgins. He wants to be “careful about comments” given the circumstances, but says:
What I would say is that I wish Brittany Higgins well. She is a woman of considerable courage …
I think the appropriate response that I have, as someone who has had the privilege of meeting with Brittany Higgins … on a couple of occasions and seeing what a brave, smart, resilient woman she is, is just to wish her all of the best.
PM urges everyone in parliament to ‘wake up’ to climate crisis amid ongoing floods
Anthony Albanese continues, on climate change and mitigation:
It is far better to mitigate and to get ahead of disasters than it is to respond to them after the event. Now sometimes that’s not possible. Eugowra – that was not anticipated that would occur. Forbes has had five floods in recent times.
I don’t know what it takes to have all of the parliament wake up that climate change is real. Climate change is real. We need a long-term response and it needs to be a global response and Australia has got to be a part of it …
Since I’ve been leader of the Labor party, I’ve visited areas of tropical rainforest that have never burnt before that have burned during the bushfires during the summer of 2019-2020 … Now we’re seeing flooding in areas where when you have a one-in-100-year flood that happens every few months. There is something happening with the climate; we need to address it.
Albanese again:
This morning, I flew into Mildura and then flew along the Murray to here at Renmark. So you could really see the rising water levels and some of the flooding that’s occurred right along the length of the Murray. Over the past couple of months of being to Parkes, Forbes, Lismore, Eugowra, Rochester, Bendigo, too many places, as well as northern Tasmania, and seen the impact of the floods.
The Murray-Darling Basin is a great national asset. It’s an environmental treasure, but with it comes, of course, the third season that we’ve seen of additional rains [that] is having an enormous impact.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, says it is an “inevitability” that between 3,500 and 4,000 properties will be inundated as the river peaks at Renmark, and the focus is on preparedness ahead of the expected flooding.
We announced … at the beginning of the week that an unprecedented effort by the South Australian police would see to the door-knocking of every home that we reasonably know will be affected to make sure they are aware of what is coming, to make sure plans are in place for those individuals.
The door-knocking effort will be led by police with assistance from the State Emergency Service, the Country Fire Service, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions.
Malinauskas also praised the “extraordinary work” undertaken by local and state governments to rapidly build levee banks to try to protect the Renmark township.
Albanese and Malinauskas provide South Australian flood update
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to reporters at Renmark in South Australia’s rural Riverland area, where he is providing an update on the Murray River flood with the premier, Peter Malinauskas:
It is expected that the waters here will peak for the first time on 14 December. What we have seen is a preparedness that is being put in place for that event … I want to pay tribute to all of those who have made an astonishing effort to prepare this community for the coming days, weeks and indeed months …
This week the commonwealth provided a declaration of eight local government areas for disaster relief payments …
What you are seeing here is the flood waters going into the Murray from both the north and the south, from both NSW and Victoria throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, that will all flow through here into South Australia. This is a difficult time, but I have been really heartened by the optimism of this local community.
🇦🇺 Australia 🇯🇵 Japan and 🇰🇷 Korea Republic are heading to the knockout stage.
This is the first time in men’s #FIFAWorldCup history that three AFC teams are in the last 16.
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 2, 2022
‘Absolutely tragic’: details emerge about Sydney four-car crash
We now have more details from NSW authorities about the four-vehicle crash on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge shortly before midnight last night, which killed two people.
NSW police have named the two victims as a 25-year-old female from the local area and a 38-year-old man from Sydney’s south-west. A police representative has been speaking to reporters:
At about 11:45 last night, there was a minor collision on the Anzac Bridge involving two vehicles. A 25-year-old female and a 38-year-old male were exchanging details or doing what you need to do after you’ve had a minor collision.
At that point, there’s been another two vehicles that have become involved in that stationary collision. One was a taxi and the second was a Commodore. Tragically, the way those vehicles have collided into the stationary cars has impacted with the two pedestrians who were out on the road exchanging details and unfortunately those two people have been killed.
This is … absolutely tragic for the families of those people that are now going to be grieving the loss of family members this close to Christmas.
Police say their investigation will focus on what the third and four vehicles were doing prior to the collision, and whether speed, alcohol and drugs were factors. The spokesperson added:
The last 12 hours have seen an absolute tragic number of road trauma incidents in NSW. Six people have lost their lives. Six families are grieving the loss of family members.
Imogen Dewey
Launching again for the first time since the start of the year is Five Great Reads, Guardian Australia’s weekend wrap of essential reading.
In this weekly dispatch, my colleague Kris Swales and I will take you through the best things we’ve read worldwide on the Guardian all week, from on-point analysis and startling confessions to recipes and reviews.
Take a look at the first five picks here:
Queensland man dies after suspected altercation
In south-east Queensland, a 24-year-old man has died following a suspected altercation with two others. AAP has the details:
Police are investigating his death and a crime scene has been declared after the man died at a home on Wisteria St at Ormiston, east of Brisbane, overnight.
Officers believe the Morningside man died about midnight after he was involved in an altercation with two other men he knew, police said on Saturday.
Two men, aged 20 and 70, are assisting with inquiries and police have urged anyone with information to contact them.
Campaigners pushing to save ‘butterflies of the sea’
More than 50 species of sea slug have been discovered residing in the waters flowing beneath a somewhat unremarkable arch bridge connecting Phillip Island to the Victorian mainland, AAP reports.
Researchers say about 125 varieties of nudibranch are exclusive to the area, otherwise famously known as the abode of the little penguins. That accounts for 25% of southern Australia’s known sea slug species, and more than 6% of the world’s.
Yet little is known about the so-called “butterflies of the sea”, except that some are critically endangered as a result of advancing urbanisation.
In response, some 50 business, tourism, environmental and community groups have backed a strategic plan to preserve the Western Port Bay precinct.
Victorian National Parks Association conservation campaigner Shannon Hurley said of the slugs:
These incredible creatures are a beautiful … part of our precious marine ecosystem.
Most people probably think of penguins at Phillip Island, but the bay is home to this mind-blowing collection of colourful sea slugs.
Almost two-thirds of the state’s threatened bird species, along with seals and elephant fish, are also reliant on the area.
Hurley said a poll of 1,000 Victorians found 82% backed the preservation plan, with 34% showing strong support.
Citizen scientists have been at the heart of discovering and documenting the slug hotspot under the Phillip Island Bridge since their first foray there in 2018.
Sea Slug Census events, about 75 of which have been held across Australia since 2013, identify and monitor the eye-catching gastropods, collecting crucial information about environmental changes.
Clement Voule, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, says he is “alarmed” by the prison term for Deanna “Violet” Coco, a climate protester who blocked a lane of traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge for about 25 minutes in April.
#Australia – I am alarmed at #NSW court’s prison term against #ClimateProtester 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗼 and refusal to grant bail until a March 2023 appeal hearing. Peaceful protesters should never be criminalised or imprisoned.👇🏽 https://t.co/uvxN0f7Inl
— UN Special Rapporteur Freedom of Association (@cvoule) December 2, 2022
Coco was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison with a non-parole period of eight months. You can read more about her case here:
Excitement builds over Socceroos v Argentina World Cup clash
Turning to the inescapable for a minute: the upcoming Socceroos match tomorrow against Argentina.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold believes the Australians can rise to the challenge as they gear up to play their first World Cup knockout in 16 years. He told AAP:
I do believe the short turnaround [of three days] is an advantage for us … because we don’t sit for five days wondering about the opposition or Argentina.
Former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has hailed the Australian team’s performance and is not ruling out the prospect they can now cause a sensation by knocking out Argentina:
Their chances against Argentina are, I guess, no different to their chance in any other game. They’ll go in an as underdogs, but as we’ve already seen in this World Cup, quite a few of the bigger nations have struggled for a number of reasons.
What you’ve got to do is be ready on the day to capitalise on that – and I’ve got no doubt the Aussies will.
Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, said he was not shocked by the performance of the 38th-ranked Australians and highlighted winger Mathew Leckie as among the chief threats:
Whether they are inferior or not … I don’t fully agree …
They are a good team and this is football, it is 11 vs 11, this is the reality …
We need to leave aside the favourites and we need to play the game.
It’s all very exciting and even I (someone who has not watched a World Cup game to date) am considering going along to Federation Square tomorrow morning.
Disability discrimination makes up 52% of complaints made to Australian Human Rights Commission
Today is the International Day of People with Disability. Speaking to the ABC earlier, the disability discrimination commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett, said 52% of all discrimination complaints made to the Australian Human Rights Commission related to disability discrimination. He said:
When you consider the Australian Human Rights Commission covers sex discrimination, race discrimination, age discrimination and human rights complaints, that’s an incredible number of complaints relating to disability discrimination and something we need to change …
We need to have a focus on recruiting, retaining and advancing people with disability in employment … We need to also acknowledge that 80% of disability is invisible in nature, but you can’t be what you in a sense can’t see, or can’t see as reflective of yourself. We need to acknowledge that people with disability can be academics, can be artists, musicians, sportsmen or can just do something which they enjoy.
Julian Assange appeals US extradition
The Australian-born WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who is battling extradition from Britain to the US where he is wanted on criminal charges, has submitted an appeal to the European court of human rights, the court confirmed on Friday.
Britain has given the go-ahead for his extradition, but Assange has launched an appeal at London’s high court, with the first hearing expected early next year, Reuters reports.
Assange, 51, is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts, including one under a spying act, relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables which Washington said had put lives in danger.
His legal team have also launched a case against Britain at the ECHR, which could potentially order the extradition to be blocked.
In January 2021, a British judge ruled Assange should not be extradited, saying his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum security prison.
But that decision was overturned after an appeal by US authorities who gave a package of assurances, including a pledge he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday said he had raised the issue of Assange’s release with US officials, saying the matter should be brought to a close.
The case has gained prominence this week with major media outlets that had originally worked with Assange over the leaked material, including the Guardian, expressing in an open letter that his prosecution should end.
Assange spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was wanted for questioning over a sexual assault investigation that was later dropped.
However, he was dragged out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions, and has been held in prison in London ever since while his extradition case is decided.
Christopher Knaus
Push for ‘victim advocates’ to support alleged rape survivors in court
There are growing calls for a major overhaul of the way rape complainants are treated within the justice system in the wake of the Bruce Lehrmann trial, with a former federal court judge urging governments to appoint victim advocates to support women through the process.
Prosecutors in the ACT on Friday announced they would not seek a second trial of Lehrmann because of the “significant and unacceptable risk to the life” of Brittany Higgins who is receiving mental health support in hospital.
The decision means Lehrmann, who pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent, will not face trial and retains the presumption of innocence.
But revelations about the impact of the court process on Higgins have prompted calls for changes to better support complainants.
The Australian National University’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, of which Higgins is a member, said the case underscored the “huge toll faced by complainants in sexual assault prosecutions”. It said in a statement:
There is a clear need for ongoing law reform and practical changes in both the criminal justice system and the laws, processes and institutions that prohibit workplace harassment and ensure safe, respectful workplaces.
Read the full story here:
Welcome
Donna Lu
Good morning. It’s Donna here, taking you through your Saturday from a sunny Melbourne/Naarm, where it’s finally starting to feel like summer. Here is a look at the day’s top stories:
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The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has submitted an appeal to the European court of human rights over an extradition order from the UK to the US, where he is wanted on criminal charges.
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Excitement is building ahead of the Socceroos match against Argentina tomorrow morning at the World Cup. It is only the second time that the Australians have progressed to the knockout stages of the finals.
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Two people have died after a multi-car crash that closed Sydney’s Anzac Bridge. It occurred shortly before midnight.
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Ambulance Victoria called a code red in metropolitan Melbourne for three hours overnight after experiencing “extremely high demand”.
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A council decision to remove dozens of bridges and lower the road level around the NSW town of Moulamein is under scrutiny as unprecedented flood waters cause millions of dollars in damage.
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Further down the Murray, locals in the South Australian town of Renmark are preparing for a surge of water. Flows down the Murray are expected to peak in the town in about two weeks, with water levels predicted to be the highest since the 1970s.
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The former Australia cricket captain Ricky Ponting was taken to hospital on Friday after suffering a heart problem.
If you spot anything, do get in touch at Donna.Lu@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @donnadlu.
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