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Yesterday was Melbourne’s hottest day of the year
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed a number of locations in Victoria sweltered through their hottest day this year – including Horsham, Yarrawonga, Ballarat and the capital, Melbourne.
Lisa Cox
NSW government seeks to use national park management to offset Warragamba Dam wall project
The New South Wales government has proposed using the management of its own national parks estate to offset environmental damage caused by raising the Warragamba Dam wall.
State environment officials have also reiterated their view that the project west of Sydney would have a significant effect on biodiversity and Aboriginal cultural heritage values within the Blue Mountains world heritage area and their preference “is that these impacts do not occur”.
In a new submission, officials in the planning and environment department’s environment and heritage group, wrote WaterNSW had failed to properly assess the the downstream environmental impacts of a proposal to raise the wall by up to 17 metres.
Two teenagers dead and man hospitalised after SA crash
Two teenagers are dead and a man has been hospitalised after a crash in South Australia’s mid-north.
Emergency services were called to the Augusta Highway at Lochiel at 7.30pm on Tuesday after a northbound car left the road and crashed into a tree.
The 19-year-old male driver died at the scene along with a 17-year-old girl in the rear passenger seat.
Both were from Port Pirie on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf.
A 46-year-old man, also from Port Pirie, was in the front passenger seat and sustained serious injuries.
He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide hospital.
The highway was closed while major crash officers examined the scene for several hours, but it has since reopened.
The deaths take SA’s road toll to 69, compared with 99 at the same time last year.
– via AAP
Rosebery community pulls together in face of bushfire
Yesterday, residents of the west coast Tasmanian town of Rosebery were told to prepare to leave as an “uncontrollable” bushfire put them at “high risk.”
ABC reporter Monte Bovill said the community spirit was strong and emergency services helped limit the spread.
A devastating day for Rosebery. But the community spirit in this town was shining through. Neighbours were helping neighbours and everyone was doing their bit to help. Incredible job by emergency services who limited the spread of the fire @abcnews pic.twitter.com/O4qte7pg2l
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) December 27, 2022
Soft plastic, not fantastic: what to do with Australia’s bread bags and chip packets
With the news of Redcycle’s collapse a couple months ago, like many Australians, I was left to reflect on how little I understood the recycling ecosystem.
Despite the distressing news that soft plastics were being stockpiled instead of recycled, Dr Deborah Lau, who leads the CSIRO’s Ending Plastic Waste mission, says the public reaction to the news of Redcycle’s pause “has been a really positive step in bringing people’s attention towards understanding how the plastics recycling system works.”
Our science writer Donna Lu brings you this feature on soft plastics which puts it all into a little more context. She takes a critical look at advanced chemical methodologies being introduced to recycle soft plastics, and how these solutions fit into the bigger problem of addressing plastic waste.
Have a read for yourself:
Five-year-old girl drowns in Victorian lake
A five-year-old girl has died after being pulled from a lake north of Melbourne.
Emergency services mounted a search for the girl, from Wendouree, after she was reported missing in Lake Nagambie at Buckley Park about 2.20pm yesterday.
She was with her family at the time of her disappearance.
A family member found her in the water shortly after.
The girl was taken to the bank where emergency services attempted to save her with CPR but she died at the scene.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Three Victorians and a South Australian woman drowned in a deadly weekend on Australia’s waterways.
They included a 17-year-old boy who drowned near Mordialloc in Melbourne’s south on Monday afternoon.
– via AAP
Two teens die while towed by boat in NSW
Two teenagers have been killed while being towed by a boat in northern New South Wales.
The boys, aged 13 and 14, were on a waterway at Rushes Creek, northwest of Tamworth, when they collided with a tree about 5pm on Tuesday.
People at the scene performed CPR before paramedics arrived but the teenagers could not be revived, NSW Police said today.
The driver of the boat – a man believed to be in his 70s – was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The incident is one of several deadly incidents on Australian waterways since Christmas.
Five people in Victoria and South Australia have drowned, including a five-year-old girl who was pulled from Lake Nagambie on Tuesday.
Two sisters, aged 10 and 11, also narrowly escaped death after being saved from a strong current by police officers and a good Samaritan at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne’s southeast on Boxing Day night.
– via AAP
Djokovic arrives in Australia, Tennis Australia says
Emma Kemp
Novak Djokovic has reportedly arrived in Australia, almost a year after he was deported because of his Covid-19 vaccination status.
The Serbian former world No 1 landed in Adelaide on Tuesday night, according to The Age, with the weekend’s Adelaide International on his agenda before travelling to Melbourne for his attempt at a 10th Australian Open title.
Djokovic was initially barred from the country for three years after losing a high-stakes legal battle in January over his vaccine status, but Australia has since lifted its requirement for visitors to show proof of vaccination against Covid.
The federal government confirmed in November that the 35-year-old would granted a visa, allowing him to play in next month’s first grand slam of the year, at which he will challenge defending champion Rafael Nadal in a bid to equal the Spaniard on 22 major singles titles.
Tennis Australia chief executive, Craig Tiley, said yesterday:
We welcome him back to Australia.
I think as we speak he’s landing in Adelaide and I think that he is going to be again the player to beat.
I have a great deal of confidence in the Australian public. I have a lot of confidence that the fans will react how we hope they will react.
Damaging wind warnings for Tasmania and Victoria, as heavy rain continues in NT
Elevated areas of Victoria and Tasmania could also see potentially damaging winds of up to 90km/h ahead of today’s cool change this afternoon.
A severe wind warning has been issued for the central and eastern ranges in Victoria, including the Grampians and Otways, and for southern, central and eastern districts of Tasmania.
Warnings are also in place for parts of the Northern Territory’s Barkly district where ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie is dumping heavy localised rainfalls bringing flash flooding.
The system is expected to track close to Tennant Creek on Wednesday before moving northwest and intensifying in the Gregory district and Kimberley region of Western Australia later in the week.
Yachts arriving in Tasmania for the Sydney Hobart are expected to see winds swing from northerly overnight to south-westerly early on Wednesday afternoon, along with the slight chance of a shower.
– AAP
Cool change to end southern heatwave
A cool change will bring relief to sweltering southern cities as it moves east across the country today.
The change is expected to reach Adelaide early on Wednesday, before it heads east throughout the afternoon.
Eastern capitals will have to wait for relief with temperatures in Melbourne and Sydney still expected to reach 32C and 29C.
The cold front is tipped to reach Melbourne about midday, and Hobart in the afternoon, bringing possible showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Maximum temperatures will fall by 10C to 15C and are expected to hover around average or below average on Thursday and Friday, before warming up again into the weekend.
– via AAP
Andoo Comanche outlasts LawConnect to win Sydney to Hobart line honours
Andoo Comanche has claimed line honours in the Sydney to Hobart for the fourth time, marking a triumphant return for the supermaxi after a brief hiatus.
The 100-foot yacht crossed the River Derwent finish line shortly before 1am (AEDT) on Wednesday with a time of one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds.
Andoo Comanche, which had not sailed the 628-nautical mile bluewater classic since tasting success in 2019, has now claimed line honours in four of the past seven races.
She held off a strong challenge in darkness down the River Derwent from LawConnect, which finished about 27 minutes later.
Read more here:
Good morning!
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is billed for a 3pm appearance at the Woodford Folk festival at Queensland’s Moreton Bay.
Albanese will reflect on his government’s seven months in office, including updating the national climate targets, establishing a national anti-corruption commission, and improving diplomatic relations with Beijing – but he’ll say “it’s only the beginning.”
And now that we’ve had the legislation passed, we begin the work of putting it into practice.
It may sound like a lot – especially after the last decade – but to quote the great Deborah Conway, it’s only the beginning.
Albanese’s speech will honour “one of the greatest Woodford fans of all time: Bob Hawke,” hinting that his own government will aspire to the longevity of the former Labor leader’s.
Bob Hawke left a great a legacy, and that’s because he understood that for any legacy to have staying power requires a government that lasts the distance.
… The words that characterised his leadership — reconciliation, accord, consensus — were all about us heading in the same direction as a nation.
… No-one’s time in government is infinite. The clock is always ticking. But I firmly believe that a good way to make the best possible use of that time is to carry Bob’s example in your heart.
The PM’s vision for the year ahead will be future-focused on holding a referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament and accelerating Australia’s uptake of renewables.
He says:
When Woodford takes place next year, the referendum on the Voice to Parliament will have been held.
In sporting news, Andoo Comanche has claimed line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the fourth time. The 100-foot yacht crossed the River Derwent finish line shortly before 1am (AEDT) this morning with a time of one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds.
The Boxing Day test at the MGG continues in its third day of the match against South Africa, following a resurgent David Warner’s double century yesterday.
Tennis player Novak Djokovic has quietly arrived in Australia overnight with far less controversy than last year when his visa was revoked on the eve of his title defence. He will play in the Adelaide International as a warm up ahead of his 10th Australian Open.
Let’s get going!
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