Australia news live: geologist explains ‘boom’ after 3.8 magnitude earthquake hit Melbourne | Australia news

PM calls for PwC tax leak employees to be named

Cat reacts to Melbourne earthquake

We’ll bring you more of what the prime minister had to say in that interview, but just before then, here’s some CCTV footage from the Melbourne earthquake including a cat scuttling down the stairs of its home seconds after the magnitude 3.8 quake struck.

You’ll hear the thunderous boom 30 seconds into this video:

‘He captured light, and Australia so well,’ Albanese says ahead of John Olsen memorial

Albanese spoke to John Laws on 2SM radio ahead of attending Olsen’s memorial at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Albanese said Olsen was an “extraordinary artist”:

One of the privileges is of being prime minister is having art from the National Gallery collection in our offices in Parliament House and the PM’s residences in Canberra, and Kirribilli House and there is an Olsen work there, but it’s just stunning. He captured light, and Australia so well.

Albanese says Australia is blessed with so many artists depicting its culture and natural beauty. He says he’s particularly grateful for the effects of Lloyd Rees’ “serene and calming” painting of the Derwent River in his parliamentary office:

After a question time I’m in there, I just look at it and immediately makes a difference.

State memorial to begin for artist John Olsen

The state memorial for artist John Olsen will commence in 10 minutes at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Olsen, best known for his landscapes, died at the age of 95 in his home near Bowral, NSW, surrounded by his family on 11 April this year.

The memorial will be attended by many prominent Australian artists and leaders including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

Australia to donate additional $29m to Middle East and Africa to address food security crisis

Vulnerable people in the Middle East and Africa will receive an additional $29m from the Australian government to aid them amid a growing food security crisis.

The government says they are deeply concerned about the “dramatic rise” in the number of people at risk of acute food insecurity since the Covid-19 pandemic, and will contribute:

• $15m to address increased humanitarian, displacement and protection needs of people in drought-affected areas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

• $4m to provide food and nutrition support to the most vulnerable in Yemen.

• $10m for food and monetary assistance to refugees and vulnerable populations in Lebanon and Jordan.

The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, said:

Conflict and climate change are driving unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Australia is using all elements of our national power to shape the world for the better, including by providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable.

The assistant minister for foreign affairs, Tim Watts, said the $29m package is part of a broader effort to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and displacement globally.

Earthquake geologist explains ‘boom’ which accompanied earthquake

Earthquake geologist Dee Ninis at the Seismology Research Centre says the seismic energy produced by the quake transforms into the “boom” many Victorians would have heard last night. Sound on for the video:

PM sends best wishes to retiring David Koch

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has congratulated David Koch on a “remarkable effort” saying he deserves a sleep-in after 21 years of co-hosting Sunrise.

So why does Victoria seem to be getting earthquakes fairly regularly when it’s not on the edge of a continental plate?

Pascale explains:

In the last couple of weeks we had a quite a few. There was one in Croydon and Fern Tree Gully in Melbourne’s east. We’ll get an earthquake reported felt about once a month or so and we locate about 30 or 40 earthquakes every week in south-east Australia.

Although Australia is within a tectonic plate, we’re still being pressured from those boundaries. We’re being squashed and there are little faults happening and breaks on those faults within our area.

So whenever we have an earthquake there’s a fault, and sometimes we don’t know about them until they have produced an earthquake.

Shallowness of Melbourne earthquake means it’s more likely to cause damage

We brought you the chief scientist at the Seismology Research Centre in Melbourne, Adam Pascale’s, response on Twitter to the Melbourne earthquake. He’s now spoken with ABC News Breakfast about the magnitude 3.8 quake which he first noticed when it started shaking his bed:

We can start to see damage at this sort of level of earthquake and above.

This earthquake is about 100 times smaller than the one two years ago in September 2021, but it was a lot closer to Melbourne. So it was felt in a similar intensity but for a shorter duration.

… The distance you are away from the earthquake has a big influence on the effect. So because this was a shallower earthquake, even though it was a smaller magnitude, it could potentially produce some damage, some cosmetic damage for sure, structural damage perhaps but really when you’re getting above fours and fives that’s when you start to see real damage.

Pascale says 1902 was the last time an earthquake of that magnitude had its epicentre in Melbourne metropolitan area.

‘It’s time to bring through the next generation,” David Koch says

Koch announced live on air this morning he is leaving the “world’s best job” but says he wants to focus on his family business and make way for the younger generation:

I decided to hang up the boots as co-host of Sunrise after nearly 21 years, over 5,300 shows and almost 16,000 hours of live TV, it’s time to work some business hours I reckon and have a bit of flexibility to focus more on our family business and frankly my footy club as well.

And so after 20 consecutive premierships in the breakfast TV ratings game, I’m frankly finding it harder to get off the ground and take those flecky marks and I reckon it’s time to bring through the next generation. Let me tell you, I don’t want to be a list clogger.

You know I started here before Facebook before Instagram before Twitter, and iPhones – yes that’s how old I am – and I have loved every single minute of it. And I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved here over the last 21 years.

I’ve been privileged to experience so many great adventures to meet so many incredible people and to cover so many moments of history in the making. It really is the world’s best job.

I’m going to miss working with the entire Sunrise team … I’ll miss you the Sunrise viewers who have energised me every single day and been so lovely every time we’ve met in person.

I know I’m going miss it enormously. But Sunrise has always been bigger than any one person. It just seems right to exit stage left on Friday next week. I will do so with enormous pride and gratitude.

David Koch to leave Sunrise after 21 years

Earthquake footage from Melbourne

Back to the earthquake, some Melburnians burning the midnight oil recording music and sports radio network SEN 1116 happened to capture the moment the quake struck on camera: