What we learned today, Wednesday 25 October
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Stay safe out there and take care, especially if you’re in a region impacted by bushfires tonight.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Emergency services are continuing to battle fires in New South Wales and Queensland, with a snap evacuation order issued late this afternoon for Nymboida near Grafton. Queensland emergency services expect to be fighting fires “past Christmas and into early next year” amid hot, dry conditions. “Multiple houses” remain under threat, and one life has been lost in Tara, west of Brisbane.
Eight more Australians trapped in the West Bank have been transported to Jordan, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed.
Meanwhile, the chief of the Australian Defence Force, Gen Angus Campbell, has warned of a potentially protracted conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying it appears to be only “in its early stages”. The defence minister, Richard Marles, has urged all Australians in the Middle East to depart on available commercial options amid a “volatile situation”.
In Logan, Queensland, a 40-year-old First Nations man is in a life-threatening condition after allegedly being shot by police. He is in intensive care.
And a four-year-old boy has died after sustaining injuries in a Victorian shed fire that also claimed the lives of two of his young siblings. His sister remains in hospital in a critical condition.
Updated
Doctors, nurses and unions to call for pill testing pilot in NSW
Looking ahead, the NSW member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, will join doctors, nurses and unions tomorrow to call on the state government to urgently implement a pilot of pill testing this summer.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, Health Services Union, Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation have signed on to a joint letter to be delivered to the premier, Chris Minns, tomorrow morning.
A NSW coroner in late 2019 recommended the state introduce pill testing, finding “significant evidence” that “intensive and punitive drug policing operations” were increasing drug-related risks and harm.
But Labor has resisted the calls, with the health minister, Ryan Park, saying this month pill testing was not a “silver bullet” that would prevent deaths.
Updated
