What we learned – Wednesday 5 October
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Stay safe and dry, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow.
Here are today’s major developments:
The eastern states are on flood watch as wild weather lashes large parts of south-east Queensland, northern Victoria and inland New South Wales, hitting already saturated waterways. Sydney is on track to record the wettest year in its history by the end of the week.
The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced today the Warragamba Dam wall will be raised by 14 metres and the project would be a critical infrastructure project. Community groups and advocates including Wilderness Australia have argued the decision will “destroy” wilderness and Aboriginal sites and put low-lying communities at risk.
A new joint committee has been established specifically to examine the National Anti-Corruption Commission bill at public hearings planned for this month. It will be chaired by Labor senator Linda White, while independent MP Helen Haines will be co-chair.
Labor MP Daniel Mulino has told the ABC Australia’s proposed stage-three tax cuts are different to the UK’s, which were scrapped this week by the newly minted government. The government is under increasing pressure to reassess the cuts, due to come into effect in two years’ time.
A football fan who allegedly made a Nazi salute during the Australia Cup final in Sydney has been given a lifetime ban by Football Australia.
The Australian government said the Royal Australian Navy would exercise freedom of navigation across the Indo-Pacific as three ships begin a regional deployment.
And the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, has arrived in Australia this afternoon for talks with Anthony Albanese.
Updated
Flood waters isolate NSW communities
Residents in outback New South Wales are rainfall weary as dams overflow and wet weather continues, as a severe system brings a widespread risk of flooding, thunderstorms and hail, AAP reports.
Locals in the small cotton and wool town of Warren have been dealing with consistent rain since December, the owner of the Macquarie Caravan Park, Carolyn Monkley, said.
The park’s campground flooded on Wednesday. Flood waters also cut roadways into the town, stranding a team of hospital staff at the park.
It hasn’t been hammering with rain, but we have had such a lot of rain consistently, basically since Christmas, that it just doesn’t have a chance to dry out. Rainfall here is totally different to rainfall on the coast. A couple of inches out here makes it very very, very soggy.
The Macquarie River reached major flood levels at Warren on Wednesday, as nearby Burrendong Dam, which is above full capacity, continued to release flows into the river.
The deluge comes close to harvest season with farmers already facing a number of setbacks, as they prepare to work through a third consecutive La Niña season.
The chair of the NSW Farmers Business, Economics and Trade Committee, John Lowe, said the severe weather threatened to destroy remaining crops, and there was already extensive flood damage on rural properties and roads.
Communities in western and south-western parts of the state, including many already impacted by floods, are in the path of the current rain band, the assistant SES commissioner, Sean Kearns, said.
Louise Roberts, who works in the Dubbo visitors information centre, said a number of major highways were closed in central NSW, with drivers anxious about how to get through.
The centre itself, on the Macquarie River, was at risk of becoming isolated by rising waters and may close this week.
Updated
