What we learned: Wednesday 2 July
With that, readers, we will wrap the blog for the evening. If you, like me, are in New South Wales tonight, stay safe and out of the cold. Until tomorrow, here were today’s biggest developments:
Creative Australia has reinstated artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s artistic team for the 2026 Venice Biennale, after an independent external review of the decision.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects a “second surge” of low pressure on Wednesday night will bring a further burst of rain and wind to the south coast of New South Wales, and eastern parts of Victoria.
A second man has been charged with sex crimes against children, including rape, after Victoria police confirmed former childcare worker and Point Cook man Joshua Dale Brown had been charged in May with more than 70 offences.
Qantas has suffered a cyber-attack at one of its contact centres, potentially exposing the records of up to 6 million customers.
Kanye West, also known as Ye, has had his visa revoked by the Australian government after the release of his widely condemned song “Heil Hitler”, which has been banned on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube.
And a northern NSW man is in critical condition in hospital with the first confirmed case of Australian bat lyssavirus in the state.
Updated
Damaging winds on NSW south-east coast to continue throughout the night, BoM says
The NSW SES has provided footage of Burrill Lake, where about 30 properties are being affected by flooding. There is also flooding at nearby Lake Conjola, Sanctuary Point, Lake Tabourie and Sussex Inlet on the South Coast.
In an update, the Bureau of Meteorology says there is a risk of damaging winds of up to 90km/h along the NSW coast from the south coast up through the mid north coast. Winds are expected to ease below warning thresholds during Thursday morning. Strong winds with peak gusts of about 100km/h are likely in parts of the northern tablelands, the mid north coast hinterland and the Border Ranges and are expected to continue through to Thursday morning.
We’ve also updated our rainfall map with the latest figures from the Bureau of Meteorology with rainfall up to 9am this morning.
The heaviest falls from the coastal low have so far been on the south coast, with Ulladulla receiving 264.6mm in the last two days, and Jervis Bay copping a similar amount:
Updated
