What we learned, Wednesday 9 March
And that’s a wrap for the blog. Here are just some of the things that unfolded today:
- Scott Morrison visited flood-affected regions of NSW’s northern rivers but received the opposite of a hero’s welcome, with residents of flood-devastated Lismore protesting his visit and calling for meaningful action on climate change.
- Lismore residents said they were “devastated” that the prime minister “snuck in through the back door” so he would not have to face the crowd.
- Morrison was in town in the wake of the flood disaster to announce a suite of assistance measures for flood-affected areas, as well as his intention to declare a national emergency for those parts of Queensland and NSW, as the cleanup continues across those states.
- The body of a man has been found in flood waters in Sydney’s south-west. It’s believed to be a delivery driver who was reported missing on Tuesday amid the city’s torrential rain after failing to make a delivery. It brings the death toll from the floods in the state to nine.
- NSW has recorded its first death from Japanese encephalitis, with a man in his 70s who died in February having been found by post-mortem examination to have had the virus. It follows confirmation of cases of the disease in South Australia, and a death recorded from the virus in Victoria yesterday.
- An Indigenous teenager is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot at by police in Palmerston near Darwin yesterday.
- Victoria announced it will hold a state funeral for cricket great Shane Warne at the MCG on 30 March.
- And Australia has recorded at least another 34 deaths from Covid-19 as case numbers tilt upward again in NSW.
Thanks for coming along with us today. Stay dry, if you can, and stay safe, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.
Updated
Scott Morrison’s announcement of extra disaster payments for people in the Richmond Valley, Lismore and Clarence Valley LGAs will be welcomed by residents, but locals are livid that three other northern rivers council areas – Ballina, Byron and Tweed – have been left off that list.
Morrison said the three listed LGAs were “the highest impacted areas” and “facing catastrophic conditions”. But the member for Richmond, Labor’s Justine Elliot, says she is “disgusted” that the other three were not included.
Elliot said:
People up here desperately need it. The rest of the package goes nowhere near what we need.
She said the town of Mullumbimby, in the Byron LGA, had been devastated by flooding and deserved more support. Elliot also said Ballina, Murwillumbah and Chinderah had been hit hard, leaving “thousands” of people currently homeless – including many people who had been living in caravan parks.
We have emergency housing needs, thousands of people have nowhere to live. The level of incompetence is overwhelming – where will these people live in the short and long term?
It’s astounding ... it’s just more rolling incompetence. They’re completely useless.
JUST IN: Scott Morrison has announced that Ballina, Byron and Tweed Shire residents will NOT be able to access the federal government’s additional disaster payments.
— Justine Elliot, your local Labor MP (@JElliotMP) March 9, 2022
This is an outrage and I am calling for this to be extended to ALL of us.#auspol #Floods2022
Updated
