What we learned, Tuesday 22 March
And with that, we will put this blog to bed for the night. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us.
Before we go, let’s recap the big stories:
- New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been charged by police over allegations of sexual abuse of a man and 17-year-old boy
- The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has proposed a human rights award be created in memory of Kimberley Kitching, the Victorian Labor senator whose funeral was held on Monday
- Prime minister Scott Morrison says Albanese is “in hiding”, avoiding questions about the allegations of bullying towards Kitching
- New SA premier Peter Malinauskas has criticised his predecessor, Steven Marshall, saying the state’s Covid restrictions were stricter than the rest of the country because of the extreme strain that was already placed on the state’s hospital system
- At least 23 Covid-related deaths were recorded around the country, with nine in Queensland and seven in Victoria.
With that, we will be back tomorrow.
Updated
Stormy rains are forecast to return to eastern Australia, including over flood-hit regions of northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland, ending the longest dry spell many areas have had for a month.
Last month’s widespread rains that were fed from an atmospheric river of moist tropical air dumped persistent heavy rain over towns like Lismore. This time, though, the forecast rain from Wednesday onwards is “going to be all storm-related”, Jordan Notara, a senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, said.
