Good morning. Strong winds are expected to cause more chaos in New South Wales today as the flooding crisis continues to affect Australia’s east coast. Tens of thousands of residents across Sydney have been forced from their homes after the floods unleashed carnage and claimed the lives of a mother and son.
Farther north, permanent residents in caravan parks have been devastated by flood water, and with many unable to afford insurance against increasingly common inundations, they have no option but to stay and rebuild. “We just get ourselves up, shake ourselves off, and start all over again,” said resident Heather Emmett. State and federal MPs from both sides of politics have called for the planned commonwealth cyclone reinsurance scheme to be expanded to cover floods and fires. Now the clean-up has begun for many flood-affected communities, fears are being raised about the impact of the mountains of waste, with questions over a NSW government plan to store the rotting mounds at a quarry.
Russia has been accused of violating a ceasefire by shelling the humanitarian corridor to the besieged city of Mariupol, as the number of people fleeing Ukraine passes 2 million. “The enemy has launched an attack heading exactly at the humanitarian corridor,” the Ukrainian defence ministry said on Facebook, adding that the Russian army “did not let children, women and elderly people leave the city”. It’s not the only incident of Russian soldiers targeting civilians, with multiple allegations of the use of deadly fire on civilian vehicles across Ukraine.
The price of fuel and food in Australia is set to rise, economists have warned, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine will likely have unforeseen impacts on the Australian economy. Australia’s relative dependence among rich nations on commodity exports leaves it exposed to sharp swings in international markets. More costly commodities would be noticed at Australians’ kitchen tables and when they head to the service station, with prices predicted to jump to as much as $2.50 a litre for petrol.
Australia
Anthony Albanese will use a speech at a business summit on Wednesday to bemoan a lost decade of division and policy inertia under the Coalition and present himself as a consensus figure with a “renewal” agenda. Albanese will call for an end to the climate and culture wars and look for collaborative opportunities between governments, trade unions, businesses and civil society around “shared aims of growth and job creation”.
The climate crisis is increasing the risk of food shortages “all the way through the supply chain, from farm to warehouse to supermarket shelves”, according to the author of a new report for Farmers for Climate Action.
A Victorian man in his 60s has died from the Japanese encephalitis virus, prompting authorities to warn Australians to take the risk of the mosquito-borne disease seriously.
The world
The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, will make a long-delayed visit to China in May, including to Xinjiang, where activists and western lawmakers say Beijing is subjecting Uyghur people to genocide.
Influencers, TV presenters and sports stars would no longer be able to advertise unhealthy food and drink to children in Spain, under a new proposal.
Octopuses are increasingly using discarded bottles, cans, and other human rubbish as shelter or as a sanctuary for their eggs, according to new study.
The US Senate has unanimously passed a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime, after more than 200 attempts failed over more than a century.
Recommended reads
“I grievously miss (and suspect I always will) the loss of 30 years’ worth of collected earrings,” says writer and commentator Jane Caro, recounting the items she most regrets losing. “Our house was broken into a few years ago and the thief snatched my jewellery box off my dressing table … I have begun amassing another collection, of course, but it’s not the 80s.”
Even though the borders are open, in the uncertain soup of the pandemic international travel still remains a fantasy for many of us. So the next best thing may be to watch a television show about people travelling around Europe – like Us, a four-part series streaming now on ABC’s iView. But instead of being the next best thing to a trip to Europe, Us is a nightmare journey, where the viewer accompanies a married couple and their adult son Albie as their family implodes.
Many parts of Australia’s east coast are enduring a record wet start to the year, with frequent deluges and storms. In these conditions, mould thrives. And if not dealt with, mould growth can have adverse effects on health. We spoke to the experts on how to prevent mould taking hold, and what to do if it already has.
Listen
With the federal election due to be called in a few weeks, it’s still unclear who will be running for the Liberal party in some pivotal NSW seats. The stalemate stems from a factional brawl within the state division of the Liberals, and it has led to interventions from the prime minister and the supreme court. Today’s Full Story features Laura Murphy-Oates speaking to the Guardian’s investigations editor Anne Davies about how the NSW Liberals’ ongoing battle over seats could threaten the Coalition’s chances in the upcoming election.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Australia have raced to the top of the Women’s World Cup standings with a swift seven-wicket win over Pakistan. Alyssa Healy’s 72 helped Australia chase down Pakistan’s 190-6 with 92 balls to spare.
Media roundup
The NSW government will encourage people to move away from floodplains by offering subsidies such as stamp duty concessions, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Senior workers are reaching breaking point after mismanagement left offices understaffed and workers covering shifts for colleagues are refusing to get vaccinated, according to industrial relations lawyers in the Brisbane Times. Scientists are preparing to find coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef after a late summer heatwave increased the risk to the red zone, reports the Age.
Coming up
A Senate committee inquiry hearing on the Australian Research Council Amendment (Ensuring Research Independence) Bill 2018.
RBA deputy governor, Guy Debelle, will speak at the Economic Implications of the Digital Economy conference.
The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, and RBA governor, Philip Lowe, will address day two of the Australian Financial Review business summit.
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