More than 50,000 farm stock animals lost in Queensland: Crisafulli
The Queensland premier has said that the state has lost more than 50,000 farm stock animals in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji, and he fears that number “is only the beginning”.
Crisafulli said:
We’ve now gone past 50,000 stock losses from this event. I fear that is only the beginning. There are many people who haven’t had a chance to do that assessment and sadly, more animals will continue to perish. That’s going to have a massive impact economically on those communities that live and die by agriculture.
We have to do everything we can to keep every animal alive for the sake of the animal’s welfare, for the sake of the mental health of the person on the land, and for the sake of those communities that live and die on the agricultural success of those primary producers. And I commit to doing that.
Key events
Andrew Messenger
Crisafulli said the Bureau of Meteorology left residents “sitting ducks” due to a lack of investment in rain gauges and called for improvements to its radar systems.
He said said there aren’t gauges “in large parts of that countryside”:
This is me not attacking the bureau. This is me saying to Canberra, get serious about investing in regional Queensland because information is life or death. They’re flying blind and as a result, large parts of this state have people who are sitting ducks and that’s not good enough. And you wouldn’t accept it in Sydney or Melbourne.
Residents in the affected areas complained that many of the bureau’s gauges were either offline or reporting incorrect flood levels recorded on the bureau website during the flood.
Crisafulli said:
There is no world that says if there was a couple of streets in Sydney or Melbourne where they weren’t given information that could put them in harm’s way, that that wouldn’t be fixed by lunchtime, that’s the truth.
And all I’m asking is for an investment that hasn’t been there for a long period of time to begin to be rolled out.
Andrew Messenger
Staying with Crisafulli’s update a short time ago on the floods in Queensland.
He said there are current flood warnings for a number of rivers, including the DIamantina, Herbert, and Thompson Rivers and moderate warnings for the Suttor River, Fitzroy River and the Norman River. There are major warnings for the Georgina, Flinders and the Connors-Isaac and Mackenzie Rivers.
Crisafulli said that while rain has eased in the affected areas , there is “the real prospect of further rain in the days ahead”, falling on top of already full rain catchments.
The premier said that power had been returned to all but 1000 of 23,000 homes.
More than 50,000 farm stock animals lost in Queensland: Crisafulli
The Queensland premier has said that the state has lost more than 50,000 farm stock animals in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji, and he fears that number “is only the beginning”.
Crisafulli said:
We’ve now gone past 50,000 stock losses from this event. I fear that is only the beginning. There are many people who haven’t had a chance to do that assessment and sadly, more animals will continue to perish. That’s going to have a massive impact economically on those communities that live and die by agriculture.
We have to do everything we can to keep every animal alive for the sake of the animal’s welfare, for the sake of the mental health of the person on the land, and for the sake of those communities that live and die on the agricultural success of those primary producers. And I commit to doing that.
David Crisafulli says full catchments may lead to ‘compounding problems’ as more rain forecast for Queensland
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, spoke a short time ago from Clermont, which has been impacted by heavy rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.
He said the rain had eased in the wake of the cyclone, but there was more rain forecasted in the coming days, adding that “rain in catchments that are already full will lead to disaster and we have to prepare for that”.
He said:
What worries me greatly is that many of these catchments are so full already, and the kind of small amounts of rain that they normally can handle will lead to some really compounding problems at a really difficult time.
My other fear is that in many cases they get blind-sided because they don’t get the information, because there aren’t the rain gauges in large parts of that countryside. And that leaves them as sitting ducks. And we’ve got to do everything we can to get them the information.
WA police respond to reports of an armed man in Pinjarra
Western Australia police are responding to reports a man is armed with a firearm in Pinjarra, which is south of Perth.
Police said in a statement:
Significant police resources are being deployed to the area.
Anyone in the vicinity is urged to follow the instructions of police in the area.
Further information will be provided as it comes to hand.
Jordyn Beazley
Hi there, I’ll now be with you until this evening.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me. Jordyn Beazley will be your guide on the blog for the rest of the arvo. Take care.
Robust jobs market risks adding fuel to inflation fire
Employers are still adding thousands of new jobs, while annual wage growth eased slightly from 3.2% in November to 3.1% in December, according to Commonwealth Bank’s new monthly employment report.
About 23,000 jobs were added in December, which showed continued, but slower, hiring, CommBank said. Unemployment remained at 4.3%, with the labour market still considered tight.
The bank’s head of Australian economics, Belinda Allen, told AAP:
We’re up against our speed limits, and we continue to think the Reserve Bank will need to do some fine-tuning in 2026. Based on what they said in December, inflation is too high and we do think, based on the governor’s comments after that December board meeting, the hurdle to hike is probably lower than what we had anticipated.
Adelaide writers’ week can ‘no longer go ahead as scheduled’, festival board says
Adelaide writers’ week 2026 will no longer go ahead as scheduled, the Adelaide festival board said in a statement. All remaining members of the board will step down today, with the exception of the representative from Adelaide city council, whose term expires on 2 February.
“Many authors have since announced they will no longer appear at Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 and it is the Adelaide Festival’s position that the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year,” the board said.
The body, under intense scrutiny after withdrawing an invitation to Palestinian Australian academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, called the decision a “regrettable outcome”. The board said:
We recognise and deeply regret the distress this decision has caused to our audience, artists and writers, donors, corporate partners, the government and our own staff and people. We also apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented and reiterate this is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history.
The board said the focus is now “on ensuring a successful Adelaide Festival proceeds in a way which safeguards the long and rich cultural legacy of our state but also protects the hardworking staff delivering this important event”.
Kevin Rudd’s resignation as US ambassador for Australia announced by PM – video
Kevin Rudd will step down as the Australian ambassador to the US at the end of March, Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday morning. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, praised Rudd for his work in Washington, saying it strengthened Australia’s economy and security.
Take a look:
Rare albino humpback whale seen off Australia’s east coast
A rare albino humpback whale was seen off the coast of Crescent Head, NSW, this weekend, according to the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary.
The whale is thought to be Siale, a young female and one of just two of its kind ever confirmed on Australia’s east coast. She was born in Tonga in 2024 and hasn’t been seen since a sighting in November 2025.
The other whale is known as Migaloo, who hasn’t been seen since 2020.
The wildlife group urged the public to abide by a minimum 500-metre exclusion zone, which applies to all vessels, saying no one should try to approach or follow the whale. Any sightings should be reported to the sanctuary, the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia or the National Parks and Wildlife Services.
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Fundraiser for Bondi Junction officer Amy Scott raises more than $350k
A fundraiser for detective inspector Amy Scott, the police officer who confronted and shot the perpetrator of the Bondi Junction stabbing attack, has raised more than $350,000 after news broke that she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.
The fundraising appeal, supported by NSW Police Legacy, notes the fees will go towards helping Scott deal with a “long uphill battle ahead to beat this insidious disease”.
This is a powerful reminder that even our strongest people are human, and this fundraiser has been created to ease the financial burden for Amy and her family during this incredibly challenging time.
The NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, said in a statement “the generosity of our community is tremendous and a measure of the enormous regard in which Amy is held by the public of NSW”, adding:
Amy is the epitome of the brilliance of the NSW Police Force. Her bravery at Bondi Junction in 2024 is forever stamped in our minds. She put her life on the line and in doing so saved countless others.
Amy is supported by the entire NSW Police family who are rallying around her as she faces this challenging health battle.
SA premier still supports decision to disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah
Sian Cain
Speaking in Adelaide this afternoon, the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has said he still supports the Adelaide festival board’s decision to disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide writers’ week, hours after its director, Louise Adler, announced her resignation in Guardian Australia.
Malinauskas said he has not spoken to Adler about her decision to program Abdel-Fattah.
“I have opened writers’ week. I’ve stood up for writers’ week, I’ve defended Louise Adler in the past,” he said.
He continued to deny he had influenced the board’s decision, saying:
What writers’ week does with this community is up to them. It’s their event. Their decisions. I can’t speak for the board. I can’t speak to the board.
If writers’ week seeks my views on things, and I certainly offered them, it’s up to them whether or not what decisions they make and they get held account for them accordingly.
Adelaide United says it is ‘extremely disappointed’ by Cavallo’s claims
Adelaide United responded this afternoon to Cavallo’s claims, saying it rejected the allegations while saying the club had always been committed to “fostering an inclusive environment”.
The club said in a statement:
The Club is extremely disappointed by the claims made and categorically rejects the allegations, including any suggestion that Adelaide United is homophobic. All on-field decisions relating to team selection are made solely on footballing grounds.
Adelaide United has always been committed to fostering an inclusive environment for players, staff and supporters and we remain proud of our ongoing work to promote inclusion across football.
Strengthening inclusivity must remain an ongoing focus for the game, and the Club looks forward to hosting the fourth annual Pride Cup this weekend against Melbourne Victory.
Jack Snape
Josh Cavallo claims homophobia drove him out of Adelaide United
Josh Cavallo has accused his former A-League club Adelaide United of homophobia and blocking him from playing after he came out as gay in 2021.
The 26-year-old left the Reds last year and moved from Australia to England where he now plays non-league football. He signed with Stamford AFC in the Southern League Premier Division Central last month.
“Leaving the club had nothing to do with football,” the former Australian under-20 international posted on Instagram on Tuesday about his departure from Adelaide.
Decisions were made by people in power that blocked my opportunities, not because of my talent, but because of who I choose to love.
Cavallo said that during his time at the club, “it became clear that I wasn’t allowed on the pitch because of politics”.
Read more here:
Douglas Smith
Third person applies to join legal challenge against Victoria police’s stop and search powers
A third person has applied to join a legal challenge against Victoria police’s stop and search powers, after the case was expected to be dropped by the state in federal court on Monday.
Lawyers representing Victoria police were set to apply for a summary dismissal, after a six-month declaration allowing warrantless police stop and searches was revoked four months ahead of schedule on 9 January.
However, a third applicant, David Hack, an advocate for human rights who was searched by police in Melbourne’s CBD on 7 December while he was on the way to a Palestine rally, has applied to join the case in the lead up to Invasion Day on 26 January. Hack said:
I’m applying to join this case because I don’t think police should have these excessive powers and I don’t think that these powers should be able to be used to intimidate protesters and people like me who are speaking out.
I was searched by police for no reason under these powers while I was on my way to a Palestine rally in the city.
I think that these powers allowing police to stop and search and target anyone for no reason are a gross invasion of privacy.
The case was brought on by Invasion Day rally organiser Tarneen Onus Browne and environmental activist Benny Zable in early December, who have continued to challenge the laws, after Victoria police said they were considering a new declaration before 26 January.
Lawyers for Victoria police are now considering the submissions of the third applicant and are preparing for a two-day hearing on Thursday and Friday.
Joe Hinchliffe
Flash flooding threat remains, but rain to ease across much of sodden Queensland
The risk of flash flooding will continue to threaten parts of Queensland throughout the week, but the widespread rain associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Kogi is forecast to dissipate further from today.
BoM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said high rainfall totals were more localised over the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday, with areas like Billaboo south of Clermont receiving a total of 218mm in that period.
Much of the rest of the region saw falls between 30mm to 130mm.
“Even though these may not be reaching rainfall records, they are significant because they are coming in on top of a very wet period of the last few days,” Bradbury said.
Clermont saw 203mm from the 24 hours to 9am Monday, while closer to the coast, the town of Eungella saw more than 400mm over two days on the weekend. Both towns are cut off – the latter possibly for months.
“What has changed is that, over the last couple of days, we’ve seen very widespread high rainfall totals,” Bradbury said. “Today those higher rainfall totals are likely to be more localised, more isolated, potentially driven by thunderstorms … I’d say widespread moderate falls, with locally heavy falls still possible.”
The forecaster said rain would continue to ease from tomorrow, but the week will remain wet with the chance of localised heavy falls and flash flooding.
Wong says visit from Israeli president a ‘good thing’
Tom McIlroy
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says a visit to Australia by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, is an important sign of the strength of ties between the two countries in the wake of the Bondi Beach shootings.
Last week, a group of rank-and-file Labor party members urged the Albanese government to rescind its invitation for Herzog to travel to Australia, voicing outrage over his country’s military bombardment of Gaza.
The Labor Friends of Palestine group even said that if Herzog does come, he should be investigated over allegations implicating him in incitement of genocide.
But, speaking on Sky News on Tuesday morning, Wong said it was a “good thing” that Herzog is preparing to visit.
“Obviously that was a discussion that we had as part of the many discussions over the last month. I think it is a good thing for President Herzog to come to Australia,” she said.
It was put to me by members of the Jewish community [that] it was an important signal of the importance, for many of the Jewish community, of our relationship with Israel.
Tom McIlroy
Kevin Rudd praised by Democrat congressman as ‘force of nature’
Influential US congressman Joe Courtney says the outgoing ambassador, Kevin Rudd, is “a force of nature”.
The Connecticut Democrat, the co-chair of the cross party Friends of Australia Caucus, issued a statement about Rudd’s decision to leave the role on 31 March. The pair have worked closely on the Aukus nuclear submarine agreement and other issues in the US-Australia alliance.
Courtney said:
From the day Ambassador Rudd arrived in Washington in March 2023, he has been a force of nature in terms of advancing one of the most complex legislative agendas for the nation of Australia in many decades.
Enactment by Congress of Aukus authorities in December 2023 required relentless interaction and presence on the Hill, with the White House, and the Department of Defense.
Overnight, Ambassador Rudd earned the respect of Members on both sides of the aisle because of his deep understanding of the Indo-Pacific region, the People’s Republic of China, and the critical importance of the U.S.-Australia alliance.
His input raised the stature of debate and deliberations above a highly polarised Congress, and in the years to come, this achievement will stand out as one of the keystones of the U.S.-Australia alliance. I wish Ambassador Rudd all the best.
