Key events
What we learned: Wednesday 20 December
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Stay safe and dry out there, folks. Here were the major developments of the day:
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Queensland and New South Wales are grappling with heavy rainfall while in Western Australia an emergency warning has been issued for a fire burning in the wheatbelt region of the state. Residents in an area covering parts of Toodyay and Julimar are being told is too late to evacuate and there is a threat to lives and homes.
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Meanwhile, thunderstorm warnings are in place for heavy rainfall, possible hail and flash flooding for parts of Australia’s east coast. Southern and central parts of Queensland are being urged to brace for a deluge, as is northern NSW near Walgett.
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Still in Queensland, recovery efforts for the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper are continuing, with mobile operators hit by outages in the north of the state. The federal government has announced additional financial support for flood victims.
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Authorities have confirmed 97 people were able to be airlifted out of the remote Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal on Tuesday, while grave concerns remain for an 85-year-old missing in the floods.
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An NDIS participant is taking Qantas to court over allegations of disability discrimination after the airline barred her assistance dog from travelling with her on its planes.
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And the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held his first press conference with the recently elected New Zealand prime minister, Christopher Luxon.
Government announces unique student identifier number to become part of myGov
The federal government has announced a new service to join myGov in a bid to streamline processes for post-secondary students.
The Unique Student Identifier (USI) has been added to the authenticated government platform as the 16th service people can choose to link to their account. The USI is an individual education number that remains for life, used at university, Tafe and other nationally recognised training institutions.
The minister for government services, Bill Shorten, said the reform was introduced to simplify digital government services.
People want better access to online services, and to interact with government in a way that suits them.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, said the USI login would also make it easier for higher education students to manage their loans and update their education details.
Matildas star Mary Fowler is back from England for a 10-day trip to Australia. Today, she was at a childcare centre in Carlton, Sydney, launching her new ambassador role for childcare provider Rise & Shine.
Guardian Australia caught up with Fowler and chatted about her rise to stardom following the Women’s World Cup and what it feels like to be the second-most Googled Australian in the nation.
Thunderstorm warning issued over northern NSW
The thunderstorm warnings are rolling in. In New South Wales, a severe warning has been issued across northern parts of the state, with flash flooding possible.
Meanwhile, as rain continues to patter outside my Sydney window, some good news from the NSW RFS:
The Trap Mountain Dumaresq Valley fire has been contained after almost two weeks. The northern NSW fire has burnt through more than 4,200 hectares of land.
The Duck Creek Pilliga Forest fire is also being contained, with activity easing amid rainy conditions. The fire, burning within the Pilliga Forest around 17km south of Narrabri, has burnt more than 121,000 hectares.
There are now less than 30 fires burning across the state, all at advice level.
Did someone say Afternoon Update?
Antoun Issa has collated the major headlines of the day, including Guardian Australia’s Year in Review. If you haven’t watched it yet, join us for a little stroll down memory lane.
Emergency warnings issued over WA fire
In Western Australia, an emergency warning has been issued for a fire burning in the wheatbelt region of the state.
Residents in an area covering parts of Toodyay and Julimar are being told is too late to evacuate and there is a threat to lives and homes.
It is now too late for people on Parkland Drive, Munnapin Rise, Malkup Brook Road, Sand Spring Road, Howard Road, Sinclair Place and Donegan View to leave. An evacuation centre has been set up at Toodyay Memorial Hall.
You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes.
Total fire bans are in place across the state today, with a further two bushfires currently at “watch and act” level and seven at the “advice” level. The full warnings are in place on Emergency WA’s website.
Severe thunderstorm warning issued over parts of Queensland
That was quick.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of Queensland, with heavy rainfall and large hail forecast to hit southern and central parts of the state.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned slow moving severe thunderstorms have developed along a trough in a “humid airmass” through southern inland Queensland.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Roma, Charleville, Isisford, Injune, Tambo and Blackall.
The highest rainfall has been in the shire of Murweh in the state’s south west.
In the hour to 3.20pm, 46mm of rainfall was recorded at the Ravenscourt Alert weather station, north west of Charleville.
Queensland police seeking hit-and-run Pialba driver
Still in Queensland, police are searching for a driver who struck an e-bike rider on Saturday in Pialba and failed to remain at the scene.
Initial information suggests early Saturday evening, the rider was travelling through a roundabout when a small, light-coloured vehicle collided with his bike and a road sign.
The driver didn’t stop following the crash, despite the car sustaining damage.
The 67-year-old e-bike rider was assisted by bystanders and taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Investigators are appealing for the driver to come forward by attending a local police station and requesting any witnesses to contact police.
More thunderstorms forecast over Queensland tomorrow
In Queensland, severe thunderstorms are forecast to hit large parts of the state from tomorrow, with large hail and damaging winds possible in the west.
While easing, five flood warnings remain in place in the state following the impacts of Cyclone Jasper, covering the Daintree, Mossman, Russell, Tully, Murray, Herbert and Paroo rivers.
What are politicians watching, reading or listening to over the break?
Are you on holiday, or about to be? Adult Learning Australia has asked some of the nation’s politicians their hottest summer picks to read, watch and listen to over the break.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, will be diving into the Roman empire with Tom Holland’s Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, while the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, plans to engross himself in Misha Zelinsky’s The Sun Will Rise.
Sussan Ley, the deputy leader of the opposition, is going for an all Australian lineup – hitting Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan’s Faith Hope and Courage, as well as Question 7 by Richard Flanagan.
The minister for employment, workplace relations and the arts, Tony Burke, is trusting the panel of the prime minister’s literary award for fiction and tackling Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow – which won the gong.
Meanwhile, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, is keeping it casual and watching Deadloch, while also hosting a dance party at home with Mike Callander’s mix at Revolver Upstairs on Soundcloud.
And, in a pick we can wholeheartedly endorse, the minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, is delving into our very own David Marr’s Killing for Country.
If you’d like my tip – I’m a chapter away from finishing Seishu Hase’s The Boy and the Dog, and I couldn’t recommend it more. Or why not consider our Australian reads of the year, below?
BoM says possibility of localised flash flooding in southern NSW
In weather news – be prepared for more rain, New South Wales.
Severe thunderstorms are possible for northern parts of the state into this evening which may bring localised flash flooding.
It comes as a severe thunderstorm warning covering metropolitan Sydney, the Hunter, llawarra and Central Tablelands was cancelled, despite showers continuing.
The heaviest rainfalls were in the Blue Mountains and the central west regions. Hampton recorded 58mm of rainfall in the four hours to 11am, while Oberon recorded 68mm in a six-hour period and Medlow Bath was battered with 49mm in the two hours to 9.30am.
Three passengers in 20s die in NSW car crash
Three people have died after a car crashed south of Gunnedah in north-east New South Wales this morning.
Three backseat passengers – two women and a man – died at the scene shortly after 6.30am. They are yet to be formally identified, but are believed to be aged in their 20s.
The driver– a 24-year-old man – suffered injuries to his arm and chest and is being treated and is undergoing mandatory testing at Tamworth hospital. The front passenger – a woman – was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for internal injuries before she was airlifted to John Hunter hospital in a serious condition.
Its the 10th death in the space of a week on NSW roads, with the state on track to have one of its deadliest tolls in recent history.
A crime scene has been established, and the Kamilaroi Highway remains closed between Curlewis and Gunnedah.
Sarah Basford Canales
Attorney general: Ley has ‘behaved dishonestly and irresponsibly’
Continued from last post:
But back to today’s press conference by Dreyfus. The first law officer used it as a chance to defend himself against Ley’s calls for him to be sacked, saying she had “behaved dishonestly and irresponsibly” and that she needed to reflect on the fact the Labor government was abiding by laws opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had put in place while he was the home affairs minister.
So that’s what I’d say about Ms Ley, that she needs to really take a long hard look at herself and reflect perhaps over the summer period whether or not she’s acting properly. I would say she’s not, we can’t have senior politicians acting like this.
Ley responded swiftly on X, formerly known as Twitter.
I’ll never take a break from speaking up for the safety of Australians. Mark go get a mirror and do some reflecting yourself. We need a break from your failures.
Sarah Basford Canales
Mark Dreyfuss and Sussan Ley clash over release of convicted terrorist following supreme court ruling
Mark Dreyfus has told the deputy opposition leader to use the summer break to reflect on her actions, accusing her of stoking fear in the community and undermining the police following the release of a convicted terrorist this week who served nearly 20 years behind bars.
The attorney general was asked whether Sussan Ley, who has spent the last few weeks attacking him and other cabinet members for recent court rulings ending indefinite detention and the use of continuing detention orders against a particular offender, was fit to hold office.
It comes as convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika was released from prison on Tuesday after a court ruled he was no longer an unacceptable risk to the public. He will be subject to an extended supervision order for one year, which includes electronic monitoring, along with deradicalisation and psychological treatment, and bans on who he can associate with.
Ley earlier today accused Dreyfus and Anthony Albanese of allowing “this individual, the worst of the worst, onto the streets and they appear to be telling us that that is okay”.
Judge Elizabeth Hollingworth had been scathing of the former Coalition government’s decision to apply a continuing detention order against Benbrika in 2020 ahead of his prison term expiring.
Caitlin Cassidy
Hello, blog readers! Caitlin Cassidy here to guide you through the rest of this afternoon’s news.