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9,000 Victorian seeking emergency payments
Andrews is speaking again now and says 9,000 people across Victoria are seeking the emergency payment “because their home has been flooded or isolated because of floodwater”.
We do not want finances in any way be limiting the care and support we give to those doing it tough. Those grants are a first. There will be subsequent steps to take and we will have more to say tomorrow.
Certainly thousands and thousands out of their homes. And we can be absolutely certain, sadly, that in places like Shepparton, places like Echuca, and others, that these waters will continue to rise and more and more homes will be flooded.
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Josh Butler
NSW ‘shortchanged’ by federal infrastructure allocation
Federal and state Liberal politicians have accused the Albanese government of “playing favourites” with infrastructure spending, complaining about the allocation of funding between states and the unpicking of controversial announcements by the former Morrison government.
The federal Labor government announced $9.6bn in infrastructure commitments on Sunday for next week’s budget, formalising numerous election promises and pledging to reform how money is spent on large projects.
But the New South Wales infrastructure minister, Rob Stokes, and the transport minister, David Elliott, claimed the federal government “shortchanged” their state, pointing out that other jurisdictions were receiving far more cash.
Elliot said:
It’s time for the federal government to stop playing favourites when it comes to allocating taxpayers’ money and prioritise the spending where it’s needed most.
Sunday’s announcement included confirmation of $2.2bn for Melbourne’s suburban rail loop, $1.5bn for Darwin’s Middle Arm precinct, $300m for the western Sydney roads package and $586m to upgrade Brisbane’s Bruce Highway.
But broken down by state, announcement allocated $1bn to NSW, $2.57bn to Victoria, $685m to Tasmania, $1.47bn to Queensland, $2.5bn to the Northern Territory, $670m to Western Australia and $660m to South Australia.
Read the full story here:
Eden Gillespie
Sydney’s Coogee beach rated ‘poor’ for pollution
One in five swimming spots in New South Wales have been rated as having “poor” or “very poor” pollution levels, including Sydney’s popular Coogee beach, after the state experienced its wettest summer in a decade.
Twice the number of beaches, lakes and lagoons have been exposed to concerning levels of pollution and sewage since 2019, according to the annual state of the beaches report released by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
Eighty per cent of swimming sites had “good” or “very good” pollution ratings. But a number of popular beaches have been named as having poor water quality due to intense rainfall and flood water inundating waterways.
These include Sydney’s Coogee and Rose Bay beaches, Terrigal beach and Toowoon Bay on the central coast, Woolgoolga main beach and Emerald beach on the mid-north coast, and Caseys and Surf beaches on the south coast.
Coogee, Rose Bay, as well as Northbridge and Bayview baths were among those downgraded to having “poor” water quality after being rated as having “fair” or “good” water quality in last year’s report.
The director of the Australian Graduate School of Engineering, Prof Stuart Khan, said the results were concerning but not surprising after such intense rainfall.
Read the full story here:
The sandbag shortage in Echuca is being addressed, according to the SES.
ABS to release monthly labour force data on Thursday
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will be releasing its monthly labour market numbers on Thursday.
Attention will turn to what happens to the unemployment rate after a run of low figures.
The percentage of Australians out of work in August rose slightly to 3.5%.
Commonwealth Bank economists expect to see about 20,000 jobs added in September and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.5%.
ANZ economists think the labour market will tighten even further and unemployment will hit 3.3%.
– with AAP
More photos from around Shepparton.
Mobs of stranded kangaroos
People are advised to keep clear of mobs of stranded eastern grey kangaroos in the Goulburn Valley.
A few more snaps from the prime minister’s visit to flood-affected areas.
And not a non-consensual handshake in sight.
NSW Liberals: feds playing favourites with Labor states on infrastructure spend
The New South Wales state government has responded to the Albanese government’s plan for a $9.2bn infrastructure spend, with accusations of favouritism.
The state minister for infrastructure Rob Stokes said the government has “shortchanged” NSW despite it being the country’s most populous state.
He said Victoria and Northern Territory will receive “more than double” the federal funding of NSW.
“That means $10,729 has been allocated for every Northern Territory citizen, while a mere $122 has been committed for every New South Wales citizen,” he said.
The minister for transport, veterans and western Sydney David Elliot accused the federal government of “playing favourites” by prioritising Labor states.
“We’ve handed the Albanese government a long list of infrastructure projects that desperately need funding in western Sydney, around the Aerotropolis and in regional NSW.”
Peter Hannam
CSIRO axed climate program despite ‘good progress’
Australia’s premier science organisation abruptly scrapped a fully funded, globally recognised program to predict the climate in coming years without consulting an advisory panel that had praised its “good progress” only weeks earlier.
Launched in 2016 with $37m in funding over 10 years by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Decadal Climate Forecasting Project was meant to help industries from agriculture to dam operators and emergency services to better cope with climate variability and extremes.
“While current weather and seasonal forecasts can help predict conditions between several days and a few months ahead, we are currently missing a key piece of the puzzle: what will our climate look like anywhere between one year and a decade into the future?” CSIRO said. “That research gap is now being filled by our work in decadal forecasting, providing invaluable insights to industry and beyond.”
However, without fanfare and after having spent what one insider said was about $15m, CSIRO managers halted funding after June 2021.
For all the detail on this exclusive by Guardian Australia economics correspondent Peter Hannam, read the full story here:
What we know so far
The press conference has wrapped now but I want to briefly go back to the detail Wiebusch shared on the floods across the west and north of Victoria.
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Authorities are expecting a major flood of 3.6m at Horsham, below the high peak of 4.7m. It is anticipated 74 properties, the local showground, a caravan park and aged cared facilities are at risk.
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On the Evoca River, the Charlton township has a current evacuation warning and authorities are expecting a flood peak of eight metres today which will continue into tomorrow. Around 80 properties are expected to be under threat of flooding.
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Along the Loddon River, floodwaters are moving down from Serpentine towards the Murray River. Pyramid Hill and Kerang will come under threat, with the floodwaters to peak at Kerang on Monday or Tuesday.
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On the Campaspe River, the Rochester township has experienced “significant inundation” but water is receding – though major flood levels are expected to continue for the next few days.
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At Echuca, evacuation warnings have been issued, but it is now too late to leave in some locations. Authorities are expecting around 1000 properties at that location will be either surrounded or inundated as water peaks at 9.6 metres.
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Echuca will also experience a second peak on Monday or Tuesday as the water moves toward the Murray River, peaking at 9.5 metres.
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On the Goulburn River, where it converges at the Broken, Seven and Castles Creek at Shepparton, the most significant impact is expected today and into the early hours of tomorrow. They are expecting the peak to be around 12.2 metres early Monday morning.
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An evacuation warning has been issued for parts of the Shepparton area but it is too late to leave for people who have not moved into relief centres. It is expected around 2500 properties will see flooding above floor level. Another 1600 homes are at risk if the water continues to rise another 1.1 metres.
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At Broken Creek, nearby communities are expected to see minor to moderate flooding rather than major flood.
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In Seymour, floodwaters have receded to 7.67 metres. That water will continue to drop away from tomorrow with recovery efforts beginning.
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On the Hopkins River in the south of the state, residents will begin to see localised flooding today.
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Floodwaters at Mount Emu Creek are beginning to recede and recovery efforts are beginning.
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On the Barwon River in Geelong, floodwaters peaked at 3.8 metres and are now receding. Residents of the nearby caravan park are no longer under immediate threat of major flooding but 15 to 20 businesses in the area have been inundated.
Albanese backs Victorian suburban rail loop
Albanese is back now talking about the government’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure announcement and $2.2bn funding for a suburban rail loop in Melbourne.
I made it very clear where I stood with the premier on a number of occasions about this exciting project, it is a nation-building project for Victoria.
On the need for the project Albanese says it will avoid the “hub and spoke approach” taken up by Sydney and Brisbane where people were forced to go into the centre of the city and then back out to get where they needed to go.
Why should you have to go into the city to then go out again? It will make an enormous difference to productivity.
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