Australia live news: fire threatens town in Adelaide Hills; ‘We’ve got the balance right,’ says Albanese on climate policy changes | Australia news

A Queensland police officer has been charged with computer hacking and misuse and the improper disclosure of information.

The 26-year-old constable from Queensland’s central region has been served with a notice to appear in court over the alleged offences. He has been suspended from duty and is expected to appear in Proserpine magistrates court on 16 January.

In a statement, Queensland police said:

In keeping with our commitment to high standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability, we have undertaken to inform the public when an officer faces serious allegations of misconduct.

This does not mean that the allegations against the officer have been substantiated.

Firefighters battle out-of-control bushfire in the Adelaide Hills

Firefighters are continuing to battle an out-of-control bushfire in the Adelaide Hills, near the town of Montacute.

The Country Fire Service has just issued a new update. It says 59 fire trucks and nine aircraft, including water bombers, are now responding to the blaze.

The CFS, supported by SA Police, SA Metropolitan Fire Service and Dept of Environment and Water are responding to a scrub fire in the Black Hill Conservation Park off Gorge Road, Montacute.

The fire is burning freely in steep inaccessible terrain within the Black Hill Conservation Park.

There is currently a warning message issued for this fire. Refer to the CFS website for the most up to date warning information.

Approximately 59 fire trucks supported by 9 aircraft including fire bombers and observation aircraft are working to contain the fire within the conservation park.

Gorge Road remains closed to the public between the intersections of Kirkevue Road and Corkscrew Road.

Corkscrew Road is closed between Gorge Road and Montacute Road.

For updates visit the CFS website or phone the Information Hotline on 1800 362 361.

Images and vision of the fire show it is throwing up a significant amount of smoke, which some Adelaide residents are saying can be seen from metropolitan Adelaide.

Child found dead after being reported missing in Northern Territory community

The ABC reports that a young child has been found dead after being reported missing in a remote part of the Northern Territory.

NT police said the child was reported missing on Friday afternoon in the east Arnhem Land region. The child was found dead later in the afternoon near their home, but no cause of death has been released, the ABC reports.

Police are not naming the community involved and would release no further information.

“Investigations are ongoing and a report will be prepared for the coroner,” police told the ABC.

Lawyers reject suggestions of bogus claims being made amid huge asylum backlog

Leading human rights lawyers have rubbished suggestions people are seizing on huge backlogs of asylum applications to lodge bogus claims for protection.

The Refugee Council of Australia, in its submission to a government migration review, said the backlogs facilitated spurious applications for protection from people who could reside in the country for years because of protracted processes.

But Hannah Dickinson, the principal solicitor of the Human Rights Law Program at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the argument was a red herring. Dickinson told AAP:

The Department of Home Affairs has always had mechanisms for dealing with unmeritorious claims, including prioritising them for faster decisions.

I don’t think any question of unmeritorious claims is really relevant to the backlog.

There is no evidence to suggest any kind of large-scale intentional unmeritorious claims being made. We have application processes for visas because we require people to meet criteria.

– AAP

Adelaide Hills fire reportedly grew from five to 20 hectares in 10 minutes

The Adelaide Advertiser is reporting that the fire in the Adelaide Hills, which is threatening the town of Montacute, grew from five hectares to 20 hectares in 10 minutes.

The latest update from the CFS says the fire is burning freely in steep inaccessible terrain within the Black Hill conservation park and has spread to 30 hectares.

Smoke is said to be visible from metropolitan Adelaide.

The CFS says it has deployed 15 firetrucks supported by 8 aircraft, including firebombers and observational aircraft.

Gorge Road has been closed to the public.

Flood warnings in place as Queensland’s north coast is battered by rain

Queensland’s north coast is being battered by heavy rain as a monsoon trough brings severe thunderstorms and heavy falls to the region.

An alert for potentially life-threatening flash flooding is in place, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning six-hour rainfall totals between 100 and 180mm are likely along a 630km stretch of coast between Cardwell and Carmila.

Isolated 24-hour totals of more than 300mm are also possible on Saturday and into Sunday, the bureau said.

Flood watch notifications are in place for Mackay, Proserpine, Charters Towers, Bowen, Townsville, Moranbah, Collinsville, Ingham and Ayr.

Several major roads – including the Bruce Highway near Mackay – are also partially closed on Saturday due to flooding.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services urged residents to keep up to date with warnings and alerts and not to attempt to drive through flood waters.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, echoed the caution on Saturday morning.

“Follow the advice of the authorities,” he said to reporters. “Don’t risk driving through flood waters if they’re present. Make sure that you stay safe because that’s the most important thing.”

A police 4WD with an officer inside was swept off the Pump Creek causeway, near Almaden in far north Queensland, on Friday afternoon.

The officer managed to get out of the vehicle as it was swept into Pump Creek and swam a short distance to the creek bank. He was not injured.

– AAP

South Australian fire burning in Black Hill conservation park

The South Australian Country Fire Service has just issued an update on the fire threatening the small town of Montacute. The CFS says the fire is burning in “steep inaccessible terrain within the Black Hill Conservation Park”.

Here’s the full update:

The CFS, supported by SAPOL and SAMFS is responding to a scrub fire at Gorge Road, Montacute.

The fire is burning freely in steep inaccessible terrain within the Black Hill Conservation Park.

There is currently a Warning Message issued for this fire. Refer to the CFS website for the most up to date warning information.

Approximately 15 firetrucks supported by 8 aircraft including firebombers and observational aircraft are working to contain the fire within the conservation park with additional trucks being responded to the scene.

Gorge Road has been closed to the public.

For updates visit the CFS website (www.cfs.sa.gov.au) or phone the Information Hotline on 1800 362 361.

Here are some views of the fire threatening the small town of Montacute in the Adelaide Hills, which according to the 2016 census has a population of about 300 people.

A reporter for the Adelaide Advertiser tweets the fire is burning in the Black Hill conservation park.

Chris Minns doubts Perrottet’s Nazi costume admission will affect NSW election

The NSW opposition leader, Chris Minns, doubts Premier Dominic Perrottet’s admissions he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday will affect the upcoming state election.

AAP reports that Minns said this morning that Perrottet had made a mistake and had apologised to the Jewish community.

Minns said:

It’s not up to me to absolve him or accept his apology on behalf of the state.

Obviously those people from the Jewish community, returned service men and women, that were victims of the Nazi war machine. They’re responsible for accepting his apology, not me.

You’re asking me whether it will affect the NSW election campaign. My sense is that it won’t.

Earlier this morning, Anthony Albanese said Perrottet’s admission was “a matter for him” and it would be up to others to “make judgments based upon the premier’s explanation”.

Fire threatens town in Adelaide Hills

Flooding closes Bruce Highway in far north Queensland

Heavy rain in north Queensland has cut the Bruce Highway in both directions around Mackay. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting heavy rain and flooding in the state’s far north.

Teen Socceroo sensation Garang Kuol debuts for Scottish team

Thunderstorm warning as north Queensland prepares for flooding

Dutton’s approach to Indigenous voice is ‘straight from John Howard’s playbook’

Political reporter Paul Karp has some insights into the opposition leader Peter Dutton’s tactics on the issue of an Indigenous voice to parliament.

The real political dynamite, says Karp, is Dutton’s line that a body could be enacted when parliament resumes. The tactics are straight out of the John Howard playbook.

‘We’ve got the balance right,’ says Albanese on climate policy changes