Australia news live: Labor minister says ‘no plans’ to ditch tax cuts; flood warnings continue in NSW as Bathurst 1000 begins | Australia news

York says that “all floods are dangerous”:

Some floods are slower moving and some Endemol western parts of the country, of New South Wales, you can get a little awarding time.

It does not mean there anymore morning time for flash floods and that is what we’re really concerned about. The water will build up and create a flash flood.

And it will cut off roads and go through or businesses. It will cut off or raise the risk for livestock as well.

York is asked about people chosen to stay making the circumstances more difficult for first responders, and she says it does, particularly coming out of “two, three” years of drought.

It is a completely different picture across New South Wales. It is saturated and there is nowhere for the water to go except across the land and to any properties on its way.

York:

I would caution people who make that decision who think to stay safe in their homes, it is much better to move out when you have time and that is not traffic on the road.

You can get the safety and higher ground and go back to the house is high and dry and call at two o’clock in the morning where we may not be able to get there, depending on how many calls for assistance

And the weather conditions. If it is raining, it makes things very difficult. [We] can’t get helicopters up and you are putting emergency service personnel lives at risk. We try to give as much notice as possible so they can evacuate in an orderly fashion and get somewhere safe.

The NSW State Emergency Service has issued 94 warnings issues across the state, with the commissioner Carlene York warning residents to evacuate early and take extra precautions.

It is very dangerous out there on our roads. We are seeing a lot of flash flooding and as we have said the rivers are still rising.

York asked people to pay attention to evacuation orders and said evacuation centres have been opened to accomodate them.

When you ask people, if you have to evacuate or are planning to evacuate, reach out to family and friends first and if you can’t do that, we will make sure of the right evacuation centres you can go to.

BoM: Low pressure system moves off the coast

Jane Golding from the Bureau of Meteorology says several regions are being monitored, including Gunnedah.

In summary, from this recent rain we’ve seen over the last week, it looks like the low pressure system that caused the rain over last night has now moved off the coast.

Though Golding said the rain has stopped, flooding will continue through the week.

Now we’re turning our eyes towards the next system.

‘Completely saturated landscape’: NSW emergency services minister

The New South Wales emergency services minister Steph Cooke is giving an update now on the situation facing the state.

Cooke says the state has a “completely saturated landscape” with the risk of trees falling in strong winds and landslips as the state’s dams fill to capacity.

We know that in our inland New South Wales regions, the flood waters will continue to be a problem for communities not just for the weeks ahead, but for months.

Flood warnings for rain-soaked parts of NSW

The Bureau of Meteorology says areas hit by heavy rain are expected to reach major or near major flood levels over the coming days.

Those areas include:

• Warren on the Macquarie River

• Nanami, Cottons Weir, Jemalong, Euabalong, Forbes on the Lachlan River

• Gundagai on the Murrumbidgee River

• Weilmoringle on the Culgoa River

• Tilpa on the Darling River

The bureau also advised some catchments east of the divide were experiencing new flooding, including the Hawkesbury and Nepean.

Rain will ease throughout the rest of Sunday with no significant rainfalls expected for the next few days but conditions will worsen again from Wednesday to Friday.

Speaking of wet conditions…

Chaotic start to Bathurst 1000

Three cars have been totalled and ruled out of the race in a chaotic start to the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

The safety car was deployed twice within the opening five laps on Sunday.

James Moffat lost pole immediately off the start to a surging Lee Holdsworth and when the pack rounded turn one, Jamie Whincup and Jack Perkins were spun around.

Zak Best’s car 55 was the mountain’s first casualty and towed off the circuit after veering into the barriers.

When the race restarted on lap five, Zane Goddard left the track attempting an overtake and lost control rejoining the tarmac.

He veered across the track and was smashed into by Dale Wood in the R&J Batteries entry, with Matt Campbell joined the pile-up. All three cars were totalled.

Campbell reported a sore ankle, groin, neck and wrists while Wood and Goddard walked away unscathed.

Racing in his 20th Bathurst, 2103 champion Mark Winterbottom got tangled up and spun out but narrowly avoided any major damage in the incident.

Wood was seen crying back in pit lane after the incident, with only one of Brad Jones Racing’s cars left in the race.

Dry track conditions and fine weather prevailed as the Bathurst 1000 got under way, with the majority of teams opting for their co-drivers to begin the 1,000km race.

The only main driver among the top 10 starters was retirement-bound Holdsworth, who held the early lead.

– from AAP

Michael Gunner joins Andrew Forrest’s green energy firm

The Northern Territory’s former chief minister Michael Gunner has landed a new job with a green energy company owned by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest.

The former NT Labor leader has been hired to head up the northern Australia team at Fortescue Future Industries as the company looks to develop new projects in the territory and across Western Australia’s north-west.

Gunner said in a statement that he looked forward to working on projects aimed at addressing climate change and said he made the move “for the kids”.

The pitch from Dr Forrest and FFI was simple and straight to the heart – do it for the kids.

By going hard commercially at real zero, at FFI we help make the genuine impacts on climate change that the world needs.

My message is clear: FFI is committed to aggressively reducing emissions and FFI is here now.

Forrest said in a statement that Gunner’s experience “working hand-in-hand with the people of northern Australia” would make the new hire a “valuable asset to FFI”.

We see enormous potential in the Northern Territory, with abundant wind and solar energy, and a community enthusiastic to embrace renewable energy and the employment-intensive industries that come with it.

The industry-leading decarbonisation strategy we unveiled in New York in September provided clear evidence that Fortescue is leading the world in its transition to a global, green renewable and resources company.

Gunner is not the only former Labor leader to pick up a new gig with Forrest. The former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has been appointed as chief executive of the mining billionaire’s charity, the Minderoo Foundation.

Bathurst 1000 under way amid fine weather

Dry track conditions and fine weather prevailed as the Bathurst 1000 got under way, with the majority of teams opting for their co-drivers to begin the 1,000km race.

After three days of rain and overcast conditions, the sun finally arrived over Mount Panorama on Sunday with the weather set to be favourable throughout the day.

Australia’s biggest domestic motorsport prize is up for grabs and the Tickford Racing pair of Cam Waters and co-driver James Moffat started from pole following the cancellation of Saturday’s top-10 shootout.

Waters qualified fastest in Friday’s first qualifying for his second Bathurst pole, but it was Moffat who got first crack at the mountain.

The pair were looking to go one better after consecutive second-placed finishes in the race in the previous two years.

Moffat was one of 19 co-drivers who started, with nine of the grid’s top 10 all co-drivers.

The only lead driver among the top 10 starters was retirement-bound Lee Holdsworth in his 19th consecutive Great Race.

Fans swarmed the grid for Bathurst’s first maximum-capacity event since the pandemic began.

Motorsport officials notified drivers in the two-minute warning that the circuit was still wet on the exit of turn one.

– from AAP

More rain for western and southern NSW

Bad news for those living in western and southern New South Wales – more rain on the way later in the week.

Fifth-highest September rainfall in NSW since 1900

New South Wales has experienced the fifth-highest September rainfall since records began in 1900, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Some regions recorded their highest September daily rainfall ever on the 18th or the 16th, when strong cold fronts moved across the state, or on the 3rd, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, or 29th, following offshore low pressure systems.

Political fundraisers axed ahead of budget

Political fundraisers at Parliament House are due to be canned in the lead-up to the federal budget, AAP reports.

The prime minister Anthony Albanese wrote to the parliament’s speaker and president asking for the ban.

It’s understood the House or Representatives speaker Milton Dick and Senate president Sue Lines agreed and it will come into effect on 17 October, a week ahead of the federal budget.

The shadow treasurer Angus Taylor told Sky News on Sunday he was yet to see the detail but branded the move “a political stunt”.

Political fundraising is part of our system. It’s how it works.

[The Coalition] don’t have the ability to rely on the unions the way Labor does.

So for us, it’s actually about going out to hardworking Australians and getting their support. And we have to do that all the time.