News live: Australians predicted to splurge $3bn in Boxing Day sales; Coles issues urgent recall of cheese with E coli | Australia news

Government backs campaign to respect retail workers amid Boxing Day sales rush

The assistant minister to the prime minister, Patrick Gorman, is reminding Australians not to miss the forest for the trees as they go hunting for a bargain this Boxing Day, and show retail workers the respect they deserve.

The reminder is unfortunately timely as retail groups warned earlier this month that workers are seeing a spike in customer aggression this Christmas trading period, including being flashed and threatened.

Australia’s peak retail body, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) released a joint statement on December 19 which laid bare how bad the situation can get, with reported instances in retail stores during Christmas trading this year including:

• A retail worker flashed by a customer at work.

• A customer pulling a knife on a staff member.

• A worker threatened with physical violence and threats made against their life.

• Customers becoming abusive when denied discounts.

• A customer throwing a product at a staff member because their refund was refused.

The spike in aggression comes as labour shortages across the sector, combined with ongoing supply chain issues, are creating “unprecedented levels of anxiety” according to the two associations.

SDA’s national secretary, Gerard Dwyer, said young workers, women and workers from diverse linguistic backgrounds can be disproportionately singled out for mistreatment.

This Christmas season, make sure to stay calm and show kindness to workers and fellow shoppers – and make it a joyful season for everyone.

Meanwhile, in the state’s capital, Boxing Day queues are growing.

Severe thunderstorms predicted for north-western Queensland

Coles issues urgent recall of cheese after traces of E coli found

Minor heatwave hitting cities across Australia

Boxing Day’s forecast sweltering heat is off to an early start with a minor heatwave expected to bring temperatures of 27C or above to most state and territory capitals on Monday, AAP is reporting.

Melburnians will have excellent conditions for a dip, or a trip to the MCG where Australia plays South Africa in the Boxing Day Test, with a forecast of 32C.

Canberra will reach 33C and Sydney 29C, Brisbane and Perth can expect the temperature to climb to 27C, while Hobart will be relatively mild at 23C, according to forecasts.

Adelaide will be a sweltering 37C and mostly sunny, and Darwin will be 32C and raining.

The Northern Territory is set for further flooding on Boxing Day as ex-tropical cyclone Ellie dumps rain and lashes the interior including Tennant Creek, Elliott, Ali Curung, Ampilatwatja, Barrow Creek and Renner Springs.

Burleigh Heads beach closed after shark sighting

Burleigh Heads beach in Queensland has been closed after a shark sighting. Everyone has been evacuated from the water.

Burleigh is a popular spot and was packed this morning as people flocked to the Gold Coast beach to enjoy Boxing Day.

Boxing Day sales rush at Perth’s DFO

Perth’s discount fashion outlet is apparently the place to be this Boxing Day, with a queue of cars stretching out on to the surrounding roads. I don’t believe Australia has seen car queues that long since the days of the testing queues at the height of last summer’s Omicron surge.

Man dies at scene of Phillip Island crash, woman airlifted to Melbourne hospital

A man has died and a woman has been airlifted to hospital following a two-car collision on Christmas Day on Phillip Island.

The collision, between a van and car, occurred at an intersection in the town of Cowes at about 6.45pm.

Victoria police said in a statement:

Sadly, the male passenger from the car died at the scene.

A woman from the same vehicle has been airlifted to a Melbourne hospital.

Two people from the van, believed aged in their 20s, appear to have escaped serious injury.

Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are on scene and will investigate the circumstances surrounding the collision.

Japanese ambassador to Australia finishes Indian Pacific Railway journey

The Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami’s 4,352km journey aboard the Indian Pacific Railway has come to an end with the ambassador arriving in Perth just before Christmas.

Yamagami has been sharing his adventures aboard the railway on Twitter as he makes his way across the continent with careful observations of his surrounding.

He’s been impressed by the “tiny by Aussie standards, yet very well-thought-out” rooms on board the rail which he says reminds him of the way that small spaces are fully utilised by business hotels in his own country.

Suffocating? Not in the least. So comfortable because everything is within reach!

He’s crossed the Murray River, seeing the vast plains of South Australia with a bus trip to McLaren Vale visiting wineries. In outback WA, he appreciated seeing Jupiter, Mars, Orion and the Southern Cross above him during an outdoor dinner in Rawlinna.

Now we’ve received his assessment of the journey:

Dating app operators to meet with government on reform

Crabs come out for Christmas on north-west Tasmanian beach

In the northern hemisphere, the traditional white and red colours of Christmas evoke the pristine snow and swilling mulled wine. In Australia, the red and white is more likely to be the white of the sand and the red of a sunburn – or in north-west Tasmania, the red of the crabs scuttling across the beach.

Don Bradman letter reveals cricketer attempted to steer Australia away from Whitlam era

Speaking of cricket … the Nine papers are today reporting that Sir Donald Bradman penned a letter to then new prime minister Malcolm Fraser just two days after the 1975 dismissal election, urging him to take a stand against the reforms of Gough Whitlam.

Daniel Brettig writes:

December 15 was the penultimate day of a Test match between Australia and the West Indies in Perth, but Bradman had more political and business matters on his mind when he typed out 800 words of counsel to Fraser.

In the letter, uncovered by the Federation University academic Verity Archer and shared with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Bradman described himself as “a passionate advocate of freedom from socialism (or worse),” and pushed Fraser to overturn many of Whitlam’s reforms.

Principally, Bradman encouraged Fraser to remove as much regulation of capital as possible, warned against the dangers of inflation, advised on the importance of presenting the national situation accurately to the media and decried the power of unions in Australia at the time.

… Bradman has often been described as sitting above the back and forth of politics, and he described himself in the letter as “a non-political person”. But it is clear from this and other correspondence, particularly with his friend and former newspaper editor Rohan Rivett around this time, that Bradman chose deliberately to get involved in steering Australia away from the Whitlam era.

Bradman, then 67, wrote to Fraser:

A marvellous victory in which your personal conduct and dignity stood out against the background of arrogance and propaganda indulged in by your opponents.

And if I may say so, the charm and bearing of your wife came through with great credit to you both.

Now you may have to travel a long and difficult road along which your enemies will seek to destroy you.

… What the people need are clearly defined rules which they can read and understand so that they can get on with their affairs.

The public must be re-educated to believe that private enterprise is entitled to rewards as long as it obeys fair and reasonable rules laid down by government. Maybe you can influence leaders of the press to a better understanding of this necessity of presentation.

Follow live Australia v South Africa: second Test, day one

Day one of the second test Australia v South Africa gets going at 10.30am in Melbourne.

You’ll be able to follow the action on our live blog below. For those keen for the pre-match chat, the blog has already kicked off:

Man dies after car crashes into his house

A man is dead after a vehicle crashed into his house in Queensland’s Toowoomba region on Christmas Day.

Police allege the driver fled, but a 30-year-old man was arrested nearby in Millmerran, about 200km west of Brisbane.

He is being questioned over the death of a 55-year-old man inside the home.

Queensland police said in a statement today:

Police will allege around 9.30pm a vehicle was driven into a residence, fatally wounding the 55-year-old who was in the house, before the driver fled on foot.

The 30-year-old man was located at an address a short distance away.

Detectives and the Forensic Crash Unit are investigating the circumstances around the death.

– AAP