Key occasions
Crisafulli says now could be the time to arrange for cyclone
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, says Tropical Cyclone Alfred has intensified and “the entire fashions” present it monitoring to the coast.
Talking to ABC Information Breakfast, he mentioned:
We’re telling Queenslanders that it is a critical occasion and it’ll cross the coast. That’s what the entire fashions present.
Crisafulli mentioned the message had been that individuals have days to arrange – now, “we’re transferring into that part the place it’s now about hours.”
So do all of the little issues now … We’ll proceed to speak what the system appears to be like like, when it might cross, the place, depth. As that turns into clearer, we are going to share that with folks in actual time.
Sandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – Wells
The federal sports activities minister, Anika Wells, additionally spoke on the At the moment Present this morning from Brisbane and mentioned it was the “calm earlier than the storm”.
The minister mentioned she handed a sandbag depot on her method to the studio and the queues had been “about an hour”.
In the meanwhile that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a giant couple of days forward for south-east Queensland. We’re greater than as much as the duty, however everyone’s doing their bit.
Wells mentioned she met a highschool groundsman yesterday who’s within the second week of his job and is “making an attempt to tether down a complete highschool”.
So everybody’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.
Alfred ‘very unpredictable’, NSW rescue official warns
The NSW SES deputy commissioner, Deb Platts, was on the At the moment Present simply earlier to offer a tropical cyclone replace.
She mentioned though the attention of the cyclone is predicted to cross between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, that is “a really massive system” and goes to be “very unpredictable”.
We all know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there may be going to be highly effective surf, coastal erosion, and it is going to be adopted by vital rain that may final a few days. So we’re actually urging folks to be alert, to be ready, identical to the SES is.
Platts mentioned the final tropical cyclone NSW skilled was Nancy in 1990.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind right here, signing on for running a blog duties. Because of Martin for kicking issues off. I’ll be right here with you for many of right this moment, and as at all times, you will get in contact with any ideas or questions by way of e-mail: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go.
Ella Archibald-Binge
Bid to deal with meals insecurity in distant Australia
A brand new nationwide technique will goal to deal with meals insecurity in distant Australia, the place half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households cannot access or afford healthy food.
Groceries will be up to 56% more expensive in distant areas, usually main Indigenous residents to purchase cheaper, unhealthy alternate options that contribute to disproportionate charges of malnutrition, anaemia, diabetes and kidney failure.
Indigenous communities consulted in the course of the growth of the technique mentioned the dearth of inexpensive wholesome meals was “a life and loss of life state of affairs” and “hunger” was occurring in elements of the Northern Territory.
A governing physique comprising federal, state and territory officers together with Indigenous community-controlled organisations shall be set as much as implement the plan, aimed toward enhancing provide chains, guaranteeing entry to conventional meals and boosting native data of well being and diet.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, will unveil the technique within the Northern Territory group of Maningrida right this moment, pledging to again community-led options to handle the “crucial problem”.
It follows Labor’s announcement final month that it will guarantee the price of 30 important gadgets in distant shops can be locked to city prices.
Natasha Might
IV fluids manufacturing to be boosted
The federal government will spend money on quadrupling Australia’s onshore manufacturing functionality for IV fluids after a shortage last year threatened to bring the nation’s healthcare system to a grinding halt.
IV fluids are saline options made below extremely specialised manufacturing situations, that are used throughout healthcare settings to manage medicines immediately into the bloodstream, together with chemotherapy and anaesthesia, and may also be very important medicines in themselves to help sufferers experiencing blood loss and dehydration.
In response to the scarcity of the essential fluids coming from abroad, the federal government was forced to step in coordinating supplies which might be usually procured by state and territory governments for his or her hospitals.
The scarcity uncovered Australia’s lack of sovereign manufacturing functionality, with US multinational Baxter Healthcare’s plant in western Sydney the one producer of IV fluids within the nation.
The federal government has introduced it’s investing $20m within the plant, which Baxter Healthcare will match, to develop the native manufacturing from 20m items to 80m items every year from 2027.
The well being minister, Mark Butler, mentioned the federal government was guaranteeing that crucial medicines and medical provides are manufactured in Australia, by Australians:
It is going to guarantee we’ve got a future made in Australia with onshore manufacturing to protect the nation from world provide shocks that we’ve got seen not too long ago and thru Covid.
Baxter Healthcare’s facility has been an necessary a part of manufacturing in western Sydney for 50 years, and this funding will assist it develop to supply one other 20m IV fluid baggage yearly.
It means extra jobs, extra baggage of IV fluid, and fewer dependence on abroad manufacturing.
Fears of flow-on impact from China-US commerce conflict
In its February assertion on financial coverage, the Reserve Financial institution predicted year-end progress to return in at simply 1.1%. Tapas Strickland mentioned:
Whereas progress appears to be like to have stunned in This autumn, the extra necessary side is the trajectory and the implications for inflation.
In its February assembly minutes, launched yesterday, the Reserve Financial institution board famous exercise within the Chinese language economic system was anticipated to gradual and uncertainty round US tariff coverage threatened world GDP forecasts.
Afterward Tuesday, China introduced it will slap retaliatory 15% tariffs on a spread of US agricultural imports. An all-out commerce conflict heightens the chance of a slowdown in China’s economic system and the flow-on discount to Australia’s financial output.
A lot will rely upon how a lot stimulus China’s legislature, the Nationwide Folks’s Congress, broadcasts at its opening session starting on Wednesday,
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, mentioned there have been good causes to consider the Australian economy was turning a nook.
Rates of interest coming down means one thing like an additional $5bn pumped into our economic system over 12 months. It is going to have a optimistic impression on progress and dwelling requirements, mixed with what we’ve been in a position to do to get actual wages rising once more to guarantee that persons are incomes extra and preserving extra of what they earn in an economic system the place unemployment is remarkably low.
All of this stuff augur nicely for our economic system in 2025.
Slight GDP progress anticipated
A string of surprisingly sturdy financial figures have prompted forecasters to extend their expectations for progress in Australia’s gross home product, AAP stories.
Australia continues to be anticipated to document one of many weakest calendar years for financial progress in many years when the nationwide accounts are launched by the Australian Bureau of Statistics right this moment.
However a better-than-expected commerce steadiness for the December quarter, alongside stronger enterprise inventories and elevated authorities spending, spurred economists at NAB and Westpac to raise their GDP progress predictions for the final three months of 2024 to 0.7%.
If realised, that will translate to a 1.4% enlargement within the economic system over the yr, NAB’s head of market economics, Tapas Strickland, mentioned.
Take Tropical Cyclone Alfred critically – Crisafulli
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has issued a reminder to Queenslanders that they have to take critically the risk posed by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
He mentioned at a media convention yesterday that there was “nonetheless a component of the inhabitants that hasn’t but totally understood the magnitude of this technique”, whereas the emergency administration minister, Jenny McAllister, echoed the seriousness of the approaching storm, saying:
We’re in for some troublesome days.
Watch our video there:
Alfred anticipated to cross coast on Friday morning
Ben Smee
Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to arc again in direction of the populated south-east Queensland shoreline, as predicted by forecasters.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s up to date monitoring and recommendation on Wednesday morning reveals Alfred is predicted to keep up its class 2 depth for the subsequent two days, earlier than crossing the coast about 1am on Friday.
Coastal excessive tides are anticipated within the hours following the anticipated crossing – most elements of the shoreline will expertise a excessive tide between 1.30am and three.30am on Friday. That kind of timing will fear authorities, who’ve mentioned repeatedly {that a} crossing coinciding with a excessive tide can be significantly damaging for coastal areas.
The bureau’s newest track map reveals Alfred crossing the coast a bit additional south than earlier predictions, on the southern finish of Brisbane. The doubtless crossing level stays someplace between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. Warnings are in place from Double Island Level in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our reside information weblog. I’m Martin Farrer with the most effective in a single day tales earlier than Emily Wind is alongside to take the helm.
Anthony Albanese arrived in Brisbane final evening as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bore down on south-east Queensland with 4 million folks in its path. Recollections of disastrous floods in 2011 and 2022 are being revived because the storm threatens to dump no less than 400mm of rain on the area when it hits. Residents of low-lying suburbs in Brisbane are sandbagging their houses and hoping for the most effective because the cyclone threatens one other flood within the metropolis. We can have common updates all through the day, starting with the most recent on the forecast storm observe from the Bureau of Meteorology in a couple of minutes.
Certainly one of our high tales this morning is a brand new report exhibiting that Australians are losing more money to gambling each year than the federal authorities spends on aged care. The sum is sort of as a lot because it spends on the nationwide incapacity insurance coverage scheme.
It’s been a turbulent evening on worldwide monetary markets after the US went forward with tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, all of them retaliated, and shares fell within the US to under their pre-November election stage. However right here in Australia economists assume issues are on the right track because the nationwide accounts come out later this morning. Extra arising.
