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Grain silos spill into NSW’s Shoalhaven River
The Shoalhaven River on New South Wales’ south coast has filled with grain after two silos collapsed overnight.
The collapse, at an animal feed manufacturing facility in Bomaderry, triggered an automatic fire alarm. Firefighters established an exclusion zone around the silos and evacuated about 65 workers at 10pm yesterday night.
Fire and Rescue NSW said a third silo has been compromised and is being monitored. At midday, 20 firefighters were still on scene, including hazmat specialists and drone pilots.
Recovery efforts and investigations were continuing onsite, led by SafeWork NSW and the NSW Environmental Protection Agency.
Key events
Good Samaritan Australian missing in waters off Bali
An Australian man has reportedly disappeared in waters off Bali while trying to rescue a German tourist in rough seas, AAP reports.
Craig Laidley was walking along Balian beach on the Indonesian island’s west coast on Wednesday afternoon when he heard the man shouting for help, ABC news says.
After helping to save the 29-year-old, the 56-year-old was carried away by the current. Relative Mark Laidley asked for help finding his cousin on Facebook:
Our Uncle/Brother and Son [Craig] was last seen helping a male that was reportedly drowning in the ocean between Tebing Balian rocks near Balian Beach at 4pm 16th of October.
He was then seen drifting back out to the ocean after saving this man’s life.
The post said local fishermen were helping with the search. A land and sea search, involving 10 people, is understood to be under way.
Emily Wind
Police seek footage of fatal collision on Sydney Harbour Bridge
NSW police are seeking dashcam footage of the multi-vehicle collision on the Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday afternoon, which left two dead.
Four cars and a bus collided about 1.40pm yesterday on the bridge. Paramedics treated the drivers of two vehicles, a 51-year-old man and a 44-year-old man, however they died at the scene.
The bus driver was uninjured and no passengers were onboard. The drivers of the other cars were not injured.
Anyone with dashcam footage of the area at the time of the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
NSW police investigate claims of fraud
Police are investigating claims of fraud where police say alleged offenders took money from people after claiming to be psychics.
NSW Police claim the alleged offenders have been committing offences in the greater Sydney area since as early as 2006.
A woman aged 48 and a man aged 50 were arrested in August and remain before the courts.
Police have appealed for information to identify another woman they believe may be able to assist. The woman is of caucasian appearance, believed to be aged in her 40s, about 150cm tall, large build and speaks with a Romanian accent.
Investigations are being led by Strike Force Recycling, established in July 2024. Police urged anyone with information about the woman to contact Campsie Police Area Command or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Severe weather warning for Melbourne with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms
Severe weather is hitting Melbourne especially hard, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding has hit the eastern edge of the city around Pakenham and Warburton, and will move to Bacchus Marsh in the next half hour.
The city has already recorded heavy rainfall at multiple sites today, with Elsternwick soaked with 26mm in the 30 minutes to 12:00 pm and Frankston recording 35.2mm in the two hours to 11:45 am.
Much of central Victoria remains at risk of severe thunderstorms and damaging winds, including Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning – Melbourne area for heavy rainfall.
Heavy rainfall with developing thunderstorms.
They are forecast to affect Bacchus Marsh by 1:30 pm and Exford and the area south of Melton by 1:45 pm.
Stay informed: https://t.co/yQGbyOfvgo pic.twitter.com/1wjK9x1J5M
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) October 18, 2024
Outside Victoria, the BoM has warned fast-moving severe thunderstorms are developing through central NSW, potentially bringing large hailstones. Damaging winds averaging 80 to 90 km/h with peak gusts up to 120km/h are expected in high-altitude alpine areas in the state’s south.
In South Australia, the SES has responded to more than 150 requests for assistance since yesterday as severe storms rolled through the state.
Weather update
For the latest on the severe thunderstorms battering eastern Australia, here’s an update from the Bureau of Meteorology:
Grain silos spill into NSW’s Shoalhaven River
The Shoalhaven River on New South Wales’ south coast has filled with grain after two silos collapsed overnight.
The collapse, at an animal feed manufacturing facility in Bomaderry, triggered an automatic fire alarm. Firefighters established an exclusion zone around the silos and evacuated about 65 workers at 10pm yesterday night.
Fire and Rescue NSW said a third silo has been compromised and is being monitored. At midday, 20 firefighters were still on scene, including hazmat specialists and drone pilots.
Recovery efforts and investigations were continuing onsite, led by SafeWork NSW and the NSW Environmental Protection Agency.
Jonathan Barrett
Court finds Harvey Norman engaged in misleading advertising ‘blitz’
Harvey Norman and credit provider Latitude used misleading advertisements during a radio, newspaper and television campaign “blitz” offering 60 months interest-free purchase terms for household goods, the federal court found today.
The retailer and finance company told shareholders in separate statements they will review the court decision before deciding whether to appeal.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission had alleged in the proceedings that advertisements in 2020 and 2021 misled consumers into thinking they could buy goods from Harvey Norman by making 60 equal monthly payments.
The ads described the payments as “no deposit” and “interest free”, according to the judgement published today.
But the offer required buyers to sign up for and use a credit card offered by Latitude, which carried fees and charges that could result in them paying hundreds of dollars more than the sticker price of the goods they bought, according to Asic.
The regulator described the campaign as an “advertising blitz” that would have been seen by millions of people in Australia, and likely on multiple occasions and across multiple media.
The regulator said in court documents that disclaimers were inadequate, which included “tiny text” in TV ads.
A hearing to determine penalties is likely to be scheduled for next year, Harvey Norman said.
Daniel Andrews appointed chair of mental health researcher Orygen
Benita Kolovos
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has been appointed chair of Orygen, Australia’s designated Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health.
Orygen is the largest transnational mental health research organisation in Australia and the largest clinical research organisation focused on youth mental health in the world.
Andrews was appointed by the board of directors to fill the position for a three-year term, in what is his first official post-politics role. Andrews said:
I’m incredibly proud to take on this leadership role to help Orygen and its world-leading experts at this pivotal time for youth mental health in Australia and globally.
Orygen is one of Australia’s most important organisations, with a bold vision for all young people to enjoy the very best mental health as they grow into adulthood.
It will be an honour to work closely with executive director, Professor Patrick McGorry, and help him realise that vision through Orygen’s groundbreaking research, knowledge translation, advocacy, workforce development and clinical care.
Record mpox outbreak in Victoria
Cases of mpox are continuing to increase across Victoria and other Australian jurisdictions, the Victorian chief health officer has warned.
Professor Ben Cowie has issued an alert advising that the current mpox outbreak in Victoria is the state’s biggest since the first case was reported in May 2022. As of yesterday, 330 mpox cases had been notified in Victoria since April 2024 and there had been 27 hospitalisations.
Mpox has mostly affected men who have sex with men but Cowie said there have now been several cases in females in Victoria and heterosexual transmission has been reported.
Victoria’s health department encouraged all sexually active people with compatible symptoms to be tested, regardless of sexual orientation, vaccination status or travel history.
New South Wales has also urged those at risk of contracting mpox to get vaccinated as the state records its largest outbreak, which the top health official has described as “very concerning”:
Road closures in Melbourne as heavy rain causes flash flooding
VicTraffic is reporting four flood-related closures:
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West Gate Freeway: the outbound entry from Kings Way has the left lane closed, with one lane open.
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Monash Freeway: three outbound lanes under the Toorak Road overpass are closed, with the right lane open.
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Nepean Highway: left lane outbound closed at Wickham Road.
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Montague Street, Docklands: left lane blocked under the West Gate Freeway, heading towards South Melbourne.
The state’s transport department has advised drivers to allow extra time outbound on the highway and never drive through flooded roads.
Blackouts hit South Australia and Victoria
As we flagged earlier, severe weather has left thousands without power in western New South Wales. AAP is reporting outages have also hit South Australia and Victoria.
More than 5,500 South Australians were still without power this morning, down from around 20,000 overnight, as the wild weather continued eastward.
Structural damage to high voltage transmission lines in South Australia have cut power to BHP’s Olympic Dam mine and parts of Roxby Downs.
A BHP spokesman said:
ElectraNet crews are working to restore power as soon as possible, and we are working with them to better understand the scale of the impact and recovery timelines.
More than 3,000 Victorians were without power earlier this morning. CitiPower was showing 1,192 customers remained were still impacted by outages across the state’s west.
Tasmanian minister’s resignation adds to Liberal woes
A second Tasmanian minister has quit the cabinet after facing mental health struggles, adding to the Liberal minority government’s woes as a reshuffle looms, AAP reports.
Nic Street on Friday announced that although he planned to continue as a minister and reassess his role at the end of the year, he had reflected that “now is the right time to step down”.
This is probably the most selfish decision I’ve made in eight years but if I am to improve my wellbeing back to 100%, it’s a decision I need to make.
Street will remain an MP for Franklin and praised the premier, Jeremy Rockliff, saying he “couldn’t ask for a better leader”.
Rockliff responded to the minister’s announcement, describing Street as a “steady hand” in government who has “has always expressed deep kindness, compassion and sincerity for those around him”.
Tasmania’s Labor leader, Dean Winter, also praised Street’s “selfless” decision to be open about his mental health:
In doing so, he has continued to destigmatise mental health issues and sends a message to everyone that it’s OK to put your hand up and say you are not OK.
While the resignation received supportive comments from all sides, it adds another item to the minority government’s growing list of issues. The Liberals were dealt a significant blow on Monday when Michael Ferguson walked away from his roles as deputy leader and treasurer in the face of a looming no-confidence vote in parliament.
Melbourne flash flooding warning issued
Severe storms in Melbourne are moving south-east into Clayton, Hastings and Mornington.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that the storms are bringing heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, after hitting Werribee and the Bellarine Peninsula, as we reported earlier.
Severe thunderstorms are also moving through the city’s east towards Dandenong.
Stop puppy farming, NSW inquiry urges
Backyard breeding and puppy farming should be stamped out to reduce the pressure on New South Wales’ underfunded, over-capacity pounds and rescues, a parliamentary inquiry has found.
The legislative council committee has reported that pound euthanasia rates remain high and many council pound facilities are not fit for purpose, with some built into tip sites.
Emma Hurst, committee chair and Animal Justice party MP, said the government needed to stem the oversupply of dogs.
Backyard breeding and puppy farming are driving more and more animals to end up in pounds where they are killed. There simply aren’t enough homes for the animals being born.
Hurst said the conditions in some pounds were “absolutely miserable”, with many animals left to “spend their last days in cold concrete pens, lonely and afraid”.
The committee also recommended the NSW government increase funding for rescue organisations, council pounds and animal-friendly rental accommodations.
In a dissenting statement, Liberal party MLCs hit back at some of the report recommendations, saying “most breeders in NSW are responsible, welfare-focused and should not be unfairly targeted”.
Emily Wind
Second person charged after alleged shooting in rural NSW
A second person has been charged following an alleged shooting in rural NSW last month.
Officers were called to a home in Hillston, 100km north-west of Griffith, about 2.30am on 20 September after three people allegedly entered the home, one armed with a firearm.
A 46-year-old man was allegedly shot in the abdomen before the three people left. He was treated by paramedics and later airlifted to a major hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.
On Wednesday, a 25-year-old woman was arrested after a vehicle stop in Griffith and charged with concealing a serious indictable offence.
She was refused bail and appeared on Thursday at Griffith local court, where she was granted conditional bail to reappear at the same court next Wednesday.
A 22-year-old man remains before the court charged over the same incident.
Visitors get creative with coastal sculptures
The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition has opened in Sydney today, and visitors are really getting into it (literally).
The installations along the 2km Bondi-to-Tamarama coastal walk make up the world’s largest free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition, now in its 26th year.
The exhibition will be open for 18 days. You can read more below:
Victoria thunderstorm asthma warning issued amid storms
People in north-east Victoria face a moderate risk of thunderstorm asthma as those storms sweep through over the next few days, the state’s health department has warned.
The Mallee and Northern Country districts are both showing a moderate risk, meaning at least one element of an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event may be present, such as a high pollen forecast or a severe thunderstorm with strong winds.
People with current, past or undiagnosed asthma or hay fever are considered to be at risk, the department said.