NSW floods live updates: mid-north coast natural disaster declared; Taree, Port Macquarie, Hunter region rain; Sydney weather – latest flooding news

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‘Areas have flooded that have never flooded before,’ says resident of Tinonee, NSW

Clare Rourke lives on the Manning River at Tinonee, near Wingham and Taree.

Her house is on higher ground and had not been affected by flood waters but she had watched the river rise quickly this week:

The river level is normally about 11.5m below our house. It got to about 1.5m.

She said what stood out about the current flood, compared with flooding that hit the area in 2021, was the pace at which the river had risen:

I think that’s why people have been so stranded. Areas have flooded that have never flooded before and it was just so fast.

The combination of the rapid river rise and the flash flooding caught people off guard.

Brisbane Olympics organisers welcome plan to override planning laws to build venues

Organising bosses of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have welcomed the Queensland state government’s plan to override more than a dozen planning laws to build venues for the Games, saying the facilities are needed “as fast as possible”.

Brisbane 2032 organising committee president Andrew Liveris told press on Thursday afternoon that the legislation being pushed through parliament by the Liberal party’s state Olympic minister, Jarrod Bleijie – which would override heritage, environment laws and the Planning Act itself for the venues – was “going to be key to fast-track the approval processes” for Queensland to put on “the greatest show”.

In her first outing as the new chair of the Olympic Committee’s coordination commission for the 2032 Games, Mikaela Cojuangco-Jaworski also backed the planning bypass.

Jaworski and Liveris were asked by the Guardian whether they shared concerns raised by the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, which made a submission to parliament that the bill “sets a dangerous precedent for the observance of the rule of law in Queensland”.

Jaworski said in a brief response to that question:

What we know, it’s fast-tracking and not circumventing.

Liveris said that environmental standards were a “key question” for the IOC:

It is really, literally, in case you don’t know, there’s a lot of bureaucracy in our planning approval process, so it’s really fast-tracking and making sure, no circumnavigating the actual laws and regulations.

Opponents of the $3.8bn, 63,000-seat venue at Victoria Park, which would be the event’s main venue, hope to challenge that stadium at court.

Asked about her priorities in planning the Games, Jaworski responded first by talking about breaking ground on stadiums, though Liveris indicated that may not take place with Victoria Park until late next year.

Warren reads more messages allegedly sent by Patterson to the jury on 6 December 2022:

No nothing. But also more happened. Don rang me last night to say that he thought there was a solution to all this if Simon and I get together and try to talk and priya together [smiley face emoji] and then he also said Simon had indicated there was a solution to the financial issues if I withdraw the child support claim? My head nearly exploded and I was like what?? And don goes oh sorry just ignore what I said I don’t want to get involved.......... I’m so sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to be uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their sons personal matters are overriding that so fuck em.

The jury is then shown messages sent by Patterson on 7 December 2022.

His parents sent me a message yesterday afternoon and Simon sent me one last night but I’ve read neuther and I don’t think I will. I don’t want to hear it. Simon’s will just be horrible....

A participant in the group chat asks Patterson on the same day if she will still attend her in-laws’ church.

She replies:

I haven’t been to their church in months. The kids go with Simon every second Sunday and come to one with me in Leongatha the other Sunday.

Another message reads:

His mum was horrified I had claimed child support. Why isn’t she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim.

Circles.Life pays $413m for identity rules breach

Mobile telco Circles.Life has paid a $413,160 fine after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) found the company had failed to adequately verify customer identities when porting mobile numbers that led to scammers stealing numbers and accessing victims’ bank accounts.

Acma found Circles.Life had breached the rules 26 times in January and February 2024 in failing to do adequate identity checks, leading to victim losses of at least $45,000 when the scammers were able to access their bank accounts through two-factor authentication using their mobile numbers.

The investigation found customer service agents of a third-party company hired by Circles.Life did not follow the procedures, but Circles.Life was ultimately responsible.

Acma member Samantha Yorke said it was deeply concerning:

This kind of fraud can also lead to ongoing emotional impacts and stress as people have to recover their digital identities.

The company was previously fined $199,800 for similar rules breaches in August 2022.

The company is reviewing its compliance, and has voluntarily committed to contact all victims with an offer of compensation.

Circles.Life will cease operations in Australia with all customers transferred to Amaysim.

Erin Patterson trail: Facebook messages read to jury

Messages allegedly sent by Erin Patterson in a Facebook group chat have been read to the jury in her triple murder trial.

The prosecution recalled Shamen Fox-Henry, from Victoria police’s cybercrime unit, to give evidence this afternoon.

Fox-Henry tells the court the Facebook messages were extracted from a mobile seized from Patterson’s house.

Prosecutor Jane Warren reads the messages to the jury which are allegedly sent from Patterson, from the profile name “Erin ErinErin”.

The jury is shown a number of messages sent in a group Facebook chat on 6 December 2022 – more than seven months before the deadly lunch.

Simon’s dad contacted me this morning to say that he and Gail had tried to talk to Simon about the matters I raised and to try to get “his side” but he refused to talk about it other than to signal he disagreed with what I said. Beyond that he won’t talk about it. So don said they can’t adjudicate if they don’t know both sides...... This family I swear to fucking god.

I said to him about fifty times yesterday that I didn’t want them to adjudicate [smiley face emoji] nobody blood listens to me. At least I know they’re a lost cause.

I wonder if they’ve got any capacity for self reflection at all? I mean clearly the fact that Simon refused to talk about personal issues in part stems from the behaviour of his parents....

“Give these blokes the clothes off my back”: here’s some footage of the SES performing a flood rescue in NSW, filmed by a resident of Taree.

Record-breaking surge in respiratory illnesses

Australia is seeing a surge in respiratory illnesses, with record-breaking interseasonal flu cases since the start of the year.

Data from the Immunisation Coalition shows there have been 80,105 cases of flu as of 19 May. There have also been 41,800 cases of RSV and 58,322 cases of Covid-19, according to the most recent national report up to 4 May.

Prof Paul Griffin, an infectious diseases physician from the University of Queensland, says the country is experiencing a record-breaking surge in respiratory illnesses, with interseasonal flu cases the highest ever seen for this period.

This year’s cases are well above what we’ve seen for the past five years, for January, February, March and April, very clearly.

Griffin says we still don’t know what the high number of cases will mean for the rest of the season – “we don’t know till we’re in it”.

However, “it does mean, with that number of cases already, low vaccination rates, the impact is already very significant and more significant than it should be because we’ve got a very small proportion of people vaccinated.”

With that much flu already, it’s very clear we need to have as many people vaccinated as possible and we’re well below that. The vaccine rates are still terrible.

Griffin urges everyone to get vaccinated for flu, as well as consider taking other steps to prevent getting infected, like hand hygiene and air purifiers and even mask wearing for high risk people.

Thank you for joining me on the live blog today. Handing over now to Stephanie Convery who will keep you updated through the evening. See you back on the blog tomorrow.

Coalition breakup could be resolved within days

A possible resolution to the Coalition’s spectacular breakup could happen within days, as Liberal MPs prepare to hold two crucial meetings to discuss the next steps forward.

Having watched the drama from the party on Thursday afternoon, Liberals will attend a virtual partyroom meeting at 5pm today.

A second meeting is planned for early next week, to discuss policy demands from the junior Coalition partner.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley and s leader David Littleproud have agreed to pause announcing their frontbench line-ups as they attempt to bring the two parties back together.

Less than 48 hours after splitting with the Liberals, Littleproud insisted any reconciliation was still contingent on the four key demands being met.

They include the introduction of nuclear power, break-up powers for the supermarkets, a $20bn regional fund and improved regional telecommunications guarantees.

Second body recovered from NSW floodwaters

A body has been recovered from floodwaters on the mid-north coast, believed to be that of a missing man.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Huntington Road near Rosewood about 8:50pm last night after reports a man was stuck in floodwater while driving, NSW police said in a statement. Police, SES, NSWFR and RFS officers searched the area but could not find the man or vehicle.

Their search resumed this morning, when the body of a man was found near Rosewood about 8am.

The body is believed to be that of a missing man in his 30s, though it is yet to be formally identified.

Investigations into the man’s death have commenced, and a report is being prepared for the Coroner.

This is the second body recovered from the region amid flooding.

Deputy mayor of Port Macquarie shares community reactions as coastal city inundated

Lauren Edwards, deputy mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, said Short Street, in the heart of town, had also been inundated:

The last images I saw of Short Street, which is a vulnerable area, the water was more than halfway up inside the buildings there.

Edwards said the communities in her council area had endured flooding in 2021 and had only narrowly missed the effects of cyclone Alfred earlier this year.

At the moment what I’m hearing and noticing is people are very focused on what they can do to help each other.

A lot of what I’m seeing is information sharing, people noticing animals that aren’t doing well. Everyone is on pause, whether you work outdoors or indoors, we are all on hold and trying to minimise movement around the local government area.

Everyone is on pause, watch and wait, and trying to help each other because it’s still unfolding and we don’t quite know what the peak will be.