Michael Wood won’t be sacked from Cabinet just yet, writes Thomas Coughlan.

Bruce Lehrmann claims the ABC broadcast a speech by Brittany Higgins about an alleged rape because it intended to "hurt and harm" him.

Lehrmann is suing for defamation over the ABC's live reporting of a joint speech by Higgins and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame in February 2021 at the National Press Club.

While the address never named the law student directly, he claims he was defamed because it invited viewers to speculate about the identity of the person accused.

READ MORE: Bruce Lehrmann doesn't rule out suing Higgins for defamation

In a document filed with the Federal Court on Monday, the former Liberal staffer accuses the ABC of being "actuated by malice" for allowing the uncensored live speech to be broadcast six months after he was hit with criminal charges.

"It was not only reasonably foreseeable and high risk but quite inevitable that Ms Higgins would, during the NPC address, repeat her allegation that she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed work colleague in Parliament House," he wrote.

Higgins accused Lehrmann of raping her inside the office of then minister Linda Reynolds, who they both worked for in March 2019.

He denies the allegation, maintaining the pair never had any sexual interaction.

A large number of viewers would have identified Lehrmann as the alleged offender despite Higgins leaving him unidentified, he said.

He accused the public broadcaster of being "recklessly indifferent, negligent and wilfully blind" to the likelihood that Higgins' statements would be defamatory and prejudice his right to a fair trial.

READ MORE: Lehrmann drops defamation case over coverage of rape allegations

"The whole point of the NPC address was that Ms Higgins was telling the truth and that cultural and other change ought to follow," he wrote.

"It is to be inferred that the (ABC) published that matter with the intention to hurt and harm (Lehrmann) by publishing defamatory matter (sic) about him."

Responding to the ABC's defamation defences, Lehrmann rejected claims the broadcast was in the public interest, was a fair report of an issue of public concern, or was published honestly.

As well as the ABC, the law student is also suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Higgins on The Project in February 2021.

A separate lawsuit brought by Lehrmann against News Corp and journalist Samantha Maiden settled last month with the publisher paying part of Lehrmann's legal costs but not being required to pay him any damages.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

A criminal trial brought against Lehrmann in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed in October because of juror misconduct.

In December, the prosecutor dropped the charges due to impacts a second trial would have on Higgins' mental health.

The ACT government also launched an inquiry into how the justice system responded to Higgins' allegations.

A report is being prepared and will be delivered to Chief Minister Andrew Barr by the end of July.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).

Westpac has become the first of the big four banks to pass on today's interest rate rise, just hours after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked the cash rate.

Westpac announced on Tuesday evening that it will increase its variable home loan rates by 0.25 per cent, in line with the RBA's decisions. The increase will come into effect on June 20.

It has not, however, increased its savings rates, instead saying they are under review, while offering a term deposit offer of 4.50 per cent for select customers.

READ MORE: RBA delivers shock rate hike as mortgage costs spiral

"We understand interest rate increases put more pressure on household budgets," Westpac chief executive consumer and business banking Chris de Bruin said.

"The majority of our customers are managing okay, but we know with each rate change it's getting more challenging.

"We're reaching out to some customers who may need additional support and have competitive rates available for those rolling off fixed loans to make the change easier.

READ MORE: National 'misery index' up 220 per cent as Aussies struggle

"For customers in financial difficulty we are here to help and encourage them to call us early if they're concerned."

The RBA earlier on Tuesday announced it would increase the cash rate by 0.25 per cent, defying market predictions which had anticipated a pause.

It was the 12th rate hike since May last year.

For the average Australian mortgage, today's rate hike represents an additional $1,264 in mortgage repayments since the cash rate was 0.10 per cent in April 2022.

The other major banks – NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ – are yet to pass on the rate hike.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Founder Chloe Wright said the future of the birthing centre was in ‘safe hands’.

DVS pulled the ad from the airwaves, but doesn’t think it broke the rules.

A major dam in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine has been destroyed, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Ukraine accused Moscow's forces of committing an act of "ecocide".

Residents downstream from the Nova Kakhova dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson were told to "do everything you can to save your life," according to the head of Ukraine's Kherson region military administration, as video showed a deluge of water gushing from a huge breach in the dam.

Two videos posted to social media and geolocated by CNN showed the destroyed dam wall and fast-moving torrents of water flowing out into the river. Multiple buildings at the entrance to the dam were also heavily damaged.

READ MORE: Fears for civilian safety as Ukraine investigates locked air-raid shelters

The critical Nova Kakhova dam spans the Dnipro River, a major waterway running through southeastern Ukraine, and there are multiple towns and cities downstream, including Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.

Ukraine's Operational Command South on Tuesday confirmed the dam's destruction in a post on its official Facebook page, saying they were assessing the scale of the damage and calculating likely areas of flooding.

Following the dam breach, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said its destruction "only confirms for the whole world" that Russian forces "must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land".

He also convened an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

Other senior Ukrainian officials blamed Russia.

"This is ecocide," Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said of the dam's destruction.

"The Russians will be responsible for the possible deprivation of drinking water for people in the south of Kherson region and in Crimea, the possible destruction of some settlements and the biosphere," he added.

'Save your life'

In a video statement posted on Telegram, Oleksandr Prokudin, the Ukraine-appointed head of the Kherson region military administration, said the water "will reach critical level in five hours".

"The Russian Army has committed another act of terror. It has blown up Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant… Evacuation in the area of danger has started," he said.

Prokudin said evacuations in the "area of danger" around the dam had started and asked citizens to "collect your documents and most needed belongings and wait for evacuation buses".

"I ask you to do everything you can to save your life. Leave the dangerous areas immediately," he added.

Units of Ukraine's National Police and the state emergency service of the Kherson region have been put on alert to warn and evacuate civilians from potential flood zones, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

READ MORE: Ukraine claims Russia plotting 'a provocation' at nuclear plant

Those zones are on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including "the villages of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Liovo, Tiahynka, Poniativka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Poniativka, Prydniprovske, Sadove, and part of the city of Kherson – Korabel Island," the ministry said.

With the water level rising, authorities urged everyone in the flood zone to turn off all electrical appliances, take documents and essentials, take care of loved ones and pets, and follow the instructions of rescuers and police.

The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontiev, initially on Tuesday denied information about the dam collapsing in an interview with Russian state media RIA Novosti, calling it "nonsense".

He later confirmed the destruction of parts of the dam in what he called "a serious terrorist act" but said there was "no need to evacuate".

"Overnight strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant destroyed gate valves, causing water to be spilled downstream uncontrollably," Leontyev said.

CNN was not immediately able to verify the claims made by Ukrainian and Russian officials attributing blame.

Throughout the course of the war in Ukraine, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of plotting to blow up the Soviet-era dam.

The escaping torrent of water has the potential to cause major destruction around Kherson city and other populated areas along the Dnipro River, according to analysts who have been fearing a breach could occur in the fighting.

And President Zelenskyy had previously warned that a breach of the dam could have catastrophic consequences for those living downstream.

"Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he said in October last year.

However, a Russian-installed Kherson official Andrey Alekseenko said the situation along the areas of the banks of Dnipro was "under control."

"There is no threat to people's lives," Alekseenko said, adding that Ministry of Emergency Situation staff are in control of water levels in the river.

"If necessary, we are ready to evacuate the residents of embankment villages, buses are prepared," Alekseenko added.

'No immediate nuclear safety risk'

The dam is a critical piece of infrastructure, holding around 18 cubic kilometres in the Kakhovka Reservoir, about equal to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, according to Reuters news agency.

The 30-metre-high, 3.2-kilometre-long structure is one of six dams along the Dnipro and supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

READ MORE: Ukrainian father rushes home after Russian airstrike to find two-year-old daughter dead in rubble

It also supplies water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which lies upstream and is also under Russian control.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's southern command said the dam's destruction will "certainly" affect the operation of the nuclear power plant but there was "no need to escalate the situation now and draw the most critical conclusions."

"Because all experts are involved and will try to create better conditions to avoid the next technogenic catastrophe," said Natalia Humeniuk, adding that "the situation is currently under control."

And the International Atomic Energy Agency said "no immediate nuclear safety risk" exists at the Zaporizhzhia plant and their experts are "closely monitoring the situation".

In November, the Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling and satellite images from Maxar Technologies obtained by CNN showed water flowing out of three sluice gates at the dam.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Three firearms, ammunition, a Taser, cash, methamphetamine and GHB found.

Time runs low on getting pricing scheme up before election.

An El Niño event is looking more probable than ever after the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded its status from "El Niño watch" to "El Niño alert" this afternoon.

This means there is about a 70 per cent chance of the weather event developing this year.

BoM Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures had met El Niño thresholds, but the atmosphere had not.

READ MORE: RBA delivers shock rate hike

He said the atmospheric change would need to couple with the sea change for "a sustained period over weeks and months" before an El Niño could be confirmed."

"It's been a while since we've had one," Narramore said.

El Niño describes changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean that affect global weather and it occurs on average every three to five years.

During El Niño, there is a higher chance of drier weather in eastern Australia and it's more likely to be warmer than usual for the southern two-thirds of Australia.

READ MORE: Pizza, Kahlua and coke: Folbigg savours first night of freedom

But that doesn't mean there won't be rain, snow, or cold days – just that on average things are likely to be different.

For example, he said, a "warmer" winter day could reach 14 degrees instead of 13.

El Niño effects are likely to last through later winter and spring and potentially through summer, before breaking down in autumn and winter next year.

"The Bureau's long-range winter forecast is for drier and warmer conditions across almost all of Australia and the climate conditions in the Pacific Ocean are already factored into our forecasts," BoM senior climatologist Catherine Ganter said.

READ MORE: Wild brawl erupts at New South Wales supermarket

"The long-range forecast for winter also shows an increased chance of below average rainfall for almost all of Australia and the move to El Niño alert does not change this forecast."

In Australia, changes during El Niño could include reduced rainfall in the east, warmer temperatures for the southern two thirds of the country, increased risk of extreme heat, increased bushfire danger in the south-east, increased frost risk due to clear night skies, decreased alpine snow depths, a later start to the northern wet season, and reduced tropical cyclone numbers.

But Western Australia was likely to remain largely unaffected, with the weather in that part of the country dictated more by events in the Indian Ocean.

And El Niño effects would be delayed in the tropical north as well, where winter is traditionally the dry period.

It's not yet known what effect an El Niño might have on bushfires during summer, with the BoM's long-term weather forecasting only extending three months ahead.

What is El Niño and how is it different to La Niña?

The cycle of La Niña and El Niño – known as ENSO, or the El Niño-Southern Oscillation index – works a bit like a pendulum.

La Niña occurs when water in the eastern tropical region of the Pacific Ocean is cooler than average as the "trade winds" – the planet's prevailing east-to-west winds – strengthen, creating warmer-than-normal water around Indonesia and Australia's east coast.

This leads to increased rainfall and brings the risk of heavy flooding in Australia.

However, when those conditions are reversed – trade winds are weaker, and water is warmer than average in the eastern tropical Pacific but cooler close to Australia – an El Niño is declared, and our continent will experience hot, dry conditions and come under the threat of drought.

When the "pendulum" sits in the middle and ocean temperatures are closer to average, it is referred to as "neutral" ENSO conditions – and it is more likely to bring less extreme weather conditions.

And, if you're wondering what the two terms actually mean, "La Niña" is Spanish for "the girl" or "little girl", while "El Niño" translates to "the boy" or "little boy".

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

A Kaikohe property on the same street the victim lived has been raided.