Tag Archives: oceania

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Tropical Cyclone threatens New Caledonia as Category 4 system

Severe Tropical Cyclone Niran has now increased into a Category 4 storm as it edges further away from Australia's east coast.

While there is no longer a threat to Far North Queensland, the pacific island of New Caledonia is on alert.

The Bureau of Meteorology warns the system is moving east southeast at 37 km/h and a major impact on New Caledonia is likely in the next 24 hours.

READ MORE: Tsunami warnings after three powerful earthquakes hit off north-east coast of New Zealand

https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1367648183241834496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

After days of extreme weather in Queensland will ease moving into the weekend, a gale warning remains in place for the Townsville, Mackay and Capricornia regions.

Troughs are triggering showers and storms in the northwest tropics and southern Western Australia.

A front is bringing strong winds and showers to Tasmania and southern Victoria.

A hazardous surf warning is in place for large parts of the NSW coast today with dangerous conditions expected along the Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast.

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Banksy shares comical video revealing himself as artist behind prison piece

Banksy appears to have thrown his support behind a campaign to turn a former prison in the English town of Reading into an arts venue, after the street artist confirmed an artwork that appeared on a red brick wall of the prison was of his making.

The elusive artist confirmed the picture was his when he posted a video of him creating it on his Instagram account.

The monochrome picture shows a man escaping using a rope made of paper from a typewriter.

Read more: Banksy encourages people to wear a mask through latest coronavirus-inspired work

It appeared on Monday outside Reading Prison, famous as the location where writer Oscar Wilde served two years for “gross indecency” in the 1890s.

The prison closed in 2013, and campaigners want it turned into an arts venue.

Britain’s Ministry of Justice, which owns the building, is due to decide mid-March on its future.

In his Instagram video, Banksy is shown stealthily stenciling and spraying paint to create the artwork, titled “Create Escape.”

The comical video features American TV painter Bob Ross.The video then cuts to Banksy as he creates the artwork on the wall of Reading Prison.

The footage is juxtaposed with an episode of a traditional art instruction video called “The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.”

The campaign to turn the former prison into an arts venue has won the backing of actors including Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Kenneth Branagh.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMAHrGPFV2V/

A spokesman for Reading Borough Council said it was “thrilled that Banksy appears to have thrown his support behind the council’s desire to transform the vacant Reading Gaol into a beacon of arts, heritage and culture with this piece of artwork he has aptly called ‘Create Escape’.”

“The Council is pushing the Ministry of Justice, who own the site, to make suitable arrangements to protect the image,” the authority said.

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'Extreme offers' pricing first timers out of property market

First home buyers are being swamped by soaring house prices and "extreme offers" as historic low interest rates and reverberations from the COVID-19 pandemic supercharge the property market.

Recent data from property research firm CoreLogic found Australian property prices are rising at the fastest rate in 17 years, with FOMO — or the fear of missing out — named as one of the primary drivers.

Following a call-out to 9News.com.au readers, our inbox was flooded with messages from buyers who have finance approved but are being consistently beaten to the punch by offers made far over the asking price.

READ MORE: The 'perfect storm' driving up Aussie house prices

Aimee-lee Koch works full time, is a single mum and has her deposit ready to go. She has no issue with securing finance and is living with her mother to save as much money as possible while her furniture is in storage.

"It's taken me years to be financially ready after my fiance passed away and now that I'm ready, all my offers on homes are getting knocked out of the park by extreme offers anywhere from $1,000 to $40,000 over the asking price. I am at the point of giving up.," Ms Koch told 9News.com.au.

"Honestly, I thought buying my first home would be a happy experience.

"I am so disheartened and depressed due to the market."

READ MORE: Queenslanders experiencing toughest property market in years

Reader Rajesh and his wife are both on six-figure incomes and have moved back in with his parents to help boost their deposit.

He says he has been actively on the market for six months, but has been struggling to compete with buyers downsizing from larger properties or other buyers leveraging their parent's equity as guarantors.

A major issue he signalled was the onus on the buyer to obtain building and pest inspection reports on properties they were not guaranteed to buy.

"These reports are not cheap, as well the cost to have a contract of sale reviewed," he told 9News.com.au.

"When you add it up, we risk losing hundreds of dollars in the process of doing our due diligence for every property we miss out on each week. I think more procedural fairness is warranted in this market for first-home buyers."

READ MORE: Dilapidated Sydney terrace untouched for 30 years up for sale

James Butler, from Victoria, recently sold an apartment and is now looking for a home. He says huge demand is speeding up the rate of offers made on properties.

"It just seems that a home is on the market and within days it's under offer. Even if its going to auction it ends up selling in a private bid due to demand," Mr Butler tells 9News.com.au

"So now I feel whenever we see a new home we have to go to the high end of the proposed sale price if not more just to get a sniff at a home."

READ MORE: Humble beachside cottage almost cracks $2.5 million

Chloe Riley is from regional NSW and lives with her partner and their two children. She reports that at almost every house they inspected the agents were "facetiming people from Sydney".

"We finally had an offer approved, had a building inspection done, and taken friends and family past the house to have a look and show off 'our new home' and the day before going to the conveyor to exchange contract we were called by the real estate agents assistant and were told they were sorry but had now accepted a higher offer," Ms Riley tells 9News.com.au

"We understand it's in the seller's best interest to get the most money, but it's definitely a kick in the guts after having our kids so young and waiting and working so hard and long to finally save enough to have a deposit and for now the market to go crazy like this."

READ MORE: How long it takes to afford a property in Australia

The pain doesn't appear to be over anytime soon.

In an analysis of the Reserve Bank's monetary statement, AMP Chief Economist Dr Shane Oliver said potential homebuyers can expect house prices to rise by five to 10 per cent through 2021 and by a similar amount next year.

"It would appear that even in the midst of a global crisis, Australians love nothing more than getting into a new house," Dr Oliver explains.

"And at this point in time, it makes some sense for a lot of people. Houses may be costly, but credit is cheap.

"Despite the fact that Australian property ranks amongst the most expensive in the world relative to incomes and rent, household interest payments as a share of income are at their lowest levels since the mid-1980s."

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Australia's first AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine jab given to SA doctor

Frontline health worker Dr Caroline Phegan has become the first person in Australia to receive the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.

Australia reached its second vaccine milestone this morning with the rollout of the new vaccine beginning in South Australia.

The community of Murray Bridge will lead the nation in the rollout with 1000 doses arriving yesterday.

READ MORE: Queensland slowest in Australia to administer COVID-19

https://twitter.com/katelambe_/status/1367589273860407302

Dr Phegan said she feels "privileged" to be the first person in the country to receive the jab.

"I'm a GP consultant who works in the emergency department, I often roll up my sleeves to help out when they need a hand and I think it's really important to be a part of of the rollout and the solution to the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.

"I hope I reassure people it's a safe vaccine … I'm actually immunocompromised myself and I'm really excited abut it.

"I feel its really important to receive this vaccine and have that protection not only for myself, for my works but for the people we serve which is the public."

Premier Steven Marshall said it was a "historic day".

"We know this a very important program for our nation and we are super pleased in South Australia to be the first place in the nation," Mr Marshall said.

The vaccine will be administered to 90 frontline health and emergency workers.

"It's a feeling of excitement and relief that it's finally here, that we're prepared, we've got our staff trained, we're ready to go," hospital director of midwifery and nursing Sharon Harrison said.

The move comes as a shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia was blocked from leaving the European Union in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to make sure big pharma companies would respect their contracts.

An estimated 50 million doses of the vaccine are set to be manufactured on home soil from the CSL factory in Melbourne.

Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the AstraZeneca shot does not need to be kept in special freezers, meaning it is easier to transport to regional centres.

READ MORE: COVID conspiracy theorists 'more selfish' than others, new study says

Mr Marshall said the AstraZeneca vaccine will be important for communities outside metro areas given its ability to be stored at refrigerator temperatures.

"That's particularly great for regional Australia and it's particularly great for regional South Australia because we're a very large state and we need to get those vaccines out to very remotes place and the AstraZeneca vaccine gives us the opportunity to do that far more quickly."

Western Australia is second in line, with other states following next week.

Most Australians are expected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, which needs two doses administered 12 weeks apart.

Mr Morrison said Australia is one of the few countries in the world capable of replicating and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines on local soil.

"We took the decision to have the sovereign capability to do that because we did not want to be overly reliant or dependent on supply chains from somewhere else," he said.

AstraZeneca is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be given the green light in Australia, after the Pfizer vaccine.

Here is a full explainer on Australia's vaccine rollout – including when you'll be able to receive it.