In a tightly fought Budget build-up, Willis still has words for the Opposition.

No question of Cameron Emerson’s courage and commitment in hitting a 100-game milestone.

OPINION: New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit is estimated at $210 billion.

First Division Powerball was struck – the winning ticket taking home $17.2 million.

Concern that cuts put ‘enormous pressure’ on GPs, schools, families, and hospitals.

Nearly 50,000 people are isolated in the worst flood disaster the NSW Mid North Coast has ever seen. 

Dramatic vision has emerged of multiple rescues, including a man who waited behind while his wife was winched to safety and a woman seen wading out of her house in thigh-deep water.

The town of Taree, about 130 kilometres north-east of Newcastle, is the epicentre of the floods, with dozens of residents rescued from their rooftops and hundreds more fleeing their homes.

ALERTS: All of the latest warnings from the NSW SES

More than 100 flood warnings were in place this morning, including more than 20 emergency warnings for residents to evacuate.

"If you are under an emergency warning currently and it is safe to do so, I need you to evacuate now," NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said.

"I cannot stress enough that it is important to heed the warnings of evacuations.

"We've already seen over the past few nights rescue conditions being difficult and dangerous, particularly at nightfall.

READ MORE: 'We really need to get rescued': NSW residents stranded as floods rage

"I cannot guarantee that our crews will be able to immediately rescue people if you do not evacuate and heed the warnings."

One resident, Keith, has lived in Taree more than 20 years and gave an emotional interview to 9News.

"It's coming in the back door, it's going into the front door, the water's pushing all up through the floorboards."

He said it was the worst he'd ever seen.

"It's destroyed everything."

AS IT HAPPENED: Almost 50,000 isolated as 'one-in-500-year' flood crisis escalates

After a series of social media posts asking for help to evacuate, Taree man Sam Halloran yesterday said his family and two dogs were safe.

Halloran shared a video showing his partner being winched to safety while he said he would stay behind to rescue the dogs.

In another rescue at Pampoolah, near Taree, a woman was winched to safety as floodwaters lapped at her house, almost up to the windows. 

Natural Hazards Research Australia chief executive Andrew Gissing said the flooding was the biggest on record for the area, describing the deluge as a one-in-500-year event.

Volunteers have carried out almost 300 flood rescues since midnight.

There have been more than 40 rescue teams active between the Hunter and Coffs Harbour.

"Our volunteers and partner agencies are working around the clock, prioritising rescues and getting help to those who need it most," SES Assistant Commissioner Storey said.

"We've seen a large number of calls for assistance, and we are doing everything we can to reach people as quickly and safely as possible."

There were still 19 high priority flood rescues being carried out last night, including in south Taree and in the Glenthorn area.

The following evacuation centres were open yesterday:

• Dungog RSL Club
• Club Gloucester
• Club Taree
• Manning Point Bowling Club
• Wingham RSL
• Bulahdelah Golf Club
• Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club
• Kempsey Showground
• Panthers Port Macquarie

Woolworths said all stores from Newcastle to Port Macquarie were open for now.

North of Port Macquarie, the Kempsey Woolworths and Big W were closed after the town was ordered to evacuate.

"With a number of communities along the Mid North Coast remaining on flood watch, we're continuing to closely monitor conditions and the advice of authorities to ensure the safety of our team and customers," a Woolworths spokesperson said.

The state and federal governments activated disaster assistance to communities in 16 local government areas.

That includes: Bellingen, Central Coast, Cessnock, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Dungog, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, MidCoast, Nambucca, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Port Stephens, Singleton and the Upper Hunter.

The funding will cover emergency accommodation and essential items for evacuation centres.

It will also give grants for low-income, uninsured residents to replace basic home items for their standard of living, and to do structural repairs for their homes.

Councils will get money to help clean up and restore public assets.

Small businesses and producers will get funding to replace goods and property, and freight costs for primary producers will get subsidies to replace livestock and fodder.

Drenching not over yet

The Mid North Coast is bracing for more flash flooding with heavy rainfall continuing this morning.

Rainfall totals of between 100 and 150 millimetres were expected today in much of the state's north-east, with totals of 200 to 300 millimetres in some parts.

Due to the ongoing weather situation, Port Macquarie Airport has been closed.

As the situation is constantly changing, visit the NSW SES website for the latest warnings and advice.

A British judge has ordered Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown released on a £5 million ($10.4 million) bail while facing allegations he beat and seriously injured a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.

The decision by a judge in Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday revives Brown's world tour, which was cast in doubt when another judge ordered him held in custody after he was charged last week with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Judge Tony Baumgartner said Brown could continue with this tour, including several stops in the UK but would have to pay the bail to guarantee his appearance in court.

READ MORE: Jelena Dokic's dad Damir dies: 'End of a chapter and life as I know it'

Brown was initially scheduled to appear in court again on June 13. If he had been held until then, Brown would have missed at least two dates on his upcoming tour, which starts next month in Europe.

Brown, 36, is accused of launching an unprovoked attack on producer Abe Diaw at the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighbourhood in February 2023 while he was last on tour.

Prosecutor Hannah Nicholls said last week in Manchester Magistrates' Court that Brown struck Diaw several times with a bottle and then punched and kicked him in an attack caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people.

American musician Omololu Akinlolu, 38, who performs under the name "Hoody Baby" and is a friend of Brown, was also charged over the attack.

Neither Brown nor Akinlolu have entered a plea yet. Both men were ordered to appear in court again on June 20.

Brown, who burst onto the music scene as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for F.A.M.E. and then earned his second in the same category for 11:11 (Deluxe) earlier this year.

His hits include songs such as Run It, Kiss Kiss and Without You.

His tour is due to kick off on June 8 in Amsterdam before starting North America shows in July.

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A Queensland police officer caught throwing his speed radar at a P-plater has said he was acting in self-defence.

Dash cam captured the moment the traffic cop lost his cool while carrying out speed checks outside a school on the Sunshine Coast yesterday afternoon. 

When the BMW driven by the P-plater swerved around the officer instead of stopping on Nicklin Way, he threw the radar gun at the car's window.

The incident occurred in a school zone where the speed limit was 40km/h.

The officer received managerial guidance and may require extra supervision but wasn't suspended.

The 18-year-old driver was charged with speeding in a school zone, careless driving, and failing to stop for a prescribed purpose.

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A last second evasive manoeuvre by an Army pilot saved the lives of four other airmen, according to military air safety investigators.

The Defence Flight Safety Bureau found that Captain Danniel Lyon, who died along with three others in a July 2023 Taipan helicopter crash off Hamilton Island, managed to avoid a mid-air collision despite knowing his own aircraft was "unrecoverable".

The DFSB has blamed spatial disorientation for the fatal Army helicopter crash, with Defence investigators also concluding it was "unlikely" a hi-tech helmet used by the pilots for night-time flights contributed to the disaster despite the equipment's clear "hazard".

"It's getting dicey," Captain Lyon is recorded telling co-pilot Lieutenant Max Nugent in the cockpit voice recorder, five seconds into a left-hand turn in staggered formation with three other Taipan MHR-90 helicopters.

Their chopper, codenamed Bushman 83, had just flown into rain showers and Lyon had taken the controls from Nugent in response to the poor conditions at 10:33pm and 34 seconds.

"I'll just get around the corner for you mate… while we're dealing with the rain shower," he tells Nugent.

At 10:36:04, two and a half minutes after Lyon took the controls of Bushman 83, it started to climb, from 224ft to a maximum of 362ft, 14 seconds later.

Nine seconds into the climb, with the Taipan at 320ft, Nugent says to Lyon: "Have you still got em?" referring to Bushman 82, the aircraft flying ahead of them in the formation, to the right.

Lyon replies calmly: "Yeah, still get em mate."

DFSB investigators believe it was at this point that Lyon lost sight of Bushman 82. He quickly rolled the aircraft 31 degrees right before quickly rolling back left 8 degrees to establish a visual of the other aircraft.

Neither Lyons nor Nugent appeared to have noticed that during the climb, the orientation of aircraft shifted from 5 degrees nose up to 5 degrees nose down – a 10 degrees shift.

At 10:36:19, Bushman 83 reached the top of its climb, now much higher than the three other helicopters in the formation. It is six seconds from disaster.

Unaware that the pitch attitude had shifted from nose up to nose down, Lyon used the controls to pitch down, exacerbating the so-called "pushover".

The aircraft went into a quickening descent, hitting the water at 10:36:25 – 21 seconds after it began to climb.

When it hit to water it was travelling at 259kmh. Lyon, Nugent and aircrew Warrant Officer Phil Laycock and Corporal Alex Naggs were killed instantly.

The DFSB report found that in the split seconds before the crash, when the aircraft was in its fatal plunge, Lyon realised Bushman 83 was at risk of crashing into Bushman 82 and took immediate diversionary steps, rolling the aircraft to the right.

"During the two and a half seconds after the pushover, (flight data recorder) analysis indicates that the relative distance between the two aircraft decreased from approximately 100 metres to 50 metres," the DFSB report says.

"In response to this increasing closure, it is likely (Lyon) acted to avoid a potential mid-air collision with BSMN 82 by executing an avoidance turn to the right."

Lyon's actions in these last seconds, when his own aircraft was "not recoverable", likely saved the lives of the four airmen in Bushman 82.

Since the July 2023 crash there has been much focus on the hi-tech TopOwl helmets used by the pilots that night.

The latest software upgrade for the TopOwl, HMSD v5.10, was found to carry significant risks, according to an experienced test pilot with the Army Aviation Test and Evaluation Section (AATES).

The test pilots found that the helmet was a "substantial risk of multiple deaths" and an "unacceptable risk to flight safety" because when pilots looks to the left or the right, the pitch and roll displays inverted.

Despite this stark warning, TopOwl 5.0 was put into service when Army Aviation conducted its own tests in benign conditions, finding it safe to deploy.

DFSB confirmed that TopOwl had its problems but said it was likely not responsible for Lyon becoming spatially disoriented.

"While both AATES and Standards Section test and evaluation reports agreed that there were deficiencies relating to attitude presentation, the two agencies disagreed on the severity of the hazard," DFSB said.

"Regardless, the investigation determined that it was very unlikely the known hazards relating to the HMSD v5.10 contributed to the loss of Spatial Orientation.

This conclusion was based on the Line of Sight of the BSMN 83 pilots, which was slightly offset from the aircraft's longitudinal axis, and that the pilots were likely looking 'through' the HMSD symbology to maintain attentional focus on BSMN 82."

Damir Dokic, the father and former coach of Australian tennis player and commentator Jelena Dokic, who gained notoriety for his abusive and violent behaviour, has died.

Jelena Dokic announced in a social media post this evening that her father died on May 16.

While the former tennis star has previously revealed she had been physically and emotionally abused by her father, she said she was choosing to focus on good memories in the wake of his death.

READ MORE: Almost 50,000 isolated as 'one-in-500-year' flood crisis escalates

"My relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history," she said.

"Despite everything and no matter how hard, difficult and in the last 10 years, even non-existent our relationship and communication was, it is never easy losing a parent and a father, even one you are estranged from.

"The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief.

"It's an end of a chapter and life as I know it.

"There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me…

"Especially important to who I am as a person and what I want to stand for, which is respect, grace, kindness, dignity and empathy, I will and want to be that person in this situation too."

READ MORE: 'Spatial disorientation' to blame for fatal army helicopter crash, probe finds

Jelena accused her father of committing years of physical and mental abuse against her in her 2017 autobiography Unbreakable.

"It basically started day one of me playing tennis," she said when the book was released.

"It continued on from there. It spiralled out of control."

She wrote that Damir's abuse included beating her to the point of unconsciousness following a loss at the du Maurier Open in Canada in 2000, repeatedly whipping her with a leather belt, and hurling vile slurs such as a "slut" and "whore" towards her as a teenager.

Damir was also known for his violent and threatening behaviour towards others.

In 2009, he was sentenced to 15 months in jail for threatening to kill the then-Australian ambassador to Serbia with a grenade launcher after heavily armed police arrested him and confiscated an arsenal of weapons that included two homemade bombs.

READ MORE: Grandma accused of murdering grandsons to use mental health defence

He claimed the threat was a joke and the bombs a souvenir from the Croatian War of Independence, which he fought on the side of Serbia in.

The Dokics arrived in Australia from Yugoslavia in 1994, and Jelena reached a career-high tennis ranking of no.4 in the world for her adopted country aged just 19, before Damir forced her to switch her allegiance back in 2001.

Jelena said last year she would endure "100 years of abuse" to reverse that decision. 

She also revealed she hadn't spoken to her father in 10 years, but that she didn't hate or resent him.

"I'm not bitter about it," she said.

"Even to my father, which people find surprising. I don't necessarily forgive him, but I don't hate him."

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