The flotilla of Chinese warships has sailed beyond Perth and is off the north-west coast of Western Australia.

It passed the navy base HMAS Stirling on Garden Island, near Rockingham, yesterday.

The vessels are continuing their circumnavigation of Australia, which triggered a row with China and intense domestic political debate when they staged a live fire drill off NSW.

LIVE UPDATES: Cyclone Alfred bears towards south-east Queensland as emergency preparations get underway

Australian authorities are monitoring the warships as they travel through international waters.

The Department of Defence said today the People's Liberation Army-Navy Task Group 107 – comprised of a frigate, a cruiser and a replenishment vessel – is operating 300 nautical miles (556km) north-west of Perth. 

"Defence continues to monitor the task group while it remains in the vicinity of Australia's maritime approaches," it said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles told Today this morning the ADF, working with the New Zealand military, had done a "really fantastic job" in tracking the ships.

The Royal Australian Navy ships – HMAS Warramunga, HMAS Stuart and HMAS Toowoomba – are shadowing the task group.

"And we'll continue to keep a very close eye on that task group as we have from the very moment that this task group entered the vicinity of Australia," said Marles.

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Christopher Luxon, Emma Brodie, Emma Higgins, and Gordon Rennie.

Schools and businesses across southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales will close today and tomorrow as Tropical Cyclone Alfred looms ever closer.

The category 2 storm is expected to make landfall late on Thursday evening, bringing with it damaging winds, intense rainfall and the possibility of flash flooding.

Sports and other events have also been called off in anticipation of the cyclone's arrival.

LIVE UPDATES: Cyclone Alfred bears towards south-east Queensland as emergency preparations get underway

Here's everything you need to know about school, business and other closures and cancellations as Cyclone Alfred approaches.

School closures: Queensland

Most Queensland schools remain open on Wednesday, per the Queensland Department of Education, and will close on Thursday before the storm makes landfall.

"Schools will be closed in the impacted area tomorrow and Friday," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli confirmed today.

Schools on North Stradbroke and Moreton Bay islands are open, but only for supervision.

Many child care centres are already closed and many universities are expected to pause teaching from Thursday.

READ MORE: Which areas are at most risk of flooding when Cyclone Alfred makes landfall

School closures: New South Wales

In northern New South Wales, more than 100 schools have closed from Tweed Heads to Yamba as local communities brace for impact.

"We request families in affected areas to not send your children to school for the next three days," the NSW Department of Education said in a statement on X.

"Our school staff will be onsite this morning in case the message is not received in time."

Some local child care centres have also shut.

READ MORE: Where and when Cyclone Alfred will make landfall

Sport and other events

AFL and NRL games in southeast Queensland have been shifted or postponed ahead of Cyclone Alfred's arrival, including Thursday night's AFL season opener between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats.

Saturday's AFL match between the Suns and Essendon at Carrara has also been postponed.

The NRL game between the Dolphins and the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night has been relocated to Sydney's Commbank Stadium.

A Saturday night Women's A-League match at Perry Park has been called off.

Other sporting events including the Australian Boardriders Battle grand final, the Queensland Surf Life Saving Championships, WPGA tournament and Mooloolaba Triathlon have been cancelled or postponed.

Junior and amateur sport events are expected to be cancelled as well.

American rock band Green Day cancelled their Wednesday night concert at CBUS Stadium, urging fans to "Stay safe out there!"

Community events and local markets are expected to be called off across southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.

READ MORE: Will Tropical Cyclone Alfred impact flights this week?

Business closures

Many businesses in Queensland will close from Thursday, as well as council libraries, community halls, golf courses, pools and playgrounds.

Some supermarkets in Queensland are currently restocking 24/7 to meet demand as locals stock up on essentials, unsure if stores will remain open through the storm.

9news.com.au understands that Coles and Woolworths stores are operating as usual at present and will monitor the situation.

Airports

Airports in Queensland and northern New South Wales remain open but airlines have warned travellers to keep in contact if they have an upcoming flight.

Virgin Australia, Qantas, and Jetstar have offered customers booked on flights in the affected areas flexible travel options to avoid flying during the worst of the storm.

READ MORE: How to prepare for Tropical Cyclone Alfred and what to expect

Public transport

In Queensland, some bus and ferry services have already been halted.

Brisbane River ferries and Southern Moreton Bay Island ferries are not running until further notice. Buses running in the Redlands region have also been cancelled.

"Public transport is slated to go all through today, but it will not be operational on Thursday and Friday," Crisafulli said today.

Disruptions are also expected in parts of New South Wales, with Burns Point Ferry services in Ballina already stopped.

Road closures

No road closures have been announced in Queensland or northern New South Wales, but travellers in affected areas have been warned to avoid unecessary journeys from tomorrow.

"Queenslanders need to be prepared for major roads and bridges to be closed," Crisafulli confirmed.

People in Queensland are advised to monitor the QLD Traffic website for updates, those in New South Wales can monitor the Live Traffic NSW site for closures.

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The man allegedly took the worker outside with something held against his neck.

‘Over the last few years, the flip-flopping of policy direction has cost our communities.’

Many are changing flights; officials are opening 12 evacuation centres.

‘A car hit a bank and the driver sustained minor to moderate injuries,’ police said.

The fires were lit across the first three months of this year.

Stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street as a trade war between the US and its key trading partners escalated, wiping out all the gains on the S&P 500 since Donald Trump was elected president.

And those losses are bleeding into the Australian sharemarket, with the S&P/ASX 200 dipping 0.2 per cent, or by 18.4 points, to 8179.70 at the opening of trade.

It comes after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and doubled tariffs against imports from China overnight. All three countries announced retaliatory actions, sparking worries about a slowdown in the global economy.

READ MORE: US and Ukraine ready to sign minerals agreement within hours

The S&P 500 fell 1.2 per cent, with more than 80 per cent of the stocks in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.6 per cent.

The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4 per cent. The tech-heavy index briefly reached a 10 per cent decline from its most recent closing high, which is what the market considers a correction, but gains for Nvidia, Microsoft and other tech heavyweights helped pare those losses.

Financial stocks were among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 index. JPMorgan Chase fell 4 per cent and Bank of America lost 6.3 per cent.

READ MORE: Trump vows to 'tell it like it is' in his first speech to Congress

Markets in Europe fell sharply, with Germany's DAX falling 3.5 per cent as car makers suffered sharp losses. Stocks in Asia had more modest declines.

“The markets are having a tough time even setting expectations for what this trade war could look like,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. “This is clearly a level step higher than anything we saw during (Trump's) first term.”

The market could soon face more twists in the tariff drama. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress tonight. After the closing bell, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox Business News that the US would likely meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle" on tariffs, with an announcement coming as soon as Wednesday.

READ MORE: 'Some random country': Vance irks allies in UK, France with troops comment in Fox News interview

The recent decline in US stocks has wiped out all of the markets’ gains since Trump’s election in November. That rally had been built largely on hopes for policies that would strengthen the US economy and businesses. Worries about tariffs raising consumer prices and reigniting inflation have been weighing on both the economy and Wall Street.

The tariffs are prompting warnings from retailers, including Target and Best Buy, as they report their latest financial results. Target fell 3 per cent despite beating Wall Street’s earnings forecasts, saying there will be “meaningful pressure” on its profits to start the year because of tariffs and other costs.

Best Buy plunged 13.3 per cent for the biggest drop among S&P 500 stocks after giving investors a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast and warning about tariff impacts.

“International trade is critically important to our business and industry,” said Best Buy CEO Corie Barry.

Barry said China and Mexico were the top two sources for products that Best Buy sells, and it also expects vendors to pass along tariff costs, which would make price increases for American consumers likely.

Concerns about profits follow a series of economic reports with worrisome signals that include US households becoming more pessimistic about inflation and pulling back on spending. Consumer spending has essentially driven US economic growth in the face of high interest rates.

Wall Street has been hoping that the Federal Reserve would continue lowering interest rates in 2025. The central bank has signaled more caution, though, partly because of uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of tariffs. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting later in March.

The Fed raised interest rates to their highest level in two decades in order to tame inflation. It started cutting its benchmark rate in 2024 as the rate of inflation moved closer to its target of 2 per cent. But inflation remains stubbornly just above that target and tariffs threaten price increases that could fuel inflation.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.20 per cent from 4.16 per cent late Monday. It’s still down sharply from last month, when it was approaching 4.80 per cent, as worries have grown about the strength of the U.S. economy.

“Because tariffs are in effect, and there’s no guarantee that they’re likely to be temporary, that’s filtering its way to the bond market and we’re seeing the threat of higher inflation eroding the value of the 10-year note,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

The yield on the 2-year Treasury held steady at 3.94%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 71.57 points to 5778.15. The Dow dropped 670 points to 42,520.99, and the Nasdaq shed 65.03 points to 18,285.16.

The Christchurch Southern Motorway is closed near Curletts Rd following the crash.