Tag Archives: oceania

One-year-old girl found dead in car outside Sydney childcare centre

A one-year-old girl has been found dead inside a car at a childcare centre in Sydney's Inner West.

Emergency services were called to Marana Road in Earlwood about 5.35pm today after the girl was found unresponsive inside the car.

Upon arrival, they declared the girl dead at the scene. 

READ MORE: Second person dies in floodwaters in Ingham as cut-off residents ration groceries

A crime scene has been established and an investigation is underway.

A man, who police believe is related to the girl, is being questioned.

Temperatures in Sydney exceeded 30 degrees today, with most of the state under a low-intensity heatwave warning.

More to come.

Second person dies in floodwaters in Ingham as cut-off residents ration groceries

A second person has died in floodwaters in Ingham following a three-day Queensland downpour that saw rainfall totals exceed 1000mm.

The body of an 82-year-old woman was found at a cane paddock on Fulton Drive in Bemerside, near Ingham, this morning.

She was last seen by a neighbour inside a two-storey house about 6pm yesterday.

READ MORE: Father of teenage shark attack victim shares heartbreak

The neighbour grew concerned when the woman was unable to be found inside the home today and found her body after the floodwaters had receded.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to keep working with the Queensland government to help after the "tragic news".

"I'm thinking of the family and the community during this incredibly difficult time," he said, in a social media post.

The discovery of the 82-year-old's death came two days after the death of a 63-year-old woman in Ingham.

She had been one of the residents on board a Queensland SES boat which struck a tree and flipped in floodwaters at Rutledge Street.

Six people, including volunteers and members of the public, were on board.

All were rescued except for the woman, who was found dead nearby.

https://x.com/AlboMP/status/1886682852978311604

Residents band together as floodwaters cut off power, roads

Ingham residents have banded together to ration food and make do after the recent wet weather system left the town flooded, without power and completely cut off by road.

Although the worst of the severe weather has now passed, most homes are at least partially submerged, with residents who evacuated still unable to return.

Those who chose to remain in their homes are now living off the generosity of neighbours, moving around in tinnies, sharing groceries and mobile phones.

READ MORE: 'National crisis': Emotions high as politicians condemn antisemitism in parliament

"The people here are very resilient people and they're bloody good people," Ingham local Frederick James said.

Robert, whose house is underwater, has brought together a crew of residents to use their boats to help their neighbours.

"I had all the stuff, most of the stuff, upstairs. We've lost a bit of things but, you know, as long as everyone's safe," he said.

READ MORE: The latest on power outages in Queensland's floods – and what's causing them

The hardest hit areas are between Cardwell and Yabulu, while Townsville was spared the worst of the intense rain. 

Workers are assessing the damage at a substation that has been offline for several days, cutting power to 7000 people.

In hot and humid weather, and with a massive clean-up ahead, getting the power back on to homes is of the utmost priority, Premier David Crisafulli said today.

He said the flooding in the area, his hometown, was the worst since 1967.

"The river has started to drop and with it is the realisation of how significant this event has been," Crisafulli said.

"The devastation is quite frankly incredible."

READ MORE: Trump backflips on move that would have sparked 'dumbest' trade war

The Defence Force is dropping supplies and generators into the region by helicopter, he said, and emergency service personnel from other staff will begin to arrive in the next few days to assist with the recovery.

"You are a very resilient people, but resilience doesn't mean you should be left on your own," Crisafulli said.

"I want people in this community to know that we will keep coming back until the job is done."

He said fixing damage on the crucial Bruce Highway was a "top priority", but it could take some time.

State Disaster Coordinator Shane Chelepy said he expects recovery efforts to take more than three weeks. 

Flood-stricken residents have also reported an increase in crocodiles, which have been washed from their habitats by fierce floodwaters.

READ MORE: Teenage lifesaver killed by shark north of Brisbane swam at beach every day

Worst of the severe weather is over

Major flood warnings remain in place for the Herbert and Haughton rivers.

While the Bureau of Meteorology says the immediate threat of severe weather has passed, isolated heavy rainfall is still possible over the next few days.

"While rich moisture and some instability will remain in place over the area, a gradual weakening of the low and monsoon flow has seen rainfall ease below severe thresholds," it said in an update this morning.

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The only way for 9News reporters to see the devastation first-hand was to be flown in and then board a boat.

9News Queensland weather presenter Garry Youngberry reported from Tully, north of Yermo, this morning and said the rain has extended 1000km west to the regional inland city of Mount Isa.

Despite the rain gradually easing, he said the poor weather was far from over.

"There is still a chance we could see anywhere between 300mm and 500mm over the next six or seven days," he said.

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China hits back at Trump with tariffs of its own

China has hit back at Donald Trump's tariffs with retaliatory counter tariffs against US products.

The Ministry of Commerce announced a 15 per cent tariff on coal and liquified natural gas (LNG) products and a 10 per cent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-displacement cars.

Earlier today Trump announced he would be pausing tariffs on Canada and Mexico after reaching a deal with those countries' leaders.

READ MORE: What Trump actually achieved during with his tariff announcement

A freight terminal in Hong Kong. Heavy tariffs on many Australian imports remain in place in China.

But he did not pause the 10 per cent blanket tariff on China, which went into effect today.

The tariff takes in all imports from China, including the previously exempt shipments of less than $US800 ($1300).

Ending that exemption will hit online shoppers particularly hard because of how many packages are sent directly from China from companies like Shein or Temu.

The Australian sharemarket dropped sharply on the announcement after an otherwise positive day.

The Australian dollar also fell below 62 US cents after the tariffs were announced.

At the same time, China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced it was investigating Google for anti-monopolistic behaviour.

Earlier this week, a spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry said there were no winners in a trade war.

"The US needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes," the spokesperson said.

"China calls on the US to correct its wrongdoings, maintain the hard-won positive dynamics in the counternarcotics co-operation, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relationship."

Donald Trump has backflipped on his tariff announcements with Canada and Mexico.

China's targeted tariffs will have a significant impact on US imports.

The US imported $11 billion worth of crude oil to China in 2022.

More than a billion dollars of coal was sold to China from the US that year, and $4 billion worth of cars.

The tariffs may benefit Australian exporters.

In 2022, Australia exported $2 billion of crude petroleum to China and $22 billion of LNG.

Last year, China became Australia's biggest customer of coal.

READ MORE: Trump backflips on move that would have sparked 'dumbest' trade war

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Australians drinking, smoking less, spending more, new data shows

Australians are spending more on nearly everything except for drinking and smoking, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has shown.

The monthly household spending indicator from the ABS showed Australians spent substantially more over December than they did the previous year.

Comparison website Canstar Blue extrapolated the country spent $460 million more on food that month than the year before.

READ MORE: What Trump actually achieved during with his tariff announcement

Australians spend less on alcohol year-on-year in December.

And an extra $363 million was spent on furnishings and household equipment.

But nearly half a billion less was spent on transport compared to December 2023.

But the broadest change was in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, dropping 7.3 per cent year on year.

More than $270 million that was spent on drinking and smoking in December 2023 was spent elsewhere in 2024.

Canstar Blue estimated a household of four spends $216 a week on groceries.

$57 is spent a week on petrol, and $18 on takeaway coffee.

Close-up shot of a barista adding steamed milk to coffee.

The average Australian spends $66 a month on wine, $3 more than is spent on a gym membership.

Only in the Northern Territory did alcohol and tobacco purchases increase, but by just 0.1 per cent.

In every other jurisdiction, drinking and smoking decreased.

Health spending was down across the board save for South Australia and the NT.

But the figures were inverted for furnishings and household equipment, up everywhere but those two.

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Father of teenage shark attack victim shares heartbreak

The father of shark attack victim Charlize Zmuda has spoken of his heartbreak at the sudden and shocking loss of his 17-year-old daughter.

Supported by Surf Life Saving Queensland, Stephen Zmuda paid tribute to his daughter and thanked the community for an outpouring of grief after her death.

Charlize lost her life on Woorim Beach yesterday afternoon after being attacked by a shark just before 5pm.

READ MORE: Residents in flood-hit Far North Queensland warned more homes at risk

The father of shark attack victim Charlize Zmuda has spoken of his utter heartbreak at the sudden and shocking loss of his 17-year-old daughter.

"When I got the tragic news yesterday, I was extremely gutted," Zmuda said.

"But something my wife and I want to say is we don't want people to stop coming to the beach and enjoying our beach.

"Charlize was a member of our club since she was eight years old.

"She was a dedicated lifesaver who wanted to only do the best for our club and all the people in our community."

Charlize had been a member of Surf Life Saving Queensland since she was a nipper.

She was well-known and well-liked by many in the community.

Her family said she loved spending time at the beach.

Friends and strangers alike have come to place flowers at the site.

"She was a highly skilled lifesaver and she spent her time looking after Queenslanders," Queensland Surf Life Saving chief executive Dave Whimpey said.

Her death has sent shockwaves throughout Bribie Island.

"The whole community knew her so well, she was beautiful," Charlize's friend Lily said.

It's the second fatal shark attack in Queensland in the past five weeks.

Youth pastor Luke Walford, 40, was killed off the coast of Central Queensland on December 28.

A vigil will be held at sunset tonight for people to gather and celebrate the life of Charlize.