Rare weather events off Western Australia's coast
A rare weather event is developing off Western Australia’s coast, as two cyclones are set to cross paths this weekend.
If Tropical Cyclone Seroja and another nearby tropical low interact, the cyclones will likely rotate around each other - a phenomenon called the Fujiwara effect.
The Bureau of Meteorology said they are expecting severe weather from the potential category one cyclone on Sunday or Monday.
Stone eel arrangement sparks discussion for better access to cultural heritage on private land
Calls for a review into Victorias Aboriginal heritage act are underway following damage to Stone eel arrangement.
The ancient stone arrangement - one of the only formations of its kind, was moved by a landowner over the weekend.
The formation has sparked a discussion for better access to cultural heritage on private land.
Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council chair Rodney Carter said, "When Aboriginal cultural heritage, like the stone arrangement, has been disturbed and messed with, it's not easy to fix what's happened,"
QLD Premier calls on Government to host national women's summit
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is calling on the Federal Government to host a National Women’s Summit.
The proposed summit would aim to address the ongoing economic and social inequality facing Australian women.
In a letter addressed to PM Scott Morrison, Palaszcuk says it is time for action to address the gender pay and superannuation gap, affordable childcare and sexual harassment and violence.
Brisbane cross river rail raises doubt
New doubts are being raised over Brisbane’s Cross River Rail, as critics say billions more must be spent to achieve the government’s promises.
Experts say not only upgrades, but the removal of about 20 level crossings around Brisbane is needed if the project is to deliver on its promised train timetable.
Rebecca Michaels from RACQ says level crossing removals alone would be an additional 2 billion dollars but are needed.
QLD premier to investigate gender inequalities
Annastacia Palaszczuk is pushing the National Cabinet to hold a summit to investigate and address economic and social inequalities faced by Australian women.
In an announcement today, Palaszczuk said that actions to address the gender pay gap, affordable childcare, workplace discrimiation, and sexual harassment both at work and in broader society, should be of high national priority.
Peanuts farmers worried in Kingaroy
Farmers in the Queensland town of Kingaroy are worried that drought and a shifting rainfall pattern might mean the end for peanut crop production.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology's regional climate guide, from 1989 to 2018, annual rainfall in the region declined by 60 millimetres, or seven per cent.
Peanut farmer Peter Howlett says the “variability is becoming more and more noticeable as years go on”.
Government pursued robo-debts knowingly the program was unlawful
A Report released by the Commonwealth Ombudsman yesterday shows that the Government pursued robo-debts even after they knew the program was unlawful.
Services Australia, the government department responsible for robo-debt decided to keep pursuing debts while it checked whether they were legally sound.
Services Australia told the Ombudsman it had not paused debts that were potentially invalid because that would have meant pausing all debts owed by a person.
PM denies blaming the EU
Scott Morrison says he never blamed the EU for vaccine troubles.
He says any suggestion that he, in any way, made any criticism of the European Union yesterday would be completely incorrect.
He also emphasized the fact that 3.1 million of the contracted vaccines that Australia had been relying upon in early January, when the government set out a series of targets did, not turn up.
Two WA cyclones could cause the Fujiwhara effect
Two cyclones detected off the WA coast are predicted to create a rare weather phenomenon known as the Fujiwhara effect.
The Fujiwhara phenomenon occurs when two cyclonic systems rotate around each other. In tropical cyclones, the effect can happen when cyclones are within 1,400 kilometres of each other.
There is a risk of one of the systems hitting the far west Pilbara coast by the end of the week. However, the Bureau of Meteorology currently predicts the cyclones will have little onshore impact due to their distance from the coast.
500 new billionaires on Forbes list
Forbes’ annual world’s billionaires list has broken its previous record by including 500 new billionaires onto the list.
The list has been growing despite the world economic downturn due to the covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s billionaires are worth a combined 13.1 trillion US dollars, up from 8 trillion US dollars last year.