Key events
Power outages have increased from 55,102 earlier this morning to 59,952 across regional Queensland, according to Ergon energy.
That includes 45,988 in Townsville City Council, 8,784 outages in the Burdekin Shire Council, 1,752 in Hinchinbrook Shire Council and 1,486 in Cloncurry Shire Council.
Last night, Ergon energy posted on social media it would share updates on outages and restoration when crews were able to safely start moving.
Residents are reporting trees down – some of them very sizeable.
Andrew Messenger
Federal minister for emergency management Murray Watt says there have been no reported fatalities – or even injuries – as a result of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.
Kirrily made landfall as a category-two cyclone north of Townsville about 8pm last night after being downgraded from a “serious” category-three storm.
It was downgraded to a tropical low early this morning.
But Watt said the danger isn’t over yet, with heavy rain expected across the region.
Ex-TC Kirrily now moving west across Nth Qld, after making landfall just north of Townsville last night. Many people without power, but no reported fatalities or injuries. Heavy rain is expected, with possible flooding on the coast and inland. Pls stay across @BOM_Qld warnings.
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) January 25, 2024
Heavy rainfall to hit parts of Queensland
To recap, focus is now turning on heavy rainfall to hit parts of Queensland after the crossing of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.
The cyclone has been downgraded to a tropical low and is continuing to weaken as it turns inland. It’s now north of Charters Towers.
There are seven flood warnings active across the state, including a moderate flood warning for the Paroo River and minor warnings for the Herbert River, Bulloo River and Cooper Creek.
A severe weather warning is active for the northern goldfields and Upper Flinders regions, and for parts of Gulf Country, the north tropical coast and tablelands, Herbert and Lower Burdekin, north-west and central west districts.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that the after affects of the cyclone are likely to produce heavy rainfall, with possible damaging winds over parts of the state’s north:
Locally intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life threatening flooding is also possible on the northern flank of the tropical low.
Isolated 6-hourly totals between 150 to 180 mm are possible, with 24-hourly totals of around 250 mm also possible. Damaging winds with peak gusts of around 90 km/h are possible within the warning area.
Pat Dodson ‘a real hero’, Katy Gallagher says
Today is also the final day of Pat Dodson’s career in the Senate.
The WA senator, known as the father of reconciliation, departed parliamentary life with a “sense of sorrow” after the failure of the voice to parliament referendum.
Katy Gallagher says she remembered Dodson at 4am today.
I was thinking was it the day before Australia Day or Australia Day that he was leaving? I will send him a message today to tell him how much we will miss him. The father of reconciliation, a giant in public policy and community service and we will miss him as a work colleague point of view, but we know he has a lot more to contribute.
He is a real hero. I hope he is fishing off the coast of WA, which is one of his favourite places to be.
‘It is 26 January’
Katy Gallagher is asked whether there is an “air of inevitability” on the date of Australia Day being moved from 26 January, considered a day of mourning by many First Australians.
She replies:
I accept people have different views about it. Australia Day is on 26 January. I am looking forward to a full day of commitments here in the ACT. It is a day where people celebrate but they also remember our shared history and from the government’s point of view, there are no plans to change Australia Day. It is 26 January.
‘There is no other proposal’
As to getting the legislation through the Senate, which will require the support of the two crossbenchers and the Greens, Katy Gallagher says the easiest way is “for the opposition to back these in”:
If they decide to oppose that and we will leave them to explain that, then we will work with other senators to get it through. This is the proposal we will be taking. There is no other proposal. The one we are taking is the one that the prime minister outlined. When the Senate has to vote on this, the Senate will support billions more dollars going into peoples’ pockets from 1 July because every senator knows just how tough people are doing it, particularly in middle Australia.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has appeared on ABC News Breakfast.
Returning to the broken election promise line, she said:
We have taken this decision because it is the right decision but it is also about putting people first.
Your audience knows there has been many stories around cost-of-living pressure, particularly over the last year, and this plan gets bigger tax cuts into more Australians’ pockets from 1st July and that is what has resulted in us taking this decision.
We accept there is going to be politics around that and we don’t take this decision lightly. At the end of the day, in government, you have got a couple of choices on this regard, we could have done nothing and kept on that track or we could have changed our position and made a difference to millions more of Australians, including women and young people who are going to benefit from these changes.
‘The Greens’ pressure works,’ Adam Bandt says on tax cuts
Back to the stage-three tax cuts, the Greens leader Adam Bandt is appearing on ABC RN, vowing to push Labor harder to support people on low and middle incomes:
Asked whether the party would realistically block reforms which deliver to a larger tax bracket, Bandt says:
People are entitled to expect more from Labor than just being slightly less crap than Scott Morrison.
We had a fundamentally unfair package from Labor, we now have a chance to change that and really tackle inequality and the cost of living and the housing crisis in this country.
Pushed again whether the Greens would pass the legislation if it didn’t secure further reforms, Bandt says “pressure works and the Greens’ pressure works”:
What is Labor’s case for delivering a $4,500 tax cut to the top end while asking everyone else to be satisfied with $15 a week? We dragged Labor kicking and screaming to realise it’s unfair … it’s the Greens job to push for more.
‘We mourn for the people of Palestine’
The Aboriginal Legal Service, representing NSW and the ACT, has issued a statement using 26 January to “speak up for the people of Palestine” and stand with its people:
In our shared mourning, we uphold the tradition of Aboriginal-Palestinian solidarity in Australia. The ALS is the nation’s oldest free legal service and we have always maintained that everyone deserves to be safe and treated fairly under the law, no matter who you are or where you come from … yet, right now, not all people are safe nor equal under the law.
The legal service says tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began, with countless more missing:
We mourn for the people of Palestine, from the river to the sea. We mourn for the Israelis who have been killed or are still missing from their families. We mourn the generations of Palestinian children growing up behind concrete walls, barbed wire, and checkpoints … we applaud the thousands of Jewish people in and outside of Israel standing for justice and peace.
It calls on the federal government to step up its public efforts for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and to work with the international community to “prevent further genocide … including the sustained destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage”:
We call on the Australian government to fast-track official recognition of the state of Palestine.
It should be noted that “from the river to the sea” is a controversial slogan with multiple interpretations, some of them offensive. For more on that, in the UK context, you can read this explainer:
‘It’s not a day to celebrate’
Many Australians have a complex relationship with 26 January, which is also called Survival Day or Invasion Day.
Our reporter, Rafqa Touma, has collated a guide to protest marches and events you can take a look at, and we also have some wonderful opinion pieces from Paul Daley and Dorinda Cox.
Invasion. Survival. Mourning.
These are just a few of the things mob feel on January 26. It’s not a day to celebrate.
To our allies, thanks for standing with us. To mob, stay strong, stay deadly and stay safe ✊🏾
Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land. pic.twitter.com/rFaB5fY4RJ
— First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (@firstpeoplesvic) January 25, 2024
First Nations ‘uplift our nation’
Continuing with the prime minister’s address, he turns to our First Nations people, and the “unique privilege” we have to be home to the oldest continued culture on Earth:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have loved and cared for this country for over 65,000 years and they continue to uplift our nation.
Over generations, people from every part of the world, from all faiths and backgrounds and traditions, have enriched and enlarged our society and our democracy – adding to our national spirit of aspiration and endeavour … to create a better life and greater opportunity for our children and our grandchildren.
Anthony Albanese says “that story continues today”, pointing to citizenships to be declared, and gives a nod to armed forces and their sacrifice:
Everything we have we’ve built together. We cherish that, we celebrate it, and best of all, each of us has the chance to add to it. Working together, we can make this an even better, stronger, and fairer country. Happy Australia Day.
Unsurprisingly, no talk of changing the date – it was all about unity, multiculturalism and values.
‘All of us can be proud of how Australia’s diversity strengthens our unity,’ PM says
The prime minister has posted his Australia Day message, set against a nice little backdrop of wattle:
My fellow Australians, today as many of us are celebrating Australia Day, our first thoughts are with those communities battling natural disasters.
Seeing people work together to save lives and rebuild homes and businesses is a powerful reminder that the worst of times reveal the best of the Australian character.
The PM says Australia’s values of “compassion and respect, courage and kindness” are at the heart of our national identity.
These values and how they shape our nation are what we pay tribute to on Australia Day, indeed when we look at everything happening around the world today, all of us can be proud of how Australia’s diversity strengthens our unity.
Sydney temperatures could reach as high as 40C
Turning to New South Wales, it’s going to be a sweltering one in Sydney today, with temperatures possibly hitting 40 degrees.
Angus Hines said for most places today will be the last warm day of this current run:
There is a cool gusty southerly change which has already worked its way into southern New South Wales … and that will be wiggling its way northwards throughout the course of the day today, potentially reaching Sydney around 2pm and that will turn a really warm day much, much cooler.
We might drop down from 28, 29 to 25 … but southern parts of Queensland won’t get there today, maybe overnight tonight for a slightly cooler weekend.
Cyclone wind gusts peaked at 140km/h
Angus Hines at the Bureau of Meteorology told ABC News Breakfast the strongest wind gusts felt by Tropical Cyclone Kirrily peaked at 140km/h at offshore islands and reefs.
On the mainland, gusts peaked at 110 km/h, and in the 90s at Townsville itself:
That’s been enough to cause extensive damage with powerlines add debris down … as we move into today and the next couple of days, the focus shifts away from wind a little bit and towards rainfall and potential flooding as we watch the remnants of the ex-tropical cyclone make its way into inland interior Queensland, bringing a widespread swathe of rain.
We’ve already seen rivers pushing up across Queensland and the river levels still going up, so the possibility of moderate or major flooding does remain, particularly near the path of this ex-tropical cyclone.
Hinds said moving to the weekend, the impacts would continue in western Queensland and the north-west district around Mount Isa.
‘Remarkably’ few requests for assistance, QFES says
Acting QFES commissioner Stephen Smith joined ABC News Breakfast from Brisbane this morning to discuss the impacts of the cyclone, which has since been downgraded to a tropical low.
Smith said swift water crews hadn’t had to performed any rescues, while there were just 170 requests for assistance – a “remarkably low” figure given the circumstances:
The [requests] were for storm damage, trees down, flooding, those sorts of things you would absolutely expect from an event like this … but the numbers are much lower and that’s a credit to the community.
With approximately 55,000 north Queensland homes reported to be without power, Smith said only just getting into daylight hours, crews would work to restore as many homes as they could “through the day and coming days”:
With trees down, debris down, it takes time. Crews work really hard and we’ve seen that in the last period of time from Tropical Cyclone Jasper very recently – crews working incredibly hard to do that as quickly as they possibly can.
