Cyclone Alfred forces PM to abandon plans to call election this weekend
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The federal government will hand down a budget on 25 March as planned after Tropical Cyclone Alfred forced Anthony Albanese to abandon plans to call an election early.
The prime minister was widely expected to call the election this weekend for 12 April, meaning the budget would be cancelled.
But as Cyclone Alfred edges closer to Queensland, Albanese has ruled out calling an early election.
Sources have told Guardian Australia that the budget will now go ahead as planned on 25 March.
Key events
Optus, Telstra networks affected by severe weather
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is having a widespread impact on the mobile phone and NBN networks run by Australia’s largest telco providers.
Optus said as of 5pm, 52 mobile sites had lost connection due to power failures in affected regions.
The Optus local general manager, Nick Channell, said the telco was deploying fixed and mobile generators and had called in additional staff from interstate.
Channell said:
At this stage, we don’t know how long it will take to resolve services, but we are prioritising our resources to address impacted areas.
The safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees are of the utmost importance as we work as quickly as possible to restore services.
Channell said emergency calls to Triple Zero on mobile networks during power outages should still work if another carrier is available.
Telstra said power outages were also affecting some of its mobile phone and landline services, mainly in parts of the Gold Coast’s south and northern New South Wales.
Forty-six mobile phone sites, 2,769 landline services and 1,083 ADSL services had been disrupted as of Friday evening.
The telco said it had backup systems that were keeping many services running for as long as possible, but customers should be prepared for disruptions if the power was out for a long time in their area, or if access is cut to a site.
Telstra said it had activated its assistance package for affected customers, which includes extra mobile data and free call diversions.
A spokesperson said:
We know this is a tough time and we urge everyone to stay safe and thank them for their patience.
Catie McLeod
Hi, I’ll be with you on the blog until later tonight. I hope you’re all staying safe out there.
Rafqa Touma
I’ll be handing over the live blog coverage of Tropical Cyclone Alfred to Catie McLeod, who will keep it rolling into the evening. Thank you for following along – wishing safety to readers in affected areas.
Albanese says federal budget being prepared for 25 March
When asked whether the cyclone has caused him to rule out calling an early election, the prime minister said:
I have very clearly said for a long period of time, that we announced last year, we would produce a budget on 25 March. That certainly is my clear intention. It has been. That’s the work we’ve done, preparing, leading up to this week’s events, certainly that work had all been done. I can clearly say that my focus is … on Australians at this difficult time. I won’t be doing anything to distract from that.
What we need to do is to look after each other at this difficult time. This is not a time for looking at politics.
Albanese says individual hardship payments to be made available
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says individual support for hardship and other payments will be mobilised in response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred. He is speaking live on ABC.
When you speak of a tropical cyclone crossing over and hitting land where over 4 million Australians live, then that is pretty serious and that’s why we’re doing everything possible and mobilising every level of support we can, both civil and military.
We have already mobilised local government support but I was at Services Australia headquarters this morning and we will mobilise individual support that will be required for hardship payments and other payments that go when there is a natural disaster having an impact on people’s capacity to get by, and that will be triggered at an appropriate time.
Queensland premier says 1,200 Energex workers standing by
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, says “there will never be enough generators to plug the holes” as 60,000 homes are reportedly without power. He is speaking live on the ABC’s 7.30.
“That number we expect to rise,” he says.
We have pre-positioned generators in some of the key areas. The moment it is safe, they will be turned on to some of those key infrastructure. The real work is reconnecting so you can get permanent power supply.
He said 1,200 workers from Queensland’s state-owned Energex are in position.
The moment it is safe, the moment that system goes through, they will be on the ground. There will be teams clearing vegetation while they are hooking up that power.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred has been nearing the coast over the course of the day, bringing with it damaging winds and rains – but the weather bureau says there is “considerable uncertainty” around where and when the system could make landfall between Noosa and Coolangatta in Queensland.
Read a wrap on the latest Alfred updates, from Queensland correspondent Ben Smee here:
Almost 100,000 Queensland and NSW properties without power
Almost 100,000 properties are without power across Queensland and NSW as Tropical Cyclone Alfred nears, bringing with it damaging wind gusts, rainfall and flooding.
Almost 59,757 properties are affected by outages in south-east Queensland as of 6pm today, with more than 48,000 of them in the Gold Coast, according to Energex. Redlands and Scenic Rim are among other areas affected.
In NSW’s northern rivers and far north coast, 38,000 are without power, according to Essential Energy’s latest update at 4pm today.
“As Cyclone Alfred continues to linger, the heavy rain and severe winds will continue to hinder restoration efforts and customers need to be prepared to be without power for several days,” they said in a statement.
Cyclone Alfred forces PM to abandon plans to call election this weekend
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The federal government will hand down a budget on 25 March as planned after Tropical Cyclone Alfred forced Anthony Albanese to abandon plans to call an election early.
The prime minister was widely expected to call the election this weekend for 12 April, meaning the budget would be cancelled.
But as Cyclone Alfred edges closer to Queensland, Albanese has ruled out calling an early election.
Sources have told Guardian Australia that the budget will now go ahead as planned on 25 March.
Ima Caldwell
‘Like a ghost town’: Lismore cafe owner says businesses have worked together to empty shopfronts
Melissa Garcia, owner of the Timbre coffee bar and community library on Dawson Street, Lismore, has removed everything inside to prepare for the cyclone’s impact.
“We’ve basically left the building like a shell, like bare bones, we physically took every little thing out of it except for the kitchen sink,” she said.
She said water crept over the second storey roof of the premises during the 2022 floods.
[There are] sandbags on the ground floor … We took the windows out because I guess this time we’re looking at a cyclone as well, so the threat’s coming from above and below.
Garcia said she had also helped other Lismore businesses move their equipment to safety, turning her warehouse into a makeshift storage unit.
She said locals had “rallied together” to evacuate and that by Thursday afternoon the surrounding shopfronts were already empty.
I drove around … and it was really like a ghost town.
It was actually kind of awesome to see at the same time because it felt like … everybody’s just ready to see this through.
Ima Caldwell
Byron Bay residents reportedly prevented from filling sandbags at beach by national park ranger
Byron Bay residents say they have been prevented from filling sandbags with sand from a local beach by a NSW Parks and Wildlife ranger on Thursday morning, despite the imminent arrival of tropical cyclone Alfred.
One resident, who asked that his name not be used, said he had first tried to obtain sandbags from numerous official locations in the area to protect his home, but none were available.
He shared video footage showing the ranger confronting several people trying to collect sand at Broken Head beach.
He said the ranger told them:
It’s a national park, nothing is to be taken, and the sand is also part of it.
The man said the ranger was taking photos and recording vehicle registrations in the beach car park and that he began to follow them, saying: “I want to make sure you leave and don’t take any sand.”
The man said: “There were families, kids, people just trying to fill whatever they could with sand because there was none left in Byron.”
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) website says it is illegal to remove or destroy plants “including picking flowers or collecting plants” and to remove “bushrock”.
The NPWS did not respond to a request for comment.
The before and after of beaches that are in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred approach – video
Cameras stationed by Swellnet to monitor swells on Australia’s east coast show the difference a couple of days can make when a tropical cyclone like Alfred approaches. The cameras record how eight beaches, in Queensland and New South Wales, change from Monday to Thursday.
Watch here:
BoM’s latest forecast
Here is the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest forecast, as of around 4pm today:
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is at Category 2, with sustained winds near the centre of 100km/hr and wind gusts up to 140km/h.
It is now 115km east south-east of Brisbane, and 90km east north-east of Gold Coast, moving west south-west at 7km/h.
The cyclone is likely to cross over the Moreton Bay Islands tomorrow morning, before crossing the mainland coast likely between Noosa and Beenleigh later in the day, BoM said.
Gold Coast emergency alert warns people to shelter under mattress and blankets if roofs blow off
More on the Gold Coast emergency alert: it warns residents of very strong winds knocking down trees and powerlines and blowing roofs off houses – “this is a risk to life,” the alert says.
The alert urges residents to take shelter in “the strongest part of the building you are in” and away from big windows, such as a bathroom, walk-in wardrobe or hallway. In the instance of flooding, “get up as high as you can where you are,” such as the kitchen bench or a second storey.
It instructs residents to cover any windows with a mattress or heavy blankets to protect from glass breaking.
“If the roof comes off, shelter under your mattress and blankets,” the alert continues.
Stay in your safe place. This could be for several hours.
The alert warns people to expect the following weather conditions:
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The wind is very dangerous and will be very loud.
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You may hear things breaking outside and hitting your house.
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Winds could stop suddenly if the eye of the tropical cyclone goes over. Very dangerous winds could start again quickly from a different direction.
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Very strong winds can knock down trees and powerlines, blow roofs off houses, and blow away anything not tied down outside. This is a risk to life.
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Heavy rain will continue after the winds ease and this will make the flooding worse.
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Power, phone, and internet will stop working. They could be out for a long time.
Emergency alert issued for coastal areas of the Gold Coast
Andrew Messenger
Residents from Broadbeach to Jacobs Well and South Stradbroke Island have been ordered to “take shelter now”.
Heavy rain and flooding continue after winds ease.
The alert was issued on behalf of the Gold Coast council at 3.29pm.
Man missing after being swept from tree into flood waters, northern NSW
A search is under way after a man was washed into flood waters in northern NSW today.
At about 2:20pm, emergency services responded to reports of a 4WD being washed off a bridge into fast running water when crossing Wild Cattle Creek Bridge off Old Coramba Rd, Megan, according a NSW police media release.
The driver exited the vehicle and secured himself to a tree branch about 30m from the riverbank, and officers were able to communicate with the man, police said.
Shortly after 3pm the man was swept from the tree and seen going beneath the water, police said. He has not been sighted since.
Police and SES have conducted an initial search while awaiting aerial assistance.
