Engineers trying to drain Melbourne’s dam before it bursts
There are concerns a private dam in Melbourne could burst, with the road currently closed between Greenvale and Craigieburn.
Chris Miller from the Department for Transport told 3AW the SES and police were at the scene.
“The concern is that the bank will burst, and obviously if that gives way, large amounts of water will come out,” he said.
Mickleham Road is unlikely to reopen for up to 2 days (closed between Destination Drive and Point Ridley Drive in Craigieburn / Yuroke) while engineers begin the delicate race to drain the leaking dam before a 3.5m wall ” fail catastrophically.” @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/j52TLGQ4V0
— Christie Cooper (@ChristieCooper7) October 7, 2022
Updated at 06.34 BST
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Key events (23)Australia (17)Anthony Albanese (13)Sydney (10)Jim Chalmers (10)Victoria (10)
Bathurst 1000 campers are bracing for muddy, stormy and potentially dangerous conditions as a large band of rain sweeps through central and eastern NSW, AAP has reported.
A trough and cold front moved across the state on Friday, bringing more widespread rain to the eastern half of NSW, including the western slopes and ranges, central NSW and the south coast.
The weather office has put many eastern catchments on a flood watch, including the Hunter and Greater Sydney regions, as it waits to see exactly where the heaviest rain occurs.
“Behind the band of rain, there’s a lot of convection, which means we’re getting some really decent storms,” a bureau spokesman told AAP on Friday.
Up to 100mm of rain could fall on motoring mecca Mount Panorama over the weekend, potentially causing flooding along the Macquarie River in Bathurst.
Sarah Collard
An NT court has fined a man $32,000 after he backed his truck into dozens of trees at a sacred site as part of roadworks in remote Arnhem Land.
On September 10, 2020, William Hayes was working near Mount Catt as part of his company Hayes Enterprises (NT) Pty Ltd when he drove a front-end loader onto Aboriginal Land Trust land and felled over 60 trees located within a sacred ceremonial. place
Hayes pleaded guilty to carrying out the works without approval under the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites legislation.
Dr Sophie Creighton, chief executive of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, said landowners could not clear the country “recklessly”.
“The immense suffering and harm done here could have been avoided. Pastors must listen and work with the custodians to protect these nationally important cultural sites.”
Senior custodian Kenny Murray said in the AAPA statement that he welcomed the conviction, but the damage is irreparable.
The site is culturally sacred ceremonial ground for the Gunapipi peoples and holds special meaning for many people connected to Arnhem Land.
“The damage that has been done to our trees is like physical damage to our family because the spirits of our elders are in those trees,” Murray said.
Cannon-Brookes gets its place in the sun with a new presidency
Peter Hannam
Not content with his penchant for AGL (see previous post), Mike Cannon-Brookes has added another renewable energy feather to his hat (or is it a baseball cap?).
Already an “angle” investor in Sun Cable, the company that plans to build giant solar farms in the desert to power Darwin and Singapore (and possibly Indonesia) via a giant cable, MCB has now taken on the role of inaugural director and chairman.
Sun Cable’s projects could be worth up to $30 billion, and investors like MCB have already agreed to contribute at least $210 million. Not just whimsical, in other words.
“Mike is a visionary leader whose demonstrated passion and commitment to the energy transition aligns strongly with Sun Cable’s mission,” said David Griffin, founder and CEO of Sun Cable.
MCB is just as upbeat as you might expect, referring to the flagship PowerLink project as “world-class infrastructure”.
“It will unlock incredible value for all countries involved, work to decarbonise three major economies and transform how giga-scale solar is built,” he said.
Updated at 06.52 BST
Another showdown looms between AGL and Cannon-Brookes
Peter Hannam
Just over a week after AGL announced it was bowing to investor demands by bringing forward the closure date of its coal-fired power station in Victoria, another battle is brewing with the company’s largest shareholder, Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Billionaire Atlassian has amassed an 11.3% stake in Australia’s biggest electricity generator and last month issued a list of four directors it wanted to add through its family company, Grok Ventures to the AGL board.
Since the board now has five members (surprisingly few for such a large company), accepting MCB’s Fab Four would have potentially given him control. One of the current five, Miles George, is considered particularly friendly to renewables because of that previous role as head of Infigen Energy, a wind farm operator.
However, AGL has rejected three of the proposed members, telling shareholders today that it would only recommend Mark Twidell, a solar veteran whose roles have included a stint with Tesla, for the board. Adding the four “would not increase the overall effectiveness of the board,” he said.
Since the board can only have a maximum of ten members, taking all MCB elections could also limit AGL’s ability to attract talent with “priority skills”, AGL said. Those overlooked are Kerry Schott, the industry veteran who until recently chaired the Energy Security Board, as well as John Pollaers and Christine Holman.
Not surprisingly, Grok is unimpressed and plans to engage “directly” with AGL’s 150,000 shareholders ahead of its November 15 Annual General Meeting “to explain the merits of looking for new faces to deliver a broader mix of skills and experience – as well as additional capabilities to carry out the monumental amount of work required by the board”.
“It makes no sense to us, or to a growing list of shareholders, for the board to reject highly qualified independent directors who are committed to helping them make AGL the world’s green leader,” Grok said.
Somewhat ominously, Grok said the rejection was “another poor decision that does not appear to be rooted in logical business decisions and certainly ignores the threats and opportunities facing AGL”, adding to earlier comments that he had “reservations” about the appointment of Patricia McKenzie as AGL chairman.
Meanwhile, AGL’s share price was down almost 3% on the day by late afternoon, compared with a 0.5% drop in the benchmark ASX200 index.
Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has amassed an 11.3% stake in Australia’s largest electricity generator, AGL. Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Updated at 06.43 BST
I have a bit more information for you about the shark attack in WA here:
Guardian photographer Ellen Smith was at Dights Falls in Melbourne and boy, look at these photos!
Australian athlete Georgia O’Callaghan was also down there, having some serious fun:
Heavy rain has caused high water levels in the Yarra River at Dights Falls in Abbotsford. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The GuardianGeorgia O’Callaghan tackles the high water levels of the river in her slalom kayak. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian These huge rapids are very unusual for this part of the river. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian While the rest of the city tried to stay dry, O’Callaghan had fun. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian
Updated at 06.19 BST
The Prime Minister does not rule out future amendments to the tax cuts
Josh Butler
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has left the door open to a possible modification of the tax cuts of the already legalized third stage, without expressly ruling out making any changes when he is asked to have no reforms.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers also said his next federal budget would try to “follow the responsible path – it’s not the path of least resistance” as the Coalition prepares to fight if the government looks to alter tax changes from the ‘it was Morrison.
Albanese has kept a low media profile this week as public and private debate in government over the $244 billion third-stage changes, which will go to taxpayers earning more than $45,000 but will overwhelmingly benefit who have higher incomes. After a solitary radio interview since last Friday (when he was asked about cricket and midnight oil, not the news), Albanese told a brief news conference that the government’s view has not changed.
“There have been meetings, obviously, this week about [the expenditure review committee] and our processes. We will continue to make sure that we deliver a budget that is responsible, that recognizes the pressures that are on it,” Albanese said when asked about the fiscal debate.
Asked if he would guarantee no change to the third-stage tax cuts, the Prime Minister replied: “What I have said is that the Government has not changed our position.”
He does not rule out making changes in the future.
In a speech in Brisbane, Chalmers said the government “would have to make some tough decisions in this budget. Tough decisions for tough times”.
He didn’t talk specifically about tax cuts, but said the government would make “the right calls for the right reasons … We have to be serious about rebuilding our budget cushions, especially given the deterioration of world perspectives”.
Updated at 06.20 BST
Engineers trying to drain Melbourne’s dam before it bursts
There are concerns a private dam in Melbourne could burst, with the road currently closed between Greenvale and Craigieburn.
Chris Miller from the Department for Transport told 3AW the SES and police were at the scene.
“The concern is that the bank will burst, and obviously if that gives way, large amounts of water will come out,” he said.
Mickleham Road unlikely to reopen for up to 2 days…