NSW wild weather not a ‘bomb cyclone’, Bureau says
Petra Stock
A note on terminology for the severe weather system affecting New South Wales today.
The Bureau of Meteorology has classified the system as a “vigorous coastal low”, and not an “east coast low”, nor a “bomb cyclone” as some have reported.
Meteorologist Helen Reid said the current weather system was more mobile than an east coast low.
While the current low-pressure system had some similarities to an east coast low, there were some important differences in physical characteristics, duration and moisture.
Regardless of the name, authorities were still preparing for dangerous weather conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, with hundreds of emergency services personnel, helicopters and specialist vehicles on stand-by, even though the system had not yet met the criteria for an “east coast low”, as predicted.
You can read more on that here:
Key events
Benita Kolovos
Continued from previous post:
Victoria police deputy commissioner Wendy Steendam, acting commander Janet Stevenson, the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, police minister, Anthony Carbines, minister for children, Lizzie Blandthorn, and the chief health officer, Dr Christian McGrath, are going to hold a press conference on the investigation at 9.30am.
In a statement, Stevenson said it was “an incredibly distressing and confronting investigation for all involved”. She said:
I know many members of the community will hear this news and feel enormously concerned. The most important thing for our investigators was that we needed to identify the [alleged] victims involved. These are some of the most vulnerable members of our community and the conversations police have had to have with their families were no doubt life changing in the worst possible way.
Stevenson urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Benita Kolovos
Man charged with alleged sexual assaults worked at 20 childcare centres, police say
Victoria police say since Brown’s arrest, a significant investigation has taken place, led by detectives from the sexual crimes squad.
They say it has been established that the man worked at 20 childcare centres between January 2017 and May 2025. They allege there is evidence of offending at a second childcare centre which is being “investigated as a priority”.
A website has been set up by the Victorian government listing the centres and the known employment dates of Brown.
Families who had children placed at the impacted centres during the time of the man’s employment are in the process of being contacted to ensure appropriate support and welfare services are provided.
This work involves the department of health, the department of families, fairness and housing, the department of education, the Commission for Children and Young Persons, Family Safety Victoria, Gatehouse and the Royal children’s hospital.
Police say at this stage, it is believed all alleged offending has taken place within Victoria. They say there is no evidence at this time to suggest any other staff member at any centre is involved in this matter.
Man charged with alleged sexual assaults at Victorian childcare centre
Benita Kolovos
A childcare worker has been charged with over 70 offences after alleging sexually abusing eight children in his care.
Victoria police this morning have issued a statement confirming that last month they charged 26-year-old Point Cook man Joshua Brown with offences including sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12, sexual assault of a child under 16 and produce child material for use through a carriage service.
They said the charges relate to eight alleged victims, who were placed at a western suburbs childcare centre.
Brown was remanded and has remained in custody since his arrest on 12 May.
He will appear at Melbourne magistrates court on 15 September.
PM dismisses ‘absurd’ reports Marles not briefed by senior defence officials for years
Sarah Basford Canales
Anthony Albanese has dismissed reports that defence minister Richard Marles was not briefed by senior defence officials for almost 2.5 years as “absurd” and “ridiculous”.
The Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that military chiefs did not give Marles formal updates on the readiness of the army, air force and navy to be deployed on missions, as outlined in an audit report last Friday.
The prime minister was asked to explain the situation but dismissed its veracity on the Today Show on Tuesday morning.
That’s just ridiculous, frankly. I haven’t seen that report. But we sit in the National Security Committee with the Chief of the Defence Force. We meet regularly. I certainly have met with heads of all of the armed forces regularly, and that is just completely incorrect.
The Australian National Audit Office released its report into the navy’s amphibious assault ships on Friday, which found the two-ship fleet’s procurement and sustainment had not been managed effectively.
Hidden in the pages of the report was a revelation that defence had not provided the minister preparedness reports in 2023 and 2024 due to the ongoing defence strategic review. The ANAO indicated defence said it updated the minister on preparedness through “other means”, including conversations.
The report highlighted the lack of proper planning and sustainment led to incidents such as the ships experiencing power failures and requiring urgent maintenance while tasked with offering humanitarian assistance to Vanuatu in 2023 after a powerful cyclone.
Sarah Basford Canales
Date for Albanese-Trump meeting will occur in near future, but date not locked in
Anthony Albanese says he will talk up Australia’s value to the US as part of his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in the coming months as the administration looks to resume its global tariffs while pressuring allies to raise defence spending.
The prime minister is on a media blitz this morning to spruik changes coming into effect this financial year but the elephant in the room – Trump – is getting all the focus.
Speaking on the Today show this morning, Albanese admitted a date for the meeting was yet to be locked in but would occur in the near future.
The United States is an important ally of Australia, but Australia contributes to that partnership. When you look at some of the coverage, you would think we were this country that just did nothing, contributed nothing to it. I will talk Australia up because we are an important ally. We contribute so much to peace and security in our own region by investing in our capabilities. But importantly as well, the role that we play in investing in our relationships in the region is absolutely critical.
Consumer watchdog sues Banana Boat for greenwashing
The consumer watchdog is taking Banana Boat sunscreen companies to court for alleged “greenwashing” claims that its sunscreens are reef friendly.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched federal court proceedings against Edgewell Personal Care Australia Pty Ltd and its parent company in the US, Edgewell Personal Care Company or Edgewell PCC.
The ACCC deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said:
We allege that Edgewell engaged in greenwashing by making claims about the environmental benefits of Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat sunscreens that it had no reasonable or scientific basis to make.
Edgewell claimed that the sunscreens were ‘reef friendly’, including because they did not contain “oxybenzone or octinoxate” – chemicals banned in some jurisdictions including Hawaii due to damage they case to reefs, the ACCC statement says.
However the sunscreens contained other ingredients – octocrylene, homosalate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (also known as 4-MBC or enzacamene), and butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (also known as avobenzone) – which the ACCC alleges either cause harm to reefs, including coral and marine life, or risk causing harm to reefs. The ACCC also alleges Edgewell companies were aware of science indicating the ingredients, or some, were known to adversely affect reefs or that there was a risk of harm, and that neither company tested the ingredients’ impact on reefs.
The ACCC’s case relates to more than 90 Edgewell sunscreen products sold over four years, which contained one or more of these ingredients.
Lowe said:
Many consumers consider environmental factors when purchasing products. By engaging in this alleged greenwashing, we say Edgewell deprived consumers of the ability to make an informed decision and may have prevented them from purchasing a different brand of sunscreen that did not contain chemicals which risked causing harm to reefs.”
SES warns residents from Newcastle to Forster to stay indoors
The NSW SES is warning people to stay indoors between Newcastle and Forster as severe wet weather is forecast to pummel NSW.
The watch and act warning for Newcastle, Nelson Bay and Forster advises staying indoors and away from windows “due to heavy rainfall, damaging winds, destructive winds”.
For coastal parts of the Hunter and mid north coast, including Newcastle, the alert reads:
Damaging south to southwesterly winds averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts of around 110 km/h are possible from early this morning, becoming likely from the afternoon onwards. Locally destructive wind gusts with peak gusts in excess of 125 km/h are also possible from midday today for exposed coastal areas between Newcastle and Forster.
Isolated heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is also possible for the coastal fringe south of Seal Rocks this morning. Six-hourly rainfall totals between 70 to 90 mm are possible, with isolated totals up to 120 mm.
Kate Lyons
Midwives hold snap rally to protest staff cuts at RPA hospital
Midwives at one of Sydney’s largest public hospitals will hold a snap rally today to protest cuts to their staffing levels and the closure of beds in the postnatal ward that take effect from today.
Up to 20 full-time equivalent positions will be removed from the women and babies service at Royal Prince Alfred hospital (RPAH) in Camperdown, including five from the midwifery group practice, and nine beds in the maternity ward will be closed, said the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA).
The changes which come into effect from 1 July, are part of the sweeping changes to the service, outlined by the Sydney local health district, the NSWNMA said.
Midwives at RPAH will hold a snap rally outside the hospital at 10:30am today.
NSWNMA’s general secretary, Shaye Candish, said experienced midwives working at the hospital, and those within the midwifery-led service, both hold serious concerns about the delivery of care to local families.
In last week’s budget, the NSW government confirmed more than $83 million to boost maternity care across the state, including 53 additional midwives, yet this week we have one of Sydney’s largest hospitals decreasing positions.
We have been calling on the Ministry of Health for years to conduct a thorough review of the Birthrate Plus staffing model to ensure it is fit for purpose and is delivering the best possible midwifery care to women and their babies.
RPAH has been contacted for comment.
NSW wild weather not a ‘bomb cyclone’, Bureau says
Petra Stock
A note on terminology for the severe weather system affecting New South Wales today.
The Bureau of Meteorology has classified the system as a “vigorous coastal low”, and not an “east coast low”, nor a “bomb cyclone” as some have reported.
Meteorologist Helen Reid said the current weather system was more mobile than an east coast low.
While the current low-pressure system had some similarities to an east coast low, there were some important differences in physical characteristics, duration and moisture.
Regardless of the name, authorities were still preparing for dangerous weather conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, with hundreds of emergency services personnel, helicopters and specialist vehicles on stand-by, even though the system had not yet met the criteria for an “east coast low”, as predicted.
You can read more on that here:
Nest eggs on the boil as super guarantee cracks open
Workers will receive a boost to retirement contributions as a long-awaited lift to the superannuation guarantee kicks in, but further increases are unlikely any time soon.
The rate of super employers are required to pay employees increased from 11.5% of their wages to 12% on Tuesday, along with a raft of other changes to payments and prices to mark the dawn of the new financial year.
It’s the culmination of a decades-long process to increase the super guarantee from 3% when it was introduced in 1992, and follows a six-year delay in the rollout to 12% under the previous Coalition government.
The Labor party’s national platform still lists an aspiration for the party to “set out a pathway” to increase the guarantee to 15%, but voices in the labour movement have recently cooled on the idea.
Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said getting to 12% was an “amazing achievement”, but the union movement was not pushing for more. She told AAP:
There’s a question about whether or not we’ve actually reached the point of a dignified retirement at 12%. Obviously, we’ll keep assessing that.
Former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan, who legislated the increase of the super guarantee from 9% to 12% and now chairs industry super fund Cbus, doesn’t want further rises.
The scheme provides “adequate retirement savings for most workers” at 12%, Swan argued in an op-ed in the Australian Financial Review at the weekend.
– Australian Associated Press
Sydney airport warns NSW low may affect flights
Sydney airport urges passengers to check the status of their flights amid severe wet weather forecast in NSW.
A Sydney airport spokesperson said:
Sydney Airport is closely monitoring the forecasts of severe weather for NSW. There may be impacts to flight schedules, and we recommend passengers check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.