Australia news live: Mark Butler urges NSW psychiatrists ‘come back to the table’ as mass resignation looms; man charged after alleged Nazi salute in Sydney | Australian politics

Wild weather slams tennis, as fans brace for more rain

The Australian Open schedule was thrown into chaos and emergency services received hundreds of calls for assistance as wild weather wreaked havoc across Victoria, AAP reports.

The heavy rain is expected to continue across the country with flood and severe thunderstorm warnings issued for the coming hours.

Thousand of tennis fans were forced to scramble for cover as the downpour hit on Sunday and rain spread across courts, forcing matches to be rescheduled or postponed on the tournament’s first day.

Melbourne Park received 30.8mm of rain in less than five hours, with much of Victoria’s deluge centred in pockets around Melbourne.

The State Emergency Service received 254 calls for assistance from midnight on Sunday morning and 8am on Monday, including 105 calls related to fallen trees, 62 to flooding and 53 for building damage.

Footscray in the city’s west was the hardest hit area, followed by the city, Heidelberg in the northeast and Moorabbin in the south.

Drivers were forced to navigate flash flooding in inner Melbourne as rain spilled across city streets, with one motorist forced to abandon their car at an underpass as water crept up towards the door handles.

Man charged after allegedly performing Nazi salute in Sydney

Qantas again fails to top aviation safety ranking thanks to its ageing fleet

Older planes have been blamed for Qantas narrowly losing out on an aviation safety top ranking to a New Zealand competitor as the Aussie airline awaits new jets to replace its ageing fleet, AAP reports.

Air New Zealand took pole position on website Airline Ratings’ list of the world’s safest airlines for the second year running after overtaking its trans-Tasman rival in 2024.

Virgin Australia came was fourth on the list, with three airlines claiming third place. Qantas last topped the list in 2023 and its second-place ranking over the past two years has been attributed to an ageing fleet.

Sydney University professor and aviation expert, Rico Merkert, told AAP:

This is a fair point as they do have an older fleet – quite old actually – and they did have some issues recently with some of their older aircraft.

That said, if maintained well, older aircraft can also be incredibly safe.

Airline Ratings chief executive Sharon Petersen said there was not much difference between the top-ranking airlines.

While both airlines uphold the highest safety standards and pilot training, Air New Zealand continues to have a younger fleet than Qantas, which separates the two.

Virgin’s ranking largely came down to having a smaller fleet and operating fewer flights. Petersen said:

Between Qantas, Emirates, Qatar, Cathay and Virgin, there’s less than a point separating it.

On the blog today, we’ve seen a fair bit of back-and-forth between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, as both men start their election bids with early January campaigning.

For the full story, Josh Butler has outlined the latest below:

Woman shot in car faces ‘life-altering’ injuries

A woman is at risk of dying and has life-altering injuries after being shot in the back in a car, AAP reports, with police appealing for public information into a vehicle of interest.

Linley Anyos went to a home on Trees Road, Tallebudgera, in Queensland’s Gold Coast about midday on Wednesday when she was shot in the back. The 33-year-old was sitting in the passenger seat of a car and police suspect the gunshot came from inside the vehicle and went through the seat.

Detective inspector Mark Mooney said today she remains in a critical condition, and that “she’s classified as serious but stable”:

The doctors will be looking to bring her out of sedation today, which is a really critical stage for her. There’s obviously an opportunity that she could go into shock and still pass away from her injuries. Her injuries … are significant, and they’ll be life-altering.

Anyos’ father, Brian, said his daughter is in a “very bad way” but is “fighting like a beast”.

Police are appealing for public information and dashcam footage of a white Hino tow truck that they believe left the scene immediately after the shooting. Mooney said the tow truck drove around the Tallebudgera area before returning to Nerang after the incident.

Investigators are still piecing together what happened after taking more than 10 witness statements. Police executed a search warrant at a Southport address on Friday looking for a person of interest.

Butler urges NSW psychiatrists not to leave and to ‘come back to the table’

Krishani Dhanji

No water in immigration detention centre cell: watchdog

An immigration detention centre controlled by the Australian Border Force is holding detainees in a prohibited cell that lacks a toilet and running water, a watchdog has found.

AAP reports that Yongah Hill immigration detention centre, about an hour north-east of Perth, also limits support services and family visits, impacting the mental health of some detainees, according to a facility review.

The review in June found there was limited access for detainees held in the centre’s high-security area to lines of communication and timely information. They also do not have the same access to facilities, programs and activities available to the general population compounds.

The commonwealth national preventive mechanism ombudsman, Iain Anderson, said:

We also had concerns with the use of a soft room being used as part of the high care accommodation. In our view, this soft room meets the definition of a dry cell, the use of which is prohibited in the immigration detention network.

The room lacks the basic amenities required to hold an individual for any length of time, including a toilet, sink and running water.

The watchdog recommended the Australian Border Force stop using the so-called soft room until appropriate safety guidelines, practices, and procedures are developed and implemented.

About 160 people are detained at the centre, with 29 of these held at the facility for more than six years.

Severe thunderstorms a possibility for parts of eastern NSW this afternoon

Large parts of NSW may experience thunderstorms today, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The storms may become severe across much of the eastern half of the state, especially this afternoon and evening, with heavy rain, damaging wind and large hail all possible.