Thousands remain without power across NSW
Thousands of people across NSW remain without power across New South Wales after the wild storms overnight.
Ausgrid said 140,000 customers were affected and power had been restored to 40,000 homes and business. Customers reported 56o hazards including fallen wires, trees and branches on powerlines.
It said crews would work to restore power “as quickly as possible, however due to the scale of this event, it will take some time”.
More than 29,000 Essential Energy customers lost power as of 7pm last night and crews will work to restore power as soon as it is safe, it said.
The hardest hit areas included Bathurst, Coonabarabran, Wagga Wagga, Tumbarumba, Orange, Tumut, Mudgee, Queanbeyan, Blayney, Canowindra and Cowra.
According to Endeavour Energy, there are currently 370 active outages affecting 32,074 customers.
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In a joint statement, Albanese and Wong said Australia had consistently been part of the international calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
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We urge all parties to respect its terms and safeguard a lasting peace, including ensuring the immediate release of all hostages and unimpeded and sustained increases in humanitarian assistance to all parts of Gaza.
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Our thoughts are with all the civilians killed, displaced and taken hostage in this conflict, and the many humanitarian workers who lost their lives in the service of others.
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The pair said the agreement was a “constructive step towards peace and stability in the region” and must “mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Israeli and Palestinian people”.
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Australia will continue working with the international community towards a two-state solution – a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side by side in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.
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We hope it will allow the Palestinian people the opportunity to rebuild, reform their governance and pursue self-determination.
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Thousands of people across NSW remain without power across New South Wales after the wild storms overnight.
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Ausgrid said 140,000 customers were affected and power had been restored to 40,000 homes and business. Customers reported 56o hazards including fallen wires, trees and branches on powerlines.
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It said crews would work to restore power “as quickly as possible, however due to the scale of this event, it will take some time”.
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More than 29,000 Essential Energy customers lost power as of 7pm last night and crews will work to restore power as soon as it is safe, it said.
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The hardest hit areas included Bathurst, Coonabarabran, Wagga Wagga, Tumbarumba, Orange, Tumut, Mudgee, Queanbeyan, Blayney, Canowindra and Cowra.
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According to Endeavour Energy, there are currently 370 active outages affecting 32,074 customers.
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Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us.
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It’s going to be a busy morning, especially in New South Wales, as people brace for more train disruption and assess damage from the storms overnight. If you have any tips, photos or want to share your experience, you can get in touch via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
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Let’s get started.
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The autumn selling season could be the best time for prospective homeowners to get a foot on the property ladder as house prices hit peak affordability, AAP reports.
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Annual property price increases have slowed to their lowest levels in Australia since September 2023 as affordability pressures and limited borrowing power take their toll on demand, Domain’s house price report for the December quarter shows.
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Softer clearance rates and more listings were giving buyers more of a choice and helping to take away urgency from their purchasing decisions, said the Domain chief of research and economics, Nicola Powell.
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We are seeing a rapid slowdown across pretty much all of our capital cities. We’ve got stable pricing, some cities in decline and those that are rising, they’re not rising as fast as they were.
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House prices across the capital cities grew at 1.1% over the last three months of 2024, slower than the average of recent years but maintaining the markets’ positive growth streak of eight consecutive quarters.
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Sydney, the country’s most expensive property market, was the only capital to go backwards, with median house prices declining $1,300 over the quarter.
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at Schofields, north-west of Sydney.”,”caption”:”Housing at Schofields, north-west of Sydney.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1736969448000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”14.30 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1736972070000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”15.14 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1736971641000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”15.07 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”15.07″,”title”:”Hope for prospective home buyers, Domain says, as price increases slow”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Wed 15 Jan 2025 15.59 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 15 Jan 2025 14.30 EST”},{“id”:”6787a1728f08c0713787e184″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The NSW mental health minister will today meet with representatives of the psychiatrist workforce as the impending resignation of more than half the state’s specialist mental health doctors comes into effect next week.
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There are 443 psychiatrist positions in NSW Health, of which there were already 30%-40% pre-existing vacancies, in addition to which at least 205 are set to resign from 21 January.
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The doctors are resigning because they say they cannot continue to work in the understaffed mental health system, arguing they need higher pay and better conditions in line with other states to retain more staff, but the government says they cannot agree to their demand for a 25% pay rise.
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The mental health minister, Rose Jackson, said she hopes meeting today with the doctor’s union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (Asmof), as well as the NSW branch of the peak body for psychiatrists, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, could offer “an opportunity for discussion, perhaps an opportunity for a path forward.”
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In a press conference Asmof held on Wednesday, an emergency doctor said they stood in solidarity with their psychiatrist colleagues because the state’s mental health services are “on the brink of a collapse, this isn’t a crisis any more”.
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Psychiatric trainee Dr James Leader said being physically unable to provide the care to mental health patients is causing “moral injury” to doctors in the public hospitals. “The system is forcing us to compromise in ways that we do not want to.”
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Our reporter Mostafa Rachwani is out and about and will be bringing us some updates on the train situation very soon.
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But in the meantime, this is the statement from Sydney Trains last night warning about disruption today:
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\n
All suburban and Intercity trains will return to their stabling yards by midnight to help Sydney Trains manage the ongoing severe impacts of today’s industrial action, as this evening’s severe weather also takes out more services across the network.
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The decision has been taken to assist the return of the fleet wherever possible, to be ready to run from their home stabling yards on Thursday morning.
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It means train services will progressively reduce frequency from around 9pm to ensure all trains would be in their assigned locations before the last service, which typically ends at 1am each weekday.
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Sydney Trains is forecasting another heavily degraded day on the network from early Thursday when passengers will again face lengthy delays, service cancellations and large service gaps as a result of over 350 bans that have been notified.
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Passengers should also be aware that tonight’s wild storms have caused trees to fall on overhead wiring at Normanhurst and Bell, and caused power outages at Lidcombe, Cabramatta and Flemington, multiple signal/track failures at Shellharbour Junction and flooding at Town Hall, which have all had varied impacts to services.
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During Wednesday, 1,500 services were cancelled up until 7.30pm as a result of industrial action, approximately 40% of all Sydney Trains timetabled services.
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With more than 350 work bans in place across the network as part of the Combined Rail Unions industrial action, we urge passengers to delay non-essential travel, use alternative forms of public transport, and plan ahead by checking the latest updates on transportnsw.info and live travel apps.
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Where possible, NSW TrainLink booked passengers are contacted via SMS to alert them to changed travel arrangements.
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Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink apologise to our passengers again for the disruption and thank them for their understanding as staff at the Rail Operations Centre and across the network work to minimise the impacts of this difficult industrial period.
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind comes along shortly.
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The chaos across Sydney’s train network caused by industrial action yesterday is expected to worsen today, as a standoff over a new pay deal between rail unions and the New South Wales government drags on. Train bosses warned passengers last night that today would be “another heavily degraded day on the network” with “lengthy delays, service cancellations and large service gaps as a result of over 350 bans that have been notified”.
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Last night’s severe storm in the greater Sydney area will only make matters worse, Sydney Trains warned, after flooding hit Town Hall station concourse, brought down trees on to lines and caused power cuts. We’ll have updates on both the trains and the storm damage soon.
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Adam Bandt says a Greens-Labor power-sharing parliament could see a “golden era of progressive reform” as he confirms that stopping Peter Dutton becoming prime minister is now his party’s main election focus. However, the Greens leader faces a challenge on his own doorstep as the former AFL player and failed Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Anthony Koutoufides considers a tilt at Bandt’s seat.
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Annual property price increases have slowed to their lowest levels since September 2023 as affordability pressures and limited borrowing power take their toll on demand, according to a new report from Domain. It echoes the findings of a recent CoreLogic study and offers some hope for prospective buyers – and for federal ministers hoping the housing crisis will ease before the election. They will also hope for good news from today’s unemployment numbers due at 11.30am. More coming up.
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Key events
Murray Watt welcomes ceasefire deal, humanitarian aid for Gaza
The employment and workplace relations minister Murray Watt has also welcomed news of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
He just spoke with ABC News Breakfast, and said:
This is something our government has joined the international community in calling for, for many months today and if anything today, we need to think of the civilians, the Israeli and Palestinian civilians, who have suffered so much over the last 18 months.
He described the agreement as “an important and constructive first step towards long-term peace and stability in the region.”
This is a terrific thing and we very much congratulate the mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for the work that they’ve done …
[The deal] now allows not just for the hostage release and for the ceasing of warfare in Gaza, but also allows for an immediate surge in humanitarian aid which is clearly very much needed in Gaza. I think anyone who has seen the footage over the last 15 months can see the level of destruction in Gaza, so getting that aid in as soon as possible is really important.
Bandt says people ‘entitled to know’ what crossbench would do in event of minority Parliament
Moving to domestic affairs, Adam Bandt has been speaking about the Greens’ intentions to work with Labor to prevent Peter Dutton from becoming prime minister.
In case you missed it, we had an exclusive interview with Bandt that had all the details:
On ABC RN, Bandt said he hadn’t approached Anthony Albanese about the deal yet but “we’re just making it clear publicly”.
What we’re doing is just being upfront with the public about what our approach will be. Our approach will be not to support Peter Dutton. Peter Dutton would be very would lead a very destructive government, and we want to keep Peter Dutton out, but get Labor to act …
There was one respected commentator … that said there’s a 98% chance of a minority Parliament. Now, I think people are entitled to know what will people sitting on the crossbench do in that situation.
‘Basic principles of humanity must be upheld’: Adam Bandt
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is currently in Israel for a visit to repair relationships. Asked what role the Australian government should play in what happens next, Adam Bandt said:
Australia could have played a very strong role in pushing for not only an end to the invasion, but a permanent end to the occupation. There’s some big issues here that have to be resolved in order for Palestinians and Israelis to have a just and lasting peace that’s based on their rights to self determination, and that’s got to start with an end to the occupation.
Part of the role of the international community should be to say to what has been an extremist Benjamin Netanyahu, a government that has now been subject to arrest warrants and orders to to prevent a genocide, Australia should play a role to say international law and basic principles of humanity must be upheld.
Greens leader hopes to permanent ceasefire amid agreement
Adam Bandt has also welcomed news of a ceasefire deal.
Speaking to ABC RN, the Greens leader said he hoped the international community would have applied pressure “much earlier” because “the devastation … has been unimaginable.”
The Greens have consistently been calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as well as the release of the hostages. What’s tragic is that so many of these deaths have been preventable. This was an invasion of people, a 2.2 million people [in] an area half the size of Canberra, and we’ve tragically seen incredible loss of life there …
We hope now that this is a permanent ceasefire that we do see now beginnings of an end to the occupation, and so that we can have a just and lasting peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.
More from Albanese and Wong’s joint statement on the ceasefire deal
Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong said Australia remained “unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas’ atrocities on 7 October and its ongoing acts of terror”.
There must be no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza. Any future Palestinian state must not be in a position to threaten Israel’s security.
We will continue to act in partnership with the international community to support the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza.
We thank the mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – for their tireless efforts to bring parties to an agreement to end this war.
Albanese and Wong welcome ceasefire agreement
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, have welcomed the ceasefire and hostage agreement in Gaza.
In a joint statement, Albanese and Wong said Australia had consistently been part of the international calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
We urge all parties to respect its terms and safeguard a lasting peace, including ensuring the immediate release of all hostages and unimpeded and sustained increases in humanitarian assistance to all parts of Gaza.
Our thoughts are with all the civilians killed, displaced and taken hostage in this conflict, and the many humanitarian workers who lost their lives in the service of others.
The pair said the agreement was a “constructive step towards peace and stability in the region” and must “mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Israeli and Palestinian people”.
Australia will continue working with the international community towards a two-state solution – a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side by side in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.
We hope it will allow the Palestinian people the opportunity to rebuild, reform their governance and pursue self-determination.
Thousands remain without power across NSW
Thousands of people across NSW remain without power across New South Wales after the wild storms overnight.
Ausgrid said 140,000 customers were affected and power had been restored to 40,000 homes and business. Customers reported 56o hazards including fallen wires, trees and branches on powerlines.
It said crews would work to restore power “as quickly as possible, however due to the scale of this event, it will take some time”.
More than 29,000 Essential Energy customers lost power as of 7pm last night and crews will work to restore power as soon as it is safe, it said.
The hardest hit areas included Bathurst, Coonabarabran, Wagga Wagga, Tumbarumba, Orange, Tumut, Mudgee, Queanbeyan, Blayney, Canowindra and Cowra.
According to Endeavour Energy, there are currently 370 active outages affecting 32,074 customers.
Sharma ‘wouldn’t assume’ ceasefire agreement will lead to permanent ceasefire
Senator and former ambassador to Israel David Sharma has been speaking to Sunrise this morning, also reacting to news of a ceasefire deal.
He described it as a “very significant deal” and said there hadn’t been a ceasefire agreement for more than a year now between Israel and Hamas:
It will importantly lead to the release of [the] hostages, including women, young children and the elderly and sick who have been held in terrible conditions for 15 months, and it will allow more humanitarian assistance to get to the Gazan population which has been suffering through this conflict as well.
He said the six-week deal would take effect from Sunday, if agreed to by the Israeli cabinet, but “I wouldn’t assume it will lead to a permanent ceasefire agreement”.
Ryan hopes ceasefire deal ‘real, sustained and permanent’
Independent MP Monique Ryan spoke with the Today show earlier this morning, reacting to news of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Ryan said she hopes this will be a “real and sustained permanent ceasefire and an end to what has been a horrific humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East”.
We have seen other ceasefires haven’t stuck, and we don’t have all the details of this particular arrangement as yet. The details are still emerging but I think we’re all holding our fingers and hoping very much that this will be a permanent end to what has been a terrible time for everyone who’s been involved and everyone who’s been looking on globally.
Ryan said there was a still a lack of clarity over how many hostages remain in Gaza:
We’re hoping that as many people as possible obviously can be returned home as quickly as possible to their friends and family. And the same for the many thousands of Palestinians who are currently being held in Israel.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us.
It’s going to be a busy morning, especially in New South Wales, as people brace for more train disruption and assess damage from the storms overnight. If you have any tips, photos or want to share your experience, you can get in touch via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
Bandt says he wants alliance with Labor to keep Dutton out of lodge
As promised earlier, we have an exclusive interview with Greens leader Adam Bandt in which he pins his colours firmly to the mast in saying that he wants an alliance with Labor to keep Peter Dutton out of the Lodge.
There’s a real opportunity in the next parliament, with all of the commentators predicting a minority government, to have a golden era of progressive reform.
A minority parliament can keep Peter Dutton out and get those progressive reforms that I think will set the country up for generations.
You can read the whole story here:
Hope for prospective home buyers, Domain says, as price increases slow
The autumn selling season could be the best time for prospective homeowners to get a foot on the property ladder as house prices hit peak affordability, AAP reports.
Annual property price increases have slowed to their lowest levels in Australia since September 2023 as affordability pressures and limited borrowing power take their toll on demand, Domain’s house price report for the December quarter shows.
Softer clearance rates and more listings were giving buyers more of a choice and helping to take away urgency from their purchasing decisions, said the Domain chief of research and economics, Nicola Powell.
We are seeing a rapid slowdown across pretty much all of our capital cities. We’ve got stable pricing, some cities in decline and those that are rising, they’re not rising as fast as they were.
House prices across the capital cities grew at 1.1% over the last three months of 2024, slower than the average of recent years but maintaining the markets’ positive growth streak of eight consecutive quarters.
Sydney, the country’s most expensive property market, was the only capital to go backwards, with median house prices declining $1,300 over the quarter.
Sarah Basford Canales
Wages for low-and-middle income earners growing at higher rates under Albanese government
Wages for low and middle-income earning Australians are growing at higher rates under the Albanese government than previous Coalition governments, a new Labor analysis of wage growth rates shows.
Wages for those earning under $54,000 rose 6.2% on average between June 2022 and September 2024 while Labor was in government, while it rose 2.4% between September 2013 and June 2022, the analysis showed.
In higher incomes, or those earning more than $125,000, wages rose 3.3% on average over the 27-month period while incomes rose 1.9% on average between 2013 and 2022.
Overall, Labor’s analysis showed wages, on average, had risen 3.8% between June 2022 and September 2024 compared with 2.2% between September 2013 and June 2022 while Coalition governments were in power.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said Australians are doing it tough but it would be worse under the opposition leader, Peter Dutton.
The choice at the next election is between a Labor government which has been creating jobs, getting wages moving again and rolling out cost-of-living help versus a Coalition that wants Australians working longer for less.
NSW mental health minister to meet doctors
Natasha May
The NSW mental health minister will today meet with representatives of the psychiatrist workforce as the impending resignation of more than half the state’s specialist mental health doctors comes into effect next week.
There are 443 psychiatrist positions in NSW Health, of which there were already 30%-40% pre-existing vacancies, in addition to which at least 205 are set to resign from 21 January.
The doctors are resigning because they say they cannot continue to work in the understaffed mental health system, arguing they need higher pay and better conditions in line with other states to retain more staff, but the government says they cannot agree to their demand for a 25% pay rise.
The mental health minister, Rose Jackson, said she hopes meeting today with the doctor’s union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (Asmof), as well as the NSW branch of the peak body for psychiatrists, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, could offer “an opportunity for discussion, perhaps an opportunity for a path forward.”
In a press conference Asmof held on Wednesday, an emergency doctor said they stood in solidarity with their psychiatrist colleagues because the state’s mental health services are “on the brink of a collapse, this isn’t a crisis any more”.
Psychiatric trainee Dr James Leader said being physically unable to provide the care to mental health patients is causing “moral injury” to doctors in the public hospitals. “The system is forcing us to compromise in ways that we do not want to.”
Overnight wrap of Sydney train chaos
As people start planning their journeys – or maybe just starting planning a WFH day – here’s our overnight report on the Sydney Trains chaos.
Sydney braces for more train disruption
Our reporter Mostafa Rachwani is out and about and will be bringing us some updates on the train situation very soon.
But in the meantime, this is the statement from Sydney Trains last night warning about disruption today:
All suburban and Intercity trains will return to their stabling yards by midnight to help Sydney Trains manage the ongoing severe impacts of today’s industrial action, as this evening’s severe weather also takes out more services across the network.
The decision has been taken to assist the return of the fleet wherever possible, to be ready to run from their home stabling yards on Thursday morning.
It means train services will progressively reduce frequency from around 9pm to ensure all trains would be in their assigned locations before the last service, which typically ends at 1am each weekday.
Sydney Trains is forecasting another heavily degraded day on the network from early Thursday when passengers will again face lengthy delays, service cancellations and large service gaps as a result of over 350 bans that have been notified.
Passengers should also be aware that tonight’s wild storms have caused trees to fall on overhead wiring at Normanhurst and Bell, and caused power outages at Lidcombe, Cabramatta and Flemington, multiple signal/track failures at Shellharbour Junction and flooding at Town Hall, which have all had varied impacts to services.
During Wednesday, 1,500 services were cancelled up until 7.30pm as a result of industrial action, approximately 40% of all Sydney Trains timetabled services.
With more than 350 work bans in place across the network as part of the Combined Rail Unions industrial action, we urge passengers to delay non-essential travel, use alternative forms of public transport, and plan ahead by checking the latest updates on transportnsw.info and live travel apps.
Where possible, NSW TrainLink booked passengers are contacted via SMS to alert them to changed travel arrangements.
Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink apologise to our passengers again for the disruption and thank them for their understanding as staff at the Rail Operations Centre and across the network work to minimise the impacts of this difficult industrial period.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind comes along shortly.
The chaos across Sydney’s train network caused by industrial action yesterday is expected to worsen today, as a standoff over a new pay deal between rail unions and the New South Wales government drags on. Train bosses warned passengers last night that today would be “another heavily degraded day on the network” with “lengthy delays, service cancellations and large service gaps as a result of over 350 bans that have been notified”.
Last night’s severe storm in the greater Sydney area will only make matters worse, Sydney Trains warned, after flooding hit Town Hall station concourse, brought down trees on to lines and caused power cuts. We’ll have updates on both the trains and the storm damage soon.
Adam Bandt says a Greens-Labor power-sharing parliament could see a “golden era of progressive reform” as he confirms that stopping Peter Dutton becoming prime minister is now his party’s main election focus. However, the Greens leader faces a challenge on his own doorstep as the former AFL player and failed Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Anthony Koutoufides considers a tilt at Bandt’s seat.
Annual property price increases have slowed to their lowest levels since September 2023 as affordability pressures and limited borrowing power take their toll on demand, according to a new report from Domain. It echoes the findings of a recent CoreLogic study and offers some hope for prospective buyers – and for federal ministers hoping the housing crisis will ease before the election. They will also hope for good news from today’s unemployment numbers due at 11.30am. More coming up.
