Key Points
- More than 100mm rain expected on NSW east coast
- Federal Court orders preacher to take down "hate speech" sermons
- Alex Carey entrusted with Australian cricket team's victory song
TRANSCRIPT
The New South Wales State Emergency Service is warning a rapidly developing weather system could dump more than 100 millimetres of rain on Australia's east coast in the space of just a few hours.
Residents from Coffs Harbour in the north to Bega in the south are in the path of the fast-moving, severe low-pressure system intensifying off the New South Wales north coast, set to bring damaging winds of up to 110 kilometres per hour.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued flood watch warnings for southern parts of the Mid North Coast, Hunter, Hawkesbury-Nepean, Sydney
Illawarra Coast, South Coast and Snowy catchment areas.
New South Wales SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz says the peak impact of the system is expected to occur on Wednesday.
"As this system tracks southwards, we will expect to see greater impacts from mid-afternoon today into tonight and tomorrow for the Sydney, Illawarra and South Coast areas. This system will continue to move southwood and likely remain active until at least Thursday."
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New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib has warned residents in affected areas to take precautions as the weather worsens.
Mr Dib says residents should not park near big trees, and also must keep loose items around backyards and properties tied down given strong wind gusts are one of the main concerns for the impacted areas.
Meanwhile Western Sydney resident Bashar Hanna has told SBS Arabic his family is taking advice to avoid non-essential travel seriously.
"I've got my children, some go to university, some go to schools, and we go to work. So since last night, we spoke among our family, trying to prepare ourselves to reduce the unnecessary trips. And also within the community, I receive couple phone calls from my friends. They are worried and they don't know actually what's going to happen, especially when they are receiving a lot of severe weather warning."
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A federal court has ordered an Islamic preacher to remove a series of lectures from social media, after finding his speeches have racially vilified Jewish people.
The sermons from Sydney-based Al Madina Dawah Centre cleric Wissam Haddad have accumulated thousands of views online since they were posted in November 2023.
But Justice Angus Stewart has ruled that the series of speeches included what he described as ‘age-old tropes’ against Jewish people that were fundamentally racist and antisemitic, and that the preacher must not to make any further comments that convey similar disparaging remarks about Jewish people.
Mr Haddad's lawyer Andrew Boe says Haddad has always denied breaching anti-discrimination laws and claimed he was delivering historical and religious lectures on events from the Koran to contextualise the war in Gaza.
"Mr Haddad maintains that his sermons delivered in the context of religious instruction and based on scriptural references, were never intended to insult any group in Australia on the basis of their ethnic identity. The words he spoke were those from the scripture, and he maintains that he has the right to quote religious scripture as all parties do."
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says all efforts are being made to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the U-S President.
Since Anthony Albanese's first planned face-to-face with the US president was up-ended last month by events in the Middle East, the prime minister has spent weeks being grilled over their next possible meeting.
Some have speculated that Mr Trump has yet to meet Mr Albanese because Australia is relatively insignificant, globally, compared to other US trading partners.
But Mr Albanese has told Channel Seven, there will be another opportunity for a meeting with Mr Trump.
"We've had really constructive, really warm discussions. The President rang me to congratulate me on the re-election of the government. And importantly (when it comes to US tariffs), Australia has a tariff rate (of 10 per cent) that is the lowest in the world. The US has imposed this across the board. And what we have seen is indeed Australia's exports to the United States not change - and indeed go up in value in the case of areas like beef."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has travelled to the US this week for meeting of Quad foreign ministers where she will also argue for an exemption for Australia on US tariffs.
A 30-day pause on further US tariffs will expire next week.
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To sport, Australia's leading spin bowler Nathan Lyon has handed over the duty of leading the team song to wicket keeper Alex Carey.
For more than a dozen years Lyon has led the team in its traditional victory song "Under the Southern Cross I stand," and has been responsible for deciding where and when team song is sung after each victory.
Carey says the veteran off-spinner delivered a note asking him to take over during last week's first test victory in Barbados.
"Came into my room, had an envelope and I had no idea what he was delivering. But then eventually I spoke about it and yeah, big hug, and away we go. So yeah, it was, as Gaz mentioned, a nice moment, the history of it. It's not lost on me how special an honour and privilege it is to have this role."
