Emergency services caution South Australians to stay alert due to catastrophic bushfire risks; Australia re-joins one of the world's largest global climate funds; And in cricket, David Warner responds to criticism of his retirement plans.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Emergency services caution South Australians to stay alert due to catastrophic bushfire risks;
- Australia re-joins one of the world's largest global climate funds;
- And in cricket, David Warner responds to criticism of his retirement plans.
The Country Fire Service is cautioning South Australians to stay alert due to catastrophic bushfire risks and extreme weather.
Heatwave warnings are currently issued for parts of all mainland states, prompting extreme to catastrophic danger alerts to be issued for parts of South Australia, northern Victoria and outback New South Wales.
The Country Fire Service has warned today could be one of the most significant fire weather days in several years, with bushfires starting
Temperatures across South Australia are expected to head towards the mid-40s today, while heatwave conditions are due to continue for days in NSW, with dry lightning adding to the fire risk.
In a conference with the CFS, South Australia's Emergency Services minister Joe Szakacs says firefighters are doing their best to control blazes across the state but residents can not get complacent.
"We are still in the midst of a very bad day. And we are not expecting relief to come through our northern and eastern regions until around 2am this morning. Now is not the time to be complacent. Our firefighters on the ground have been doing an extraordinary job but over the next two days the tempo of operations from our front line emergency services will be intense."
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First Nations advocates say they hope a new text messaging option for the national domestic violence hotline will help improve access for Indigenous women experiencing violence in remote communities.
The Albanese government has today launched the scheme, under which text support to 1800RESPECT will be available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, as part of its 10-year plan to end violence against women and children.
Research by the Australian Human Rights Commission shows First Nations women are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised and 11 times more likely to die from assault than non-Indigenous women in Australia.
Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Violet Sheridan has welcomed the expanded 1800RESPECT service, but says she worries about its accessibility for Indigenous elders.
"Hopefully this helps, this new way of contacting people for help. But I'm not sure whether it will address - particularly our older generations, because a lot of them don't text."
Victims seeking help can text "HELLO" or a greeting to 0458 737 732.
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Australia has re-joined one of the world's largest global climate funds to push for more finance for vulnerable Pacific neighbours.
Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced $50 million of support for the international Green Climate Fund, and $100 million of funding for a resilience facility established by Pacific Islands Forum leaders in 2017.
The separate Pacific facility is intended to benefit communities directly and make it easier for them to access climate finance.
Mr Bowen, who has announced Australia's return to the GCF at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, says Labor's goal is to restore Australia's climate leadership after the Morrison government chose to withdraw from the fund in 2018.
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In cricket,
David Warner says former teammate Mitchell Johnson is entitled to his opinions after harsh criticism of his retirement plans.
Over the weekend, Johnson questioned whether Warner had been in strong enough form to choose his own retirement date in a column in the West Australian and referenced his role in the "Sandpaper-gate" ball-tampering saga.
Warner, whose last Test century came at the MCG against South Africa in his 100th Test in late 2022, is hoping to retire after an illustrious Test career.
He says his final match will be against Pakistan in the third and final match in Sydney of a series that begins in Perth next week.
Warner, addressing Johnson's comments for the first time, has told Fox Sports his focus is only on the upcoming matches.
"It is what it is. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. Moving forward, we're looking forward to a nice Test over in the west. When you get onto the world stage you don't realise what comes with that. It's a lot of media, a lot of criticism, but a lot of positives."
