The Guardian - China-Australia news live remote towns evacuated as storm lashes Top End government deeply troubled by ongoing detention of Yang Hengjun in China
January 18, 2024 8 min 1590 words
这篇报道涵盖了澳大利亚外交、环境和紧急状况的多个方面。外长黄之行中，她在中东进行了一系列会谈，重点关注以色列和哈马斯之间的冲突蔓延问题。与此同时，悉尼的海滩因降雨导致水质下降，部分海滩不宜游泳。西澳大利亚地区由于风暴和火灾造成的停电，仍有上万家庭和企业没有电力供应。此外，北领地的暴雨导致一些偏远社区的疏散，可能持续一周。黄外长还宣布了对联合国巴勒斯坦难民教育项目的资助，同时批评了该项目的教材内容。另外，对于中国拘留澳大利亚作家杨恒均一事，澳大利亚政府表达了深切关切，并承诺在与中国的对话中继续为他的利益辩护。这篇报道反映了澳大利亚在多个方面面临的挑战和关切，涉及外交、环境和国内事务。
Pollution warning leaves some Sydney beaches unsuitable for swimming
Sydneysiders hoping to beat the humidity and go to the beach are being warned to check for pollution.
Beach Watch is warning that due to the recent rain, a number of beaches have poor water quality, with pollution possible. A number of locations are listed as “unsuitable for swimming” due to pollution, including Balmoral Baths, Foreshore Beach and Rose Bay Beach.
Some places are listed as possibly containing pollution. An alert for Bronte Beach reads:
Caution advised for swimming. Water quality usually suitable for swimming, but young children, elderly or those with compromised health may be at increased risk.
Pollution is listed as unlikely for Bondi Beach today.
Some beaches with pollution warnings will have signage up at the beach, but you can read the full list of alerts here before heading out.
Over 9,000 locations in WA still without power after storms and fires
Thousands in Western Australia remain without power following storm and bushfire-related outages, including “most homes and businesses” in Kalgoorlie.
According to Western Power, around 9,000 homes and businesses remain without power, with services restored to 24,000. There are 96 active outages.
Western Power’s latest update said that current restoration times are “unknown” but it would work to “restore more customers over coming days”.
Full customer restoration will take a number of days and we are prioritising key sites.
WA police noted there are “significant” power outages affecting the Wheatbelt, Goldfields and Great Southern regions policing districts – including “most homes and businesses” in Kalgoorlie.
A police statement said all relevant agencies met on Thursday night and will be working “around the clock to resolve the issue”, with some mobile phone coverage affected in these areas:
Major hospitals are operational, and police and emergency services are upping patrols. The Kalgoorlie police station is open to the public 24/7.
Emergency services are urging the affected communities to look out for each other. Check on vulnerable neighbours and community members.
Unit fire believed to be linked to electric scooter: Fire and Rescue NSW
Emergency crews have gained control of a fire in the top floor unit of an apartment block in North Bondi.
Fire and Rescue NSW said the blaze, in a three-level block on Curlewis Street, is being investigated for a possible electric scooter being involved.
Just before 6am Old South Head Road had reopened following the fire, however there is still no access to Curlewis Street as emergency services remain on site, according to Live Traffic.
A remote Northern Territory community could be inundated for a week after days of heavy rain as another tropical cyclone building in the Coral Sea has Queensland in its sights, AAP reports.
Flooding has hit Australia’s Top End with motorists stranded and about 100 people evacuated. There was a report last night of a helicopter pilot rescuing three people from a truck roof and taking them to the Victoria River roadhouse, west of Katherine.
About 40 people from Pigeon Hole, a settlement on Bilinara Aboriginal land trust surrounded by Victoria River Downs pastoral property, have been relocated while another 50 at nearby Daguragu left for Kalkarindji.
Some Pigeon Hole homes were inundated, with police predicting the community would be flooded for up to a week. About 35 Pigeon Hole residents were expected to be transported to Darwin with another five medically vulnerable people sent to Katherine.
The acting assistant commissioner for NT police, Matt Hollamby, said:
We want them to be safe and comfortable.
Authorities are also on standby at Daly River where flood levels were being monitored.
A monsoon trough continues to produce heavy rain in the NT, with 690mm recorded across seven days at Wadeye south of Darwin. Roads are closed along the Victoria River between Katherine and the Western Australia border while the Buntine Highway has also been cut.
Police said a number of motorists had been stranded.
Many thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you on the blog today.
See something that needs attention? You can get in touch on X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: [email protected].
With that, let’s get started.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has met with the head of a key UN agency and pressed for further action to address criticism of its teaching materials – days after she announced funding to help it deliver services to the people of Gaza.
The $21.5m in humanitarian assistance announced on Tuesday included $6m for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) “to provide urgent lifesaving assistance including food, shelter and emergency health care”.
This element of the Australian government’s package has been criticised by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Coalition’s home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, who told the ABC earlier this week that UNRWA-run schools “have been implicated in teaching antisemitic content to their students”.
Wong met yesterday with the commissioner-general of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, and “reaffirmed her support for the vital work the organisation does”.
Wong also expressed her condolences for the 150 UNRWA staff that had been killed in the current conflict.
Officials said the minister “welcomed Mr Lazzarini’s recent announcement that the organisation would hold an independent review into claims of pro-Hamas activity in his organisation”.
It is understood Lazzarini “confirmed that UNRWA had investigated and identified a small number of problematic sections in textbooks and that material inconsistent with UN values was not taught in classrooms”. Officials said Wong “pressed him to go further and remove them”.
Lazzarini told the ABC’s 7.30 program last night:
I have informed your minister that UNRWA has taken the decision to commission an independent review, to look at all the allegations regarding UNRWA and its activities in Gaza.
Lazzarini said his agency had been subjected to “quite a number” of “smear campaigns” so it was important for a review to be conducted at arm’s length.
The Australian government says it is “deeply troubled” by ongoing delays in the case of Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun, with today marking the fifth anniversary of his detention in China.
But the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, also praised Yang’s strength, and promised that the Australian government would continue to advocate for his interests and wellbeing at the highest levels in talks with China.
Yang, an Australian writer and avowed democracy activist, was detained in China in January 2019 and charged with espionage later that year.
Yang has previously stated he is “100% innocent of the allegations” and that he “will never confess to something I haven’t done”. His closed trial was held in Beijing in May 2021 but he has still not received a verdict, with the court granting multiple three-month extensions on the deadline for handing down a decision.
In a statement issued today, Wong said:
I was moved to read the letter from Dr Yang’s sons late last year. All Australians know how much Dr Yang loves his family and his country. I want to acknowledge the strength that Dr Yang has demonstrated, and the strength of his family and friends. Our thoughts are with them all.
Wong said that the Australian government had consistently “called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment for Yang, in accordance with international norms and China’s legal obligations”.
Earlier this week, China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, argued Yang’s case was “different in nature” from the case of fellow Australian Cheng Lei, who was released late last year. Xiao added:
To be honest, I cannot expect that the case would come to such a conclusion likewise.
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be lining up some of the best overnight stories for you before my colleague Emily Wind takes the keys.
The star-rating system for aged care homes is a “total waste of time”, according to one expert, amid concern that some providers are winning four or five-star marks despite poor performance. Our top story reports on concerns that families are potentially being misled after it emerged that 150 aged care homes that did not meet minimum standards for safety and care were awarded four or five-star compliance ratings last year thanks largely due to a loophole in the system.
About 40 people have been evacuated overnight from Pigeon Hole, a remote settlement about eight hours south of Darwin, with police warning it could be inundated for a week as a monsoon trough continued to dump heavy rain on the territory. More than 690mm of rain was recorded across seven days at Wadeye, south of Darwin, and several roads have been closed with flash flooding warnings in place around Katherine. To the east, a tropical low building in the Coral Sea is expected to turn towards the Queensland coast from Sunday, with the system most likely becoming a tropical cyclone by Monday. More coming up.
Welfare advocates have renewed calls for the Labor government to drop the work for the dole program after a major not-for-profit announced it was cutting ties with the scheme over concerns it pushes participants into hardship. The Brotherhood of St Laurence announced this week it would no longer participate or use jobseekers from the program, saying it is “not in the best interests of people who are unemployed”. It follows a report by MPs which found the scheme “does not increase employability, fails to enable social participation, and creates safety risks in some cases”.