With that, we will close our live blog for the day.
Here is a summary of the day’s main news:
Evacuation warnings have been issued for low-lying parts of Lismore amid the risk of flash flooding in coming hours and days. Dangerous weather and flood warnings are also in place for large swathes of the New South Wales northern rivers and mid-north coast, just four weeks after floods devastated the region.
In Queensland, a man and five dogs died near Toowoomba after a vehicle got trapped in flood waters.
The chief executive of the Star casino group, Matt Bekier,has resigned amid an inquiry into the casino.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has tested positive to Covid and will isolate for the next seven days.
The ABC should have a guaranteed five-year funding cycle and its budget and board should be at arm’s length from government influence, former competition tsar Rod Sims has said in a speech.
Australia’s Special Air Service regiment was riven by a “culture war” with one faction obsessed by a “pagan warrior ethos” where “killing was a sacrament in itself”, the assistant defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has told Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial.
Tomorrow is budget day, and the blog will be back from early morning and take you right through the day’s events. Be sure not to miss it.
Police have urged people not to enter flood waters in south-east Queensland, where one man and five dogs died, and another person was swept away.
During a day of heavy rain, a man and five dogs died before 5am on Monday after a vehicle and trailer belonging to a pet-moving business was caught in flood waters near Kingsthorpe, north-west of Toowoomba.
The woman driving was rescued from the vehicle but a male passenger died.
Police on Monday said an “extensive search and rescue” was also under way for a man swept away near North Branch in the southern downs.
Emergency services were called before 7am when two vehicles became stuck in flood waters at a crossing with Spring Creek.
Members of the public helped rescue one of the drivers, but a man in his 40s tried to get out of his vehicle and was swept away. Both the rescued woman and missing man were the sole occupants of their vehicles.
The ABC should have a guaranteed five-year funding cycle and its budget and board should be at arm’s length from government influence, Rod Sims, the former competition tsar, has said in a speech.
Ahead of Tuesday’s budget, when the ABC will have its $84m indexation restored, Sims called for “strong and clear” ABC governance and stable funding for the public broadcaster.
“The ABC is a vital institution that should continue essentially as is, and that certainly should not be narrowed in its focus or, worse, privatised,” the former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chief said at the Melbourne book launch of Who needs the ABC? by Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins.
“That would represent extremely poor economic and public policy,” Sims said.
#BREAKING The largest surfing festival in the Southern Hemisphere is under threat due to a 6-7+ m swell predicted to hit the Hunter coast. Surfest could be moved to Newcastle Harbour. No other professional surfing contest has been held inside a shipping harbour @9NewsSyd@nbnnews
Nominations have closed for two Labor Senate vacancies and two lower house seats – and the national executive has filled them without a ballot as there was only one nominee for each slot.
Former public servant Jana Stewart will replace Kimberley Kitching in the Senate while unionist Linda White will replace Kim Carr.
Lismore residents are in “disbelief” amid warnings of major flooding in coming days, just four weeks after unprecedented floods devastated the town.
Evacuation warnings were issued for low-lying parts of north and south Lismore this afternoon, with residents urged to ready themselves to leave their homes if an evacuation order is issued.
State Emergency Services New South Wales has said a fleet of more than a dozen aircraft are standing by for rescue operations, as torrential rain is predicted to fall across the northern rivers region.
Meanwhile, flood-weary residents are exhausted.
Lismore councillor Adam Guise told AAP:
Everyone is a bit shell-shocked, they’re in disbelief, they’re exhausted ... and others are frantically trying to prepare the best they can.
It’s all a bit uncertain and people are pretty devastated and scared facing the prospects of another major flood.”
Liberal MP Andrew Laming has backflipped in a court action over social media posts published in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election after seeking legal advice, reports AAP.
The Australian Electoral Commission has taken Laming to the federal court accusing him of contravening commonwealth requirements by publishing material under a “Redland Hospital: Let’s fight for fair funding” Facebook page without adequately disclosing his political links.
The court earlier this month heard that Laming had agreed to a statement of facts while not legally represented.
But in a case management hearing on Monday, Laming’s barrister Douglas Wilson said the MP wanted to withdraw some admissions, while others were to remain as agreed.
Wilson said one witness – an expert in how Facebook operates – may be called to give evidence at a hearing or would produce an affidavit.
“There is no contest on the facts, it is simply a liability issue,” he said.
The hearing to decide on liability is set to be held on 16 June.
“In general form what the parties are proposing is that the respondent file a response to the concise statement and that there be an opportunity to file a reply to that and that the respondent intends to file some evidence,” the Australian government solicitor, Steven Forrest, said.
Justice Darryl Rangiah asked the lawyers to try to resolve any objections before the hearing. “Not knowing enough about the matter, it doesn’t seem from what the parties have said to be a particularly complex matter at least factually,” he said.
The federal court proceedings come after Guardian Australia revealed in April 2021 that the Queensland MP was operating 35 Facebook groups – with at least one for each suburb in his electorate.
The range indicates the differences in the models, including how close the developing low sticks near the coast and for how long before it heads off into the Tasman.
The SES is also planning for “potential significant consequences in Bellingen and downstream”, with the Bellinger River forecast by the bureau to reach major flood levels.
Other rivers that may rise to major flood levels are the Richmond, Orara and Wilsons Rivers, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, Sydney is now expected to receive 30-45mm of rain on Tuesday, nudging the Hawkesbury-Nepean River back to minor to moderate flooding.
Evacuation warnings issued for parts of Lismore amid risk of flash flooding
Evacuation warnings have been issued for low-lying parts of north and south Lismore, amid the risk of flash flooding.
Residents in the following parts of Lismore have been told they should now prepare to leave, in the event an evacuation order is issued.
The areas in south Lismore are:
The area bordered by Casino Street, Bruxner Highway, Caniaba Street and the Lismore Airport.
Norco Lane, River Road, Elliott Road, Foleys Road, Taylor Street, Wardell Street and Riverview Park.
The northern end of Caniaba Street, Meadow Drive, Charlton Avenue and Scott Place
In north Lismore, evacuation warnings have been issued for:
Winterton Parade
Pitt Lane
Pitt Street
Wotherspoon Street
Lismore city council, in a Facebook post, said:
Low lying properties may experience impacts due to flash flooding and/or riverine flooding. Storm and flood impacts may interrupt essential services such as electricity, phones, internet, water and sewerage.
People in these areas need to closely monitor weather and road closures and make informed decisions early based on individual circumstances. Residents should monitor the situation and be prepared to evacuate when instructed to do so.
A Flood Evacuation Order will be issued by the NSW SES if and when evacuations are required.”
Lance Franklin has been reunited with the ball he kicked for his historic 1,000 AFL goal on Friday night after the fan who caught it in the stands of the Sydney Cricket Ground was identified and invited to present the prized Sherrin to the Sydney Swans player.
At a press conference held with Franklin at the SCG on Monday morning, Swans fan Alex Wheeler said he had always planned to return the valuable piece of memorabilia – reported to have a six-figure value.
“I had a few stubbies that night and went to the pub after but got paranoid that someone would get it from my house so went home pretty early,” Wheeler said on Monday. “It was always my intention to get it back to the Swans and Buddy.
“It’s going to be no good to me, I don’t have a pool room to put it up in unfortunately. It was good to get in contact with the Swans and get it back to them
A woman with cerebral palsy has told a royal commission she was raped, and treated “like a dog” by a paid personal carer who she says beat her after she returned a positive pregnancy test, AAP reports.
The woman, known by the pseudonym Chloe, said the man who began caring for her in 2016, threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse. Chloe, who uses a wheelchair, said the man beat her from “head to foot” and kicked her in the belly “over and over again”, killing the unborn child and almost killing her.
“He had his bad face for me and his good face for everyone else,” she said in a statement read by Counsel Assisting the Disability Royal Commission, Kate Eastman SC, at hearings on Monday in Hobart.
Chloe’s statement said:
He treated me like a dog. There were so many rapes and physical assaults it was awful.
I tried to fight back by scratching him, so he would cut my nails.
I can’t trust anyone any more. It’s been about six years of hell. I’m scared to be in my own house.”
The commission was told the man was charged with multiple counts of rape, grievous bodily harm, torture and assault and was found not guilty at trial.
The royal commission, which will this week hear from survivors of abuse, has been told almost half of all women with a disability will experience physical violence during their lives. According to the figures, 48% will experience physical violence - higher than the rate for women without disability, at 27%.
The State Emergency Services in Queensland have already performed nine rescues from flood waters in the south east of the state.
The SES has also received 80 calls for assistance in Queensland, with the bulk of calls for help centred on Toowoomba.
One man in Queensland has so far died from the flooding. Another man is missing.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology is warning of moderate to major flooding as the weather system moves south into New South Wales.
The Bom’s Dean Narramore said widespread flooding could occur across an area spanning the Northern Rivers down into the mid-north coast of NSW.
However Narramore said it is harder to pinpoint exactly where expected intense rainfalls will occur.
Authorities are warning that the situation in the northern rivers could escalate quickly, and are pleading with locals not to enter or drive through flood waters.
New Zealand to send defence force staff to help on Ukraine intelligence
Eva Corlett
New Zealand will send nine defence force staff to the UK and Belgium to help with the heightened demand for intelligence on the Ukraine war.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said seven intelligence analysts will head to the UK, where some will support intelligence work on the war in Ukraine, and others will join existing teams focused on other parts of the world.
Ardern said:
Two other officers will deploy to the UK and Belgium to enhance our engagement with, and understanding of, partner activities related to Ukraine. One will work with the existing defence attache and New Zealand military representative to NATO, and one will work within the UK’s permanent joint headquarters.”
Ardern said this is in keeping with previous deployments.
We’ve sent in the past defence intelligence personnel to active deployments overseas, such as in Afghanistan, where they were an integral part of our commitment.”
The additional support follows the government’s commitment of $5 million NZD, announced last week, for non-lethal military systems, including defence equipment such as body armour and helmets. Those will be dispatched to Australia tomorrow and on to Ukraine this week, Ardern said.
The government has also approved the use of the defence force’s open-source intelligence capabilities for three months, to allow the UK and other European partners to take advantage of the time difference in New Zealand.
