Tropical Cyclone Alfred live updates: BoM tracking map forecast shows category 2 storm hitting Brisbane and south-east Qld; landfall in Queensland and NSW delayed as storm slows – latest news

Northern Rivers NSW SAS have issued an emergency warning for South Lismore residents to evacuate before 9pm tonight due to flooding from Cyclone Alfred.

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The evacuation notice applies to South Lismore, a suburb in the Lismore region, and surrounds, including all properties along Kyogle Road between Casino Street and Leycester Road, low-lying areas near Ostrom Street, parts to the north of Hollingsworth Creek, the industrial area, all properties around Casino and Union streets, and the airport.

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“You must evacuate before [9pm] because forecasted heavy rainfall will close evacuation routes,” the warning says.

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If you remain in the area, you may become trapped without power, water, and other essential services. It may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you, and buildings may not be able to withstand the impact of flood water.

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Rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred may cause rapid river rises and extensive flooding, the warning continued.

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Heavy and locally intense rainfall is forecast from Thursday into the weekend over Northern NSW. Flash flooding is possible. High tides and large waves are expected to increase the flood risk and impacts in low lying coastal areas.

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An evacuation centre has been erected at Southern Cross University on Military Road, East Lismore.

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More on that reported security incident at Avalon airport.

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Victoria police have confirmed they were called to the airport outside Melbourne at 2.50pm after reports a man with a firearm attempted to board a commercial flight.

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The man was detained before getting on the plane.

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The man is in custody and no injuries have been reported.

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Turning away from the live press conference on Cyclone Alfred for a short moment:

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Authorities are investigating a security incident at Melbourne’s Avalon airport on Thursday afternoon.

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The incident at the city’s secondary airport, from which only Jetstar operates commercial flights, was understood to have occurred onboard a passenger plane used for a Sydney service.

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In a statement, a Jetstar spokesperson said:

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We’re aware of a security incident at Avalon airport this afternoon and are working with police and the airport to urgently understand what has occurred. The safety of our passengers and crew is our number-one priority and we can confirm there are no reported injuries.

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The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, is now speaking live. He says there have been 700 requests for SES assistance, and urges residents in affected areas make an evacuation plan:

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I have to say overwhelmingly the response has been remarkable. Particularly in the last 24 hours there’s been a real awareness, and I do want to thank Queenslanders for the way they’ve responded, and I know as a result of many people who have done our work for us in going to reach out to vulnerable people, to colleagues at work and speak to neighbours, that’s made all the difference.

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Have an evacuation plan. The best one is, can you go and stay with friends or family? That’s the most comfortable place, the safest place.

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For those who can’t I stress you continue to see the councils gear up to provide refuge centres. There are currently 26 that have been identified across the area.

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Crisafulli says the local government websites have a disaster dashboard available, with more information.

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The acting Gold Coast mayor, Donna Gates, is speaking live, giving the latest updates in the region.

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She anticipates “the worst impact for the Gold Coast” will be before Cyclone Alfred crosses on Friday evening or Saturday morning:

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Cyclone Alfred is extremely erratic. It is now moving towards the coast but more slowly, likely now to cross on Saturday morning. But given it is so erratic, we have been warned that there is still a possibility that it might be Friday evening.

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So, the worst impact for the Gold Coast is likely to be before the cyclone crosses.

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Gates says winds could get up to 100km/h tomorrow, and there still remains a risk of significant storm surge. Sea levels for Redlands and the Gold Coast could reach 1.5m above the highest astronomical tide. Heavy to intense rainfall is expected late today until at least Saturday, with the cumulative rain total to reach 800mm.

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Gates also warned of flash and riverine flooding:

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People need to know both of those outcomes can be life-threatening.

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Airlines are continuing to cancel flights en masse ahead of Cyclone Alfred reaching land. Qantas and Jetstar have announced they will halt all international and domestic flights in and out of Brisbane from Thursday afternoon.

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Hundreds of flights have already been cancelled in recent days, with Gold Coast and Ballina airports in northern New South Wales shut since Wednesday. Other airports, including Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, remain open for limited services.

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While Brisbane airport will remain open for now to host emergency flights and other remaining services, Qantas has announced it will suspend all operations, including those of its budget carrier Jetstar.

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Multiple international carriers have also suspended services into Brisbane ahead of the cyclone.

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The Qantas suspensions will take effect mid-afternoon on Thursday. International operations will be suspended until at least midday Saturday, and domestic operations will be suspended until at least Sunday morning. Qantas services at Gold Coast and Ballina airports will remain suspended until the same time.

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Airlines are understood to be bracing for Alfred’s impact. Some are relocating aircraft normally parked at Brisbane to avoid damage, while remaining aircraft will be weighed down with concrete blocks.

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Cyclone Alfred has caused the suspension Qantas and Jetstar flights out of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ballina and Coffs Harbour airports. Qantas Group has given us these details below:

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  Brisbane: Qantas and Jetstar flights will be suspended from mid-afternoon. International flights are paused until at least midday Saturday local time, and domestic ones are suspended until at least Sunday morning.

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  Gold Coast: Qantas and Jetstar operations are currently suspended. Domestic flights are paused until at least Sunday morning local time, while Jetstar international flights are suspended until at least midday Saturday local time.

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  Ballina: Qantas and Jetstar operations are suspended until at least Sunday morning local time.

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  Coffs Harbour: Qantas flights are expected to resume on Friday.

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Qantas Group said that flights to and from Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay continued to operate.

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Peter Scott the CEO of Energy Queensland says there are now 5,000 people in the state without power with those numbers expected to rise:

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Currently in the Energex area, particularly Redland and Gold Coast, we have 5,000 outages of customers, that has increased only in the last couple hours it was 1,500 at 8am.

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We expect it to increase as the wind comes on more. We have staff in the field repairing as we speak but they only will be able to do so while it’s safe.

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…There has been a bit of social media around Energex turning off power. It is just completely false, it is fake news, we don’t turn off power in the sort of outages, Mother Nature does enough of that.

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The Queensland SES are giving an update on the numbers of sandbags which will be especially important for the flooding they predict will occur immediately following the cyclone:

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The SES has over 350,000 sandbags currently in their position ready to be deployed. A separate 403,000 sandbags were distributed yesterday to a local government areas and another 300,000 sandbags have arrived this morning.

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This is not only to ensure the community can prepare for that storm surge flooding they have been preparing for and the onset of the cyclone but also for that flash flooding and riverine flooding that may occur over the next few days from the rainfall that is predicted.

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… Have a plan not only for the cyclone but the rainfall we are going to see following that cyclone, because there won’t be a huge gap in between. We see the cyclone come through and we will see the rainfall immediately follow.

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ready for collection at Camp Hill in Brisbane on Thursday.”,”caption”:”Sandbags ready for collection at Camp Hill in Brisbane on Thursday.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1741224978000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”20.36 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1741225667000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”20.47 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1741225231000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”20.40 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”20.40″,”title”:”Queensland SES deploys more than a million sandbags”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Mar 2025 02.20 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 5 Mar 2025 14.22 EST”},{“id”:”67c8f9fa8f08024bffe6b12d”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

As for the huge swells, Collopy says:

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n

Large swells and powerful waves have been observed along the Queensland coast for several days now, and the wave recorded off the Gold Coast recorded a 12.3 metre maximum wave height late yesterday. That is a record for that site.

n

Coastal hazard warnings for damaging surf and abnormally high tides continue to the south of Sandy Cape. Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to produce the risk of a significant storm surge, and again that is most likely around the southern side of the system.

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This means as the system crosses the coast, we may see sea levels half one metre above the normal highest astronomical tides, and if the system crosses at exactly high tide, there is the risk of seeing storm surges up to 1.5 metres, particularly around the Redlands Bay area and the Gold Coast.

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swells at Kirra on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.”,”caption”:”Large swells at Kirra on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Jason O’Brien/EPA”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1741224442000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”20.27 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1741226005000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”20.53 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1741224506000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”20.28 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”20.28″,”title”:”BoM warns of ‘significant storm surge’ risk as cyclone nears coast”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Mar 2025 02.20 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 5 Mar 2025 14.22 EST”},{“id”:”67c8f6c08f089a73ce99ea6e”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Crisafulli says:

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n

There are 1,030 schools closed today and there will be that same amount closed tomorrow.

n

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Queensland premier David Crisafulli is speaking, saying the cyclone’s crossing has pushed into the early hours of Saturday morning, as of the last few minutes:

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n

It remains as a category two and obviously we have seen the delay in the system heading towards the coast. It literally in the last few minutes, we have been updated that that could now push into Saturday morning.

n

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Brisbane city council plans to reopen its sandbag depots, with Tropical Cyclone Alfred moving slower than expected.

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shovel sand”,”caption”:”Members of Eastern Suburbs soccer club fill sandbags at Heath park yesterday.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Albert Perez/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Four resource recovery centres will open at 10am. They are at:

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  1372 Nudgee Road, Nudgee Beach

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  360 Sherbrooke Road, Willawong

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  101 Upper Kedron Road, Ferny Grove

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  728 Tilley Road, Chandler

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The seven fill-your-own sandbag distribution points will reopen at 10.30am.

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They are at:

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  Mortimer Road park – 174 Mortimer Road, Acacia Ridge

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  The former Toowong bowls club – corner Gailey Road and Heroes Avenue, Toowong

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  Whites Hill reserve – 258 Boundary Road, Camp Hill

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  Boondall Entertainment Centre, Car Park 2 – 1 Melaleuca Drive, Boondall

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  Davies park, Montague Road, West End

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  Atthows park, Monier Road, Darra

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  Murarrie recreational reserve, Wynnum Road, Murarrie

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The council’s website will list the availability of sand at each site, along with wait times.

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More than 400,000 sandbags have been collected or filled in the council area alone since Friday, more than double the number used in the 2022 flood.

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Sand and bags will be provided onsite but residents should bring their own shovels and cable ties.

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Jane Golding says even though the landfall of the cyclone has been delayed, the impact has not lessened:

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The key message is that the crossing of the eye of the system has delayed but we still expect similar impact and we expect what that means as well is that we will have longer for the rain to fall and the wind to do the damage.

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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking from a national coordination centre in Canberra about the Cyclone:

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n

At the worst of times we always see the best of Australian character. I said yesterday that there were no political parties in this process, and there are no borders. Tropical Cyclone Alfred certainly does not recognise any borders, and nor should the government’s response.

n

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About a dozen people have sought shelter in a refuge centre in the heart of Brisbane, the ABC reports, where the sun is shining and winds calm, with the expected landfall of Cyclone Alfred delayed.

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Brisbane city council opened the RNA showgrounds – which hosts the annual Ekka show – as a refuge “of last resort” at 7am Thursday morning.

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Brisbane and neighbouring Redlands council, which encompasses the bayside suburbs and Moreton Bay islands, are yet to announce evacuation centres as most council facilities are not built to withstand the destructive winds of a cyclone.

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The premier and mayors have been urging people who decide or are advised to evacuate to seek shelter with family and friends, or in motels if they can. Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said:

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n

The Refuge Shelter will be a short-term facility designed to protect people during the predicted peak wind period Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and is a place of last resort.

n

The shelter will include only basic amenities and will not have beds or cooking facilities.

n

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Evacuation centres will be stood up at appropriate locations in the event of significant flooding.

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Redlands opened six refuge centres on Thursday morning, one on the mainland and the others in island communities.

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To the north, Moreton Bay council has opened three evacuation centres and the Sunshine Coast and Noosa councils have each opened a place of refuge.

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To the south Logan has opened an evacuation centre and two places of refuge and the Gold Coast has three evacuation centres.

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Emergency dashboards for 20 local government areas in Queensland potentially affected by the cyclone list places of refuge and evacuation centres and can be found here.

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There are now 242 public schools non-operational across NSW, according to the Department of Education. Those schools are throughout the northern areas affected by the cyclone, including Ballina, Bangalow, Bellingen, Byron Bay, Casino, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo, Grafton, Kempsey, Kingscliff, Lennox Head, Lismore, Mullumbimby, Nambucca Heads, Port Macquarie, Taree, Toormina, Tweed Heads and Yamba.

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You can see the full list of public and independent schools scheduled to remain closed until at least Friday due to Cyclone Alfred here.

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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC News Breakfast from his electorate of Logan in Queensland where he says it is the “calm before the storm”:

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n

We’re preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. There is a lot of stress and anxiety. People are obviously very concerned and very worried about what the next couple of days might bring …

n

There’s a lot of people in harm’s way here. We’re talking about something like four and a half million Australians, potentially in harm way, 1.8m homes, and we expect that there’ll be billions of dollars of damage done by Cyclone Alfred and so the best thing we can do is prepare and stay informed, make sure that people are accessing all of the relevant information and getting it from trusted sources …

n

It’s rare for a cyclone to be this far south and to threaten such a huge population area, but we do learn from previous natural disasters.

n

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All three levels of government were working together, Chalmers said, and the government would be there for affected communities in the aftermath.

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Good morning, my name is Natasha May and I’ll be keeping you updated with this live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Alfred until the afternoon.

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Queenslanders in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred could face a further 24-hour wait until the system makes landfall, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

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Advice to residents is now that Alfred’s track to the coast has slowed and that it will probably cross the south-east Queensland coast at some point on Friday.

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But the bureau says it’s also possible that Alfred stalls further as it heads towards Moreton Bay, and might not reach the populated coastline until Saturday.

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It would still probably hit the coast as a “high-end” category-two system, but possibly a category-three. The centre should cross somewhere between Maroochydore and Coolangatta.

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An updated briefing from just after 5am on Thursday says the models – which had largely been consistent in showing Alfred’s track to the coast – had shown “greater variation in the strength of the steering flow”:

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n

The consensus is now for slower westward motion and as a result a delayed time of coastal crossing.

n

The latest track indicates a coastal crossing is more likely during daylight hours on Friday, however the spread of guidance now includes the possibility of crossing being delayed until Saturday.

n

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Welcome to our live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

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Overnight, the cyclone travelled in a little circle out to sea, a manoeuvre which has thrown off yesterday’s predictions of when it would make landfall.

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As of 5am, the revised track map has the storm’s eye crossing the coast directly over Brisbane at 4pm on Friday, by which stage it will be a category-one storm.

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Communities from Double Island Point south to Grafton, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina, are in the warning zone.

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Natasha May will be with you shortly, bringing you updates through the day.

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warning sign seen in front of massive waves, stirred by Tropical Cyclone Alfred at the coastal NSW town of Ballina on Wednesday”,”caption”:”A danger sign”,”credit”:”Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1741202531000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”14.22 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1741206812000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”15.33 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1741202531000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”14.22 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”14.22″,”title”:”Good morning”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Mar 2025 02.20 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 5 Mar 2025 14.22 EST”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”,”absoluteServerTimes”:false,”renderingTarget”:”Web”}”>

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Janelle Saffin, MP for Lismore, says she knows it is difficult to leave your home “but if you get an evacuation order, please do it, because I want you safe”. She is speaking from a live press conference as Cyclone Alfred nears:

It’s difficult to leave your home. I know that. And I’m saying to people, it’s hard to do it, but if you get an evacuation order, please do it, because I want you safe. Your family wants you safe. Your neighbours want you safe. We all do. I know it’s hard. You can take your pets, so don’t worry, you can take your pets to your family and friends or the evacuation centre, and just make sure that you do it in daylight, because it’s much easier. That’s why it’s before 9pm. I know it’ll get a little bit dark, but we just want you to be safe.

NSW premier Chris Minns is addressing press from Lismore alongside minister for emergency services Jihad Dib, member for Lismore Janelle Saffin, and the SES acting chief superintendent with updates on evacuation orders ahead of Cyclone Alfred.

Minns listed the locations alerted to evacuate before 9pm, and warned that communities who remain in those areas may become trapped:

Those communities, if they remain in the area, they become trapped. They may be without power, water and other essential services for extended period of time. We’re forecasting very heavy rain, and in the event of that, very heavy rain, evacuation routes may be closed.

If you’re able to leave and stay with family and friends over the next period of time before nine o’clock, we urge you to do so, and if you don’t have a safe place to go, the SES … have established evacuation centres across the Northern Rivers.

Evacuation warnings in 11 northern NSW areas

NSW SES has emergency warnings for 11 locations to evacuate before 9pm tonight. They are:

• Tweed catchment: Uki, Fingal Heads and Tumbulgum

• Lismore catchment: North Lismore, South Lismore, Lismore CBD and East Lismore

• Brunswick catchment: Billinudgel

• Richmond catchment: Low lying parts of Kyogle and Coraki, Bungawalbin

Meanwhile, 248 public schools across New South Wale’s north coast will be closed again on Friday “to safeguard students and staff as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches,” the NSW Department of Education said.

South Lismore residents told to evacuate before 9pm tonight

Northern Rivers NSW SAS have issued an emergency warning for South Lismore residents to evacuate before 9pm tonight due to flooding from Cyclone Alfred.

The evacuation notice applies to South Lismore, a suburb in the Lismore region, and surrounds, including all properties along Kyogle Road between Casino Street and Leycester Road, low-lying areas near Ostrom Street, parts to the north of Hollingsworth Creek, the industrial area, all properties around Casino and Union streets, and the airport.

“You must evacuate before [9pm] because forecasted heavy rainfall will close evacuation routes,” the warning says.

If you remain in the area, you may become trapped without power, water, and other essential services. It may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you, and buildings may not be able to withstand the impact of flood water.

Rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred may cause rapid river rises and extensive flooding, the warning continued.

Heavy and locally intense rainfall is forecast from Thursday into the weekend over Northern NSW. Flash flooding is possible. High tides and large waves are expected to increase the flood risk and impacts in low lying coastal areas.

An evacuation centre has been erected at Southern Cross University on Military Road, East Lismore.

Cait Kelly

Automated Centrelink debt collection erodes public trust, says Economic Justice Australia

While we are on income apportionment, the peak organisation for community legal centres, Economic Justice Australia, has called for the government to waive all current debts calculated via the controversial method. It also wants the government to implement a six-year debt recovery limitation, as the Robodebt Royal Commission recommended, and increase funding for specialist social security legal services.

CEO Kate Allingham said in a statement:

The fact we’re here again is shocking. The legality of a Government measure that determines people’s social security is being called into question, which should be a huge scandal by any metric – but it is coming off the back of Robodebt, of countless ‘IT glitches’, of any number of issues with Government systems that have been proven to be insufficient at best and, in some cases, outright illegal.

It is impossible for the public to have any trust in the Government if, not only are systems put in place to protect people found to be deficient, but they continue to be used for years unlawfully without any apparent checks and balances.

These are not simple mistakes someone made at their job. Centrelink debts can significantly reduce people’s already meagre payment. The fact an unlawful system has been allowed to continue unchecked for decades underpins what was found in the Robodebt Royal Commission, which is that the Government needs to adequately fund social security legal services that assist people in navigating these issues. Millions of people have already been affected by successive Governments’ proven inability to do so themselves.

Cait Kelly

Services Australia defends controversial debt recovery method at federal court

The income apportionment case is in the federal court today. This could potentially have huge implications for hundreds and thousands of jobseekers – and billions of dollars of debt.

Income apportionment was the complex system used by Services Australia when it could not determine whether payslips, used to calculate welfare debts, aligned with the fortnightly income reporting periods, such as when a payslip did not show hours or days worked.

In August last year, a tribunal found Matthew Chaplin, who had been on youth allowance, had had his debt in 2014 incorrectly calculated.

Here, academic and welfare expert Chris Rudge explains the case:

Chaplin argues that the alleged debt should be a nullity (zero) at least until the secretary’s strong evidence gathering powers are exercised to collect more evidence to prove the existence of a debt.

Chaplin’s argument is based on the mechanics of the debt calculator rules, which put very specific guard rails around when income is aid to be earned, derived or received. Chaplin argues that these guardrails are being too casually followed by the secretary, resulting in significant errors.

[He] also says that the secretary has vey strong evidence gathering powers that they did not use in this case. They say the department should not be able to simply use interpretation of the law to raise a debt and choose not to seek more evidence. By contrast, the secretary/commonwealth says that the social security system is designed to reduce entitlements in a cost effective manner and that, therefore, the secretary is permitted to draw inferences of fact about when a debt exists.

The commonwealth argues that those powers were exercised appropriately and that the guardrails put in place are all facilitative of the secretary’s broad debt recovery functions and should not impede the secretary’s work of debt recovery.

Photo: ‘Catching air’

Photographer Amber J Cowley captured the moment a surfer flipped over a huge wave caused by the approaching Cyclone Alfred – “Catching air,” Cowley put it – while ripping at The Bluff at Alexandra Headland on the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

Here is the photo:

Benita Kolovos

Victorian anti-vilification legislation stalls

The Victorian government’s anti-vilification legislation won’t be voted on at parliament this week, with Labor yet to reach an agreement with the crossbench to secure enough support for it to pass.

The justice legislation amendment (anti-vilification and social cohesion) bill, if passed, will expand Victoria’s existing legal protections against vilification, which currently only cover race and religion, to cover disability, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation.

It would also make serious vilification – such as incitement of hatred or physical threats – offences punishable by up to five years’ jail.

But the Coalition opposition said they would not support the bill in its current form, meaning the government is trying to negotiate with the crossbench to get it over the line.

While the Greens say the negotiations are going well, they are yet to form a position on the bill. Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said she was hopeful for an outcome soon:

I’ve made it clear that I support new anti-vilification laws and it’s really important that we get this legislation passed. There are a range of communities that aren’t protected now that would be under the new attributes. My office has been consulting with stakeholders and community legal centres, and if the government accepts some sensible amendments, hopefully we will see an outcome soon.

Avalon airport incident: man attempted to board flight with firearm, police say

Elias Visontay

More on that reported security incident at Avalon airport.

Victoria police have confirmed they were called to the airport outside Melbourne at 2.50pm after reports a man with a firearm attempted to board a commercial flight.

The man was detained before getting on the plane.

The man is in custody and no injuries have been reported.

Twelve councils ready to begin cleanup, reconstruction authority says

Jake Ellwood from the Queensland reconstruction authority says 12 councils have been activated in preparation for cleanup after Cyclone Alfred crosses. He talked through the recovery process a short while ago:

In terms of recovery … first is the cleanup. It is vital because families and individuals, they cannot move on until things are cleaned up. We saw wonderful efforts by the SES and the Queensland Fire Department to get that cleanup done so well in the north, and again it will happen and we know we have already activated 12 councils from the Fraser Coast to the Gold Coast to make sure that we are ready for that cleanup.

We then undertake damage assessments to fully understand the damage of how many homes have moderate, severe or minor damage so that we can support community through the recovery process.

Then there is the emergency work to make sure that roads and other things that have been damaged are functional and safe to use so that communities can move on and then we get into the deeper reconstruction.

Of course, as always, we make sure we emerge from these stronger than we went in.

Firefighters from across Queensland redeployed to south-east

The Queensland fire service commissioner, Stephen Smith, said additional personnel from across the state have been deployed in the south-east in preparation for the crossing of Cyclone Alfred.

He said 23 hubs with specialist firefighter and swift-water rescue teams have been established “to provide immediate response and capacity across those impacted communities”.

We have hundreds of RFS Queensland and Fire and Rescue staff and volunteers ready to respond when it is safe to do so to support that recovery. So they are in place and ready to respond as and when conditions are needed.

The acting police commissioner, Shane Chelepy, warned residents in affected areas to prepare for the storm surge, flash flooding and riverine flooding as Cyclone Alfred nears the coast. He spoke live a short while ago.

This is significant rainfall that won’t only cause flash flooding in … the most impacted areas, but prolonged riverine flooding, and it’s important we are now preparing for this potential rainfall.

Our riverines, our creeks are very wet and will respond very quickly to intense rainfall as it falls. The emergency services are prepared. They are prepositioned and they are able to respond, but it is now important that communities understand their risk and start to put plans in place not only for the cyclone approaching, the winds, the storm surge, but also for flash flooding and riverine flooding over the next few days, should they be impacted by these events.

Chelepy urges residents to begin lifting furniture from low-lying areas in houses to higher ground, putting valuables such as passports, driver licences and credit cards in a waterproof container, and making sure residents have a plan in place to leave if required.

He also urges people do not drive through floodwaters:

This risky behaviour puts yourself, your family, but also our emergency service workers at severe risk when we have to come and rescue you.

Up to 800mm of rain possible across coming days, BoM says

Heavy rainfall is pushing across the Gold Coast and stretching up through the Scenic Rim, along the Bay Islands and into Brisbane, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Matthew Collopy said a short while ago.

Daily rainfall totals of 300 to 400mm are expected to stretch through Friday and into Saturday. “This could mean the event totals up to 800mm,” Collopy said.

“This heavy to intense rainfall is expected to produce both flash and riverine flooding,” he said.

Flood watches are current for minor to major flooding across the Mary River, the creeks and rivers of the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, the upper and lower Brisbane River catchments, as well as the Logan, Albert, Condamine and Macintyre rivers.

Waves of 12.3m recorded off Gold Coast

Back to Cyclone Alfred, and authorities are addressing the media live in Queensland.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Matthew Collopy warned of damaging winds in exposed coastal locations a short while ago.

The outer Moreton Bay area has received gusts above 90km/h – “which is the damaging wind threshold that we use,” Collopy said. He says gusts up to 150km/h are expected late on Friday through Saturday:

Those winds are expected to continue, increasing as we move through today, and then continue increasing through Friday as well. Potential for destructive winds, so those gusts up to 150km/h, are expected on those exposed coastal locations as tropical cyclone Alfred approaches and crosses those bay islands late on Friday and through Saturday.

Large swells and powerful waves have also been observed along the Queensland coast for several days, Collopy said:

We are seeing inundation and extreme wave heights. We recorded waves of 12.3m off the Gold Coast, so those extreme waves are causing hazards to the coastal areas.

TC Alfred is also expected to produce a significant storm surge around the southern side of the system. This means as the system crosses, sea levels may be [50cm] to 1m above the normal highest tide.

At some exposed locations around the Gold Coast and southern Redlands, it was possible to see storm surges up to 1.5m, Collopy said.