Key posts
- Death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle rises
- Union bosses want Labor to support wage increases
- Visa lottery to offer 3000 Pacific workers Australian residency
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle rises
The death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle has risen to five as emergency workers survey the destruction from New Zealand’s worst storm this century.
A fifth death was confirmed early on Thursday morning in the Gisborne region, where police believe the person was caught in flood water.
Residents in Taradale, near Napier on Hawke’s Bay, begin cleaning up.Credit:Getty Images
A volunteer firefighter was crushed in a collapsing house in Muriwai, in Auckand’s west, and three have died in Hawke’s Bay, where flash-flooding took many by surprise.
More than 10,000 have been dislocated by the cyclone, with thousands spending the night at civil defence centres in hard-hit regions.
Maik Beekmans, a resident of Eskdale who was on holiday during the cyclone, told Radio NZ a woman was still missing after failing to escape rising waters at his property on Tuesday.
Mr Beekmans’ best friend Gareth and his girlfriend spent three weeks house and dog-sitting when they found themselves in the path of the storm.
“They sought refuge on our bench-top in the kitchen and the water kept rising. He smashed his way through the ceiling,” he said.
“As they were trying to make their way onto the roof, only Gareth made it.
“We think he lost his girlfriend that night. She disappeared underwater. She disappeared under the house and she’s been missing and things aren’t looking great.”
A missing persons report has been filed for the woman, with Mr Beekmans stuck in transit in Auckland and unable to get to Napier to survey his property.
AAP
Union bosses want Labor to support wage increases
Three major union heads and the secretary of a state trades hall are calling on Labor to renew support to increase the wages of Australia’s lowest earners at least in line with inflation in the face of soaring living costs.
United Workers’ Union national secretary Tim Kennedy, Rail, Tram, and Bus Union head Mark Diamond and Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes called for the government to support an increase in line with the consumer price index ahead of this year’s national minimum wage case decided by the Fair Work Commission.
United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy is pushing for wage increases.Credit:Eamon Gallagher
“We also have to ask, after years of wage stagnation while company profits soared, is CPI enough? We don’t think it is,” Kennedy said.
Read more here.
Visa lottery to offer 3000 Pacific workers Australian residency
Australia will launch a lottery to bring 3000 foreign workers into the country every year under a new law to be proposed that adapts the “green card” system used in the United States to give the winners a pathway to citizenship.
In a departure from decades of visa policy, the federal government will open the scheme to people from across the Pacific, so they can apply for permanent residency in the hope of winning the random selection.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the Pacific Island Forum last July in Suva, Fiji.Credit:Joe Armao
But the two-step scheme will require those who succeed at the first stage to secure a job offer in Australia and meet tests to check their health, character and basic English skills before they can arrive. The applicants also have to be aged from 18 to 45.
The Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, says the draft law will be introduced to federal parliament on Thursday with a vow to build up communities in Australia with strong ties to the region.
More on this news here.
US nuclear-armed bomber allowed under Australian treaty obligations
American B-52 bombers armed with nuclear warheads could rotate through Australia without breaching treaty obligations, the nation’s most senior defence public servant has indicated.
The Australian public would never be informed whether such aircraft are carrying nuclear weapons under the so-called US policy of “warhead ambiguity” in which it neither confirms nor denies if particular forms of military equipment are nuclear-armed.
The US is planning to build dedicated facilities for up to six B-52 bombers, pictured, at the Tindal air base, south of Darwin.Credit:AP
While adamantly refusing to address hypothetical scenarios, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “The responsible way of handling this is to recognise that the US has a ‘neither confirm nor deny position’ which we understand and respect.”
Read more from our foreign affairs and national security correspondent here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
It’s Thursday, February 16. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- Major union bosses want Labor to renew support to increase wages of Australia’s lowest earners in line with inflation.
- Australia will launch a “green card” style lottery to bring up to 3000 foreign workers into the country under a new law that adapts system used in the United States.
- American bombers carrying nuclear warheads could travel through the country without breaching treaty obligations.
- Treasury modelling confirms the government’s price caps on domestic gas would mean household gas bills would be lower in the next financial year.
- Turning to major news overseas, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has resigned.
- And in New Zealand where a cyclone has left at least four people dead, while police hold “grave concerns” for those who remain missing. An earthquake also hit Wellington.
- Finally, the US declassifies evidence of Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine.
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