Latest news with #Bega
ABC News
a day ago
- Climate
- ABC News
BTN Newsbreak 01/07/2025
EAST COAST WEATHER A vigorous coastal low has formed off Australia's east coast, and it's already bringing a lot of wild weather. Damaging surf, heavy rain and flooding and dangerous winds are what we can expect in the next few days from the vigorous coastal low that's brewing off the east coast of Australia. A coastal low is a type of low-pressure weather system that usually develops on or near the coast. They form when warm air is pulled into the atmosphere and as air goes up, it leaves less air behind, creating a low pressure. This makes nearby air rush in to fill in the space causing wind. And as the rising air cools, it can form clouds and bring rain or storms. This powerful system is already affecting communities with weather warnings in place from Coffs Harbor all the way to Bega. While emergency services are on standby, authorities are urging people in affected areas to be prepared, like tying down loose items outside, having an emergency kit on the go, staying inside and away from windows, and to stay in the loop with latest weather updates. EUROPE HEATWAVE There's a massive heatwave going on right across Europe at the moment. In France, 200 schools will be closed this week due to the heat, and from UK to Germany temps are 5 to 10 degrees higher than usual. In Spain, it's set to be the hottest June on record, and right throughout the continent people are doing what they can to stay cool. Wildfires have also started in some regions, with more than 50,000 people evacuated from their homes in Türkiye. WIMBLEDON STARTS It was also the hottest first day of Wimbledon on record. 33 degrees is what the temperature got to as players sweltered through their first round match ups. World Number 1 Aryna Sabalenka cruised through her first round matchup, while Aussie and 20th seed Alexei Popyrin lost to the world number 461 Arthur Fery. TERRITORY DAY Today is the 1st of July, which means those up north are celebrating Territory Day! That's right, things are about to get loud in the NT, because Territory Day is also known as cracker night. It's the one time each year when Aussies don't need a permit to buy and set off fireworks. But only in the NT, and fireworks can only be launched between 6 and 11pm. It's all in celebration of the day that the Northern Territory was given the right to govern itself. Before that it was the federal government that made laws for people living up here. But as much fun as fireworks can be fun, improper use can cause a lot of problems, like starting fires, scaring animals, and injuring people. Fireworks are explosives, so it's important to follow the safety guidelines like clearing the area of dry materials, having a hose or buckets of water handy, keeping everyone at a safe distance. And making sure your ready for when they go boom. T-REX RACING First up, to the US state of Washington where more than 300 people dressed up as dinosaurs for the annual T-rex world championship races. But the action wasn't just on the ground. Skydiving t-rexes parachuted from a height of 1,500 metres, landing on the track before making a bolt for the finish line. ROLL CLOUD Now to Portugal where beachgoers were stopped in their tracks by this rather ominous roll cloud. Rolls clouds are pretty rare here in Portugal, which is currently going through a heat wave. They form when warm air meets cooler air, sending the warm air up, up into the sky. DONKEY FESTIVAL And finally to donkeys in the small Colombian town of Moniquirá which are taking part in the annual Donkey Contest. Now in it's 19th year, the event started out as a fun way to support local farmers and highlight the important role donkeys have played as their loyal sidekicks. And despite having a reputation for appearing rather stubborn, I've got to say these donkeys seem extremely patient under all these outfits.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Independent
‘Bomb cyclone' brings extreme rain, floods and damaging winds to Australia's east coast
A rapidly intensifying low-pressure system known as a ' bomb cyclone ' is lashing Australia 's eastern coast with torrential rain and winds of up to 110 kmph, raising fears of flash floods, coastal erosion and major transport disruptions. Millions of people from Coffs Harbour to Bega are in the path of the storm, which is expected to dump over 100 mm of rain in just hours, including up to 200 mm on the central coast. Greater Sydney alone is likely to see 120 mm rain over a six-hour period, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Intense winds and rainfall were already hitting areas from the Mid North Coast to Bega, including Sydney and the Illawarra region, on Tuesday. People in most of coastal Sydney were advised to stay indoors as dangerous winds hit the city, including gusts in excess of 125kmph. And state authorities warned the worst was yet to come. 'It may seem pretty bad but the terrible thing is the situation is going to worsen over the course of the next 24 hours, particularly later this afternoon and into the evening tomorrow,' NSW emergency services minister Jihad Dib noted. 'We are asking people to be as prepared as they possibly can be. That system stretches as far from the Mid North Coast down to potentially Bega on the South Coast. Just the sheer size of it is quite enormous.' NSW State Emergency Service operations manager Dallas Burnes said: 'We're already starting to see the impacts – 600 incidents responded to in the last 24 hours and over a thousand of our volunteers out helping their communities already.' He warned: 'We are really concerned about flash flooding, particularly around the commute home for people this afternoon, as we see those rainfall figures escalate throughout the day.' The bureau said the storm's peak impact was forecast for Wednesday, with a risk of flash flooding in areas such as Wallis Lake near Taree, which was hit hard by deadly floods in May. Weather warnings cover a wide swathe of New South Wales, including Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, Wollongong, and Port Macquarie, where saturated soils from previous floods raise the risk of trees toppling in gusts forecast up to 125 kmph. A bomb cyclone is a storm system that undergoes "bombogenesis", a term used by meteorologists when a large storm rapidly strengthens over a 24-hour period, according to forecaster AccuWeather. While the vast majority of such storms occur over the ocean, the storm can be both tropical and non-tropical. Meteorologist Milton Speer warned this storm's rapid deepening could steer it closer to heavily populated areas. 'When the surface low is more fully developed east of the coast overnight or tomorrow morning under the upper trough, dumb-belling of the surface low is likely to send it closer to the Central and Hunter coasts, returning rain and strong winds to those areas.' He added that research showed the climate crisis had pushed east coast lows to form further south and further offshore than in the past. Experts say that unusually warm ocean temperatures off Australia 's east coast are fuelling the storm's intensity by adding moisture to the atmosphere. 'It seems safe to say that the current very high water temperatures off the eastern Australian coast would help such systems to become intense,' Dr Martin Jucker, senior research fellow in the climate change research centre at the University of New South Wales, said. Conditions are expected to ease by Thursday, but officials are urging residents to be prepared.
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Court hears man watched excessive amounts of pornography before bestiality offences
A Northern Rivers man has avoided jail time after he admitted to multiple bestiality offences on the NSW far south coast. Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find confronting. Joel Kerim appeared in Bega District Court for his sentencing hearing on Thursday after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of bestiality as well as producing and disseminating bestiality material. The offences included the 30-year-old taking photos of himself sexually abusing a female horse at a farm at Frogs Hollow, near Bega, in 2023. "He told police he was in a bad frame of mind at the time," Judge Andrew Haesler told the court. "His regret for his behaviour is clear to me." Judge Haesler told the court Kerim suffered from a pre-existing paraphilia, or atypical sexual interest, and had been consuming "extensive pornography", including bestiality, for 12 months before the abuse of the animal began. Kerim's barrister, John Masters, told the court his client was raised in a "very strict religious home", did not mix with other children growing up, and had begun experimenting sexually with his wife after becoming married. "He was on a 'teach himself' regime when he hit the age of 20," Mr Masters told the court. Judge Haesler told the court Kerim, who is originally from Queensland, had purchased the Frogs Hollow farm with money from a work compensation payout for a spinal injury and was living with his wife when the abuse began in 2023. He told the court that Kerim's ever-increasing use of pornography over time led to the offences. The abuse occurred multiple times on the property over several months before he approached church elders for guidance in January last year and handed himself in to police, Judge Haesler told the court. Judge Haesler told the court that Kerim was disciplined and "ostracised from the church he has been a life-long member of" after approaching them for help, and that he was likely suffering "Biblical punishments". Kerim told the court from the witness stand that he had struggled since being shunned by church elders, and had been forced to move from the far south coast to a Tweed Heads caravan park after media coverage of the abuse impacted his work opportunities. Judge Haesler told the court Kerim's version of events may be disputed when his co-accused and then wife Mikayla Kerim faces trial later this year charged over her alleged involvement. The judge handed Kerim a reduction in his sentence for giving evidence at Ms Kerim's trial, his early guilty plea and good character, telling the court that full-time custody would not help his rehabilitation. Kerim was sentenced to a 15-month intensive corrections order, and ordered to undertake 200 hours of community service and sex offender rehabilitation programs.
ABC News
07-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
WA dairy farmers dismayed at 'stagnant' milk prices amid rising costs
West Australian dairy farmers say they are disappointed by the ongoing stagnation of farmgate milk prices as repeated dry seasons and rising costs take a toll. Processors recently published their 2025-26 supply agreements as part of transparency measures in the Dairy Industry Code of Conduct. For the third successive year, WA processors have been offered no substantive price increase. The disappointment was shared by interstate producers, where processors have offered slight increases. Dairy farmers in WA's South West have called on local milk processors to review their offers, with one major processor, Bega, already conceding to a two-cent-per-litre rise. Brunswick dairy farmer Michael Partridge said the initial price offered by Bega was not enough. "Prices haven't moved for three and a half years; last year was a really hard year for farmers in Western Australia," he said. "The Dairy Farm Performance Program, which Dairy Australia did, showed 50 per cent of dairy farmers made a loss, and there was an average 2 per cent return on investment, and the prices didn't move, which was extremely disappointing." Though 2-cents-per-litre extra from Bega was not enough, Mr Partridge said it was a start. "I was pleased to hear that Bega has announced a 2-cent price rise, but it's not enough to turn the industry around," he said. He called on other big processors to do the same. "We really need the other two processors, Brownes and Lactalis, to follow suit, and push it further," he said. WAFarmers Dairy Council president Ian Noakes, who also runs a dairy in the south west of the state, said the stagnation of pricing ignored the fact that production costs had risen substantially for dairies. Mr Noakes said his lobby group was seeking a 5-cent increase to support farmers to be profitable. He said WA's average farmgate price ranged between 60-70 cents per litre, and that pricing hadn't materially changed in the last three years. While East Coast dairies had access to overseas export markets, WA's dairy farmers were constrained to a comparatively small, local market. For that reason, Mr Noakes partially blamed the major supermarkets' low-priced home brand milk ranges for the subdued pricing offered by WA processors. Mr Noakes recently presented to an ACCC inquiry into Australia's major supermarkets, urging the regulator to recognise the damage of home brand milk ranges. The ABC contacted WA's major dairy processors for comment, of which Coles was the only one to respond. "We introduced a direct sourcing model for our own brand milk in 2019 to ensure we could provide fair, competitive and guaranteed farm gate prices to dairy farmers directly," a Coles spokesperson said in a statement. "Our multi-year agreements for our direct supply dairy farmers aim to support them in longer-term planning, and as part of the process of setting these agreements, we consider a range of factors including supply volumes, customer demand, farm production costs, and dairy market condition,s including commodity prices." Harvey Fresh's parent company, Lactalis, declined to comment, and Brownes and Bega were yet to respond.
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
From ‘architecturally tricky' to ‘awe-inspiring': winners of NSW's 2025 National Trust heritage award revealed
A colonial country hospital almost totally destroyed by fire more than two decades ago has won the top prize in the National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards. The recognition of heritage architecture and conservation projects in the built and natural environment takes place across each state annually. NSW staged its awards on Friday, announcing 20 winners across 10 categories. The revival of Old Bega Hospital was described by judges as 'sensitive, elegantly resolved and a project that sets the standard for heritage conservation'. The judges' choice award recognised Design5 Architects, which used archival drawings and historical photographs in its design, for its ability to 'balance the delicate question of when to retain and when to replace,' the judges said. The collection of buildings on the outskirts of Bega served as the local hospital from 1889 until 1956. By the 1980s the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and were extensively restored for the hospital's centenary – and Australia's bicentenary – in 1988. The buildings and grounds were subsequently used by the community as an art gallery, cafe, marketplace and local radio station headquarters, but a fire in May 2004 tore through the main building and it turned out the property, owned by Crown Lands, was not insured. It would take another nine years for the second restoration to begin. The project was partly funded by a $1.5m Commonwealth Black Summer Bushfires Recovery grant, and fundraising efforts from the Friends of the Old Bega Hospital community group. Restoration was completed in December. The heritage awards also recognised architects Neeson Murcutt Neille, for its restoration of workmen's dwellings in Lower Fort Street at Sydney's historic Dawes Point. The architects had carefully and cleverly resolved an 'architecturally tricky' challenge, judges said, preserving the original historic streetscape while converting dilapidated non-compliant public housing sold off by the NSW Government in 2017 into 27 light-filled apartments. The Aboriginal heritage prize went to the 2024 commemoration project Dhuluny: 200 years of Wiradyuri Resistance, in Bathurst. Led by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation in collaboration with Bathurst Council, Dhuluny was a series of events held over a week in August to commemorate the 200-year anniversary of the declaration of martial law and the ensuing frontier violence on Wiradyuri countryCelebrating the survival and resilience of the Wiradyuri people, the serues included multiple local Indigenous cultural workshops, a conference at Charles Sturt University, a community film festival and an exhibition called Dhuluny: The war that never ended. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The president of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), Kathryn Pitkin, awarded the president's prize to the National Herbarium of New South Wales for its mass scale digitisation of more than one million plant specimens and 250 years of botanical research – a project she described as 'awe-inspiring'. The Port Macquarie Historical Society Inc. won th eadvocacy award, in recognition of its 70-year contribution to heritage protection in the Port Macquarie region. The chief executive of the National Trust (NSW) Debbie Mills, remarked on the impressive geographical spread of the winners: as far afield as Broken Hill, where HSR (Aust) Group and architecture and heritage adviser Elizabeth Vines won for their revival of the dilapidated Pirie Chambers building in Argent Street. The project won the education and interpretation award for its training of local workers in specialised restoration skills. Friday's ceremony was presented by Richard Morecroft and speakers included the former premier of NSW Bob Carr, minister for heritage Penny Sharpe and the awards' jury Chair Matthew Devine. Heritage NSW Acting Executive Director, Elizabeth Owers, praised the 'depth of talent' in the state. 'Communities across the state, from metropolitan centres to regional areas, are the beneficiaries of these outstanding contributions,' she said.
