News from Australia and across Oceania

[AlbertC]

Families living in tree huts as New Zealand housing crisis bites

A 30% rise in people waiting for state housing in Northland region fuels country’s ‘desperate’ shortage in affordable homes

Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin
Fri 29 Nov 2019 01.34 GMT

Families living in tree huts as New Zealand housing crisis bites

A 30% rise in people waiting for state housing in Northland region fuels country’s ‘desperate’ shortage in affordable homes

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

'There are no words': Samoa buries its children as measles outbreak worsens

In six weeks, a measles outbreak has infected 3,000 people out of a population of 200,000, killing 42, mostly children

Sapeer Mayron, in collaboration with the Samoa Observer

Fri 29 Nov 2019 20.00 GMT

'There are no words': Samoa buries its children as measles outbreak worsens

In six weeks, a measles outbreak has infected 3,000 people out of a population of 200,000, killing 42, mostly children

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

New Zealand newspaper publishes cartoon mocking Samoa measles crisis

Otago Daily Times criticised for cartoon joking about measles outbreak that has killed 55

Kate Lyons
Tue 3 Dec 2019 05.17 GMT

New Zealand newspaper publishes cartoon mocking Samoa measles crisis

Otago Daily Times criticised for cartoon joking about measles outbreak that has killed 55

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1201655999637213189

 

[AlbertC]

Gold Coast Young LNP leader suspended over Schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture

Young Liberal National party leader Barclay McGain filmed laughing after teenager he interviewed says Australia shouldn’t celebrate ‘a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel’

Australian Associated Press
Tue 3 Dec 2019 10.50 GMT

Gold Coast Young LNP leader suspended over Schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture

Young Liberal National party leader Barclay McGain filmed laughing after teenager he interviewed says Australia shouldn’t celebrate ‘a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel’

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Revealed: 'monumental' NSW bushfires have burnt 20% of Blue Mountains world heritage area

More than 10% of forest in NSW national parks destroyed by fire this season, with the damage to Gondwana rainforest a ‘global tragedy’

Lisa Cox
Tue 3 Dec 2019 02.42 GMT

More than 10% of the area covered by New South Wales national parks has been burned in this season’s bushfires, including 20% of the Blue Mountains world heritage area, state government data obtained by Guardian Australia has revealed.

The amount of bushland destroyed within NSW national parks dwarfs that of the entire previous fire season, when 80,000 hectares were lost.

Ten times that amount has burnt since July.

Revealed: 'monumental' NSW bushfires have burnt 20% of Blue Mountains world heritage area

More than 10% of forest in NSW national parks destroyed by fire this season, with the damage to Gondwana rainforest a ‘global tragedy’

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

WHO warns measles resurgent as Samoa deaths rise

AFP Staff Contact
Published Tuesday, December 3, 2019 2:08AM EST

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND -- The World Health Organization warned of a "slide back" in global efforts to eliminate measles Tuesday, as the death toll from an outbreak that has killed dozens of children in Samoa continued to climb.

A total of 55 people have died since the epidemic began in mid-October, 50 of them children aged four or under, officials in the Pacific nation said Tuesday.

Another 18 infants are critically ill in hospital and the crisis shows no sign of slowing, with 153 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national total to 3,881 in a population of 200,000.

WHO warns measles resurgent as Samoa deaths rise

The World Health Organization warned of a "slide back" in global efforts to eliminate measles Tuesday, as the death toll from an outbreak that has killed dozens of children in Samoa continued to climb.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[AlbertC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1202446837291962368

https://twitter.com/x/status/1202437829684391937

 

[AlbertC]

Dozens of out-of-control bushfires burn across NSW as conditions expected to worsen

Helen Davidson and agencies
Thu 5 Dec 2019 21.38 GMT

Wind gusts of up to 80km/h in NSW and temperatures 12C above average in Queensland predicted to fan fires

Dozens of out-of-control bushfires burn across NSW as conditions expected to worsen

Wind gusts of up to 80km/h in NSW and temperatures 12C above average in Queensland predicted to fan fires

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Bushfires: Sydney schools cancel sports and outdoor workers lay down tools over hazardous air

Children diverted to school hall during breaks, sporting clubs cancel games and 100 maritime union members stop work at Port Botany as smoke blankets city

• NSW fires: three bushfires merge north of Sydney – live news
• Will wearing a face mask protect me from bushfire smoke?

Naaman Zhou
Fri 6 Dec 2019 05.34 GMT

Bushfires: Sydney schools cancel sports and outdoor workers lay down tools over hazardous air

Children diverted to school hall during breaks, sporting clubs cancel games and 100 maritime union members stop work at Port Botany as smoke blankets city

www.theguardian.com

Murray-Darling authority warns of 'dire' summer of mass fish deaths and blue-green algae

Alert comes as Indigenous group issues plea for states to stick with basin plan or risk marginalising vulnerable communities and endangering river health

Anne Davies
Fri 6 Dec 2019 04.54 GMT

Murray-Darling authority warns of 'dire' summer of mass fish deaths and blue-green algae

Alert comes as Indigenous group issues plea for states to stick with basin plan or risk marginalising vulnerable communities and endangering river health

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Australia fires: blazes 'too big to put out' as 140 bushfires rage in NSW and Queensland

Bureau forecasts heatwave while fire authorities say dozens of fires will burn across Australia for weeks

• How big are the fires burning on the east coast of Australia?
• ‘Get the hell out of Dodge’: the fight to save homes from the NSW central coast inferno
Ben Doherty and Helen Davidson

Sat 7 Dec 2019 06.37 GMT

Australia fires: blazes 'too big to put out' as 140 bushfires rage in NSW and Queensland

Bureau forecasts heatwave while fire authorities say dozens of fires will burn across Australia for weeks

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

'Horrific' Australia wildfire may burn for weeks without heavy rain

Firefighters struggling to control inferno as 100 fires merge together

Lidia Kelly

'Horrific' Australia wildfire may burn for weeks without heavy rain

Firefighters struggling to control inferno as 100 fires merge together

www.independent.co.uk

 

[AlbertC]

New Zealand volcano: five dead after White Island eruption

Up to two dozen people missing after eruption of country’s most active volcano cone

• White Island: five dead and more fatalities likely – latest

Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington and Eleanor Ainge Roy
Mon 9 Dec 2019 08.41 GMT

New Zealand volcano: five dead after White Island eruption

No survivors left on island, say police after disaster leaves up to two dozen people missing

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

New Zealand volcano: Rescuer tells of 'Chernobyl'-like scene

White Island volcano: Rescuer tells of 'Chernobyl'-like scene

A paramedic who saved tourists says conditions were like something from "the Chernobyl mini-series".

www.bbc.com

 

[AlbertC]

Sydney's air 11 times worse than 'hazardous' levels as Australia's bushfires rage

Buildings evacuated as fire alarms triggered and ferry fleet grounded

Michael McGowan
Tue 10 Dec 2019 06.41 GMT

Sydney's air 11 times worse than 'hazardous' levels as Australia's bushfires rage

Buildings evacuated as fire alarms triggered and ferry fleet grounded

www.theguardian.com

Australia bushfire risk soars with extreme temperatures

High temperatures and strong winds are fanning bushfires in Australia. Residents in some areas have evacuated as a precaution.

Australia bushfire risk soars with extreme temperatures | DW | 10.12.2019

High temperatures and strong winds are fanning bushfires in Australia. Residents in some areas have evacuated as a precaution.

m.dw.com