February
Scramble to set up camp ahead of extreme fire danger
The Wimmera region is slated to have catastrophic fire danger on Wednesday, while extreme fire danger is predicted for five of Victoria’s nine weather districts.
- Callum Godde and Cassandra Morgan
Firefighters battle ‘potentially catastrophic’ breakdowns in Vic blaze
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has thanked Victorian firefighters as another blaze ripped through the state’s west, forcing thousands to evacuate.
- Gus McCubbing
Businesses suffer as Victoria outage blame game erupts
Pramod Patel turfed more than $20,000 worth of stock after his Victorian grocery store lost power for four days, but the political blame game rages on.
- Gus McCubbing
- Updated
- Airports
Airlines face more scrutiny on Sydney Airport flight cancellations
The Albanese government is proposing audits of landing and take off slots at the country’s busiest airport as part of a crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour.
- Jenny Wiggins, Ayesha de Kretser and Maxim Shanahan
How far would you push it to make your mark?
Perth-born Jacobus Capone is willing to clamber over glaciers in the Arctic Circle or bury himself for weeks in a Japanese forest to make art. Only, he wouldn’t call it art.
- John McDonald
More than 3000 still without power a week after Victoria storms
Premier Jacinta Allan says her government will review last week’s mass outages which saw 530,000 homes and businesses lose power.
- Gus McCubbing
Victoria’s mass outage boosts call to bury power lines
Energy expert Tony Wood says Victoria’s mass outage this week due to wild weather means underground transmission lines are worth considering.
- Gus McCubbing
Blackout sparks calls to harden energy grid
Business is questioning Victoria’s move away from gas while farmers accuse the state of a lack of planning, a day after wild storms took down power lines.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith, Gus McCubbing and Ben Potter
Power tariffs may not drop as much as hoped
Cash-strapped households can expect only a modest fall in electricity tariffs from July 1, analysts are warning.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Chile’s fires sweep into urban areas killing scores
Firefighters are struggling to contain forest fires in the centre and south of the country caused by El Niño weather patterns.
- Alexandre Plaza and Patricia Luna
January
Locals ‘traumatised’ as more heavy rain hits Queensland
Queensland’s south-east has again been saturated by heavy rainfall, causing flash flooding in areas still reeling from severe weather last month.
- Keira Jenkins
Clean-up from Kirrily begins following ‘tense’ evening
No lives have been lost in the cyclone and 65,000 homes and businesses across the region remain without power.
- Fraser Barton and Keira Jenkins
Cyclone Kirrily brings rain, winds after crossing coast
Tropical Cyclone Kirrily is expected to “rapidly decay” after crossing the Queensland coast as one of the most powerful systems seen in the north.
- Updated
- Keira Jenkins
Risk of rolling blackouts rises as heatwave stresses power system
Queensland’s energy consumers were holding their breath on Monday as demand surged much higher than expected, fuelling concerns that rolling blackouts will be needed.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Suncorp hopes for a silver lining amid storm clouds and bank headache
Despite some bearish setbacks, could the insurance-banking group still have bullish prospects? Analysts are hoping the poor weather doesn’t hurt so bad.
- Liam Walsh
- Analysis
- Federal election
Albanese ditches playbook in his hustle for a reset
Traditionally, politicians pipe down until after Australia Day. Here’s why the Prime Minister is doing just the opposite.
- Jacob Greber
Wet weather may return in 2024 following El Nino’s peak
El Nino has peaked and may make way for La Nina later this year, increasing the risk of tropical cyclones and damaging flooding, reinsurer Munich Re has warned.
- Michael Read
PM promises funding for Queensland tourism, Victoria demands flood aid
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is inspecting flood damage in two states as clean up efforts continue.
- Andrew Tillett and Gus McCubbing
Record-breaking rain forces evacuations, raises budget warning
Residents of Seymour and Yea were evacuated on Monday and several townships across Victoria and southern NSW were put on watch-and-act alerts for flooding.
- Hannah Wootton and Michael Read
‘Better than expected’: IAG renews disaster cover
While wild storms have triggered tens of thousands of claims, one insurer says the damage is less severe than could have been.
- Liam Walsh