Australia news live: Liberals advised to preselect a woman in Tudge’s seat as Frydenberg rules himself out

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Peter Dutton will campaign in Aston byelection

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has committed to campaigning in Aston to retain outgoing Liberal MP Alan Tudge’s seat.

Dutton is not super popular in progressive Victoria, but he confirmed to Channel Nine he would join the campaign. He said:

Yeah, of course, there’s no question about that. As I say, I mean byelections are always difficult and there are different issues, lots of local issues – the government’s ripped money out of road projects in Aston, they have, I think abandoned the area for a long period of time, and as I say, Alan is a popular local member and that always brings a vote with it, which won’t be present in the byelection. But we’ll preselect a great candidate, and that process has already started. You’ll be seeing lots of us down in Aston and you know, we regularly get to Melbourne.

Dutton is already playing down expectations, describing what was until recently a safe Liberal seat as “a tough seat for us to hold”.

Byelections usually see a swing against the government. In fact, no government has won a seat off the opposition at a byelection in more than 100 years. So it’s a little cute for Dutton to be playing underdog.

Updated at 18.52 EST

Victoria records 52 Covid deaths and 118 people in hospital

There were 2,941 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and seven people are in intensive care.

That’s down from 3,056 cases and 70 deaths last week.

Australia sends rescue personnel to earthquake zone

Australia will send more than condolences, with 72 NSW emergency service personnel flying out of RAAF Base Richmond today to assist with search and rescue efforts, AAP reports.

The contingent includes 52 firefighters specially trained in urban search and rescue operations and disaster response and five special operations paramedics.

Fire and Rescue NSW assistant commissioner David Lewis said the crews were taking everything they needed to be self-sufficient. This includes 22 tonnes of high-tech equipment and critical supplies, from tents and bandages to bolt cutters, chainsaws and drills.

Lewis said:

We are virtually taking a hardware store over with us.

Technical equipment includes search cameras, or “snake cams”, to help find survivors in the rubble; laser building monitoring systems to alert rescue workers when rubble moves; and seismic listening devices, which can detect further tremors and any survivors tapping for help.

Lewis said:

This gear will go wherever our firefighters are deployed … we have everything they’ll need from climbing harnesses and portable radios to triple-A batteries and notepads.

Updated at 17.13 EST

Black ribbon projection in earthquake solidarity

A black ribbon was projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House last night in solidarity with Turkey and Syria as the two nations continue to count the toll of Monday’s earthquakes.

The NSW minister for multiculturalism, Mark Coure, said the projection on the Sydney Opera House sails was a small gesture to show that NSW stands with the people of Turkey and Syria and surrounding nations.

As a multicultural society, when events like this happen we all feel it, and we all rally together to support those affected.

I want to express my sympathy for those with family and friends affected by this terrible tragedy, and we stand in solidarity with the authorities working to support recovery efforts.

You can follow the developments in the region as the death toll passes 20,000 on our live blog dedicated to the event:

Updated at 17.00 EST

“Severe to intense” heatwave for WA

How says there are “severe to intense” heatwave conditions predicted for Western Australia, with the potential for dry lightning:

It is a very remote part of Australia but we are seeing temperatures climbing to the low to mid-40s for places around the Goldfields, up towards the Pilbara and that will continue over the next few days.

Some of the heat is pushing across the east coast. We are seeing low to severe intense heatwave conditions developing across south-east Queensland and up towards the Capricornia over the weekend.

Temperatures all the way up to Mackay in the mid to high 30s. Very hot conditions which will stick around into next week right across the west and east coast.

Updated at 16.59 EST

Drier, warmer weather for NSW

How says NSW should get a reprieve from the intense rain that lashed the state yesterday, with drier and warmer conditions set to return to tomorrow:

We have seen huge storms over the last couple of days for eastern New South Wales on the coast and through inland areas.

We have seen falls above 100mm for large parts, from the south coast, to the Central Coast, which led to flash-flooding and disruption, including around Sydney, the Illawarra and Dubbo.

We are not expecting to see the huge totals today. There is a bit of moisture in the atmosphere.

Showers and storms through eastern New South Wales and down to eastern Victoria and they could produce heavy rainfall, large hail and damaging winds.

We are looking at much drier and warmer conditions from tomorrow.

Updated at 16.45 EST

Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle to make ‘direct hit’ at Norfolk Island

Jonathan How, a senior meteorologist at the bureau of meteorologist, is speaking to ABC News about Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle being upgraded to a severe category three system.

That means the system is capable of producing wind gusts up to 224km/h. Because it is a bit offshore, we are not expecting that along the Queensland coast. It is going to produce hazardous surf conditions and galeforce winds along the coast.

We have warnings current from the Capricornia down to the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast today and it will extend to the Hunter coast and Newcastle from tomorrow .

How says Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle is moving towards the south-east and is expected to make “a direct hit at Norfolk Island”.

We are seeing the strong easterly winds picking up and there is a warning current. That means we will see gales of more than 100km/h develop either tonight or early on Saturday morning and peaking on Saturday night and Sunday morning with gusts up to 140, even higher and large waves and heavy lashing rainfall for Norfolk Island.

We might see the centre of the tropical cyclone pass directly over Norfolk Island. They will see a period of strong winds from one direction and then a deceptive lull in the middle and strong winds from the other direction. It hasn’t happened since 2017 that we have had almost a direct hit for for Norfolk Island. We could see the severe conditions last into Sunday afternoon for Norfolk Island.

Updated at 16.44 EST

Landslides and storm damage in NSW

The rural fire service were one of the emergency partners helping the SES out yesterday. Here’s an idea what those landslides and storm damage looked like:

Updated at 16.39 EST

SES gets 1,337 calls for storm help in NSW

The New South Wales State Emergency Service has responded to 1,337 calls for help, including 65 flood rescues, in the last 24 hours as heavy rain lashed much of the coast yesterday.

The weather affected 21 schools in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, including six declared non-operational in Wollongong.

The greater Sydney area received more than 437 calls for help, with storm and flash flood-related incidents in parts of Sydney, the northern baches, Central Coast and the Hunter.

Further south in the Illawarra and south coast, 378 incidents included flood rescues from vehicles and people stuck in buildings, and landslides with one landslide along Lawrence Hargrave Drive stranding a bus. SES said all occupants of the bus were safe.

In the state’s west, a storm led to more than 239 incidents at Dubbo, including leaking roofs, water damage and a few flood rescues.

NSW SES State Duty Commander Colin Malone said SES volunteers and emergency partners would be out in the field again today.

We will continue to respond and assist communities and work through the impacts of this rain.

We’re asking people to check conditions before travelling. If you come across a flooded road, please do not take the risk, find an alternative route.

The SES say unsettled weather conditions are likely to continue, with the traditional storm season far from over.

Updated at 16.31 EST

Telcos have blocked 90m scam messages since July

We brought you the news on the blog earlier about the first company to breach Australia’s anti-SMS scam rules, months after the regulations came into effect.

AAP has some more details on the work telcos have been doing to block scams:

Since July 2022, Australian telcos have reported blocking almost 90m messages under the new rules.

Last year, financial losses from SMS scams increased by 188% compared to the previous year, from around $2.3m to over $6.5m.

SMS scams accounted for about 32% of all reported scams in 2022.

Updated at 16.15 EST