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A controversial offshore migrant detention centre on Christmas Island is to reopen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Wednesday, as he doubled down on hardline policies after a historic legislative defeat. Morrison approved the reopening of the remote facility -- closed just months ago -- claiming new laws just passed by parliament would increase the number of people trying to arrive in Australia illegally. On Tuesday and Wednesday parliament rebuffed government warnings and adopted legislation opening the door for some of the 1,000 refugees detained in existing offshore centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island to travel to Australia for medical treatment if the transfers are requested by two or more doctors. It was the first time in decades that an Australian government has lost a vote on its own legislation in the House of Representatives. Morrison brushed aside suggestions that the law would only apply to those already in detention and accused the opposition of trying to "weaken and compromise our borders". His government, he said, was adopting "100 percent" of a series of recommendations from the country's security services to further tighten efforts to prevent the arrival of migrants and asylum-seekers by sea. He declined to specify what those classified measures were, other than to announce the reopening of the camp on Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory some 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) northwest of the western city of Perth. "If they don't come, it will be because of the work and the decisions we are now taking and the actions we are putting in place," Morrison said. "If they do come, you can thank the Labor Party and (opposition leader) Bill Shorten." But authorities on Christmas Island questioned the move to reopen the detention centre, saying their health facilities are limited and they "quite regularly" medically evacuate people because their small hospital cannot handle complex treatment.  "We just wouldn't have the capacity here to deal with people coming here for medical reasons," Shire of Christmas Island CEO David Price told national broadcaster ABC, adding they do not have the specialists to deal with serious mental health problems. Price said the shire had not been consulted on Morrison's decision, which he labelled a "political knee-jerk reaction". Morrison's decision comes as both parties gear up for a bitter campaign ahead of a general election due in May and amid fierce debate over the conservative government's harsh immigration policies. Those policies have seen thousands of asylum-seekers languish for years on Manus and Nauru under conditions widely condemned by the United Nations and human rights organisation. A dozen refugees have already died in the Manus and Nauru camps and a number have attempted suicide, including children. "Ensuring access to adequate medical care for refugees and asylum-seekers is a life-saving, humanitarian act," said Louise Aubin, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Canberra. The opposition Labor party responded furiously to what it called Morrison's "scare tactics" and said he was manufacturing a fear of migrants to win votes. Labor's shadow solicitor general Mark Dreyfus accused Morrison of encouraging "people smugglers to re-start their evil trade," declaring him "not fit to be PM of this country". Morrison refused calls to step down or call an early election in the wake of the parliamentary setback, insisting that Australians would have time to make their choice in May.  Opinion polls consistently show the Labor Party easily taking control of government in the election. The facility on Christmas Island once held thousands of people and was the scene of violent protests by detainees complaining of harsh conditions. The last 35 detainees were taken off the island last October, when the camp was shuttered.

Australia’s conservative minority government suffered a damaging political defeat yesterday, becoming the first administration in nearly a century to lose a vote on major legislation and sparking calls for a snap election. Despite a bruising and highly personal lobbying effort, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was defeated by MPs who insisted refugees held in offshore facilities have the right to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment. It is the first time in decades that an Australian government has lost a vote on a substantive piece of legislation, sparking applause and cheers from observers in the parliamentary viewing gallery in Canberra. Morrison lost his parliamentary majority last year and has been relying on crossbenchers to keep control of the lower House of Representatives. But the 75-74 vote – which came on the first sitting day of parliament this year – in favour of the refugee bill opposed by the government is a blow to the already embattled prime minister and raised questions about whether he can remain in office. When the sitting government last lost a vote on substantive legislation in 1929, then prime minister Stanley Bruce immediately called an election, and lost it. The government of prime minister Arthur Fadden lost a symbolic budget vote in 1941 and immediately resigned. Morrison ruled out calling a snap election, saying the vote was not a no-confidence motion in his government and he was still planning for a national poll in May. “These are not matters that go to issues of confidence and I don’t consider them in those terms,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. The bill passed with the support of the main opposition Labor Party and crossbenchers from the left-leaning Greens and independent MPs. Many of the independent MPs have indicated they want the government to serve its full term, which ends in May. The bill, which is an amendment to government legislation, was first passed by the upper house in December, and will return to the Senate for a vote today after several changes were made to it. It is expected to pass as the coalition does not have the numbers in the upper house to block it. The push to speed up medical evacuations was first made by independent MP Kerryn Phelps last year after she won the Liberal Party stronghold of Wentworth when former PM Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party coup. Since then, the government had lurched from crisis to crisis, and a disastrous showing in elections in Victoria state intensified expectations it is heading for defeat in May. The vote in favour of the bill came amid growing concern about the wellbeing of asylum-seekers sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea, with reports of abuse, suicide and lengthy detention periods. Under a harsh policy meant to deter asylum-seekers from reaching Australia by boat, Canberra sends arrivals to the camps for processing and barred them from resettling in Australia. Rights groups praised the vote, with the Human Rights Law Centre calling it a “watershed moment in refugee politics and Australian history”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison fired the starter’s gun on his re-election drive yesterday, promising to keep Australians safe in a dangerous and sometimes “evil” world. Painting a grim picture of a country threatened by terrorism, people smuggling, drugs, natural disasters and crime, Morrison argued the opposition Labor Party under its chief Bill Shorten were “asleep at the wheel” on security.  Australians are expected to go to the polls in mid-May to decide whether Morrison’s conservative Liberal Party gets a third term in government.  Polls show Morrison is personally popular but his party is heading for its biggest defeat in decades — something he hopes to turn around by pointing to a strong economy and an uncompromising stance on security and immigration.  “The election is about the Australia you want to live in for the next decade,” he said. “Do you want to live in a stronger Australia under my government? Or do you want to live in a weaker Australia under Bill Shorten and Labor?”  Morrison argued he was uniquely suited to “dealing with the world as it is — uncertain, often dangerous, uncompromising, and at its worst — simply evil.”  “Foreign interference. Radical terrorism. People smuggling. Natural disasters. Organised crime. Money laundering. Biosecurity hazards. Cyber security. The evil ice trade. Violence against women... online predators and scammers who seek to rip off older Australians — cyber bullying. Elder abuse,” he said, listing a myriad of threats.  “We have led, we haven’t followed. We have taken decisions rather than put them off to another day. And we have embraced tough calls rather than seeking to buy weak compromises for the purpose of politics.”  Morrison’s message is likely to resonate strongly with the hard right of his party and with Australia’s powerful conservative media outlets.  But Morrison, who became prime minister in a party coup last August against the more moderate Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull, is gambling that a sense of fearfulness resonates with the broader electorate.  Australia frequently ranks in the top dozen safest places in the world.  Morrison’s minority government will face an early test of its policies this week, when members of parliament vote on a bill that would allow doctors to decide when asylum-seekers kept in offshore detention centres can be transferred to Australia for medical treatment.  The government has vowed never to allow asylum-seekers who try to reach the country illegally by boat to set foot in the country.  Morrison says the bill backed by Labor and independents would provide a back door for entry to Australia for such asylum-seekers and fuel a resumption of people-smuggling operations which have largely been choked off by the tough offshore detention policy.  No Australian government has lost a vote on a substantive matter of policy in almost 100 years. A loss for Morrison could trigger an early election.

Australia formally signed a A$50bn “strategic partnership” with France to build 12 state-of-the-art submarines yesterday, a signal of Canberra’s willingness to project power across the Pacific.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison hailed the “very audacious plan” at a ceremony in Canberra as “part of Australia’s biggest ever peace-time investment in defence”.  The partnership’s main pillar is a contract for France’s Naval Group — a consortium with state backing — to build 12 attack-class submarines and has been years in the making. At roughly US$35bn this is Australia’s largest ever defence procurement project and the largest ever foreign sales deal by French shipbuilder Naval Group. The first submarine is expected to be finished in the early 2030s, starting with sea trials around the first quarter of 2031 and operational testing in late 2032.  Critics say that is too late: the waters to Australia’s north and east are the scene of an intense struggle between the United States, China and regional powers, who are all vying for influence.  Beijing has made territorial claims to much of the South China Sea — a marine thoroughfare that is vital to maintain the supply of ores, minerals and crude that fuel the Chinese economy.  Washington fears that China is becoming increasingly assertive over those claims to display its dominance over smaller Asian nations and become the prime regional power.  Australian military analysts hope the subs will allow the country to maintain a credible deterrent against possible hostile actions. Visiting French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly cosigned the agreement in a ceremony that took place in the shadow of a memorial to US forces in front of the Australian defence offices in Canberra.  “It takes a lot of confidence for Australia to bet on France and a lot of confidence for France to share with Australia the capability that is so close to the core of our sovereignty and our strategic autonomy and a result of immense investment over decades,” Parly said. Under the Strategic Partnership Agreement, 12 conventionally powered submarines derived from the Naval Group Barracuda nuclear design will be constructed in a new shipyard in South Australia.  Parly hailed the agreement, which was negotiated and drafted entirely in English, as a long-term partnership between Australia and France and dismissed some “whining about the lengths of the negotiations”.  “Behind those masses of dark steel, behind those eyeless beasts” there was friendship and a common attachment to multilateralism and the rules-based order, she said.  Naval Group chairman Herve Guillou said Australia chose the French submarine design because of its endurance, long range and acoustic superiority. “We are bidding in the Netherlands today. That is one really important bid because they are looking as well for expeditionary submarines,” he said, hoping the Australia contract would serve as a launchpad for contracts in other countries including India, Poland and Brazil.  Guillou confirmed the first Australian submarine should be sailing in the early 2030s, the last in the early 2040s with the last decommissioned probably in the early 2080s.  “We are looking at a very, very long-term partnership with Australia,” he said.  The agreement comprises two thick volumes with 23 schedules, with two more schedules to be added later. It sets conditions on what intellectual property Australia has access to and which it owns, and covers a range of provisions for contract termination or missed deadlines.  Guillou also said an alliance with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri would permit the two companies to team up on research, development and procurement for some common projects, either bilateral or for export. “If we look at the change in the market, we need European players to unite more strongly to be able to face the new giants in this market, like CSCC in China, like OSK in Russia,” he said. “We really want to take the initiative of being stronger before the others are stronger.”

Australia's conservative government is facing a huge electoral defeat as it heads into the final sitting of parliament ahead of a national election expected in May, a widely watched poll found on Monday. A Newspoll for The Australian newspaper showed opposition Labor retained a lead of 53 percent to 47 percent over the Liberal-National government led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, unchanged from the previous poll in December, despite recent efforts to frighten voters on Labor's tax plans. The poll came out as parliament returns this week from its summer break, with the minority government facing defeat on two issues due on the floor as it is dependent on seven independents to vote with it. The government is looking to block a bid, led by an independent, to allow asylum seekers in offshore camps to come to Australia for medical treatment, saying migrants could exploit it as a way into the country. Both major parties have long backed tight border protection, looking to keep asylum seekers that arrive by boat out of the country, but Labor has indicated it might back the "Medivac" bill, which would land an embarrassing defeat of the government in parliament. The government is also looking to stop Labor's effort to extend this sitting of parliament to deal with recommendations released last week from a landmark inquiry into misconduct in the banking industry. Defeat in either would not trigger an election. Over the parliamentary break, Morrison has been travelling around the country attacking plans by Labor to cut some dividend tax benefits, which could hit pensioners, but Newspoll found the tax attacks had failed to beef up support for the government. The latest poll found 44 percent of voters opposed abolishing the tax refunds on dividend credits, down from 48 percent in December. The survey was conducted from Feb. 7 to 10, with 1,567 interviews and a sampling error of 2.5 percentage points. Morrison declined to comment on the poll on Monday. Delivering a speech in Canberra, the prime minister sought to persuade voters that the ruling coalition's national security policy was more robust than the opposition's. "Under my government, Australia will be stronger. Under Bill Shorten's Labor government, Australia will be weaker," Morrison said.

Australia's prime minister and top colleagues campaigned over the weekend to block a bid to allow asylum seekers in offshore camps to come to Australia for medical treatment, saying tough rules on migrants should not be eased. Under Australia's immigration policy, asylum seekers intercepted at sea are sent to camps in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru, and they cannot set foot in Australia, even if they are found to be refugees. Opponents of the policy have introduced a bill to amend the Migration Act to enable the temporary transfer of "transitory persons" from PNG or Nauru to Australia for medical assessment. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has voiced its support for the bill, but the government fears it would open a loophole that asylum-seekers could exploit. "We cannot have Australia’s borders determined by panels of medical professionals," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a news conference on Saturday. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and Immigration Minister David Coleman also voiced their opposition to the bill. Pyne said the government would be forced to reopen a detention centre on remote Christmas Island, at a cost of A$1.4 billion ($992.32 million), if the bill passed as almost all the 1,000 asylum-seekers in PNG and Nauru would come to Australia for medical assessment. "They'll be coming to Australia one way or the other saying that they have a need to because of ill-health," Pyne said in an ABC television interview on Sunday. Coleman said the change would bring a return of the days when thousands of asylum-seekers travelled to Indonesia and then paid smugglers to take them on to Australia by boat. Many drowned when their boats ran into trouble. "We are talking about a catastrophic failure under the previous government where 1,200 people drowned at sea, where 50,000 people arrived and 8,000 children were forcibly placed into detention," he said in a Sky News interview. AMA President Tony Bartone said in an emailed statement to Reuters the government should set up "appropriate mechanisms" to allow the temporary transfer to Australia "for those in need of urgent care". Parliament could vote on the amendment when it resumes on Tuesday. The ruling coalition could lose the vote as it is clinging to power with the support of seven independents. The government is battling to improve its popularity ahead of a general election that must be held by May. 

Thousands of Sydney homes were without power Saturday after severe storms hit Australia's largest city, causing transport hold-ups, inundating vehicles with floodwater and delaying a national football match. Heavy rains and lightning storms lashed parts of Sydney late Friday, with close to 60 millimetres (nearly two and a half inches) of rain falling in some areas. In Sydney's west, which experienced some flash flooding, one suburb saw nearly 42 millimetres fall in a short downpour lasting just 30 minutes.  "It was a slow-moving storm with that warm humid air moving along the coast... that allowed for that increase of moisture," Byron Doyle from the New South Wales Bureau of meteorology told AFP. Images of cars submerged in floodwaters on main roads, broken traffic lights and fallen trees circulated on social media. Energy companies reported that more than 40,000 customers were affected by power outages at the peak of the storm overnight, with more than 5,000 still without power early Saturday. Emergency services fielded over 1,000 requests for assistance, including nine flood rescues in the Sydney area. The rescues were "all for vehicles in flood water," a New South Wales state emergency services spokesperson told AFP.  Flights were delayed at Sydney's airport, while the storm caused havoc on some of the city's train lines. The start of a national Australian rules football women's match was delayed twice, pushed back 45 minutes as heavy rain and lightning pummelled the oval. Several light towers then went out mid-match during the live television broadcast, temporarily stopping the game during a reported blackout. The Sydney storm comes as recovery efforts continue in Australia's flood-ravaged northeastern state of Queensland, which over the past week has seen record-breaking rainfall, forcing hundreds of evacuations and thousands of requests for help. Extreme heatwaves during the southern hemisphere summer have also led to temperature records being broken in some towns. Eastern inland areas have been experiencing a severe drought, while firefighters in the country's southern states have been recently battling bushfires. High temperatures are not unusual in the Australian summer, but climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons, scientists say.

Weary residents in Australia's flood-hit northeast returned home Wednesday to begin a massive clean-up after almost two weeks of heavy rain, as the wild weather moved south to inundate more towns. Communities remain cut off and thousands are still without power in the state of Queensland, but the weather bureau said the downpours that have seen areas doused with more than 300 millimetres (11.8 inches) of rain daily were easing. ‘It looks like the worst is probably over,’ Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Vinord Anand told AFP. ‘We are still seeing rainfall rates that are meeting our severe weather warning criteria, but rainfall totals are not high as they have been in the last five to 10 days.’ The daily rainfall totals were falling below 250 millimetres and would ‘ease slightly’ on Thursday and Friday as the monsoonal trough slowly moves offshore, he added. Australia's tropical north typically experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season, but the recent downpours have seen some areas get a year's worth of rainfall in just a week. The rains turned roads into rivers and were so incessant authorities were forced to open floodgates of a major dam on Sunday. With floodwaters receding in some areas of the hard-hit city of Townsville, residents headed home to help each other clean up their mud-caked properties. ‘Just coming up the driveway, looking at all the mud, that's when it hit home,’ resident Clayton Linning told national broadcaster ABC Wednesday. ‘There are a lot of neighbours we've never met before and now we have, which is really nice. It's an unfortunate way to have to build community but it does.’ Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Wednesday that officials were working to ensure affected locals would get access to recovery payments and support. The Insurance Council of Australia added that claims were ‘rising by the hour’, with losses of Aus$45 million (US$32 million) from 3,500 applications so far. More than 100 extra police have been deployed to help with the disaster, while the army, which has a major base in Townsville, has also been active. Meanwhile police said they had launched an investigation into the deaths of two men aged 21 and 23 after their bodies were found in floodwaters, amid local media reports officers had been chasing them after an alleged liquor store break-in.

Two bodies were discovered in Australia’s flood-ravaged northeast yesterday as continuing heavy rain prompted authorities to warn of further flash flooding in the hours ahead. Prime Minister Scott Morrison toured the region where “once-in-a-century” floods have inundated thousands of homes and closed airports and schools, leaving cars and houses submerged.  As stormwaters receded in some areas, he warned of a difficult recovery ahead.  “It’s just going to be tough, going to be tough for a while,” Morrison said, expressing sympathy for young families who had lost their homes.  “The real work is to make sure that they can get through the clean-up and rebuild their lives.”  In hard-hit Townsville, more than 650 people have been evacuated from their homes and about 11,000 houses remained without power Tuesday. Around 9,000 more have asked for help. Police said late yesterday that two bodies had been discovered in Townsville floodwaters following a search for two men in their 20s, who were last seen during the peak of the deluge early Monday.  There seems little prospect of an immediate respite from what locals call the “Big Wet”.  “We expect this active monsoon to remain active for the coming days, potentially easing over the weekend, so there is an end in sight,” said Richard Wardle of Queensland’s Bureau of Meteorology.  “But we are expecting further periods of heavy rainfall, some of it very heavy, about the north-east tropics for the next few days... with that there is the real elevated risk of flash flooding.”  Local gym instructor Rebecca Chilmaid described the scale of the devastation, of people left “without clothes, cars, their homes, everything”.  “People and businesses have lost everything,” she told AFP. “I sit and struggle to keep tears from falling thinking about it.”  Australia’s tropical north typically experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season, but the recent downpour has seen some areas get a year’s worth of rainfall in just a week. “Last night it was crazy,” Bluewater resident Michael Nieminen, some 30km northwest of Townsville, told national broadcaster ABC.  “We had another lot of flash flooding come through, we had water come right up in the backyard again, similar to last week, not as high, luckily, but a lot of rain and a lot of water upstream,” he added.  The authorities were forced to open floodgates of a major dam late Sunday, unleashing what they called “dangerous and high velocity flows”.  As waters began to recede yesterday in some areas, authorities were warning people of the dangers of returning home, not least thanks to the risk of encountering crocodiles.  “Do not go swimming in those floodwaters,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.  “And when the clean-up begins, you need to make sure that you are wearing closed-in boots and that you do not have any scratches or anything exposed.”

Australia’s military has been deployed to tackle devastating “once-in-a-century” floods that have inundated homes, schools and airports in the country’s northeast, forcing hundreds to flee and bringing crocodiles onto the streets.  The Australian Defence Forces delivered 70,000 sandbags, deployed amphibious cargo vehicles and helped pluck flashlight-wielding residents from their rooftops yesterday, as monsoon rains drenched the northern state of Queensland.  Australia’s tropical north typically experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season, but the recent downpour has seen some areas get a year’s worth of rainfall in a week.  The authorities were forced to open floodgates of a major dam late Sunday, unleashing what they called “dangerous and high velocity flows.”   In hard-hit Townsville, cars were mostly submerged, with picket fences barely poking through waist-deep flood waters. “We’ve never seen so much water in our lives,” said local radio journalist Gabi Elgood. “You think there can’t possibly be any more to come but the rain just doesn’t stop.”  Desperate residents had to contend not only with flash flooding, landslides and power blackouts, but also several saltwater crocodile sightings in residential roads and cul-de-sacs. Queensland Police issued a blunt warning for people to stay out of floodwaters. “If the thought of coming face to face with a crocodile isn’t deterrent enough, before you start playing in flood waters you should always remember the distinct possibility you could be wading in your neighbour’s faeces”, the statement said.  Emergency services have struggled to respond to the scale of the disaster, with more than 1,100 people calling for help and 18 “swift water rescues” conducted overnight.  “Small boats worked through the night to evacuate members of the community,” said local commander Brigadier Scott Winter. Around 400 Townsville residents have sought shelter at nearby Lavarak military barracks. State premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned the communities face more difficulties ahead. Schools and courts remain closed, more rain and high winds are on the way and emergency warnings still in effect for more than a dozen rivers. Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue, officials said. “It’s basically not just a one in 20-year event, it’s a one-in-100-year event,” said Palaszczuk. “This is unprecedented, we’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said. Ergon Energy’s spokesperson Emma Oliveri told the AFP that more than 16,000 people were without power, with the supplier unable to say when the lights will come back on.  The main transport artery linking the north of Australia with the rest of the east coast was also affected, prompting concerns about food shortages. Woolworths Northern Queensland Operations Manager Tina Anandji said the company had “secured two charter planes to carry 3,000 tonnes of fresh food and essential items” to the northern city of Cairns. “We’ll continue to do all we can to get stock into Far North Queensland while the roads are cut,” she said. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Adam Blazak told AFP the downpours could continue until Thursday, while floodwaters will take some time to recede even when the rains lessen.  A silver lining to the deluge is that it has boosted drought-stricken farmers in western Queensland. “Queensland has already born its fair share of extreme weather recently, with unprecedented bushfires, drought, heatwave, a cyclone, and now intense rainfall and flood,” said Richard Thornton of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.  He warned resources “are now being stretched beyond normal with the severe weather seasons getting longer and more complex”.

Major flooding threatened several thousand homes on Monday in the Australian state of Queensland, forcing more than 1,100 people to be evacuated, after authorities opened up dam gates after days of torrential rains filled reservoirs to overflowing. Emergency services tackled thousands of calls from people overnight around the city of Townsville, where evacuation centres were filling up. Crocodiles were even spotted in suburban streets, pictures on social media showed. ‘Once in a century event happening here. I have never seen the likes of this before,’ Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in an interview on Australian Broadcasting Corp TV, in a state often hit by cyclones and flooding. Palaszczuk said there could be thousands of homes affected by the flooding. A record 1.16 metres (3.8 ft) of rain has fallen across the Townsville area over the past seven days, with another 100 millimetres expected to be dumped over the area on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Major flood warnings have been posted for several rivers. The weather bureau warned of ‘dangerous and high velocity flows’ along the Ross River after the flood gates were opened fully at the Ross River dam on Sunday, releasing about 1,900 cubic metres of water a second. Even after the release, as of Monday morning, the dam was still at 229 percent capacity, holding about 532,000 gigalitres of water, or roughly as much as Sydney Harbour. ‘We're hoping to see an easing trend from tomorrow,’ bureau spokeswoman Jess Gardner said, adding that the rains could move further south, towards Mackay, a major coal exporting area. Townsville, a major port for northern Australia, is the country's top exporter of copper, zinc, lead and sugar. The Port of Townsville remains open, but cargo loadings have faced interruptions due to heavy rain, a port spokeswoman said. She did not have details on specific shipments held up. Global miner Glencore Plc, which exports copper, zinc and lead from Townsville said as of late last week there had been no impact on its operations.

The north-east Australian city of Townsville could face tornadoes, just as it is being hit by devastating floods, authorities said Sunday. ‘Atmospheric conditions are ripe for tornadoes and waterspouts around Townsville,’ the Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland said on Twitter. ‘Damaging to destructive winds are possible in these intense storm cells.’  The agency said Townsville had broken its record for the wettest seven days in a row, with 1,012 mm of rain falling by the end of Saturday compared to the previous record of 886 millimetres in 1998. It warned that further flash flooding was to be expected as rain continued to swell the city's Ross River Dam, which is at more than 200 per cent of its capacity. Queensland police said spillway gates may be opened fully later Sunday and warned residents to stay away from riverbanks and move to higher ground. The national broadcaster ABC reported that thousands of homes had been abandoned in the suburbs of Townsville and that evacuations were being conducted. It also quoted Townsville disaster coordinator Steve Munro as saying around 400 to 500 of the city's 82,000 homes were currently affected by flooding. ‘The modelling says what it is going to say - it could move up to the 10,000, 20,000 [homes]. We don't want to get to that stage [but] we can't control that,’ Munro said. The extreme rain comes as other parts of Australia suffer drought and wildfires. The country recorded its hottest month ever in January, with mean temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius.

A 50-year-old man was charged on Sunday after he allegedly threatened a woman with a knife at Brisbane Airport and claimed he had a bomb, resulting in an emergency evacuation of the airport's international terminal. Queensland police said the incident began at around 9 pm (1100 GMT) on Saturday in the terminal's food court, when the man allegedly pulled out a knife after an argument with a woman, reportedly a family member. He then allegedly placed a metal object on a table, claiming it was a bomb, and began chasing the woman. The incident ended when police shot the man with a non-lethal beanbag rounds, after which he surrendered to officers. Police published a photo of the fake bomb on Sunday, with Queensland police commissioner Ian Stewart telling reporters it was an illustration of the ‘extraordinary lengths’ the man had gone to ‘to create a perception of risk, threat and fear.’  He also said police had an officer who could speak Arabic, the man's first language, at the scene ‘within minutes’ and that this had a ‘major impact on the swiftness with which the matter could be resolved.’   Despite the bomb threat, police said the matter was not terrorist-related, nor would they comment on whether the man was suffering from any mental illness. But Queensland police assistant commissioner Peter Crawford said the man had suffered a ‘health issue’ during the charging process and that the charges were laid during a ‘bedside process’ in hospital. He was charged with two counts each of staging a bomb hoax, making a false statement inferring a plan to damage or destroy an air navigation facilty and common assault. He also faces one count each of contravening a domestic violence order, stalking with a weapon, stealing and seriously assaulting police. Crawford also said police had checked several vehicles and residences on the Gold Coast for improvised explosive devices following statements made by the man. The incident caused major disruption at Australia's third largest airport, which was shut for more than two hours.

Once-in-a-century flooding in part of the eastern Australian state of Queensland looks set to worsen as the nation’s weather bureau yesterday warned of more heavy rain in the area. Some residents have already been evacuated after days of monsoon rains lashed the region around the coastal city of Townsville in north Queensland, a spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology said. Adam Blazak, a forecaster with the bureau, did not say how many people had been evacuated, but added that some areas had reached “major” flood levels. “Normally a monsoonal burst might last a few days, but this one’s been going on over a week now and is set to continue for a few more days as well,” he said. Between 150mm and 200mm of rain is expected across Townsville yesterday – equal to about a month’s average rainfall. Local authorities issued a number of flood warnings yesterday morning and told residents to avoid using roads and consider moving to higher ground if conditions worsen. North Queensland has significant zinc reserves as well as major deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore, with Townsville a major processing centre for the region’s base metals. In stark contrast, wildfires in the southern island state of Tasmania have burnt through close to 190,000 hectares of land, fire officials said. Chris Arnold, the chief officer of the Tasmania Fire Service, said yesterday that nearly 600 personnel were working to contain the fires, some of which have been burning for weeks and have destroyed homes. Arnold told reporters that while the last few days have seen favourable conditions for battling the blazes, communities in part of the state were still under threat as expected hot and dry weather on Sunday could see bushfires escalate again. Australia endured its hottest month on record in January, with sweltering conditions expected to persist through April. That scorching weather triggered power outages in some areas and sent electricity prices soaring.

The Australian Navy said Saturday it had seized hashish and heroin worth more than 208 million Australian dollars (150 million US dollars) from fishing vessels in the Arabian Sea. More than 2.1 tons of hashish and 345 kilograms of heroin were seized by the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat during the course of two operations on Monday and Tuesday, the navy said in a statement said. The drugs were found aboard two fishing vessels, known as dhow, which were investigated after they exhibited suspicious behaviour. ‘The boardings were conducted under the direction of the Combined Maritime Forces in international waters,’ Commanding Officer Paul Johnson said. The seized hashish is worth approximately 105 million dollars and the heroin is worth more than 103.5 million dollars. The drugs were destroyed. The narcotics bust follows three previous drug seizures by the navy, totalling 931 kilograms of heroin in December and 3.1 tons of hashish in early January. ‘Ballarat's success so far has been the result of a complex operation using sophisticated technology, information networks and careful surveillance to detect vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking,’ Johnson said. HMAS Ballarat is deployed to the Middle East for counter-terrorism and counter-piracy operations in the North Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.      

* Some residents have been evacuated: weather bureau * More heavy rain expected in coming days * Meanwhile, bushfires still burning in Tasmania Once-in-a-century flooding in part of the eastern Australian state of Queensland looks set to worsen as the nation's weather bureau on Saturday warned of more heavy rain in the area. Some residents have already been evacuated after days of monsoon rains lashed the region around the coastal city of Townsville in north Queensland, a spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology said. Adam Blazak, a forecaster with the bureau, did not say how many people had been evacuated, but added that some areas had reached ‘major’ flood levels. ‘Normally a monsoonal burst might last a few days, but this one's been going on over a week now and is set to continue for a few more days as well,’ he said. Between 150 mm and 200 mm of rain is expected across Townsville on Saturday - equal to about a month's average rainfall. Local authorities issued a number of flood warnings on Saturday morning and told residents to avoid using roads and consider moving to higher ground if conditions worsen. North Queensland has significant zinc reserves as well as major deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore, with Townsville a major processing centre for the region's base metals. In stark contrast, wildfires in the southern island state of Tasmania have burnt through close to 190,000 hectares of land, fire officials said. Chris Arnold, the chief officer of the Tasmania Fire Service, said on Saturday that nearly 600 personnel were working to contain the fires, some of which have been burning for weeks and have destroyed homes. Arnold told reporters that while the last few days have seen favourable conditions for battling the blazes, communities in part of the state were still under threat as expected hot and dry weather on Sunday could see bushfires escalate again. Australia endured its hottest month on record in January, with sweltering conditions expected to persist through April. That scorching weather triggered power outages in some areas and sent electricity prices soaring.

“Hundreds of thousands” of fish have died in drought-stricken Australia in the last few days and more mass deaths are likely to occur, the authorities warned yesterday.  Locals around the Darling River were confronted with a sea of white, as dead fish carpeted the waters near the southeastern Outback town of Menindee.  Just weeks after up to a million were killed – with scientists pointing to low water and oxygen levels as well as possibly toxic algae – another mass death occurred in the key agricultural region. Inspectors from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries have visited the site and said they found that “hundreds of thousands of fish have died”.  “Further fish deaths in the Darling River are anticipated as a significant number of fish have been observed under stress,” the department said in a statement.  Some 700kg of dead fish were removed from the river Monday, with similar amounts expected to be collected yesterday, it added.  The Darling River is part of the Murray-Darling River system that stretches thousands of kilometres across several states.  Fisheries officials were also investigating reports of another fish kill further south in the Murrumbidgee River, which flows into the Murray-Darling system.  With temperatures expected to rise and no rain forecast, there remained a “high risk of further fish kills over the coming days and week”, officials said.  While the federal government has blamed the deaths on a severe drought, experts and locals say they stem from the systemic depletion and pollution of the river. The inspectors added that the latest bout of kills were likely linked to “critically low levels of dissolved oxygen” caused by a sharp drop in temperatures after an extended period of hot weather.  New South Wales Regional Water Minister Niall Blair, who visited Menindee yesterday, told national broadcaster ABC his government was out of options, with installing aerators in rivers only a “band-aid solution”.  Six aerators were installed along parts of the Darling River to give surviving fish localised oxygenated water.  “It’s not a case of not being able to spend money on something, there just isn’t any other alternative that anyone has offered up,” Blair said.  “The only thing that will really change these conditions at the moment is fresh water coming through the system and there is just no possibility of that at the moment.”  Australia’s eastern inland regions have been hit by a prolonged drought, with extreme heatwaves in recent weeks exacerbating conditions.  The late arrival of the monsoon season in northern Australia has also contributed to heatwaves in some regions. The wet season eventually kicked off in mid-January, with record-breaking floods hitting the tropical top end of the vast continent, cutting communities off and stranding farmers in recent days.  Queensland’s major Daintree River rose to 12.60m — a level not seen in over a century —  over the weekend.

"Hundreds of thousands" of fish have died in drought-stricken Australia in the last few days and more mass deaths are likely to occur, the authorities warned Tuesday. Locals around the Darling River were confronted with a sea of white, as dead fish carpeted the waters near the southeastern Outback town of Menindee. Just weeks after up to a million were killed -- with scientists pointing to low water and oxygen levels as well as possibly toxic algae -- another mass death occurred in the key food growing region. Inspectors from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries have visited the site and said they found that "hundreds of thousands of fish have died". "Further fish deaths in the Darling River are anticipated as a significant number of fish have been observed under stress," the department said in a statement. The Darling River is part of the Murray-Darling River system that stretches thousands of kilometres across several states.  With temperatures expected to rise and no rain forecast, there remained a "high risk of further fish kills over the coming days and week," officials said.  While the federal government has blamed the deaths on a severe drought, experts and locals say they stem from the systemic depletion and pollution of the river. The inspectors added that the latest bout of kills were likely linked to "critically low levels of dissolved oxygen" caused by a sharp drop in temperatures after an extended period of hot weather. New South Wales Regional Water Minister Niall Blair, who visited Menindee Tuesday, told national broadcaster ABC his government was out of options, with installing aerators in rivers only a "band-aid solution". "It's not a case of not being able to spend money on something, there just isn't any other alternative that anyone has offered up," Blair said. "The only thing that will really change these conditions at the moment is fresh water coming through the system and there is just no possibility of that at the moment." Australia's eastern inland regions have been hit by a prolonged drought, with extreme heatwaves in recent weeks exacerbating conditions. The late arrival of the monsoon season in northern Australia has also contributed to heatwaves in some regions. The wet season eventually kicked off in mid-January, with record-breaking floods hitting the tropical top end of the vast continent, cutting communities off and stranding farmers in recent days. Queensland's major Daintree River rose to 12.60 metres - a level not seen in over a century -- over the weekend.

A lone duck named Trevor that lived on the tiny Pacific island nation of Niue has died, officials say, sparking an outpouring of grief from as far away as New Zealand. The celebrity mallard found fame last year after a visiting journalist from New Zealand discovered that his makeshift home, near a puddle, was used for directions. But his 15 seconds of fame were tragically cut short when he was "seen dead in the bush after being attacked by dogs" this weekend, a Facebook page dedicated to Trevor said. The chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, Rae Findlay, said it was a "sad time for Niue". "He captivated the locals, of which there are only 1,600 in Niue, and the 9,000 visitors to Niue each year," Findlay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sunday. "He will definitely be missed, he captured many hearts and even the rooster, the chicken and the weka were looking a little forlorn today wandering around the near-dry puddle." Niue, a tiny speck of land, lies around 2,400 kilometres northeast of New Zealand. One of the world's biggest coral islands, Niue does not have natural ponds or wetlands, so when Trevor turned up a year ago he was believed to have blown in from New Zealand with a storm. He quickly settled down in a large puddle near a road that the Niue fire service later topped up with water, the ABC reported. He became so famous locally that when the New Zealand Herald's deputy political editor Claire Trevett visited the island nation, she found he had been incorporated into street directions. "Someone said, 'Turn right past the duck' and then the whole story came out, the only duck on Niue," she told the ABC. He was later dubbed the "world's loneliest duck" for his solitary existence. Trevor Mallard, the speaker of New Zealand's House of Representatives after whom the late duck was named, offered his condolences. "Deepest sympathy to the people of Niue from the Parliament of New Zealand," Mallard wrote on the duck's Facebook death notice.

Communities were cut off, farmers stranded and cows washed offshore as heavy rain pelted northeast Australia yesterday, with one major river breaking 118-year-old floodwater records. The Bureau of Meteorology said Queensland’s Daintree River rose to 12.60m – a level not seen in over a century – and local authorities warned that some residents in remote areas could be cut off for days. The heritage listed Daintree Rainforest received more than 300mm of rain in just 24 hours and Northern Queensland is bracing for monsoonal conditions for the rest of the week. Residents in this tropical region of Australia are used to a heavy wet season, but the recent deluge has cut off a ferry line that is the only means of accessing some areas. Port Douglas Shire Council Mayor, Julia Leu, said those who are still in their homes could be cut off for two days, with no power or phone service. Meanwhile the conditions have caused havoc for farmers and livestock. One family of four were stranded on the farm they manage, with live power lines falling into floodwaters. Local paper Newsport Daily reported the caretakers of the “Tranquility” farm were stuck with their two children for 16 hours until the State Emergency Services helicopter could rescue them. Residents rushed to a downstream beach to help a handful of livestock washed away by floodwaters. A number of cows could be seen out at sea or struggling to find their feet on the soft sand of the coastline. While much of the country has been experiencing a brutal heatwave with record temperatures, the Bureau of Meteorology said the monsoonal conditions will not be easing anytime soon, with thunderstorms and rain forecast for the rest of the week.