Firefighter dies in NSW during bushfires
New South Wales premier Chris Minns has said a member of the national parks firefighting team has died on firegrounds in the state.
Minns said a man was likely killed by a tree, “obviously a terrible reminder of how difficult and dangerous this work is and how the people who put their lives on the line to protect lives and property do an incredible job for us in this state”.
“It’s a deeply distressing turn of events, and a sad day for New South Wales this morning,” Minns told ABC News Breakfast.
There are about 700 firefighters across NSW working today to contain the blazes, including nine that remain uncontained.
Minns said it was “quite a foreboding beginning to the beginning of the bushfire season”.
Key events
‘It’s a very, very sad day’
Jihad Dib, the NSW emergency services minister, said the firefighter who died was working with the national parks and wildlife firefighting team on the mid-north coast.
It’s just a reminder of the dangers that firefighters face. And these are people who put themselves in harm’s way to protect community. And this particular person has made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s a very, very sad day for all of us.
Sarah Basford Canales
Bragg to say it’s ‘not a good thing’ homes are ‘largely unaffordable’
Andrew Bragg’s housing speech this afternoon will urge the Liberals to seriously consider policies that will seriously address housing affordability for younger people.
Referencing former prime minister John Howard’s quote on rising house prices being a good thing in 2003, Bragg will acknowledge the cost of buying a first home is now “too high” in Australia.
Bragg will say:
It is not a good thing that first homes in this country are largely unaffordable. Try telling a 30 year old who has been working and saving for 10 years that it’s good that house prices continue to rise faster than their salary. Housing cannot be a zero sum game. It cannot be treated wholly as an investment opportunity. Australia is a home owning democracy. If people don’t own homes, our system falls apart.
The shadow housing minister will say the $5bn pledge under former opposition leader, Peter Dutton, to develop greenfield sites was a good start but not nearly enough.
Bragg will address cutting migration as an option in reducing housing demand but that it will not “singularly fix the housing crisis”:
We also have to make sure that migration policies are driving people into the country who can actually build homes. We are short 80,000 tradies. Last year, we only received 4,000 on visas.
More than a dozen homes lost in bushfires on NSW Central Coast
Chris Minns said more than a dozen houses were lost on the Central Coast of NSW, but the situation could have been much worse.
I’m very grateful that people listen to police and firefighters, particularly on the Central Coast, because the situation could have been far, far worse.
We lost more than a dozen houses, but no lives were lost on the Central Coast, and I think that’s because of the hard work and dedication of firefighters, but also the fact that members of the community were prepared, listened to emergency services, and got out when they were told to.
Firefighter dies in NSW during bushfires
New South Wales premier Chris Minns has said a member of the national parks firefighting team has died on firegrounds in the state.
Minns said a man was likely killed by a tree, “obviously a terrible reminder of how difficult and dangerous this work is and how the people who put their lives on the line to protect lives and property do an incredible job for us in this state”.
“It’s a deeply distressing turn of events, and a sad day for New South Wales this morning,” Minns told ABC News Breakfast.
There are about 700 firefighters across NSW working today to contain the blazes, including nine that remain uncontained.
Minns said it was “quite a foreboding beginning to the beginning of the bushfire season”.
Report finds many Australians with psychosocial disabilities falling through support gap
Sarah Basford Canales
More than 130,000 Australians with psychosocial disabilities are slipping through a support gap, receiving neither NDIS or health system care, a new report by the Grattan Institute has found.
The report, released Sunday night, said the NDIS provided nearly $6bn to support about 66,000 people with psychosocial disabilities last year but more than 130,000 received nothing from either the disability insurance scheme or mental health system.
The institute’s disability program director, Sam Bennett, said a new national program should be established outside the NDIS but using existing contributions to fix the gap without adding to the scheme’s funding pressures.
Bennett said:
Rebalancing the system so there are stronger recovery-oriented supports available inside and outside the NDIS would transform the lives of Australians with psychosocial disability and make better use of existing funds.
Liberal party’s future tied to strong housing policy, shadow minister says
Sarah Basford Canales
The shadow housing minister, Andrew Bragg, will tie the Liberal’s future to adopting a strong housing policy, sounding the alarm at a centre-right event this afternoon.
Bragg, one of the party’s leading moderates, will use the address at the Centre of Independent Studies event in Sydney to warn that depopulation in former Liberal inner-city strongholds will cost the party even more votes in future elections.
In a broad speech on housing policy ideas – yet to be officially adopted by the opposition – Bragg will suggest upzoning (rezoning areas for taller buildings) and gentle density (increasing density in single-detached neighbourhoods) could increase housing supply and construction productivity in the short-term.
The shadow housing minister will say:
Put simply, we need more buildings. It doesn’t matter what they are. We need to build like mad. We need to think outside the box – every back yard could potentially host a new house or granny flat if the owner wanted it.
Good morning
Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to jumpstart the day’s blog. Here’s what’s on deck:
Andrew Bragg, the shadow housing minister, will use a speech later today to tie the future of the Liberal party to a strong housing policy. He will suggest upzoning and gentle density could increase housing supply and construction productivity in an address at the Centre of Independent Studies.
Dozens of homes have been destroyed across New South Wales and Tasmania amid a spate of bushfires, spurred by hot, dry, windy conditions this weekend. 60 fires are still burning across NSW and 11 in Tasmania.
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