Australia news live: Tropical Cyclone Alfred updates – multiple flights cancelled and airports to close as Crisafulli urges residents to prepare now

This compilation of satellite images shows Tropical Cyclone Alfred tracking towards the coast

Chalmers: insurers with customers affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred should ‘do the right thing’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will warn insurance companies not to add to the stress of residents who will be affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred and lodge claims for any damage caused.

Chalmers, speaking to ABC TV, said he “will be speaking with the insurance companies and that’s to remind them – not that they might need reminding – of the really stressful time that people are going through”.

Chalmers said:

It’s very rare to see a cyclone this far south and likely to hit a population centre this big as south-east Queensland and the northern part of New South Wales.

Obviously the insurance companies have got a big role to play here. We want to make sure that they’re doing the right thing by their customers recognising that it’s going to be a really stressful time for everyone

We want to make sure that the way that people deal with insurance companies doesn’t add unnecessarily to that stress.”

Residents prepare sandbags ahead of Cyclone Alfred

Crisafulli: Queenslanders who prepare now for Tropical Cyclone Alfred will be safe

Queensland premier David Crisafulli has urged residents in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred to immediately prepare their properties and draw up evacuation plans.

Crisafulli said that taking action today – before any deterioration in the weather on Thursday and Friday – was crucial, especially moving loose objects out of harm’s way and cutting overhanging trees to minimise the debris and damage the cyclone could cause.

There is the prospect that this cyclone could cross the coast in the middle of the night with a high tide, and that is not the time to be making your evacuation plan. Now is that time, and if you do so, I have every faith that Queenslanders will be kept safe.

By tomorrow afternoon, preparing your house will be very difficult. That window [of time] is now, so get in and do the little things.”

He said the state had entered the second phase of the weather event, with damaging winds to begin.

Crisafulli said it was rare for a cyclone to hit land so far south and warned residents to expect power outages. He said also people should look out for fallen live wires and other hazards if it floods.

Irwin family’s Australia Zoo preparing to treat any native animals injured by Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Australia Zoo’s wildlife hospital is gearing up to treat an influx of native wildlife injured by Tropical Cyclone Alfred in coming days.

The Steve Irwin-founded zoo, which is about an hour’s drive from Brisbane, has yet to decide if it will close its doors to visitors, but it has sought to reassure people that its hospital will remain open 24 hours a day.

In a statement, the zoo said:

Our team is working around the clock to ensure that our beautiful animals remain comfortable and safe, spoiling them with lots of love and comfort food.

We will make the decision whether to close Australia Zoo, if required, for the safety of our animals, staff and visitors.

The Australia Zoo Wildlife hospital continues to operate 24 hours a day, and will be prepared to treat native wildlife impacted by the cyclone in the coming days.”

SE Queensland, northern NSW airports close as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches

Acting Gold Coast mayor warns of ‘most significant’ storm event since 1954

The acting Gold Coast mayor has warned residents to take seriously the threat posed by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, declaring it could be the “most significant” wind and wet weather event for the city since 1954.

Donna Gates said residents should be safe in their homes and plan for power outages from 6pm on Wednesday.

She said that over the course of the next two or three days the area is expecting as much as 800mm of rain. While the cyclone is classified at the upper end of category two, wind gusts of a category three strength could occur.

We’ve tried to prepare everyone so that they do understand that this looks like the most significant event in our city in terms of destructive winds and heavy rain that we’ve seen since 1954.”

Club CEOs help families left at home as cyclone looms

Brisbane and Dolphins club bosses have made moves to ensure the safety of staff and players’ families left at home as Tropical Cyclone Alfred makes a beeline for the coast.

AAP reports that the Broncos flew to Sydney yesterday to prepare for Thursday night’s NRL clash with Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium and are scheduled to return on Friday.

Friday night’s match between the Dolphins and South Sydney has been moved out of Brisbane to Sydney’s CommBank Stadium. The Dolphins leave Brisbane this evening.

Loved ones of players and staff from both clubs face nervous days. Brisbane CEO Dave Donaghy has flown back to the Queensland capital from Sydney to oversee support.

Donaghy’s Dolphins counterpart Terry Reader said the NRL had helped the club with its contingencies.

Any of our players and travelling staff’s partners that are worried about not having their partners around, we are going to put them up in a hotel in the city so they have more security around being with each other.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred moving towards Queensland’s south-east coast

The Bureau of Meteorology has published the latest Tropical Cyclone Alfred tracking map, showing it moving towards the south-east Queensland coast.

It is highly likely Alfred will remain a category 2 system until it crosses the coast early on Friday, the BoM said, before it weakens below tropical cyclone strength and moves inland.

Southeast Queensland and northeast NSW will be affected with wind gales from today, followed by heavy rainfall from tomorrow and deteriorating coastal conditions.

The weather system is now 355km east of Brisbane and 310km northeast of the Gold Coast.

Watch: Crisafulli warns public to ‘make yourself aware of storm tide zones’ as Tropical Cyclone Alfred nears

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, addressed the media earlier today with an update on Tropical Cyclone Alfred. You can watch some of his address here:

New vehicle sales stuck in slow lane, even popular SUVs

New vehicle sales have hit the skids in Australia, AAP reports, with motorists buying 10,000 fewer new cars in one month and purchases slowing in every state and territory.

Even the most popular style of vehicles, SUVs, was hit by the downturn during February, which represents the seventh consecutive month of slower car sales.

The trend is revealed in figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries today, which also shows electric vehicle sales remaining lower than in 2024 and passenger cars falling further out of favour.

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are among the few vehicle styles to withstand the downturn, with BYD’s newly released plug-in hybrid ute scoring a place among Australia’s top 10 vehicles.

Australians bought almost 95,000 new vehicles in February, according to the figures, or 10,030 fewer vehicles than in February last year, representing a drop of 9.6%.

Motorists also bought slightly fewer SUVs (0.6%), fewer light commercial vehicles such as utes (10.2%), and fewer passenger cars (34.8%).

Electric cars made up 5.9% of all new vehicle sales compared with 9.6% in February 2024, which the chamber’s chief executive Toby Weber called a concerning result given consumers’ access to them.

Sales of Tesla electric vehicles experienced a particularly steep fall in February, down by 71.9% compared with that month in 2024, with sales of its entry-level Model 3 down by 81%. But hybrid vehicle sales continued to climb in February, up 34% compared with last year.

Preparation for Tropical Cyclone Alfred well underway

As the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred begin being felt, and communities work to prepare their homes against the weather, here are some photos that have been rolling in throughout the day:

‘Stay indoors’: watch and act issued for northern rivers region in NSW

First Nations suicide rate triple other Australians

The suicide rate of First Nations Australians is three times higher than the rest of the population and deaths are far more prevalent among young people, AAP reports.

A report from the Victorian coroner revealed 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by suicide in 2024. The figures are a 42% jump since 2022, with the average age of death for men being 37 and 29.6 for women.

56.6% of Indigenous people who died by suicide from 2020-2024 were aged under 35. This was compared with 30.2% of non-Indigenous people who took their own lives.

In the four years until 2024, one-third of First Nations suicides were in men aged 25-34, while the most common age for women was between 18 and 24.

The analysis also revealed a geographical divide, with 54.9% of suicides in First Nations peoples in regional areas and 45.1% in metropolitan areas.

This contrasts with the rest of the population, where two-thirds of suicides occurred in metropolitan areas.

Stressors included diagnosed or suspected mental health conditions, interpersonal concerns, substance use, exposure to family violence and contact with the justice system, court data revealed.

Two separate watch and act bushfire warnings in Victoria

A watch and act alert has been issued for Buninyong and Scotsburn near Ballarat, because of a bushfire that is out of control.

The fire is travelling south towards Scotsburn, and locals are being urged to leave now.

Firefighters are responding, and the fire has not yet crossed the Midland Highway.

In a separate warning, locals at Mount Clear and Mount Helen are being told to prepare to leave because of another out-of-control fire.

A bushfire at Mount Clear is moving from Olympic Avenue in a southerly direction towards Timbertop Drive. The warning reads:

A wind change is expected around 3.00pm. This will cause the fire to change directions towards Woowookarung Regional Park. Conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable.

Tyrrell backs Greens move, with one exception

Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell has backed the Greens policy for a prices commission – but believes this should sit within the existing ACCC rather than a new organisation.

She wrote in a statement earlier today:

There’s a fascination with setting up new government bodies that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to establish and maintain. We have enough of those already. I want a prices commission that’ll save taxpayers more money than it’ll cost them to run.

Tyrrell has been advocating for supermarket chain Aldi to come to Tasmania, arguing that “when Aldi comes to town, prices at other supermarkets go down”.