Volcano erupts in Java
Indonesia’s Mount Semeru, the highest peak on Java island, erupted yesterday, blanketing several villages with falling ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the alert to the highest level, the Associated Press reports.
Mount Semeru in East Java province unleashed searing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its slopes several times from midday to dusk, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, Indonesia’s Geology Agency said.
The eruptions that unfolded throughout the day forced authorities to raise the volcano’s alert level twice, from the third-highest level to the highest, the agency said.
No casualties have been reported. More than 300 residents in the three villages most at risk in the district of Lumajang were evacuated to government shelters, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
Videos showed ash sweeping through valleys.
Local media reported that authorities are struggling to rescue about 178 people stranded on the 3,676m mountain at the Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post. The group includes 137 climbers, 15 porters, seven guides and six tourism officials, according to an official with the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, TNBTS.
“They are currently safe at Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post,” Endrip Wahyutama, a TNBTS spokesperson, said in video statement, adding that the post is located 4.5km from the crater on the northern slope of the mountain, which is not in the path of the hot cloud flow that was observed moving to south-southeast. Bad weather and rain forced them to spend the night there, he said.
Semeru has a history of eruptions, with the last major one in December 2021.
Key events
Police appeal for information after three public place shootings overnight in Sydney
NSW police are calling for information after three public place shootings in south-west Sydney overnight.
Police said the first incident took place just after 11.15pm in the suburb of Fairfield, after shots were reportedly fired at a house before a dark SUV lot the scene. No one was injured inside the home.
A second shooting took place about 11.55pm in the suburb of Bossley Park. Police said a single shot was fired at a caravan parked on the street before a white Audi left the scene. No one was injured.
A third shooting took place just before 3am in the suburb of Wetherill Park after shots were fired at a business before a black SUV or ute left the scene. No one was injured in the event.
Police are looking to see if the incidents are connected, or if there are connections to two overnight car fires in Kings Langley and Lalor Park.
Government reaffirms that best Cop outcome is one that elevates Pacific voices
Pat Conroy, the minister for defence industry, said Australia is still seeking to host the UN climate summit in Adelaide next year, but is being frank with the Australian people that any one country can block a successful bid.
Both Australia and Turkey are vying to host next year’s Conference of the Parties, or Cop, with neither backing down amid a deadlock.
Conroy maintained this morning that all negotiations were about securing the best possible outcome for Pacific nations particularly vulnerable to climate change. He told RN Breakfast:
We’re continuing to negotiate the best possible outcome for progress on climate action and to draw attention to what’s occurring in the Pacific. And so we are still negotiating. We’re still seeking to win the rights to host the Cop in conjunction with the Pacific. But we’re also being frank with the Australian people that the UN framework convention has consensus rules, which means that any one country can block a successful bid.
We’re still seeking to host that Cop, but we’ve been very clear. That our focus is on getting a positive outcome for climate action and highlighting what is going on in the Pacific.
Conroy said Australia would not block Turkey if the country is chosen as the host during the UN process.
We’ve said that we would not veto Turkey if they choose them. They haven’t been chosen yet, but we would not veto it.
Josh Taylor
Meta starts notifying Australian teenagers of account shutdowns as social media ban looms
Australian Facebook and Instagram users under 16 will be notified starting Thursday that their accounts will be deactivated by 10 December, as Meta begins to comply with the Albanese government’s social media ban.
Users affected by the ban will receive 14 days’ notice of their pending account deactivation through a combination of in-app messages, email and SMS before their access is cut off.
The ban will affect users on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Threads, as an Instagram account is required to use that platform. Messenger is excluded from the ban – but Meta has had to develop a way for users to keep access to Messenger without a Facebook account as a result of the ban.
Meta will begin stopping access to existing accounts and blocking under-16s from registering new accounts from 4 December, with access removed for all affected accounts by 10 December, the company said.
Read more here:
Henry Belot
Tropical Cyclone Fina intensifies into category 2
Tropical Cyclone Fina has intensified into a category 2 weather system and is expected to turn south towards the Northern Territory coast later today.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the warning zone was Cape Don to Warruwi, including Cobourg Peninsula and Minjilang.
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The bureau is forecasting the cyclone to make landfall late on Friday and into Saturday, with damaging wind gusts of up to 130km/h forecast for parts of the territory from Thursday.
The bureau’s latest warning, issued at 4.30am AEDT, said:
Destructive wind gusts to 155km/h may develop between Cape Don and Warruwi from Friday as the system nears the coast. Locally heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is possible along coastal areas between the Tiwi Islands and Maningrida from Friday.
A Flood Watch is current for areas across the north-west Top End. Tides may be higher than normal about the Tiwi Islands and between Cape Hotham and Maningrida on high tides from today.
Coastal residents on the Tiwi Islands, and between Cape Hotham and Maningrida, are specifically warned of a dangerous storm tide as the cyclone centre crosses the coast during Friday and Saturday. Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide, with damaging waves and dangerous flooding.
Read more here:
Good morning, and happy Thursday. Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it.
Anne Davies
Mark Speakman says ‘boring gets the job done’
In a video posted to Facebook in the last 24 hours, Speakman pointedly addressed the backroom criticism of his low profile, adding that “loyalty, hard work and showing up for people” were the hallmarks of his leadership.
He said:
I don’t believe in showing off. I believe in showing up. That’s why I’m not a show pony. I guess that means I’m a bit boring to some people. You know what? Boring gets the job done!
Speakman has not made himself available to the press for a week and on Wednesday declined to comment on his future as leader.
Meanwhile, Sloane attended the state funeral for radio personality John Laws at St Andrew’s Cathedral and was photographed sitting behind former prime minister John Howard and former premier Nick Greiner.
The shadow attorney general, Alister Henskens, has also expressed an interest in taking the top job but, as a member of the smaller right faction, he does not have the numbers, especially as some key right figures are supporting Sloane.
The other MP who has been touted as a leadership contender, James Griffin, appears to have thrown his weight behind Sloane. He is likely to play a key role in how events unfold over the next couple of days.
One MP said “we really want this to be as clean and painless as possible. Thats why it should happen in the next 48 hours.”
Speculation over NSW leadership spill continues
Anne Davies
The NSW Liberals appear to be inching toward a leadership spill, although no parliamentarian has yet sought a party meeting and the current leader, Mark Speakman, appears to be digging in.
Key senior members of Speakman’s own moderate faction and some senior right figures said yesterday Speakman’s time was up and that the numbers were coalescing around Kellie Sloane, the member for Vaucluse.
The former journalist has proved a strong communicator and, as health spokesperson, has demonstrated an ability to nettle the premier, Chris Minns.
While Sloane has made it clear she wants the top job, she is said to be unwilling to challenge Speakman, which means one of her colleagues will need to approach him.
Sources said the need for change is now seen as urgent because on current polling the Liberals could lose up to 10 seats – and many of those seats were held by moderates, which is currently the dominant faction in NSW.
A rout of the size that current polling implies would leave the faction severely weakened.
In practical terms, it is likely that senior moderates will present Speakman with a letter signed by 11 MPs asking for a meeting to be called. Convention dictates that if a a third of the party room want a meeting, it will be called.
But Speakman is still resisting falling on his sword as his colleagues hope he will do.
Krishani Dhanji
Continuing on from that last post:
Ley will also focus on Australia’s role in resolving tensions within our region but warns Australia will have to “credibly deter others” from using force by increasing Australia’s military power and honour commitments it has made to defend friends and allies.
More broadly, Ley will say that Australia should use its “cultural soft power, economic leverage and diplomatic skill” to peacefully resolve disputes and nurture international dialogue.
But she will also take a veiled swipe at China:
Australia should make its view known that the realisation of one nation’s destiny cannot be through the destruction of another’s.
Australia must be able to credibly deter others from using force. We must make the cost of using aggression too high to endure. We do this through increasing our military power and the commitments we make to defend our friends and allies.
Ley will also say the Coalition would look to uplift national pride so “more Australians believe our nation is worth defending”.
Ley to outline Coalition’s defence priorities
Krishani Dhanji
The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, will set out her priorities on defence preparedness and energy security in a speech to the Menzies Institute tonight.
After a media blitz spruiking the Coalition’s settled energy policy, which will dump net zero, and while her party sets its policy priorities on immigration, Ley will outline several defence capability gaps Australia should invest in.
Ley will say Australia should have an integrated air and missile defence system, the ability to build, deploy and resupply unmanned and autonomous weapons systems, and develop a greater sovereign capability for satellite connectivity.
We cannot shape our region and the wider world in our interests if we do not strengthen our defence force, hone our intelligence capabilities and have the tough conversations.
Fuel and energy security are among the most important parts of Australia’s preparedness in a conflict or crisis, Ley will say.
She will argue Australia is not prepared for a cyber-attack on the energy grid and that Australia has been “decreasing its energy sovereignty, not strengthening it”, which she will link to the Coalition’s energy policy to expanding domestic gas supply.
Volcano erupts in Java
Indonesia’s Mount Semeru, the highest peak on Java island, erupted yesterday, blanketing several villages with falling ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the alert to the highest level, the Associated Press reports.
Mount Semeru in East Java province unleashed searing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its slopes several times from midday to dusk, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, Indonesia’s Geology Agency said.
The eruptions that unfolded throughout the day forced authorities to raise the volcano’s alert level twice, from the third-highest level to the highest, the agency said.
No casualties have been reported. More than 300 residents in the three villages most at risk in the district of Lumajang were evacuated to government shelters, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
Videos showed ash sweeping through valleys.
Local media reported that authorities are struggling to rescue about 178 people stranded on the 3,676m mountain at the Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post. The group includes 137 climbers, 15 porters, seven guides and six tourism officials, according to an official with the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, TNBTS.
“They are currently safe at Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post,” Endrip Wahyutama, a TNBTS spokesperson, said in video statement, adding that the post is located 4.5km from the crater on the northern slope of the mountain, which is not in the path of the hot cloud flow that was observed moving to south-southeast. Bad weather and rain forced them to spend the night there, he said.
Semeru has a history of eruptions, with the last major one in December 2021.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take the reins.
Tropical Cyclone Fina intensified to a category two storm last night, the Bureau of Meteorology said, and was expected to turn south on Thursday. The storm will bring wind gusts of up to 130km/h along with heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding along coastal areas between the Tiwi Islands and Milingimbi from Friday. Landfall is expected late Friday or early Saturday. A full update coming up.
There has been a big volcanic eruption in Indonesia, on the island of Java. We’ll bring you news of any impacts on flights.
Having spent most of her time on sorting out her energy policy and talking about immigration, Sussan Ley will outline in a speech to the Menzies Institute tonight how she would reform Australia’s defence preparedness and energy security. More coming up.
