Federal funding to combat SA's algal bloom
Published 21 July 2025, 8:11 am
The federal government has pledged a one-off 14-million-dollar assistance package for South Australia which is in the grips of a months-long toxic algal bloom. Environment Minister Murray Watt called it a 'very serious environmental event' but has resisted calls to declare the outbreak a natural disaster.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on states and cities to end 'endemic vagrancy' — and rehouse homeless people including drug addicts and those suffering from mental problems in 'treatment centers.' The order redirects federal funding to prioritize 'shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment.' On average, more than 274,000 people were sleeping on the streets each night last year under then-President Joe Biden, the order says. 'The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both,' the document says. 'The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.' Trump has for years complained about homeless encampments along major roads in Washington, DC, and proposed reopening insane asylums to house the nation's most dangerous street people. It was not immediately clear how much funding would be steered toward the new initiative, or whether there would be a parallel effort to reopen long-shuttered institutions as a public safety strategy. The order identifies 'assisted outpatient treatment' as an option in addition to 'institutional treatment.' States and municipalities that already crackdown on open illicit drug use and urban camping, loitering or squatting, and tracking sex offenders, will be prioritized for grants. 'President Trump is delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again and end homelessness across America,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 'By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need.' Tent cities that have particularly upset the president sprung up during his first term between the Kennedy Center and the White House, in an area his motorcade traverses on the way to and from his northern Virginia golf course. Another rat-infested encampment lasted for years in McPherson Square just north of the White House, spooking passersby who regularly spotted occupants staggering around, conversing with themselves and urinating on lamp posts. Trump griped that the grim scenes in DC were on display for visiting world leaders — and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration has since conducted whack-a-mole camp clearances in the capital's core. The Supreme Court ruled last year in a 6-3 decision that localities have a right to impose fines on homeless people who camp without permission on public property. Originally published as Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- News.com.au
Weekend weather update: Millions set for weekend drenching
Millions of Aussies are set for a weekend soaking with extensive rain and wild wind forecasted as a deep cold front pushes across the nation. The Bureau of Meteorology Meteorologist Mirium Bradbury said on Thursday afternoon a 'broad reaching rain band' was moving across the country, with 'damaging winds likely for some parts of Australia over the coming days'. 'Fairly widespread moderate rainfall totals across much of Australia over the coming days as this rain system moves eastwards,' she said. 'But the area I really want to focus on is this area in the southeast, including parts of South Australia, western Victoria and inland NSW. 'These areas have seen significant rainfall deficits over the past six, 12, even 18 months. 'The rain that we're expecting over the coming days is not going to do too much to dent these long term deficits, but it is going to be good news for many of our communities through these very dry parts of Australia. However, it's not without its own hazards.' Ms Bradbury warned 20 to 40mm was expected for many areas through South Australia and western Victoria with roads at risk of flooding. 'This could lead to very dangerous driving conditions, as those roads grow slippery with the rain and visibility reduces as well. 'The other key impact we're expecting as this system moves across the country are the damaging winds. 'We've already issued severe weather warnings for damaging winds across four separate states of Australia. Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. Ms Bradbury said that the risk of damaging winds was mainly focused on Friday but the south coast of Western Australia could see some damaging gusts through Thursday evening. 'So what's driving all of this wet and windy weather? The answer to that is a cold front,' she said. 'It crossed the west coast yesterday, bringing some fairly significant thunderstorms to the Perth area and it's now moving across those inland parts of Western Australia, directing a broad rain band across much of WA. 'The system is attached to a low pressure system sitting to the south of the continent, and that low is going to help push this cold front and the rain band eastwards over the next few days.' Heading into Friday the cold front is predicted to pull the rain band eastwards and introduce rain across eastern parts of South Australia, Western Victoria, NSW and southern parts of Queensland. 'The rain will be widespread, soaking and lasting for a number of hours. Unlike the patchier showers we're expecting to pull up behind that frontal system. 'The winds are also expected to really increase through the course of (Friday). 'That band of strong winds shifts into the eastern states late Friday into Saturday as the front pushes eastwards and we see those strong winds moving across the east coast through the course of Saturday, before the system gradually starts to move offshore and the winds start to ease.' Ms Bradbury advised keeping on top of all warnings and updates especially for the areas most in the firing line around eastern South Australia, Victoria and inland NSW. 'Friday and Saturday are definitely looking likely to be the wettest days as this system moves across the country.' Outside of the cold front Darwin remains clear with light winds highs of 31 and lows of 22 over the weekend. Brisbane will see some lingering showers after the weekend before dipping on Tuesday to a minimum of 9 degrees. Melbourne and Sydney will likewise experience scattered showers with temperatures expected to be within the normal range for this time of year. After the weekend soaking Adelaide is expected to remain cloudy with north-easterly winds of around 20km/h.
ABC News
19 hours ago
- ABC News
The 'difficult' phase of returning to life after cancer treatment
In December, Grace Passfield finished four years of immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma. "I was really lucky, I had a really good response to that," says the 37-year-old physiotherapist and mother-of-two from Newcastle/Awabakal. "I had a scan at six weeks after starting the immunotherapy and all the melanoma had stopped growing, and then I had another scan six weeks later and half of it had gone or had shrunk significantly." When the time came to stop the treatment, Grace says many people close to her assumed she would be thrilled to return to "normal life". "Everyone was very excited that I was finishing and saying things like 'it's just so wonderful you're finishing, that's amazing'," she says. "But I was quite terrified because [treatment] felt like a safety net, it felt like a security blanket. "I had my last treatment, and I cried for half of the session." Clinical psychologist Samantha Clutton specialises in oncology support on Kabi Kabi lands on the Sunshine Coast. "It's a really difficult phase," she says. "A lot of people believe that once they sort of recover from the initial shock of diagnosis and get through the physical and psychological challenges of treatment, that they will feel better, that it will all be over. "And yet … particularly those months following the end of treatment, [it] is a very difficult time." Grace says once she realised her mortality, she couldn't "unsee it". Despite her treatment being deemed successful, she battles with constant anxiety that the disease will return. "Any sort of persistent niggles or pain" brings up that worry. "I have contact with my psychologist regularly … when I start to get worried about the future, she talks about how that's just a story and try to focus on what's going on right now." She says regular self-care and exercise are an important part of that. Grace still has routine scans, which look for signs of the disease. "I've had it described [as] it's almost like living with a chronic disease and that you're always monitoring for it," she says. The CEO of Cancer Australia, Professor Dorothy Keefe, says "survivorship care" is important and having a plan for that is key for people. "So that they know what sort of tests should be done, how often, and what to do if there's a crisis," the oncologist and supportive care expert says. "I would always say to my patients, this is something that could potentially come back, but it doesn't always come back. "And although we don't know if you in particular are cured at this point, there's no reason it shouldn't be you, so let's be positive, let's live life." Professor Keefe says it can be helpful to keep a check on anxiety levels. "Are they able to manage their normal activities of daily living?" she says. "Are they socialising? She says everybody's different and will need different levels of support. Ms Clutton says getting professional support can help normalise any challenging feelings. "People will very often feel as if there's something wrong with them because they're not feeling great," she says. "They don't have a renewed sense of purpose necessarily, they're not feeling incredibly grateful all of the time moving forward. "So, helping people to understand that this is a really normal reaction can really help to lift that layer of stress." She says Cancer Council Australia can direct people to either to their service or to other services within hospitals or other cancer organisations that can offer free or no out-of-pocket cost services. Grace, who returned to work as a physiotherapist several years ago, says while she had an amazing support system during her treatment, some of that has waned. "I said to my psychologist, 'How lucky am I? Everyone's so amazing'," she says "And she said, 'that will drop off and people do forget', and that did happen. Ms Clutton says she recommends people "check with their loved ones who have finished cancer treatment and don't assume that they're doing well". "Ask them how they're feeling and really stop and try and listen and reflect an understanding of that person's experience rather than trying to shut them down or tell them that they need to think positively." This is general information only. For personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner.
