Latest news with #Bellingen
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
It never rains or it pours: Australia suffers two weather extremes in May
Australia saw a tale of two weather extremes last month, with extremely dry conditions continuing across southern parts of the country as parts of eastern New South Wales recorded the wettest May on record. The low pressure trough that developed off the coast of NSW on 18 May and lingered for days, led to record high rainfall in numerous locations throughout the Hunter and mid-north coast. Multiple weather stations experienced daily downpours exceeding 200mm, with many breaking monthly and daily rainfall records for May, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's climate summary. Bellingen's Promised Land weather station recorded 802mm of rain for the month, more than twice its average. The NSW town, located about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, also set a record for the highest daily rainfall for May, with 337mm on 22 May. Record daily totals for May were also set at Williamtown RAAF base (149mm on 23 May) and Morisset (126mm on 19 May) in the Hunter region. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email May is usually a dry time of year for northern and central Australia. But several places in the Kimberley and Northern Territory experienced heavy falls of 100mm or more in 28 hours, according to the BoM. Meanwhile the dry spell continued across southern Australia, with rainfall in Victoria and South Australia more than 70% below average for the month. Victoria experienced its driest May since 2005, according to the BoM. It was also the state's second warmest May on record. The persistent dry conditions have contributed to a heightened winter bushfire risk for South Australia and Victoria. Maximum temperatures in May were 1.08C above the 1961-1990 average, BoM data showed, and minimum temperatures were up 0.6C. 'If you look at the weather charts, we're seeing a subtropical ridge sitting south of Australia close to the start of winter, and that's normally a pattern that you would expect to see in summer,' said climatologist Darren Ray, a researcher based at the University of Adelaide. South Australian agricultural regions were experiencing 'extreme to exceptional drought', he said, with some areas recording their lowest 'standardised precipitation index' values – a measure of drought – for the past 12 to 18 months, in records that dated back to 1880. The wet and dry extremes were part of the same larger-scale system, with high pressure over southern Australia encouraging moisture streams off the east coast, said associate prof Ailie Gallant, who researches drought and rainfall extremes at Monash University. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'This is an unusual situation. A lot of farmers in particular are really feeling the pinch right now, and unfortunately, with these types of events, we don't know when it's going to end,' she said. 'The best we can do is look on the horizon for the kind of weather systems that will promote heavy rainfall.' The contrasting conditions – large areas in drought while others experienced record-breaking rain – were 'quite unusual', according to Dr Kimberley Reid, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Melbourne. Reid said drought in Australia was usually due to the lack of heavy rainfall, not just a decrease in average rain. 'One to five days of rain [annually] can be the difference between a drought, and not a drought for southern parts of Australia.' There had been a lot of 'frustratingly settled weather' and 'clear skies' in southern Australia, she said. Nationwide, autumn average temperatures were 1.41C above the 1961-1990 average, the fourth highest on record, according to the BoM. Victoria had its warmest ever autumn, New South Wales and Western Australia second-warmest, and South Australia its third-highest. 'One thing that is clear is that 2025 will likely be the one of the warmest years on record, and so will the next few years,' Reid said. 'If we continue to burn fossil fuels – whether we burn them here at home or export them elsewhere to be burnt overseas – we're going to keep seeing temperature records fall year on year if we don't change our behaviour.'
ABC News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Bellingen Shire deputy mayor resigns citing low pay for councillors
A 31-year-old deputy mayor and mother of three has resigned from her regional council claiming it was costing her money to represent her community. Ellie Tree announced she was stepping down from Bellingen Shire Council on the New South Wales Mid North Coast after a three-month leave of absence. She said she was unable to balance the workload between family, full-time employment and postgraduate study. "Unfortunately council pays the least and takes up the most of my time," Cr Tree said. "People that step into the role aren't doing it for the money, it's a passion. Women under 40 make up only 6 per cent of councillors according to the latest report on councillor diversity from the NSW Office of Local Government. In NSW, councillors are paid an annual fee instead of a salary, which is determined by the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal. While mayors in cities can earn six-figure salaries, councillors earn as little as $10,220. Cr Tree told the ABC she was paid $18,000 per year for her work on the Bellingen council. After being re-elected in 2024, Cr Tree unsuccessfully pushed to change the time of council meetings from 9:45am to sometime in the evening. "When you're in a position such as mine where you need to take days off your full-time job to attend meetings, [the pay] dwindled down to about $6,000 a year in your back pocket," Cr Tree said. Bellingen Mayor Steve Allan said Cr Tree had made a huge contribution to the local community and it was disappointing she had to resign. "It's a very difficult ask of a young, working mother to be able to fulfil the role of councillor while working full-time and looking after a family," Cr Allan said. As more women than ever enter politics at the federal level, structural barriers like low pay remain for those looking to cut their teeth in local politics in NSW. According to analysis from the Australian Local Government Women's Association, women's representation on councils across Australia has grown to 40 per cent. Local Government NSW president Phyllis Miller said despite the improved representation, the poor pay and heavy workload for councillors meant mostly older, semi-retired people were putting their hands up to be involved. "If we don't start to change the fee structure, we're going to end up with people at retirement age being the only people who can afford to stand for local government," Cr Miller said. Cr Miller said Local Government NSW was continuing to lobby the state government for increased funding and support for councillors. "We go to the remuneration tribunal every year and we get nothing," she said. "In Queensland, you get 85 per cent of a backbencher's salary, so the councillors would be on $70,000-80,000 a year. Cr Tree, who was the youngest councillor in Bellingen Shire's history when she was first elected in 2021, said despite her resignation she hoped to stay engaged in the community. "Right now, I just think my time is better off spent with my kids and focusing on my full-time employment," she said. "Will I run again? Maybe when I'm old and semi-retired."
