Latest news with #CycloneAlfred
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald earns 15 finalist nominations in Kennedy Awards
The Sydney Morning Herald has been recognised by the Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism with 15 finalist nominations. The awards, named in honour of the late Herald crime reporter Les Kennedy, this year attracted more than 900 entries of 'exceptional quality', Kennedy Foundation chairperson Carl Dumbrell said. Foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty are joint finalists in the Outstanding Foreign Correspondent category for their work on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Chief reporter Jordan Baker and former chief political correspondent, now European correspondent, David Crowe are both nominated for Outstanding Columnist. The pair join Perry Duffin in the Outstanding Political Reporting category for their coverage of the Dural caravan discovery. Herald chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont and Harriet Alexander's stories on Tim 'Hurricane' Alford received a nod for Outstanding Court and Legal Affairs Reporting. Eryk Bagshaw, Clare Sibthorpe and Bianca Hrovat's hospitality industry expose for 60 Minutes was named in the Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting – Long Form category. The Building Bad series on CFMEU corruption – a joint project by the Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes – is a contender for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. Chief photographer Nick Moir's images of Cyclone Alfred earned a nomination for Outstanding News Photography, as did Flavio Brancaleone's coverage of Pope Francis' funeral. Cathy Wilcox and Matt Golding are both up for Outstanding Cartoon. Health reporter Angus Thompson was named in the Best Young Journalist category. Other finalists include Sara Danckert and Carla Jaeger (Finance Reporting), Michael Bachelard (Reporting on the Environment) and Andrew Bain (Travel Writing).
The Age
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
The Sydney Morning Herald earns 15 finalist nominations in Kennedy Awards
The Sydney Morning Herald has been recognised by the Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism with 15 finalist nominations. The awards, named in honour of the late Herald crime reporter Les Kennedy, this year attracted more than 900 entries of 'exceptional quality', Kennedy Foundation chairperson Carl Dumbrell said. Foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty are joint finalists in the Outstanding Foreign Correspondent category for their work on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Chief reporter Jordan Baker and former chief political correspondent, now European correspondent, David Crowe are both nominated for Outstanding Columnist. The pair join Perry Duffin in the Outstanding Political Reporting category for their coverage of the Dural caravan discovery. Herald chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont and Harriet Alexander's stories on Tim 'Hurricane' Alford received a nod for Outstanding Court and Legal Affairs Reporting. Eryk Bagshaw, Clare Sibthorpe and Bianca Hrovat's hospitality industry expose for 60 Minutes was named in the Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting – Long Form category. The Building Bad series on CFMEU corruption – a joint project by the Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes – is a contender for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. Chief photographer Nick Moir's images of Cyclone Alfred earned a nomination for Outstanding News Photography, as did Flavio Brancaleone's coverage of Pope Francis' funeral. Cathy Wilcox and Matt Golding are both up for Outstanding Cartoon. Health reporter Angus Thompson was named in the Best Young Journalist category. Other finalists include Sara Danckert and Carla Jaeger (Finance Reporting), Michael Bachelard (Reporting on the Environment) and Andrew Bain (Travel Writing).
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Climate
- The Advertiser
How new ambulance trucks will help Hunter paramedics save more lives
Powering along the sand at Redhead beach, paramedics got behind the wheel of their world-first rescue trucks. Fire and flood-ready, the Hazardous Area Rescue Ambulance (HARA) Unimog vehicles were put to the test in a four-day training stint in the Hunter. Singleton special operations rescue paramedic Joshua Barnes joined others from the Hunter, Tamworth and the Central Coast on Wednesday, July 23, to learn how to use the trucks. "I did some challenging driving yesterday, some four-wheel driving out in the bush, and some sand and water crossing driving today," Mr Barnes said. The HARAs are equipped with fire-protection materials and can drive through 1.2 metres of water to reach patients in difficult terrain and natural disaster situations. "In the Hunter, there are situations with low-lying areas, and flood-affected areas, and we've been at a limit where we are able to get through," Mr Barnes said. Mr Barnes said the new trucks also allowed 360-degree access to the patient on a stretcher and a bigger working room in the back. The eight Mercedes-Benz trucks were commissioned in 2024, with one stationed at the Rutherford rescue stations. NSW Ambulance special operations coordinator Andy Mayer said the group was ready for their third day of training on the sand after their off-road sessions in the Watagans National Park. "They are learning about dropping tyre pressures, allowing the vehicle to maintain its momentum on the beach and how to treat patients on the sand," Mr Mayer said. The trucks had fireproof curtains that could drop down over the windows, and a crew protection system that prompted water to be drenched over the vehicle in a bushfire. The vehicles were recently used during rescues in Cyclone Alfred and the May floods in Taree, he said. "A lot of communities along the coast were isolated due to the main roads being flooded, so we found we could insert our specialised paramedics by the beach to get to them," he said. The deployed HARAs completed about 44 rescues during that time. Central Coast special operations paramedic Luke Kelly was helping to run the July training session. A paramedic since 2008, he noticed an increase in calls out to natural disasters and major incidents. "We were finding every agency was getting busier," he said. They could no longer solely rely on the State Emergency Service (SES) to get paramedics to patients or to get patients to them, he said. Rutherford special operations paramedic Isaac George said teams had sometimes waited one to two hours for the SES because they were busy on another job. "It allows us to be a little bit independent and access our own patients and get them out safely," Mr Kelly said. The HARA training program began 12 months ago and would probably continue for about 18 months to two years until every special operations paramedic was trained, Mr Kelly said. Powering along the sand at Redhead beach, paramedics got behind the wheel of their world-first rescue trucks. Fire and flood-ready, the Hazardous Area Rescue Ambulance (HARA) Unimog vehicles were put to the test in a four-day training stint in the Hunter. Singleton special operations rescue paramedic Joshua Barnes joined others from the Hunter, Tamworth and the Central Coast on Wednesday, July 23, to learn how to use the trucks. "I did some challenging driving yesterday, some four-wheel driving out in the bush, and some sand and water crossing driving today," Mr Barnes said. The HARAs are equipped with fire-protection materials and can drive through 1.2 metres of water to reach patients in difficult terrain and natural disaster situations. "In the Hunter, there are situations with low-lying areas, and flood-affected areas, and we've been at a limit where we are able to get through," Mr Barnes said. Mr Barnes said the new trucks also allowed 360-degree access to the patient on a stretcher and a bigger working room in the back. The eight Mercedes-Benz trucks were commissioned in 2024, with one stationed at the Rutherford rescue stations. NSW Ambulance special operations coordinator Andy Mayer said the group was ready for their third day of training on the sand after their off-road sessions in the Watagans National Park. "They are learning about dropping tyre pressures, allowing the vehicle to maintain its momentum on the beach and how to treat patients on the sand," Mr Mayer said. The trucks had fireproof curtains that could drop down over the windows, and a crew protection system that prompted water to be drenched over the vehicle in a bushfire. The vehicles were recently used during rescues in Cyclone Alfred and the May floods in Taree, he said. "A lot of communities along the coast were isolated due to the main roads being flooded, so we found we could insert our specialised paramedics by the beach to get to them," he said. The deployed HARAs completed about 44 rescues during that time. Central Coast special operations paramedic Luke Kelly was helping to run the July training session. A paramedic since 2008, he noticed an increase in calls out to natural disasters and major incidents. "We were finding every agency was getting busier," he said. They could no longer solely rely on the State Emergency Service (SES) to get paramedics to patients or to get patients to them, he said. Rutherford special operations paramedic Isaac George said teams had sometimes waited one to two hours for the SES because they were busy on another job. "It allows us to be a little bit independent and access our own patients and get them out safely," Mr Kelly said. The HARA training program began 12 months ago and would probably continue for about 18 months to two years until every special operations paramedic was trained, Mr Kelly said. Powering along the sand at Redhead beach, paramedics got behind the wheel of their world-first rescue trucks. Fire and flood-ready, the Hazardous Area Rescue Ambulance (HARA) Unimog vehicles were put to the test in a four-day training stint in the Hunter. Singleton special operations rescue paramedic Joshua Barnes joined others from the Hunter, Tamworth and the Central Coast on Wednesday, July 23, to learn how to use the trucks. "I did some challenging driving yesterday, some four-wheel driving out in the bush, and some sand and water crossing driving today," Mr Barnes said. The HARAs are equipped with fire-protection materials and can drive through 1.2 metres of water to reach patients in difficult terrain and natural disaster situations. "In the Hunter, there are situations with low-lying areas, and flood-affected areas, and we've been at a limit where we are able to get through," Mr Barnes said. Mr Barnes said the new trucks also allowed 360-degree access to the patient on a stretcher and a bigger working room in the back. The eight Mercedes-Benz trucks were commissioned in 2024, with one stationed at the Rutherford rescue stations. NSW Ambulance special operations coordinator Andy Mayer said the group was ready for their third day of training on the sand after their off-road sessions in the Watagans National Park. "They are learning about dropping tyre pressures, allowing the vehicle to maintain its momentum on the beach and how to treat patients on the sand," Mr Mayer said. The trucks had fireproof curtains that could drop down over the windows, and a crew protection system that prompted water to be drenched over the vehicle in a bushfire. The vehicles were recently used during rescues in Cyclone Alfred and the May floods in Taree, he said. "A lot of communities along the coast were isolated due to the main roads being flooded, so we found we could insert our specialised paramedics by the beach to get to them," he said. The deployed HARAs completed about 44 rescues during that time. Central Coast special operations paramedic Luke Kelly was helping to run the July training session. A paramedic since 2008, he noticed an increase in calls out to natural disasters and major incidents. "We were finding every agency was getting busier," he said. They could no longer solely rely on the State Emergency Service (SES) to get paramedics to patients or to get patients to them, he said. Rutherford special operations paramedic Isaac George said teams had sometimes waited one to two hours for the SES because they were busy on another job. "It allows us to be a little bit independent and access our own patients and get them out safely," Mr Kelly said. The HARA training program began 12 months ago and would probably continue for about 18 months to two years until every special operations paramedic was trained, Mr Kelly said. Powering along the sand at Redhead beach, paramedics got behind the wheel of their world-first rescue trucks. Fire and flood-ready, the Hazardous Area Rescue Ambulance (HARA) Unimog vehicles were put to the test in a four-day training stint in the Hunter. Singleton special operations rescue paramedic Joshua Barnes joined others from the Hunter, Tamworth and the Central Coast on Wednesday, July 23, to learn how to use the trucks. "I did some challenging driving yesterday, some four-wheel driving out in the bush, and some sand and water crossing driving today," Mr Barnes said. The HARAs are equipped with fire-protection materials and can drive through 1.2 metres of water to reach patients in difficult terrain and natural disaster situations. "In the Hunter, there are situations with low-lying areas, and flood-affected areas, and we've been at a limit where we are able to get through," Mr Barnes said. Mr Barnes said the new trucks also allowed 360-degree access to the patient on a stretcher and a bigger working room in the back. The eight Mercedes-Benz trucks were commissioned in 2024, with one stationed at the Rutherford rescue stations. NSW Ambulance special operations coordinator Andy Mayer said the group was ready for their third day of training on the sand after their off-road sessions in the Watagans National Park. "They are learning about dropping tyre pressures, allowing the vehicle to maintain its momentum on the beach and how to treat patients on the sand," Mr Mayer said. The trucks had fireproof curtains that could drop down over the windows, and a crew protection system that prompted water to be drenched over the vehicle in a bushfire. The vehicles were recently used during rescues in Cyclone Alfred and the May floods in Taree, he said. "A lot of communities along the coast were isolated due to the main roads being flooded, so we found we could insert our specialised paramedics by the beach to get to them," he said. The deployed HARAs completed about 44 rescues during that time. Central Coast special operations paramedic Luke Kelly was helping to run the July training session. A paramedic since 2008, he noticed an increase in calls out to natural disasters and major incidents. "We were finding every agency was getting busier," he said. They could no longer solely rely on the State Emergency Service (SES) to get paramedics to patients or to get patients to them, he said. Rutherford special operations paramedic Isaac George said teams had sometimes waited one to two hours for the SES because they were busy on another job. "It allows us to be a little bit independent and access our own patients and get them out safely," Mr Kelly said. The HARA training program began 12 months ago and would probably continue for about 18 months to two years until every special operations paramedic was trained, Mr Kelly said.
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Ampol forecasts lower half-year earnings on supply chain impacts
July 23 (Reuters) - Australia's top fuel retailer Ampol Ltd ( opens new tab on Wednesday forecast weaker half-year earnings as sea-freight conditions impacted its supply chain, and reported a 1.1% drop in second-quarter refining margins at its Lytton refinery. The company expects first-half earnings before interest and tax on a replacement cost basis (RCOP EBIT) to be A$400 million ($262.04 million), compared with A$502.1 million a year earlier. The second-quarter refining margin at its Lytton refinery in Queensland, one of the company's key assets, decreased to $8.71 per barrel in the second quarter, down from $8.81 last year. Over the year, operational disruptions such as planned maintenance and loss of production days due to Cyclone Alfred, coupled with weak refining margins in Singapore, have weighed on refining margins and the output levels of the Queensland refinery. However, the refinery margin increased from the prior quarter's $6.07 per barrel, due to improved product crack - the difference between the price of crude oil and the prices of the refined petroleum products - in the later part of the year. The Sydney-based firm reported second-quarter total sales volume of 6,304 million liters (ML), down 4.7% from a year earlier. Its Lytton refinery output for the second quarter was 1,406 ML, compared to 1,420 ML logged a year earlier. The company is slated to report its half-year financial results on August 18. ($1 = 1.5265 Australian dollars)
Daily Telegraph
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Telegraph
EV saves the day during ‘bomb cyclone'
Don't miss out on the headlines from On the Road. Followed categories will be added to My News. I'm writing this story in the dark at home, with a blackout having just hit in the lower Blue Mountains. I've got no electricity, no hot water, and thankfully just enough battery power on my laptop to tell you that I wish I had a home battery pack… But I kind of do. Because I'm a car reviewer, and I test out lots of new vehicles. And some of those vehicles can run household appliances in emergencies. 'Vehicle-to-load' or 'V2L' is the terminology used for this ability to use a vehicle's high voltage battery pack to power things other than the electric motor of the car itself. You might remember earlier this year, during Cyclone Alfred, when EV owners surprised the internet with how their cars kept their fridge cold during power outages. It is common in fully electric cars, like the Hyundai Inster I have parked in my driveway right now. Cars drive through flooded roads in Moore Park. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw MORE: How 'The Chargers' will keep power on during storms It's a $40K-ish small EV with a little battery, and while it isn't fully charged, I can plug into the exterior charge port using a special adaptor to plug in a household appliance or a powerboard. This particular EV offers up to 3.6kW of power output, even when the car itself is switched off. That means I could run a cable to a fridge, heater, or even emergency medical equipment to keep things powered up. The tech is becoming more commonplace in electric cars, and it has even found its way into some of the most popular cars on the market, like the Ford Ranger. There's a new plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger with a set of powerpoints built into the tub area, which allow you to do much the same thing – power appliances or charge battery-powered items using the vehicle's high-voltage battery. The so-called 'Pro Power Onboard' has a maximum output of 6.9kW – two tub-mounted plugs at 3.45kW each, and another outlet in the cabin (2.3kW). The BYD Shark 6 ute also has V2L – in fact, it has three powerpoints in the tub, with a maximum output of 6.6kW. That's enough to keep a household running. Maybe even get a load of washing done. MORE: The revolutionary feature in plug-in hybrids Some EVs can run power to everyday appliances. Picture: Supplied There have been stories over recent years that couldn't have been told before the age of EV battery tech – like the owners of EVs that came to the rescue in Cyclone Alfred earlier in 2025, or the woman who used her EV to keep her son's dialysis machine going in 2023. Seriously, it could be as simple as running an extension cable to neighbours in need, or making sure your $500 worth of shopping won't spoil because of a flimsy power network. And yes, you can use it for powering tools at the worksite, or even setting up your Christmas decorations, but this underrated and underappreciated technological advancement is literally saving lives every day around the world. So the idea of an electric vehicle, or even a hybrid one, is not just about saving fuel and 'doing your bit for the environment' – it's also potentially a clever investment if you don't want to go for a home battery system. It's like a mobile home battery in some ways. And with the current 'bomb cyclone' smashing NSW and more insane and unpredictable weather events almost certainly heading our way, it's time I brave the deluge and get outside to the Inster to run an extension lead inside to keep my laptop powered up. Might even plug in the kettle for a nice cuppa, too. Originally published as Why some cars are lifesavers in a blackout
