BUSHFIRES – AUSTRALIA

Barty to donate winnings to bushfire fund

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Original article by Courtney Walsh
The Australian – Page: 22 : 6-Jan-20

Australian tennis star Ash Barty has pledged to donate her entire earnings from the upcoming Brisbane International tournament to bushfire relief. Barty could potentially earn up to $382,000 if she wins the tournament. Meanwhile, the Australian Open’s defending champion Novak Djokovic says organisers may have to postpone the Grand Slam event if air quality in Melbourne worsens due to the bushfires. Barty is not concerned about delaying the Open, arguing that tennis is trivial compared with the ongoing crisis.

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

Priceless artworks in the bush firing line

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Original article by Matthew Westwood
The Australian – Page: 19 : 6-Jan-20

Some of the major artworks at the historic Bundanon property and art centre near Nowra in New South Wales have been moved to a safer location due to the bushfire threat. The Bundanon Trust has indicated that more artworks may be moved after the Currowan bushfire came close to the property, which was gifted to the nation by artist Arthur Boyd and his wife in 1993. Bundanon’s $43m art collection include works by Boyd, Sidney Nolan and Charles Blackman. Meanwhile, poor air quality due to smoke from bushfires prompted the closure of art museums in Canberra on 5 January.

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BUNDANON TRUST, NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (AUSTRALIA), MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY

Morrison won’t rule out bushfires royal commission

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Jan-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government is open to holding a royal commission into the bushfire crisis. Morrison says there is broad agreement on the need for a review of factors that contributed to the devastating bushfire season and the response to the disaster, but he stresses that now is not the right time to apportion blame for the crisis. Issues such as land clearing and hazard reduction will be on the agenda for the next Council of Australian Governments meeting in March.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Death toll from New Year’s fires up to eight, and rising

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Original article by Bo Seo, James Fernyhough, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

Seven people have died in the New South Wales bushfires since 31 December, while a man in Gippsland in Victoria has also been reported as having died in the fires there. The NSW Rural Fire Service has advised over 175 homes have burned down on the NSW south coast since 30 December, while over 150 fires continue to burn in NSW and Victoria. Total insured losses from the current bushfire season are approaching $300 million, while the Insurance Council of Australia has stated the NSW government’s ’emergency services levy’ is a deterrent to people and businesses taking out insurance. Western Australia had six fires burning at alert level on the afternoon of 1 January, South Australia was dealing with 52 incidents, while six fires were burning at ‘watch and act’ level in Tasmania.

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NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Bushfire toll tops 1000 homes; PM rejects reckless response

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Original article by Bo Seo
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 24-Dec-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison toured bushfire-affected areas of New South Wales on 23 December, as the Rural Fire Service advised that 829 homes in the state have been destroyed and another 333 have been damaged since the current bushfire season began. The RFS has warned that more homes are likely to be lost. The RFS adds that some 3.41 million hectares across the state have been burnt so far in the bushfire season. At least 86 homes have also been lost in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills. Morrison contends that stricter carbon emissions reduction targets would not have prevented the bushfires.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Paid leave for ANZ’s fire volunteers

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Original article by Gerard Cockburn
The Australian – Page: 14 : 24-Dec-19

The ANZ Bank has advised that its employees who are volunteer firefighters will be entitled to special paid leave in addition to their standard leave entitlements. ANZ provides its employees with up to five days of paid community service leave each year, and staff who use all of this leave during the current bushfire crisis will be able to access the bank’s special leave policy.

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AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Fires to destroy 1000 homes

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Original article by Natasha Robinson, Adeshola Ore, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 23-Dec-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will develop a nat­ional plan to prevent a repeat of the devastating bushfire season of 2019. Some 789 homes have been lost in New South Wales so far in the bushfire season, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian stating that the town of Balmoral has been largely destroyed in one of the latest fires. A bushfire has also destroyed 72 homes at Cudlee Creek in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, with a 69-year-old man dying in the blaze. More than 200 fires are still burning across Australia, and NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has warned that no significant rainfall has been forecast in the near-term.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Convene COAG over disasters: Albanese

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Nov-19

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has called for an emergency meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in the wake of deadly bushfires. He says the agenda for a COAG meeting should include Australia’s preparedness for natural disasters, the development of an action plan on adaptation to climate change, and increased investment in research on natural disaster response, recovery and mitigation. The federal government will provide grants of up to $15,000 to assist farmers and small businesses to recover from the recent bushfires in New South Wales.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET