News live: dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods
Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live • Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning, Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) says it is aware of a “number” of Australians in the area affected by the flooding on the Nepal-Tibet border, saying officials stand ready to provide consular assistance. We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China. Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities. Continue reading...
South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas has defended national cabinet’s decision to drop strict mandates requiring new AI data centres to be powered entirely by renewable energy. After a meeting of national cabinet, prime minister Anthony Albanese flagged exemptions for jurisdictions including Queensland and the Northern Territory. Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday evening, Malinauskas denied the PM had been rolled by state leaders, adding there was a “genuine desire” to manage the national rollout together.
“It’s pretty clear... to any objective observer that the way we’re going to see these datacentres roll out in an Australian context will be powered by renewables, because that is where the generation can come from,” he told host Sarah Ferguson. That’s where the very large scale of energy is able to be procured at relatively quick speed... we can get renewables online sooner rather than later... What you saw today was a nationally consistent position, that gas will have a role