TGA approves rapid antigen self tests; severe storms sweep parts of NSW – as it happened

Power outages have been reported in Bensville, Blackwall, Booker Bay and surrounding suburbs following the storms.

#SydneyStorm is now trending on Twitter, though the chance of a tornado has been downgraded.

For more details head to the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.

It is not yet clear whether this is storm related.

On Tuesday, Guardian Australia published a story on the increased likelihood of a wet and windy summer as a result of La Niña event.

A serious amount of hail falling in Sydney right now.

The Bureau of Meteorology is now reporting there are risks of “tornado activity” added to the current storm in western Sydney.

There is currently a “detailed severe thunderstorm” warning of possible tornadoes, destructive winds, giant hailstones and heavy rainfall listed for parts of Blue Mountains/Hawkesbury, Greater Newcastle, Gosford/Wyong, Sydney and Greater Wollongong areas:

Multiple #thunderstorms are currently, or about to, impact major population centres, including #Sydney. A Very Dangerous storm currently tracking towards Fairfield. People should immediately check their local radars.

The Royal Commission into the casino operator licence will hand its final report to the governor of Victoria tomorrow after months of public hearings examining whether Crown Melbourne is suitable to hold a casino licence.

The Victorian government says the final report and the government’s response will be released prior to the end of this month, an approach “similar to that taken by the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority to the final report of the Bergin inquiry earlier this year”.

Minister for consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation Melissa Horne:

An incredible amount of work has gone into the Royal Commission into the casino operator licence and we thank Raymond Finkelstein for his report.

We’ll consider the findings and recommendations from the Royal Commission in detail and take whatever action is necessary to strengthen casino oversight in Victoria and ensure this never happens again.

14 Oct 202101.04 EDT

Paul Karp

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has released a statement on Anthony Byrne resigning from the PJCIS, noting his service on the committee since 2005.

He said:

I thank Mr Byrne for his important contributions to this committee in Australia’s national interest.

On Tuesday Byrne, the federal MP for the south-east Melbourne seat of Holt, gave evidence to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, revealing he authorised taxpayer-funded office staff to complete political work, and used a “kitty” to pay for memberships in breach of party rules.

Byrne also admitted to employing two “Turkish” men as electorate office staff as part of a deal with factional powerbroker – and then-ally – Adem Somyurek, despite one of the men never showing up for work while drawing a taxpayer-funded salary.

Despite that evidence, Albanese had said earlier in the week it was “not appropriate” to pre-empt Ibac findings, effectively backing Byrne to stay.Albanese also revealed he will recommend that Jenny McAllister now become the committee’s deputy chair and that Peter Khalil join the PJCIS, suggesting both would make “outstanding contributions” to its work.

Member for Holt Anthony Byrne, under pressure for alleged branch stacking being investigated by Ibac has just resigned his position as deputy chair of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security.

His full statement:

I have today offered my resignation as deputy chair and committee member of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security (PJCIS) to Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Australian Labor Party. Mr Albanese has accepted my resignation from the committee.

I will be resigning from the PJCIS today.

The work of the PJCIS is crucial to Australia’s national security and its integrity should never be questioned.

I have always put the work of this bipartisan committee first and have always served in its best interests.

I would like to thank my colleagues on the committee for the work we have done to protect Australia’s national security.

I will continue to fully cooperate with the Ibac inquiry and will not be making further comment while proceedings are underway.