Surf life savers arrive at memorial

The Surf Lifesaving NSW CEO, Steven Pearce, has just arrived at the Sydney Opera house in iconic yellow and red gear alongside about 10 of his colleagues, also in their lifeguard uniforms.

Bondi lifeguards were among the first responders during the Bondi terror attack, helping to assist the wounded, provide shelter and ferry children out of danger.

Caitlin Cassidy

Attenders start to arrive at Opera House

Members of the Jewish community are beginning to filter into the Sydney Opera House forecourt ahead of tonight’s national memorial service.

Dozens are lining up outside the entrance to the venue, hugging friends and family as they wait to enter.

The forecourt has been closed off to the public and police officers are lined at all entrances and exits to the site, many carrying large weapons. On top of the Sydney Opera House, police snipers stand with long-arm guns, showing how tight security is for the event.

In a strange juxtaposition, from Circular Quay station to the Opera House steps, workers continue to set up for Australia Day events on Monday, with the occasional sound testing going ahead.

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman:

Our hearts are broken, but our spirit is unbroken.

The Jewish response to violence and to tragedy is not to pull away from society, but to contribute more to it, to heal it. And that is why we’re here today to launch a national call to action. Fifteen mitzvahs for 15 souls.

We’re asking every Australian to take one tangible deed of goodness and make it a regular part of your day, of your week …

We don’t fight darkness by shouting. We fight darkness by turning on the lights. And judging from the incredible support from across this nation, one thing is clear to me: that light will win.

Strong police presence at Sydney Opera House ahead of Bondi memorial service

Caitlin Cassidy

There is a strong police presence at the Sydney Opera House and the forecourt has been largely blocked off to the public ahead of tonight’s memorial service to honour the victims of the Bondi terror attack.

The national memorial service, organised by Chabad of Bondi, will begin at 7pm under the theme “Light Will Win – A Gathering of Unity and Remembrance”.

In a few minutes’ time, family representatives of the victims killed in the alleged antisemitic terrorist attack will address the media, alongside senior rabbi Yehoram Ulman.

The prime minister, opposition leader, NSW premier and governor general will speak at the official event.

Australian tourist Sonny Worrall has described his escape from the New Zealand landslide.

Speaking to NZ news outlet Stuff, Worrall, from Newcastle, said he was swimming in the pool at the Mount Maunganui beachside holiday park:

As I’m swimming, I heard this huge landslide behind me, trees cracking, and there was a caravan that almost hit me. I was just fearing for my life. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life.

Several people are still missing, but officials have told reporters it was “possible we will find someone alive”.

Read more:

In WA, a Leave Now emergency warning has been issued for Bremer Bay, Fitzgerald River national park, Gairdner and Jerramungup in the Shire of Jerramungup.

A bushfire is burning in the Fitzgerald River national park in the south of the state. There are also multiple level watch, and Act blazes in nearby areas.

Benita Kolovos

Victoria unlikely to replicate ‘hot hairdryer’ conditions seen on 9 January

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn says the forecast on Saturday won’t be as extreme as that on 9 January:

In terms of the wind, if you think back to 9 January, it was like someone continuously, all day, held a hot hairdryer up to your face when you were outside. We’re not expecting those conditions. It’ll certainly be hot and it’ll be dry, but the wind strengths won’t quite be there, and we’re talking maybe 30, 40km/h winds over parts of south west and the Wimmera, that does include the Grampians … The northerly wind often funnels through a place called Kilmore Gap into the northern suburbs of Melbourne, so some stronger winds through there, but by the afternoon through Melbourne, we actually expect the wind to drop off a bit just when we reach maximum temperature. So the alignment of those hot conditions [means] that the wind won’t quite be there like we saw on 9 January.

He says in some “good news” there is also no forecast thunderstorm activity on Saturday for most of the state – with a marginal risk of storms in the far east around Cann River, near the NSW border.

Benita Kolovos

Alistair Drayton from the State Emergency Service has also provided an update on the flash flooding in Wye River last week, saying there was a “successful” three-hour operation today to retrieve 12 vehicles from the ocean using helicopters.

He says it’s the first time helicopters have been used for this sort of retrieval work:

The challenges of the environment we needed to be mindful of the environment and this was determined as being the best way to actually do that removal, by using helicopters and thereby not requiring heavy machinery on beaches or closing the Great Ocean Road any longer than we actually needed to.

Drayton says authorities were unable to retrieve a caravan from the water:

The caravan is not in a good way. In fact, it’s broken up … When I last had a report that we’re still looking to recover [it], they have been covering bits and pieces, and we’ll continue to do as much as we can.

Benita Kolovos

Authorities expecting ‘volatile’ fire behaviour despite winds not as strong as previous heatwave

Heffernan says while the weather will be very hot over the next few days, the winds will not reach the speeds the state saw on 9 January:

Whilst we’re not currently forecasting or predicting catastrophic conditions, we are well and truly into extreme conditions across multiple days across this heatwave event, starting on the Saturday in the west and south-west and possibly even Melbourne and surrounds. We will be declaring total fire bans throughout the course of this heatwave event, and we are asking community to stay up to date.

He stressed this further:

Even though the winds might not be as strong as what we saw two weeks ago, by the sheer heat and the topography of the landscape which some of these fires are burning currently … will spread rather rapidly and even under extreme conditions we can see quite volatile fire behaviour.

Nick Visser

That’s all from me. Cait Kelly will take things from here. Take care.

Caitlin Cassidy

Surf life savers arrive at memorial

The Surf Lifesaving NSW CEO, Steven Pearce, has just arrived at the Sydney Opera house in iconic yellow and red gear alongside about 10 of his colleagues, also in their lifeguard uniforms.

Bondi lifeguards were among the first responders during the Bondi terror attack, helping to assist the wounded, provide shelter and ferry children out of danger.

Caitlin Cassidy

Attenders start to arrive at Opera House

Members of the Jewish community are beginning to filter into the Sydney Opera House forecourt ahead of tonight’s national memorial service.

Dozens are lining up outside the entrance to the venue, hugging friends and family as they wait to enter.

The forecourt has been closed off to the public and police officers are lined at all entrances and exits to the site, many carrying large weapons. On top of the Sydney Opera House, police snipers stand with long-arm guns, showing how tight security is for the event.

In a strange juxtaposition, from Circular Quay station to the Opera House steps, workers continue to set up for Australia Day events on Monday, with the occasional sound testing going ahead.

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman:

Our hearts are broken, but our spirit is unbroken.

The Jewish response to violence and to tragedy is not to pull away from society, but to contribute more to it, to heal it. And that is why we’re here today to launch a national call to action. Fifteen mitzvahs for 15 souls.

We’re asking every Australian to take one tangible deed of goodness and make it a regular part of your day, of your week …

We don’t fight darkness by shouting. We fight darkness by turning on the lights. And judging from the incredible support from across this nation, one thing is clear to me: that light will win.

Strong police presence at Sydney Opera House ahead of Bondi memorial service

Caitlin Cassidy

There is a strong police presence at the Sydney Opera House and the forecourt has been largely blocked off to the public ahead of tonight’s memorial service to honour the victims of the Bondi terror attack.

The national memorial service, organised by Chabad of Bondi, will begin at 7pm under the theme “Light Will Win – A Gathering of Unity and Remembrance”.

In a few minutes’ time, family representatives of the victims killed in the alleged antisemitic terrorist attack will address the media, alongside senior rabbi Yehoram Ulman.

The prime minister, opposition leader, NSW premier and governor general will speak at the official event.

Australian tourist Sonny Worrall has described his escape from the New Zealand landslide.

Speaking to NZ news outlet Stuff, Worrall, from Newcastle, said he was swimming in the pool at the Mount Maunganui beachside holiday park:

As I’m swimming, I heard this huge landslide behind me, trees cracking, and there was a caravan that almost hit me. I was just fearing for my life. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life.

Several people are still missing, but officials have told reporters it was “possible we will find someone alive”.

Read more:

In WA, a Leave Now emergency warning has been issued for Bremer Bay, Fitzgerald River national park, Gairdner and Jerramungup in the Shire of Jerramungup.

A bushfire is burning in the Fitzgerald River national park in the south of the state. There are also multiple level watch, and Act blazes in nearby areas.

Benita Kolovos

Victoria unlikely to replicate ‘hot hairdryer’ conditions seen on 9 January

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn says the forecast on Saturday won’t be as extreme as that on 9 January:

In terms of the wind, if you think back to 9 January, it was like someone continuously, all day, held a hot hairdryer up to your face when you were outside. We’re not expecting those conditions. It’ll certainly be hot and it’ll be dry, but the wind strengths won’t quite be there, and we’re talking maybe 30, 40km/h winds over parts of south west and the Wimmera, that does include the Grampians … The northerly wind often funnels through a place called Kilmore Gap into the northern suburbs of Melbourne, so some stronger winds through there, but by the afternoon through Melbourne, we actually expect the wind to drop off a bit just when we reach maximum temperature. So the alignment of those hot conditions [means] that the wind won’t quite be there like we saw on 9 January.

He says in some “good news” there is also no forecast thunderstorm activity on Saturday for most of the state – with a marginal risk of storms in the far east around Cann River, near the NSW border.

Benita Kolovos

Alistair Drayton from the State Emergency Service has also provided an update on the flash flooding in Wye River last week, saying there was a “successful” three-hour operation today to retrieve 12 vehicles from the ocean using helicopters.

He says it’s the first time helicopters have been used for this sort of retrieval work:

The challenges of the environment we needed to be mindful of the environment and this was determined as being the best way to actually do that removal, by using helicopters and thereby not requiring heavy machinery on beaches or closing the Great Ocean Road any longer than we actually needed to.

Drayton says authorities were unable to retrieve a caravan from the water:

The caravan is not in a good way. In fact, it’s broken up … When I last had a report that we’re still looking to recover [it], they have been covering bits and pieces, and we’ll continue to do as much as we can.

Benita Kolovos

Authorities expecting ‘volatile’ fire behaviour despite winds not as strong as previous heatwave

Heffernan says while the weather will be very hot over the next few days, the winds will not reach the speeds the state saw on 9 January:

Whilst we’re not currently forecasting or predicting catastrophic conditions, we are well and truly into extreme conditions across multiple days across this heatwave event, starting on the Saturday in the west and south-west and possibly even Melbourne and surrounds. We will be declaring total fire bans throughout the course of this heatwave event, and we are asking community to stay up to date.

He stressed this further:

Even though the winds might not be as strong as what we saw two weeks ago, by the sheer heat and the topography of the landscape which some of these fires are burning currently … will spread rather rapidly and even under extreme conditions we can see quite volatile fire behaviour.

Nick Visser

That’s all from me. Cait Kelly will take things from here. Take care.