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Fifa lashes broadcasters offering to pay ‘100 times less’ for Women’s World Cup
The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has lashed broadcasters over their offers to screen next year’s Women’s World Cup, saying some are offering “100 times less” than they pay for the men’s event, AAP reports.
Infantino is in Auckland for the draw for the 2023 tournament, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the biannual Fifa council meeting.
He emerged from the meeting to declare Fifa would not accept derisory rights offers for the tournament “from some countries – I don’t want to mention them – but those who they are, they know it”.
“When broadcasters – often public broadcasters, but also private broadcasters – offer us 100 times less for the Women’s World Cup than the men’s World Cup, even more than 100 times in some occasions, that is not acceptable,” he said.
“We are not going to accept this.”
Fifa revealed earlier this week it had turned down offers from broadcasters in Italy, Germany, France and the UK to show the 2023 tournament, which will be the biggest women’s sporting event of all time.
In Australia, Fifa has awarded broadcasting rights to Optus Sport, with Matildas games understood to be on-sold to free-to-air broadcaster Seven.
Fifa is attempting to commercialise the Women’s World Cup, after previously offering rights in a package deal with the men’s tournament.
Infantino said the 2023 tournament would cost Fifa around US$400m (A$638m) and it wanted to recoup its investment.
“We want at least to break even … if not we’ll cross-finance it, of course, with the men’s World Cup,” he said.
“Hopefully this one, (if not) the next one we need to start making some profit.
“We know that the viewing figures for these broadcasters in some big footballing countries for the men’s World Cup or for the Women’s World Cup are actually very similar, especially in the recent past.
“We have viewing figures in the US Women’s World Cup, 1.2 billion people around the world … the final 263 million, which is more than twice the Super Bowl.”
SES says there are 98 flood and weather warnings across NSW
The NSW SES commissioner, Carlene York, says there are 98 flood and weather warnings across the state, including 15 emergency warnings.
York says the SES received 481 requests for assistance across NSW in the past 24 hours, including 15 requests for flood rescues.
Floods worsen in NSW, with risk of renewed flooding at Lismore
The NSW emergency services minister, Steph Cooke, says there is not a single part of the state she is not concerned about at the moment. There are currently 19 flood warnings, nine of which warn of major flooding.
Cooke says emergency services have distributed 500,000 sandbags during this flood emergency, at the rate of 30,000 per day:
We are quite literally sandbagging the state at present.
Cooke says areas of north-western NSW are expecting flooding worse than that recorded in March 2021, approaching the record set in 1955. Even if it does not reach that 1955 level, she says, “there will still be significant flooding in that region”.
Our rivers are full, our dams are full, even the smallest amount of rain is only going to exacerbate and prolong the existing flooding conditions that we are experiencing … there isn’t a river system west of the divide that isn’t in some degree of flood.
She adds:
I want to thank our SES personnel. They are weary. They have been at this for months now.
Cooke warns that a coastal low, currently over south-east Queensland, is due to reach the northern rivers region of NSW over the coming days and cause major flooding at Lismore.
It is being described as a high-impact event. The risks include life-threatening flash flooding, trees coming down, damaging winds, and hazardous surf … the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting potentially major flooding at Lismore.
The BoM says parts of the northern rivers could receive 100-150mm of rain on already sodden soil.
She adds:
There is not a single part of NSW that I am not concerned about at this point in time. It is important that everyone stays alert and continues to listen to advice put out by the Bureau of Meteorology and the SES. I don’t want anyone to get fatigued by the amount of information being out at the moment. I acknowledge that there is a lot going on, but we do need people to stay alert.
NSW emergency services minister gives flood update
The NSW emergency services minister, Steph Cooke, is speaking now in Sydney.
She says it is shaping up to be a difficult few days across the state. There are currently 10 emergency warnings across the state.
The area of biggest concern is Moama – that’s over the bridge from Echuca. As anyone who has visited that region knows, it’s really one town split by an arbitrary state line.
So it’s slightly confusing that Cooke’s advice on when the Murray River will peak – the same Murray River that Victorian emergency services just said will peak tomorrow – is likely to peak on Tuesday.
Cooke says:
The latest and best advice we have is that the river will peak there on Tuesday and is likely to exceed the 1993 level.
Victorian emergency services say the river will reach the 1993 level of 94.77 metres AHD later today, and peak at 95 metres tomorrow.
Road crews fix 40,000 potholes across Victoria
The department of transport has completed 40,000 pothole repairs across Victoria, Wiebusch says. A crew of 400 people are continuing to patch up those holes and any new holes that appear.
Flash flooding is a major cause of potholes so drivers may not get a lot of warning. Wiebusch has urged people to keep across the VicTraffic website for any road closures.
Flood waters peaking in northern Victoria; Murray River to flood until November
The chief officer of SES Victoria, Tim Wiebusch, says some of the river systems around northern Victoria are now reaching their peak.
At Kerang, the Loddon River is currently at 77.94 metres AHD. That is expected to peak at 78 metres later today.
He says:
We have seen this morning some overtopping of one section of the levee near Taverner Road at Kerang. We have seen some doorknocking of around 20 properties warning that there is a risk of flooding.
Wiebusch says Kerang remains under an emergency warning, and that will remain in place for the next seven days until the waters recede enough for the road to reopen.
The town of Rochester, which was severely hit in the first 48 hours of the floods, is starting to get a reprieve: the Campaspe River is down to a minor flood level.
Wiebusch says:
We are certainly not expecting to see the river levels get back to what they were with the flooding last week.
The Campaspe River at Echuca River, which is downstream of Rochester, is at moderate flood levels. The greatest risk, says Wiebusch, is the Murray River.
The Murray River is now at 94.77 metres as it continues to rise and is expected to reach 95 to 95.2 metres from Sunday into Monday. There is still a warning to evacuate … we cannot guarantee that the levees will necessarily hold back the waters that are coming down the Murray at this time.
He says there are currently levee engineers in Echuca assessing those levees, but adds:
If you don’t want to be isolated and we don’t want to rescue people, our strongest message is evacuate now.
Murray River floods are slow-moving and long-lasting. Once the peak passes Echuca, which will happen early next week, the waters will move downstream toward South Australia, reaching Swan Hill by late October.
By the middle of November we’ll start to see flooding at Mildura.
Victorian emergency services give flood update
The Victorian emergency management commissioner, Andrew Crisp, is speaking in Melbourne now, giving an update on the flood and storm situation.
He says there are 20 swiftwater rescue boat crews from Queensland on standby to help in case of flood rescues.
The SES received 70 calls for assistance overnight in the Geelong region which experienced really heavy falls. She Oaks near Geelong recorded 85mm overnight, 40mm of which fell in just half an hour.
Michael Efron, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, says thunderstorm activity will clear across the state today, still lingering a bit in northern parts of the state.
There is still a risk of heavy rainfall across northern Victoria tomorrow.
On Monday the rain will be more widespread, he says, with chances of falls from 20-40mm.
By Tuesday afternoon it should have cleared, and there will be isolated showers for the rest of the week but no big falls. “Settled weather,” Efron calls it.
Echuca floods: residents on the ‘wrong side’ of the flood levee band together
Cait Kelly
In Echuca, everyone is talking about the levee. There are about 60 houses trapped on the “wrong side” of the enormous wall of dirt that will protect the rest of the town from going under.
The forecast has jumped around but the river is now expected to reach major flood levels of 94.8 metres AHD later today, with the river peaking at 95m between Sunday and Monday.
The wall stretches for kilometres – running along Pakenham Street, Bowen Street and down Goulburn Road – but won’t save everyone.
Those on the dry side will have their homes protected, while those on the wet side have water already lapping at their doors.
People walk over the wall, visiting friends and families. “It is such a grub move,” one man says as he tries not to slide down the bank of mud.
On the wet side, those who have stayed to defend their homes are managing daily tasks – this morning it’s rubbish collection.
On boats and paddleboards they collect mounds of rubbish from the homes cut off from the rest of the town.
They’re ferrying it to the end of the street, over the wall and into a waiting truck. When this side is done, they’ll dive over and do the other 30 homes. Julie Golledge’s house is on the wet side.
They’re collecting more rubbish in the boats going around. That’s community spirit.
In Echuca homes on the “wet side” of the levee are doing rubbish collection this morning. They’re using SUPs and boats to ferry the trash out over the wall. pic.twitter.com/miXNduwew8
— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) October 22, 2022
Golledge says the wall has not pitted the townsfolk against each other – neighbours take flowers to each other, they check on elderly residents who are still there and at 4pm each day they gather for drinks.
People’s generosity has been amazing, and the messages from the dry side, the good side, they say ‘whatever you need, we’ll help’.
If I needed a click and collect, they would go and get it. The towns, Echuca and Moama, are united.
Golledge says the people on the wet side are just waiting. They will likely be waterlogged for weeks now. Afterwards they want a real levee built that will protect them in the future.
We are just annoyed with the bureaucracy to build this now when it should have been built years ago.
It’s done, let’s move on and make it better.
Dreyfus reiterates government will not direct Nacc on what it investigates when asked question about Lidia Thorpe
Dreyfus was asked by a reporter if the allegations against the Greens senator Lidia Thorpe – that she had an undisclosed romantic relationship with the former state president of a motorcycle gang while sitting on the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee – would be the kind of thing the government would refer to a national anti-corruption commission, once such a body was established.
Dreyfus said he would not direct the Nacc at all.
As I’ve said before, I would not direct the national anti-corruption commission, when we establish it next year, on what it should be investigating.
He said he would not comment on Thorpe, saying it was a matter for the Greens and for the law enforcement committee.
Thorpe resigned as the deputy leader of the Greens in the Senate over the issue, and apologised for failing to disclose the relationship, saying: “I accept that I have made mistakes and have not exercised good judgement.”
New fines for serious data breaches will act as a deterrent, attorney general says
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has addressed reporters in Canberra about legislation that will go before parliament next week to introduce massive new fines for serious or repeated data breaches.
Under the proposed legislation, companies could face fines up to whichever is higher: $50m, three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information, or 30% of their annual turnover.
Dreyfus said the penalties could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He told reporters:
Simply changing the law so that there’s a possibly of these much heavier penalties will be a deterrent.
You can read more detail about the proposed change here:
Peter Hannam
Analysis: rate rise expectations lift ahead of big week for economic news
Investors have lifted their expectations of how far the Reserve Bank of Australia will lift its cash rate, suggesting it will peak at 4.4% next year – it’s currently at 2.6%.
Ahead of next week’s federal budget and the September quarter CPI, investors have lifted their expectations of how far the RBA will hike its cash rate. Apart from 97% certainty of another 25bp on Nov 1st to 2.85%, they also predict it will peak at almost 4.4% in a year’s time. pic.twitter.com/HjK2NsjBy2
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) October 21, 2022
That’s at odds with the tone of the RBA this month, which shared a more cautious view that inflation will subside quickly, hence the 25 basis point increase in the cash rate on 4 October (rather than the 50bp that those investors were betting on).
Minutes out this week from that RBA board meeting noted there’s a lag in the impact of the rate rises since May. We’re in the midst of the sharpest tightening phase of monetary policy since 1994, after all.
This week, though, will give us important pointers to the Albanese government’s fiscal priorities for the rest of its term, even if next Tuesday’s budget is likely to be mostly a collection of modest forecast updates and the odd slashing of wasteful the previous government’s wasteful whimsy.
The September quarter consumer price index numbers from the ABS, due out the day after the budget, may steal much of the news cycle, particularly if the annual inflation spikes much above 7% rate.
The headline rate was 6.1% in the June quarter, and, depending on your inflation flavour, was the fastest pace of price increases in three decades.
Impacts from the ongoing floods, of course, won’t show up in higher prices for a while.
On the bright side, the end of the fuel excise “holiday” late last month hasn’t really led to the jump in petrol prices many motorists feared.
Average prices in NSW and Melbourne today, for instance, are in the $1.75-$1.80 range, well shy of the $2 per litre that seemed likely a couple of weeks back when increases of 25 cents/litre loomed.
Ninety-nine flood warnings issued for NSW
Thousands of NSW residents are bracing for flash flooding with heavy rain and thunderstorms to hit many parts of the state, AAP reported.
Ninety-nine flood warnings are current, with the SES performing more than a dozen rescues and answering hundreds of calls for assistance overnight.
The focus of the crisis continues to be in the state’s far northeast and southeast, close to the Victorian border.
In the north, emergency warnings are in place for Moree, Narrabri and the hamlet of Terry Hie Hie, while in the southern borderlands an evacuation order is current for Moama.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns the big wet will likely continue, with widespread showers and thunderstorms forecast for eastern NSW, resulting in flash flooding for many regions.
The BoM said the northeast is an area of concern as a trough and possible low-pressure system develops off the coast, bringing heavy rain to the Northern Rivers, including Lismore and Byron Bay.
“Exact rainfall amounts will depend on where this trough forms and how it moves and in particular whether the low-pressure system develops near the coast or further offshore,” it said late on Friday.
“Heavy rain may bring both a flash flooding and riverine flooding risk.”
A woman with a pre-existing medical condition was airlifted to hospital in Tamworth late on Friday by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter after becoming isolated by flood water on a property at Narrabri.
The same chopper was called to a Northern Tablelands farm west of Glen Innes on Friday after a man trying to drive a tractor through flood water became stranded when the engine stalled.
He was dragged approximately 200 metres to dry land by onlookers before being treated by paramedics for exposure and hypothermia.
The bureau has forecast rain and storms on Saturday further south, including Sydney, where it predicts a thunderstorm will bring heavy falls causing flash flooding.
Residents in the city’s west are expected to bear the brunt, with flooding tipped on the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers.
The BoM said there will be “some brief reprieve” from the rain towards the middle of next week but flooding will continue regardless.
“Major flooding will continue across inland NSW and northern Victoria as floodwaters continue to impact travel, roads and infrastructure,” it said.
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