Here is a look at what is making news around the country today.
Today’s national news includes more US forces to be deployed in Australia under the AUKUS pact, hundreds affected by flood in northeastern Australia, Santos gets drilling approval for its Barossa gas project, and Turkish Airlines set to expand in Australia.
Politics
Deployment of more US forces in Australia
More than 700 US forces personnel could be deployed in Australia under the trilateral AUKUS pact, Anadolu Ajansi has reported. The new deployment will support up to four US nuclear submarines. According to the plan, the US forces could live in western Australia to support the nuclear submarines being stationed at Royal Navy HMAS Stirling base, where a “low-level radioactive waste management facility is also being planned,” a report said. Washington will spend around $3 billion on the facility.
Regions
Hundreds affected by flood in northeastern Australia
Stranded residents sheltered on a hospital roof as flash floods swamped northeastern Australia with raging waters severing roads and flushing crocodiles into towns, ABS CBN News reported. Rescue teams evacuated more than 300 people overnight, police said, and military helicopters were dispatched to help inundated areas cut off by the floods. Damage was reported along an expanse of coastline that stretched about 400 kilometres (250 miles) across northern Queensland State.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/18/23/flood-disaster-unfolds-in-northeastern-australia
Business
Santos gets drilling approval for its Barossa gas project
Gas giant Santos had received approval for a revised drilling plan at its $4.3 billion Barossa gas project, although the fate of a pipeline to take gas to shore remains locked in a legal dispute, Reuters reported. Santos was forced to stop drilling at the field roughly 285 km off northern Australia in September 2022 after the Federal Court ruled it had failed to sufficiently consult Indigenous people on the nearby Tiwi Islands. Santos is awaiting a ruling on whether it can resume work on a key section of the pipeline that will take gas to Darwin for processing.
Travel
Turkish Airlines set to expand in Australia
Australia’s government has cleared the way for Turkish Airlines to ramp up operations to the country once flights begin by approving a five-fold increase in the number of weekly frequencies allowed from Türkiye, Aviation Week Network reported. The carrier expects to initially serve Australia via Singapore using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. However, plans include daily nonstops to Melbourne and Sydney, with Brisbane and Perth also under consideration. The frequencies cover service to Australia’s four largest international gateways—Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney—as well as the under-construction Western Sydney International Airport, which is scheduled to open in 2026.
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