1 00:00:11,694 --> 00:00:15,214 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Alex Nicholson from Mamma Maya's twice daily news podcast, 2 00:00:15,214 --> 00:00:19,414 Speaker 1: The Quickie with Your Headlines for Thursday March six. Anxious 3 00:00:19,414 --> 00:00:22,814 Speaker 1: communities are hunkering down as Cyclone Alfred rapidly makes its 4 00:00:22,814 --> 00:00:25,614 Speaker 1: way towards northern New South Wales. As the Premier urges 5 00:00:25,654 --> 00:00:29,534 Speaker 1: residents to stay put. The State Emergency Service has warned 6 00:00:29,614 --> 00:00:33,094 Speaker 1: all residents to remain indoors, including in Lismore and Byron 7 00:00:33,174 --> 00:00:36,854 Speaker 1: Bay towns that were previously devastated by record breaking floods 8 00:00:36,854 --> 00:00:40,574 Speaker 1: three years ago. Around a dozen prepared to evacuate orders 9 00:00:40,614 --> 00:00:44,294 Speaker 1: have been issued, including for Ballina, Blondel and Cyogle. The 10 00:00:44,374 --> 00:00:47,374 Speaker 1: category two cyclone is expected to lash the East Coast 11 00:00:47,374 --> 00:00:50,014 Speaker 1: with heavy rain and wind forecast to peak on Thursday 12 00:00:50,054 --> 00:00:53,454 Speaker 1: night and Friday morning. Mamma Maya writer Beck Day is 13 00:00:53,494 --> 00:00:56,294 Speaker 1: currently based on the Gold Coast, where she's without power. 14 00:00:56,894 --> 00:00:59,734 Speaker 1: She says overnight her family witnessed the start of wild 15 00:00:59,814 --> 00:01:00,694 Speaker 1: weather conditions. 16 00:01:00,894 --> 00:01:03,454 Speaker 2: Last night. We were watching the storm and it was 17 00:01:03,494 --> 00:01:07,214 Speaker 2: kind of really wooly, wild weather, really heavy winds. There 18 00:01:07,254 --> 00:01:10,374 Speaker 2: would just be these incredible green flat in the sky, 19 00:01:10,494 --> 00:01:13,374 Speaker 2: like the entire sky would just light up green, and 20 00:01:13,414 --> 00:01:16,854 Speaker 2: so I immediately went to the local Facebook page, and 21 00:01:17,374 --> 00:01:20,854 Speaker 2: evidently that's what happens when an electrical transformer kind of 22 00:01:20,854 --> 00:01:23,934 Speaker 2: explodes or blows up. I'm not sure about the scientific 23 00:01:24,294 --> 00:01:26,534 Speaker 2: accuracy of that, but that seemed to be the general 24 00:01:26,534 --> 00:01:29,774 Speaker 2: consensus as to what happened and would certainly explain why 25 00:01:29,774 --> 00:01:32,574 Speaker 2: we lost power so early before the cyclone. 26 00:01:32,694 --> 00:01:34,934 Speaker 1: Gales with damaging wind gusts up to one hundred and 27 00:01:35,014 --> 00:01:38,054 Speaker 1: twenty kilometers per hour are expected to hit island communities 28 00:01:38,094 --> 00:01:41,414 Speaker 1: between Double Island Point and Grafton on Thursday and continue 29 00:01:41,414 --> 00:01:45,374 Speaker 1: on Friday. Cape Byron, the easternmost point of mainland Australia, 30 00:01:45,414 --> 00:01:47,814 Speaker 1: will be in the eye of the storm, with dangerous 31 00:01:47,814 --> 00:01:50,294 Speaker 1: storm tides and destructive winds are up to one hundred 32 00:01:50,294 --> 00:01:53,974 Speaker 1: and fifty five kilometers per hour predicted. Abnormally high tides 33 00:01:54,014 --> 00:01:56,894 Speaker 1: and damaging surf conditions along the Northern coast have also 34 00:01:56,934 --> 00:02:00,974 Speaker 1: been recorded, with warnings issued to avoid beaches. Beck says 35 00:02:00,974 --> 00:02:03,454 Speaker 1: while her family keeps safe inside, it feels like a 36 00:02:03,494 --> 00:02:05,534 Speaker 1: flashback to pandemic lockdown times. 37 00:02:05,814 --> 00:02:07,334 Speaker 2: I was kind of hoping I would have one more 38 00:02:07,374 --> 00:02:11,614 Speaker 2: day left to madly download Netflix shows onto the kids 39 00:02:11,734 --> 00:02:14,974 Speaker 2: charged iPads so that we could keep them occupied, because 40 00:02:15,014 --> 00:02:18,214 Speaker 2: it very much feels like March twenty twenty COVID vibes. 41 00:02:18,254 --> 00:02:20,174 Speaker 2: It's very much you know how we're going to entertain 42 00:02:20,214 --> 00:02:22,974 Speaker 2: these kids. But COVID times, we don't have the option 43 00:02:23,134 --> 00:02:26,574 Speaker 2: of unlimited internet and electricity to keep them occupied, So 44 00:02:26,814 --> 00:02:29,694 Speaker 2: that for us is the more immediate concern, making sure 45 00:02:29,694 --> 00:02:31,974 Speaker 2: that our three kids don't go stir crazy. 46 00:02:32,134 --> 00:02:34,694 Speaker 1: Major flooding at Thora and Bellingen is possible in the 47 00:02:34,694 --> 00:02:38,214 Speaker 1: coming days. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane Airport 48 00:02:38,254 --> 00:02:41,414 Speaker 1: will remain open to provide emergency assistance to the adf 49 00:02:41,854 --> 00:02:44,494 Speaker 1: Airlines flying into and out of Brisbane have started to 50 00:02:44,534 --> 00:02:48,294 Speaker 1: alter their schedules. Virgin will cancel all flights from four pm. 51 00:02:48,534 --> 00:02:51,534 Speaker 1: Quantusan Jetstar are also expected to halt their services this 52 00:02:51,614 --> 00:02:54,854 Speaker 1: afternoon too. Flights to Balina have also been canceled due 53 00:02:54,854 --> 00:02:58,174 Speaker 1: to high winds. Beck says waiting for Alfred's arrival is 54 00:02:58,254 --> 00:02:59,534 Speaker 1: like being in a holding pattern. 55 00:02:59,614 --> 00:03:01,534 Speaker 2: We're kind of waiting for this big thing to hit 56 00:03:01,654 --> 00:03:04,614 Speaker 2: and watching as they keep updating the speed at which 57 00:03:04,614 --> 00:03:06,574 Speaker 2: it will arrive and the time at which it will arrive. 58 00:03:06,814 --> 00:03:10,614 Speaker 2: And I think based on what we're reading, the damaging 59 00:03:10,614 --> 00:03:12,614 Speaker 2: winds are going to be one thing, but really it's 60 00:03:12,694 --> 00:03:15,294 Speaker 2: the flooding that will come after that, and the lack 61 00:03:15,334 --> 00:03:18,374 Speaker 2: of power for however many days, and however many people 62 00:03:18,374 --> 00:03:18,934 Speaker 2: are affected. 63 00:03:19,214 --> 00:03:21,814 Speaker 1: US President Donald Trump has issued what he's calling a 64 00:03:21,894 --> 00:03:24,934 Speaker 1: last warning to her Mass to release all remaining hostages 65 00:03:24,974 --> 00:03:28,294 Speaker 1: held in Gaza. His sharply worded message comes after the 66 00:03:28,334 --> 00:03:31,414 Speaker 1: White House confirmed he had recently dispatched an envoy for 67 00:03:31,534 --> 00:03:35,054 Speaker 1: unprecedented direct talks with the militant group. In a statement 68 00:03:35,094 --> 00:03:37,894 Speaker 1: on his Truth social platform soon after meeting with eight 69 00:03:37,974 --> 00:03:40,774 Speaker 1: former hostages at the White House, Trump added that he 70 00:03:40,894 --> 00:03:43,974 Speaker 1: was sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job. 71 00:03:44,654 --> 00:03:47,814 Speaker 1: In his message, Trump demanded the immediate release of all hostages, 72 00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:50,294 Speaker 1: as well as the return of any bodies of hostages, 73 00:03:50,534 --> 00:03:53,534 Speaker 1: saying it was over for her Mass should they not comply. 74 00:03:54,094 --> 00:03:56,654 Speaker 1: The pointed language from Trump came after the White House 75 00:03:56,694 --> 00:03:59,694 Speaker 1: said on Wednesday that US officials had engaged in ongoing 76 00:03:59,774 --> 00:04:02,934 Speaker 1: talks and discussions with her Mass, officials, stepping away from 77 00:04:02,974 --> 00:04:05,974 Speaker 1: a long held US policy of not directly engaging with 78 00:04:06,054 --> 00:04:09,534 Speaker 1: the militant group. It's the first known direct engagement between them, 79 00:04:09,534 --> 00:04:12,454 Speaker 1: the US and Hamas since the State Department designated the 80 00:04:12,454 --> 00:04:16,934 Speaker 1: Group of Foreign Terrorist Organization in nineteen ninety seven. Cost 81 00:04:17,014 --> 00:04:19,734 Speaker 1: of living pressures may still be affecting most Australians, but 82 00:04:19,734 --> 00:04:22,894 Speaker 1: according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the country's economy 83 00:04:22,894 --> 00:04:25,694 Speaker 1: actually grew by point six percent in the December quarter 84 00:04:26,134 --> 00:04:29,374 Speaker 1: and one point three percent through the year. The economy's 85 00:04:29,454 --> 00:04:31,534 Speaker 1: rate of growth picked up substantially at the end of 86 00:04:31,534 --> 00:04:34,494 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, after growing at the slowest pace since 87 00:04:34,534 --> 00:04:38,094 Speaker 1: the nineteen nineties recession, not counting the pandemic. According to 88 00:04:38,094 --> 00:04:42,094 Speaker 1: Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Andrew Houser, inflation is down, employment 89 00:04:42,174 --> 00:04:44,934 Speaker 1: is up, and we are making real progress towards being rebalanced. 90 00:04:44,974 --> 00:04:47,414 Speaker 1: Following the rise in inflation in twenty twenty one and 91 00:04:47,414 --> 00:04:50,254 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, we also saw an increase of one 92 00:04:50,254 --> 00:04:53,854 Speaker 1: point four percent in Australian household's disposable incomes, with the 93 00:04:53,854 --> 00:04:57,654 Speaker 1: December numbers signifying the end of seven consecutive quarters of decline. 94 00:04:58,134 --> 00:05:01,774 Speaker 1: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the data suggests Australia's economy 95 00:05:01,774 --> 00:05:04,974 Speaker 1: has turned a corner, noting that inflation is down, incomes 96 00:05:04,974 --> 00:05:08,094 Speaker 1: of strengthening, unemployment is low, interest rates are coming down 97 00:05:08,174 --> 00:05:12,054 Speaker 1: and growth is picking up, and former US President Barack 98 00:05:12,054 --> 00:05:15,454 Speaker 1: Obama very nearly added TV star to his CV after 99 00:05:15,454 --> 00:05:17,894 Speaker 1: being approached for a role in the hit show Severance. 100 00:05:18,414 --> 00:05:20,814 Speaker 1: The sixty three year old was offered Keanu Reeves role 101 00:05:20,854 --> 00:05:24,294 Speaker 1: in the hit Apple TV psychological sci fi thriller series 102 00:05:24,454 --> 00:05:26,934 Speaker 1: as the voice of an animated Lumen building in a 103 00:05:26,974 --> 00:05:30,214 Speaker 1: film shown to staff in season two. Appearing on Jimmy 104 00:05:30,294 --> 00:05:33,374 Speaker 1: Kimmel Live this week, the show's director and executive producer 105 00:05:33,414 --> 00:05:35,614 Speaker 1: Ben Stiller said he had reached out to the former 106 00:05:35,654 --> 00:05:39,574 Speaker 1: president via his lawyer, but despite Obama emailing Stiller saying 107 00:05:39,614 --> 00:05:41,694 Speaker 1: he loved the show, he added that he didn't have 108 00:05:41,734 --> 00:05:43,974 Speaker 1: time in his schedule to make it happen. The show, 109 00:05:44,054 --> 00:05:47,854 Speaker 1: which stars Adam Scott, Brittlauer and John Toturo, focuses on 110 00:05:47,934 --> 00:05:50,694 Speaker 1: office workers at Lumen Industries who have undergone the so 111 00:05:50,774 --> 00:05:54,174 Speaker 1: called Severance procedure, which is the clinical separation of their 112 00:05:54,214 --> 00:05:58,574 Speaker 1: work and personal lives. That's your News headlines. On tomorrow's 113 00:05:58,574 --> 00:06:00,894 Speaker 1: episode of The Quikie, we find out more about Labour's 114 00:06:00,934 --> 00:06:04,054 Speaker 1: commitment to more urgent care clinics across the country, plus 115 00:06:04,254 --> 00:06:06,854 Speaker 1: what to do if you've lost your intuition. Listen to 116 00:06:06,894 --> 00:06:12,334 Speaker 1: The Quickie wherever you get your podcasts.