construction.net.au

Updated

August 27, 2019 10:32:56

Here’s what you need to know this morning.

Rain on the way

Sydney could get up to 25 millimetres of rain today — and possibly more than 100mm over the week — saving the city from one of its driest winters ever.

But despite the rain for the coast, it will not hit the state’s drought-ravaged areas, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting it to falter at the Great Dividing Range.

So far in August, Sydney’s Observatory Hill site has received just 7mm of rain, well down on the long-term August average of 80mm.

The July average is 96mm, with Sydney only recording 43mm of rain last month.

BOM duty forecaster Jake Phillips said the forecast rain was set to save Sydney from a number of “dry winter” records.

Premier on Q&A

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has won the backing of former premier Kristina Keneally in delaying a parliamentary vote on decriminalising abortion.

Ms Berejiklian took part in a special ABC Q&A program last night, taking questions from high school students.

One student asked Ms Berejiklian why she “bowed to a minority of conservative MPs” in delaying the bill. She said they needed more time, and Senator Keneally agreed.

“I’m not too upset that she’s delayed it, I have to say, I think there’s some complexities in this legislation, the Upper House needs the time to do the job that an Upper House does.”

Overdose deaths hit record high

Overdose deaths in NSW have hit an all-time high, a new report has found.

Australia’s annual overdose report, compiled by the Penington Institute, shows 576 people statewide died of an unintentional overdose in 2017  — a 60 per cent increase over the past nine years.

The figures were driven by an increase in the use of stimulants such as ice, the use of multiple drugs at once, and pharmaceutical opioids such as painkillers and sedatives.

“I would describe it as a crisis because it far exceeds the population growth and it also now far exceeds the road toll and it has done so for the past several years,” Penington Institute chief executive John Ryan said.

Woman charged after pedestrian death

A woman has been charged with negligent driving occasioning death after a man was allegedly struck by a car and later died at Kiama earlier this year.

Police say about 4:25pm on May 16, a Toyota Corolla allegedly struck a 69-year-old man before hitting a parked truck.

The man was taken to hospital and later died, while the 19-year-old driver was taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests.

She was questioned by police but released. On Sunday, the 19-year-old was issued with a court attendance notice to appear in court in Kiama on December 2.

Topics:

abortion,

building-and-construction,

sydney-2000,

nsw

First posted

August 27, 2019 07:03:44