Communities along Australia’s east coast have been left counting the cost of flooding, fallen trees and other storm damage as the worst of the wild weather system passes.

Emergency services responded to thousands of incidents after a “vigorous” east coast low brought heavy rain and strong winds to swathes of NSW.

The “complex and rapidly deepening” system will continue bringing rain, storms, wind and elevated seas in coming days, but had moved into the Tasman Sea and away from the mainland on Thursday.

The NSW State Emergency Service responded to 478 incidents in the 24 hours to 2.30pm on Thursday, compared with 2500 incidents a day earlier.

Deputy commissioner Debbie Platz said many emergency warnings had been downgraded as the focus shifted to cleaning up.

“As conditions continue to improve, crews are undertaking damage assessments and helping people back on their feet,” she said.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted light showers on the hard-hit south coast on Friday, but hazardous surf conditions remain from the coastal low pressure system.

The Insurance Council of Australia said almost 2000 claims had been made as of Thursday, representing a “modest” event after a stretch of major natural disasters that left a billion-dollar damage bill.

“Once (people) are home and once they know it’s safe to be there, they should contact their insurer and let them know they intend to make a claim – even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage,” council public affairs manager Matthew Jones said.

Residents on Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea east of Port Macquarie, have been warned to prepare for the storm, with waves hitting more than five metres.

Sixth-generation resident Anthony Riddle, who runs a gin distillery, said it was part of winter’s expected weather.

The roof of the police station had already blown off.

“The island’s quite resilient because you’ve got a lot of trees and part of the building code on the island here is all the houses have to be built below the tree line,” he told AAP.

“There’s no houses on the foreshore, so we won’t have any houses affected by any coastal erosion. It’s business as usual.”

More than 4000 incidents have been logged with the SES since the weather event began on Monday.

There have been 12 flood rescues across NSW, with authorities repeating calls to not drive through floodwaters.

About 2000 customers across the Endeavour Energy and Ausgrid electricity networks in NSW remained without power on Thursday afternoon.

Tens of thousands more had lost power at some point during the wild weather.

But the state won’t be in the clear yet, with a trough moving through on Sunday.

Warragamba Dam, west of Sydney, started spilling late on Wednesday, after a previous spill in May.

Australians have been warned to stay alert for “ghost stores” as shoppers who fall victim have few avenues for recourse.

At least four such stores have been noted by the Australian consumer watchdog for misleading shoppers into buying low-quality items.

They often claim to be local Australian businesses that are closing down and selling off high-quality goods, when they are actually based overseas and sell poor-quality, drop-shipped clothes and footwear.

“This conduct preys on the empathy of consumers who have a genuine desire to support local businesses,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

The commission specifically issued public warning notices about everly-melbourne.com, willowandgrace-adelaide.com, sophie-claire.com and doublebayboutique.com.

However, the issue appears to be more widespread with the watchdog receiving at least 360 reports about 60 online retailers since the start of 2025.

Many complaints alleged ghost stores were refusing to provide refunds, were offering only partial refunds or were not responding to complaints at all.

Normally, Australians could pursue their consumer rights and go to a local store.

But because so many of the shops operate overseas, the usual consumer guarantees would not apply, Consumer Action Law Centre legal director Stephen Nowicki said.

“There’s very little you can do,” he told AAP.

The commission has urged consumers to contact their bank to see if they can reverse the charge or stop the transaction.

While this can be done when Australians fall victim to scams, the situation with ghost stores is less clear because shoppers still receive a product.

“It becomes harder in these kinds of situations, compared to an outright scam, to know what is a genuine discount versus what someone is presenting as a discount but is actually something not worth what they are promoting it as,” Mr Nowicki said.

But there are some potential areas for reform.

Though governments could not pass laws that would give consumers jurisdiction against an overseas business, they could try to block and prevent advertising in the first place.

Operators generally target Australians through social media ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They make themselves appear local by closing and then rebranding under new names that use different Australian suburbs, towns or cities.

The competition and consumer commission has written to Meta, which owns both platforms, and e-commerce giant Shopify, which can be used to host and operate ghost web stores. It has also tried to educate shoppers.

Ghost store domains often end with “.com” and not “.com.au”, and many use AI-generated images.

They also generally do not provide a physical address or a means of contact beyond an email address, while their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service sometimes refers to international regulations rather than Australian laws.

A deal locking in billions for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been struck between Queensland and the federal government to give the Brisbane event “certainty”.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie trumpeted the deal, which includes both governments committing 50-50 funding for minor venues, a full relocation of funding for the Brisbane Arena and $1.2 billion of federal funds towards a main stadium at Brisbane’s Victoria Park.

The Brisbane Arena, which the federal government was set to stump up $2.5 billion for, was scrapped during a 100-day review to determine the infrastructure plan for the Games.

Mr Bleijie said a market-led proposal for the 17,000-seat arena with private sector interest would provide better benefits for taxpayers.

Funding for the Games is split equally between both the state and federal governments under a $7.1 billion envelope.

The federal government is set to invest more than $3.4 billion in the Games – the single largest contribution towards sporting infrastructure in Australia’s history, federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said.

“It is about ensuring that when we hand the keys back after the closing ceremony, Queensland has the infrastructure it needs to build on this incredible legacy for decades to come,” Ms King said.

“Our most decentralised state will become home to the most decentralised Games.” 

The centrepiece of Brisbane 2032 is a proposed $3.7 billion, 63,000-seat stadium at the inner-city Victoria Park.

Investigative works at the site have begun with geotechnical studies and soil sampling ongoing, Mr Blejie said. 

Topography and boundary surveys are set to be undertaken to inform design and construction planning.

Brisbane 2032 boss Andrew Liveris welcomed the agreement and hopes shovels will be in the ground for major venues by the end of 2026.

“Today marks a significant shift in forward momentum following the Queensland government’s announcement in March of its 2032 Delivery Plan,” Mr Liveris said.

The International Olympic Committee have backed the LNP government’s 2032 venue plan after several false starts, saying the Brisbane Games are “on the right path”.

But Olympic rowing still has clouds over its viability on Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River as the sport’s international body is set to visit the site.

Mr Bleijie said the government was very committed to hosting rowing on the Fitzroy.

A total of $145.5 million has been allocated to Brisbane Olympic infrastructure in the forthcoming financial year, under Treasurer David Janetzki’s first budget.

That will blow out to $1.7 billion over the next four years, with $950 million allocated to the construction of the athletes’ villages and $832 million for procurement and delivery of venues.

The government recently passed a bill to guarantee construction of 2032 Olympic sites are not impeded by exempting them from 15 planning laws.

The laws include the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts, sparking outrage from advocacy groups.

An artistic duo axed and then reinstated as Australia’s pick for one of the world’s most prestigious arts events has received an apology.

Wesley Enoch, the acting chair of arts funding body Creative Australia, has apologised to artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino for what they have gone through since their commission was controversially revoked in February.

It comes after Creative Australia announced on Wednesday the pair would once again represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, regarded as the Olympics of the art world.

Sabsabi and Dagostino were dumped after two of Sabsabi’s early artworks, one showing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and another depicting the 9/11 attacks, were raised in federal parliament.

“I want to apologise to them for the hurt and pain they’ve gone through in this process,” Mr Enoch told ABC Radio, noting he had already offered an in-person apology.

“Although we will be stronger as a sector because of it, I know it’s come at a personal cost – not just to them but also to a whole range of people in the arts sector.

“We, as Creative Australia, need to help the whole sector learn some of these lessons going forward.”

Enoch on Thursday described Sabsabi as an “incredibly peace-loving artist”, adding his work was not about the glorification of terrorism.

“Those who choose to mischaracterise the work aren’t being honest to the intention of the work or the practice that this artist has,” he said.

Sabsabi and Dagostino said the decision had renewed their confidence in Creative Australia.

The reinstatement “allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship”, they said in a statement.

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser remains unhappy with Creative Australia’s reversal, arguing the issues raised in February persist.

“I think this is the wrong person to be sending to this prestigious art festival, as a representative of our country, and to give them taxpayer funds,” he told ABC Radio.

The arts funding and advisory body backpedalled on its earlier decision to axe the pair after an independent review found various missteps, oversights and misunderstandings in the decision-making process.

No one at the funding body was as well prepared as they needed to be for potentially divisive controversy surrounding the decision, its report found.

While outlining “contentious issues” for regular funding applications was standard practice at Creative Australia, there was no evidence of any formal assessment of these issues during the Venice Biennale process, it found.

This was despite an awareness within the organisation by the very few staff with knowledge of the selection that the decision was potentially controversial – not due to the nature of the proposed artwork, but because selecting an artist with Middle Eastern heritage was felt to be “bold” or “courageous” during a polarising conflict in the region.

One factor contributing to shortcomings in the process was Creative Australia’s broader remit due to the Labor government’s national cultural policy, with staff, leadership, and the board noting the organisation was “stretched”.

The governance review also found Creative Australia has a “considerable task” to rebuild trust with some of its own employees, and with parts of the creative community.

Meanwhile, philanthropist Simon Mordant has returned as Australia’s ambassador to the Biennale, following his resignation from the role in February and withdrawal of financial support due to “poor process” at Creative Australia.

In a statement, he expressed hope the reinstatement could be a “watershed moment” for the arts community, such that it could work towards eliminating racism and anti-Semitism from the sector.

Communities are dealing with fallen trees and powerlines, dam spillage and flying trampolines in the aftermath of a wild weather system that battered Australia’s east coast and is now bearing down on a popular small island.

The downpour was driven by a “vigorous” east coast low, which the Bureau of Meteorology predicts will move into the Tasman Sea on Thursday.

The “complex and rapidly deepening” system will continue to bringing rain, storms, windy conditions and elevated seas in coming days.

Residents on Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea east of Port Macquarie, have been warned to prepare for the storm, with waves hitting more than five metres.

Sixth generation Islander Anthony Riddle, who runs a gin distillery business, said it was all part of the expected weather patterns during winter, with the roof of the police station blowing off the only notable casualty so far.

“The island’s quite resilient because you’ve got a lot of trees, and part of the building code on the island here is all the houses have to be built below the tree line,” he told AAP on Thursday.

“There’s no houses on the foreshore, so we won’t have any houses affected by any coastal erosion. It’s business as usual.”

With 380 residents, the island has a cap of 400 on the number of tourists allowed to visit at any one time and winter is the season when it is at its lowest.

“You do get these lows hanging off the Australian coast so it is a normal weather pattern for us,” Mr Riddle said.

Elsewhere, fairly powerful winds, but not at the speed of about 65km/h, were expected to continue through Thursday around parts of northern NSW.

More than 4000 incidents have been logged to the NSW State Emergency Service since the weather event began on Monday.

The highest number of jobs at about 500 were recorded in Sydney where trees and powerlines have fallen on vehicles and roofs.

There have been 12 flood rescues across the state with authorities repeating calls to not drive through floodwaters.

“Weather has eased and people are starting to move…(but) we are continuing to monitor river systems and coastal catchments,” SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz.

“This has been a very widespread and dynamic system,” she said signalling the conclusion of the event in the coming days.

Ms Platz said with some rises in rivers, the focus will be on low-lying areas in the North Richmond area, west of Sydney, as well as for communities along the Peel River near Tamworth.

As of Thursday, about 3000 Endeavour Energy customers were without electricity, down from a peak of 30,000, and Ausgrid reported more than 45,000 had power cuts with about 1650 still being worked on.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Gabrielle Woodhouse said minor flooding was still occurring in several parts of the state.

There was good news for communities in Sanctuary Point and Burrill Lake near Jervis Bay after emergency warnings were downgraded overnight.

But the state won’t be in the clear yet with a trough moving through on Sunday.

“This could bring some thunderstorms to parts of the ranges of the South Western Slopes and also much more wind during the middle part of next week,” Ms Woodhouse said.

Meanwhile, water flowing out of Australia’s largest urban water supply will potentially add to the risk of flooding.

Warragamba Dam west of Sydney started flowing late Wednesday and is currently at a rate of 53 gigalitres per day and could peak to 60 GL later on Thursday, Water NSW said.

Spills at the dam are not uncommon, previously occurring in May, and three times in 2024.

An artistic duo who were axed and then reinstated as Australia’s picks for one of the world’s most prestigious exhibitions have received an apology.

The head of the nation’s arts body, Wesley Enoch, said artist Khaled Sabsabi’s artwork had been mischaracterised and he apologised to him and curator Michael Dagostino.

The apology from Creative Australia’s acting chair came after it was revealed on Wednesday that the pair will once again represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, after being dropped in February.

“I want to apologise to them for the hurt and pain they’ve gone through in this process,” Mr Enoch told ABC radio, while noting that he had already offered an in-person apology.

“Although we will be stronger as a sector because of it, I know it’s come at a personal cost – not just to them but also to a whole range of people in the arts sector.

“We, as Creative Australia, need to help the whole sector learn some of these lessons going forward.”

The body initially revoked the pair’s invitation after a federal politician raised concerns over Sabsabi’s early works, one of which showed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and another that depicted the 9/11 attacks.

Creative Australia had claimed Sabsabi and Dagostino’s selection would cause a prolonged and divisive debate and that it would pose an unacceptable risk to public support for the Australian artistic community, leading to the decision that would be later decried by more than 4000 people.

Enoch on Thursday noted Sabsabi’s work had been mischaracterised and said he was an “incredibly peace-loving artist”, as shown by the way he constructs his images.

“This work is not about terrorism,” he said.

“It is not about the glorification of terrorism.

“Those who choose to mischaracterise the work aren’t being honest to the intention of the work or the practice that this artist has.”

But shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser remained unhappy with Creative Australia’s reversal, arguing that the issues raised in February remained.

“I think this is the wrong person to be sending to this prestigious art festival, as a representative of our country, and to give them taxpayer funds,” he told ABC radio.

“Particularly given the tensions in Australia and the declining level of social cohesion.”

The arts funding and advisory body backpedalled on its earlier decision to axe the pair after an independent review found various missteps, assumptions and missed opportunities in the decision-making process.

Enoch said Creative Australia believed reinstatement was the best option and would take into account the report’s recommendations.

“The rigour in which we undertook this was not easy,” he said.

“It takes a very big heart to go, ‘we will engage in the process with integrity and thoughtfulness and move forward’, and that’s what we’ve done.”

The creative duo said the latest decision had renewed their confidence in Creative Australia and “allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship”.

Thousands of people are without power, trees have been uprooted and beaches eroded after a wild weather system battered large parts of Australia’s east coast.

The downpour was driven by a “vigorous” east coast low, which the Bureau of Meteorology predicts will move into the Tasman Sea on Thursday.

Residents on Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea east of Port Macquarie, have been warned to prepare for increased winds and elevated seas, with waves higher than five metres.

Elsewhere, damaging winds with gusts up to 100km/h were expected to continue through Thursday morning around parts of northern NSW.

More than 3800 incidents have been reported to the NSW State Emergency Service since the weather event began on Monday.

The majority of incidents have involved fallen trees and powerlines, damaged properties and vehicles, as well as flood-related tasks, including 12 flood rescues.

While conditions are mostly easing across much of the state, damaging winds will persist in parts of the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands on Thursday.

As of Wednesday night, about 8000 Endeavour Energy customers were without electricity, down from a peak of 30,000.

There was good news for communities in Sanctuary Point and Burrill Lake near Jervis Bay after emergency warnings were downgraded overnight.

In nearby Sussex Inlet, Fay Brown was stranded when roads approaching the Badgee Bridge flooded.

Without a four-wheel drive, Ms Brown would have used a flood access road, but the local council continued a long-standing practice of blocking the road rather than allowing residential access.

“This happens every time we have heavy days of rain. I’ve lived here 11 years and been stuck on at least five occasions,” she told AAP.

“Once we were stuck there for four days.”

Meanwhile, water flowing out of Australia’s largest urban water supply will add to the risk of flooding after the damaging and complex low pressure system caused havoc.

Warragamba Dam west of Sydney there was a risk of a “moderate spill” overnight into Thursday after days of heavy rain, WaterNSW said.

“The duration and volume of the spill will ultimately be determined by rainfall received across the catchment,” it said.

State regulations do not allow water to be released at Warragamba Dam before predicted rainfall or to mitigate floods as it supplies 80 per cent of Sydney’s drinking water.

Spills at the dam are not uncommon, previously occurring in May, and three times in 2024.

Warragamba Dam flows into the Hawkesbury-Nepean river catchment, which could face flooding could occur on Thursday.

Other, smaller dams were also spilling after reaching capacity following heavy rains.

Del Monte Foods, the 139-year-old company best known for its canned fruits and vegetables, is filing for bankruptcy protection as US consumers increasingly bypass its products for healthier or cheaper options.

Del Monte has secured $US912.5 million ($A1.4 billion) in debtor-in-possession financing that will allow it to operate normally as the sale progresses.

“After a thorough evaluation of all available options, we determined a court-supervised sale process is the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround and create a stronger and enduring Del Monte Foods,” CEO Greg Longstreet said in a statement.

Del Monte Foods, based in Walnut Creek, California, also owns the Contadina tomato brand, College Inn and Kitchen Basics broth brands and the Joyba bubble tea brand.

The company has seen sales growth of Joyba and broth in fiscal 2024, but not enough to offset weaker sales of Del Monte’s signature canned products.

“Consumer preferences have shifted away from preservative-laden canned food in favour of healthier alternatives,” said Sarah Foss, global head of legal and restructuring at Debtwire, a financial consultancy.

Grocery inflation also caused consumers to seek out cheaper store brands.

And US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on imported steel, which went into effect in June, will also push up the prices Del Monte and others must pay for cans.

Del Monte Foods, which is owned by Singapore’s Del Monte Pacific, was also hit with a lawsuit last year by a group of lenders that objected to the company’s debt restructuring plan.

The case was settled in May with a loan that increased Del Monte’s interest expenses by $US4 million annually, according to a company statement.

Del Monte said that the bankruptcy filing is part of a planned sale of company’s assets.

Qantas customers have been told to be on high alert for scams after one of the worst cyber attacks in months.

Qantas has revealed a cyber incident on a third-party platform used by the airline’s contact centre that exposed the details of six million customers.

Names, phone numbers, dates of birth and email addresses are among the data believed to be exposed in the leak. 

But Qantas reassured customers financial information, passport numbers, credit card details and frequent flyer PIN codes were not accessed.

Customers are urged to stay on high alert in coming months because they may experience targeted phishing scams.

The type of personal information could be used in further cyber attacks, a security expert says.

“I think even with reassurances, the breach of names, email addresses, phone numbers and perhaps most importantly, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers, it’s still significant,” the executive director of Macquarie University’s Cyber Security Hub Dali Kaafar told AAP.

Professor Kaafar said the details could lead to malicious actors building a more complete profile about individuals to make them more susceptible to other forms of cybercrime.

Qantas launched an investigation into the attack on Wednesday as customers reeled from the news.

“We are continuing to investigate the proportion of the data that has been stolen, though we expect it will be significant,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Qantas was working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and independent specialised cyber security experts, chief executive Vanessa Hudson said.

A customer support line had been established to provide customers with the latest information.

But experts warn the impact of the breach will be far-reaching.

Prof Kaafar said the claims by Qantas that no frequent flyer login details were exposed should be taken with “a grain of salt”, given the number of customers who use their date of birth as a PIN code.

“The Qantas app doesn’t implement any form of multifactor authentication, it relies on things like your surname, your frequent flyer number and PIN number,” he said.

“So some of these customers would have been using date of birth as a PIN, and they are immediately at risk because that data has been compromised.”

He warned customers to change their passwords and PINs to prevent further harm.

Customers should also be on high alert for scammers pretending to be Qantas in the coming months, as occurred in the wake of the Optus attack that impacted 10 million users.

“Scammers will be impersonating Qantas itself, leading to a more disastrous type of impact,” Prof Kaafar said.

Cybersecurity experts are speculating that the hackers responsible may be Scattered Spider, a group of young cyber criminals living in the US and the UK.

America’s FBI recently provided a warning that the group had been targeting the airline sector by impersonating legitimate users to bypass multi-factor authentication and access systems.

There has been no confirmation of the group responsible.

Qantas shares on the ASX shed about 3.6 per cent to $10.38 on Wednesday in response to the news.

Water flowing out of Australia’s largest urban water supply will add to the risk of flooding after a damaging and complex low pressure system caused widespread havoc.

Warragamba Dam west of Sydney was expected to begin a “moderate spill” overnight into Thursday after days of heavy rain, WaterNSW said.

“The duration and volume of the spill will ultimately be determined by rainfall received across the catchment,” it said.

Thousands of people are without power, trees have been uprooted and beaches eroded after the wild weather system battered large parts of Australia’s east coast.

State regulations do not allow water to be released at Warragamba Dam before predicted rainfall or to mitigate floods as it supplies 80 per cent of Sydney’s drinking water.

Spills at the dam are not uncommon, previously occurring in May, and three times in 2024.

Warragamba Dam flows into the Hawkesbury-Nepean river catchment, where the bureau has warned flooding could occur on Thursday.

Other, smaller dams were also spilling after reaching capacity following heavy rains.

The downpours formed part of a “vigorous” east coast low the Bureau of Meteorology predicted would move into the Tasman Sea.

Lord Howe Island residents were warned to prepare for increased winds and elevated seas, with waves up above five metres.

Damaging winds with gusts up to 100km/h were expected to continue through the morning around parts of northern NSW.

More than 3400 incidents were reported to the SES during the weather event, beginning on Monday, with 10 flood rescues.

Additional crews from the ACT were joining the response and recovery efforts late on Wednesday.

About 8000 Endeavour Energy customers were without electricity as crews worked to restore power on Wednesday night, down from a peak of 30,000.

Dozens of properties were under evacuation warnings due to flooding at Burrill Lake and Sanctuary Point near Jervis Bay.

In nearby Sussex Inlet, Fay Brown was stranded when roads approaching the Badgee Bridge flooded.

Without a four-wheel drive, Ms Brown would have used a flood access road, but the local council continued a long-standing practice of blocking the road rather than allowing residential access.

“This happens every time we have heavy days of rain. I’ve lived here 11 years and been stuck on at least five occasions,” she told AAP.

“Once we were stuck there for four days.”