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Roof collapse at Royal Darwin hospital amid heavy rain
Roofing at the Royal Darwin hospital partially collapsed on Saturday but no one was hurt.
Steve Edgington, a member of the Northern Territory legislative assembly, shared an image of the collapsed roofing and bricks strewn on the first floor of the hospital.
He said he was reassured all staff and patients are safe, with NT police incident controller Emma Carter confirming on ABC Radio Darwin that no one was hurt.
Roofing at the #RoyalDarwinHospital has partially collapsed in an area on the first floor with reports there is water in the building.
My first priority is to ensure all staff and patients are safe and I have been reassured that this is the case.
Once I have further… pic.twitter.com/WwliVn2yJj
— Steve Edgington MLA (@SteveEdgoMLA) November 22, 2025
– with AAP
Key events
Josh Butler
Australia will have “unprecedented influence” over the upcoming UN climate discussions at the COP conference, Anthony Albanese says, welcoming an agreement which would see energy minister Chris Bowen become the “president of negotiations” while Türkiye hosts the main conference.
As flagged earlier in the week, Australia came up short in its bid to co-host the COP conference with the Pacific, but last-minute agreements saw Australia extract some major concessions. In a statement this morning, Albanese said Bowen would act as the president of negotiations, which will see Australia have “exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations”, related to shaping global decision making and global investment in clean energy industries.
Albanese said in the statement with Bowen and foreign minister Penny Wong:
The Pacific will host a special pre-COP for leaders and others, bringing attention to the existential threat climate change poses to the region.
This will give Australia and the Pacific unprecedented influence over multilateral deliberations and actions of the global community in 2026.
Australia will also get to choose “ministerial and other co-facilitators for negotiations” as well as identifying “additional champions” for the agenda.
The COP31 agenda will also include a session on the climate finance needs of small island developing nations, another concession aimed at supporting the Pacific.
Hanson-Young pointed out Labor’s contradictory offers to the coalition and the Greens reveal a confusion in what their own objectives with the bill really are:
On one hand, [Labor are] saying they’re willing to work get a deal done with the coalition that fast tracks coal and gas that makes life easier for coal and gas, that doesn’t stop rampant land clearing, that doesn’t stop the destruction of our native forests, right?
They’re happy to do that, but then, on the other hand, they’re saying, well, we’ll work with the Greens to fix all these things.
What does labor actually want? What is the objective? What is the objectives of this law?
The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young has appeared on ABC’s Insiders amidst the government appealing to the minor party with concessions in order to pass their nature laws.
Guardian Australia yesterday revealed Labor would rule out controversial ‘national interest’ exemption for coal and gas if the Greens back the laws, noting the concession alone may not be enough to win over the party who have further demands including protections for native forests.
Hanson-Young yesterday met with the environment minister Murray Watt, who offered a native forest logging concession – a three year transition the regional forestry agreements to comply with the new national environmental standards.
Hanson-Young told the ABC she welcomed the progress, but the time frame does not “in any way deal with the urgency of protecting our native forests now”.
Three more years of the destruction of our native forests when we’ve got 2000 plus species already endangered in this country, where we’ve got billions of dollars of taxpayer money already being, already spent subsidising an industry that’s about destroying our native forests. I mean, it’s 2025 and it’s time we ended native forest logging protected these beautiful, ancient forests that aren’t just there for the richness of biodiversity, but they’re so important when it comes to combating climate change, they are carbon sinks.
Decision to challenge for leadership only came in ‘final couple of days’, Sloane says
Sloane said while it was only in the “final couple of days” she made the decision to challenge Mark Speakman for the NSW Liberal leadership, now that she is in the job she is “committed”:
I was probably finally convinced only in the final couple of days, to be honest, I had colleagues come and have chats. I have a really good relationship with Mark Speakman. It was a friendly chat with Mark. It was a hard chat, but it was a very friendly one. And then when I’m in, I’m in 100%. I think what a lot of people would do in my position is weigh up the pros and cons and think of all the reasons that I shouldn’t do it, but at the end of the day, the reasons I should outweighed those, and I’ll be a committed leader. I’m very clear eyed once I’ve made up my mind.
Elevation to Liberal leader ‘wasn’t on my bingo card’, Sloane says
Asked whether she was an “accidental leader”, Sloane replied:
I think it’s fair to say that I wasn’t planning to be where I am right now. It wasn’t on my bingo card this year. But another friend said to me, “sometimes you don’t choose your timing. In politics, the timing can choose you.” And so I’ve always been someone who’s been prepared to jump in the deep end and have a crack, and it’s really important that we provide the difference for Labor, who I think has been an incredibly uninspiring government – very friendly, personable premier in Chris Minns, who’s a nice guy, but beneath that, there’s very little depth in that team. And we haven’t seen an ambition for New South Wales. And so I will be painting a clear ambition for New South Wales.
Kellie Sloane says hecklers ‘not going to stop me turning up’
Kellie Sloane was interviewed on Sky News just a little earlier. Asked about her heckling in western Sydney yesterday, the new NSW opposition leader said such incidents wouldn’t stop her turning up:
I don’t think they were representative of the community that I visited yesterday. They were a few political activists that I’ve seen at a few other protests … and that’s OK, because part of the job is going to be fronting up to people who don’t always agree with what I’m saying. And it’s not going to stop me turning up, and I’m happy to have chats.
G20 leaders’ declaration supported ‘unanimously’ despite US pressure and boycott
A bit more context on Australia signing the G20 statement backing the Paris agreement, from the Associated Press:
World leaders from the Group of 20 rich and developing economies broke with tradition and adopted a declaration at the start of their summit in South Africa on Saturday despite opposition from the United States, which is boycotting the two-day talks in a diplomatic rift with the host country.
Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said a leaders’ declaration was adopted unanimously by the other members at the start of the talks in Johannesburg. Declarations are usually adopted at the end of G20 summits.
The 122-point declaration urged more global action on issues that specifically affect developing countries, like climate-related disasters and sovereign debt levels, and was promoted by the host country as a victory for the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.
The summit has been overshadowed by the US boycott ordered by president Donald Trump, and the US had put pressure on South Africa not to adopt a leaders’ declaration in the absence of an American delegation, South African officials said.
Labor says latest round of housing fund will deliver 21,000 more homes
Penry Buckley
The Albanese government says it will deliver 21,000 new social or affordable homes by June 2029 under the next round of the Housing Australia Future Fund (Haff).
Under the third round of the fund, which provides loans to housing providers to build homes rather than purchasing them outright, $2.6bn will be offered from late January 2026.
A new component will focus on the delivery of homes in regional Australia, while $600m of the funding will be a dedicated to First Nations housing providers to support a 10% First Nations tenancy target across social housing delivered under round three.
The federal housing minister, Clare O’Neil, says the project will facilitate “More homes. More speed. More scale”.
Australia’s housing crisis comes from a housing shortage so all governments have to build.
The government has built 5,000 social or affordable homes since 2022, including 889 under the Haff, which was established in November 2023.
It has committed to delivering 55,000 by mid-2029. As of June 2024, there were 169,000 households on the social housing waitlist.
Residents in Darwin and surrounds told to continue sheltering in place
Even though the worst of the storm has passed, authorities say residents should stay in their shelters until given the all clear. The Bureau of Meteorology in its latest advice states:
[The Northern Territory Emergency Service] NTES advises people about southern Bathurst Island and very exposed coastal locations around the Cox Peninsula, should stay calm and remain in a secure shelter while the destructive winds continue. Do not venture outside. Heed the advice and follow the instructions of Emergency Services personnel and local authorities.
NTES advises people about the central and western Tiwi Islands, and elsewhere between Daly River Mouth to Cape Hotham, including Darwin, should shelter in a safe place.
No reports so far of injuries amid trail of destruction from Tropical Cyclone Fina
Cyclone Fina has left a trail of destruction across the top end after sweeping through the Van Diemen Gulf between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands overnight.
The category three storm swept through the stretch of water bringing gale force winds just shy of those seen in Cyclone Tracy.
However, only minor damage has been found in Darwin with trees toppling along the pavement and catching the occasional fence, power lines or footpath in their wake.
There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.
Amid ongoing staffing shortages, Royal Darwin hospital was put on Code Brown – essentially emergencies only – on Friday.
Roof collapse at Royal Darwin hospital amid heavy rain
Roofing at the Royal Darwin hospital partially collapsed on Saturday but no one was hurt.
Steve Edgington, a member of the Northern Territory legislative assembly, shared an image of the collapsed roofing and bricks strewn on the first floor of the hospital.
He said he was reassured all staff and patients are safe, with NT police incident controller Emma Carter confirming on ABC Radio Darwin that no one was hurt.
Roofing at the #RoyalDarwinHospital has partially collapsed in an area on the first floor with reports there is water in the building.
My first priority is to ensure all staff and patients are safe and I have been reassured that this is the case.
Once I have further… pic.twitter.com/WwliVn2yJj
— Steve Edgington MLA (@SteveEdgoMLA) November 22, 2025
– with AAP
Good morning!
Tropical Cyclone Fina has swept by the Top End, after a night of damaging winds and heavy rain for residents. The category three system has moved further over the Timor Sea, and is now sitting about 80 kilometres away from Darwin.
COP30 has wrapped up, with Australia becoming one of 24 countries signing the Colombia-led Belém Declaration on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels.
Meanwhile, G20 leaders including Australia have signed a joint statement at the summit in South Africa strengthening their commitment to the Paris agreement, despite US President Donald Trump boycotting the event.
The new NSW Liberal leader, Kellie Sloan, says taking the party’s top state job “wasn’t on my bingo card”, and that she was only convinced to take it “in the final couple of days”.
And the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, has announced the largest round yet under the Housing Australia Future Fund, including more than 21,000 new social and affordable homes around the country.
Let’s get into it.
