Divine wind

  • Richard Evans

21 December 2009It wasn’t until Tracy struck, thirty-five years ago, that Darwin’s cyclone problem really sank in, writes Richard Evans in Inside Story

ON 1 DECEMBER 1974, about 350 kilometres north-west of Darwin in the Timor Sea, a low pressure system developed into Tropical Cyclone Selma. Selma moved directly towards Darwin and two days later was only 100 kilometres away. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a steady stream of alerts, warning the people of Darwin to prepare for a potentially devastating storm. But at 10 o’clock on the morning of 3 December, Selma changed direction, swinging north and then west away from the city. There had been a lot of rain and some trees had been brought down, but nothing too alarming.

It is a common pattern in disasters: the near miss that causes complacency. When authorities warn of a serious danger that does not eventuate, people can become fatally sceptical. One Darwin resident recalled an early conversation about whether Tracy was a real threat: “We had had Cyclone Selma only a few weeks before… Everyone was sick of talking about cyclones – and besides, Christmas was here.”...

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Noticeboard

07 March 2012

In May 2011 the Federal Government announced that the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) would commence operations from 1 July 2012 and that it would initially be responsible for determining the legal status of groups seeking charitable, public benevolent institution, and other not-for-profit (NFP) benefits on behalf of all Commonwealth agencies. 

07 February 2012
The Productivity Commission has been asked to report within 8 months on Default Superannuation Funds in Modern Awards. The inquiry covers the design of criteria for the selection and ongoing assessment of superannuation funds for nomination as default funds in modern awards.
20 December 2011

On 18 November 2011, Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy, announced the establishment of an independent panel of eminent community leaders to conduct an inquiry into Australian Government services to ensure they are responsive to the needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.