After a two-year hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the hopes and dreams of a gallant return at the Splendour in the Grass music festival appear to have sunk. Under water from heavy rain on the east coast.
Heavy rain in Byron Bay on NSW's North Coast had already forced campers to sleep in their cars, while others were forced to wait outside for up to 12 hours to enter festival grounds.
Organisers had pledged the festival would go ahead on its first day but just after noon, all performances on the main stages were cancelled "in the interest of patron safety".
Festival organisers plan to go ahead tomorrow and Sunday. Either way, it will be a muddy affair.
Meanwhile, a man has died in flash flooding in Queensland. The man's body was found by police this morning in floodwaters near Sandy Creek at Nanango, about two-and-a-half hours northwest of Brisbane.
In Queensland, there are minor flooding warnings in place for parts of the Stanley, Mary, Burnett and upper Brisbane rivers after overnight rainfall totals of between 80 and 120 millimetres.
The low-pressure system is expected to move south later today and tomorrow, and beaches have been closed on the Gold Coast due to the dangerous conditions.
And in Victoria, the body of a third man has been found following the deaths of two others beside a road in the state's southwest.
Emergency services were called to the scene on Kirkstall-Koroit Road at Kirkstall, outside Warrnambool, where they found two injured men around 10.20am.
Turning to world news, Joe Biden, the oldest person ever to serve as president of the United States, has tested positive for COVID-19. He is reportedly experiencing mild symptoms and will continue working but in isolation, the White House says.
And the Japanese government has confirmed it will hold a state funeral for former prime minister Shinzo Abe on September 27, amid street and social media protests that the state should not fund ceremonies for Japan's longest-serving, but divisive, premier.
Abe was assassinated in the Japanese city of Nara on July 8.
THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- New measures to stop foot and mouth spread
- 'Good' bosses allow work from home: unions
- When the experts say you should wear a mask, and what type
- Splendour in the Grass day one cancelled as flood chaos grows
- Child COVID-19 vaccine data under review
- Bounty hunters could help fight foot and mouth disease
- Aust birth rate at more than 10-year low
- Can you pronounce all these cities, towns and countries correctly?