Survey shows parents cutting back on activities and digital devices

ABC NEWS (Australia)

School reconvenes soon and families across the country are looking at ways to save money but still give their kids the best education possible. A new survey shows some parents have been forced to cut back on extra-curricular activities and digital devices, due to financial pressures.

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00:00Well, communities in central Queensland and in the north-west as well are on flood watch

00:06this morning with emergency services on alert as well.

00:10We've seen over the last few days that flood waters can rise very quickly in the region

00:15and just last night we saw a man or heard a man was trapped in his car in flood waters

00:21near Thierry and thankfully was able to get out of there unscathed.

00:25An emergency alert has been issued by the Queensland Police Service along the Mackenzie

00:29River as well, just calling for residents there to prepare and be ready to act in case

00:35of higher river levels there.

00:38Much of the recovery today will be in the town of Clermont that was hit very hard on Monday

00:45around 200 millimetres falling of rain in that small town of about 3,000 people and we heard

00:51this morning from the Premier the latest count about 70 houses, homes damaged during those

00:56flood waters with some residents yesterday just sort of taking stock of the damage there,

01:01what was lost and remarking just how quickly that water did rise at its peak up to about

01:08sort of waist height within a matter of 30 minutes and then going down as well.

01:12So the council also will be assessing some of the road damages there and assessing whether

01:17they can reopen some of those areas still affected by flood waters that are isolating some of those

01:22rural properties as well.

01:24Now authorities are also going to be monitoring the North West very closely today, with that

01:29area hit very hard last year with heavy rains and floods as well.

01:34So a lot of those catchments in the North West are already a little bit higher than usual and

01:40the ground sodden as well so the Premier has highlighted a bit of the risk there and farmers in the region

01:46as well have remarked and shared concerns around how updates are shared I suppose through the

01:53Bureau of Meteorology and sort of calling for upgraded or more river gauges as well just to

01:58help them prepare for that on flow of some of the rain earlier this week.

02:03The Premier actually spoke earlier, David Christofulli, about the investment he believes is needed

02:08in the Bureau of Meteorology.

02:10I don't think there has been the investment in the Bureau that's needed and on the back

02:15of it residents are sitting ducks in many cases and we are flying blind and we owe it

02:20to the people who work at the Bureau to properly resource it but overwhelmingly we owe it to

02:24Queenslanders who live in remote parts.

02:28We are expecting to see some more rainfall through that North West region today.

02:33Some of the losses already for farmers in particular about 50,000 stock of cattle lost in the

02:40last few weeks of heavy rain and obviously monitoring that situation again today for potential more

02:47losses to follow.

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