Cobar: two people killed in Endeavour mine explosion in far western NSW
Two people have been killed by an explosion at the Endeavour mine in western New South Wales, devastating the local community of Cobar.Police said emergency services had been called to the mine on Endeavour Mine Road at Cobar, about 600km north-west of Sydney, at about 3.45am on Tuesday.Officers were told that a man, believed to be in his 60s, had been confirmed dead after the underground explosion.Two women were brought to the surface, but one, a woman in her 20s, later died.
The second woman, also in her 20s, was airlifted to hospital suffering hearing damage and shock.The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, said the woman was in a stable condition at Orange hospital.While they were yet to be formally identified, police said all three workers lived in Cobar.The NSW resources regulator, which is responsible for compliance and enforcement across the state’s mining sector, confirmed it was investigating.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailIt said it would be inappropriate to make further comment while the investigation was ongoing.
The Cobar shire council mayor, Jarrod Marsden, said the tight-knit community had been devastated by the news,“We’re smashed, I don’t know what other word to use, to be honest,” he told Guardian Australia,“It’s still pretty raw and fresh,”The mayor said the blast had affected the entire town,“These are people that worked together every day, these are the people you saw down the street, the people you see in the pub,” Marsden said.
“It’s tragic.These are two families – their lives will be impacted for ever.”The NSW premier, Chris Minns, extended his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the workers who died.“This is a heartbreaking day for the Cobar community and will be felt across the entire mining industry,” he said.“We understand investigations are still under way.
The number one priority in any mine must be safety.Everyone who goes to work has the right to come home.”Minns said safety protocols and procedures had “greatly improved” in mining but the two deaths were “a sobering reminder of why we need to always remain vigilant to protect workers”.The state minister for natural resources, Courtney Houssos, said she was “deeply saddened to hear about the tragic news at Cobar”.Park, who comes from a coal mining town, said “these things are horrific”.
Sign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksafter newsletter promotion“They have an incredible impact not only on the family but also on the entire community.“We will ensure, at appropriate times, that the community is kept informed.This is a very sad day for the people of western New South Wales and a sad day for the people of our country.”He added that “despite all regulation and safety improvements”, mining remained a “risky and dangerous occupation”.A NSW Mine Workers’ Alliance spokesperson, Tony Callinan, called on the mine operator and regulator to undertake an open investigation.
“The alliance is in shock this morning with news of these fatalities,” he said,“We will leave no stone unturned in identifying what has occurred here,This is a tragic reminder that underground mining is a dangerous job,”Copper and gold mining are the two leading employment industries in the Cobar region,The mine is a major underground silver, zinc and lead mine, 40km north of Cobar.
It was acquired by Polymetals in 2024.It is the second-largest project in the polymetallic region known as the Cobar basin.The Polymetals executive chairman, Dave Sproule, said the company was “shocked and saddened by the tragic incident at Endeavour”.“Our deepest thoughts and condolences go out to the [employees’] families, friends and colleagues.“We will continue to support all our people, family and friends as we navigate through this difficult time.
”Polymetals confirmed its Endeavour operations had been temporarily suspended,Trading of the ASX-listed company was suspended on Tuesday morning pending an announcement by Polymetals,
How can Rachel Reeves reduce inflation?
After more than three years of the cost of living crisis, Rachel Reeves is well aware of the harm inflation is inflicting on UK households – and on Labour’s share of the vote.While figures out last week suggested that the annual rate of price increases may now have peaked, the chancellor focused on its continuing human impact, saying: “For too long, our economy has felt stuck, with people feeling like they are putting in more and getting less out. That needs to change.”She has promised a range of policies in next month’s budget to “bear down on” rising costs, which could go some way to counteracting negative headlines about an expected swathe of tax rises to close an anticipated £20bn-£30bn spending gap.Reeves says the government must support the Bank of England in bringing down inflation and the speculation is that her target could be soaring “administered prices”, such as utility bills and transport fares, which the central bank cited in August as a crucial driver of consumer costs
A costly lesson for Labour in Caerphilly | Letters
The most worrying factor in the devastating result for Labour in Caerphilly is that its roots stretch further back than the election of Keir Starmer’s government in 2024. According to YouGov, in 2019, 52% of the electorate under the age of 40 voted for a Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn. This is not because they were “looney lefties”, but because they were likely seeking something to deal with the “British crisis” that you identify in your editorial (The Guardian view on the Caerphilly byelection: Labour’s collapse in its Welsh heartland signals a wider loss, 24 October). The populism of Corbynism was not the answer to the country’s malaise, but rather a symptom of it. Nigel Farage realised this, and until those controlling the direction of Labour do likewise, its decline will continue
Reform UK expels two Kent councillors accused of ‘undermining’ its interests
Two suspended Reform UK councillors from Kent have been expelled from the party over a misconduct allegation and after the Guardian published a leaked video which revealed tensions among its county council ranks.Robert Ford and Bill Barrett were removed from the party via an email from Reform HQ on Monday, which said they had “undermined” the interests of the party and brought it into “disrepute”.Ford and Barrett sat on Kent county council alongside Oliver Bradshaw, Paul Thomas and Maxine Fothergill, who were also suspended last week. The Guardian understands Thomas, Bradshaw and Fothergill remain suspended pending investigation.Ford, a councillor for Maidstone Rural West, was suspended after allegations of misconduct in an “unofficial complaint” from several female members of Kent county council staff
Reeves to lead trade mission to Saudi Arabia amid human rights concerns
Rachel Reeves will lead a delegation of senior business leaders to Saudi Arabia on Monday as she hopes to deepen the UK’s relationship with a state that has been widely criticised for human rights abuses.She is the first UK chancellor to visit the Gulf in six years and is expected to meet senior Saudi royals, US administration representatives and global business figures.The visit comes as the UK continues its efforts to secure a trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The government hopes a deal with the GCC could add £1.6bn to the UK economy each year and contribute a further £600m to UK workers’ annual wages in the long term
Labour must counter ‘growing sense of despair’, Streeting warns after Welsh defeat
Senior Labour figures including Wes Streeting have said the government must show optimism and that it is bringing about change after losing a Welsh Senedd byelection amid rising concern about midterm fatigue and a loss of momentum.The health secretary warned that the party must counter a “growing sense of despair” and show voters tangible proof of change after its defeat last week in Caerphilly, a town that had been Labour for more than 100 years.Streeting’s intervention comes as Labour’s new deputy leader, Lucy Powell, begins her first week in the role. Powell has promised to give members a stronger voice inside government after a low-turnout contest that followed the departure of Angela Rayner.Powell said the government must listen to its members instead of being guided by a “narrow group of voices” as it battles to stave off electoral disaster in next May’s local elections
Lord Taverne obituary
Dick Taverne’s brief moment of political fame – or notoriety – came in 1973 when he beat Labour, the party for which he had been an MP, in a byelection in his own Lincoln constituency. It served as a precursor of the Labour party’s internecine 1980s strife and an early indication of the divisions that Europe has continued to cause in British political life.Taverne, who has died aged 97, fell out spectacularly with a leftwing faction of the local party in Lincoln, where he had been the Labour MP for a decade, over his support for Britain’s entry into the Common Market. He was deselected, but instead of quietly serving out his term he resigned, stood as a Democratic Labour candidate and won a spectacular byelection victory despite a heavyweight campaign by the national leadership to defeat him.The day after his victory, the Guardian wrote hyperbolically: “Nothing quite like it has been seen this century in British elections
Steven Finn: ‘Saying I was not selectable was clumsy language and it damaged me’
Cheltenham festival switch to Saturday a gamble not worth taking | Greg Wood
‘I’m making it work’: Lando Norris confident he is finally getting to grips with his McLaren
England look to dodge lightning strike after familiar crumble in opening ODI
The old man and the mirror: Aaron Rodgers meets the quarterback he used to be
Crunch time nears for Australia as selectors try to fit Ashes batting puzzle pieces together | Martin Pegan