Australia news live: Victoria braced for ‘catastrophic’ fire risk; Queensland on tropical cyclone watch

State warned to be prepared and to stay indoors as firefighters ready for action. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will pick up the news thread.Firefighters are preparing for catastrophic conditions across many parts of Victoria today after a week of scorching temperatures. The entire state is under a total fire ban and parks and camping grounds are closed. There are also extreme fire danger ratings for much of South Australia and the New South Wales Riverina. We have more coming up. Continue reading...