Received

A man has died in floodwaters southwest of Sydney, as thousands of people are told to evacuate or prepare to do so after days of torrential rain.

The 68-year-old man was found in a submerged van at Cobbity before 8am on Friday.

His body was retrieved about 1pm following an operation by police divers and the SES but he is yet to be formally identified.

More than 150 NSW schools have been closed after heavy rain and flooding prompted evacuations in Sydney's south and southwest.

Evacuation orders are current in 13 suburbs, while residents in a number of other areas have been told to prepare for orders to leave, many of them in locations evacuated during flooding in March.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley is being monitored, with major flooding expected on Friday.

Residents in Chipping Norton in Sydney's southwest have been given the all clear to return home.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said close to 2400 people were subject to evacuation orders on Friday morning, with more than 17,000 in the warning areas.

"Despite the substantial flooding that we've seen across our state, what is incredibly pleasing has been that we've only lost a very few amount of lives, and that has occurred because of the efforts that everyone has made across our state in following the instructions of the SES," Mr Perrottet said, before the news that the man's body had been discovered.

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said the state had flood fatigue but people needed to keep following the advice of emergency services.

"It will stop raining, it will get better," Ms Cooke said.

"We just need to keep (getting) through this one day at a time."

The Bureau of Meteorology's Jane Golding said the rain would ease on Friday after downpours on Thursday.

"We do have flood warnings current, though, so although the rain is easing ... the rivers will be moving quickly (and) there's a lot of debris flowing around," she said.

The SES received almost 1200 requests for assistance and conducted 35 rescues in the 24 hours to 9am on Friday.

"Across a population base the size that we had under warning areas, 35 is actually quite a low number and we are really grateful for the community for listening," NSW SES acting commissioner Daniel Austin said.

More than 1200 SES volunteers have been on the ground.

The NSW education department has listed 155 schools, predominantly around Greater Sydney, the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions that are not operating due to adverse weather conditions as of Friday morning.

Central and South Coast rivers are no longer subject to flood watch, but danger remains in the Hawkesbury-Nepean.

Water is spilling over Warragamba Dam, which was at capacity when the downpour started.

A major flood peak above levels seen during the April 1988 floods passed through Menangle on Thursday afternoon.

Wallacia is expected to experience flooding at levels higher than last month when the Upper Nepean River peaks on Friday.

There is also major flooding likely on Friday afternoon at North Richmond on the Hawkesbury River, although the Bureau of Meteorology believes it will remain well below last month's flooding.

© AAP 2022

On the eve of a tight election, the central bank has warned that rising prices and interest rates will make it harder for some borrowers to make payments.

The quarterly Financial Stability Review released on Friday says with inflation higher and more persistent than expected, there is a risk that interest rates could increase by more than financial markets expect.

"The high level of household debt relative to income in Australia has increased the sensitivity of households and their spending to higher interest rates and a rise in living expenses," the Reserve Bank found.

Banks have maintained strong lending standards, but a large share of new housing loans have been written with high debt-to-income ratios, amid sluggish income growth.

The looming hikes in the record low 0.1 per cent official cash rate are a time bomb for whoever wins the federal election in May.

Potentially adding hundreds of dollars per month to the average mortgage payment, all major banks expect the first rise in June, with more to follow this year.

A May rate rise has not been ruled out by market economists, with the first increment tipped to be 15 basis points to 0.25 per cent, and then stepping up in quarter-points after that.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said households have been getting ahead on their mortgage payments.

Regulators have created a "serviceability buffer" to protect home owners as rates rise, he told reporters in Melbourne.

"So there is now a three per cent buffer built in for people who are getting mortgages, by the banks, to ensure that they can meet some higher interest rates if that is to occur."

Rate decisions - size and timing - are a matter for the independent central bank.

And there's nothing to stop the RBA raising rates during an election campaign - it did so in 2007 when Kevin Rudd ousted John Howard.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said interest rates would likely rise regardless of the party claiming government at the May poll.

"What it does emphasise is the need for a plan to take pressure off the cost of living, not just for the period of the election campaign," he told reporters in Adelaide.

RBA governor Philip Lowe this week dropped wording about the board being "patient" before it moved to tighten monetary conditions, prompting banks to bring forward their rate rise expectations to June.

Many economists immediately tweaked forecasts, tipping the pandemic emergency rate cuts of 2020 to be unwound from June and a cash rate of 1-1.25 per cent by year-end.

The next inflation reading, due on April 27, is a key factor for the RBA before it decides to pull the trigger.

With an election date call imminent, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were multiple pressures on the national economy.

"That's why strong financial management in the years ahead is going to mean more than anything, and we've had a steady hand on those issues," he said on Friday.

Mr Morrison said similar inflation pressures were also happening in other countries.

"Inflation is running double in the United States what it is here in Australia, and significantly higher in the United Kingdom and in many other developed economies around the world."

© AAP 2022

Chris Dawson will stand trial for the murder of his wife Lynette after Australia's highest court dismissed an application for the matter to be struck out.

The former professional rugby league player is accused of killing his wife Lynette 40 years ago following her 1982 disappearance from Sydney.

Dawson, 73, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife.

A last-ditch effort by his lawyers to have the case permanently halted was dismissed by the High Court on Friday.

Similar appeals to have the case struck out have been dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Justice Stephen Gageler, who heard the application alongside Justice Michelle Gordon, said he wasn't persuaded there were discernible errors in the Supreme Court's judgment.

The primary judge previously refused a permanent stay on the basis that it couldn't be determined a trial judge wouldn't be able to ameliorate the risk of prejudice in a potential juror, Justice Gageler noted when handing down the decision.

Justice Gageler said this decision was in accordance with well established and uncontroversial principles of criminal law.

The trial is due to begin in May.

© AAP 2022