NewzIntel.com

Category: Analysis Assessment

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Killer dolls and Brexit zombies – what to watch and do this week

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor

    Part of the appeal of the 2023 horror flick, M3gan, was that its titular antagonist managed to be two of the scariest villains of the genre in one – a killer robot, and a child’s doll come to life.

    After nine-year-old Cady (Violet McGraw) tragically lost her parents, her roboticist aunt Gemma (Allison Williams of Get Out fame) brought M3gan home to help her niece with the traumatic transition. M3gan was to be Cady’s teacher, playmate and above all, protector. In classic horror style, she soon embarked on a murderous rampage in the name of “protecting” her ward.

    The film was an instant cult hit, dubbed a “camp classic” thanks to M3gan’s TikTok dance moves and determination to destroy the nuclear family.

    In M3gan 2, in cinemas from today, the filmmakers have leaned into that campiness even more. But, as horror expert Adam Daniel explains that doesn’t completely neutralise the terror. Instead, it reformulates it, offering a cathartic release that makes the subject matter more digestible.



    Read more:
    From HAL 9000 to M3GAN: what film’s evil robots tell us about contemporary tech fears

    The trailer for M3gan 2.0.

    If you’re looking for more traditional jump scares, 28 Years Later has you covered. Danny Boyle has returned to the franchise with this instant-classic of the zombie genre, which muses on both post-Brexit Britain and our collective experiences of the COVID pandemic. In this film, Europe has contained a “rage virus” to Britain. There are French boats on quarantine patrols, Swedish soldiers mocking remaining mainlanders and St George’s flags burning.

    For COVID storytelling expert Lucyl Harrison: “The film ushers in a new age of ‘Vi-Fi’” (that’s virus fiction) “without succumbing to pulpy pandemic storytelling”. Ralph Fiennes offers a typically strong performance as the “mad” Dr Kelson, the only person determined to commemorate the virus’s ever-mounting dead.



    Read more:
    The spectacular frenzy of 28 Years Later offers a new breed of pandemic storytelling

    The trailer for 28 Years Later.

    I confess, I’m a bit of a baby when it comes to horror. So, I’ll need to follow up any zombie fare with something a little more comforting. My choice for this week is The Ballad of Wallis Island, which romcom giant Richard Curtis has dubbed “one of the great British films of all time”.

    It takes place on the fictional Wallis Island, home to millionaire Charles (Tim Key), an almost obsessive fan of former folk-rock duo played by Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan. Invited to the island to play a private gig, they must face their musical and romantic past, all under the gaze of an ecstatic Charles.

    The film was made in just 18 days on a tight budget in a typical Welsh summer – a doctor was on hand to stop the actors getting hypothermia when they filmed in the sea. It reminded our reviewer of another British comedy classic, Victoria Wood’s sitcom Dinnerladies, with its breadcrumb trail of slipped in details that provide laughter in the moment but which return to make the audience think twice.



    Read more:
    The Ballad of Wallis Island is a masterpiece of the extraordinary made ordinary

    The trailer for The Ballad of Wallis Island.

    When Poor Things won the Golden Globe for best picture last year, director Yorgos Lanthimos thanked everybody, from the cast and crew to his hero Bruce Springsteen. But one person who didn’t get a mention was Alasdair Gray, the Scottish artist and writer who wrote the novel the film was based on.

    Now Gray is rightly being celebrated at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The unseen paintings in the new show Alasdair Gray: Works from the Morag McAlpine Bequest come from a donation of works he made after the death of his wife in 2014.

    Highlights of the show include his original artwork for his novel Poor Things and the streetscape Gray called “my best big oil painting”, depicting Cowcaddens in Glasgow.



    Read more:
    Alasdair Gray: unseen artworks offer insight into a profoundly creative and original artist

    Pride month is coming to an end, but you can enjoy the movies in our Hidden Gems of Queer Cinema series year round. These articles highlight brilliant films that should be more widely known and firmly part of the canon of queer cinema. I’d particularly recommend Saving Face (2004), complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asian people.



    Read more:
    Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: Saving Face is a complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asians

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    – ref. Killer dolls and Brexit zombies – what to watch and do this week – https://theconversation.com/killer-dolls-and-brexit-zombies-what-to-watch-and-do-this-week-259923

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Killer dolls and Brexit zombies – what to watch and do this week

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor

    Part of the appeal of the 2023 horror flick, M3gan, was that its titular antagonist managed to be two of the scariest villains of the genre in one – a killer robot, and a child’s doll come to life.

    After nine-year-old Cady (Violet McGraw) tragically lost her parents, her roboticist aunt Gemma (Allison Williams of Get Out fame) brought M3gan home to help her niece with the traumatic transition. M3gan was to be Cady’s teacher, playmate and above all, protector. In classic horror style, she soon embarked on a murderous rampage in the name of “protecting” her ward.

    The film was an instant cult hit, dubbed a “camp classic” thanks to M3gan’s TikTok dance moves and determination to destroy the nuclear family.

    In M3gan 2, in cinemas from today, the filmmakers have leaned into that campiness even more. But, as horror expert Adam Daniel explains that doesn’t completely neutralise the terror. Instead, it reformulates it, offering a cathartic release that makes the subject matter more digestible.



    Read more:
    From HAL 9000 to M3GAN: what film’s evil robots tell us about contemporary tech fears

    The trailer for M3gan 2.0.

    If you’re looking for more traditional jump scares, 28 Years Later has you covered. Danny Boyle has returned to the franchise with this instant-classic of the zombie genre, which muses on both post-Brexit Britain and our collective experiences of the COVID pandemic. In this film, Europe has contained a “rage virus” to Britain. There are French boats on quarantine patrols, Swedish soldiers mocking remaining mainlanders and St George’s flags burning.

    For COVID storytelling expert Lucyl Harrison: “The film ushers in a new age of ‘Vi-Fi’” (that’s virus fiction) “without succumbing to pulpy pandemic storytelling”. Ralph Fiennes offers a typically strong performance as the “mad” Dr Kelson, the only person determined to commemorate the virus’s ever-mounting dead.



    Read more:
    The spectacular frenzy of 28 Years Later offers a new breed of pandemic storytelling

    The trailer for 28 Years Later.

    I confess, I’m a bit of a baby when it comes to horror. So, I’ll need to follow up any zombie fare with something a little more comforting. My choice for this week is The Ballad of Wallis Island, which romcom giant Richard Curtis has dubbed “one of the great British films of all time”.

    It takes place on the fictional Wallis Island, home to millionaire Charles (Tim Key), an almost obsessive fan of former folk-rock duo played by Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan. Invited to the island to play a private gig, they must face their musical and romantic past, all under the gaze of an ecstatic Charles.

    The film was made in just 18 days on a tight budget in a typical Welsh summer – a doctor was on hand to stop the actors getting hypothermia when they filmed in the sea. It reminded our reviewer of another British comedy classic, Victoria Wood’s sitcom Dinnerladies, with its breadcrumb trail of slipped in details that provide laughter in the moment but which return to make the audience think twice.



    Read more:
    The Ballad of Wallis Island is a masterpiece of the extraordinary made ordinary

    The trailer for The Ballad of Wallis Island.

    When Poor Things won the Golden Globe for best picture last year, director Yorgos Lanthimos thanked everybody, from the cast and crew to his hero Bruce Springsteen. But one person who didn’t get a mention was Alasdair Gray, the Scottish artist and writer who wrote the novel the film was based on.

    Now Gray is rightly being celebrated at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The unseen paintings in the new show Alasdair Gray: Works from the Morag McAlpine Bequest come from a donation of works he made after the death of his wife in 2014.

    Highlights of the show include his original artwork for his novel Poor Things and the streetscape Gray called “my best big oil painting”, depicting Cowcaddens in Glasgow.



    Read more:
    Alasdair Gray: unseen artworks offer insight into a profoundly creative and original artist

    Pride month is coming to an end, but you can enjoy the movies in our Hidden Gems of Queer Cinema series year round. These articles highlight brilliant films that should be more widely known and firmly part of the canon of queer cinema. I’d particularly recommend Saving Face (2004), complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asian people.



    Read more:
    Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: Saving Face is a complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asians

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    – ref. Killer dolls and Brexit zombies – what to watch and do this week – https://theconversation.com/killer-dolls-and-brexit-zombies-what-to-watch-and-do-this-week-259923

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: The US’s asbestos U-turn: why the Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering its ban

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Allen Haddrell, Research Fellow, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol

    Once asbestos enters the lungs, it doesn’t leave. Its sharp, microscopic fibres scar tissues, trigger inflammation and can cause deadly diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and laryngeal cancer. That’s why over 60 countries have banned it – and why the US mostly phased it out.

    In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to ban all industrial uses. But on June 17, the agency said it would revisit the Biden‑era ban.

    Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral made of thin, fibrous crystals. It is fire-resistant, durable, lightweight, flexible and insulating. This unique blend of properties resulted in its widespread use over millennia. Indeed, asbestos fibres have been found woven into pottery and textiles from 2500BC.

    Its resistance to friction and electricity made it desirable during the Industrial Revolution for use in boilers and steam engines. In the 20th century, the useful mix of physical properties resulted in asbestos becoming ubiquitous in the construction and automotive industries, peaking in the 1970s.

    Although the properties of asbestos at the macroscopic level are beneficial, at the microscopic level it’s anything but. When dust from asbestos (0.1 to tens of microns) is inhaled, it deposits throughout the respiratory system, causing inflammation and scarring of lung tissue.

    While the adverse health effects associated with asbestos exposure were observed in ancient Rome, it wasn’t until the 20th century that the full extent of harm was realised. Specifically, asbestos exposure is linked to numerous respiratory diseases, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

    It took a long time for people to understand how dangerous asbestos really is. The main reason is that the illnesses it causes often don’t show up for decades. This long delay makes it very hard to link exposure to the disease it causes.

    Making this connection is also made more difficult when those most familiar with it, including manufacturers such as Johns-Manville and industry groups such as the Asbestos Information Association (AIA) were actively denying the connection, and suppressing reports demonstrating the link.

    By the 1970s, the volume of evidence showing the harms of asbestos had become overwhelming. The AIA evolved its argument, claiming that the practices in the industry had changed and that the risks were from a bygone era “when the dust control equipment in use was not as efficient or as sophisticated”. Although the association never explicitly admitted that asbestos caused harm.

    Since it can take decades for the health effects of asbestos exposure to fully manifest, the full extent of the damage caused by asbestos exposure from the 1970s and onward, an era where the dust control equipment was claimed to be “efficient and sophisticated”.

    The Asbestos Information Association, once a key industry group promoting the safe use of asbestos, quietly disbanded in the early 2000s as litigation and public health evidence mounted.

    History of asbestos.

    What type of asbestos is the US considering unbanning?

    The EPA is considering unbanning chrysotile asbestos, also called white asbestos. This type of asbestos is often used in things like brake pads, gaskets and industrial equipment. In March 2024 the EPA banned it, stopping new uses and imports. The ban also included a gradual phase-out plan.

    Who is pushing for the unbanning and why now?

    From the outset, industry groups such as the American Chemistry Council (ACC) raised concerns about the EPA’s ban, warning that “a prohibition of an estimated 52% of annual production volume … that rapidly, could have substantial supply chain impacts”, particularly if manufacturers were bound by existing contracts or chose to cease production entirely.

    As for why now, one factor is the re-election of Donald Trump, who put his views on record some time ago downplaying the dangers of asbestos. In 1997, he wrote in his book Trump: The Art of the Comeback that asbestos is “100 percent safe, once applied”. A point not supported by the best available science.

    Why is the EPA considering unbanning it?

    According to former ACC employee and current senior official in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Lynn Ann Dekleva, they want to consider if the ban “went beyond what is necessary to eliminate the unreasonable risk and whether alternative measures — such as requiring permanent workplace protection measures – would eliminate the unreasonable risk”.

    What industries still want to use this type of asbestos?

    The largest push appears to be coming from the chlor-alkali industry where they use it to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide.

    Is this type of asbestos dangerous?

    Yes. There is no safe level of exposure.

    How many people could this affect?

    Each year, around 40,000 deaths in the US and about 5,000 in the UK are attributed to asbestos exposure. If lifted, it’s possible that the number in the US could increase over the coming decades while those in the UK will continue to fall.

    Does this mean asbestos could make a comeback elsewhere too?

    Unlikely. While global consensus moves toward stricter regulation, the US now finds itself at a crossroads, between scientific evidence and pressure from industry.

    Allen Haddrell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The US’s asbestos U-turn: why the Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering its ban – https://theconversation.com/the-uss-asbestos-u-turn-why-the-environmental-protection-agency-is-reconsidering-its-ban-259597

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Nato leaders pledge increased defence spending – is this really the price for peace and prosperity?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Damian Tobin, Lecturer in International Business, University College Cork

    Kev Gregory / Shutterstock

    Nato leaders agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries’ economic output by 2035 at a summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25. US president Donald Trump, who has spent months saying Europe should take more responsibility for its own security, described the pledge as “a monumental win for the US” and a “big win” for western civilisation.

    A few months earlier, in March, the EU also launched its long-awaited white paper on defence. This provides a blueprint for improving Europe’s readiness to respond to military threats by 2030. On top of the fact that global military spending has surged in the past ten years, these developments indicate that the world’s largest nations now prioritise military over economic diplomacy.

    One of the main ideas behind military diplomacy is that increased defence spending acts as a deterrent to future conflicts. The nuclear arms race between the US and Soviet Union during the cold war provides some support for this argument. The prospect of mutual destruction was so great that it acted as a deterrent to nuclear war.

    But is increased defence spending really the necessary price for greater peace and prosperity? My research on interactions between firms, geopolitics and the political economy of defence indicates that this is no “big win” for society or economic productivity.

    A convoy of naval ships in the Pacific Ocean.
    Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock

    Deterrence requires a level of brinkmanship if it is to work. But as American economist Thomas Schelling pointed out in his 1960 book, The Strategy of Conflict, the problem with brinkmanship is that it relies on deliberately allowing a situation to get somewhat out of hand, with the intention of forcing the other party to back down.

    This can result in strategic blunders. Efforts by the former US president, Richard Nixon, to engineer such a situation in 1969 by threatening to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam failed to gain credibility with the Soviets and North Vietnamese. This undoubtedly helped convince North Vietnam that it could survive the war and locked the US into a much longer conflict.

    The recent confrontation between Israel and Iran also showed that brinkmanship can produce situations where there are significant casualties and no clear long-term resolution. Iran has long recognised that keeping itself near the threshold of nuclear weapons capability would offer a deterrent against external threats.

    But this strategy created many opportunities for error. Israel claimed that Iran was too close to building a nuclear weapon and, alongside the US, launched strikes that they say inflicted significant damage on Iranian nuclear enrichment capabilities and military leadership.



    Read more:
    Israeli aggression and Iranian nuclear brinkmanship made this confrontation all but inevitable

    Beyond this, it is unclear just how much military spending is needed to deter aggression. Nato allies have now committed to a big increase in defence spending – thanks largely to pressure from Trump.

    However, even Nato’s previous objective that countries commit 2% of their national income to defence has proved unattractive for many governments. This has even been the case in post-conflict areas such as the Balkans, where Nato has had a heavy involvement.

    A costly alternative

    Boosting defence spending falls short on delivering economic prosperity, too. Analysing US military spending in the Vietnam war, economist Les Fishman noted in 1967 that military diplomacy was far more costly than its economic equivalent.

    Military production requires continuously high levels of investment to maintain technological progress. This sucks public investment from other parts of the economy.

    That’s not to say defence spending has an entirely negative effect on the economy. Studies have found evidence that US federal funding of military research and development results in significant increases in private business research in sectors such as chemicals and aerospace.

    And, over the past decade, the value of venture capital deals in the US defence industry has grown 18-fold. This far outstrips sectors such as energy and healthcare. But such investment in military-related research and development is also often acknowledged as inefficient and not necessarily the best way to boost productivity.

    Fishman pointed out that the Marshall Plan, which provided substantial economic aid to western Europe after the second world war, had a far higher return for the US.

    Economic stabilisation kept the Soviet Union at bay for relatively small outlay compared to the Vietnam war, where casualties were of such a magnitude that it made any cost-benefit analysis meaningless.

    The Vietnam war proved extremely costly for the US.
    Department of the Army Special Photo Office / Wikimedia Commons

    Boosting defence spending also represents a lost opportunity to invest in more socially beneficial projects. This will worsen the climate crisis.

    According to a study shared with the Guardian in May, the initial rearmament planned by Nato alone could have increased greenhouse gas emissions by almost 200 million tonnes a year. The expanded defence commitment will only increase this further.

    Unlike defence, where the repurposing of civilian technologies for military uses carries a cost to society, many green investments involve beneficial substitutions that reduce the cost of a green transition.

    The substitution of conventional fossil fuel heating and transport systems with heat pumps and electric vehicles, for example, is far more socially beneficial than repurposing civilian satellites for missile systems.

    A final point is that military diplomacy is itself geopolitically destabilising. US efforts to contain communism in Asia during the 1950s and 1960s are a good example. Not only did such efforts see China align its trade with other communist states, it also ensured that self-reliance became a cornerstone of China’s economic strategy.

    This all suggests that the current drive for deterrence-based military spending carries with it a huge cost for society that could ultimately prove economically wasteful and geopolitically destabilising.

    Damian Tobin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Nato leaders pledge increased defence spending – is this really the price for peace and prosperity? – https://theconversation.com/nato-leaders-pledge-increased-defence-spending-is-this-really-the-price-for-peace-and-prosperity-255989

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Nato leaders pledge increased defence spending – is this really the price for peace and prosperity?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Damian Tobin, Lecturer in International Business, University College Cork

    Kev Gregory / Shutterstock

    Nato leaders agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries’ economic output by 2035 at a summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25. US president Donald Trump, who has spent months saying Europe should take more responsibility for its own security, described the pledge as “a monumental win for the US” and a “big win” for western civilisation.

    A few months earlier, in March, the EU also launched its long-awaited white paper on defence. This provides a blueprint for improving Europe’s readiness to respond to military threats by 2030. On top of the fact that global military spending has surged in the past ten years, these developments indicate that the world’s largest nations now prioritise military over economic diplomacy.

    One of the main ideas behind military diplomacy is that increased defence spending acts as a deterrent to future conflicts. The nuclear arms race between the US and Soviet Union during the cold war provides some support for this argument. The prospect of mutual destruction was so great that it acted as a deterrent to nuclear war.

    But is increased defence spending really the necessary price for greater peace and prosperity? My research on interactions between firms, geopolitics and the political economy of defence indicates that this is no “big win” for society or economic productivity.

    A convoy of naval ships in the Pacific Ocean.
    Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock

    Deterrence requires a level of brinkmanship if it is to work. But as American economist Thomas Schelling pointed out in his 1960 book, The Strategy of Conflict, the problem with brinkmanship is that it relies on deliberately allowing a situation to get somewhat out of hand, with the intention of forcing the other party to back down.

    This can result in strategic blunders. Efforts by the former US president, Richard Nixon, to engineer such a situation in 1969 by threatening to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam failed to gain credibility with the Soviets and North Vietnamese. This undoubtedly helped convince North Vietnam that it could survive the war and locked the US into a much longer conflict.

    The recent confrontation between Israel and Iran also showed that brinkmanship can produce situations where there are significant casualties and no clear long-term resolution. Iran has long recognised that keeping itself near the threshold of nuclear weapons capability would offer a deterrent against external threats.

    But this strategy created many opportunities for error. Israel claimed that Iran was too close to building a nuclear weapon and, alongside the US, launched strikes that they say inflicted significant damage on Iranian nuclear enrichment capabilities and military leadership.



    Read more:
    Israeli aggression and Iranian nuclear brinkmanship made this confrontation all but inevitable

    Beyond this, it is unclear just how much military spending is needed to deter aggression. Nato allies have now committed to a big increase in defence spending – thanks largely to pressure from Trump.

    However, even Nato’s previous objective that countries commit 2% of their national income to defence has proved unattractive for many governments. This has even been the case in post-conflict areas such as the Balkans, where Nato has had a heavy involvement.

    A costly alternative

    Boosting defence spending falls short on delivering economic prosperity, too. Analysing US military spending in the Vietnam war, economist Les Fishman noted in 1967 that military diplomacy was far more costly than its economic equivalent.

    Military production requires continuously high levels of investment to maintain technological progress. This sucks public investment from other parts of the economy.

    That’s not to say defence spending has an entirely negative effect on the economy. Studies have found evidence that US federal funding of military research and development results in significant increases in private business research in sectors such as chemicals and aerospace.

    And, over the past decade, the value of venture capital deals in the US defence industry has grown 18-fold. This far outstrips sectors such as energy and healthcare. But such investment in military-related research and development is also often acknowledged as inefficient and not necessarily the best way to boost productivity.

    Fishman pointed out that the Marshall Plan, which provided substantial economic aid to western Europe after the second world war, had a far higher return for the US.

    Economic stabilisation kept the Soviet Union at bay for relatively small outlay compared to the Vietnam war, where casualties were of such a magnitude that it made any cost-benefit analysis meaningless.

    The Vietnam war proved extremely costly for the US.
    Department of the Army Special Photo Office / Wikimedia Commons

    Boosting defence spending also represents a lost opportunity to invest in more socially beneficial projects. This will worsen the climate crisis.

    According to a study shared with the Guardian in May, the initial rearmament planned by Nato alone could have increased greenhouse gas emissions by almost 200 million tonnes a year. The expanded defence commitment will only increase this further.

    Unlike defence, where the repurposing of civilian technologies for military uses carries a cost to society, many green investments involve beneficial substitutions that reduce the cost of a green transition.

    The substitution of conventional fossil fuel heating and transport systems with heat pumps and electric vehicles, for example, is far more socially beneficial than repurposing civilian satellites for missile systems.

    A final point is that military diplomacy is itself geopolitically destabilising. US efforts to contain communism in Asia during the 1950s and 1960s are a good example. Not only did such efforts see China align its trade with other communist states, it also ensured that self-reliance became a cornerstone of China’s economic strategy.

    This all suggests that the current drive for deterrence-based military spending carries with it a huge cost for society that could ultimately prove economically wasteful and geopolitically destabilising.

    Damian Tobin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Nato leaders pledge increased defence spending – is this really the price for peace and prosperity? – https://theconversation.com/nato-leaders-pledge-increased-defence-spending-is-this-really-the-price-for-peace-and-prosperity-255989

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Warmer seas are fuelling the dangerous ‘weather bomb’ about to hit NSW

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia

    Heavy surf and intense rains hit Sydney beaches during a 2020 East Coast Low. Lee Hulsman/Getty

    Right now, a severe storm likely to be the first significant east coast low in three years is developing off the coast of New South Wales. It’s expected to intensify today before approaching the coastline on Tuesday. Huge waves, sustained heavy rains and very strong winds are likely.

    At this stage, it’s expected to linger offshore south of Coffs Harbour – the same area hit hard by unprecedented floods on the Mid-North Coast last month. Residents on the coast or in low-lying areas have been asked to prepare.

    There’s nothing new about east coast lows, intense winter storms which can hit coastlines anywhere from southern Queensland to Tasmania. But what is new are the historically warm seas. Just like a tropical cyclone, east coast lows feed on ocean heat. And just like a tropical cyclone, they can intensify rapidly if the conditions are right.

    The storm looming this week has been intensifying very fast, to the point it could be classified as a “weather bomb” – a storm undergoing explosive cyclogenesis.

    If the storm shapes up as predicted, we can expect to see damage to houses and trees as well as significant beach erosion – especially in heavily populated areas exposed to the storm’s southern flank.

    The Bureau of Meteorology is issuing warnings about the looming east coast low.

    What to expect from this storm

    It’s too early to say just how bad this storm will be. Much depends on how intense it becomes and how close it tracks to the coast.

    Earlier storms have caused flooding of businesses and properties and significant disruptions to transport networks and electricity supplies.

    The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting strong to damaging winds and moderate to heavy rain for this deepening weather system from Tuesday onwards, and hazardous surf conditions for much of the week.

    Sea surface temperatures are 1 to 2.5°C above average off most of the NSW coast. This ocean heat will act as fuel for the storm, boosting the chance of even stronger winds and heavy rain if the centre moves closer to the coast and slows down.

    The NSW winter storm is intensifying and is expected to hit the Mid-North Coast on Tuesday 1 July.
    Bureau of Meteorology

    East coast lows are distinct

    Why do winter storms need their own title? East coast lows are quite distinct. They’re most common in autumn and winter, but they can occur any time.

    These weather systems usually form after an upper atmosphere low or deep trough gets stronger over eastern Australia.

    This triggers the development of a low pressure system at sea level near the coast to the east of the upper level system. These often intensify rapidly.

    During summer, these weather systems can occasionally form in the aftermath of a Coral Sea tropical cyclone as it moves towards the central east coast. By the time the decaying cyclone reaches the cooler waters of the Tasman Sea, it has lost its characteristic warm core. It can now rapidly transition into an east coast low.

    Two of Australia’s most populated areas, Sydney/Central Coast and Brisbane/Gold Coast are in the zone most likely to be affected by these intense storms.

    What role is climate change playing?

    About 90% of all extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases goes into the oceans. The world’s oceans are now at their warmest point on record.

    Marine heatwaves are causing many unwelcome changes. Warmer waters made South Australia’s ongoing devastating algal bloom more likely. A huge marine heatwave hit Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef before heading south. In southeast Australia, the warm East Australian Current is pushing further south, taking warm-water species into Tasmanian waters.

    The steady warming of oceans off southeast Australia not only fuels more extreme weather but damages marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries.

    As climate change intensifies, researchers have found intense east coast lows will actually become less common in the future – but the storms which do form could be more dangerous. A similar trend is likely for tropical cyclones around Australia.

    As the world gets hotter still, the intensity of rainfall extremes associated with these weather systems is expected to rise – especially short-duration rainfall.

    That means a higher risk of river and flash flooding, more damage from high energy wind and waves along exposed coasts and significant erosion of beaches and cliffs. Damage to the coasts will be worsened by rising sea levels.

    Bracing for more extremes

    It’s been a terrible six months for extreme weather. The year started with severe flooding in northern Queensland in February, followed soon after by Tropical Cyclone Alfred which hit heavily populated parts of southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.

    A couple of weeks later, intense rains devastated western Queensland, causing huge livestock losses. But even as floods hit the east coast, farmers across the continent’s southern reaches are struggling with extreme drought.

    As the Mid-North Coast braces for yet more extreme weather, residents should heed warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology, visit the NSW emergencies and natural disasters website and listen to information provided by the national broadcaster.

    Steve Turton has received funding from the Australian government.

    – ref. Warmer seas are fuelling the dangerous ‘weather bomb’ about to hit NSW – https://theconversation.com/warmer-seas-are-fuelling-the-dangerous-weather-bomb-about-to-hit-nsw-260070

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Here’s how First Nations landholders can share the benefits of the NSW energy transition

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heidi Norman, Professor of Australian and Aboriginal history, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, Convenor: Indigenous Land & Justice Research Group, UNSW Sydney

    Hay Local Aboriginal Land Council staff and members with researchers and actuaries from Finity Consulting. UNSW Indigenous Land and Justice Research Group

    The shift to clean, renewable sources of energy presents a rare opportunity for First Nations people, not only as energy users but as landholders.

    We wanted to explore the potential for First Nations land in the energy transition across New South Wales. The transition is well underway, but the pace must accelerate to meet state targets for 2030 and beyond.

    Our new report found the state’s 121 Aboriginal Land Councils have an opportunity to partner with renewable developers and build solar, wind or transmission lines on their own land.

    Such projects can offer jobs during construction and a smaller number of ongoing positions, as well as annual payments. This is why farmers and other landholders often look to renewable projects as a reliable source of income.

    To date, the 447 square kilometres of the state owned by Aboriginal Land Councils has not been actively used in the energy transition. As a result, First Nations involvement in the transition has been limited and the renewables boom has not flowed to these communities.

    Making this opportunity a reality will require collaboration with governments, electricity networks and industry, as well as policy support.

    The role of land councils

    In NSW, land councils have been operating since 1983, the year the state government passed laws recognising Aboriginal land rights. About a third of Australia’s First Nations people live in NSW.

    Each land council is governed by Aboriginal members, and they are located in most country towns and across Sydney.

    Land councils have a statutory responsibility “to improve, protect and foster the best interests of all Aboriginal persons within the Council’s area and other persons who are members of the Council”. These councils manage their land to protect culture and heritage.

    Generating wealth through the development of Aboriginal land is a key objective of Aboriginal land rights in NSW.

    Aboriginal goals in the energy transition

    Following analysis of the land potentially available to renewable energy projects, our research moved on to exploring what Aboriginal land councils want from the energy transition.

    We ran workshops with three land councils: Tibooburra in the far northwest, Hay in the southwest and Brewarrina in the northwest of the state. Each had expressed interest in renewable developments and concern around exposure to extreme weather events.

    In these workshops, land council members told us about their priorities for energy.

    Reliable energy was a major concern for Tibooburra, far from the main electricity grid.

    For Brewarrina on the Barwon River, energy security in the face of heatwaves and floods was front of mind. High energy bills in housing ill-equipped for extreme weather was another big issue.

    Members of Hay land council told us they wanted ownership and equity share in renewable energy projects. Their goal was to create opportunities to live, work and care for Country.

    The Hay Local Aboriginal Land Council (brown) is found in the South-West Renewable Energy Zone, while Tibooburra (green) and Brewarrina (orange) land councils are more remote.
    Norman, H., et al. (2025) APPI Policy Insights Paper, CC BY-NC-SA

    Renewable energy, First Nations land

    Aboriginal land councils own and manage about 450 square km of land in NSW. Resolving outstanding land claims would further expand the estate.

    Our analysis reveals current land holdings could host up to 11 gigawatts of solar or 1.6 gigawatts of onshore wind energy projects.

    But several barriers stand in the way. There are long delays in the processing of Aboriginal land claims and the return of vacant Crown Land. This limits options for land councils to contribute to renewable energy development.

    Realising opportunities in the energy transition

    Our case studies demonstrate the potential for Aboriginal land to support the state government’s renewable energy efforts. This can also bring economic and social benefits to Aboriginal communities. But the opportunities will vary from place to place.

    In areas at the edge of the grid, such as Tibooburra and Brewarrina, Aboriginal land could help meet regional energy demand through small to mid-scale wind and solar projects, microgrids and batteries.

    Hay Local Aboriginal Land Council, on the other hand, is in the South-West Renewable Energy Zone. This is an area where new renewable energy projects, storage facilities and high-voltage transmission lines are already being constructed. Land under claim here holds huge economic potential for both mid-scale renewable energy (solar installations feeding into the local electricity network) and large-scale renewable energy projects.

    Unlocking the power of renewable energy zones (NSW EnergyCo)

    How can authorities support land councils?

    At present, local Aboriginal Land Councils need expertise and resources to turn this opportunity into reality.

    Our report identified four broad areas for policy reform:

    1. Build capacity for land councils to manage clean energy opportunities and risks on their landholdings. This could include establishing a dedicated government team to support interested land councils, and funding land councils to engage expertise and develop renewable energy projects.

    2. Enable collaboration between electricity network distributors and land councils to set up microgrids. One case study, Tibooburra Local Aboriginal Land Council had land suitable for a microgrid and battery to support the energy provider. But early-stage support is needed to develop such projects.

    3. Pilot programs to develop mid- and large-scale renewable energy projects on land council holdings. A partnership between lands councils and planning authorities could demonstrate a model for arranging approval processes. Programs by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have proven successful in the past. We recommend funding these organisations to run a program for land council-developer partnerships in large-scale renewables.

    4. Strengthen recognition of Aboriginal rights to unlock the renewable energy potential of Aboriginal land. This could include expediting land claims and land transfers and providing incentives for cooperation between land councils and Traditional Owners.

    The next five years will be crucial for NSW’s renewable energy transition. Getting the foundations right now could empower Aboriginal landholders and their regional communities to get the most out of this once-in-a-generation opportunity.

    Heidi Norman receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Public Policy Institute, Boundless and the NSW Government.

    Saori Miyake receives funding from Australian Public Policy Institute and Boundless for this project.

    Sarah Niklas receives funding from the Australian Public Policy Institute and Boundless for this project.

    Therese Apolonio receives funding from Australian Public Policy Institute, Boundless and the NSW Government.

    – ref. Here’s how First Nations landholders can share the benefits of the NSW energy transition – https://theconversation.com/heres-how-first-nations-landholders-can-share-the-benefits-of-the-nsw-energy-transition-259702

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: My shins hurt after running. Could it be shin splints?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Krissy Kendall, Senior Lecturer in Exercise and Sports Science, Edith Cowan University

    lzf/Getty

    If you’ve started running for the first time, started again after a break, or your workout is more intense, you might have felt it. A dull, nagging ache down your shins after you exercise.

    Should you push through? Or could it be the sign of something more serious?

    Shin splints are one of the most common and preventable injuries among runners, whether new or seasoned.

    The good news is they can usually be treated effectively in a few weeks. But it’s important to recognise when to take a break. Knowing the simple ways to treat and prevent shin splints can prevent a more serious injury, and get you back on track faster.

    What are shin splints?

    Shin splints, medically known as medial tibial stress syndrome, are a common overuse injury.

    They cause pain along the inner border of the tibia (shinbone), usually triggered by repetitive stress on the lower leg. Your leg may also feel tender or swell.

    Shin splints are a type of periostitis, which means inflammation of the tissue lining the bone. The pain often fades with rest but quickly returns once activity resumes.

    This kind of injury is especially common in sports such as football, rugby, and track and field, affecting between 4% and 35% of athletes, and up to 20% of runners. It can also affect dancers and military recruits.

    What puts you at risk?

    Shin splints can appear soon after sudden changes to your physical activity or exercise routine.

    For example, you may have started exercising more often or for longer, or more intensely (such as running uphill or for longer distances).

    A variety of factors can add fuel to the fire. They generally fall into two types:

    • activity-related (what you do with your body)

    • biomechanical (how your body moves or is built).

    Aside from sudden spikes in training, activity-related risks include playing sport or running on hard surfaces or exercising in poorly designed shoes. For example, studies of soldiers have shown exercising in unsuitable or worn-out boots increases their risk of overuse injuries in the lower legs, including shin splints.

    Diet may make a difference, too. There is evidence not eating enough calcium can make you more susceptible to shin splints. A vitamin D deficiency may also contribute, since it’s vital for calcium absorption.

    Biomechanical risks can include a higher body mass index (BMI), having one leg longer than the other, tight calf muscles or flat feet (low or unusually inflexible arches).

    If your feet roll in too much when you walk or run – often called flat feet or fallen arches – you’re also more susceptible.

    While some studies suggest female athletes may experience shin splints more often than males, we need more research to fully understand why.

    In short, shin splints aren’t just a bone issue. They reflect a complex mismatch between how much or hard you train and how your body tries (and sometimes fails) to adapt.

    How can I tell if it’s something worse?

    Shin splints are typically less severe than a stress fracture. This is a small crack in the bone caused by repeated impact or overuse, and usually requires a longer recovery period.

    A stress fracture often causes sharp, localised pain that worsens with activity and may even hurt at rest or when touched.

    A simple test can help you decide whether to seek additional advice: if you are unable to hop on one leg about ten times without sharp pain, it’s time to talk to a physio, sports doctor or podiatrist.

    They can assess your symptoms and suggest treatment options. Imaging such as an x-ray or MRI may be used to rule out more serious conditions.

    Treatment: rest, rehab, and return

    The first and most important treatment is rest. Usually, shin splints resolve over three to four weeks. Continuing to train during the healing process will only prolong recovery and increase the risk of more serious injury.

    Other effective strategies include:

    You’ll want to be pain-free for at least three weeks before gradually resuming your exercise routine.

    When returning, go slow and build up the amount and intensity of exercise gradually.

    Prevention is the best treatment

    Preventing shin splints is all about balance and preparation. Here are some evidence-based tips:

    Strengthening your lower leg muscles can prevent further injury.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. My shins hurt after running. Could it be shin splints? – https://theconversation.com/my-shins-hurt-after-running-could-it-be-shin-splints-259370

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘I’m just exhausted’: sexual harassment at work is still rife. These new laws would help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Ailwood, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Wollongong

    FG Trade/Getty

    Last week, the Australian Human Rights Commission launched a new report on sexual harassment, called Speaking From Experience. It includes the voices of more than 300 victim-survivors of workplace sexual harassment from vulnerable communities.

    In it, the commission calls for a new wave of robust law reform measures to protect and support victim-survivors and hold employers accountable.

    This report comes five years after the 2020 Respect@Work report, which made 55 recommendations to address workplace sexual harassment. Yet, in 2022, a survey by the commission found one in three workers had experienced sexual harassment.

    This new report is a watershed one, building on the work already done since 2020. So how far have we come in dealing with workplace sexual harassment? And how would new laws help?

    What’s in the new report?

    The Australian Human Rights Commission’s new report, Speaking From Experience, emerges from the Respect@Work recommendations.

    Recommendation 27 of the Respect@Work report suggested the commission establish a way to hear historical disclosures of workplace sexual harassment. The commission then turned this recommendation into its latest release.

    This report was a listening process that put victim-survivors front and centre. First Nations, migrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled and young workers were the main contributors to the report.

    An example of the experiences of the contributors is a fast food worker, who said:

    I know personally for me, as a queer person, I’m just exhausted […] it’s
    just a lot of mental energy and for nothing to happen, or for it to cause
    more problems, it’s just like really a deterrent…

    The commission was particularly concerned with identifying what does – and what does not – help victim-survivors of workplace sexual harassment. The contributors shed light on what needs to change in the workplace and in the law.

    One major theme was about non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), which are commonly used to settle workplace sexual harassment claims.

    NDAs restrict who victim-survivors can speak to about their experience of workplace sexual harassment, including colleagues, friends, family and in public. Sometimes these agreements can hamper attempts to get support for the harassment.

    The commission found victim-survivors are often pressured to sign NDAs in circumstances where the employer has far more power.

    The commission recommended new legislation to restrict using agreements in this way.

    This recommendation extends well beyond Respect@Work, which only produced best-practice guidelines. Extending the regulation is an important step forward, as subsequent research has revealed how ineffective these guidelines have been in practice.

    Australia is now out of step with the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, which have all regulated the use of NDAs after the #MeToo movement.

    Working Women’s Centres are currently leading a sector-wide campaign for change, and the regulation of NDAs is underway in Victoria.

    Improving the positive duty

    Respect@Work introduced a positive duty on people running a business or undertaking to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace.

    In Speaking From Experience, the commission is asking for enhanced regulatory powers to enforce the positive duty to make it more effective.



    Read more:
    Explainer: what is a ‘positive duty’ to prevent workplace sexual harassment and why is it so important?

    The commission is currently prevented from speaking publicly, or to other regulatory agencies, about its enforcement activities unless it has entered an “enforceable undertaking” with an organisation or applied for a Federal Court order.

    This means that, 18 months after being empowered to enforce the positive duty, the commission can’t speak publicly about how it is doing so.

    To be an effective regulator, it must be able to publicise its enforcement actions and share information with other agencies.

    The current law actually contributes to the culture of silencing and secrecy that continues to shroud workplace sexual harassment.

    Further, there are currently no civil penalties for breaching the positive duty. In Speaking From Experience, the commission found this limits the extent to which some workplace leaders will take the positive duty seriously. It found this risks turning the prevention of workplace sexual harassment into a box-ticking compliance process.

    The recommendations about penalties and transparency represent an acknowledgement that the commission’s powers to create systemic and structural change to target workplace sexual harassment are too limited.

    In the absence of penalties, risk to reputation – the fear that public exposure of inaction or permissive workplace cultures concerning sexual harassment – remains the greatest incentive for employers to comply with the positive duty.

    But workplace sexual harassment has been unlawful for more than 30 years. The current law does little more than continue to ask employers to do the right thing.

    If the commission is not given the powers it needs to effectively enforce the law, too much reliance is placed on individual complainants to take action. As the Speaking From Experience report reveals, that means victim-survivors would need to overcome massive social, economic, cultural and legal barriers.

    Over to the government

    Speaking From Experience is a significant moment for workplace sexual harassment law reform and policy in Australia. It continues the work that Respect@Work started and takes it in a new direction, focusing on protecting and supporting victim-survivors and accountability for employers.

    The Albanese government says it’s serious about addressing workplace gender equality and the prevention of violence against women. If that’s true, it should implement the commission’s recommendations in full, and quickly.

    Sarah Ailwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘I’m just exhausted’: sexual harassment at work is still rife. These new laws would help – https://theconversation.com/im-just-exhausted-sexual-harassment-at-work-is-still-rife-these-new-laws-would-help-259884

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘I’m just exhausted’: sexual harassment at work is still rife. These new laws would help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Ailwood, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Wollongong

    FG Trade/Getty

    Last week, the Australian Human Rights Commission launched a new report on sexual harassment, called Speaking From Experience. It includes the voices of more than 300 victim-survivors of workplace sexual harassment from vulnerable communities.

    In it, the commission calls for a new wave of robust law reform measures to protect and support victim-survivors and hold employers accountable.

    This report comes five years after the 2020 Respect@Work report, which made 55 recommendations to address workplace sexual harassment. Yet, in 2022, a survey by the commission found one in three workers had experienced sexual harassment.

    This new report is a watershed one, building on the work already done since 2020. So how far have we come in dealing with workplace sexual harassment? And how would new laws help?

    What’s in the new report?

    The Australian Human Rights Commission’s new report, Speaking From Experience, emerges from the Respect@Work recommendations.

    Recommendation 27 of the Respect@Work report suggested the commission establish a way to hear historical disclosures of workplace sexual harassment. The commission then turned this recommendation into its latest release.

    This report was a listening process that put victim-survivors front and centre. First Nations, migrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled and young workers were the main contributors to the report.

    An example of the experiences of the contributors is a fast food worker, who said:

    I know personally for me, as a queer person, I’m just exhausted […] it’s
    just a lot of mental energy and for nothing to happen, or for it to cause
    more problems, it’s just like really a deterrent…

    The commission was particularly concerned with identifying what does – and what does not – help victim-survivors of workplace sexual harassment. The contributors shed light on what needs to change in the workplace and in the law.

    One major theme was about non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), which are commonly used to settle workplace sexual harassment claims.

    NDAs restrict who victim-survivors can speak to about their experience of workplace sexual harassment, including colleagues, friends, family and in public. Sometimes these agreements can hamper attempts to get support for the harassment.

    The commission found victim-survivors are often pressured to sign NDAs in circumstances where the employer has far more power.

    The commission recommended new legislation to restrict using agreements in this way.

    This recommendation extends well beyond Respect@Work, which only produced best-practice guidelines. Extending the regulation is an important step forward, as subsequent research has revealed how ineffective these guidelines have been in practice.

    Australia is now out of step with the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, which have all regulated the use of NDAs after the #MeToo movement.

    Working Women’s Centres are currently leading a sector-wide campaign for change, and the regulation of NDAs is underway in Victoria.

    Improving the positive duty

    Respect@Work introduced a positive duty on people running a business or undertaking to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace.

    In Speaking From Experience, the commission is asking for enhanced regulatory powers to enforce the positive duty to make it more effective.



    Read more:
    Explainer: what is a ‘positive duty’ to prevent workplace sexual harassment and why is it so important?

    The commission is currently prevented from speaking publicly, or to other regulatory agencies, about its enforcement activities unless it has entered an “enforceable undertaking” with an organisation or applied for a Federal Court order.

    This means that, 18 months after being empowered to enforce the positive duty, the commission can’t speak publicly about how it is doing so.

    To be an effective regulator, it must be able to publicise its enforcement actions and share information with other agencies.

    The current law actually contributes to the culture of silencing and secrecy that continues to shroud workplace sexual harassment.

    Further, there are currently no civil penalties for breaching the positive duty. In Speaking From Experience, the commission found this limits the extent to which some workplace leaders will take the positive duty seriously. It found this risks turning the prevention of workplace sexual harassment into a box-ticking compliance process.

    The recommendations about penalties and transparency represent an acknowledgement that the commission’s powers to create systemic and structural change to target workplace sexual harassment are too limited.

    In the absence of penalties, risk to reputation – the fear that public exposure of inaction or permissive workplace cultures concerning sexual harassment – remains the greatest incentive for employers to comply with the positive duty.

    But workplace sexual harassment has been unlawful for more than 30 years. The current law does little more than continue to ask employers to do the right thing.

    If the commission is not given the powers it needs to effectively enforce the law, too much reliance is placed on individual complainants to take action. As the Speaking From Experience report reveals, that means victim-survivors would need to overcome massive social, economic, cultural and legal barriers.

    Over to the government

    Speaking From Experience is a significant moment for workplace sexual harassment law reform and policy in Australia. It continues the work that Respect@Work started and takes it in a new direction, focusing on protecting and supporting victim-survivors and accountability for employers.

    The Albanese government says it’s serious about addressing workplace gender equality and the prevention of violence against women. If that’s true, it should implement the commission’s recommendations in full, and quickly.

    Sarah Ailwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘I’m just exhausted’: sexual harassment at work is still rife. These new laws would help – https://theconversation.com/im-just-exhausted-sexual-harassment-at-work-is-still-rife-these-new-laws-would-help-259884

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Do you have Bitcoin? Be aware of the tax consequences of selling your investment

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christina Allen, Senior lecturer, Curtin University

    Bitcoin is ubiquitous. It is impossible to open a social media stream or news source without encountering yet another mention of the topic. Many Australians have invested, hoping for a good return.

    But they may not have considered the tax consequences of their investments. So some might be in for an unexpected surprise.

    The tax implications of Bitcoin ownership and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum largely turns on how seriously an investor pursues and manages their purchase.

    Given the enormous computing power and electric power needed to create Bitcoin from scratch, few Australians are actively mining Bitcoins.

    Mining involves creating digital information that yields the unique data “tokens” known as Bitcoins. It involves using specialised software to add new groups of transactions (known as blocks) to the shared transaction record (known as the blockchain.

    Trading in Bitcoins

    People who create Bitcoins are considered to be running a business and face the same tax consequences as any other active business, paying ordinary income tax on their profits.

    However, most Australian Bitcoin investors are using online exchanges to buy and sell already created Bitcoins.

    For them, the tax consequences will depend in the first instance on the frequency with which they buy or sell their Bitcoins and the level of study and ongoing monitoring and management they assign to the investment.

    A passive Bitcoin investor who simply buys some coins and largely ignores it until an opportune time to sell comes up will be treated purely as an investor by the Australian Taxation Office.

    For these people, the coins are characterised as passive investment assets similar to ownership of shares, gold or land. These Bitcoin investors will be subject to the capital gains rules in the income tax law.

    If they realise a gain on the sale of Bitcoin and the sale takes place within a year of the purchase, the gain will be fully included in the investor’s taxable income for the year the sale took place.

    If the sale takes place more than a year after purchase, the investor will qualify for a capital gains tax discount that makes half the gain exempt from tax, with only half included in their assessable income subject to taxation.

    But if the investor has a loss on the sale of Bitcoin, it can be recognised for tax purposes. But it will be quarantined against capital gains realised by the investor.

    In other words, it can only be used to reduce the amount of capital gains realised by the investor on the sale of other assets.

    Assumptions challenged

    While it is generally thought the capital gains treatment of Bitcoin sales has been settled for some time, a recent criminal case challenges some commonly accepted assumptions.

    The case was brought against a police officer charged with stealing Bitcoin recorded on a hardware wallet seized in a drug raid.

    The magistrate suggested Bitcoin was an asset (a view consistent with that of the tax office) but went on to suggest it was property similar to money.

    This led at least one tax lawyer to suggest there would be no tax consequences from selling Bitcoin for cash, as this would be akin to exchanging money for other money.

    It is, however, very unlikely a tax court would use a comment from the criminal case to unwind what has been settled tax law.

    Active investors

    If investors plays a more active role by frequently buying and selling Bitcoin or by actively researching and monitoring factors affecting its price, the tax office may consider they have shifted from being a passive investor to an active trader.

    A number of tax consequences follow.

    At one time, designation as a Bitcoin trader might have triggered a GST liability. If an investment trader has sales exceeding A$75,000 per year, they are considered an enterprise that must register as a GST business and pay GST on sales of goods or services.

    This included sales of Bitcoins, which were regarded as intangible goods by the tax office similar to music, films or other types of personal consumption.

    The tax office’s view

    However, following a very intense and ultimately successful lobbying campaign by digital commerce groups, the tax office revised its view and now considers Bitcoin to be a form of money for GST purposes.

    That means a sale of Bitcoin is treated as an exchange of money similar to changing Australian dollars for UK pounds or a $10 bill for five $2 coins.

    The office now recognises no sale of goods or services when there is a transfer of Bitcoin, leaving the transaction outside the goods and services tax system.

    The tax office’s view is the characterisation of Bitcoin as equivalent to money for goods and services tax purposes has no bearing on its character for income tax purposes. Instead, it is treated the same as any other trading stock or business asset if the seller is considered a trader.

    This has two implications. First, if the seller realises a gain on the sale of Bitcoin, the full amount of the gain is included in the person’s taxable income, regardless of whether it is sold more or less than one year after acquisition.

    Secondly, and very importantly for some, if an investor has a loss on the sale of Bitcoin – for every winner there is a loser in the investment world – and can convince the tax office they are an active trader, they can recognise the full loss. This means they can use the loss to offset other taxable income including wage and salary or business or professional income.

    Those who have taken the plunge into a Bitcoin investment or those considering the possibility should first consider carefully the tax consequences.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Do you have Bitcoin? Be aware of the tax consequences of selling your investment – https://theconversation.com/do-you-have-bitcoin-be-aware-of-the-tax-consequences-of-selling-your-investment-259671

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Occupational therapists tackle obstacles in the home, from support to cook a meal, to navigating public transport

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Hitch, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, Deakin University

    Occupational therapists (OTs) have been in the spotlight this month after the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) froze NDIS payments for these services at $193.99 per hour for the sixth year.

    The NDIA also cut travel payments for OTs who visit people in their home and community by 50%.

    Health Minister Mark Bulter says it’s important people on the NDIS aren’t paying more for therapy and support than they would pay in the health or aged care system.

    But OTs are concerned this could affect therapists’ viability, including their ability to support people with disability in their homes and communities.

    But what can OTs actually do? And why is it often better to do this in a person’s home and community?

    Who might see an OT?

    Imagine trying to get back to your daily life after a major health setback, such as a car accident or stroke, or an episode of a long-term condition or disability, such as depression or arthritis. The things you used to do with ease can become difficult and exhausting.

    After such a setback, your home or community can also feel like an obstacle course. Maybe you can’t carry the laundry basket out to the line anymore, or you’re struggling to keep up with your children.

    This is where occupational therapy can make a real difference. OTs are health professionals that enable people to do the things they need, want and love to do in daily life, from getting dressed to cooking dinner, gardening to driving.

    Occupational therapists work with people of all ages. They overcome barriers by changing the environments and objects we use, teaching new skills, rehabilitating old ones and tweaking the way we tackle tasks.

    What can OTs do in the home and community?

    Seeing people in their own homes and communities allows the therapist to get a more accurate picture of a person’s strengths and abilities, which can be difficult to understand in a clinic.

    OTs use their skills and creativity to provide personalised care, tailored to individual needs and circumstances.

    An older person with dementia might, for example, cause alarm by putting a plastic kettle on the stove of a hospital kitchen. But they could make their cup of tea perfectly safely at home with their stove top kettle.

    OTs can support home and community mobility, such as checking a wheelchair passes smoothly through doorways and can manoeuvre in tight spaces such as bathrooms.

    But they can also advise on kitchen aids and seating to save energy for people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, to support them continuing to cook family meals.

    In their work with neurodivergent people of different ages, an OT might help an autistic teen develop sensory strategies to deal with their busy and noisy school day.

    For other people, OT support might help them navigate their local public transport system. Learning and practising skills where they’re used makes it easier to carry them over into everyday life.

    What does the research say?

    Research shows home and community OT can lead to better activity and participation than clinic-based therapy. It’s also cost-effective.

    For stroke survivors, OT makes everyday tasks like showering or getting dressed easier.

    OT at home eases burden and stress for the parents of children with cerebral palsy and carers of people with dementia.

    OT at home helps older people with ongoing health issues to be more actively involved in their communities.

    Community OT is also effective in supporting recovery for people with mental health problems, enabling them to enjoy community and leisure activities, seek and maintain employment and enhance physical activity.

    OT focuses on helping you do the things that keep you well and independent, which means fewer trips back to the hospital. OTs can spot and solve trip hazards within homes, for example, before a frail person has a fall.

    People who get OT at home soon after leaving hospital are less likely to be readmitted. Emerging research also suggests OT can work jointly with paramedics when someone falls at home by visiting and offering immediate treatment that prevent avoidable hospital stays.

    There are some downsides, such as limited access in disadvantaged communities. While telehealth can address some barriers, it is not suitable in every case.

    How do Australians access OTs?

    There are many pathways to access OT services, but the complexity of the health-care system means the process is challenging to navigate.

    OT services can also be costly, due to severely limited funding, equipment and transport costs.

    OT is available as part of Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme for older people.

    OT has also played a key role in supporting NDIS participants since the scheme’s inception. However, waiting lists often stretch for many months and not everyone knows about what OT can offer.

    You can also access community OT through Medicare Chronic Disease Management plans, local community health centres and councils and through private health insurance rebates.

    Thanks to Lana O’Neil (Occupational Therapist at Western Health in Victoria) and Sarah McCann (Senior Occupational Therapist at Western Health) for sharing their clinical expertise for this article.

    Danielle Hitch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Occupational therapists tackle obstacles in the home, from support to cook a meal, to navigating public transport – https://theconversation.com/occupational-therapists-tackle-obstacles-in-the-home-from-support-to-cook-a-meal-to-navigating-public-transport-259807

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s cutest mammal is now Australia’s cutest three mammals

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Dodd, PhD Student in Evolutionary Biology and Taxonomy, The University of Western Australia

    The long-eared kultarr (_A. auritus_) is the middle child in terms of body size, but it has by far the biggest ears. Ken Johnson

    Australia is home to more than 60 species of carnivorous marsupials in the family Dasyuridae. Almost a quarter of those have only been scientifically recognised in the past 25 years.

    Other than the iconic Tasmanian devil, chances are most of these small, fascinating species have slipped under your radar. One of the rarest and most elusive is the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger), a feisty insect-eater found in very low numbers across much of the outback.

    To the untrained eye, the kultarr looks very much like a hopping mouse, with long legs, a long tail and a tendency to rest on its hind legs. However, it runs much like a greyhound – but its tiny size and high speed makes it look like it’s hopping.

    Kultarr or kultarrs?

    Until now, the kultarr was thought to be a single widespread species, ranging from central New South Wales to the Carnarvon Basin on Australia’s west coast. However, a genetic study in 2023 suggested there could be more than one species.

    With backing from the Australian Biological Resources Study, our team of researchers from the University of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum and Queensland University of Technology set out to investigate.

    We travelled to museums in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth to look at every kultarr that had been collected by scientists over the past century. By combining detailed genetic data with body and skull measurements, we discovered the kultarr isn’t one widespread species, but three distinct species.

    Three species of kultarrs

    The eastern kultarr (A. laniger) is the smallest of the three, with an average body length of about 7.5cm. It’s darker in colour than its relatives, and while its ears are still big, they are nowhere near as big as those of the other two species.

    The eastern kultarr is now found on hard clay soils around Cobar in central NSW and north to around Charleville in southern Queensland.

    The eastern kultarr (A. laniger) is the smallest of the three species.
    Pat Woolley

    The gibber kultarr (A. spenceri) is the largest and stockiest, with an average body length of around 9cm. They are noticeably chunkier than the other two more dainty species, with big heads, thick legs and much longer hindfeet.

    As its name suggests, the gibber kultarr is restricted to the extensive stony deserts or “gibber plains” in southwest Queensland and northeast South Australia.

    The gibber kultarr (A. spenceri) is largest and stockiest.
    Ken Johnson

    The long-eared kultarr (A. auritus) is the middle child in terms of body size, but its ears set it apart. They’re nearly as long as its head.

    It’s found in patchy populations in the central and western sandy deserts, living on isolated stony plains.

    The long-eared kultarr (A. auritus) is the middle child in terms of body size, but it has by far the biggest ears.
    Ken Johnson

    Are they threatened?

    All three species of kultarr are hard to find, making it difficult to confidently estimate population sizes and evaluate extinction risk. The long-eared and gibber kultarrs don’t appear to be in immediate danger, but land clearing and invasive predators such as cats and foxes have likely affected their numbers.

    The three species of kultarr seem to now inhabit smaller areas than in the past.
    Cameron Dodd

    The eastern kultarr, however, is more of a concern. By looking at museum specimens going back all the way to the 1890s, we found it was once much more widespread.

    Historic records suggest the eastern kultarr used to occur across the entirety of arid NSW and even spread north through central Queensland and into the Northern Territory. We now think this species may be extinct in the NT and parts of northwest Queensland.

    What’s next?

    To protect kultarrs into the future, we need targeted surveys to confirm where each species still survives, especially the eastern kultarr, whose current range may be just a shadow of its former extent. With better knowledge, we can prioritise conservation actions where they’re most needed, and ensure these remarkable, long-legged hunters don’t disappear before we truly get to know them.

    Australia still has many small mammal species that haven’t been formally described. Unless we identify and name them, they remain invisible in conservation policy.

    Taxonomic research like this is essential – we can’t protect what we don’t yet know exists. And without action, some species may disappear before they’re ever officially recognised.

    The authors wish to acknowledge the important contributions of Adjunct Professor Mike Westerman at La Trobe University to the research discussed in this article.

    Cameron Dodd receives funding from the Australian Biological Resources Study and Society of Australian Systematic Biologists.

    Andrew M. Baker receives funding from the Federal Government, State Governments, Australian Biological Resources Study and various Industry sources.

    Kenny Travouillon receives funding from Australian Biological Resources Study.

    Linette Umbrello receives funding from the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) National Taxonomy Research Grant Program (NTRGP)

    Renee Catullo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Australia’s cutest mammal is now Australia’s cutest three mammals – https://theconversation.com/australias-cutest-mammal-is-now-australias-cutest-three-mammals-260006

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Men traded wares – but women traded knowledge: what a new archeological study tells us about PNG sea trade

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Skelly, Archaeologist, Monash University

    Women loading pots on a Motu lakatoi trading vessel, in this photograph published in 1887.
     J. W. Lindt

    Australia’s closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, is a place of remarkable cultural diversity. Home to cultures speaking more than 800 languages, this region has been interconnected by seafaring trade networks for thousands of years.

    Because seafaring was most often undertaken by men, it has long been assumed by anthropologists and archaeologists that information sharing between different cultures came via men.

    Our new archaeological research sheds light on the often overlooked role of women in developing past trade relationships. We found knowledge being shared that couldn’t have been shared among men – pointing the direction towards complicated relationships between women in cultures based hundreds of kilometres apart.

    Trade networks across Papua New Guinea’s south coast in the 19th century.
    Robert Skelly and Bruno David (2017)., CC BY-NC-ND

    The adventurous deeds of male seafarers

    In 1883, Papua New Guinea was colonised and annexed by Britain. Foreign anthropologists such as Darwin’s collaborator Thomas Huxley, Charles Seligman and Bronislaw Malinowski arrived shortly after.

    These male anthropologists became enamoured of the region’s seagoing trade networks, featuring huge sailing canoes, dangerous voyages and complex trade relationships.

    Their accounts often focused on the seafaring heroics of the men of Papua New Guinea. This is partly because they spoke to men almost exclusively, and partly because they admired fellow seagoing, risk-taking adventurers.

    The best example of this is Malinowski’s famous book Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), where he likens the voyagers of the Trobriands to Jason’s band of male adventurers in Greek mythology.

    Women seldom took centre stage in these histories.

    Yet crucially, women maintained the knowledge of how to make the earthenware pottery used for trade.

    Tracing trade through pottery

    These early anthropologists left us with detailed but male-focused accounts of trade networks. It is left to today’s archaeologists to trace histories of trade back in time, using material culture and carbon dates to see when it began.

    Most of the archaeology over the past six decades has taken place around Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s capital.

    This is the homeland of the Motu people (among others), famous for their long-distance trade.

    In the late 19th century, Motu men sailed west each year in fleets of up to 20 ships carrying some 20,000 pots. These were then traded for food with people in the Gulf of Papua.

    Archaeologists who began researching seafaring and trade on Papua New Guinea’s south coast in the 1960s were enthralled by early anthropological accounts. When they started to uncover similar-looking pieces of pottery across 400km of coastline, they thought it was probably made in one location and carried by seafarers.

    The most famous archaeological site near Port Moresby is Motupore Island. Excavations in the 1970s and 1980s recovered a staggering four tons of pottery fragments.

    In 2022, we began new excavations at Hood Bay, 100km to the east of Motupore Island, in partnership with the local Keapara communities. We found pieces of pottery with the same decorations as those found at Motupore Island. Yet there was no evidence of pottery ever being made in Hood Bay.

    Reflecting on what anthropologists had earlier written, it seemed reasonable to think that pottery was brought to Hood Bay by seafaring traders. But a crucial puzzle piece was missing: where was the pottery made?

    Shedding light on women’s roles

    We used an advanced type of scanning electron microscopy to compare the minerals and clay in pottery from Hood Bay and Motupore.

    Earthenware pottery is mostly made from clay and sand. By finding out what types of sand minerals are in the pottery we can see where it might have been made.

    To our surprise, we found the pottery was indeed locally made and was not traded by sea from Port Moresby. This is the first evidence of pottery being made in Hood Bay, a practice that was lost sometime in the past 300 years.

    So why did the pottery from two distant locations look so similar? If the pottery was not being traded, people must have been exchanging ideas about how to make it.

    Like the pottery, women’s tattoo designs at the two locations were also the same. This suggests community relationships were maintained through women sharing knowledge.

    Tattooing was an important women’s cultural practice in these regions, and tattoos signified major life stages such as marriage.

    Interestingly, the marriage tattoos used in Port Moresby and Hood Bay were identical in the 19th century, but no one that anthropologists spoke to remembered why. The tattoo designs suggest that Motu and Keapara women were once in very close contact.

    Successful pottery production requires precise skills. Becoming a proficient pottery maker was a long learning process for Motu women who acquired the skills needed from their aunts and mothers.

    The identical decoration on pots made by Motu and Keapara women can only be explained if ideas about pottery decoration were shared by women among each other and passed down through generations. Men were not involved in making pottery, so this knowledge was not shared by seafaring men.

    This means it was not the trading ventures of men that connected coastal villages, but women’s know-how.

    Women moved between villages and carried with them the knowledge of how to make and decorate pottery and shared ideas about tattoo designs.

    Hundreds of years ago it was women who caused cultural traditions to spread – possibly through intermarriage – linking communities along Papua New Guinea’s south coast.

    Robert Skelly receives funding from Australian Research Council DE200100544.

    Barbara Etschmann, Chris Urwin, Joël Brugger, and Teppsy Beni do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Men traded wares – but women traded knowledge: what a new archeological study tells us about PNG sea trade – https://theconversation.com/men-traded-wares-but-women-traded-knowledge-what-a-new-archeological-study-tells-us-about-png-sea-trade-258184

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: On her new album, Lorde creates pop at its purest – performative, playful and alive to paradox

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosemary Overell, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, University of Otago

    “✏️Describe the vibe” goes the demand to commenters underneath the YouTube video for Lorde’s latest single, “Hammer”. Fans form a flow; a “vibe check” in Zillenial parlance:

    The pure rawness … (@lynmariegm)

    A more raw true-to-self form … (@m3lodr4matic)

    This is pure art … (@anishm-g1r)

    Lorde’s 2013 debut album was titled Pure Heroine. But, she tells us – and fans and critics agree – Virgin is the first album which “does not lie”. Pure pop. Not lying is not necessarily synonymous with truth, however. Rather, not lying in the present cultural moment is more akin to the careful articulation of a whole vibe.

    For women in particular, truth, authenticity – dare I say realness – mean modulating their feelings, but also a particular calibration and presentation of their bodies in media.

    Such a balancing act is captured in that YouTube imperative which moves between the pencil (“✏️”) – the demand to describe – and the “vibe”, the very thing we often find too hard to write down or put into words.

    Pop music is often at the nexus of these two seemingly opposite moves. Think about going to a gig and afterwards being asked “how was it?”, and all you can say is “you had to be there”.

    Of course it is not so simple. We are always putting our feeling into words – describing all manner of bodily responses. Lorde herself sings in “Broken Glass” about how her eating disordered body was marked by language: the “arithmetic” of calorie counting. Elsewhere, she lists other social signifiers in which she is enmeshed: daughter (“Favourite Daughter”), siren, saint (“Shapeshifter”).

    Words and the body

    Nonetheless, the repeated theme in press interviews is that Virgin moves beyond language, towards a pure woman’s body, free of the mark of sexuality. At the same time, the album is also “ravenously horny” according to one review. She is both as pure as a newborn (a “Virgin”), but marked by her sexuality.

    The song “Current Affairs” most clearly demonstrates proximity between the sexed body and its description in lyrics. Lorde collapses into her lover’s body (“He spit in my mouth”). But when he breaks her heart, she cannot put into language the hurt. Rather she blames her anguish on the news: “current affairs”.

    Pop music and pop culture thrives off the market exchange and saleability of sex, particularly young women’s sex. When I first wrote about Lorde 11 years ago, I pitted her against Miley Cyrus, noting the outrage at Miley’s “growing up” (from Hannah Montana to adulthood), which mapped onto her perceived new working class, tasteless identity.

    Against the crass vulgarity of Miley, I argued then, we had the middle-class intellectualism of Lorde. The argument stands. Virgin certainly adds a heightened sexiness to Lorde, but it is far from crude. She is branded, not just by the market (the cost of tour tickets and merchandise), but also by her identity as a tasteful and hip woman.

    More fleshy (“wide hips/soft lips” she sings in “GRWM”) than the teen “Royal” of 2012, but still on Universal Music Group’s repertoire and still circulated as an “alt” option for pop fans.

    We can also think of Lorde’s collaboration with her current working class alter, and last year’s popstar commodity, Charli XCX. In Lorde’s verse in “Girl, so confusing” she notes Charli is, essentially, a “Chav” – “still a young girl from Essex”. But in the same verse, Lorde shows her awareness of both women’s function on the market:

    People say we’re alike

    They say we’ve got the same hair

    It’s you and me on the coin

    The industry loves to spend

    This knowing wink to how women move within the pop-culture marketplace produces a different kind of purity, one based on an intimacy between the popstar and her listeners. We all know Lorde’s difference from Charli is about image: the “poet” versus the party girl.

    Intimacy as purity is part of what cultural theorist Anna Kornbluh recently dubbed the pressure of “immediacy”, characterised by an apparently ceaseless flow and demand to constantly share images and video of our bodies, afforded by the scroll of social media.

    While the depiction of our bodies and selves on screens is fundamental to this moment, according to Kornbluh, we contradictorily lose sight of this screening. Feeling as though we are #NoFilter – present and real. Key to this is the exhibition of our feelings and emotions.

    For all women, but particularly those in the public eye, the sharing of these feelings materialise into “coin”. Vulnerability, pleasure, all-the-feels-all-the-time – especially for women – make “bank”.

    Intimacy and knowingness

    Vulnerability has been a catch-cry in media characterisations of Virgin. Critics and fans equate Lorde’s lyrical confessions and press tour patter with a market-valuable “purity”, equated with immediate access (to quote the YouTube fan above) to a “true-to-self” Lorde.

    One of her more amusing (but fitting) press engagements was on Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis podcast. On the couch, we hear Lorde, wearing a Yohji Yamamoto blazer, musing about vulnerability, gender and her mother – with the great granddaughter of Sigmund Freud.

    Fashion Neurosis: Lorde on the psychiatrist’s couch.

    While the Charli XCX track shows Lorde’s intimacy through her knowingness about her role as “coin” for the music industry, the music videos from Virgin offer a more embodied intimacy. The clip for the album’s first single, “What Was That?”, features an extreme closeup inside her mouth. The album cover itself is an X-ray showing her hips and her IUD.

    Kornbluh suggests this emphasis on often literal bodily interiors – people’s “insides” – produces an ersatz sense of closeness and sociality, as our relationships become more and more beholden to the alienating circuits of “social” media.

    Virgin does not lie. It traces a truth of our times – a paradoxical truth – that we are at our most intimate, our most pure, when we are unmediated, all the while bearing out the imperative to “✏️Describe the vibe” – to mediate and expose ourselves onscreen.

    My own vibe check? I love the album. It is pop at its purest – performative, playful and certainly worth paying attention to.

    Rosemary Overell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. On her new album, Lorde creates pop at its purest – performative, playful and alive to paradox – https://theconversation.com/on-her-new-album-lorde-creates-pop-at-its-purest-performative-playful-and-alive-to-paradox-259994

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Unsafe and unethical: bed shortages mean dementia patients with psychiatric symptoms are admitted to medical wards

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cindy Towns, Senior Lecturer in General Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Otago

    Getty Images

    New Zealand’s mental health crisis is well documented in the government’s 2018 inquiry, He Ara Oranga, which shows one in five people experience mental illness or significant mental distress.

    However, an almost singular focus on care of young people obscures the psychiatric needs of older adults.

    Failure to account for these needs has resulted in physicians facing pressure to admit psychiatric patients to medical wards that are not designed or resourced to care for them. This compromises patient safety and rights as well as fundamental standards of care.

    Our new research highlights the clinical, ethical and legal consequences of this practice and calls for urgent action.

    Dementia includes psychiatric features

    The memory deficits of dementia are well known but the condition also includes psychiatric presentations. These are known collectively as the “behavioural and psychiatric symptoms of dementia” (BPSD). When severe, they can include intrusive behaviour, violence and inappropriate sexual conduct. Such patients require admission and specialist treatment.

    However, New Zealand has a severe shortage of psychiatric beds for older adults. Even more concerning is that despite well recognised demographic trends and clinical concerns, bed numbers have decreased over time rather than increased.

    Reports that Dunedin plans to slash the number of psycho-geriatric beds by 50% reflect a lack of government insight into the risks this large and growing patient cohort poses.

    Hospitals routinely expect medical wards to admit dementia patients presenting with BPSD when no psycho-geriatric bed is available. Yet it is impossible for staff on medical wards to adhere to even basic standards of care.

    Poor design

    A lack of single rooms means medical teams cannot provide the security and minimisation of light and noise people with dementia require. Single rooms need to be prioritised for transmissible infections, delirium and terminal care.

    Medical wards are also not designed for aggressive patients. People can enter and exit freely, potential weapons (scissors, for example) are accessible, there are no seclusion rooms or low-stimulus areas, and nursing stations are not secure.

    Medical staff are not trained in de-escalation or restraint and ward pharmacists are not specialised in the medications required to treat BPSD.

    Those presenting with physical or sexual violence also need dedicated security, well beyond what healthcare assistants on “patient watches” can provide. Most healthcare assistants are women, which creates a grossly inadequate level of safety when managing violent male patients.

    The experience of Wellington general medicine staff documents numerous assaults on nurses and intrusive and frightening behaviour. Staff have been punched, hit, bitten and threatened. One nurse was stabbed while attending to another patient in a multi-bed room.

    Admissions have included physically robust patients who have seriously assaulted family or carers. This includes one man who committed a fatal assault and another who was sexually aggressive and stabbed a family member.

    High rates of mixed-gender bedding in hospital wards raise the risk of harm. The United Kingdom banned hospitals from placing men and women in the same room in 2010. Yet despite concerns for patient safety, New Zealand has no prohibition on this practice.

    Poor policy

    By comparison, Australia proposed a risk stratification approach more than 20 years ago whereby severe dementia patients would be managed in secure units with dedicated security staff and specialist psycho-geriatric care.

    This model is used throughout Australia in policy and planning. In New Zealand, severe dementia is defaulted to medical wards even in cases where patients are presenting solely due to extreme violence.

    According to the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, patients are entitled to an appropriate standard of care. Admitting someone with dementia to medical wards that cannot meet basic standards of care clearly breaches this right.

    BPSD admissions also significantly compromise the rights of other patients. The risks are again demonstrable rather than potential. International media reports have documented male dementia patients assaulting female patients in medical wards without the necessary security measures.

    Medical staff in New Zealand hospitals have also witnessed numerous incidents of intrusion and harassment as well as assaults of other patients by dementia patients inappropriately admitted to medical wards with BPSD.

    We should also recognise indirect impacts of people with severe dementia being admitted on medical wards. Many patients wait overnight for admission, increasing their risk for complications, and breaching rights to privacy and dignity.

    When psychiatric patients occupy medical beds, they contribute to admission delays, complications and rights breaches for medical patients awaiting beds.

    Urgent need for more psycho-geriatric beds

    Wellington general medicine teams have raised serious concerns about dementia admissions for many years. Yet there are no secure areas and no additional psycho-geriatric beds.

    We need to ask why the practice continues when harm is so obvious. The answer appears to be about cost. When physicians relent and admit psychiatric patients, the risks are high but the financial cost is low. The consequences are born by elderly and frail patients seldom able to advocate for themselves.

    Change relies on health leaders and funders caring about safety, rights and basic standards of care. Unfortunately, the Wellington experience and the decision to cut beds in Dunedin suggest change will not happen unless physicians consistently refuse the admission of psychiatric patients. But this is a morally distressing position to be put in.

    New Zealand must urgently address the shortage of psycho-geriatric beds. Until these are in place, temporary secure accommodation must be made available under the care of mental health specialists.

    Medical teams can no longer be expected to manage the mental health crisis as well as their own medical workloads. It is unsafe, unethical and untenable for all involved.

    Cindy Towns does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Unsafe and unethical: bed shortages mean dementia patients with psychiatric symptoms are admitted to medical wards – https://theconversation.com/unsafe-and-unethical-bed-shortages-mean-dementia-patients-with-psychiatric-symptoms-are-admitted-to-medical-wards-257634

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 30, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 30, 2025.

    Fiji’s Dr Prasad unveils $4.8b budget as deficit widens
    By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget. The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday. This is about F$280

    Cities are heating up the planet – how they can do more to fight climate change
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Quality Stock Arts/Shutterstock Cities have a central role to play tackling climate change. They contribute 67–72% of the greenhouse gas emissions which are heating up the planet. At the same time, cities are increasingly at risk

    Tahiti prepares for its first Matari’i public holiday
    RNZ Te Manu Korihi Tahiti will mark Matari’i as a national public holiday for the first time in November, following in the footsteps of Matariki in Aotearoa New Zealand. Matari’i refers to the same star cluster as Matariki. And for Tahitians, November 20 will mark the start of Matari’i i ni’a — the “season of

    Scientists look to black holes to know exactly where we are in the Universe. But phones and wifi are blocking the view
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucia McCallum, Senior Scientist in Geodesy, University of Tasmania ESA / Hubble / L. Calçada (ESO), CC BY The scientists who precisely measure the position of Earth are in a bit of trouble. Their measurements are essential for the satellites we use for navigation, communication and Earth

    Could we live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Reluctantly, yes
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Zala, Senior Lecturer, Politics & International Relations, Monash University As the ceasefire between Israel and Iran seems to be holding for now, it is important to reflect on whether this whole episode was worth the risks. Wider escalation was (and remains) possible, and we do not

    How to reform the NDIS and better support disabled people who don’t qualify for it
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Bennett, Disability Program Director, Grattan Institute Australia is spending more than ever on disability services – and yet many people with disability still aren’t receiving the support they need. Since the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) began in 2013, it has transformed the lives of hundreds

    Mr Smith or Gary? Why some teachers ask students to call them by their first name
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Brownlie, Lecturer in Education, University of Southern Queensland Johnny Greig/ Getty Images When you went to school, did you call your teacher Mrs, Ms or Mr, followed by their surname? Perhaps you even called them Sir or Miss. The tradition of addressing teachers in a formal

    NZ cities are getting hotter: 5 things councils can do now to keep us cooler when summer comes
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Stand on any car park on a sunny day in February and the heat will radiate through your shoes. At 30°C air temperature, that asphalt hits 50–55°C – hot enough to cause

    Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roberta Esbitt, Associate, RMIT University If you want to advertise a house online in Australia, you don’t have many options. Just two companies dominate the market. Australia’s largest property listings platform, realestate.com.au, belongs to digital media company REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media

    Clark warns in new Pacific book renewed nuclear tensions pose ‘existential threat to humanity’
    Asia Pacific Report Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has warned the country needs to maintain its nuclear-free policy as a “fundamental tenet” of its independent foreign policy in the face of gathering global storm clouds. Writing in a new book being published next week, she says “nuclear war is an existential threat to

    ‘Bridge for peace – not more bombs,’ say CNMI Gaza protesters
    By Bryan Manabat in Saipan Advocacy groups in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) disrupted the US Department of Defense’s public meeting this week, which tackled proposed military training plans on Tinian, voicing strong opposition to further militarisation in the Marianas. Members of the Marianas for Palestine, Prutehi Guahan and Commonwealth670 burst into

    Why manufacturing consent for war with Iran failed this time
    COMMENTARY: By Ahmad Ibsais On June 22, American warplanes crossed into Iranian airspace and dropped 14 massive bombs. The attack was not in response to a provocation; it came on the heels of illegal Israeli aggression that took the lives of more than 600 Iranians. This was a return to something familiar and well-practised: an

    A return to Nature.
    Headline: A return to Nature. – 36th Parallel Assessments Thomas Hobbes wrote his seminal work Leviathan in 1651. In it he describes the world system as it was then as being in “a state of nature,” something that some have interpreted as anarchy. However, anarchy has order and purpose. It is not chaos. In fact,

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fiji’s Dr Prasad unveils $4.8b budget as deficit widens

    By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist

    The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget.

    The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday.

    This is about F$280 million more than last year, with the deficit widening to around $886 million.

    Dr Prasad told Parliament that his government had guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it.

    “When we came into office we were in a precarious economic crossroad . . . our first priority was to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild trust in policymaking institutions, and chart a path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.”

    The 2025/2026 budget consisted of a spending increase across almost every area, with education, the largest area of spending, up $69 million to $847 million overall.

    The health sector received $611.6 million, the Fijian Roads Authority $388 million, and the Police force $240.3 million, all increases.

    A package of cost of living measures costing the government $800 million has also been announced. This includes a value-added tax (VAT) cut from 15 percent to 12.5 percent on goods and services.

    Various import duties, which firms pay for goods from overseas, have been cut, such as  chicken pieces and parts (from 42 to 15 percent) and frozen fish (from 15 to 0 percent).

    A subsidy to reduce bus fares by 10 percent was announced, alongside a 3 percent increase in salaries for civil servants, both beginning in August.

    Drastic international conditions
     In a news conference, Dr Prasad said that responding to difficult global economic shocks was the primary rationale behind the budget.

    “This is probably one of the most uncertain global economic environments that we have gone through. There has been no resolution on the tariffs by the United States and the number of countries, big or small,” he said.

    “We have never had this kind of interest in Fiji from overseas investors or diaspora, and we are doing a lot more work to get our diaspora to come back.”

    When asked why the VAT was cut, reducing government revenue and widening the deficit, Dr Prasad said there was a need to encourage consumer spending.

    “If the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices go up, the first thing that will be affected will be the supply chain . . . prices could go up, people could be affected more.”

    On building resilience from global shocks, Dr Prasad said the budget would reduce Fiji’s reliance on tourism, remittances, and international supply chains, by building domestic industry.

    “It kills two birds in one [stone]. It addresses any big shock we might get . . .  plus it also helps the people who would be affected.”

    In their Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank projected economic growth of 2.6 percent in 2025, after a slump from 7.5 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024.

    Senior World Bank economist Ekaterine Vashakmadze told RNZ that Fiji was an interesting case.

    “Fiji is one of the countries that suffered the sharpest shock [post-covid] . . .  because tourism stopped.”

    “On the other hand, Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific to recover fully in terms of the output to pre-pandemic level.”

    Deficit too high — opposition
     Opposition members have hit out at the government over the scale of the spend, and whether it would translate into outcomes.

    Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, in a statement to local media outlet Duavata News, referred to the larger deficit as “deeply troubling”.

    “The current trajectory is concerning, and the government must change its fiscal strategy to one that is truly sustainable.”

    “The way the budget is being presented, it’s like the government is trying to show that in one year Fiji will become a developed country.”

    MP Ketal Lal on social media called the budget “a desperate cloak for scandal” designed to appeal to voters ahead of elections in 2026.

    “This is what happens when a government governs by pressure instead of principle. The people have been crying out for years. The Opposition has consistently raised concerns about the crushing cost of living but they only act when it becomes politically necessary. And even then, it’s never enough.”

    He also pointed out, regarding the 3 percent increase in civil servants salaries, that someone earning $30,000 a year would only see a pay increase of $900 per year.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fiji’s Dr Prasad unveils $4.8b budget as deficit widens

    By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist

    The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget.

    The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday.

    This is about F$280 million more than last year, with the deficit widening to around $886 million.

    Dr Prasad told Parliament that his government had guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it.

    “When we came into office we were in a precarious economic crossroad . . . our first priority was to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild trust in policymaking institutions, and chart a path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.”

    The 2025/2026 budget consisted of a spending increase across almost every area, with education, the largest area of spending, up $69 million to $847 million overall.

    The health sector received $611.6 million, the Fijian Roads Authority $388 million, and the Police force $240.3 million, all increases.

    A package of cost of living measures costing the government $800 million has also been announced. This includes a value-added tax (VAT) cut from 15 percent to 12.5 percent on goods and services.

    Various import duties, which firms pay for goods from overseas, have been cut, such as  chicken pieces and parts (from 42 to 15 percent) and frozen fish (from 15 to 0 percent).

    A subsidy to reduce bus fares by 10 percent was announced, alongside a 3 percent increase in salaries for civil servants, both beginning in August.

    Drastic international conditions
     In a news conference, Dr Prasad said that responding to difficult global economic shocks was the primary rationale behind the budget.

    “This is probably one of the most uncertain global economic environments that we have gone through. There has been no resolution on the tariffs by the United States and the number of countries, big or small,” he said.

    “We have never had this kind of interest in Fiji from overseas investors or diaspora, and we are doing a lot more work to get our diaspora to come back.”

    When asked why the VAT was cut, reducing government revenue and widening the deficit, Dr Prasad said there was a need to encourage consumer spending.

    “If the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices go up, the first thing that will be affected will be the supply chain . . . prices could go up, people could be affected more.”

    On building resilience from global shocks, Dr Prasad said the budget would reduce Fiji’s reliance on tourism, remittances, and international supply chains, by building domestic industry.

    “It kills two birds in one [stone]. It addresses any big shock we might get . . .  plus it also helps the people who would be affected.”

    In their Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank projected economic growth of 2.6 percent in 2025, after a slump from 7.5 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024.

    Senior World Bank economist Ekaterine Vashakmadze told RNZ that Fiji was an interesting case.

    “Fiji is one of the countries that suffered the sharpest shock [post-covid] . . .  because tourism stopped.”

    “On the other hand, Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific to recover fully in terms of the output to pre-pandemic level.”

    Deficit too high — opposition
     Opposition members have hit out at the government over the scale of the spend, and whether it would translate into outcomes.

    Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, in a statement to local media outlet Duavata News, referred to the larger deficit as “deeply troubling”.

    “The current trajectory is concerning, and the government must change its fiscal strategy to one that is truly sustainable.”

    “The way the budget is being presented, it’s like the government is trying to show that in one year Fiji will become a developed country.”

    MP Ketal Lal on social media called the budget “a desperate cloak for scandal” designed to appeal to voters ahead of elections in 2026.

    “This is what happens when a government governs by pressure instead of principle. The people have been crying out for years. The Opposition has consistently raised concerns about the crushing cost of living but they only act when it becomes politically necessary. And even then, it’s never enough.”

    He also pointed out, regarding the 3 percent increase in civil servants salaries, that someone earning $30,000 a year would only see a pay increase of $900 per year.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Tahiti prepares for its first Matari’i public holiday

    RNZ Te Manu Korihi

    Tahiti will mark Matari’i as a national public holiday for the first time in November, following in the footsteps of Matariki in Aotearoa New Zealand.

    Matari’i refers to the same star cluster as Matariki. And for Tahitians, November 20 will mark the start of Matari’i i ni’a — the “season of abundance” — which lasts for six months to be followed by Matari’i i raro, the “season of scarcity”.

    Te Māreikura Whakataka-Brightwell is a New Zealand artist who was born in Tahiti and raised in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, Gisborne, with whakapapa links to both countries. He spoke to RNZ’s Matariki programme from the island of Moorea.

    His father was the master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, and his grandfather was the renowned Tahitian navigator Francis Puara Cowan.

    In Tahiti, there has been a series of cultural revival practices, and with the support of the likes of Professor Rangi Mātāmua, there is hope to bring these practices out into the public arena, he said.

    The people of Tahiti had always lived in accordance with Matari’i i ni’a and Matari’i i raro, with six months of abundance and six months of scarcity, he said.

    “Bringing that back into the public space is good to sort of recognise the ancestral practice of not only Matariki in terms of the abundance but also giving more credence to our tūpuna kōrero and mātauranga tuku iho.”

    Little controversy
    Whakataka-Brightwell said there had been a little controversy around the new holiday as it replaced another public holiday, Internal Autonomy Day, on June 29, which marked the French annexation of Tahiti.

    But he said a lot of people in Tahiti liked the shift towards having local practices represented in a holiday.

    There would be several public celebrations organised for the inaugural public holiday but most people on the islands would be holding more intimate ceremonies at home, he said.

    “A lot of people already had practices of celebrating Matariki which was more about now marking the season of abundance, so I think at a whānau level people will continue to do that, I think this will be a little bit more of an incentive for everything else to align to those sorts of celebrations.”

    Many of the traditions surrounding Matari’i related to the Arioi clan, whose ranks included artists, priests, navigators and diplomats who would celebrate the rituals of Matari’i, he said.

    “Tahiti is an island of artists, it’s an island of rejuvenation, so I’m pretty sure they’ll be doing a lot of that and basing some of those traditions on the Arioi traditions.”

    Whakataka-Brightwell encouraged anyone with Māori heritage to make the pilgrimage to Tahiti at some point in their lives, as the place where many of the waka that carried Māori ancestors were launched.

    “I’ve always been a firm believer of particular people with whakapapa Māori to come back, hoki mai ki te whenua o Tahiti roa, Tahiti pāmamao.

    “Those connections still exist, I mean, people still have the same last names as people in Aotearoa, and it’s not very far away, so I would encourage everybody to explore their own connections but also hoki mai ki te whenua (return to the land).”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Cities are heating up the planet – how they can do more to fight climate change

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne

    Quality Stock Arts/Shutterstock

    Cities have a central role to play tackling climate change. They contribute 67–72% of the greenhouse gas emissions which are heating up the planet.

    At the same time, cities are increasingly at risk from global warming. Flood, fire and drought are affecting everything from the cost of insuring homes and businesses, through to impacts on health and safety.

    This is critical given 90% of Australians live in urban areas. Globally, cities are home to more than four billion people.

    Our new study identifies 16 priority actions to address climate change in the construction and management of cities.

    Building smarter

    Climate change must be a key consideration when designing, building and managing our cities. The emissions generated need to be minimised and eventually eliminated.

    We must build in locations, and in ways, that reduce climate risks. But policies governing how our cities are designed and constructed don’t achieve this.

    A recent study of three local government areas identified only limited action on adaptation and mitigation. Other research has found few urban development policies include carbon reduction goals that meet international targets.

    The National Housing Accord will see more than one million houses built by 2029. These new homes must address the climate challenge.

    16 areas for priority action

    The priority areas in our new study were informed by interviews with more than 150 stakeholders working in urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, sustainability, construction and property.

    Priority areas for minimising damaging emissions generated by cities.
    CC BY

    The actions they identified cover the entire life cycle of the built environment.

    One of the first barriers to overcome is the perceived lack of agency among industry professionals to initiate or demand climate action. They perceive others, such as property owners or clients, to have more influence.

    Climate change risks should be identified in the early stages of planning new developments, backed up by effective tools to make risk identification and action easier:

    There were areas that were identified as being flood prone or risk prone. But there was no strategy to deal with what happens to those areas – An urban planner

    Once specific projects are being considered it is important to prioritise early stage climate assessments, supported by policies which mandate climate action:

    Everyone has good intentions but without big formal legislation around it, everyone’s just sort of making their way in the dark – A construction industry professional

    In the design stage, steps to improve the climate knowledge and skills of the workforce beyond disciplinary boundaries is critical. The selection of low-impact products and materials will also help ensure design is more climate responsive.

    Climate action must be embedded in all stages of design and construction of Australian cities.
    GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock

    The highest number of hurdles to climate action were found to occur during the costing and approvals stage. Participants spoke of a highly competitive building industry. If climate change initiatives introduced at an earlier stage aren’t required by law, they are likely to be cut.

    unless there’s something in it for them in terms of return on investment, it’s going to be hard to get them to do it, unless we make them – An urban planner

    During the construction phase, product and material substitutions that have detrimental environmental impact should be eliminated. Innovation should be encouraged:

    If you want to push the envelope a little bit in terms of using recycled materials […] that’s a bit of a barrier. To push innovation is difficult – A landscape architect

    Post-construction

    Once construction is complete and buildings and public spaces are being used, it is important to invest in a thorough evaluation process. Building users should be involved to ensure buildings are maintained for optimal climate outcomes:

    [We] tried to achieve the six star rating […] the client has to maintain it [the building] for a year, and that’s when things start to fall off – An architect

    When it comes to area upgrades or building renewals, advocating for reuse and materials circularity is important. But the custom of demolishing and building anew, is hard to shift:

    The reuse of the existing building obviously generates significantly less waste and involves less material. So, design decisions and strategic decisions around using existing buildings is really important – An urban designer

    Working together

    This is a time of significant change in our urban areas.

    We need to make sure climate action is embedded in every stage of decision making. This may mean more efficient use, and reuse, of the existing built stock. This will require an overhaul of policies regarding building retrofits, and a change in mindsets.

    The priority actions to address climate change in cities can be implemented across a range of levels for:

    • individual professionals – pursue development of their climate change skills, including opportunities provided by professional associations

    • professional practices – review internal processes to ensure climate action is mainstreamed across projects, and in company decision making

    • universities teaching built environment professional degrees – embed climate change knowledge, skills, and competencies across the curriculum

    • governments at all levels – review policy settings to mandate mitigation and adaption.

    By addressing these actions, we can collectively work towards achieving our emission reduction targets and making sure our cities minimise climate change risks.

    Anna Hurlimann received funding for the research reported in this article from the Australian Research Council – Discovery Grant DP200101378, with co-chief investigators Georgia Warren-Myers, Alan March, Sareh Moosavi and Judy Bush. She is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia.

    Sareh Moosavi received funding for the research reported in this article from the Australian Research Council – Discovery Grant DP200101378, with co-chief investigators Anna Hurlimann, Georgia Warren-Myers, Alan March, and Judy Bush.

    – ref. Cities are heating up the planet – how they can do more to fight climate change – https://theconversation.com/cities-are-heating-up-the-planet-how-they-can-do-more-to-fight-climate-change-259391

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roberta Esbitt, Associate, RMIT University

    If you want to advertise a house online in Australia, you don’t have many options. Just two companies dominate the market.

    Australia’s largest property listings platform, realestate.com.au, belongs to digital media company REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media conglomerate News Corporation (News Corp).

    REA claims average traffic of 11.9 million viewers per month, substantially more than that of its nearest rival, Domain.

    That’s led to widespread concern about REA’s dominant market power and the potential for price-gouging, which are currently subject to an ongoing probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

    Meanwhile, my research has revealed that REA has expanded into mortgage lending, an important new direction which, until now, has escaped attention.

    The implications here are worth considering. News Corp, a foreign-owned media company, now has a direct stake in framing the Australian housing narrative and influencing policy, while profiting through its property platform from listings, data, and its own mortgages.

    It’s a shrewd business strategy. But Australia currently doesn’t have a regulator fit for overseeing such a hybrid entity, raising serious questions about who is keeping watch.

    ‘Good debt’

    Australian households have long accepted the prevailing narrative, promoted by the media, that housing investment is their “path to wealth”. Mortgages are endorsed as the way to manage the growing gap between flatlined wages and rising house prices.

    Primed for finance in this way, many households have come to embrace mortgages as an aspirational form of “good debt”, the mark of a savvy player rather than a long-term financial burden.

    This has helped fuel what could be described as a housing “frenzy”, a volatile situation in which escalating housing prices and indebtedness undermine household wellbeing. Younger generations and the disadvantaged, among others, are left out in the cold.

    From newspapers to platforms to finance

    As digitisation has forced legacy media players such as News Corp to seek new strategies to stay viable, so too has it disrupted the finance industry by opening it up to non-bank players.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, REA Group entered the mortgage market in 2016, starting with a partnership with National Australia Bank. It purchased mortgage brokerages the following year.

    The realestate.com.au platform was then redesigned to include a mortgage portal to direct millions of Australian homeseekers to lending through those channels. This provides REA with revenue from platform leads to the bank, as well as up-front and trailing mortgage commissions from their brokers.

    REA also harvests the extensive financial data supplied by millions of users via their financial profiles and the calculator tools embedded in the website.

    That data, an increasingly valuable asset, can be monetised through the platform’s advertiser and homebuyer markets, and News Corp’s extensive partnerships with data broker and analytics companies.

    Selling mortgages

    Most recently, REA Group has taken its finance strategy one step further. In October 2024, it purchased a 19.9% stake in digital non-bank lender Athena Home Loans.

    This allows REA to profit directly from its own mortgages offered to platform users through its current brokerage, Mortgage Choice.

    For REA Group (and its owner, News Corp), this move is both logical and strategically compelling in a challenging media environment. As well as influencing policy, REA Group and News Corp are proficient in crafting and cross-promoting a powerful message about housing and debt to the public.

    With their profit now even more directly tied to the housing mortgage market – and thereby customers’ debt – the Athena acquisition can only strengthen REA’s vested interest in the continued rise in house prices and household indebtedness. This has the potential to undermine policies to improve housing affordability.

    The law can’t keep up

    The power imbalance against consumers is stark. So which regulator is keeping an eye on it?

    Such an initiative combining housing, finance and media can slip through the cracks in Australia’s fragmented regulatory system with its narrowly-focused legislation.

    The legislation lags behind the technology as well. A platform’s persuasive design, with its algorithmic tools, predetermined paths and data harvesting, obscures its prioritisation of commercial interests over that of consumers.

    Players from different industries interacting through the “black box” of a platform appear to come under looser regulatory oversight than those from a single industry or operating outside a platform.

    As an ACCC representative admitted:

    the legislation isn’t updated in the way that […] keeps pace with the evolving technology, trends and emerging markets.

    In a landscape where such complex digital initiatives are becoming the norm, regulators urgently need to update their understanding and broaden their jurisdiction to include them.

    And not just in Australia. REA has confirmed that a successful trial of its initiative here will lead to its rollout across its broad global property platform network.

    Nor just REA. Other companies are eyeing this space. REA’s closest competitor, Domain, is currently under acquisition by CoStar, a major digital real estate player in the United States, with the aim to challenge REA.

    The rapid and major disruptions caused by such initiatives, such as Airbnb’s negative impact on housing affordability globally, can be difficult to redress retrospectively.

    Somebody needs to keep watch.

    REA Group declined to comment on this article.

    Roberta Esbitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators? – https://theconversation.com/murdochs-news-corp-has-moved-into-the-mortgage-business-where-are-the-regulators-259039

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roberta Esbitt, Associate, RMIT University

    If you want to advertise a house online in Australia, you don’t have many options. Just two companies dominate the market.

    Australia’s largest property listings platform, realestate.com.au, belongs to digital media company REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media conglomerate News Corporation (News Corp).

    REA claims average traffic of 11.9 million viewers per month, substantially more than that of its nearest rival, Domain.

    That’s led to widespread concern about REA’s dominant market power and the potential for price-gouging, which are currently subject to an ongoing probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

    Meanwhile, my research has revealed that REA has expanded into mortgage lending, an important new direction which, until now, has escaped attention.

    The implications here are worth considering. News Corp, a foreign-owned media company, now has a direct stake in framing the Australian housing narrative and influencing policy, while profiting through its property platform from listings, data, and its own mortgages.

    It’s a shrewd business strategy. But Australia currently doesn’t have a regulator fit for overseeing such a hybrid entity, raising serious questions about who is keeping watch.

    ‘Good debt’

    Australian households have long accepted the prevailing narrative, promoted by the media, that housing investment is their “path to wealth”. Mortgages are endorsed as the way to manage the growing gap between flatlined wages and rising house prices.

    Primed for finance in this way, many households have come to embrace mortgages as an aspirational form of “good debt”, the mark of a savvy player rather than a long-term financial burden.

    This has helped fuel what could be described as a housing “frenzy”, a volatile situation in which escalating housing prices and indebtedness undermine household wellbeing. Younger generations and the disadvantaged, among others, are left out in the cold.

    From newspapers to platforms to finance

    As digitisation has forced legacy media players such as News Corp to seek new strategies to stay viable, so too has it disrupted the finance industry by opening it up to non-bank players.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, REA Group entered the mortgage market in 2016, starting with a partnership with National Australia Bank. It purchased mortgage brokerages the following year.

    The realestate.com.au platform was then redesigned to include a mortgage portal to direct millions of Australian homeseekers to lending through those channels. This provides REA with revenue from platform leads to the bank, as well as up-front and trailing mortgage commissions from their brokers.

    REA also harvests the extensive financial data supplied by millions of users via their financial profiles and the calculator tools embedded in the website.

    That data, an increasingly valuable asset, can be monetised through the platform’s advertiser and homebuyer markets, and News Corp’s extensive partnerships with data broker and analytics companies.

    Selling mortgages

    Most recently, REA Group has taken its finance strategy one step further. In October 2024, it purchased a 19.9% stake in digital non-bank lender Athena Home Loans.

    This allows REA to profit directly from its own mortgages offered to platform users through its current brokerage, Mortgage Choice.

    For REA Group (and its owner, News Corp), this move is both logical and strategically compelling in a challenging media environment. As well as influencing policy, REA Group and News Corp are proficient in crafting and cross-promoting a powerful message about housing and debt to the public.

    With their profit now even more directly tied to the housing mortgage market – and thereby customers’ debt – the Athena acquisition can only strengthen REA’s vested interest in the continued rise in house prices and household indebtedness. This has the potential to undermine policies to improve housing affordability.

    The law can’t keep up

    The power imbalance against consumers is stark. So which regulator is keeping an eye on it?

    Such an initiative combining housing, finance and media can slip through the cracks in Australia’s fragmented regulatory system with its narrowly-focused legislation.

    The legislation lags behind the technology as well. A platform’s persuasive design, with its algorithmic tools, predetermined paths and data harvesting, obscures its prioritisation of commercial interests over that of consumers.

    Players from different industries interacting through the “black box” of a platform appear to come under looser regulatory oversight than those from a single industry or operating outside a platform.

    As an ACCC representative admitted:

    the legislation isn’t updated in the way that […] keeps pace with the evolving technology, trends and emerging markets.

    In a landscape where such complex digital initiatives are becoming the norm, regulators urgently need to update their understanding and broaden their jurisdiction to include them.

    And not just in Australia. REA has confirmed that a successful trial of its initiative here will lead to its rollout across its broad global property platform network.

    Nor just REA. Other companies are eyeing this space. REA’s closest competitor, Domain, is currently under acquisition by CoStar, a major digital real estate player in the United States, with the aim to challenge REA.

    The rapid and major disruptions caused by such initiatives, such as Airbnb’s negative impact on housing affordability globally, can be difficult to redress retrospectively.

    Somebody needs to keep watch.

    REA Group declined to comment on this article.

    Roberta Esbitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators? – https://theconversation.com/murdochs-news-corp-has-moved-into-the-mortgage-business-where-are-the-regulators-259039

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: NZ cities are getting hotter: 5 things councils can do now to keep us cooler when summer comes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Getty Images

    Stand on any car park on a sunny day in February and the heat will radiate through your shoes. At 30°C air temperature, that asphalt hits 50–55°C – hot enough to cause second-degree burns to skin in seconds.

    Right now, in the northern hemisphere summer, 100 million Americans are dealing with 38°C temperatures. Britain is preparing for hundreds of heat deaths. In New Zealand, of course, we’re still lighting fires and complaining about the cold.

    But that gives us time to prepare for our own heatwaves. Open-air car parks that sit empty for 20 hours a day could become cooling infrastructure instead. Transport routes can become cooling corridors.

    Replace asphalt with trees, grass and permeable surfaces, and you can drop surface temperatures by 12°C. It’s not complicated. It’s not even expensive.

    It’s getting hotter

    NIWA data shows New Zealand is already experiencing extreme temperatures five times more frequently than historical baselines. Wellington hit 30.3°C and Hamilton 32.9°C in January, both all-time records. Marine heatwaves are persisting around South Island coasts months longer than usual.

    Aucklanders will face 48 additional days above 25°C annually by 2099, as summer temperatures increase by 3.6°C. Auckland Council has already adopted the most severe warming scenario (3.8°C) for infrastructure planning, acknowledging previous models underestimated the pace of change.

    Even Wellington’s famously cool winds won’t offset the estimated 79% increase in residential cooling energy demand by 2090, driven by hotter, longer summers and more extreme-heat days.

    A quarter of New Zealand’s population will be over 65 by 2043, an age when heat regulation becomes harder and fixed incomes make cooling costs a real burden.

    Currently, 14 heat-related deaths occur annually among Auckland’s over-65 population when temperatures exceed just 20°C. As the mercury rises, our older population will be at a greater risk.

    Summer in the city: a vendor sells drinks and ice cream during a severe heat wave in Washington DC, June 23.
    Getty Images

    Greener is cooler

    While global average temperature increases of 1.5°C might appear modest, the actual temperatures we experience in our cities is far more extreme. The built environment – all that concrete and asphalt – traps heat like an oven.

    But converting car parks back to green space can knock the temperature down dramatically.

    Research from Osaka Prefecture in Japan recorded surface temperature reductions of up to 14.7°C when comparing asphalt to grass-covered parking during sunny summer conditions.

    Another study found temperature differences averaging 11.79°C between asphalt and grass surfaces, with air temperature differences of 7-8°C at human height.

    Trees are the heavy lifters here. Stand under a tree on a hot day, and it can feel 17°C cooler than standing in the sun. Add rain gardens (shallow, planted areas designed to capture and filter stormwater) and ground cover for another 2-4°C reduction. Layer these elements together, and you get cooling that works even on overcast days.

    Roads as cooling corridors

    Grassy and tree-covered car parks are just a starting point. Auckland’s 7,800 kilometres of roads could become the city’s cooling system. Every bus lane, cycleway and walking path is an opportunity for green infrastructure.

    If we stop thinking of transport corridors as merely a way to get from one place to another, and see them as multifunctional cooling networks, the possibilities multiply while the costs remain relatively low.

    Melbourne’s COVID-era parklet program proved this works: 594 small conversions created 15,000 square metres of public space at just A$300–900 per square metre.

    Converting even a small percentage of New Zealand’s parking infrastructure could create connected cooling corridors throughout our cities.

    Protecting cycleways with a tree canopy would encourage active transport while cooling neighbourhoods. Bus lanes with rain garden medians would improve service reliability while managing stormwater.

    5 things councils can do

    Summer is six months away – maybe not enough time to do all the work needed, but certainly enough to get a plan in place. Here are five things councils could do.

    1. Plant trees now: winter is planting season. Focus on car parks and heat-vulnerable neighbourhoods. Use fast-growing natives and protective rings to ensure survival. Trees planted now will provide shade by December.

    2. Install modular planters: test cooling locations with movable infrastructure before committing to permanent changes. Order now for spring placement when residents can see the benefits.

    3. Schedule paving replacements: when resurfacing is needed, switch to permeable options and get heat-reducing surfaces in place before summer.

    4. Design shade structures: plan and budget pop-up shade for the hottest areas. Having designs ready means quick installation when temperatures spike.

    5. Organise spring planting days: line up community groups now, source trees through winter nursery contracts, and hit the ground running in September. Small investments in coordination yield big cooling dividends.

    Auckland Council’s NZ$1 billion climate action package includes grants of $1,000 to $50,000 for climate projects. Wellington’s Climate and Sustainability Fund and Christchurch’s 50-year Urban Forest Plan provide similar frameworks.

    The Ministry for the Environment’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development creates opportunity by removing minimum parking requirements. This frees up land for trees, gardens and public spaces instead of underused asphalt, maximising climate co-benefits: cooler surfaces, better stormwater management and more pleasant streetscapes.

    By next February, we can either be thanking ourselves for planting trees and converting car parks, or feeling the heat from that 50°C asphalt.

    Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. NZ cities are getting hotter: 5 things councils can do now to keep us cooler when summer comes – https://theconversation.com/nz-cities-are-getting-hotter-5-things-councils-can-do-now-to-keep-us-cooler-when-summer-comes-259885

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mr Smith or Gary? Why some teachers ask students to call them by their first name

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Brownlie, Lecturer in Education, University of Southern Queensland

    Johnny Greig/ Getty Images

    When you went to school, did you call your teacher Mrs, Ms or Mr, followed by their surname? Perhaps you even called them Sir or Miss.

    The tradition of addressing teachers in a formal manner goes back centuries. For many of us, calling a teacher by their first name would have been unthinkable.

    But that’s not automatically the case anymore. Some teachers in mainstream schools now ask students to call them by their first name.

    Why is this? And what impact can teachers’ names have in the classroom?

    There’s no rule

    There’s no official rule in Australia on what students should call teachers.
    Naming is usually decided by schools or individual teachers. This is no official training on this topic before teachers start in classrooms.

    Some primary school teachers now use first names or a less formal name such as “Mr D”. Teachers say this helps break down barriers, especially for young students or those who are learning English as an additional language.

    High schools are more likely to stick with tradition, partly to maintain structure and boundaries, especially with teenagers. Using formal titles can also support early-career teachers or those from minority
    backgrounds     assert their authority in a classroom.

    But even so, some high school teachers are using their first names to foster a sense of trust and encourage students to see them as a partner in learning, rather than simply an authority figure.

    What does the research say?

    Research – which is mainly from the United States – suggests names have an impact on how students perceive their teachers and feel about school.

    In one study of US high school students, teenagers described teachers they addressed with formal titles as more distant and harder to connect with. Teachers who invited students to use their first name were seen as more supportive, approachable and trustworthy.

    A secondary school principal in the state of Maryland reported students felt more included and respected when they could use teachers’ first names. It made classrooms feel less hierarchical and more collaborative.

    A 2020 US study on teaching students doing practical placements found those who used their first name observed greater student engagement than those who did not. This came as a surprise to the student teachers who expected students would not respect them if they used their first names.

    These findings don’t necessarily mean titles are bad. Rather, they show first names can support stronger teacher-student relationships.

    It’s important to note society in general has become less formal in recent decades in terms of how we address and refer to each other.

    So, what should students call their teachers?

    What works in one school, or even one classroom, may not work in another.

    For example, for Indigenous students or students from non-English speaking households, name practices that show cultural respect and mutual choice can be vital. They help create a sense of safety and inclusion.

    But for other teachers, being called by their title may be a key part of their professional persona.

    That’s why it’s important for naming decisions to be thoughtful and based on the needs of the teacher, students and broader school community.

    The key is to treat naming as part of the broader relationship, not just a habit or automatic tradition. Whether students say “Mrs Lee” or “Jess” matters less than whether they feel safe, respected and included. It’s about the tone and relationship behind the name, not simply what someone is called.

    Nicole Brownlie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Mr Smith or Gary? Why some teachers ask students to call them by their first name – https://theconversation.com/mr-smith-or-gary-why-some-teachers-ask-students-to-call-them-by-their-first-name-259790

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: How to reform the NDIS and better support disabled people who don’t qualify for it

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Bennett, Disability Program Director, Grattan Institute

    Australia is spending more than ever on disability services – and yet many people with disability still aren’t receiving the support they need.

    Since the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) began in 2013, it has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of disabled Australians and their families.

    But the NDIS has grown too big, too fast.

    The scheme cost nearly A$42 billion in 2023-24 and is expected to cost more than $58 billion by 2028. This makes it one of the fastest-growing pressures on the federal budget.

    New “foundational supports” – disability-specific services outside individual NDIS packages – are part of the answer to reduce demand on the NDIS and make the scheme sustainable. They were supposed to be operational from July 1 2025. That’s tomorrow, but they are nowhere to be seen.

    A new Grattan Institute report shows how the government can fund these vital supports and save the NDIS – without spending more money.

    Spending is too concentrated in the NDIS

    All Australian governments are spending more on disability services than they were before the NDIS.

    Note: Includes all expenditure on direct disability service delivery by Australian governments.
    Sources: Productivity Commission Return on Government Services report 2025/Grattan Institute

    This is a good thing. But most of this expenditure is for individual NDIS funding packages. The NDIS funds packages for about 700,000 Australians.

    This leaves little support for the roughly 75% of disabled Australians who don’t qualify for the NDIS.

    Around 200,000 Australians with a severe mental illness, for example, aren’t receiving the psychosocial supports they need.

    Many other disabled Australians might only require occasional or low-intensity support such as peer support, supported decision-making, or self-advocacy – supports which are poorly funded and targeted under current arrangements.

    So there’s a huge incentive for people to get into the NDIS, regardless of whether an individualised funding package best meets their needs.

    The NDIS supports more people than intended

    We’re seeing this incentive play out in ballooning numbers of people entering the NDIS.

    In 2011, the Productivity Commission estimated a mature NDIS would serve 490,000 people.

    But in 2025, the NDIS is supporting more than 700,000 people. That number is projected to surpass one million by 2034.

    The number of adults in the scheme is only a little higher than originally expected, but the number of children is nearly double.

    Note: Productivity Commission estimates have been inflated based on population growth for 0-64 year-olds between the reference year (2009) and 2024, using Australian Bureau of Statistics Estimated Resident Population data.
    Sources: Productivity Commission Disability Care and Support 2011, National Disability Insurance Agency Explore Data 2024, Australian Bureau of Statistics Estimated Resident Population 2024/Grattan Institute

    About 10% of children aged five to seven are now in the NDIS, including 15% of six-year-old boys.

    The expectation was that many children would only require short-term early intervention supports. Instead, most children are staying in the scheme long term.

    Our research shows the current NDIS design is poorly suited to delivering early intervention, which works best for children when it is delivered in the places they live, learn and play. This includes in playgroups, libraries and early childhood education settings.

    An individualised funding model makes this difficult. Yet this is the only option available for most families, because the NDIS has led to reduced investment in services that could work far better for their children.

    Support more Australians with disability

    The problem isn’t the amount of funding in the system, but the way it is used.

    The original NDIS design was for a multi-tiered scheme with different levels of coverage. Getting back to this idea is what foundational supports is all about.

    Foundational supports are services and supports for people with disability that do not involve individualised funding from the NDIS.

    To meet the needs of more disabled Australians and take pressure off the NDIS, it is imperative that governments establish an ambitious program of these lower-intensity supports.

    These should include supports available to all disabled Australians who need them, such as information and advice, support with decision-making, and access to peer support or self-advocacy.

    Foundational supports are best delivered where people live, play and learn.
    Central City Library (Kids zone)/Shutterstock

    They should also include evidence-based early intervention supports for children with disability and/or developmental delay. And they should include psychosocial supports for people with severe mental illness who don’t meet the threshold for an individualised NDIS package.

    The current impasse in Commonwealth-state funding negotiations could be overcome by governments agreeing to repurpose a small portion – about 10% – of their existing NDIS contributions.

    Our report outlines a plan to fully fund foundational supports using this repurposed funding and better allocate individualised funding. This would ensure more people get the support they need within an affordable NDIS that grows more slowly.

    Don’t save money by delaying access

    NDIS growth has fallen in recent quarters and is on track to be 10.6% in 2024-25.

    This compares with an average growth rate of more than 24% a year over the past five years.

    But it is too early to attribute that reduction in growth to policy changes.

    A significant downturn in operational performance is very likely to be a contributing factor. The NDIS is groaning under the weight of unsustainable work volumes.

    Since September 2023, it has been taking longer to approve new applicants trying to get access to the NDIS, and to reassess the plans of people already on the scheme.

    Notes: Data is unavailable for December 2023 due to the NDIA upgrading to a new computer system.
    Sources: NDIA Quarterly reports, Q4 2021-22 to Q3 2024-25/Grattan Institute

    We know what drives growth in NDIS expenditure: more people joining the scheme, and existing NDIS participants’ plans increasing over time.

    At the moment, slowing down how fast the NDIS is growing is coming at the expense of the disabled people who need support from the NDIS and are waiting too long to get it.

    It is important that necessary growth moderation is achieved through measures that do not result in vital supports being delayed, or disabled peoples’ experience of, and results from, the NDIS being undermined.

    The NDIS is worth saving. Making necessary policy changes now to rebalance the NDIS will ensure it endures for future generations.

    Grattan Institute’s Disability Program has support from the Summer Foundation.

    – ref. How to reform the NDIS and better support disabled people who don’t qualify for it – https://theconversation.com/how-to-reform-the-ndis-and-better-support-disabled-people-who-dont-qualify-for-it-258799

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Could we live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Reluctantly, yes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Zala, Senior Lecturer, Politics & International Relations, Monash University

    As the ceasefire between Israel and Iran seems to be holding for now, it is important to reflect on whether this whole episode was worth the risks.

    Wider escalation was (and remains) possible, and we do not know whether Iran will seek a nuclear weapon with renewed vigour in the future.

    So, could we live with a nuclear-armed Iran, if it does indeed continue to pursue a bomb?

    Is an Iranian bomb an existential threat?

    The conventional wisdom, at least in the Western world, is that an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose an existential threat to Israel, and possibly the United States as well.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were aimed at rolling back “the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described an Iranian bomb as “an existential threat, not just to Israel, but to the United States, and to the entire world”.

    The same mantra has been repeated by leaders in Europe, at the G7 meeting, and in Australia.

    Iran, of course, did not yet possess a nuclear weapon when the strikes occurred, as the UN nuclear watchdog attested. The strikes were aimed at preventing Iran from being able to do so in the future – a prospect seen by Israel and the US as simply “unthinkable”.

    But if Iran had built a nuclear weapon before the Israeli and US strikes – or manages to do so in the future – would this pose an existential threat to Israel or the US?

    The answer is no. And for a very simple reason: nuclear deterrence works.

    Why deterrence works

    If Iran had a monopoly on nuclear weapons, it would be different. But it does not.

    Israel has maintained a robust nuclear arsenal for more than half a century. Every authoritative assessment of global nuclear weapons stockpiles includes Israel’s roughly 90 nuclear warheads.

    The Israeli government officially neither confirms nor denies the existence of its nuclear arsenal. But thanks to leaks from inside the Israeli nuclear program – as well as the best assessments from around the world – we can be quite sure they exist. It also explains why Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty – it can’t without giving up this stockpile.

    The US, of course, has been nuclear-armed since 1945 and openly maintains an inventory of thousands of nuclear warheads. These provide a deterrent against nuclear attacks on the United States.

    Washington also provides extended nuclear deterrence guarantees to over 30 states, including members of NATO, Japan, South Korea and Australia. It does not need to provide this for Israel given the Israeli arsenal. But if there was ever any doubt about Israel’s stockpile, it certainly could.

    After 80 years of living with nuclear weapons, we know the deterrent effect of assured nuclear retaliation is very powerful. It deterred both the Soviets and Americans from using nuclear weapons against each other through multiple Cold War crises. It has deterred both India and Pakistan from using them in multiple standoffs, including quite recently. It has deterred both North Korea and the US from striking each other.

    Similarly, Iran would no doubt be deterred from using a nuclear weapon by a certain Israeli or American response.

    Iranian leaders have called for the destruction of Israel, and the chants of “death to Israel” and “death to America” are a common occurrence at rallies held by supporters of the regime.

    But beneath the fiery rhetoric lies a truism: no Iranian leader would destroy Israel with a nuclear weapon if it came at the expense of the destruction of Iran.

    In the history of the nation-state, not a single one has ever knowingly committed suicide. Not for any reason – ideological, religious, political or any other. All nations value survival over everything else because this allows for the achievement of other goals, such as power and prosperity.

    Further, Iran is ruled by a brutally authoritarian, theocratic regime. And for authoritarian regimes, staying in power is the number one priority. There is no staying in power the day after a nuclear exchange.

    Not a panacea

    This does not mean an Iranian nuclear weapon would be a welcome development. Far from it.

    Every new nuclear-armed state provides another opportunity for miscalculation or accident. It adds extra stress to an already fragile non-proliferation regime.

    In addition, nuclear deterrence is not just and can be considered ethically questionable. It may not even be sustainable over the longer term.

    There is no doubt the existence of over 12,000 nuclear weapons globally poses a potentially existential risk to all of humanity.

    But the idea that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a unique risk to Israel or the United States simply does not stand up to scrutiny. If we can live with a nuclear-armed North Korea, nuclear-armed Pakistan, and for that matter, a nuclear-armed Israel, we can live, however reluctantly, with a nuclear-armed Iran.

    Regardless of whether the current proposed ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds, the military operation initiated by Israel and bolstered by the United States was extremely dangerous and unnecessary, based on both countries’ justification.

    The regime in Tehran is brutal, authoritarian, openly antisemitic and worthy of our disdain. But there is no evidence it is suicidal.

    The claim an Iranian nuclear bomb would pose an existential threat to Israel or the United States and justifies unilateral, preventive military attacks makes no sense.

    It is time to stop repeating it.

    Benjamin Zala has received funding from the Stanton Foundation, a US philanthropic group that funds nuclear research. He is an honorary fellow at the University of Leicester on a project that is funded by the European Research Council.

    – ref. Could we live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Reluctantly, yes – https://theconversation.com/could-we-live-with-a-nuclear-armed-iran-reluctantly-yes-259905

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Scientists look to black holes to know exactly where we are in the Universe. But phones and wifi are blocking the view

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucia McCallum, Senior Scientist in Geodesy, University of Tasmania

    ESA / Hubble / L. Calçada (ESO), CC BY

    The scientists who precisely measure the position of Earth are in a bit of trouble. Their measurements are essential for the satellites we use for navigation, communication and Earth observation every day.

    But you might be surprised to learn that making these measurements – using the science of geodesy – depends on tracking the locations of black holes in distant galaxies.

    The problem is, the scientists need to use specific frequency lanes on the radio spectrum highway to track those black holes.

    And with the rise of wifi, mobile phones and satellite internet, travel on that highway is starting to look like a traffic jam.

    Why we need black holes

    Satellites and the services they provide have become essential for modern life. From precision navigation in our pockets to measuring climate change, running global supply chains and making power grids and online banking possible, our civilisation cannot function without its orbiting companions.

    To use satellites, we need to know exactly where they are at any given time. Precise satellite positioning relies on the so-called “global geodesy supply chain”.

    This supply chain starts by establishing a reliable reference frame as a basis for all other measurements. Because satellites are constantly moving around Earth, Earth is constantly moving around the Sun, and the Sun is constantly moving through the galaxy, this reference frame needs to be carefully calibrated via some relatively fixed external objects.

    As it turns out, the best anchor points for the system are the black holes at the hearts of distant galaxies, which spew out streams of radiation as they devour stars and gas.

    These black holes are the most distant and stable objects we know. Using a technique called very long baseline interferometry, we can use a network of radio telescopes to lock onto the black hole signals and disentangle Earth’s own rotation and wobble in space from the satellites’ movement.

    Different lanes on the radio highway

    We use radio telescopes because we want to detect the radio waves coming from the black holes. Radio waves pass cleanly through the atmosphere and we can receive them during day and night and in all weather conditions.

    Radio waves are also used for communication on Earth – including things such as wifi and mobile phones. The use of different radio frequencies – different lanes on the radio highway – is closely regulated, and a few narrow lanes are reserved for radio astronomy.

    However, in previous decades the radio highway had relatively little traffic. Scientists commonly strayed from the radio astronomy lanes to receive the black hole signals.

    To reach the very high precision needed for modern technology, geodesy today relies on more than just the lanes exclusively reserved for astronomy.

    Radio traffic on the rise

    In recent years, human-made electromagnetic pollution has vastly increased. When wifi and mobile phone services emerged, scientists reacted by moving to higher frequencies.

    However, they are running out of lanes. Six generations of mobile phone services (each occupying a new lane) are crowding the spectrum, not to mention internet connections directly sent by a fleet of thousands of satellites.

    Today, the multitude of signals are often too strong for geodetic observatories to see through them to the very weak signals emitted by black holes. This puts many satellite services at risk.

    What can be done?

    To keep working into the future – to maintain the services on which we all depend – geodesy needs some more lanes on the radio highway. When the spectrum is divided up via international treaties at world radio conferences, geodesists need a seat at the table.

    Other potential fixes might include radio quiet zones around our essential radio telescopes. Work is also underway with satellite providers to avoid pointing radio emissions directly at radio telescopes.

    Any solution has to be global. For our geodetic measurements, we link radio telescopes together from all over the world, allowing us to mimic a telescope the size of Earth. The radio spectrum is primarily regulated by each nation individually, making this a huge challenge.

    But perhaps the first step is increasing awareness. If we want satellite navigation to work, our supermarkets to be stocked and our online money transfers arriving safely, we need to make sure we have a clear view of those black holes in distant galaxies – and that means clearing up the radio highway.

    Lucia McCallum does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Scientists look to black holes to know exactly where we are in the Universe. But phones and wifi are blocking the view – https://theconversation.com/scientists-look-to-black-holes-to-know-exactly-where-we-are-in-the-universe-but-phones-and-wifi-are-blocking-the-view-259977

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Gen Z is struggling to find work: 4 strategies to move forward

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Leda Stawnychko, Associate Professor of Strategy and Organizational Theory, Mount Royal University

    As the school year comes to a close, young Canadians entering the job market are facing one of the toughest hiring seasons in years. Despite their drive to build careers and connections, many Gen Z are entering a stagnant job market.

    According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15-24 is 12.2 per cent — over double that of the prime working-age population.

    The outlook is bleaker for students planning to return to full-time studies in the fall. Unemployment for this group has reached just over 20 per cent, the highest level since 2009, when the global economy was reeling from the Great Recession.

    Gen Zs without post-secondary credentials, people with disabilities and newcomers face steeper hurdles. They are competing in a labour market dominated by one of the world’s most highly educated generations.

    Today’s youth are navigating a perfect storm of persistent inflation, global trade tensions, a saturated labour market and restructuring driven by automation and AI.

    Unlike older workers, many young people lack the financial stability or support systems to pursue opportunities that require relocating.

    First jobs matter more than ever

    Early work experiences have long served as crucial stepping stones for young people entering the workforce. They offer new workers exposure to the habits, norms and expectations of the professional world.

    Roles in retail, hospitality and customer service often serve as a first taste of working life, helping young people build confidence, develop transferable skills and expand their professional networks. Without access to these opportunities, many young Canadians risk falling behind before their careers even begin.

    The long-term implications are serious. According to a 2024 report from consulting firm Deloitte, Canada stands to lose $18.5 billion in GDP over the next decade if youth unemployment remains high.

    Young Canadians are facing one of the toughest hiring seasons in years.
    (Shutterstock)

    More broadly, high unemployment among youth weakens social trust and undermines the foundations of social cohesion, long-term prosperity, democratic stability and leadership pipelines.

    Underemployment also takes a personal toll, contributing to poorer mental and physical health and delaying major life milestones like financial independence, homeownership and family formation.

    What Gen Z can do

    Many young job-seekers are understandably discouraged by today’s labour market. But as digital natives, Gen Z have advantages to bring to the table, including creativity, values-driven mindsets and fluency in technology.

    The key is to stay open, proactive and creative by pursuing non-linear experiences that can serve as legitimate entry points into the workforce. Here are four actionable strategies for Gen Z starting their careers:

    1. Think beyond traditional pathways.

    Unconventional roles and programs can offer valuable experience. For example, university students at Global Affairs Canada’s federal work experience program recently helped support the G7 Summit, gaining confidence and transferable skills.

    Side projects, such as building websites or freelancing, can also help people start their careers. These are increasingly recognized as valid ways to break into the job market.

    2. Build core skills that matter.

    The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report identifies analytical thinking, resilience, creativity, leadership and self-awareness as the most in-demand skills for the future. These can be developed through volunteer work, community leadership, mentorship or personal projects.

    Programs like International Experience Canada also help foster independence, global awareness and important skills.

    3. Invest in future-ready capabilities.

    As workplaces adopt AI and automation, tech literacy is becoming increasingly valuable. Microcredentials can help build specialized skills, while apprenticeships and other experiential learning opportunities offer experiences that employers value.



    Read more:
    Workplace besties: How to build relationships at work while staying professional

    4. Build meaningful connections.

    Networks are also a key part of job success. Relationships with peers, mentors and community members can provide support, broaden perspectives and lead to unexpected opportunities. Participating in interest groups or volunteering can help young workers feel more connected and confident while developing skills that matter.

    A new working generation

    While these steps won’t solve the systemic challenges facing the labour market, they can help young Canadians gain traction in a system that is still catching up to the needs of their generation.

    This will require the collaboration of government, employers, educational institutions and community service providers to innovatively reduce existing barriers. Importantly, these sectors are being asked to “walk the talk” when it comes to addressing youth unemployment.

    Gen Z is entering the workforce during a time of profound economic and social change. But they also have unparalleled access to information, supportive communities and platforms to share ideas and make a meaningful impact.

    By acting with intention, young Canadians can navigate this landscape with agency, laying the foundation not only for jobs but for careers that reflect their values and ambitions.

    Leda Stawnychko receives funding from SSHRC.

    Warren Boyd Ferguson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Gen Z is struggling to find work: 4 strategies to move forward – https://theconversation.com/gen-z-is-struggling-to-find-work-4-strategies-to-move-forward-259504

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Clark warns in new Pacific book renewed nuclear tensions pose ‘existential threat to humanity’

    Asia Pacific Report

    Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has warned the country needs to maintain its nuclear-free policy as a “fundamental tenet” of its independent foreign policy in the face of gathering global storm clouds.

    Writing in a new book being published next week, she says “nuclear war is an existential threat to humanity. Far from receding, the threat of use of nuclear weapons is ever present.

    “The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists now sits at 89 seconds to midnight,” she says in the prologue to journalist and media academic David Robie’s book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior.

    Writing before the US surprise attack with B-2 stealth bombers and “bunker-buster” bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, Clark says “the Middle East is a tinder box with the failure of the Iran nuclear deal and with Israel widely believed to possess nuclear weapons”.

    The Doomsday Clock references the Ukraine war theatre where “use of nuclear weapons has been floated by Russia”.

    Also, the arms control architecture for Europe is unravelling, leaving the continent much less secure. India and Pakistan both have nuclear arsenals, she says.

    “North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons capacity.”

    ‘Serious ramifications’
    Clark, who was also United Nations Development Programme administrator from 2009 to 2017, a member of The Elders group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, and is an advocate for multilateralism and nuclear disarmament, says an outright military conflict between China and the United States “would be one between two nuclear powers with serious ramifications for East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and far beyond.”

    She advises New Zealand to be wary of Australia’s decision to enter a nuclear submarine purchase programme with the United States.

    “There has been much speculation about a potential Pillar Two of the AUKUS agreement which would see others in the region become partners in the development of advanced weaponry,” Clark says.

    “This is occurring in the context of rising tensions between the United States and China.

    “Many of us share the view that New Zealand should be a voice for de-escalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific and the development
    of more lethal weaponry.”

    Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . publication July 2025. Image: Little Island Press

    In the face of the “current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament.

    Clark says that the years 1985 – the Rainbow Warrior was bombed by French secret agents on 10 July 1985 — and 1986 were critical years in the lead up to New Zealand’s nuclear-free legislation in 1987.

    “New Zealanders were clear – we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.”

    Chronicles humanitarian voyage
    The book Eyes of Fire chronicles the humanitarian voyage by the Greenpeace flagship to the Marshall Islands to relocate 320 Rongelap Islanders who were suffering serious community health consequences from the US nuclear tests in the 1950s.

    The author, Dr David Robie, founder of the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology, was the only journalist on board the Rainbow Warrior in the weeks leading up to the bombing.

    His book recounts the voyage and nuclear colonialism, and the transition to climate justice as the major challenge facing the Pacific, although the “Indo-Pacific” rivalries between the US, France and China mean that geopolitical tensions are recalling the Cold War era in the Pacific.

    Dr Robie is also critical of Indonesian colonialism in the Melanesian region of the Pacific, arguing that a just-outcome for Jakarta-ruled West Papua and also the French territories of Kanaky New Caledonia and “French” Polynesia are vital for peace and stability in the region.

    Eyes of Fire is being published by Little Island Press, which also produced one of his earlier books, Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –