Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The Northern Territory Police Force will be out and about at the iconic 2025 Finke Desert Race, ensuring everyone enjoys a safe and incident-free long weekend.
Police will be patrolling along the racetrack between Alice Springs and Finke, working closely with race organisers, officials and attendees.
Key Safety Tips for Attendees:
Do not drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Always wear your seatbelt.
Follow all road rules and drive to the conditions.
Be aware of your belongings; lock your house and car and keep valuables out of sight.
Ensure you camp or sit clear of the track and run-off areas.
Leave any unregistered vehicles or trailers at home.
Be respectful to the environment and other people.
Listen carefully to official safety announcements and follow all directions given.
Emergency services will be stationed at the following locations along the racetrack:
Start/Finish Line – Alice Springs
Deep Well Checkpoint – 63 km
Rodinga Checkpoint – 94 km
Bundooma Checkpoint – 136 km
Mount Squires – 169 km
Start/Finish Line & Finke Campground – 223 km
Superintendent Michael Budge said, “We ask all attendees, participants and members of the community to cooperate with police and officials across the long weekend.
“The Finke Desert Race is a fantastic event, and we want everyone to enjoy a safe and fun weekend with their friends and family. Please remember to be aware of the risks motorsport presents and leave the racing to the competitors.
“Have fun, be responsible, and reach out if you need us.”
If you witness crime or antisocial behaviour, please contact police on 131 444. For emergencies, dial Triple Zero (000). For more event information, visit the official event website: www.finkedesertrace.com.au.
Police seeking public information in relation to missing tourists
Friday, 6 June 2025 – 2:02 pm.
Police are seeking public information in relation to the location of Leannedra Kang and Takahiro Toya (both aged in their 20s) who have been visiting Tasmania and were believed to have been in the St Helens/Scamander area recently. They may be travelling in a (rental car) white Toyota Corolla with registration L67GW. Leannedra and Takahiro were scheduled to leave Tasmania on Wednesday (4 June) flying from Launceston home to Brisbane, but they did not board their flight or return the rental vehicle. If you’ve seen them or the vehicle, or know where they are, please contact police on 131 444 and quote ESCAD 420-05062025. *Leannedra and Takahiro if you see this, you’re not in any trouble, please phone police or family to let them know you’re ok.
A woman has been arrested after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars of property from a short-stay home in the western suburbs.
Between Thursday 29 May and Saturday 31 May, a theft occurred at a home on Cairns Avenue at Lockleys, where a number of items were stolen including audio equipment, gaming console, jewellery and clothing.
Following an investigation, patrols attended and searched a Findon address where they located items stolen from the Lockleys address.
A 36-year-old woman from the address was arrested and charged with theft. She was granted police bail to appear in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on 3 July.
A second address was later searched in Seaton, and further stolen items were located and subsequently returned to the victim.
Police continue to investigate the theft and ask anyone with information that may assist to contact Crime Stoppers. You can anonymously provide information to Crime Stoppers online at https://crimestopperssa.com.au or free call 1800 333 000.
This is a statement from City of Greater Bendigo Councillors regarding the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund.
From July 1, the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund (ESVF) replaces the Fire Services Property Levy (FSPL). It will be calculated based on a fixed charge that varies by property type and a variable charge based on property value.
The new levy will be applied to forthcoming rates notices and will be a cost increase experienced by all ratepayers.
In particular, the City of Greater Bendigo acknowledges the deep disappointment and concern of our community, including our farming community, regarding the introduction of the ESVF, under which it has been reported farmers will pay many thousands of dollars more in comparison to the FSPL.
The City cannot choose not to collect the levy. It is a legislative requirement, with the City effectively acting as a collection agency for the Victorian Government.
At the Municipal Association of Victoria May State Council Meeting the City added its voice and voted in favour of resolution 1.1a that expressed disappointment with the implementation of the ESVF and Local Government collecting the funds on the State’s behalf.
The City is also a member of Regional Cities Victoria (RCV), an alliance of regional cities, of which Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf is Deputy Chair. RCV has been consistently vocal about the adverse impacts of the ESVF.
Despite the Victorian Government’s decision to cap the 2025/2026 ESVF levy at the 2024/2025 FSPL rate for primary producers, the reality is this is just a pause.
To assist where it can, the City’s 2025/2026 Budget proposes to reduce the rate in the dollar rural landholders will pay and not increase waste charges for all ratepayers in the new financial year.
The City also recognises the ESVF is just one of many challenges rural communities in central Victoria are facing that have a direct impact on their livelihoods – the ongoing impact of flood damage now being met with drought conditions, decreased water allocations, mining expansion, proposed renewable energy zones and upgrades to energy infrastructure.
The Victorian Government’s decision to expand its drought relief package is welcome, however much more significant and longer-term support is needed if local farming businesses are to survive the current conditions.
The cooler months are generally quieter for the Bendigo Livestock Exchange but over the past few weeks the City has seen unusually high yarding numbers for the Monday sheep sales, an example of farmers de-stocking due to a lack of fodder and high feed costs.
On the plus side they are getting exceptional prices per head but the decision to sell can take a significant personal toll. Long term, they will also need to rebuild their flocks at a cost.
The City looks forward to the newly established Drought Response Taskforce making recommendations on behalf of the farming community directly to government. The committee will be chaired by Premier and Member for Bendigo East, The Hon. Jacinta Allan, and RCV and the Bendigo Bank will be represented on the group.
It is Council’s commitment to write to the Premier, relevant ministers and the taskforce to advocate for a roadmap for what comes next, asking things like is there a state fodder plan, how to do we keep money flowing to small rural businesses as farms dry up and what do ‘exceptional circumstances’ look like?
Of course, we hope we don’t have to find out, but farmers are realists and need reassurance help will be there if they need it.
From 26 to 28 May 2025, a landmark workshop was held at UNESCO Headquarters to reshape the engagement of Indigenous Peoples within the framework of the World Heritage Convention.
Co-designed and co-led by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage (IIPFWH), together with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee – ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN – the workshop marked a strategic turning point in advancing inclusive, rights-based approaches to World Heritage conservation.
The initiative stemmed from a shared recognition: that the safeguarding of heritage cannot be fully realized without the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and the effective application of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) – a principle that UNESCO has been actively promoting. More than a capacity-building effort, the workshop was a step towards fostering trust and establishing a foundation for reinforced collaboration between Indigenous knowledge holders and the institutions guiding the World Heritage system.
Over three days, participants engaged in open dialogue and peer learning, deepening mutual understanding of roles, responsibilities and working methods. Discussions centred on three strategic priorities: strengthening Indigenous participation in World Heritage processes; embedding FPIC into evaluation and monitoring frameworks; and jointly developing an action plan to guide future cooperation.
This milestone effort – made possible through the generous and long-standing support of the Governments of Australia and Canada – builds on the momentum of a growing global dialogue. It follows key international gatherings, including the expert workshop in Geneva and the New Delhi Dialogue in 2024, as well as discussions held around the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (New Delhi, 2024).
As the World Heritage system continues to evolve, the lessons, partnerships and mutual commitments forged during this workshop will inform practice across the World Heritage system. They pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable future where Indigenous Peoples are heard and recognized as full partners and rights-holders in the governance of the world’s shared heritage.
CFA participated in a major multi-agency training exercise on Tuesday, which tasked crews to respond to a simulated aircraft crash at the Ballarat Aerodrome.
Representatives from CFA, Victoria Police, VICSES, Ambulance Victoria and Fire Rescue Victoria took part in the exercise with support from the Ballarat Shire Council.
CFA District 15 Assistant Chief Fire Officer Lachie Redman said multi-agency exercises play a vital role in strengthening emergency readiness.
“Joint training like this helps us build familiarity across agencies so that, in a real event, we’re already speaking the same language and understand how each other operates,” Lachie said.
“It’s also a chance to refine how we communicate across different radio systems and work together as one coordinated unit.”
First responders were briefed on the scenario when the exercise got underway to ensure their response was as realistic as possible.
The exercise simulated a light aircraft emergency involving a distressed passenger, culminating in a high-speed landing attempt at Ballarat Aerodrome.
The aircraft overshot the runway, collided with a fence, and broke apart on impact, ejecting several passengers.
Emergency crews responded as bystanders began gathering near the crash site.
The objective of the exercise was to test and improve the way emergency services work together when responding to large-scale emergencies.
CFA District 15 Commander Damien Scott, who oversaw CFA’s response at the exercise, said he hopes crews never have to face such a serious incident in real life, but they are well prepared if required.
“Our crews performed well throughout the simulation,” Damien said.
“Exercises like this let us challenge our plans, practice key roles and build confidence across the crew,” Damien said.
“They’re especially valuable for newer members getting exposure to this scale of response in a controlled environment.”
Each agency held a debrief after the exercise concluded to review lessons learned and share improvement ideas.
“We’d rather identify any gaps in training than discover them during an actual incident,” Damien said.
“Everyone involved has come away from this with better knowledge, stronger connections, and a clearer understanding of how we operate together.”
Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) introduced the Rapid Expulsion of Migrant Offenders who Violate and Evade (REMOVE) Act to conclude removal proceedings for illegal aliens within 15 days after such proceedings are commenced, empowering the Trump administration to expedite deportations:
Click here to download video of Senator Blackburn speaking about her REMOVE Act.
“Under Joe Biden’s failed leadership, we saw the largest wave of illegal immigration in our nation’s history, forcing communities across Tennessee and America to bear the consequences,” said Senator Blackburn. “With a record number of illegal aliens now living in the United States, President Trump must have every tool necessary to remove them quickly from our country. Our REMOVE Act would require these illegal aliens to begin removal proceedings within 15 days of a Notice to Appear being served.”
“Under the Biden Administration, the American people witnessed a full-scale invasion of our country that directly threatened our national security and sovereignty. With untold millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. due to Democrats’ open-border policies, we must take strong, decisive measures to remove those who have been ordered to be removed from the United States,” said Stephen Miller, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor. “The REMOVE Act is critical legislation that will help us fulfill our mass deportation operation and get gang members, cartels, and violent criminals off the streets. Passing this legislation, in conjunction with the largest mass deportation investment in American history provided by our One Big Beautiful Bill, will ensure we permanently secure the border. Thank you to Senator Blackburn for her leadership.”
“Under the Biden administration’s watch, millions of illegal aliens entered our country, compromising our national security and overwhelming our communities,” said Senator Budd.“Now, President Trump is stepping in to restore order. I’m proud to stand with Senator Blackburn and my colleagues to fast-track the removal of those who have been ordered to be removed. It’s time we uphold the integrity of our immigration system to protect our nation.”
“Joe Biden’s dereliction of duty with regard to the southern border allowed dangerous criminals to invade every state across this nation. President Trump has acted quickly and successfully in reversing Biden’s failures, but there is still so much to do. This legislation is critical to build upon those early successes and allow for the prompt removal of aliens who have already been ordered removed,” said Senator Moody.
This legislation is also cosponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Under the failed leadership of the Biden administration, over 10 million illegal aliens crossed America’s borders, including roughly two million known “gotaways.” As of a March 2025 report, it is estimated that at least 18.6 million illegal aliens now reside in the United States. Foreign gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 have spread across the United States, including in Tennessee.
Last year, an illegal alien from Mexico was charged with criminal homicide and evidence tampering after Nashville restaurant owner, Matt Carney, was tragically killed in a hit-and-run crash. Just a few months earlier, another illegal alien was charged with attempted kidnapping, sexual battery, public intoxication, and evading arrest he followed a woman into the bathroom and groped her at the Nashville Sundae Club in the Gulch.
President Trump vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history to make the country safer.
Click here for a list of examples of the criminal illegal aliens who were arrested during a joint operation in Nashville by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Senator Blackburn praised this operation in a column published by The Tennessean.
THE REMOVE ACT
The REMOVE Act would require the timely removal proceedings of illegal aliens who have been served with a Notice to Appear.
Under this legislation, the U.S. Attorney General would be required to conclude removal proceedings for illegal aliens within 15 days after such proceedings are commenced.
Click here for bill text.
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The kimono garment, the national dress of Japan, carries within itself all of the magic and traditions of Japanese culture.
The basic features of the kimono are fairly simple. It is a wrapped front garment with square sleeves that has a rectangular body where the left side is wrapped over the right, except in funerary use.
The garment may be traced back to the Heian period as a distinctive style of dress for the nobility. In the Edo period (1603–1867) it came to a glorious culmination with colourful and expensive fabrics.
The great poet Matsuo Bashō once wrote “Spring passes by / again and again in layers / of blossom-kimono”. Since childhood I’ve loved the mystical image “blossom-kimono”.
In 2020, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London staged their epic exhibition Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, where hundreds of garments, accessories, prints and photographs charted the history of the kimono from the 17th century through to the present.
A new exhibition from the National Gallery of Victoria is similarly ambitious. Over 70 fabulous garments of exquisite craftsmanship – some made of silk with gold and silver embroidery and dazzling designs – have been assembled within a context of over 150 paintings, posters, wood block prints, magazines and decorative arts.
Although many of the items have never been previously exhibited in Australia, most are now in the collection of the NGV, with many specifically acquired for this exhibition.
Exquisite production
There are seven newly acquired Edo-period silk and ramie kimonos, richly decorated with leaves, tendrils and falling snow. They provide us with a glimpse at the wealth and sophistication of the samurai and merchant classes of the 18th and 19th centuries.
One of the highlights is the Uchikake Furisode wedding kimono with pine, bamboo, plum and cranes, from the early to mid-19th century.
It is a display of exquisite taste with satin silk, shibori tie dyeing, and embroidery with gold thread. The birds and the vegetation seem to float on the surface and must have created an amazing sight when worn.
Uchikake Furisode wedding kimono with pine, bamboo, plum, and cranes early–mid 19th century. Satin silk, shibori tie dyeing, embroidery, gold thread, 177.5 cm (centre back) 131.0 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with funds donated by Michael and Emily Tong, 2024
The garment is simple and functional and, despite the exquisiteness of its production, it is also restrained in contrast to the conspicuous exuberance of some examples of 19th century European courtly dress.
Some of these Edo period kimonos can become quite narrative-driven in their design, as with the Hitoe kosode kimono with themes alluding to eight Noh theatre plays of the late Edo period. Slightly smaller than the wedding kimono, that was 177.5 cm long as opposed to 167 cm, this one revels in a blue background on gauze satin silk with a multiplicity of little narrative scenes like an assembly of diverse stage sets.
Hitoe kosode, kimono with themes alluding to eight Noh theatre plays late Edo period. Gauze satin silk, paste resist dye, embroidery, gold thread, 167.0 cm (centre back) 124.0 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with funds donated by Jennifer Lempriere and Michael Pithie, 2024
The exhibition also includes the work of contemporary Japanese kimono designers including Hiroko Takahashi, Jotaro Saito, Modern Antenna, Tamao Shigemune, Y&SONS, Rumi Rock and Robe Japonica.
The kimono as a concept
The kimono is more than an historic artefact, one where ideas and methods of production were to remain constant for centuries. It is also an idea that inspires designers working in international fashion houses.
The NGV exhibition includes kimono-inspired works of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Comme des Garçon, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Zambesi and Rudi Gernreich.
Alexander McQueen’s Gown, belt and sandals (Dégradé) (2007) is one of the takeaway memories from this exhibition. The humble functional kimono has been totally transfigured.
To the silk-satin shell there have been added leather, metal and rubber accessories and synthetic shoulder pads. The purple and pink colour scheme and the sweeping sleeves that trail along the ground create a mesmerising and dominant phantom-like character that owns and dominates the space.
It is difficult not to be impressed by McQueen’s vision, but we have now moved quite a long way from the kimono.
The kimono is a wonderful concept – an armature on which to hang many different ideas. The beauty of this exhibition is that it frees the idea of a garment from a static piece of cloth, at best to be displayed on a dummy, to something approaching a concept in design that artists will clasp and from which they will create their own work.
There are many rich nuances in the show, for example the superb almost monochrome and somewhat gothic Men’s undergarment (nagajuban) with graveyard, skulls and crescent moon (c.1930).
Men’s undergarment (nagajuban) with graveyard, skulls and crescent moon c. 1930. Silk, wool, cotton 127.0 cm (centre back) 130.5 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Maureen Morrisey Bequest, 2018
At the same time, we have Women’s kimono with geometric design and accessories (c.1930) with its polychrome exuberance with reds, blacks and greys combining geometric motifs with soft organic feather-like forms.
Bashō’s “blossom-kimono” was a meditation on the passing of time and the hope that a young girl will live to experience wrinkles that come with old age. The kimono in this exhibition celebrates the passing of time and generational change within the life of an immortal idea about function, form and ideas of beauty.
Kimono is at the National Gallery of Victoria until October 5.
Sasha Grishin 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.
Victorian MP Moira Deeming attracted headlines recently when news broke she’s intending to sue three former Liberal premiers, among other party figures.
Why? Deeming is trying to recoup millions of dollars in legal costs after a successful defamation case.
Who pays for legal action in Australia, particularly in civil courts, can be confusing. But given how expensive litigation can be and the big names involved in this case, it’s worth unpacking.
How did we get here?
In March 2023, Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming spoke at a “Let Women Speak” rally held at Parliament House in Melbourne. The rally was interrupted by protesters, who were described as “neo-Nazis”.
After the rally, the then-Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto made a series of public statements implying Deeming had associations with the neo-Nazi groups and therefore needed to be expelled from parliament.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, in December 2023 Deeming sued Pesutto in the Federal Court for defamation. A year later, she won her lawsuit.
Pesutto was ordered to pay $300,000 in damages for the harm to Deeming’s reputation and the associated emotional distress she suffered.
But that wasn’t the end of what Pesutto had to pay.
Last month, the Federal Court also ordered Pesutto to pay $2.3 million to cover Deeming’s costs in winning her suit (in addition to having to pay his own costs).
This has created some serious problems for both Pesutto and Deeming.
It is a problem for Pesutto because he doesn’t have the money to pay and is now facing bankruptcy proceedings and his own possible expulsion from parliament.
Former premier Jeff Kennett has spruiked a crowdfunding campaign to help fund Pesutto’s legal liabilities.
It is a problem for Deeming because she will be out $2.3 million if Pesutto cannot come up with the money.
So, Deeming is now looking around for someone else who might be made to pay Pesutto’s tab.
What does the law say?
The reason Pesutto has to pay is that in nearly all Australian courts, the standard order at the end of a lawsuit is that the loser has to pay the costs – for example, lawyers’ fees, court costs, and expert witness fees – of the winner.
Usually the loser simply makes payment, unless they don’t have the financial means to do so, and the court proceedings are over.
However, the court can make “third-party costs orders”. These are orders making someone other than the losing party responsible for paying the loser’s costs bill.
Deeming’s solicitor has indicated, in a widely reported letter to Pesutto’s lawyers, that Deeming intends to seek payment of her costs from up to nine Liberal Party notables, including former premiers Ted Baillieu, Denis Napthine and Jeff Kennett, due to their alleged funding of Pesutto’s legal costs during the case.
Though the court rules allow for a third party to pay costs, and courts have broad discretion to make almost any kind of costs order, the High Court has established certain circumstances that should be considered first.
These circumstances include where a party to a lawsuit is insolvent or a “person of straw”, and where a third party has an interest in the subject of the litigation.
Perhaps tellingly, the letter from Deeming’s solicitor reportedly states Pesutto was a person of straw and that the Liberal Party figures did have an interest in the proceedings. However, this would need to be accepted by a court for Deeming to be successful.
How can people bankroll the court battles of others?
Providing money to support another person bringing litigation was originally frowned on by the law. It was regarded as “champerty” and “maintenance”. Both were treated as criminal offences.
The High Court of Australia has observed that law of maintenance and champerty can been traced to the Statute of Westminster the First of 1275. Some trace it back to Greek and Roman law.
Maintenance was where a person “improperly, and for the purpose of stirring up litigation and strife, encourages others either to bring actions, or to make defences which they have no right to make”.
But there were exceptions, such as where the maintainer acted from charitable motives or because the person maintained was family.
Champerty was a type of maintenance where the funder received some reward, such as part of the outcome of the successful litigation. The vice was stirring up litigation, oppressing others and creating an incentive to tamper with evidence.
Over time, however, Australian jurisdictions abolished the prohibition.
Access to justice, including the ability to raise a defence, is often costly in Australia because of legal fees and the loser pays system. Many litigants need financial help to bring or defend litigation.
Indeed, Australia now allows third-party litigation funding where a corporate entity funds the proceedings in return for a share of the recovery, as is commonly used in class actions and insolvency cases.
While bankrolling of civil litigation is now business as usual, it is not entirely unregulated. The courts have power to prevent an “abuse of process”, typically through permanently halting proceedings.
An abuse of process typically arises where the use of the court’s procedures unjustifiably negatively affects a party, or where it serves to bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
If a funder repeatedly supported unmeritorious claims or defences, or misused court procedures, then the courts can step in, but this is a high bar.
As a result, the main response to third parties financing litigation is to seek costs from them when the unsuccessful party cannot pay. Deeming will need to pursue this through the court.
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.
Richard Gadd, Sally Wainwright and Soo Hugh Australians in Film, in association with presenting partners Screen Australia and VicScreen, proudly announce the return of FUTURE VISION—Australia’s premier global television exchange for the world’s top creative minds—set to take place July 14–16 at ACMI, Australia’s national museum of screen culture in Melbourne. With the global screen industry in flux, FUTURE VISION enables Australia’s leading creatives to connect and forge smarter collaborations with each other and international partners as they collectively reflect, reimagine and reinvigorate the way stories are told. Three of the most powerful global voices in contemporary storytelling will headline the second annual event.
Richard Gadd, the multi-Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody-winning creator and star of the cultural phenomenon Baby Reindeer. Sally Wainwright, BAFTA award-winning creator and director of the critically acclaimed Happy Valley. Soo Hugh, Peabody-winning and BAFTA-nominated creator of the internationally lauded series Pachinko.
Bruna Papandrea (Nine Perfect Strangers) and Tony Ayres (The Survivors), return as FUTURE VISION co-chairs, continuing their leadership at a time where strategic solutions have never been more important. With the international screen industry confronting global market contraction, regulatory uncertainty, and the rise of AI — FUTURE VISION 2025 will explore how creativity and strategic collaboration can guide the industry forward. This year’s theme, Optimism, builds upon last year’s focus on Courage, inviting attendees to reimagine what’s possible in this rapidly evolving media landscape. Papandrea and Ayres said, “We are so enormously thrilled to have three of our television heroes coming to FUTURE VISION this year. Richard Gadd, Sally Wainwright, and Soo Hugh are undoubtedly some of the most exciting television creators in the world today. They create unforgettable worlds and characters that explode onto our screens, and they are masters of their craft. We cannot wait to engage with them in Melbourne and bring their thinking and provocation to the thought leaders at home.” Richard Gadd said, “Events like FUTURE VISION are very important. They bring together people who care about pushing boundaries, taking risks, and telling stories that mean something.” Sally Wainwright said, “I’m delighted to have been asked to take part in FUTURE VISION and am looking forward hugely to talking telly with everyone. One of my absolute favourite shows of recent years was Deadloch. I loved it because it was as absurd as it was dark, which for me is always a winning combination. I’m thrilled to be able to visit where it was shot.” Soo Hugh said, “Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky to learn from extraordinary storytellers who taught me the power of vision and reminded me how deeply personal stories can resonate globally. I’m excited to attend FUTURE VISION – to listen, exchange ideas, and be inspired by voices that see the world a little differently.” FUTURE VISION will once again bring together drama and narrative comedy creators, writers, producers, commissioners, and development executives from Australia and across the globe for three days of cutting-edge conversation and strategic thinking:
Monday, July 14 – OPEN DAY: A day open to established creatives, industry stakeholders, and curious minds. Also available via livestream for those who cannot make it to Melbourne. July 15–16 – INVITE-ONLY SESSIONS: Programming for top-tier writers, directors, producers, and commissioning executives.
From keynote conversations to insightful case studies, FUTURE VISION offers an unprecedented opportunity for the industry to come together, think big, and shape the future of television. Screen Australia COO Grainne Brunsdon says: “Screen Australia is proud to be supporting FUTURE VISION once again. With Richard Gadd, Sally Wainwright and Soo Hugh to headline, the 2025 offering will be valuable for our Australian screen sector to come together and learn from key industry players on how we can continue to launch our stories onto a global stage. Considering our local industry is already one of innovation, strong community and resilience, we have good reason to get behind the event’s theme of Optimism.” Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks says, “Victoria’s screen industry has a strong track record of creating high-end television that captivates audiences across the globe. We’re proud to support the return of FUTURE VISION to Melbourne for another year. This event connects Australia’s leading screen storytellers with the creators of some the world’s most watched TV series. From global sensation Apple Cider Vinegar to forthcoming new series The Survivors, Victoria continues to be a global screen powerhouse.” Australians in Film Executive Director Peter Ritchie says; “There are real opportunities for the Australian screen sector globally, and we are so enormously grateful to our headline international guests, our co-Chairs, Screen Australia and VicScreen, all our industry partners, attendees and guests who are coming together so generously to prioritize a strategic approach to the ways we commission, develop and execute our Australian screen stories for international audiences.” FUTURE VISION is proudly supported by industry peers Walt Disney Company Australia & New Zealand, Netflix and Stan. Our Venue Partner is ACMI, our Official Hotel Partner is Sofitel Melbourne On Collins and our Supporting Partner is Scape. FUTURE VISION Media Enquiries Jane Lunn C/- LUNN &Co +61 402 248 811 | [email protected] Media enquiries Maddie Walsh | Publicist + 61 2 8113 5915 | [email protected] Jessica Parry | Senior Publicist (Mon, Tue, Thu) + 61 428 767 836 | [email protected] All other general/non-media enquiries Sydney + 61 2 8113 5800 | Melbourne + 61 3 8682 1900 | [email protected]
Police are seeking assistance from the public following an incident in the southern suburbs earlier this week.
Crime Gangs Task Force Detectives are investigating a serious assault that occurred about 6.30pm on Tuesday 3 June. It will be alleged a man was taken by force from a retail shop on Honeypot Road at Huntfield Heights and driven around the area.
Police will allege the victim, a 24-year-old man from Parafield Gardens, was assaulted by the occupants of a silver 2017 Mitsubishi Triton with a canopy (see picture), at Sports Park Drive, Morphett Vale.
The man was taken by SAAS members to hospital, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Following an investigation, Detectives arrested a 29-year-old man from Port Noarlunga, he was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated theft. He was granted police bail to appear in court at a later date.
A 27-year-old man from Hackham was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and aggravated theft. He was refused police bail and appeared in Christies Beach Magistrate Court on Wednesday 4 June where he was remanded in custody.
A 20-year-old man from Moana was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and aggravated theft. The man is alleged to be a member of the Comanchero MC and he will appear in the Christies Beach Magistrates court later today (Friday 6 June).
Police believe this was not a random incident and there is no risk to the community.
Investigators are seeking witnesses, CCTV and dash cam footage of the incident on Sports Park Drive, Huntfield Heights. Anyone who may have seen a silver 2017 Mitsubishi Triton being driven erratically and at a high speed on the Southern Expressway between 5.45pm and 6.30pm on Tuesday 3 June to contact Crime Stoppers. You can anonymously provide information to Crime Stoppers online at https://crimestopperssa.com.au or free call 1800 333 000.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 6, 2025.
Defections are fairly common in Australian politics. But history shows they are rarely a good career move Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University For many years now, Australian political scientists have pointed out that that established partisan allegiance is in decline. In 1967, 36% of Coalition supporters and 32% of Labor voters reported lifetime voting
Spit or swallow? What’s the best way to deal with phlegm? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niall Johnston, Conjoint Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney Pop Paul-Catalin/Shutterstock A spitting pot I consider as an essential part of the bed-room apparatus. That’s what French physician René Laennec wrote in 1821. Laennec, who invented the stethoscope, spent his days gazing at his patients’ phlegm.
Australia is in the firing line of Trump’s looming ‘revenge tax’. It’s a fight we’re unlikely to win Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Cooper, Professor of Taxation Law, University of Sydney Alexey_Arz/Shutterstock The Australian Labor Party just won an election victory for the ages. Now, it may be forced to walk back one of the key achievements of its first term. Here’s why: United States President Donald Trump is
‘HIV shouldn’t be death sentence in Fiji’ – call for testing amid outbreak By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has revealed the latest HIV numbers in the country to a development partner roundtable discussing the national response. The minister reported 490 new HIV cases between October and December last year, bringing the 2024 total to 1583. “Included in this number
E-bikes and e-scooters are popular – but dangerous. A transport expert explains how to make them safer Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Rose, Professor in Transport Engineering, Monash Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University nazar_ab/Getty Last weekend a pedestrian in Perth tragically died after being struck by an e-scooter. This followed the death of another person in Victoria last month who was hit and killed by a modified
‘There are too many unpleasant things in life without creating more’: why Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement. Impressionist paintings create
‘Deadly’ sports diplomacy: why Australia’s Indigenous people must be a part of our sports strategy Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Murray, Associate Professor, International Relations and Diplomacy, Bond University Sean Garnsworthy/ALLSPORT Since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese government has focused strongly on the Indo-Pacific. The prime minister’s recent trip to Indonesia was the latest high-level bilateral summit as Australia seeks to recalibrate relationships, enhance
Making it easier to build a granny flat makes sense – but it’s no solution to a housing crisis Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau RyanJLane/Getty Images As part of its resource management reforms, the government will soon allow “super-sized granny flats” to be built without consent – potentially adding 13,000 dwellings over the next decade to provide “families
Is black mould really as bad for us as we think? A toxicologist explains Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Peeradontax/Shutterstock Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects – especially triggering asthma. However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease
Resident-to-resident aggression is common in nursing homes. Here’s how we can improve residents’ safety Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joseph Ibrahim, Professor, Aged Care Medical Research Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University Wbmul/Shutterstock The Coroners Court of Victoria is undertaking an inquest into the deaths of eight aged care residents across six facilities, over a nine-month period in 2021. Each death occurred
We tracked 13,000 giants of the ocean over 30 years, to uncover their hidden highways Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana M. M. Sequeira, Associate Professor, Research School of Biology, Australian National University Alexandra Vautin, Shutterstock Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances
‘No one knew what was happening’: new research shows how domestic violence harms young people’s schooling Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Roberts, Professor of Education and Social Justice, Monash University Taiki Ishikawa/ Unsplash, CC BY Every school around Australia is almost certain to have students who are victim-survivors of family and domestic violence. The 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study found neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse
Internal tensions throw PNG anti-corruption body into crisis By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent Three staffers from Papua New Guinea’s peak anti-corruption body are embroiled in a standoff that has brought into question the integrity of the organisation. Police Commissioner David Manning has confirmed that he received a formal complaint. Commissioner Manning said that initial inquiries were underway to inform the “sensitive
Tasmania could go to an election just 16 months after its last one. What’s going on? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hortle, Deputy Director, Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania Tasmania’s Liberal government and its premier, Jeremy Rockliff, have come under huge pressure since the state budget was handed down last week. It’s culminated in the Tasmanian House of Assembly voting to pass a motion of no
Grattan on Friday: Albanese will need some nuance in facing a female opposition leader Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various “captain’s pick” candidates – good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter
Punishment for Te Pāti Māori over Treaty haka stands – but MPs ‘will not be silenced’ RNZ News Aotearoa New Zealand’s Parliament has confirmed the unprecedented punishments proposed for opposition indigenous Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka in protest against the Treaty Principles Bill. Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi will be suspended for 21 days, and MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for seven days, taking effect
Virgin Australia is coming back to the share market. Here’s what this new chapter could mean Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rico Merkert, Professor in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Petr Podrouzek/Shutterstock It is finally happening. After five years of being a private company, Virgin Australia will relist on the
GPs asking men about their behaviour in relationships could help reduce domestic violence Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsey Hegarty, Professor of Family Violence Prevention, The University of Melbourne Domestic violence is increasing in Australia. A new report shows one in three men have ever made a partner feel frightened or anxious. One in 11 have used physical violence when angry. And one in 50
The Top End’s tropical savannas are a natural wonder – but weak environment laws mean their future is uncertain Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University François Brassard The Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory contains an extensive, awe-inspiring expanse of tropical savanna landscapes. It includes well-known and much-loved regions such as Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Arnhem
Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances to feed and breed.
But almost a third are now at risk of extinction due largely to fishing, shipping, pollution and global warming.
Protecting them can be difficult, because we don’t often know where these animals are.
New research I led sought to shed light on the issue. My colleagues and I gathered 30 years of satellite tracking data to map hotspots of megafauna activity around the globe.
We tracked 12,794 animals from 111 species to find out where they go. The results reveal underwater “highways” where megafauna crisscross the global Ocean. They also show where megafauna dwell for feeding and breeding. Now we know where these special places are, we have a better chance of protecting them.
Satellite tracking reveals marine megafauna migration pathways and places of residence. Sequeira et al (2025) Science
Pulling all the data together: a mega task
For more than 30 years, marine biologists have tagged large animals in the sea with electronic devices and tracked their movements via satellite. The trackers capture data on everything from speed of travel, to direction of movement and where the animals spend most of their time.
I put a call out to the global research community to bring together the tracking data. I hoped it would help scientists better understand the animals’ movements and identify their favourite places.
Some 378 scientists from 50 countries responded. We assembled the world’s largest tracking dataset of marine megafauna. It includes species of flying birds, whales, fishes (mostly sharks), penguins, polar bears, seals, dugongs, manatees and turtles. They were tracked between 1985 and 2018, throughout the world’s oceans.
Ana Sequeira swimming with a whale shark in Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to collect samples. Australian Institute of Marine Science
Mapping reveals a lack of protection
When we started analysing the data, it showed the tagged animals used some parts of the ocean more frequently than others. Most of them travelled to the central Indian Ocean, northeast Pacific Ocean, Atlantic north, and waters around Mozambique and South Africa.
It’s likely this reflects a lack of data from elsewhere. However, these species are known to go to places where they are most likely to find food, so we expect some areas to be used more than others (including the areas we detected).
Currently only about 8% of the global ocean is protected. And only 5% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified occur within these existing marine protected areas.
This leaves all of the other important marine megafauna areas we identified unprotected. In other words, the species using those areas are likely to suffer harm from human activities taking place at sea.
More than 90% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified are exposed to high plastic pollution, shipping traffic or to intensifying global warming. And about 75% are exposed to industrial fishing.
We also found marine megafauna tend to spend most of their time within exclusive economic zones. This area lies beyond the territorial sea or belt of water 12 nautical miles from the coast of each country, extending 200 nautical miles from shore. The presence of megafauna in these exclusive economic zones means individual countries could increase the protection afforded within their jurisdictions.
About 40% of the important marine megafauna areas were located in these zones. But about 60% were on the high seas.
The future of marine megafauna conservation
The High Seas Treaty, recently adopted by the United Nations and signed by 115 countries, governs the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological biodiversity on the open ocean.
Working alongside this treaty, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030. This presents an opportunity to ensure important marine megafauna areas are well represented.
We used an optimisation algorithm to identify the best areas to protect, when it comes to marine megafauna. We gave priority to areas that are potentially used for feeding, breeding, resting and migrating across all the different species.
But even if important marine megafauna areas are selected when 30% of the ocean is protected, about 60% of these areas would still stay unprotected.
Significant risks from human activities will remain. Management efforts must also focus on reducing harm from fishing and shipping. Fighting climate change and cutting down noise and plastic pollution should also be key priorities.
Like for most megafauna on land, the reign of marine megafauna might come to an end if humanity does not afford these species greater protection.
Ana M. M. Sequeira receives funding from the Australian Research Council and a Pew Marine Fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trusts. She is also affiliated with the University of Western Australia.
Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects – especially triggering asthma.
However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease in children, unrelated to asthma? As we’ll see, this link may not be real, or if it is, it’s so rare to not be a meaningful risk. Yet we still hear mould in damp homes described as “toxic”.
Indeed, mouldy homes can harm people’s health, but not necessarily how you might think.
What is mould?
Mould is the general term for a variety of fungi. The mould that people have focused on in damp homes is “black mould”. This forms unsightly black patches on walls and other parts of damp-affected buildings.
Black mould is not a single fungus. But when people talk about black mould, they generally mean the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum or S. chartarum for short. It’s one of experts’ top ten feared fungi.
The focus on this species comes from a report in the 1990s on cases of haemorrhagic lung disease in a number of infants. This is a rare disease where blood leaks into the lungs, and can be fatal. The report suggested chemicals known as mycotoxins associated with this species of fungus were responsible for the outbreak.
Hundreds of different chemicals are listed as myocytoxins. These include ones in poisonous mushrooms, and ones associated with the soil fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus.
The fungus typically associated with black mould S. chartarum can produce several mycotoxins. These include roridin, which inhibits protein synthesis in humans and animals, and satratoxins, which have numerous toxic effects including bleeding in the lungs.
While the satratoxins, in particular, were mentioned in the report from the 90s in children, there are some problems when we look at the evidence.
The amount of mycotoxins S. chartarum makes can vary considerably. Even if significant amounts of mycotoxin are present, getting them into the body in the required amount to cause damage is another thing.
Inhaling spores in contaminated (mouldy) homes is the most probable way mycotoxins enter the body. For instance, we know mycotoxins can be found in S. chartarumspores. We also know direct injection of high concentrations of mycotoxin-bearing spores directly in the noses of mice can cause some lung bleeding.
Stachybotrys chartarum mycotoxins have been blamed for lung issues after exposure to black mould. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock
But just because inhaling spores is the probable route of contamination doesn’t mean this is very likely.
Moulds can affect human health in ways unrelated to mycotoxins, typically through allergic reactions. Moulds including black moulds can trigger or worsen asthma attacks in people with mould allergies.
People with impaired immune systems (such as people taking immune-suppressant medications) may also be prone to mould infections.
In a nutshell
There is sufficient evidence that household mould is associated with respiratory issues attributable to their allergic effects.
However, there is no strong evidence mycotoxins from household mould – and in particular black mould – are associated with substantial health issues.
Ian Musgrave has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council to study adverse reactions to herbal medicines and has previously been funded by the Australian Research Council to study potential natural product treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently a member of one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s statutory councils.
Youth charged over offences committed in Southern Tasmania
Friday, 6 June 2025 – 11:46 am.
Police have charged a 15-year-old from the Bridgewater area over a number of offences committed in Southern Tasmania recently. Police will allege the youth committed an aggravated armed robbery on a food delivery driver in Gagebrook on 8 May. The youth was charged with:
1x aggravated armed robbery 1x motor vehicle stealing 3x stealing 1x aggravated burglary 1x possess controlled plant or its products 2x possess a controlled drug 1x possess thing used for administration of controlled drug 1x evade police 1x injure property 1x common assault
He will appear before the Youth Justice Court today.
The Australian Labor Party just won an election victory for the ages. Now, it may be forced to walk back one of the key achievements of its first term.
Here’s why: United States President Donald Trump is about to declare an income tax war on much of the world – and we Australians are not on the same side.
Over in the US, the “One Big Beautiful Bill act” – a tax and spending package worth trillions of dollars – has been passed by the House of Representatives. It’s now before the Senate for consideration.
Within it lies a new and highly controversial provision: Section 899. This increases various US tax rates payable by taxpayers from any country the US claims is maintaining an “unfair foreign tax” by five percentage points each year, up to an additional 20% loading.
Having been an integral part of an international effort to create a global 15% minimum tax, Australia now finds itself in the firing line of Trump’s “revenge tax” warfare – and it’s a fight we’re unlikely to win.
A global minimum tax rate
The origins of the looming income tax war started in 2013, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its plan to stamp out “base erosion and profit shifting”.
This refers to a range of strategies often used by multinational companies to minimise the tax they pay, exploiting differences and gaps in the tax rules of different countries.
The OECD’s first attempt to tackle the problem was a collection of disparate measures directed not only at corporate tax avoidance, but also controlling tax poaching by national governments and “sweetheart deals” negotiated by tax officials.
Under both Labor and the Coalition, Australia was initially an enthusiastic backer of these attempts.
However, the project was not a widespread success. Many countries endorsed the final reports but, unlike Australia, few countries acted on them.
After the failure of this first project, the OECD tried again in 2019. This evolved to encompass two “pillars” to change the global tax rules.
Pillar one would give more tax to countries where a company’s customers are located. Pillar two is a minimum tax of 15% on (a version of) the accounting profits of the largest multinationals earned in each country where the multinational operates.
Labor picked up this project for the 2022 election, promising to support both pillars – and they honoured that promise.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22. The Washington Post/Getty
Mixed success
Around the world, the two pillar project had mixed success. Pillar one was dead-on-arrival: most countries did nothing. But Australia and several other countries, mostly in Europe, implemented pillar two – the global minimum tax.
The OECD has always maintained the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project was a coalition of the willing, meant to rebalance the way income tax is allocated between producer and consumer countries, and rid the world of tax havens.
In the US, Republicans did not share that view. For them, BEPS was simply another attempt by foreign countries to get more tax from US companies.
This Republican dissatisfaction with the OECD is now on full display. On the first day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order, formally repudiating any OECD commitments the Biden administration might have given.
He also directed his officials to report on options for retaliatory measures the US could take against any foreign countries with income tax rules that are “extraterritorial” or “disproportionately affect American companies”.
Why Australia is so exposed
Australia could find itself in the firing line of Trump’s tax warfare on many fronts. And the US doesn’t lack firepower. Section 899 adds to a number of retaliatory tax provisions the US already had at its disposal.
The increased tax rates would affect Australian super funds and other investors earning dividends, rent, interest, royalties and other income from US companies.
Australian super funds in particular are heavily invested in US markets, which have outperformed local stocks in recent years.
It would also affect Australian managed funds owning land and infrastructure assets in the US, as well as Australian entities such as banks that carry on business in the US.
And there are other measures that would expose US subsidiaries of Australian companies to US higher tax.
The bill would even remove the doctrine of sovereign immunity for the governments of “offending” countries. Sovereign immunity refers to a tax exemption on returns that usually applies to governments. This means the Australian government itself could have to pay tax to the US.
There are concerns on Wall Street this will dampen demand for US government bonds from foreign governments, which are big buyers of US Treasuries. The argument may sway some in the Senate – but how many remains to be seen.
What Australia may need to do next
We may be incredulous that anyone would consider our tax system combative, but enacting the OECD pillar two was always known to be risky.
There are other, homegrown Australian tax measures that have drawn American ire.
In 2015, Australia enacted an income tax measure (commonly called the “Google tax”) specifically directed at US tech companies. In 2017, we followed this up with a diverted profits tax. Trump’s bill specifically targets both measures.
Tying ourselves to the OECD’s global minimum tax project might have seemed like a good idea in 2019. In 2025, it looks decidedly unappealing, and not just because of Trump.
First, there is not actually any serious revenue in pillar two for Australia. Treasury’s revenue estimate totalled only $360 million after four years, just slightly more than a rounding error in the federal budget.
Second, we are increasingly alone and vulnerable in this battle. It might feel emotionally satisfying to stand up to the US. If there was a sizeable coalition alongside us, there might be some point.
If Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill act does pass through the US Senate, the Australian government and business will be left exposed to much higher costs.
Since abandoning the US market is not really an option, it might be time to surrender quietly and gracefully – by reversing, at the very least, the contentious bits of pillar two.
Graeme Cooper 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.
A spitting pot I consider as an essential part of the bed-room apparatus.
That’s what French physician René Laennec wrote in 1821. Laennec, who invented the stethoscope, spent his days gazing at his patients’ phlegm. In the days before x-rays and blood tests, phlegm was considered a valuable diagnostic tool.
Today, most of us don’t carry around a spitting pot. But a persistent question remains, especially during winter, when noses are dripping and chests are rattling.
When you have a cough, should you spit out phlegm or is it better to swallow it?
It might feel like an odd or even slightly stomach-churning topic, but it’s a remarkably common question patients ask doctors.
What is phlegm?
Phlegm, also known as sputum, is the thick, sticky mucus your lungs and windpipe make. This acts as a defensive barrier to protect them.
Its main ingredients are mucins – large, sugar-coated proteins that trap viruses, bacteria, allergens and dust. These mucins also regulate inflammation and the body’s immune response to bacteria and viruses.
We most commonly see phlegm with viral illness during winter. But phlegm is also evident in other medical conditions including asthma and allergies, bacterial infections, such as sinusitis, or with smoking or exposure to air pollution.
In fact, we’re always making phlegm, even when we are healthy. Cells in the lungs secrete mucus to keep surfaces moist and trap irritants. When we encounter something potentially harmful, such as a virus or allergen, immune cells detect the threat and release signals that tell mucus-producing cells to step up their game.
This extra mucus helps trap the invader and move it out of the lungs. Tiny hairs lining the airways (called cilia) then sweep the mucus up to the throat, where we cough it out or swallow it.
These tiny hairs, or cilia, sweep phlegm up to your throat. Sakurra/Shutterstock
The case for spitting
Some people feel better if they spit out phlegm, especially if the phlegm is thick, sticky or irritates the throat.
Spitting also lets you see what’s coming up. If phlegm contains blood, for example, it is important to see a doctor to exclude a more serious underlying illness, such as tuberculosis or cancer.
If you do spit out, do so into a tissue and throw it in the bin. Wash your hands afterwards. This reduces the risk of spreading infection to others via respiratory droplets or contaminated surfaces.
However, spitting out phlegm isn’t always practical, or polite. And for most viral infections, it doesn’t help you get better any faster than swallowing. The aim is to remove phlegm from the lungs, which occurs with either method.
Spitting is also not feasible for young children, who haven’t yet developed the coordination to do so effectively. They’ll generally swallow their phlegm.
How mucus keeps us healthy all year round, even if we’re not sick.
The case for swallowing
It might not sound particularly appealing, but swallowing phlegm is a normal process, and harmless. In fact, we often swallow phlegm without realising it.
The lungs generate about 50 millilitres of phlegm daily. It goes unnoticed because it’s thin, blends with saliva and we continuously swallow it. We only become aware of it when it thickens, such as during a viral infection.
After you swallow phlegm, it travels to the stomach, where acid and enzymes break it down, along with any germs it carries.
Swallowing phlegm doesn’t “recycle” the germs, and it won’t result in the infection spreading elsewhere.
In fact, swallowing viruses can even help build immunity. Once inside the gut, immune cells begin to recognise pieces of the virus and start preparing the body to respond more effectively to it in the future. Some important immunisations, such as the oral polio vaccine, work through this very mechanism.
So, what’s the verdict?
Whether you spit or swallow phlegm, both are safe. Spitting can help some people feel better, especially if their cough is associated with thick phlegm that’s causing distress.
But for most healthy people, there’s no need to force a cough or spit out phlegm. Swallowing phlegm is completely safe. And in young children, it’s the only feasible option.
In the end, it won’t matter if you spit or swallow your phlegm this winter. So choose what feels right (and least icky) for you.
Phoebe Williams receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Medical Research Future Fund, and the Gates Foundation.
Niall Johnston 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.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
For many years now, Australian political scientists have pointed out that that established partisan allegiance is in decline. In 1967, 36% of Coalition supporters and 32% of Labor voters reported lifetime voting for their side. At the 2022 election, the Australian Election Study found the figures to be 16% and 12%.
These changes help to explain the rising support for independents and minor parties at federal elections; they now take about a third of the primary vote.
So much for voters. What about for politicians? Of course, there have always been plenty of parliamentarians who had an earlier stint as a member of some other party before landing in the one that sent them into parliament. Brendan Nelson was in the Labor Party before he was Liberal. John Gorton was Country Party before he was Liberal. Adam Bandt was Labor before he was Green. And so on. We are all entitled to change our minds, even if switching political parties was once closer to changing football teams – a habit that immediately arouses suspicion in a sports-loving nation.
Senator Dorinda Cox’s switch from the Greens to the Labor Party was apparently a homecoming, according to Cox. She was once a Labor Party member, she said. Last week, she was criticising the party over its approval of Woodside’s Northwest Shelf gas project. This week, she finds Labor’s values aligned with her own.
Of course, her defection has been accompanied by a steady leaking of little details of her Greens career, such as an excoriation of the Labor Party, in her application to run for the Greens, when she said the ALP patronised “women and people of colour” and cared more about its donors than members.
That’s politics, but it’s a democratic deficit that senators elected as part of a Senate team, in a system that has facilitated above-the-line voting since 1984, can sit for years afterwards in the parliament as a member of another party.
But good luck in getting up a constitutional change, via referendum, to change that.
Still, it is easy to understand how such nimbleness breeds cynicism about political parties. Another perspective might be that the fluidity of allegiance out in the electorate has come to inhabit the political class itself.
All the same, defections from one party to another are quite rare these days in federal politics, at least after one is sitting in parliament. But defections from a party to sit as an independent are not and some, such as Bob Katter, have managed to build successful political careers outside the parties.
One who did not was was Julia Banks, the Liberal member for Chisholm, who announced she would not be seeking re-election and then left the party for the crossbench in the wake of Scott Morrison’s ascension to the leadership in 2018. Banks complained of bullying and intimidation within the Liberal Party and the wider parliament, and wrote a book on her experiences. She subsequently failed to gain election as an independent in another seat.
There were several defectors in the last parliament. A House of Representatives crossbench that began at 16 had reached 19 by the end, with the defections of two Liberals (Russell Broadbent and Ian Goodenough, both after losing preselection) and one National, Andrew Gee, the latter over his party’s opposition to the Voice. Only Gee has lived politically to tell the tale, winning Calare as an Independent, as Peter Andren did before him.
Defections from minor and microparties are especially common, based as they often are on a high-profile leader and lacking traditions of party discipline or solid structures of organisational governance. Jacqui Lambie began as a Palmer United Party senator. Tammy Tyrrell began as a Jacqui Lambie Network senator.
The biggest “defection” in modern Australian politics was that of Cheryl Kernot from the Australian Democrats to the Labor Party in 1997. It is easy, over a quarter of a century on, and with the Australian Democrats no longer in the Australian parliament, to underestimate what a big deal this was at the time.
Kernot was a rock star of a politician, leader of the Australian Democrats, and a national celebrity. But there are significant differences with Cox beyond Kernot’s greater eminence. She resigned her Senate seat immediately and would win the marginal Brisbane seat of Dickson in the following year’s election. Then, in 2001, she would lose it to a young and ambitious former policeman named Peter Dutton.
The experience was ultimately an unhappy one for Kernot: she believed that having recruited her into the ranks, the Labor Party – and its leader, Kim Beazley, did not know how to make the best use of her. She was also on the receiving end of some relentlessly negative and sometimes intrusive media coverage. And by her own admission, she made mistakes. The story of her career’s unravelling is not straightforward. The role that gender played in it remains contentious.
Perhaps Kernot’s experience would alone be sufficient to prompt second thoughts in anyone seeking to jump ship. There are, of course, older prohibitions. In the Labor Party, a defector was known as a “rat”. Billy Hughes, the prime minister whose effort to introduce conscription in the first world war split the party, is the most famous of them.
“Rat” is not a word much heard these days, but it was thrown around a bit when Senator Fatima Payman defected in 2024, and applied more seriously in 1996 to Labor Senator Mal Colston when he resigned from the Labor Party in exchange for the deputy presidency of the Senate.
The best historical example of a defection being good for your career is that of Joe Lyons, who ratted on Labor in 1931 to lead a new party called the United Australia Party, a switch engineered by a small group of influential businessmen.
The circumstances – the Great Depression, real fear of civil violence, and the disintegration of a federal Labor government – were highly unusual.
More commonly, defection is a bad career move. Most of the Labor politicians who went over to the breakaway anti-communist Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in the mid-1950s found themselves out of parliament and looking for a new job. Stan Keon, one of those flying high ahead of the split, even occasionally mentioned – unrealistically – as a possible future prime minister, would run a Melbourne wine shop. Others, such as Vince Gair, Queensland Labor premier, lived to fight another day as a DLP senator (and ambassador to Ireland).
Cox has three years left of her senate term. After that, she will be at the mercy of the Labor Party. Labor won three Senate seats at the 2022 half-Senate election in Western Australia and perhaps it could do so again. On that occasion, in a surprise victory, the third place went to the young up-and-coming union organiser, Fatima Payman.
Frank Bongiorno 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.
It’s important people know how much super they have, where it is, and if their employer is paying the right amount. At tax time we encourage everyone to complete a super health check.
For most people it only takes a few minutes, and most checks can be done on ATO online. The super health check consists of the following 5 checks:
1. Check your contact details
2. Check your super balance and employer contributions
3. Check for lost and unclaimed super
4. Check if you have multiple super accounts and consider consolidating
5. Check your nominated beneficiary
People can do a super health check at any time, but it’s a good idea to do it at least once a year, such as when preparing their tax return. It’s a great way of understanding super and staying in control.
An additional benefit of completing a super health check could be the early detection of fraudulent activity. If people think there’s been activity on their super account that they haven’t authorised, they should contact their super fund immediately.
Visit ato.gov.au/SuperHealthCheck for more information or to watch a short that explains each check in more detail.
Looking for the latest news for Super funds? You can stay up to date by visiting our Super funds newsroom and subscribingExternal Link to our monthly Super funds newsletter and CRT alerts.
Source: Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum
Exclusive international exhibition brings global icons to Auckland from Saturday 28 June
This month, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum welcomes the spectacular international exhibition DIVA, with a new opening date announced for Saturday 28 June 2025.
Exclusive to Auckland, DIVA is a bold celebration of iconic performers who have defined eras, challenged norms and changed the world through the power of performance.
Developed by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), DIVA showcases over 280 objects, including fashion, photography, costumes, music, and design, featuring trailblazing performers who have made their voices heard from the 19th century to today.
Through theatrical staging and an immersive musical soundtrack experience, DIVA explores stories of the creativity, ambition, and resilience of some the world’s best-known divas, from opera goddesses and silent movie stars to Hollywood leg
Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy
Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement.
Impressionist paintings create an oasis of beauty into which a viewer can escape from a sometimes dark and troubling world, or simply from the mundane boredom of urban living.
The Impressionist master, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, once famously observed:
To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty. Yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.
The new Impressionism exhibition at the National Gallery of Victory brings together over a 100 of these pleasant, cheerful and pretty paintings and graphics. It features some of the greatest names in French Impressionism, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Paul Signac and Alfred Sisley.
Initially, the Impressionist painters had difficulty in selling their work amid the torrent of negative criticism.
But then their Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel established a gallery in New York City, and the American artist Mary Cassatt – who worked with the Impressionists in Paris – found increasing popularity. By the 1880s and 1890s, American collectors started to buy Impressionist paintings by many of the top French artists.
This explains why the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston possesses such an outstanding collection of Impressionist paintings. Yet, unlike the museums in New York, the Boston museum is less well known and Australians are seeing many of these paintings for the first time.
To say that most works in this exhibition have never been previously seen in Australia is only partially true. Four years ago, just before Melbourne was locked down for COVID, the NGV launched a similar show. Apart from a handful of art lovers posing as media, that show expired under lockdown and was packed up and returned to Boston without being widely exposed to Australian audiences.
The new reiteration is supplemented with six additional paintings, including the early and deeply moving painting by Degas of Degas’s Father Listening to Lorenzo Pagans Playing the Guitar (1869–72).
Edgar Degas, French, 1834–1917, Degas’s Father Listening to Lorenzo Pagans Playing the Guitar, about 1869–72. Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The whole exhibition has been totally reimagined as part of an immersive interior design. It moves far away from the clinical white cube of a modern exhibition space and closer to the 19th century posh domestic interiors in which the paintings first appeared.
An extensive and in-depth exhibition
Chronologically, the exhibition charts the development of French Impressionism from the mid-19th century and the so-called Barbizon school and realism, through to late Impressionism in the early 20th century.
It includes the great paintings by Cézanne and Manet, and memorable paintings from early to late Impressionism. There is an abundance of important works by the main Impressionist masters including Monet (16 of his canvases in one room), Degas, Sisley, Renoir, Pissarro, Cassatt and Morisot, and a few unexpected gems by van Gogh and Signac.
Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy
It is an extensive and in-depth exhibition.
The depth of the Boston collection enables rare insights. For example, when we see Édouard Manet’s Street Singer (1862), we may be aware that he employed his favourite model Victorine Meurent. Apart from being a model, Meurent was also an artist in her own right and in the same exhibition there is a self-portrait of her from 1876.
Strictly speaking, perhaps neither painting can be described as “Impressionist”. But it is a wonderful encounter of a woman being observed and, in the same exhibition, this woman looking out of the picture space and doing the observing. The self-portrait is one of those additions that was not in the original show.
If we glance at a handful of some of the outstanding paintings in the show – including Monet’s Grainstack (snow effect) (1891), The water lily pond (1900), or Water lilies (1905); Renoir’s Dance at Bougival (1883) or The Seine at Chatou (1881); Pissarro’s Spring pasture (1889); Degas’s Racehorses at Longchamp (1871/1874); and Morisot’s Embroidery (1889) – we have all of the beloved features of French Impressionism.
While the French Impressionists were not a monolithic group, their art was generally characterised by three things.
Firstly, a lighter and brighter palette with a conscious move to the ultraviolet end of the colour spectrum.
Secondly, a divisionist application of colour with juxtaposed dabs of pigment allowing for colour to blend in the eye rather than on a mirror-smooth surface of the canvas.
Finally, a move to a more democratic subject matter with landscapes, gardens, drinking parties, picnics and street scenes easily outnumbering images of pagan gods in complicated embraces.
Australian audiences never seem to tire of French Impressionism. This exhibition brings a fresh crop of rarely seen major paintings and graphics of the highest order.
If you love Impressionism, French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is a must-see exhibition. This new exhibition will change the history of Australian art exhibitions from Australia’s greatest Impressionist show that no one had seen, to Australia’s greatest Impressionist exhibition that everyone has seen.
French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is at the National Gallery of Victoria until October 5.
Sasha Grishin 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.
This followed the death of another person in Victoria last month who was hit and killed by a modified e-bike which police alleged could travel at 90 kilometres per hour.
A study published earlier this week also found nearly 180 e-scooter injuries in young people aged five to 15 at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2023 and 2024. One in ten injuries were life-threatening or potentially life-threatening.
For these risks to be properly addressed, an overhaul of regulations covering e-bikes and e-scooters is urgently needed.
All to do with power
E-bikes have a battery-powered motor to assist the rider. The key word there is “assist”: to be legal the rider has to be pedalling to get the power assistance.
E-scooters are a new variant of the once humble children’s kick scooter. They are more sturdy to support an adult rider, and the battery-powered motor provides all the power.
Some e-bikes and e-scooters have throttles, which enable riders to accelerate to higher speeds without pedalling. Technically, these are illegal.
These new forms of urban transport are surging in popularity. This year alone, about 150,000 e-bikes are forecast to be sold across the country. An estimated 350,000 Australians – about 1.3% of the population – owned an e-scooter in 2024.
Regulations governing e-bikes and e-scooters were historically designed with reference to the power required to ride a regular bicycle.
A person needs to provide power equal to 220 watts to propel a regular bicycle at 32km/h on a flat road without a headwind.
The figure of 250 watts emerged as the baseline in Europe for the power limit on e-bikes. It is 500 watts in Canada and 750 watts in the United States.
The regulations specify that power-assisted e-bikes can have a motor up to 250 watts. But the rider must pedal to get the power assistance and it must cut out above 25km/h.
E-bikes can travel faster than 25km/h. But the rider has to be providing all the power above that speed.
The same power limit was applied to e-scooters. But given their design and smaller wheels, regulators in Australia were more conservative, specifying a 20km/h maximum speed.
There are two main problems with the existing system of regulations. First, there is nothing to stop the import of high-performance e-bikes and e-scooters from overseas. Second, enforcement is difficult and rarely occurs, because the police don’t have the equipment to easily test motor power.
The federal government has a clear role to play in stemming the import of e-bikes and e-scooters that exceed the legal limits for public use in Australia.
However there is no evidence the government has engaged with the issue. This is inconsistent with its commitment to the National Road Safety Strategy and the approach taken to the management of vehicle safety and import regulations which apply to motor vehicles.
State and territory governments must revise and simplify their e-bike and e-scooter regulations.
Tasmania is on the front foot with its review of e-bike regulations. But e-scooter regulations also need reform – to make them easier for the public to understand, to ensure these devices offer a viable travel option for people and, importantly, to enable efficient enforcement.
Local government and road authorities should have the power to set speed limits for e-bike and e-scooter riders on shared paths. Cromo Digital/Shutterstock
A few changes to the rules could then make a big difference.
For a start, references to motor power should be removed because the severity of a crash depends on speed not the power of the device. Having the regulations framed in terms of power is a complication for enforcement and we don’t use it to regulate motor vehicles.
Then we need to focus on where, and how fast, these vehicles can be ridden.
A good first step would be to follow the lead of Queensland and Tasmania and legalise footpath riding, subject to a 12km/h or 15km/h speed limit as is the case in those states.
Restricting e-scooters to low-speed roads (up to 50km/h), and with a lower speed limit when ridden on the footpath, would minimise the risk of dangerous collisions with pedestrians and reduce the risk of dangerous collisions with cars on high-speed roads.
Specifying a max speed under power assistance for e-bikes of 32km/h would bring us in line with the regulations for countries that have cities similar to Australia’s such as Canada and New Zealand.
This would open our market to more models from overseas. It would also ensure e-bikes are better able to keep up with traffic when ridden on roads and are more competitive in terms of travel time relative to the car, to help further reduce car use.
When it comes to e-scooters, moving to a 25km/h speed limit (as is the case in Queensland), combined with restricting their use to roads of up to 50km/h, would improve their compatibility with the flow of motor vehicles on local streets.
Local government and road authorities should also have the power to declare areas where footpath riding is not permitted – for example, inner-city footpaths with heavy pedestrian activity. They should also have the power to set speed limits for riders on shared paths and bicycle lanes where there is likely to be interaction with pedestrians.
With those changes in place, police would be able to enforce displayed speed limits for e-bikes and e-scooters using radar guns, as is already done in Queensland, and issue fines where appropriate.
Geoff Rose has received in-kind support for his research, in the form of data, from shared e-scooter operating companies; he has served on the oversight panel for the Victorian Government’s shared e-scooter trial and he has consulted to the Tasmanian Department of State Growth on e-bike regulations.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Australia almost guaranteed qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating Japan on Thursday night.
Veteran defender Aziz Behich scored the only goal in the 90th minute to steer the Socceroos to a 1-0 victory over Japan at Perth Stadium in Western Australia.
The result means that Australia has a six-point and +10 goal difference advantage over Saudi Arabia in the race for second place in Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
In order to secure second place and qualification for a sixth consecutive World Cup, the Socceroos need only to avoid a heavy defeat against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Tuesday, or for Saudi Arabia to fail to beat Bahrain later on Thursday.
Behich’s goal, his third for Australia and his first since 2012, came against the run of play after Japan had dominated possession throughout the match.
The chance was created by midfielder Riley McGree, who made a run inside Japan’s defensive box before sending his cross between five teammates.
Behich, making his 80th appearance for the national team, was the quickest to react and fired a shot from his weaker right foot into the far-right corner, causing the capacity crowd of 57,226 to erupt.
It marked the Socceroos’ first win against Japan since 2009 and ended Japan’s 21-game unbeaten run.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Argentina captain Lionel Messi could start on the bench in his team’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Chile, Albiceleste head coach Lionel Scaloni said on Wednesday.
Thursday’s clash in Santiago will have little consequence for Scaloni’s men, who have already secured a spot in football’s showpiece tournament next year.
Lionel Messi (center) of Argentina vies with Jackson Irvine of Australia during their Round of 16 match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Dec 3, 2022. (LI GA / XINHUA)
Chile, meanwhile, is last in the 10-team South American group and must win to have an outside chance of qualifying.
“We haven’t decided yet whether he’ll play from the start or not,” Scaloni said of 37 year-old Messi, who has been in impressive form for his club Inter Miami.
“It would be good to know how he’s feeling physically. It’s clear that today we’re in a position to try other things. In principle, he’s available to play, and we’ll decide later.”
Scaloni will already be without several key players for the duel at Estadio Nacional, including injured Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and suspended duo Enzo Fernandez and Nico Gonzalez.
Also missing will be Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, who will be rested after the Italian club’s 5-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.
“We’re going to have a lot of players out,” Scaloni said. “If some of the guys we call up are fit and ready to play, they’ll get their chance.”
“I don’t have the starting eleven confirmed yet, but we will give some playing time to players who haven’t played much and who we believe are ready to play.”
“Although the result is always important, we don’t think it’s crucial today. We’ll probably try to help these players settle in and give them the chance to get some playing time with the team.”
Despite sitting top of the South American group with 31 points, eight clear of second-placed Ecuador with four qualifiers remaining, Scaloni said he was focused on obtaining “positive results” against Chile and also Colombia in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
“We want to play, it’s good for us to see other players, even those who are playing well. A match is never inopportune,” he said.
“It’s not that we national teams play so much that we would say we don’t want to play this match. On the contrary. We think it’s a nice match to play, with its difficulties. We are in a good position.”
PACIFIC OCEAN, Friday, 6 June 2025 – Greenpeace activists have disrupted an industrial longlining fishing operation in the South Pacific Ocean, seizing almost 20 kilometers of fishing gear and freeing nine sharks, including an endangered mako, near Australia and New Zealand.
With an expert team on a small boat releasing more than a dozen animals, crew aboard Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior retrieved the entire longline and more than 210 baited hooks from a EU-flagged industrial fishing vessel, including an endangered longfin mako shark, eight near-threatened blue sharks and four swordfish. The crew also documented the vessel catching endangered sharks during its longlining operation.
The at-sea action followsnew Greenpeace Australia Pacific analysisexposing the extent of shark catch from industrial longlining in parts of the Pacific Ocean. Latest fisheries data showed that almost 70% of EU vessels’ catch was blue shark in 2023 alone. It comes ahead of next week’s UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, where world leaders will discuss ocean protection and the Global Ocean Treaty.
Georgia Whitaker, Senior Campaigner, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“These longliners are industrial killing machines. Greenpeace Australia Pacific took peaceful and direct action to disrupt this attack on marine life. We saved important species that would otherwise have been killed or left to die on hooks.”
“The scale of industrial fishing – still legal on the high seas – is astronomical. These vessels claim to be targeting swordfish or tuna, but we witnessed shark after shark being hauled up by these industrial fleets, including three endangered sharks in just half an hour. Greenpeace is calling on world leaders at the UN Ocean Conference to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 from this wanton destruction.”
GreenpeaceAotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty and help create global ocean sanctuaries, including in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand signed the agreement in 2023.
More than two-thirds of sharks worldwide are endangered, and a third of those are at risk of extinction from overfishing. Over the last three weeks, the Rainbow Warrior has been documenting longlining vessels and practices off Australia’s east coast, including from Spain and China.
Master Plumbers’ concerns that cheap online plumbing products will not comply with new regulations to make drinking water safer have proven justified.
A recent test undertaken by Consumer NZ showed that one of six kitchen tap mixers purchased from a variety of retailers resulted in lead levels in the water higher than is permitted in the Australian/New Zealand testing standard.
Lead is a cumulative toxin, which makes ongoing exposure through drinking water a particular concern.
“No level of lead is acceptable,” says Master Plumbers CEO Greg Wallace. “Young children are especially vulnerable to the toxin, with even low levels of exposure linked to learning disabilities and nervous system damage.”
The tap mixer that failed was purchased from global retailer Amazon, which ships a wide range of product to New Zealand. This highlights the dangers of buying tapware online where the market is largely unregulated and unpoliced.
From May 2026, new requirements for plumbing products that deliver drinking water come into force, in line with an update to the building code. These products, which include kitchen and bathroom tapware, as well as valves and fittings connected to domestic drinking water pipes, must not contain more than 0.25% lead.
Master Plumbers welcomes the transition to lead free plumbing products in New Zealand but wants more to be done to give consumers confidence.
“We want to see compulsory ‘lead free’ marking being placed either on the product or the packaging of relevant plumbing products, to allow consumers and tradespeople to easily identify that they are lead-free,” says Wallace. “It is the plumber installing the product who is held responsible, so installers should have a way to easily determine if the product is compliant.”
Compulsory marking would allow for the policing of non-compliant or falsely declared products through Commerce Commission regulations. As it stands, the current building product information requirement (BPIR) regulations rely on self-reporting and do not have a proactive enforcement system in place-which is particularly concerning for the regulation of online retailers that may be importing international products.
Master Plumbers has been raising the alarm about lead in tapware for years. In 2018, the organisation commissioned independent testing of five tapware products sold in this country and found the level of lead leaching from one product to be 70% higher than the allowable limit in drinking water product standard AS/NZS 4020.
Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers NZ Inc (Master Plumbers) is the national membership organisation for plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying businesses, with 18 regional Associations and Branches across New Zealand. Companies go through a Quality Assurance programme in order to become a member. We provide members with a wide range of resources and training opportunities to support them in staying up with the latest technologies, products and compliance requirements. We advocate on behalf of our members and our industry.
Masterlink, a group training scheme owned by Master Plumbers, provides managed mentored apprenticeships across New Zealand, with Regional Managers supporting the apprentices and the businesses who host them during their training.
Newly arrived refugee and migrant communities want Australia’s multicultural policies and infrastructure to provide more practical help rather than just ‘food and festivals’, a survey has found.
A focus group of 32 community leaders in 21 key cohort migrant and refugee groups in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide said that while they value the nation’s commitment to multiculturalism, their communities struggled with employment opportunities and access to government services exacerbated by a lack of interpreters and gender issues.
They reported social cohesion is under stress, partly because of international events, including the conflict in Gaza, and a rise in the cost of living, the survey, commissioned by migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia, found.
While 70 per cent of the community leaders surveyed agreed Australia was a ‘successful multicultural community’, there was a need for more access to employment opportunities and careers support for skilled migrants and refugees.
First-language learning capacity in schools was also identified as a need, while libraries, local government programs and community education and training programs were identified as the services that are valued.
Sixty per cent of respondents agreed that global events were having an impact on social cohesion and community harmony, with conflict in Gaza, repression in Afghanistan and the US’ crackdown on migrants cited as some of the factors.
A need for better access to government services was also identified. Only 55 per cent of survey respondents said they had ‘good’ access to government services.
The community leaders identified ‘universal and equitable practices, protocols and standards across the public services; more representation of diverse communities within the public service; and a multicultural ombudsman or complaints process’ as ways of improving access to services.
Asked ‘what could be done to improve community harmony, the most common responses were: support for multi-faith events and festivals, support for multi-faith groups and more employment opportunities from emerging communities.
Only 50 per cent of community leaders said government communicated ‘well’ with their communities, while 30 per cent communication was not effective.
They identified a need range of interventions to tackle poor knowledge and engagement through programs and resources co-designed by communities themselves.
Thirty per cent of respondents said they had experienced racism or discrimination, a similar proportion said they had not faced discrimination while 40 per cent said they faced discrimination ‘sometimes’.
Community leaders cited ‘more transparency on race hate crimes and positive fact-base narratives to counter allegations of criminality in some communities’ as ways of combating racism and discrimination.
Sixty per cent of survey respondents believed there was cultural understanding and respect between communities in Australia. They identified holding festivals and events that attracted multiple communities, more access to affordable gathering places; and funding and capacity building for inter-faith groups and dialogues as ways of improving community connections.
Female community leaders were more likely to raise issues about Australia’s multicultural architecture than male respondents.
The survey found a general consensus that the focus of multicultural programs should be less about ‘food and festivals’ and more about employment, equity, access to services and opportunities as well as Inter-community and inter-faith dialogue.
The surveyed community leaders said social cohesion was underpinned by social equity and access to opportunity.
Among the suggested interventions were:
Improved access to services Intercultural and inter-faith opportunities for communities to build networks outside their own; More opportunities for employment and education; More access to affordable spaces to gather; Grants systems that is more sustainable and easier to navigate; Broader representation of communities on multicultural bodies; Standard multicultural policies and practices across all departments; A multicultural ombudsman or complaints mechanism.
AMES Australia CEO Cath Scarth said the survey showed there was an appetite to reimagine Australia’s multicultural policies and infrastructure.
“There seem to be a consensus that people would like to see more support in terms of accessing services and opportunities for multicultural communities; and there is a desire to see communities better connect with each other and with the broader community,” Ms Scarth said.
Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Jerusalem, 5 June 2025 – In southern Gaza, displacement orders and movement restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on Nasser hospital are pushing this vital medical facility on the brink of becoming non-functional, warns Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Ordering hospitals to refuse new patients and making it harder for people to reach places of care has been a pattern aimed at bringing down the hospitals by the Israeli forces through this war. Nasser is the only last remaining vital lifeline for the people in need, and its full functionality must be restored immediately and preserved.
On 3 June, our teams were told that any movement to Nasser hospital would require authorisation and this would have to be requested with at least 24 hours’ notice. This meant that medical staff due on the day shift could not reach the hospital. The staff from the previous night had to continue working. They ended up staying on shift for 48 consecutive hours.
The outpatient department remained closed for the whole day. Ambulances that were able to carry patients to the hospital did so at great risk, as there was a danger they would be shot at because they lacked authorisation. Nasser’s location on the frontline hampers both staff and patient’s ability to access this vital remaining hospital.
This is happening while people are exhausted, their lives shattered by 20 months of extremely violent war and a suffocating siege where even the distribution of minimal amounts of aid results in devastating massacres. In this context, any remaining medical facility is of critical importance and must be protected.
The attacks on healthcare are not only carried out through military action. They happen through limitations imposed on the importation of medical supplies, forcing doctors to ration pain relief medicine. They happen through displacement orders, leading to entire hospitals having to shut down at short notice. They happen through harassment and confusing orders issued by Israeli authorities, making it more and more difficult to provide lifesaving care.
“We have seen this pattern before”, says Jose Mas, head of MSF emergency programmes. “It happened to facilities like Al Awda and the Indonesian hospital, in northern Gaza, where they were first asked to not admit more patients, and a few days later were attacked and practically shut down. Putting Nasser hospital out of service would equate to a death sentence for the most severe patients among wounded adults and children, critically ill patients, and women in need of emergency obstetric care.”
Nasser hospital is a large referral hospital with many specialist wards not found anywhere else in the south of Gaza including operating theatres, an oxygen plant, ventilators, a blood bank, and incubators. Reducing access to this hospital and blocking the referral of patients who need specialist, emergency care, stops people from receiving treatment that may safe their life.
In the past few months, MSF medical teams in Nasser hospital have provided care to over 500 patients in the maternity ward, including women requiring surgical care, as well as to more than 400 newborn babies and paediatric patients. The hospital is full of patients with burns and severe trauma.
Healthcare is under attack everywhere in Gaza. In the morning of 4 June, Israeli forces struck the MSF supported Al Aqsa hospital three times, the main facility in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza. Although no casualties were reported, it is a stark reminder of how patients, medical staff and health facilities are constantly at great risk in Gaza.
Our teams have received patients who have been critically injured while trying to get food, as a result of the shootings which have taken place around the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation food distribution centres. This is in addition to the people who have been wounded in the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Hospitals are overflowing with patients.
It’s essential that Israeli authorities protect Nasser hospital and guarantee full and unimpeded access to patients and medical staff alike, to avoid more deaths.
MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, offering general healthcare, trauma care, burn wound care, maternity care, and care for survivors of sexual violence. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis.
In 2022, more than 120 project staff from Australia and New Zealand worked with MSF on assignment overseas. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au
June 5, 2025 – Paris, France – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, this week concluded his participation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) and World Trade Organization (WTO) mini-ministerial meeting, in Paris, France.
At the OECD MCM, Minister Sidhu reaffirmed Canada’s support for the rules-based global trading system and its underpinning values. These include reinforcing the open, stable markets that ensure predictability amidst economic uncertainty, responsibly developing artificial intelligence and standing up for Ukraine. Canada served as vice-chair of the OECD MCM alongside Australia and Lithuania, under the chairship of Costa Rica.
At the meeting, Canada and the Philippines formally took on the role of the 2025 to 2028 co-chairs of the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP), a program that was created to address economic and development challenges in Southeast Asia. Minister Sidhu announced that Canada will contribute $2 million to support SEARP’s activities, which align with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and Strategic Partnership with ASEAN.
At the WTO mini-ministerial meeting, Minister Sidhu advocated for deep and meaningful reforms of the WTO to ensure its rules are modernized and continue to support a rules-based global trading system. Canada also called for a pragmatic approach to the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference that considers current economic challenges.
While in Paris, the Minister also hosted a business round table with Canadian companies active in the French market. As Canada seeks to strengthen its collaboration with reliable trading partners, the Minister heard the business representatives’ first-hand perspectives on the opportunities for Canadian businesses in France.
Talented young creatives have been recognised at the City of Greater Bendigo’s 2025 RAW Arts Awards at a special presentation held at The Capital last night.
The RAW Arts Awards showcase and foster the talents and artistic pursuits of young people in the region 25 years of age and under, with this year’s awards attracting 103 applicants.
The winner and a highly commended entry are recognised in four categories: Visual Arts, Literature, Performing Arts and Short Film.
Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said the RAW Arts Awards evening and accompanying exhibition provided a wonderful opportunity for young talent in the region to showcase their work.
“The RAW Arts Awards is such a special event in the calendar and a chance for young people to present their work to a wider audience, and gain the recognition they deserve,” Cr Metcalf said.
“I am so pleased that the RAW Arts Awards program is a stepping stone for many flourishing creatives and helps to foster their talents and artistic pursuits.
“We are so lucky to have these young aspiring creatives right here in Greater Bendigo, and I congratulate all of the winners and those who have contributed to RAW this year and shared their talent, imagination and stories.”
Winners in each category received a $1,500 cash prize and a $500 cash prize was awarded to highly commended creatives.
The announcement of winners was interspersed with a showcase of Performing Arts entrants and screening of films submitted in the Short Film category.
The 2025 RAW Arts Awards winners and highly commended applicants are as follows:
Visual arts
Winner: Geordie Williamson
Highly commended: Jorjiah Sjaardema
Literature
Winner: Kayla Barnfield
Highly commended: Matilda Wilby
Performing arts
Winner: Emma Gleeson
Highly commended: Matilda Wilby
Short film
Winner: Tilda Picken
Highly commended: Yasmin Russell
2025 RAW Arts exhibition
The 2025 RAW Arts exhibition features this year’s visual arts entries at Dudley House, 60 View Street. Entry is free and open to the public. The opening times are as follows:
