NewzIntel.com

Category: Australia

  • MIL-OSI Australia: When you’re no longer hiring workers

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    If you stop hiring workers, you’ll need to finalise all of your employer tax and super obligations.

    Your obligations may vary when workers leave your business. This depends on whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Director penalties can apply for unpaid super guarantee and PAYG withholding liabilities your business has incurred.

    You’ll need to work out your worker’s final payment and pay within 7 days of the employment ending. These may include entitlement payments, employment termination payments and employee tax payments.

    Once you’ve finalised your worker’s entitlements, you should:

    There are no special requirements for your super guarantee obligations.

    You’ll also have other responsibilities to your employees, including providing notice and finalising payments. A range of information to help you manage employees when you sell or close your business is available at business.gov.auExternal Link.

    There are other obligations you may need to consider when Changing, selling or closing your business.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chris Bowen on why it’s ‘a little frustrating’ bidding for COP 31

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    Energy and climate issues are front and centre for both sides of politics. The government is struggling with pushback from some regional communities against the rollout of transmission lines and wind farms. At the same time, it will soon have to produce its 2035 target under the Paris climate agreement.

    Meanwhile, the opposition is fractured over whether to stick by its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

    We’re joined on this podcast by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.

    Bowen remains upbeat about the energy transition:

    I think it’s going well. We can always do more, and there’s always more effort needed, and the job is far from done. But when you consider what we’ve achieved over the first three years, I would say pleased but not yet satisfied. We are, by and large, on track for our 43% emissions reduction. Just in the last couple of days, [we saw] some excellent figures about the amount of new renewable electricity connected to the grid.

    So all this is a very significant turnaround from 2022, but I’m far from mission accomplished. There’s still a lot more to do. This is the biggest economic transition our country has undertaken, and you don’t sort of do three years’ work and put your feet up. This is a constant effort, and that’s an effort on which I’m entirely focused.

    Just now, Bowen is also focused on preliminary work for Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Economic Reform Roundtable in August.

    Bowen announces he’ll be hosting two roundtables of his own, feeding into the broad August 19-21 meeting:

    I’ll be holding two roundtables, one on electricity and one on climate adaptation which is going to be an increasing focus of this government and future governments because tragically the world has left it too late to avoid the impacts of climate change. We can hopefully avoid the worst catastrophic impacts of more than 1.5 and two to three degrees.

    On Australia’s bid to host COP in 2026, Bowen says Australia has the votes against the other contender, Turkey, but the decision-making process is informal:

    So one of the things about the process to decide COPs I’ve learnt is it’s quite opaque and there’s no particular timeline and no particular rules to the ballot. I will say, I’ve said before, we’ve got very strong support. So it’s not a matter of going out and getting more votes.

    But there’s no agreed time or process for a ballot. It’s meant to work on a consensus, sort of an old world, sort of gentlemanly approach to say whoever loses will withdraw.

    Despite the delay, Bowen says Australia will be ready if the bid is successful:

    Having said that, the last COP, the one last year, in Azerbaijan, I accept Azerbaijan is a very different country to Australia, but they found out a year in advance as well. And logistically, physically, they put on a very good COP, that can be done. And I know the Premier of South Australia is a very, very enthusiastic supporter of hosting the COP.

    On the Coalition potentially dropping its commitment to net zero by 2050, Bowen calls the target “the basic bare minimum of action”:

    It’s what the IPCC has recommended as what is absolutely necessary to avoid […] the worst catastrophic impacts of [climate change]. To be debating net zero 2050 in Australia this year is like debating whether the sun should come up. It’s the most basic framework. It’s nowhere near enough.

    I think it’s got strong support, and it’s retaining that. I mean, the election result shows that. That we were told to get on with it. Keep going basically.

    I’ll just say this. At least Peter Dutton had net zero as a policy objective. I mean, Sussan may be indicating maybe she won’t. I used to say Peter Dutton would be the worst prime minister for climate than Tony Abbott, and I was correct at the time, but now it’s starting to look like Sussan Ley would be even worse.

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

    – ref. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chris Bowen on why it’s ‘a little frustrating’ bidding for COP 31 – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-chris-bowen-on-why-its-a-little-frustrating-bidding-for-cop-31-261763

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Highway safety blitz catches speeding drivers

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Highway safety blitz catches speeding drivers

    Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 11:11 am.

    Tasmania Police issued 24 drivers with speeding infringements during a four-hour road safety blitz on the Bass Highway on Wednesday.
    Officers from Western and Northern Road Policing Services conducted the joint operation on the highway, between Westbury and Latrobe, between 8am and noon.
    Police detected 24 speeding offences, including five drivers travelling 20km/h to 30km/h over the posted speed limit. There was also one unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
    Western District Acting Inspector Martin Parker said the higher range speeding offences were committed near the Paramatta Creek weigh bridge, where the speed limit had been reduced to 80km/h due to officers from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator conducting operations at the weigh bridge.
    “It is concerning that motorists are disregarding highly visual speed reduction signs when the weigh bridge station was operating,” Acting Inspector Parker said.
    “The speed limit had been reduced to allow NVHR officers to safely conduct their work and the safe flow of traffic in the area, when trucks are exiting and re-entering the highway.”
    Tasmania Police is committed to continuing road safety activities with the aim to reduce crashes on our roads, particularly serious and fatal crashes.
    One death or serious injury is one too many and has the potential to severely impact the community.
    Incidents of dangerous driving can be reported to police on 131 444 or call triple zero (000) if the behaviour is life threatening. Reports can also be made via Crime Stoppers Tasmania on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arrests – Aggravated robberies and ram raids – Darwin Northern Suburbs

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    Northern Territory Police Force has arrested four youths following multiple aggravated robberies and a ram raid in the northern suburbs overnight.

    Around 10:35pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre (JESCC) received a report that a woman had allegedly been threatened with an edged weapon and had her silver Mitsubishi ASX stolen outside her residence on Aralia Street.

    It is alleged that victim was sitting in her parked vehicle when she was approached by two youths, one of which threatened her with an edged weapon and demanded the keys to the vehicle. They subsequently fled the scene in the Mitsubishi ASX.

    The victim was not physically harmed during the incident.

    Around 12:05am, the JESCC received a report that three youths entered a residence on Carnoustie Circuit before being confronted by the occupants. The offenders then threated the occupants with a machete and demanded money and vehicle keys before fleeing the scene in a Mitsubishi ASX.

    The offenders subsequently drove to a shopping complex on Yanula Drive where they allegedly used the stolen vehicle to ram through the rear gate of the premises and cause significant property damage before fleeing the scene.

    A short time later, the stolen Mitsubishi, occupied by three youths, was allegedly used to ram the roller door of a bottle shop on Baroalba Street, Leanyer. Once inside the group stole a quantity of alcohol and fled the scene.

    Police later observed the stolen vehicle travelling towards Darwin City on Tiger Brennan Drive. A pursuit was initiated, however, was terminated shortly after the stolen Mitsubishi attempted to ram the police vehicle. At this time, it was identified that two female youths were also occupied the offending vehicle.

    CCTV operators later observed the offenders abandon the vehicle on Voyager Street, Stuart Park. A large quantity of alcohol was located inside the vehicle.

    General duties officers, Strike Force Trident and the Dog Operations Unit deployed to the area and arrested two females aged 13 and 14, and two males aged 14 and 17. The fifth offender remains outstanding.

    At the time of arrest, one of the offenders was armed with a large machete and another was in possession of a bottle of alcohol believed to have been stolen during the ram raid.

    Three of the youths have been charged in relation to the offending:

    • A 17-year-old male has been charged with multiple property related offences, weapons offences, aggravated robbery, ram raid and traffic offences.
    • A 14-year-old male was charged with multiple aggravated robbery offences, property offences, ram raid, going armed in public and traffic offences.
    • A 14-year-old female was charged with Drive/use motor vehicle without consent, Possess stolen property and armed with offensive weapon.

    The 13-year-old female will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act 2005.

    Police urge anyone with information to make contact on 131 444. Please quote reference number P25196901. Anonymous reports can be made via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/. 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Royal Darwin Show – Operation Home Safe

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force, in partnership with the Department of Housing, Larrakia Nation and the City of Darwin, will launch a coordinated operation, Operation Home Safe, to assist visitors returning home following the Royal Darwin Show.

    The show is a major event that brings families together from many vast and remote locations from across the Northern Territory. We encourage people to enjoy the show and all it has to offer, but to also plan for a safe return home.

    Superintendent Kirsten Engels said, “Everyone enjoys the Royal Darwin Show as it’s a fantastic celebration for families and more. Returning safely home to family and friends is also important.

    “Every year, extended stays in Darwin following the event can result in people sleeping rough or living in overcrowded housing. This multi-agency operation will involve patrols and engagement teams supporting and assisting showgoers where we can, to help people return home.”

    The operation’s focus includes:

    • Supporting children to return to school in their home communities
    • Encouraging people to return home to access medical appointments and support services
    • Promoting stability, safety, and wellbeing for families

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Workers on the move: job mobility is easing back to pandemic levels but employers still affected

    Source: Jobs and Skills Australia

    Workers on the move: job mobility is easing back to pandemic levels but employers still affected

    Linda


    News and updates
    While mobility picked up following the pandemic, it has recently returned to a level similar seen through most of the 2010s. Read more.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Transcript – ABC Melbourne Mornings with Justin Smith

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    JUSTIN SMITH, HOST: Yesterday the Albanese Government announced legislation around child care, introduced the legislation into Parliament. The main part of this is the threat to withdraw funding from centres that do not come up to standard. The Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education, Victorian Senator Jess Walsh, is in our Canberra studio. Minister, good morning.

    SENATOR DR JESS WALSH, MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND MINISTER FOR YOUTH: Good morning, Justin. Thanks for having me.

    SMITH: With this new plan, how would that have prevented what we’re now talking about?

    WALSH: Well, this has been a really distressing time, Justin, for families in Victoria, families of the children who are affected. Really, all parents of children who have their kids in early childhood education are watching on and they want strong action. So we have introduced legislation into the first sitting of our new Parliament to cut Commonwealth funding from those providers who do put profit ahead of child safety. This is a big lever that we have in the Commonwealth. We fund early learning centres through the Commonwealth Child Care Subsidy. This legislation will allow us for the first time to withdraw that subsidy from those providers who consistently and persistently fail to put child safety first.

    SMITH: OK. This has come up, though, because of what, particularly in Victoria, as you’re a Victorian Senator, what we’ve seen in the last three weeks. So, for that reason, you’re introducing this legislation. So how is that going to prevent what we’ve been talking about and what we’ve been seeing? How will it change that? How will it stop that?

    WALSH: Yeah, Justin, we announced this legislation some months ago and it certainly is in response to concerns about quality and safety in early childhood education. We know that the vast majority of providers do the right thing. We know that the vast majority of our dedicated, passionate early childhood educators do the right thing. But there is a small number of repeat offenders who this legislation is targeted at. It allows us to withdraw funding from those providers, it allows us to stop them expanding, and it allows us to take a range of actions against them, right from issuing them with show-cause notices, imposing conditions on their services, and again right through to withdrawing funding.

    SMITH: No, no, I understand. I understand. And respectfully, forgive me for interrupting, but I will have to ask the same question again. How is that going to prevent what we’re talking about? If somebody is working in the industry, they have got red flags against them but there are no charges and then they pop up at another child care centre, with the proposals that you’re now putting in place, how is that going to prevent that?

    WALSH: Yeah, thanks Justin. So, there’s two big pieces of work going on here and I hope you’ll let me go through them because –

    SMITH: Sure.

    WALSH: It’s really important, Justin. So, there’s our Commonwealth legislation, we have a big lever, being the funding and I’ve taken you through that. At the same time the Commonwealth States and Territories are working together shoulder-to-shoulder on a big package of reform – a strong and significant package of child safety reform. And that goes to some of the other things that are being discussed right now, including the first ever nationwide register of early childhood educators. You’re right that there have been flags raised about this alleged offender in Victoria. What we need is a nationwide register of early childhood educators that allows us to see those flags. And that register needs to be integrated with working with children checks. And yes, this individual, this alleged offender, had a working with children check. And it needs to be integrated with other information that we have about substantiated complaints and conduct against individuals. And that’s what we’re working towards. That register will raise those flags.

    SMITH: Yep.

    WALSH: It will allow us to track that behaviour, Justin, and provide information to regulators around the country about action that needs to be taken.

    SMITH: Just on that register, before you move on to anything else, the Productivity Commission recommended that last year. How long is that going to take to get up and running?

    WALSH: So, we’re working on it right now. As you’ve said, the Victorian Government is also working on these matters as well. They’ve announced their own register. We’re having discussions with them about making sure that it will be harmonised into the nationwide register. I think people want us to work together and we are. We do know that early childhood educators and providers cross borders and we need one strong national harmonised approach where we can see where our early childhood educators are working and where every regulator across the country can see those red flags.

    SMITH: How long will it take for the register to get up and running?

    WALSH: So, Justin, I don’t have an answer to that this morning. We’re meeting again in a couple of weeks, and we’ll announce the plans for the register then. We had an urgent ministers meeting – an urgent stand-alone meeting of Education Ministers focused on this issue at the end of June. At that meeting we put this nationwide register right on our agenda. We’re working on it. We’re coming back together in August, and we’ll have more to say then.

    SMITH: OK. You can understand, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I say this, but you understand that people listening to this, parents who are listening to this now, have a fear that what is being announced and what’s being introduced into Parliament is a bit of window dressing and that it’s not actually going to make any changes. You would understand that fear?

    WALSH: Justin, I met with three mums yesterday who had the courage to come up to here in Canberra and talk about their experiences. They were parents of children who had been abused in early learning settings historically, and I listened to their stories and their stories will stay with me and drive the action that we are taking. If there was one simple thing, Justin, that we could do, everyone would do it – the Commonwealth, States and Territories. There are many actions that need to be taken. I think everyone’s been really honest in this that not enough has been done up until now, but there is a real determination to do more. At the Commonwealth level, we have this lever of our funding, and we are sending a clear message to providers to lift their game or leave the sector. And we are working shoulder to shoulder with the States and Territories around a strong and significant package of reform.

    SMITH: I guess there –

    WALSH: Not enough has been –

    SMITH: I’m sorry. Finish, please.

    WALSH: Not enough has been done, Justin. I think everyone can see that. Everyone is clear about that. But we are all working together at a Commonwealth, State and Territory level and we are all driven by our understanding of the experiences that families are having right now and the fears that they have.

    SMITH: With the withdrawal of funding, who is going to police that? Who will make the spot checks? Who will do the reports and make a call on whether a centre is up to scratch or not?

    WALSH: So the Secretary of my Department is already looking at the data that we have. We know that there’s a small group of providers that consistently and persistently breach our national quality standards. We’re also looking at serious incidents, we’re looking at complaints, and we know which providers are of concern. It’s important to say, Justin, that if there are serious and imminent concerns, child care centres can be shut down immediately, and that does happen from time to time. This legislation is about the Commonwealth having the power for the first time to remove funding from those providers who are doing the wrong thing. And we also want it to send a message to the sector to lift their investment in quality and safety now.

    SMITH: It’s 14 to 9. We’re with Jess Walsh, who is the Early Childhood Education Minister in the Albanese Government. Minister, I’m sorry, I’ll have to ask that – I will have to ask you that question again. Who makes the decision? Who polices it? Who does the spot checks?

    WALSH: The Commonwealth is responsible for setting the standards, and the States and Territories for enforcing those standards with boots on the ground. It’s the States and Territories who have the regulators.

    SMITH: OK.

    WALSH: And we are of course all working together. We are hearing from the State regulators that this stick, if you like, that we have will help them do their job as well.

    SMITH: Does that not place us back into a problem that we’ve had, which is that the State and the Commonwealth are working, not working separately but they are separate entities and as you’re going to be relying on the States to gather this data to make the call on these child care centres, but each State seems to have a very different way of approaching child care? How is that all going to be pulled together nationally?

    WALSH: Well, the Commonwealth and the States do have different responsibilities, Justin, but we have one responsibility and that is to keep children safe in early learning and to give parents the confidence that their children are safe too. The regulators do provide information. We want to make sure that that information is shared nationally. And what we are doing this week with the legislation that we introduced yesterday is making sure that we can use the Commonwealth lever that we have, to withdraw funding from those providers who do put profit ahead of child safety. And there is one thing I want to add, Justin, to reassure parents. The vast majority of providers are meeting and exceeding our standards. Over 90 per cent of providers are meeting and exceeding standards. And the vast majority of educators out there are doing the very best job that they can do every day. There’s over a million families out there in Australia who are getting quality early education. This is a real problem that we’re seeing in terms of the distressing events that are occurring in Victoria, and more needs to be done about that. That’s why we’re focused on this legislation and bringing together a strong and significant package of child safety reforms.

    SMITH: Okay. Is the, you talk about standard, is the Allan Government up to standard?

    WALSH: Well, I think the Victorian Government, as with all governments around the country, have acknowledged that not enough has been done to date, and that more needs to be done. And we’ve acknowledged that at a Commonwealth level as well. Again, it’s why we’ve introduced this legislation in the first sitting of this Parliament because it’s such a big priority for us to keep children safe. It’s why we’re working shoulder to shoulder with the States on this package of reform. Of course, there is a review underway in Victoria, and we await the results of that review.

    SMITH: Thank you for your time, Minister.

    WALSH: Thank you.
     

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Swirling nebula of two dying stars revealed in spectacular detail in new Webb telescope image

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Pope, Associate Professor, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University

    The day before my thesis examination, my friend and radio astronomer Joe Callingham showed me an image we’d been awaiting for five long years – an infrared photo of two dying stars we’d requested from the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

    I gasped – the stars were wreathed in a huge spiral of dust, like a snake eating its own tail.

    The coils of Apep as captured by the European Space Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.
    ESO/Callingham et al., CC BY

    We named it Apep, for the Egyptian serpent god of destruction. Now, our team has finally been lucky to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to look at Apep.

    If anything could top the first shock of seeing its beautiful spiral nebula, it’s this breathtaking new image, with the JWST data now analysed in two papers on arXiv.

    Violent star deaths

    Right before they die as supernovae, the universe’s most massive stars violently shed their outer hydrogen layers, leaving their heavy cores exposed.

    These are called Wolf-Rayet stars after their discoverers, who noticed powerful streams of gas blasting out from these objects, much stronger than the stellar wind from our Sun. The Wolf-Rayet stage lasts only millennia – a blink of the eye in cosmic time scales – before they violently explode.

    Unlike our Sun, many stars in the universe exist in pairs known as binaries. This is especially true of the most massive stars, such as Wolf-Rayets.

    When the fierce gales from a Wolf-Rayet star clash with their weaker companion’s wind, they compress each other. In the eye of this storm forms a dense, cool environment in which the carbon-rich winds can condense into dust. The earliest carbon dust in the cosmos – the first of the material making up our own bodies – was made this way.

    The dust from the Wolf-Rayet is blown out in almost a straight line, and the orbital motion of the stars wraps it into a spiral-shaped nebula, appearing exactly like water from a sprinkler when viewed from above.

    We expected Apep to look like one of these elegant pinwheel nebulas, discovered by our colleague and co-author Peter Tuthill. To our surprise, it did not.

    The ‘pinwheel’ nebula of the triple Wolf-Rayet star system WR104.
    Peter Tuthill

    Equal rivals

    The new image was taken using JWST’s infrared camera, like the thermal cameras used by hunters or the military. It represents hot material as blue, and colder material in green through to red.

    It turns out Apep isn’t just one powerful star blasting a weaker companion, but two Wolf-Rayet stars. The rivals have near-equal strength winds, and the dust is spread out in a very wide cone and wrapped into a wind-sock shape.

    When we originally described Apep in 2018, we noted a third, more distant star, speculating whether it was also part of the system or a chance interloper along the line of sight.

    The dust appeared to be moving much slower than the winds, which was hard to explain. We suggested the dust might be carried on a slow, thick wind from the equator of a fast-spinning star, rare today but common in the early universe.

    The new, much more detailed data from JWST reveals three more dust shells zooming farther out, each cooler and fainter than the last and spaced perfectly evenly, against a background of swirling dust.

    The Apep nebula in false colour, displaying infrared data from JWST’s MIRI camera.
    Han et al./White et al./Dholakia; NASA/ESA

    New data, new knowledge

    The JWST data are now published and interpreted in a pair of papers, one led by Caltech astronomer Yinuo Han, and the other by Macquarie University Masters student Ryan White.

    Han’s paper reveals how the nebula’s dust cools, links the background dust to the foreground stars, and suggests the stars are farther away from Earth than we thought. This implies they are extraordinarily bright, but weakens our original claim about the slow winds and rapid rotation.

    In White’s paper, he develops a fast computer model for the shape of the nebula, and uses this to decode the orbit of the inner stars very precisely.

    He also noticed there’s a “bite” taken out out of the dust shells, exactly where the wind of the third star would be chewing into them. This proves the Apep family isn’t just a pair of twins – they have a third sibling.

    An illustration of the cavity carved by the third star companion in the Apep system.
    White et al. (2025)

    Understanding systems like Apep tells us more about star deaths and the origins of carbon dust, but these systems also have a fascinating beauty that emerges from their seemingly simple geometry.

    The violence of stellar death carves puzzles that would make sense to Newton and Archimedes, and it is a scientific joy to solve them and share them.

    Benjamin Pope receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Big Questions Institute.

    – ref. Swirling nebula of two dying stars revealed in spectacular detail in new Webb telescope image – https://theconversation.com/swirling-nebula-of-two-dying-stars-revealed-in-spectacular-detail-in-new-webb-telescope-image-258314

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: New investment to drive AI and biotech innovation

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Government is investing $24 million in smart, practical science that will help New Zealanders live healthier lives and support the development of sustainable food industries.

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti today announced two major research programmes in partnership with Singapore, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) tools for healthy ageing and biotechnology for future food production.

    “Science and innovation are critical to building a high-growth, high-value economy. That’s why we’re investing in research with a clear line of sight to commercial outcomes and real public benefit,” Dr Reti says.

    “This Government is focused on backing the technologies that will deliver real-world results for New Zealanders – not just in the lab, but in our hospitals, homes, and businesses.

    “Whether it’s supporting older Kiwis to live well for longer or developing smarter food production systems, these projects are about practical applications of advanced science to solve problems and grow our economy.”

    Funded through the Catalyst Fund, designed to facilitate international collaboration, the investment will support seven joint research projects over the next three years, deepening New Zealand’s research ties with Singapore and building capability in AI and biotechnology.

    The AI programme, delivered alongside AI Singapore, directly supports the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy – a plan to use AI to safely and effectively boost productivity and deliver better public services.

    “Our AI Strategy is about encouraging the uptake of AI to improve productivity and realise its potential to deliver faster, smarter, and more personalised services, including in healthcare,” says Dr Reti.  

    “These projects will help develop tools that support clinicians and improve care for our ageing population. Our collaboration with Singapore, a country well advanced in their use and development of AI, will help grow Kiwi capability to explore future practical uses of AI.”

    The biotechnology programme will focus on turning scientific research into scalable food solutions, including alternative proteins and new food ingredients, in partnership with Singapore’s A*STAR.

    “These partnerships are about future-proofing our economy and our communities — tackling global challenges with New Zealand science at the forefront,” Dr Reti says.

    Notes to the Editor:

    The Leveraging AI for Health Ageing programme will partner with AI Singapore (AISG) and will fund three projects which apply AI to improve health outcomes for older adults, particularly in cognitive health and personalised care:

    • AI-Assisted interRAI Assessment – University of Otago will enhance aged care assessments by integrating AI to improve efficiency and personalisation.
    • AI-Driven Risk Score for Dementia – University of Auckland will build an AI tool to help clinicians identify individuals at high risk of progressing to dementia.
    • AI-Augmented Cognitive Health Monitoring – Victoria University of Wellington will develop a remote monitoring platform using speech analysis, cognitive games, and caregiver input.

    The Biotech in Future Food Research Programme will partner with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and fund four groundbreaking projects:

    • Algae-Based Future Foods – Cawthron Institute will develop processing methods for two algae species suited to commercial development in both countries.
    • Hybrid Meat Production – University of Canterbury will design a novel, scalable approach to producing affordable hybrid meat.
    • Bio-Fermented Functional Foods – University of Auckland will create next-generation food ingredients from bacterial cellulose and mushroom mycelium.
    • Black Soldier Fly Bioproducts – Scion will explore the use of insect larvae to develop bioactive compounds and protein sources for human and animal nutrition.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Collaborative burn trials addressing knowledge gaps in fire behaviour

    Source:

    Australian farmers could benefit from burn trials conducted in paddocks of canola stubble, which indicate current fire behaviour models are overestimating the spread and behaviour of fire in the crop under mild weather conditions.

    The Canola and Alternative Crop Experimental Burn project is a critical component of a national collaborative research initiative involving the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS).

    The aim of the collaborative project is to enhance Australia’s current understanding of fire behaviour in non-cereal crop stubbles, particularly canola and legume stubble, to address significant gaps in current fire behaviour models.

    SACFS Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) Manager, Simeon Telfer said this collaborative project demonstrates our proactive approach to refining AFDRS, enhancing the accuracy of our fire simulators, and improving the quality and reliability of public warnings.

    ‘This project is a critical national partnership to address significant gaps in knowledge, as existing models are currently overestimating the fire spread risks in these fuel types under mild weather conditions,’ Mr Telfer said.

    ‘We are listening to communities and firefighters who have told us that canola burns differently; sometimes it will just stop spreading and other times it travels quickly, so we need to test the model.’

    He said a large portion of data still needs to be collected before changes are made but initial indications show changes could be made to refine Fire Danger Rating thresholds for canola.

    ‘One of the main advantages of the AFDRS is its ability to adopt new research as it comes along, once it is peer reviewed, we will be able to adopt this research straight into AFDRS, which will help across the nation,’ he said.

    ‘We know farmers are doing it tough in South Australia as they continue to grapple with drought conditions, so we want to do our part to support them by ensuring our data provides the best available information to protect their crops and properties.’

    A small delegation of fire scientists from SACFS, CFA and CSIRO have conducted stubble burns near Ungarra on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, in conjunction with local landowners and SACFS volunteers.

    CFA Senior Research Officer, Rachel Bessell, said the project helps to foster collaboration and gets more agencies involved in fire research, all while helping the community.

    ‘It’s not very often that volunteers get to stop and watch fire, so it’s a great learning experience for them to be involved in these burns.’

    ‘There’s a lot of complexities with getting these burns up and running, so we’re really appreciative of all the support from the suppression crews and the local community.’

    CSIRO Researcher Richard Hurley said the groundbreaking research will significantly enhance fire behavior predictions in cropping regions.

    ‘Currently throughout Australia, croplands are largely misunderstood and often misclassified as grasslands, which have different fuel characteristics. This highlights the need to better quantify fire propagation in these fuel types,’ Mr Hurley said.

    ‘From a scientific perspective, this type of research has never been done before at this scale. The next step is to conduct burns under much hotter and drier conditions to test fire behavior at the upper end of the fire behavior index.

    The second stage of the project is planned for summer 2025/26, as soon as practicable after harvest is complete. In this stage, fires will be lit under increased temperatures and wind speeds to measure crop stubble fires in more typical wildfire conditions. Safety measures will be increased for the next stage of the project to ensure containment of these hotter and drier stubble fires, including additional SACFS suppression resources, burn buffers surrounding the experimental area and mineral earth breaks.

    Media information
    For media enquiries call the CFS Media Line on 08 8115 3531.

    Submitted by CFA Media

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Swirling nebula of two dying stars revealed in spectacular detail in new Webb telescope image

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Benjamin Pope, Associate Professor, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University

    The day before my thesis examination, my friend and radio astronomer Joe Callingham showed me an image we’d been awaiting for five long years – an infrared photo of two dying stars we’d requested from the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

    I gasped – the stars were wreathed in a huge spiral of dust, like a snake eating its own tail.

    The coils of Apep as captured by the European Space Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.
    ESO/Callingham et al., CC BY

    We named it Apep, for the Egyptian serpent god of destruction. Now, our team has finally been lucky to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to look at Apep.

    If anything could top the first shock of seeing its beautiful spiral nebula, it’s this breathtaking new image, with the JWST data now analysed in two papers on arXiv.

    Violent star deaths

    Right before they die as supernovae, the universe’s most massive stars violently shed their outer hydrogen layers, leaving their heavy cores exposed.

    These are called Wolf-Rayet stars after their discoverers, who noticed powerful streams of gas blasting out from these objects, much stronger than the stellar wind from our Sun. The Wolf-Rayet stage lasts only millennia – a blink of the eye in cosmic time scales – before they violently explode.

    Unlike our Sun, many stars in the universe exist in pairs known as binaries. This is especially true of the most massive stars, such as Wolf-Rayets.

    When the fierce gales from a Wolf-Rayet star clash with their weaker companion’s wind, they compress each other. In the eye of this storm forms a dense, cool environment in which the carbon-rich winds can condense into dust. The earliest carbon dust in the cosmos – the first of the material making up our own bodies – was made this way.

    The dust from the Wolf-Rayet is blown out in almost a straight line, and the orbital motion of the stars wraps it into a spiral-shaped nebula, appearing exactly like water from a sprinkler when viewed from above.

    We expected Apep to look like one of these elegant pinwheel nebulas, discovered by our colleague and co-author Peter Tuthill. To our surprise, it did not.

    The ‘pinwheel’ nebula of the triple Wolf-Rayet star system WR104.
    Peter Tuthill

    Equal rivals

    The new image was taken using JWST’s infrared camera, like the thermal cameras used by hunters or the military. It represents hot material as blue, and colder material in green through to red.

    It turns out Apep isn’t just one powerful star blasting a weaker companion, but two Wolf-Rayet stars. The rivals have near-equal strength winds, and the dust is spread out in a very wide cone and wrapped into a wind-sock shape.

    When we originally described Apep in 2018, we noted a third, more distant star, speculating whether it was also part of the system or a chance interloper along the line of sight.

    The dust appeared to be moving much slower than the winds, which was hard to explain. We suggested the dust might be carried on a slow, thick wind from the equator of a fast-spinning star, rare today but common in the early universe.

    The new, much more detailed data from JWST reveals three more dust shells zooming farther out, each cooler and fainter than the last and spaced perfectly evenly, against a background of swirling dust.

    The Apep nebula in false colour, displaying infrared data from JWST’s MIRI camera.
    Han et al./White et al./Dholakia; NASA/ESA

    New data, new knowledge

    The JWST data are now published and interpreted in a pair of papers, one led by Caltech astronomer Yinuo Han, and the other by Macquarie University Masters student Ryan White.

    Han’s paper reveals how the nebula’s dust cools, links the background dust to the foreground stars, and suggests the stars are farther away from Earth than we thought. This implies they are extraordinarily bright, but weakens our original claim about the slow winds and rapid rotation.

    In White’s paper, he develops a fast computer model for the shape of the nebula, and uses this to decode the orbit of the inner stars very precisely.

    He also noticed there’s a “bite” taken out out of the dust shells, exactly where the wind of the third star would be chewing into them. This proves the Apep family isn’t just a pair of twins – they have a third sibling.

    An illustration of the cavity carved by the third star companion in the Apep system.
    White et al. (2025)

    Understanding systems like Apep tells us more about star deaths and the origins of carbon dust, but these systems also have a fascinating beauty that emerges from their seemingly simple geometry.

    The violence of stellar death carves puzzles that would make sense to Newton and Archimedes, and it is a scientific joy to solve them and share them.

    Benjamin Pope receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Big Questions Institute.

    – ref. Swirling nebula of two dying stars revealed in spectacular detail in new Webb telescope image – https://theconversation.com/swirling-nebula-of-two-dying-stars-revealed-in-spectacular-detail-in-new-webb-telescope-image-258314

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Overhauling unsustainable electoral laws

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Government is overhauling outdated and unsustainable electoral laws including stopping same-day enrolment, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. 

    “Allowing late enrolments, however well intentioned, has placed too much strain on the system. The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three.  

    “If we leave things as they are, it could well take even longer in future elections. The 20-day timeframe for a final result will likely already be challenging to achieve at the next election without changes. 

    “Therefore, the Government has agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins. People will need to make sure they enrol or update their enrolment details by midnight on the Sunday, before advance voting opens on Monday morning. 

    “This is a significant, but necessary change. The Electoral Commission will have plenty of time to run an education campaign to ensure people understand the new requirements. For Australia’s federal election earlier this year, the enrolment deadline was 26 days before election day. I have every confidence New Zealand can manage within the 13-day deadline. 

    “We’ve also agreed to a range of other changes, including creating a new offence to strengthen the rules around treating near voting places. There has been some confusion in the past around what is and isn’t treating. This will make the rules crystal clear.

    “The donation threshold for reporting the names of party donors is also being adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000, to account for inflation.”

    Key changes include: 

    • Closing enrolment 13 days before election day to reduce pressure on post-election timeframes.
    • Requiring 12 days of advance voting at each election.
    • Introducing automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update people’s enrolment details using data from other government agencies.
    • Enabling greater use of digital communication by removing postal requirements for enrolment.
    • Creating a new offence that prohibits the provision of free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting place while voting is taking place. It will be punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.
    • Reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting. 

    The Bill makes a wide range of other changes including:  

    • Enabling special vote processing to begin earlier. 
    • Increasing the Electoral Commission’s board from three to up to seven members.
    • Setting a single deadline for all candidate nominations.
    • Changing party registration requirements and timeframes.
    • Providing flexibility on the contact details that can be included in promoter statements.

    The Government is progressing a separate bill to amend the Constitution Act 1986 to ensure the continuity of executive government in the post-election period. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with serious family violence offences

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged with serious family violence offences

    Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 10:06 am.

    A 43-year-old Risdon man has been charged with serious family violence offences following an operation led by Tasmania Police’s South East Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).
    The offences include emotional abuse (coercive control), systems abuse, and numerous family violence order breaches.
    As part of the investigative operation, several coordinated searches were conducted at a range of locations on Wednesday, with exhibits seized and the man charged on Wednesday evening.
    Supporting and protecting victims of crime is a priority for Tasmania Police, and this matter remains under active investigation.
    The man is due to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on 5 December 2025.
    If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence and is in need of urgent assistance, call police on Triple Zero (000).
    To report a non-urgent incident of family violence – call the Tasmania Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or attend your local police station to make a report. If you have a hearing impairment, call TTY 106.
    For advice, support and counselling relating to family violence (if you do not wish to report the matter to police in the first instance) – call the Family Violence Counselling Support Service on 1800 608 122.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: The wait is over – it’s time to lodge

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is advising it is time to lodge, as most taxpayers with simple affairs will now have their information pre-filled into their accounts.

    Assistant Commissioner Rob Thomson said that the ATO had completed pre-fill of over 91 million pieces of information available for individual tax returns from employers, banks, government agencies and private health insurers.

    ‘You’ve been patiently waiting, but now you’re good to go! Whether you lodge using a registered tax agent or lodge yourself through myTax, pre-fill information will now be available,’ Mr Thomson said.

    Taxpayers should check the pre-filled data to ensure accuracy, add anything that may be missing and then include any deductions they are entitled to claim.

    ‘Don’t forget that you need to include all sources of income in your tax return. This includes side-hustles, linked income from providing ride sourcing services or selling services via an app.’

    ‘Remember, the ATO has 40 industry and occupation specific guides to assist you in what you can claim and what records are required to prove it,‘ Mr Thomson said.

    To help keep your personal information safe and protected, the ATO’s app now has powerful new safety features designed to give users real-time control over their tax affairs through alerts and instant account locking to help stop fraudsters in their tracks.

    ‘Fraudsters are getting smarter, but so are the protective features in the app. The ATO app will send you real-time messages when changes are made to your ATO record, and you can quickly lock your account to prevent unauthorised access or fraudulent refunds.‘

    ‘These features provide peace of mind knowing your account is protected and you remain in control of your tax affairs anytime, anywhere‘ Mr Thomson said.

    The ATO app and ATO online services through myGov also allow taxpayers to see the progress of their return once they or their registered tax agent have submitted it.

    ‘Most refunds are finalised within two weeks and this process cannot be sped up, even if you call us,’ Mr Thomson said.

    Taxpayers have until 31 October to lodge their tax return or to get on the books of a registered tax agent, which may allow them more time to lodge.

    Notes to journalists

    A high-resolution headshot of ATO Assistant Commissioner Rob ThomsonThis link will download a file is available for download from our media centre.

    ATO stock footage and images are available for use in news bulletins from our media centre.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Prescribed burning threatens survival of skinks and other wildlife

    Source:

    24 July 2025

    Prescribed burning is threatening the survival of skinks, ecologists say.

    As Australia and the world grapple with global warming and increased bushfire risks, University of South Australia ecologists are turning their attention to the impact of prescribed burning on native animals.

    In a new study published in The International Journal of Wildland Fire, researchers investigated the maximum temperatures that lizards could experience during prescribed (controlled) fires in the Mount Lofty Ranges and compared them to their maximum survivable temperatures.

    Widespread prescribed burning is undertaken in spring and autumn each year in the Mount Lofty Ranges, a biodiversity hotspot and fire-prone region. Researchers measured surface and shelter temperatures during four prescribed fires and analysed their results alongside the lab-collected ‘critical thermal limits’ of three different species of skinks.

    The findings demonstrated that the average temperatures under common shelters like logs and rocks during these fires were 108°C and 53°C respectively, which exceeded the survivable temperature range (37.5°C – 43.0°C) of each type of skink.

    While only reptiles were studied, lead researcher and UniSA PhD candidate Shawn Scott says that these temperatures would also threaten the survival of other native animals and that the results can therefore be applied more broadly.

    “These conditions dramatically exceed the 60°C threshold for most terrestrial vertebrates,” Scott says.

    “Logs and rocks were the most effective shelters for buffering extreme temperatures during prescribed fire in our study.

    “However, the maximum temperatures and duration of these conditions may still prove lethal for small vertebrates if prescribed burning is undertaken during conditions that exacerbate fire severity.”

    Researchers also discovered that when ambient temperatures on days of prescribed burnings were higher, maximum temperatures beneath the shelters – and the duration at which they stayed lethally hot – also increased.

    “Our analysis showed that the temperatures of the fires increased by up to 700°C as ambient temperatures increased from 17°C to 22°C,” Scott says.

    “The hotter the fire, the hotter it’s going to be inside or beneath the shelters sought out by small animals during prescribed burnings, making it more difficult for them to survive, especially over an extended period.”

    “In terms of shelter quality, rocks and logs maintained the coolest temperatures, showing that they are critical to small animals,” says co-researcher and UniSA wildlife ecologist Associate Professor Sophie (Topa) Petit.

    “However, many of those sites still reached temperatures far above what reptiles can withstand. Not all rocks and logs are good enough.”

    As climate change increases the risk of bushfires, prescribed burnings are also expected to increase, especially in fire-prone, Mediterranean climates like the Mount Lofty Ranges, other parts of Australia, and also Greece, Italy, Spain and California.

    Scott says that animal survival and biodiversity conservation should be prioritised in burning processes, and that his team’s research can help inform relevant strategies not only on the home front but also abroad.   

    ”If lower intensity fires are to be achieved during prescribed burns, they should be undertaken on mild days when ambient temperatures are below 17°C,” he says.

    “In Australia, burning does occur on days that are considered mild – between 17°C to 22°C – but our research demonstrates that even in these conditions the maximum temperatures and their duration are high enough to threaten small animals relying on shelters like rocks and logs for protection.

    “Second, pre-fire surveys should be conducted to establish the availability and density of shelter sites that may increase the likelihood of animal survival during fire.”

    The researchers suggest that larger shelters and below-surface shelters like soil, hollows, and burrows should be examined next, as well as animal movement and mortality during and after fires.

    The study, titled ‘Between a rock and a hot place: do surface shelters facilitate survivable conditions for small vertebrates during prescribed fire?’ is available online. DOI:10.1071/WF24184

     

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Contact for interview: Shawn Scott E: Shawn.Scott@unisa.edu.au
    Media contacts: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: Candy.Gibson@unisa.edu.au; Josh Owen-Thomas E: Josh.Owen-Thomas@unisa.edu.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: ARENA backs Calix with $44.9M to fire up green steel future

    Source: Ministers for the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

    Overview

    • Category

      News

    • Date

      24 July 2025

    • Classification

      Renewables for industry

    The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed $44.9 million to Calix to build a novel demonstration plant using its Zero Emissions Steel Technology (ZESTY).

    Powered by renewable electricity and hydrogen, the plant will aim to produce up to 30,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen direct reduced iron (HDRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI) each year in a strong step toward cleaner steelmaking.

    ZESTY leverages Calix’s proprietary Flash Calciner technology which aims to reduce the cost of green iron production. The new funding builds on the successful outcomes of ARENA funded engineering studies for the demonstration plant. The funding also supports early-stage engineering studies for a much larger commercial scale ZESTY plant, helping build local capability in low emissions metals—a strategic priority for ARENA and a critical future industry for Australia.

    The project will also showcase a flexible green iron process that can ramp production up or down to match renewable energy supply—supporting a smarter, cleaner industrial future.

    ARENA CEO Darren Miller stressed that finding a low or zero emissions pathway for steelmaking is crucial, given its significant contribution to global emissions.

    “As the world’s largest producer and exporter of iron ore, Australia has a critical role in reducing emissions across the steel value chain,” he said.

    “ZESTY is a strong step toward building a low-emissions steel industry at home.”

    “What makes ZESTY so compelling is its potential to dramatically lower the amount of hydrogen required to convert iron ore into pure iron. ZESTY, in combination with use of renewable electricity from Australia’s world-class solar and wind resources, has the potential to create a new green iron industry targeting both domestic and export markets as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.”

    Calix CEO Phil Hodgson welcomed the funding, saying, “green iron can tackle one of the world’s hardest to abate emissions sources while adding value to Australia’s biggest export. ZESTY is designed to do this cost effectively – minimising hydrogen use, avoiding pelletisation, and operating flexibly on low-cost electricity.”

    Founded in 2005, Calix is an Australian innovator in sustainable high-temperature mineral processing, with applications across steel, cement, alumina, lithium and critical minerals.

    ARENA media contact:

    media@arena.gov.au

    Download this media release (PDF 151KB)

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China calls for opposition to unilateral tariffs, defense of multilateral trading system at WTO

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    China has called for opposition to unilateral tariff actions and the defense of the multilateral trading system at a two-day meeting of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Council, which concluded on Wednesday.

    In a statement presented at the meeting, the Chinese delegation noted that global trade turbulence is intensifying, marked by rising uncertainty and increased risks of fragmentation.

    In recent months, new unilateral tariff measures have continued to emerge, and the volume of trade affected by restrictive measures has reached 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars, the highest level since statistics became available in 2009, the delegation said.

    Against this backdrop, the delegation called on WTO members to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and to more effectively support the multilateral trading system.

    The delegation elaborated on a three-pronged “SDR” framework previously proposed by China, namely “Stability as the cornerstone, Development as the priority, and Reform as the pathway,” noting that the proposed efforts include jointly upholding WTO principles such as the most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment and non-discrimination, supporting the integration of developing members into the multilateral trading system, and advancing in-depth WTO reform.

    The delegation stressed that bilateral agreements reached or related measures taken by relevant members to ease trade tensions must comply with WTO rules.

    The delegation also suggested that the WTO Secretariat strengthen its monitoring and analysis of unilateral measures and bilateral agreements, and promptly inform members of their impact, especially the potential negative spillover effects on third-party members.

    Brazil, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Venezuela and other WTO members stated at the meeting that escalating trade turbulence is not in the common interest of members. Unilateral tariff measures, they noted, undermine the foundation of multilateral rules, significantly raise costs for businesses and consumers, and particularly hinder the economic growth and social development of vulnerable developing members.

    Given the current circumstances, they emphasized that upholding the multilateral trading system has become more critical than ever. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Accelerates Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure

    Source: US Whitehouse

    ACCELERATING DATA CENTER INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout of data center infrastructure.

    • The Order directs the Secretary of Commerce to launch an initiative to provide financial support, such as loans, grants, and tax incentives, for Qualifying Projects.
      • These Qualifying Projects include data centers that require greater than 100 megawatts of new load, infrastructure projects related to data center energy needs, semiconductor facilities, networking equipment, or other data center or related infrastructure projects selected by the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, or Secretary of Energy.
    • The Order revokes a Biden-era Executive Order that would have saddled AI data center development on Federal lands with pages of DEI and climate requirements.
    • The Order instructs agencies to streamline environmental reviews and permitting for data centers and related infrastructure by leveraging existing exemptions and creating new ones to expedite the construction of Qualifying Projects.
    • The Order enhances transparency and efficiency by designating Qualified Projects for expedited permitting under the FAST-41 framework.
    • The Order promotes the use of Brownfield and Superfund sites for data center development, repurposing these lands for productive use.
    • The Order directs the Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to authorize data center construction on appropriate Federal lands.

    STRENGTHENING AMERICA’S AI AND MANUFACTURING LEADERSHIP: President Trump is promoting the rapid buildout of AI data centers and critical infrastructure to secure economic prosperity, national security, and scientific leadership.

    • AI data centers and supporting infrastructure, such as energy systems and semiconductors, are essential for powering America’s technological and industrial future.
    • Lengthy and complex Federal regulations can delay critical projects, hindering America’s ability to lead in AI and manufacturing.
    • By streamlining permitting and providing financial support, the U.S. will accelerate the development of data centers and enable our global dominance in AI, which will in turn create jobs and enhance national security.
    • This initiative ensures American leadership in AI and critical technologies, positioning the U.S. to outpace global competitors and drive innovation for decades to come.

    USHERING IN A GOLDEN AGE FOR AMERICAN TECHNOLOGICAL DOMINANCE: President Trump has made American leadership in AI a national priority.

    • President Trump signed the first-ever Executive Order on AI in 2019 recognizing the paramount importance of American AI leadership to the economic and national security of the United States.
      • In historic actions, the Trump Administration established the first-ever national AI research institutes, strengthened American leadership in AI technical standards, and issued the world’s first AI regulatory guidance to govern AI development in the private sector.
    • President Trump also took executive action in 2020 to establish the first-ever guidance for Federal agency adoption of AI to more effectively deliver services to the American people and foster public trust in this critical technology.
    • In January 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to reverse harmful Biden Administration AI policies and enhance America’s global AI dominance.
    • In April 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to advance AI education for America’s youth.
    • The Administration is capitalizing on other permitting successes that will also enable data center development, such as dramatically reducing NEPA’s impact on critical infrastructure projects, developing emergency NEPA procedures that can permit major mining projects in under 28 days at the Department of the Interior, revising NOAA’s deep sea mining regulations, and more.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: When employers must lodge the SGC statement

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    If you’ve missed paying your eligible employees and contractors their SG on time, in full, or to the right fund, you must pay the super guarantee charge (SGC). You’ll need to:

    • lodge an SGC statement
    • pay the SGC amount to us, not the super fund.

    SGC is more than the super you would’ve otherwise paid to the employee’s fund. It’s calculated on salary and wages that includes overtime and some allowances, instead of ordinary time earnings. It also includes interest and other fees. SGC is not tax deductible, so it’s best that you pay on time.

    To avoid additional penalties, you need to lodge the SGC statement within one calendar month of the missed quarterly payment due date each year:

    • 28 August
    • 28 November
    • 28 February
    • 28 May.

    Our video explains what happens if you fail to meet your super obligations as an employer and provides instructions on how to lodge an SGC statement.

    Watch

    Remember, we have resources available to help you meet your SG obligations. Visit ato.gov.au/superforemployers.

    Keep up to date

    We have tailored communication channels for medium, large and multinational businesses, to keep you up to date with updates and changes you need to know.

    Read more articles in our online Business bulletins newsroom.

    Subscribe to our free:

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    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Woman charged with arson in relation to fire which destroyed unit at Ravenswood

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Woman charged with arson in relation to fire which destroyed unit at Ravenswood

    Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 8:48 am.

    Police have charged a 61-year-old woman from Ravenswood with arson in relation to a fire at Ravenswood yesterday.  
    Around 10.30am, emergency services responded to reports of a unit on fire on Warring Street.  
    Tasmania Fire Service extinguished the fire; however the unit was destroyed.  
    Fire Investigators determined the fire was deliberately lit.  
    The woman was bailed to appear before the Launceston Magistrates Court on 3 September 2025.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Reintroduces Legislation to Bolster Alabama’s Ag Community

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) reintroduced two pieces of legislation—the Farm Board Act and the Mid-South Oilseed Double Cropping Study Act—to improve opportunities and increase market access for Alabama’s agriculture community. More information about both bills can be found below.

    “Our farmers, foresters, and livestock producers shoulder an enormous burden of keeping America’s food secure,” said Senator Tuberville. “They need to be able to make a living off the land, and they need to have a FCIC Board of Directors that fully reflects their needs. I’m proud to reintroduce legislation that strengthens representation on the FCIC Board, and another piece of legislation that would help solidify a new revenue opportunity for our farmers while also addressing the growing need for renewable diesels and synthetic aviation fuels. As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Ag Committee, I’ll continue fighting to secure opportunities for our ag producers as they feed, fuel, and clothe our country.”

    “I commend Coach on each piece of legislation,” said Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate. “The Farm Board Act will ensure representation for production agriculture to the FCIC Board of Directors while the Mid-South Oil Seed Bill will help pave the way for another alternative crop for producers to consider growing based on the demand for renewable fuel. I look forward to Coach getting each bill to the finish line.”

    “We appreciate Coach’s continued support of Alabama farmers and his steadfast dedication to supporting innovation while managing risk by increasing availability and oversight of crop insurance programs,” said Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell. “With more offerings than ever for livestock producers, it is important these farmers have representation on the FCIC Board.  Additionally, as farmers are looking at alternative crops to supplement their income, the Mid-South Oilseed Double Cropping Study Act will help to make sure they have the appropriate risk management tools available.”

    ABOUT THE FARM BOARD ACT:

    The Farm Board Act would require the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors to designate one of the four producers on the ten-member board as an individual that produces both livestock and crops. The FCIC is a government owned corporation that finances the Federal Crop Insurance Program’s (FCIP) operations. Making this addition would improve perspective and decisions regarding the newer livestock related crop insurance products that benefit all areas of Alabama’s agriculture industry.  The designated producer seat would not start immediately, but when Board members begin to cycle off on May 1, 2027.

    American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA), Alabama Department of Ag & Industries, and the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association are all supportive of Senator Tuberville’s legislation. More information about the Farm Board Act can be found here.

    ABOUT THE MID-SOUTH OILSEED DOUBLE CROPPING STUDY ACT:

    This bill requests a study from the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) on winter oilseed crops, canola, and rapeseed (which is a type of canola) for the Mid-South region—Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Alabama producers are starting to grow canola as a second crop—following soybeans—and the crop can be used to produce Synthetic Aviation Fuel (SAF), which creates an additional market for our producers. This also enables Alabama farmers to expand revenue opportunities during the winter months and helps reduce nutrient losses in the soil. For farmers to take advantage of opportunities in renewable diesel and SAF, they need the assurance that crop insurance—such as Catastrophic Risk Protection, Yield Protection, Revenue Protection, or Revenue Protection with Harvest Price Exclusion—will be eligible in their counties for these crops and practices. To address crop insurance gaps that may exist, RMA and FCIC need to gather data on the feasibility of producing winter oilseed as a double and rotational crop in the Mid-South region. 

    The diversification of our energy markets by adding new, cost-effective, and sustainable options is necessary. Renewable domestic diesel capacity is slated for aggressive growth with the potential to double by 2030. Additionally, the 106-billion-gallon global commercial jet fuel market is projected to grow to over 230 billion gallons by 2050. The end goal is to get a study now, then down the road have double cropped canola and rapeseed be covered by crop insurance. 

    U.S. Canola Association, National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA), and the Alabama Department of Ag & Industries are all supportive of Senator Tuberville’s legislation. More information about the Mid-South Oilseed Double Cropping Study Act can be found here.

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Research – Study of ancient sea creature’s DNA links New Zealand to oceans around the world

    Source: New Zealand Institute for Earth Science Limited (Earth Sciences New Zealand)

    A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand’s dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought. The research, led by Australia’s Museums Victoria Research Institute and just published in Nature, found that while marine life in shallow waters is regionally unique, deeper ocean life shows more global connectivity, with some deep-sea species found across vast distances, even on opposite sides of the world.
    A previous lack of global data meant that the connections of deep-sea species weren’t fully known, but the researchers from 19 different institutions, including Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly NIWA), were able to discover how marine life is connected across the sea floor. The landmark study mapped the global distribution and evolutionary relationships of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea), an ancient, spiny animal found from shallow coastal waters to the deepest abyssal plains, and from the equator to the poles.
    In the most comprehensive study of its kind, brittle star DNA from four dozen collections, including from Earth Sciences New Zealand’s invertebrate collection in Wellington, was examined. By analysing over 2,500 DNA samples collected from over 300 research voyages in all oceans and at various depths, the researchers were able to uncover how the deep-sea invertebrates have evolved and migrated across the oceans over the past 100 million years, linking ecosystems from Iceland to Tasmania.
    ‘You might think of the deep sea as remote and isolated, but for many animals on the seafloor, it’s actually a connected superhighway,’ said study lead Dr Tim O’Hara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates at Museums Victoria Research Institute. ‘Over long timescales, deep-sea species have expanded their ranges by thousands of kilometres. This connectivity is a global phenomenon that’s gone unnoticed, until now.’
    The brittle star was chosen because the animals, which have lived on Earth for over 480 million years, are found on all ocean floors, including at depths of more than 3,500 metres, says Dr O’Hara. “These animals don’t have fins or wings, but they’ve still managed to span entire oceans. The secret lies in their biology; their larvae can survive for a long time in cold water, hitching a ride on slow-moving deep-sea currents.”
    With the yolk-rich larvae able to drift on deep ocean currents for extended periods, the brittle stars have been able to colonise far-flung regions. Unlike marine life in shallow waters, which is restricted by temperature boundaries, deep-sea environments are more stable and allow species to disperse over vast distances, the study found. “The research shows that deep-sea communities, particularly at temperate latitudes, are more closely related across regions than their shallow-water counterparts. This may be due to historic ocean currents and temperature patterns that allowed species to spread over time. For example, marine animals found off southern Australia share close evolutionary links with those in the North Atlantic, on the other side of the planet.”
    However, the deep sea is not uniform, and while species can spread widely, factors such as extinction events, environmental change, and geography have created a patchwork of biodiversity across the seafloor.
    Deep-sea ecosystems are more connected than first thought, says study co-author Sadie Mills, invertebrate collection manager at Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly NIWA). “Understanding how species are related and their connections in the ocean at different depths and different latitudes is key to protecting marine biodiversity across the entire planet. These global links should be taken into account in planning.”
    As threats from deep-sea mining and climate change increase, this new appreciation of how life is distributed and moves through this vast environment is essential if we want to protect it, says Dr O’Hara. “It’s a paradox. The deep sea is highly connected, but also incredibly fragile.”

    (Ref. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09307-1 )

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Law Business and Media – MinterEllisonRuddWatts advises Warner Bros. Discovery on sale of Discovery NZ to Sky

    Source: MinterEllisonRuddWatts

    MinterEllisonRuddWatts is pleased to have advised Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. on the sale of its New Zealand subsidiary, Discovery NZ Limited, to Sky Network Television Limited (Sky).
    The transaction, announced this week, involves the sale of 100% of the shares in Discovery NZ to Sky, with completion expected on 1 August 2025.
    Discovery NZ operates the broadcast-video-on-demand (BVOD) platform ThreeNow, free-to-air channel Three, and a suite of FAST channels in New Zealand.
    As part of the deal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Sky have entered into a significant and ongoing content supply agreement, ensuring continued access to premium content for New Zealand audiences.
    Michael Brooks, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for Warner Bros. Discovery commented: “This is a fantastic outcome for both Warner Bros. Discovery and Sky. While Discovery NZ is no longer commercially viable as a standalone asset in our New Zealand portfolio, we see the value Three and ThreeNow can bring to Sky’s offering. The transaction includes a content supply agreement that benefits both parties.”
    MinterEllisonRuddWatts advised Warner Bros. Discovery on all legal aspects of the transaction, including deal structuring, negotiation of the share sale agreement, transitional services arrangements, employment aspects, content supply arrangements and regulatory engagement.
    Corporate Partner Mark Forman who led the deal, says: “We are proud to have supported Warner Bros. Discovery in this strategic divestment. The transaction reflects our firm’s expertise in cross-border M&A and media sector transactions, and we are pleased to have helped deliver a successful outcome that creates a unique opportunity for Sky.”
    The law firm’s deal team included Mark Forman, Tayla Johnston, James Marriner, Nick Stewart, Caitlin Reid, Jennifer Hambleton, Gillian Service, Joshua Kimpton, Simon Akozu, Andrew Ryan, Chris Young, Briar Richardson, David Gilbert, Tom Maasland, Sean Gollin, and Kate Lane.
    MinterEllisonRuddWatts is a top tier New Zealand law firm known for providing clients with technically excellent legal solutions and innovative advice. We are trusted advisors and work alongside our clients to ensure success. We are proud to be a New Zealand law firm offering a global outlook. Our offices in Auckland and Wellington can access an international network through our firm’s strategic alliance with MinterEllison, a leading firm in the Asia-Pacific. The firm supports numerous charitable endeavours and organisations through its pro bono and fundraising initiatives.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Open Days an exciting sneak preview into the new Adelaide University experience

    Source:

    24 July 2025

    The new Adelaide University is set to host its first ever Open Days, offering future students and their families a glimpse into the transformative new institution ahead of its official opening in 2026.

    About 17,000 attendees are expected to visit city, metropolitan and regional campuses across July and August to discover degrees, meet future lecturers, explore world-class teaching and research facilities, and get a taste of campus life.

    The new university – built on the collective expertise, strengths and achievements of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia – will commence its first year of operations as a world top 100 university and member of Australia’s prestigious and research-intensive Group of Eight (Go8).

    The city Open Day will take place on Sunday 27 July, with around 15,000 people expected to immerse themselves in activities and information as they explore the vibrant city campuses ahead of domestic student applications opening on 4 August.

    The heart of the action will be in the east, at what’s set to become the Adelaide City East Campus (the University of Adelaide and UniSA’s city east campuses with a temporary Adelaide University makeover) including focused study area hubs, live music, fun activities and competitions with prizes to be won, surrounded by an abundance of food options.

    Future students can join talks from and panel discussions with academics and hear from current students and industry leaders. Criminology crime walks, virtual reality demonstrations, and co-captaining a replica commercial aircraft are some of the activities expected to excite senses.

    A dedicated First Nations hub will showcase Adelaide University’s commitment to Aboriginal education as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pathway, and a Welcome Lounge where visitors can meet with Elders.

    Adelaide City West Campus will be a place to discover more, including study hubs for fine art, design and architecture, and tours of world-class health facilities as well as our future focused on-campus museum, MOD. and the South Australian School of Art (SASA) Gallery.

    Visitors can plan ahead and create their own personalised digital itinerary.  A fleet of e-scooters will be available for use free of charge on the day, helping visitors travel between the East and West campuses.

    “This first Open Day is an opportunity for our future students to experience what makes the new Adelaide University so distinct and exciting and how it will deliver Australia’s most accessible, contemporary and future-focused learning,” say Professors Peter Høj AC and David Lloyd, co-Vice Chancellors, Adelaide University.

    “We want to give visitors a taste of the new Adelaide University culture and on-campus experience, and we’re delighted with how our staff and student volunteers have rallied together to set that scene and convey the energy of campus life.

    “Over the last two years the foundation institutions have co-designed Australia’s newest cutting-edge curriculum with a model that incorporates industry informed face-to-face learning, expanded work integrated and practical learning opportunities and a sector-leading digital learning platform.

    “Adelaide University will empower students with a world-class education and nurture local talent and so they can follow their dreams. We can’t wait to give future students an up close and personal insight into our new university.”

    The metropolitan and regional campus Open Days will take place in August, allowing future students to get all the information they need to start planning their future.

    Magill Open Day on 13 August will allow visitors to explore the lush parklands and industry standard facilities at Magill Campus, and discover where degrees in teaching and education, arts, humanities and social sciences, psychology and social work, and creative, media and communication can take them.

    Roseworthy Open Day on 17 August will showcase the animal-focused campus with tours of the vet teaching hospital, equine centre and working farm.

    Mawson Lakes Open Day on 17 August will be a hub for STEM and education degrees, with exceptional teaching and research facilities including virtual learning environments and robotics laboratories ready to experience.

    Mount Gambier Open Day will take place on 3 August and Whyalla on 31 August, showcasing local study options, modern facilities and expert educators.

    For more information on Adelaide University’s Open Days and to build your own itinerary visit the website: adelaideuni.edu.au/open-day

    Ends

    Further enquiries

    Adelaide University

    Melissa Keogh: Tel: +61 403 659 154 Email: melissa.keogh@unisa.edu.au

    adelaideuni.edu.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Transcript – ABC 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    SARAH FERGUSON: I just want to change the tone very slightly here because we are used to politicians appearing to be thick-skinned. The execution of power demands it, and I should say this is not a reflection on Barnaby Joyce. I just wanted to change the tone. Because tonight we’ll see a slightly different side of Education Minister Jason Clare, who today introduced the Government’s childcare legislation and who is tasked with fixing the crisis in childcare that’s left some of our youngest children vulnerable. He joined me earlier. 

    Jason Clare, welcome.

    JASON CLARE: Thank you.

    FERGUSON: So, new legislation today, it gives you the power to cut off subsidies to childcare centres using the big stick. What is the threshold for taking that decision?

    CLARE: Well, it depends on the seriousness of what’s happening in a centre. If we’re concerned that there’s an imminent threat to the safety of children in a centre, that centre can be shut down today —

    FERGUSON. So, that already exists?

    CLARE: That already exists. And state regulators can and do, do that. But if we’ve got centres that are not meeting that standard, that quality and safety standard, there’ll be the capacity, because of this legislation, for the Secretary of my department to issue a show cause notice to a centre to explain why they are not meeting that standard, otherwise the funding will be cut off within 28 days. But there’s also the flexibility in the legislation to set conditions. So, the Secretary could also say, you must do a number of things in order to maintain your funding. That flexibility is important here to make sure that we target the right centres. And I’ve got to tell you, there’s a bit of work going on right now before the legislation’s passed between my department and state regulators to make sure that we’ve got a list of the centres that we can and will target with this legislation.

    FERGUSON. So, that’s the question. How do you know which of Australia’s 15,000 centres to target? So tell me about that work?

    CLARE: Well, they know. State regulators know this because they rate centres —

    FERGUSON: Yes, but do they? Because the numbers on the frequency of testing, some of them haven’t been. I think the average is every four years. Some centres haven’t been tested for 10 years. So, what information are they relying on?

    CLARE: Well, they know through the centres that they’ve rated that there’s about 4 per cent of centres that aren’t meeting that minimum safety standard and that can be everything from an exit sign through to lack of supervision. They also know the centres where they’ve set conditions for them themselves, and they’ve told them, you’ve got a couple of months to meet the grade, meet the standard and then they come back a couple of months later and they haven’t. They’re the sort of centres that the states are telling us they want to use this legislation to pull the funding from.

    FERGUSON: I suppose the question is, is this plan built on shaky foundations? Given that the way the system works, the way the accreditation is done, the way the testing is done, there are such huge gaps in it. Yes, there may be centres that have been identified by the states and territories. What about all those centres, some of them, that haven’t been visited for 10 years? What about those centres that have waivers? Where do they fit in?

    CLARE: Well, this is where states need to step up. You know, the Commonwealth needs to step up. All centres need to step up here if we’re going to make sure that this legislation does what we want it to do. But, you know, Sarah, I’m also not here to say that this is a silver bullet, that this is going to guarantee that every child’s safe just because of this legislation. I spent a good part of the day dealing with some mothers of children who were sexually assaulted and abused in centres that were already at that standard. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be using the power that the Commonwealth has, with all the funding we provide to centres, to say to centres, if you’re not at that standard, we’re going to remove the funding. At its core, this is not about cutting off funding to centres and shutting centres down. If it works the way it should work, it’ll send a message to the people who run these centres that you’ve got to get to that standard or the money’s going to be turned off.

    FERGUSON. So, what do you do? You say you want the states to do more, but what do you do about the fact that there clearly aren’t enough regulators available in the states and territories to look at all of those 15,000 centres? There are too many with very long gaps, never, never tested, or the little gaps that I was talking about. So, you know, there aren’t enough regulators in the states to visit those centres. So, what do you do about that?

    CLARE: There’s two things. The regulators already tell us they know where to target this legislation at the centres that they repeatedly go to, and they’re not meeting standards. But there’s also more work that the states need to do to build that workforce. And we’ve seen Queensland, South Australia and Victoria announce an extra investment in their regulators. That’s a good thing. There’s work that’s got to be done right across the country. And it’s not just this legislation; it’s not just the work of regulators. It’s the things we talked about a couple of weeks ago. It’s about a register so that we know where workers are from centre to centre and from state to state. It’s about CCTV and how that works. If we’re going to roll that out, we’ve got to make sure we do it in the right way, so that the sort of predators we’re all worried about in our centres can’t use that sort of information for all the wrong reasons. And it’s about the sort of training that we provide to the most important people who work in those centres. One of the things I’m very conscious of in this job is that with everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks, the people who work in our centres, the good, honest, hard-working people who love our kids, look after our kids, including mine in centres, feel tarnished, feel tarred by this. People have been spat on in the streets for wearing their uniform. They’re the best asset we’ve got here to keep our kids safe, 99.9 per cent of them are those people.

    FERGUSON: You’re clearly worried about those people, aren’t you?

    CLARE: I am, I am. They do some of the most important work in the world. When my wife fell pregnant for the second time, we showed an ultrasound to my little boy, Jack, and told him he was going to be a big brother. And we thought, you know, he’d be really excited. First thing he said was, I can’t wait to tell Kelly. Kelly is the woman that looked after him at childcare, and it told me that this is not an ordinary job. These are very special people, and they’re as hurt and as angry as everybody else out there. And I’ve got to use this role and this responsibility and this opportunity to tell Australia how important they are as well. But we’ve got to equip them with the skills that they need and to identify a predator lying in clear sight who might be grooming a child or grooming them. And that’s what mandatory child safety training is all about.

    FERGUSON: Just come back to the way the system works, because you’re bringing your personal experience to that. It’s important. It’s something that’s clearly moved you because you’ve been very lucky to have excellent childcare staff. But do you think that they are also being let down by the standard system? It’s been in place for a long time. Is it still adequate for what we need to address what is a crisis in the childcare system?

    CLARE: No. No.

    FERGUSON: So do you need to – Well, I’m asking about the system of standards itself. For example, as you know, the way things stand at the moment, a childcare centre cannot be failed for its performance. Do you need to have at least a standard of failure?

    CLARE: Well, it sort of is, but there’s euphemisms about how you describe it.

    FERGUSON: Isn’t it time we got rid of all of the euphemisms in this area?

    CLARE: The point is, and it’s- I think it’s pretty bloody obvious that the system has failed parents here and that we’ve all got a responsibility to step up. That’s the Commonwealth Government, that’s State Governments, that’s the people who run these centres as well. Part of this legislation is the power to cut off funding. Part of it is also the power to advise parents or to publish information to tell the mums and dads whose children are at these centres that unless the standards improve at that centre, we’re going to cut off their funding. Not just them, but also to pass that same information on to the board members who run these companies and the stock exchange. You know, the big-

    FERGUSON: Do you think those big companies, in particular the private equity involved in childcare and some of the big companies with multiple centres, do you think these people have been indifferent to the suffering of children in those centres?

    CLARE: Money talks, and unfortunately, some organisations have put profit ahead of the safety of our children. Now I’m happy for –

    FERGUSON: (Interjecting) Will any of those companies, those groups, still be operating in Australia?

    CLARE: If they don’t meet the standards that we set as a nation, that parents expect and that our kids deserve, no. If they meet those standards, then that’s good. What this legislation’s about is sending a very clear message. You know what the standards are. If you don’t meet them, then there’s no place for you in the childcare system in Australia —

    FERGUSON: (Interjecting) I want to be very clear about the standards because I’m raising questions about the nature of the standards themselves. This whole system that you are creating depends on the standards themselves being strong and effective. Do those standards themselves, the way we rate childcare centres, do they need to be overhauled?

    CLARE: I think the standards are sound. I think the rating system is sound. I think there’s more work that needs to be done by the states to make sure that we’re rating centres properly. Now that doesn’t mean –

    FERGUSON: (Interjecting) Frequently enough? 

    CLARE: — And more frequently, and it happens differently in different states. So, there’s- please don’t interpret this as me blaming the states. We’ve all got a responsibility here, whether it’s Labor Governments, Liberal Governments, State or Federal. Good work’s been done. But not enough, not fast enough. There’s more work that needs to be done if we’re serious about making sure that we keep the kids that are walking through and sometimes being carried through the doors of our childcare centres safe.

    FERGUSON: Jason Clare, thank you very much for answering the questions and also sharing that story about yourself. I appreciate it.

    CLARE: Thank you.

    FERGUSON: Thank you. 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI: Home BancShares, Inc. Announces Third Quarter Cash Dividend

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CONWAY, Ark., July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE: HOMB), parent company of Centennial Bank, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular $0.20 per share quarterly cash dividend payable September 3, 2025, to shareholders of record August 13, 2025. This cash dividend is consistent with the dividend paid during the second quarter of 2025.

    Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has branch locations in Arkansas, Florida, Texas, South Alabama and New York City. The Company’s common stock is traded through the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HOMB.”

    FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Donna Townsell
    Senior Executive Vice President &
    Director of Investor Relations
    (501) 328-4625

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: After 70 years, twisted gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter remains as disturbing and beguiling as ever

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide

    United Artists/Getty Images

    In 1955, director Charles Laughton crafted one of the darkest, strangest fairytales ever to come out of Hollywood. The Night of the Hunter remains visually exquisite and profoundly unsettling.

    Shortly before Ben Harper is hanged for robbing a bank and killing two men, he hides the $10,000 loot in the toy doll of his young daughter Pearl. Only Pearl and her brother John know the secret – until the deranged serial killer-priest Harry Powell hears about the money and sets out to recover it.

    Harry marries Willa, Harper’s widow, and then, after killing her, pursues John and Pearl relentlessly across West Virginia.

    Set in the Depression-hit 1930s, The Night of the Hunter is, to quote film critic Pauline Kael, “one of the most frightening movies ever made”. Mitchum’s depiction of pure evil is one of cinema’s most vivid creations, with LOVE and HATE tattooed on the fingers of each hand.

    But this is no simple chase film. It’s about the fight for the souls of two children between the forces of evil and good.

    Gothic nightmares

    Laughton was an odd choice to adapt Davis Grubb’s original 1952 novel – the Oscar-winning British actor had never directed before. Yet Laughton’s “outsider” status meant he wasn’t bound by Hollywood convention and could follow his surreal instincts.

    The film draws heavily from German Expressionist cinema, especially in the use of stark black-and-white contrast and exaggerated shadows. Cinematographer Stanley Cortez described it as his best work, and rightly so: the film often feels more like a dream (or a nightmare).

    Laughton and Cortez craft a series of remarkable images: Pearl and John fleeing down the river, watched over by owls, frogs and rabbits; Powell’s looming shadow cast across a bedroom wall; the slain Willa’s blonde hair floating under the river after her death.

    The film is deeply allegorical. It plays with Christian imagery, ideas of sin and salvation and the vulnerability of the innocent.

    Laughton’s masterstroke was to pit the predatory adult world against the instinctual wisdom and resilience of children.

    Powell (played by Robert Mitchum in his greatest role) is no monster or madman, but a religious fanatic who murders under the guise of righteousness. He embodies the Gothic trope of the corrupt or false preacher. His looming menace turns small-town America into a place of paranoia, dread and moral confusion.

    Rachel Cooper (the silent film star Lillian Gish, never better), who protects the children in the second half of the film, stands as the maternal, angelic counterpoint to Powell’s demonic figure. Her role emphasises another key point of the film: the redemptive, almost sacred, power of kindness.

    A perfect performance

    As Powell, Mitchum drew on his uncanny knack at exuding charm and menace. Many actors would have clashed with Laughton’s expressionistic style, but Mitchum hit the perfect tone: heightened and theatrical, but never camp.

    His delivery is hypnotic, musical and terrifying.

    At a time when many stars were protective of their public image, Mitchum had no problem playing a child-killing religious maniac.

    Known for his rebellious streak and brushes with scandal (including a marijuana arrest in 1948), Mitchum wasn’t bound by Hollywood’s moral expectations. That gave him the freedom to push into darker territory with no vanity.

    That moral delusion, delivered with conviction, is what makes Powell so frightening. Mitchum’s Powell anticipates later predators like Norman Bates (Psycho) or Max Cady (the role he would play in the 1962 version of Cape Fear), but he also echoes much older archetypes: the Big Bad Wolf, the false prophet and the devil in a black coat.

    A flop turned masterpiece

    The film was a critical and commercial failure. Laughton’s bold and unconventional choices were risky. His blend of German Expressionism, Southern Gothic Americana and psychological horror was unlike anything American cinema had seen before.

    It did not align with the mainstream tastes of the era – the top grossing Hollywood films of 1955 were family-friendly, comforting offerings like Oklahoma! and Lady and the Tramp.

    Audiences and reviewers didn’t know what to make of this abnormal mix of fairy tale logic, nightmarish imagery and biblical allegory.

    So heartbroken was Laughton by the savage reception the film received (“a horrible yarn […] a repulsive picture”, one reviewer called it), he never directed again. Yet the reputation of his one-hit wonder has only grown over time.

    Successive generations of critics and filmmakers have caught on to its brilliance. Critic Roger Ebert said it was “one of the greatest of all American films”. In 2008, French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma voted it as the second-best film of all time, behind only Citizen Kane (1941).

    A long-lasting legacy

    Margaret Atwood, David Lynch and the Coen Brothers have all cited the film as a major influence. Spike Lee paid homage to LOVE and HATE in Do The Right Thing (1989). And surely James Cameron admired it, for what is Terminator 2 (1991) if not a rehash of Powell’s insistent chase-down of children?

    Its depiction of a charming, violent manipulator speaks to contemporary fears about religious hypocrisy and the abuse of moral authority. And it reminds us the bucolic innocence of rural America can hide evil in plain sight.

    It’s often the case that films which are misunderstood on first release are ahead of their time, and never fully appreciated until many years later.

    That’s the case with The Night of the Hunter. It remains unsettlingly modern, 70 years on.

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

    – ref. After 70 years, twisted gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter remains as disturbing and beguiling as ever – https://theconversation.com/after-70-years-twisted-gothic-thriller-the-night-of-the-hunter-remains-as-disturbing-and-beguiling-as-ever-251049

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As seas rise and fish decline, this Fijian village is finding new ways to adapt

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Celia McMichael, Professor in Geography, The University of Melbourne

    Celia McMichael, CC BY-NC-ND

    In the village of Nagigi, Fiji, the ocean isn’t just a resource – it’s part of the community’s identity. But in recent years, villagers have seen the sea behave differently. Tides are pushing inland. Once abundant, fish are now harder to find. Sandy beaches and coconut trees have been washed away.

    Like many coastal communities, including those across the Pacific Islands region, this village is now under real pressure from climate change and declining fish stocks. Methods of fishing are no longer guaranteed, while extreme weather and coastal erosion threaten homes and land. As one villager told us:

    we can’t find fish easily, not compared to previous times […] some fish species we used to see before are no longer around.

    When stories like this get publicity, they’re often framed as a story of loss. Pacific Islanders can be portrayed as passive victims of climate change.

    But Nagigi’s experience isn’t just about vulnerability. As our new research shows, it’s about the actions people are taking to cope with the changes already here. In response to falling fish numbers and to diversify livelihoods, women leaders launched a new aquaculture project, and they have replanted mangroves to slow the advance of the sea.

    Adaptation is uneven. Many people don’t want to or can’t leave their homes. But as climate change intensifies, change will be unavoidable. Nagigi’s experience points to the importance of communities working collectively to respond to threats.

    Unwelcome change is here

    The communities we focus on, Nagigi village (population 630) and Bia-I-Cake settlement (population 60), are located on Savusavu Bay in Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island. Fishing and marine resources are central to their livelihoods and food security.

    In 2021 and 2023, we ran group discussions (known as talanoa) and interviews to find out about changes seen and adaptations made.

    Nagigi residents have noticed unwelcome changes in recent years. As one woman told us:

    sometimes the sea is coming further onto the land, so there’s a lot of sea intrusion into the plantations, flooding even on land where it never used to be

    Tides are pushing ashore in Nagigi, threatening infrastructure.
    Celia McMichael, CC BY-NC-ND

    In 2016, the devastating Tropical Cyclone Winston destroyed homes and forced some Nagigi residents to move inland to customary mataqali land owned by their clan.

    As one resident said:

    our relocation was smooth because […] we just moved to our own land, our mataqali land.

    But some residents didn’t have access to this land, while others weren’t willing to move away from the coast. One man told us:

    leave us here. I think if I don’t smell or hear the ocean for one day I would be devastated.

    Adaptation is happening

    One striking aspect of adaptation in Nagigi has been the leadership of women, particularly in the small Bia-I-Cake settlement.

    In recent years, the Bia-I-Cake Women’s Cooperative has launched a small-scale aquaculture project to farm tilapia and carp to tackle falling fish stocks in the ocean, tackle rising food insecurity and create new livelihoods.

    Women in the cooperative have built fish ponds, learned how to rear fish to a good size and began selling the fish, including by live streaming the sale. The project was supported by a small grant from the United Nations Development Programme and the Women’s Fund Fiji.

    Recently, the cooperative’s women have moved into mangrove replanting to slow coastal erosion and built a greenhouse to farm new crops.

    As one woman told us, these efforts show women “have the capacity to build a sustainable, secure and thriving community”.

    The community’s responses draw on traditional social structures and values, such as respect for Vanua – the Fijian and Pacific concept of how land, sea, people, customs and spiritual beliefs are interconnected – as well as stewardship of natural resources and collective decision-making through clans and elders, both women and men.

    Nagigi residents have moved to temporarily close some customary fishing grounds to give fish populations a chance to recover. The village is also considering declaring a locally-managed marine area (known as a tabu). This is a response to climate impacts as well as damage to reefs, pollution and overfishing.

    For generations, village residents have protected local ecosystems which in turn support the village. But what is new is how these practices are being strengthened and formalised to respond to new challenges.

    A women’s cooperative have built aquaculture ponds to raise and sell fish.
    Celia McMichael, CC BY-NC-ND

    Adaptation is uneven

    While adaptation is producing some successes, it is unevenly spread. Not everyone has access to customary land for relocation and not every household can afford to rebuild damaged homes.

    What Nagigi teaches us, though, is the importance of local adaptation. Villagers have demonstrated how a community can anticipate risks, respond to change and threats, recover from damage and take advantage of new opportunities.

    Small communities are not just passive sites of loss. They are collectives of strength, agency and ingenuity. As adaptation efforts scale up across the Pacific, it is important to recognise and support local initiatives such as those in Nagigi.

    Sharing effective adaptation methods can give ideas and hope to other communities under real pressure from climate change and other threats.

    Many communities are doing their best to adapt often undertaking community-led adaptation, even despite the limited access Pacific nations have to global climate finance.

    Nagigi’s example shows unwelcome climatic and environmental changes are already arriving. But it’s also about finding ways to live well amid uncertainty and escalating risk by using place, tradition and community.

    The authors acknowledge the support of the people of Nagigi and Bia-I-Cake, and especially the Bia-I-Cake Women’s Cooperative, for sharing their time and insights.

    Celia McMichael receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).

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

    – ref. As seas rise and fish decline, this Fijian village is finding new ways to adapt – https://theconversation.com/as-seas-rise-and-fish-decline-this-fijian-village-is-finding-new-ways-to-adapt-261573

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: From grasslands to killing fields: why trees are bad news for one of Australia’s most stunning birds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor in Geography, University of Adelaide

    JJ Harrison/Wikimedia, CC BY

    Picture this. A small, rainbow-coloured chick emerges from its nest for the first time. It stretches its wings and prepares to take flight. But before the fledgling’s life in the wild has begun, a sharp-beaked predator swoops in, leaving nothing but a tiny skeleton.

    This is the sad scenario playing out on Cape York Peninsula, new analysis shows. There, trees are invading the open, grassy habitat of the endangered golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius). The trees give cover to predators – meaning they can lie in wait, before striking the adult birds and their young.

    The golden-shouldered parrot is endangered, now found in just 5% of its original range. The new findings suggest more work is needed to restore grassland habitat to its former open state, to ensure the parrots’ survival.

    A vanishing species

    The initial decline of the golden-shouldered parrot was likely caused by a loss of food plants and degradation of the termite mounds in which it nests. Birds that remained in two small areas in central Cape York Peninsula faced other issues.

    In the 1990s, researchers began studying the parrot on Artemis Station, to better understand why numbers were declining. A new suspect was identified: native woody plants, such as the broad-leaved tea-tree (Melaleuca viridiflora), which had crept into the birds’ grassy habitat.

    The change was largely due to overgrazing, which reduced fuel loads and led to fewer fires. This allowed the woodland trees to overtake the grasslands. But exactly how were these trees affecting the survival of the golden-shouldered parrot? New research by my colleagues and I set out to answer this question.

    The above image shows the three phases of woodland invading the parrots’ habitat. Left, a few scattered trees establish around the nesting mound. Centre, tea trees emerge from the grass layer. Right, dense thickets of tea trees shade out the termite mounds.
    Gabriel Crowley

    Counting eggs, nest by nest

    We monitored 108 termite-mound nests over three years, tracking the success of 555 eggs. We visited each nest every few days to record whether chicks successfully fledged (grew strong enough to leave the nest) or died.

    We also counted the number of trees around the nests, and recorded signs of interference from predators.

    So what did we find? The proportion of nests that produced a fledgling from every egg decreased in proportion to the number of trees around the nest. The percentage of eggs, chicks and adults that were killed or disappeared from a nest also increased in line with tree numbers.

    That’s because the trees bring different predators – and places for them to hide.

    We suspected reptiles were the main predators. This was due to scratches on the nests and disappearance of eggs without any other signs of damage. While the exact species of reptile predator was hard to pinpoint, we know tree snake numbers increase as woodlands encroach.

    However, of all predators, we found butcherbird numbers increased most strongly as trees crept in. Butcherbirds tear prey apart with their strong, hooked beaks. Trees close to the nests give butcherbirds cover, enabling them to wait for adults or their young to emerge.

    Tragically, we found skulls of chicks pierced by the butcherbirds’ sharp bills. In one case, the shredded flesh of a bird was wedged atop a termite mound.

    Butcherbirds have strong, hooked beaks, which they use to tear apart prey.
    Conservation Partners

    Parrots successfully fledged from just over half of the 555 eggs we monitored.

    In the most dense woodlands, the number of birds that successfully fledged was just one-third of the rate needed to maintain the golden-shouldered parrot’s population.

    Adult birds were lost from one-third of the nests we studied. This is especially troubling. Modelling from similar tropical birds shows this rate of adult deaths can push a species towards extinction.

    Unusually, golden-shouldered parrots nest in termite mounds.
    Peter Valentine

    Restoring the parrots’ grassland home

    The world’s grassland habitats are under threat. This has devastating consequences for species that depend on them – including the golden-shouldered parrot.

    Our findings show Cape York’s grasslands should be maintained and restored to ensure the survival of the golden-shouldered parrot. Much work is needed to ensure the species avoids the fate of its closest relative, the paradise parrot, which is presumed extinct.

    Work is already underway. Golden-shouldered parrot habitat in national parks and on Indigenous-owned land has been destocked, and more traditional Indigenous fire regimes reinstated. This will help maintain open grasslands and reverse early woodland encroachment. Such work is also being undertaken at the study site on Artemis Station.

    Where woody plant invasion is more advanced, more intensive methods have been deployed. At the study site, this includes using chainsaws and brush-cutters to clear trees, before the stump is poisoned.

    Where woody vegetation is well established, trees must be felled to help restore grassland habitat.
    Conservation Partners

    Other measures include installing electric fences to keep out reptiles, reseeding grasslands with food plants and providing feeding stations in seasons when food is scarce.

    Land managers across Cape York have also been provided guidelines for managing woodland encroachment.

    These efforts must be sustained in the long-term, to ensure the golden-shouldered parrot can return to its former range.

    Gabriel Crowley undertook the work cited in this article with Susan Shephard (Artemis Station), Stephen Garnett (Charles Darwin University and Conservation Partners) and Stephen Murphy (Conservation Partners). Funding was provided by the Queensland and federal governments, Gulf Savannah NRM and WWF Australia. Gabriel has provided advice on golden-shouldered parrots and their habitat to the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, Conservation Partners and Bush Heritage Australia as a volunteer and/or consultant. She is a volunteer for Helen Haines MP (Member for Indi).

    – ref. From grasslands to killing fields: why trees are bad news for one of Australia’s most stunning birds – https://theconversation.com/from-grasslands-to-killing-fields-why-trees-are-bad-news-for-one-of-australias-most-stunning-birds-259898

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is sleeping a lot actually bad for your health? A sleep scientist explains

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia

    Walstrom, Susanne/Getty

    We’re constantly being reminded by news articles and social media posts that we should be getting more sleep. You probably don’t need to hear it again – not sleeping enough is bad for your brain, heart and overall health, not to mention your skin and sex drive.

    But what about sleeping “too much”? Recent reports that sleeping more than nine hours could be worse for your health than sleeping too little may have you throwing up your hands in despair.

    It can be hard not to feel confused and worried. But how much sleep do we need? And what can sleeping a lot really tell us about our health? Let’s unpack the evidence.

    Sleep is essential for our health

    Along with nutrition and physical activity, sleep is an essential pillar of health.

    During sleep, physiological processes occur that allow our bodies to function effectively when we are awake. These include processes involved in muscle recovery, memory consolidation and emotional regulation.

    The Sleep Health Foundation – Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation that provides evidence-based information on sleep health – recommends adults get seven to nine hours of sleep per night.

    Some people are naturally short sleepers and can function well with less than seven hours.

    However, for most of us, sleeping less than seven hours will have negative effects. These may be short term; for example, the day after a poor night’s sleep you might have less energy, worse mood, feel more stressed and find it harder to concentrate at work.

    In the long term, not getting enough good quality sleep is a major risk factor for health problems. It’s linked to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease – such as heart attacks and stroke – metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, poor mental health, such as depression and anxiety, cancer and death.

    So, it’s clear that not getting enough sleep is bad for us. But what about too much sleep?

    Could too much sleep be bad?

    In a recent study, researchers reviewed the results of 79 other studies that followed people for at least one year and measured how sleep duration impacts the risk of poor health or dying to see if there was an overall trend.

    They found people who slept for short durations – less than seven hours a night – had a 14% higher risk of dying in the study period, compared to those who slept between seven and eight hours. This is not surprising given the established health risks of poor sleep.

    However, the researchers also found those who slept a lot – which they defined as more than nine hours a night – had a greater risk of dying: 34% higher than people who slept seven to eight hours.

    This supports similar research from 2018, which combined results from 74 previous studies that followed the sleep and health of participants across time, ranging from one to 30 years. It found sleeping more than nine hours was associated with a 14% increased risk of dying in the study period.

    Research has also shown sleeping too long (meaning more than required for your age) is linked to health problems such as depression, chronic pain, weight gain and metabolic disorders.

    This may sound alarming. But it’s crucial to remember these studies have only found a link between sleeping too long and poor health – this doesn’t mean sleeping too long is the cause of health problems or death.



    Read more:
    If ‘correlation doesn’t imply causation’, how do scientists figure out why things happen?

    So, what’s the link?

    Multiple factors may influence the relationship between sleeping a lot and having poor health.

    It’s common for people with chronic health problems to consistently sleep for long periods. Their bodies may need additional rest to support recovery, or they may spend more time in bed due to symptoms or medication side effects.

    People with chronic health problems may also not be getting high quality sleep, and may stay in bed for longer to try and get some extra sleep.

    Additionally, we know risk factors for poor health, such as smoking and being overweight, are also associated with poor sleep.

    This means people may be sleeping more because of existing health problems or lifestyle behaviours, not that sleeping more is causing the poor health.

    Put simply, sleeping may be a symptom of poor health, not the cause.

    What’s the ideal amount?

    The reasons some people sleep a little and others sleep a lot depend on individual differences – and we don’t yet fully understand these.

    Our sleep needs can be related to age. Teenagers often want to sleep more and may physically need to, with sleep recommendations for teens being slightly higher than adults at eight to ten hours. Teens may also go to bed and wake up later.

    Older adults may want to spend more time in bed. However, unless they have a sleep disorder, the amount they need to sleep will be the same as when they were younger.

    But most adults will require seven to nine hours, so this is the healthy window to aim for.

    It’s not just about how much sleep you get. Good quality sleep and a consistent bed time and wake time are just as important – if not more so – for your overall health.

    The bottom line

    Given many Australian adults are not receiving the recommended amount of sleep, we should focus on how to make sure we get enough sleep, rather than worrying we are getting too much.

    To give yourself the best chance of a good night’s sleep, get sunlight and stay active during the day, and try to keep a regular sleep and wake time. In the hour before bed, avoid screens, do something relaxing, and make sure your sleep space is quiet, dark, and comfortable.

    If you notice you are regularly sleeping much longer than usual, it could be your body’s way of telling you something else is going on. If you’re struggling with sleep or are concerned, speak with your GP. You can also explore the resources on the Sleep Health Foundation website.

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

    – ref. Is sleeping a lot actually bad for your health? A sleep scientist explains – https://theconversation.com/is-sleeping-a-lot-actually-bad-for-your-health-a-sleep-scientist-explains-259991

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –