NewzIntel.com

Category: Australia

  • MIL-Evening Report: COVID, flu, RSV: how these common viruses are tracking this winter – and how to protect yourself

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South Australia

    nimis69/Getty Images

    Winter is here, and with it come higher rates of respiratory illnesses. If you’ve been struck down recently with a sore throat, runny nose and a cough, or perhaps even a fever, you’re not alone.

    Last week, non-urgent surgeries were paused in several Queensland hospitals due to a surge of influenza and COVID cases filling up hospital beds.

    Meanwhile, more than 200 aged care facilities around Australia are reportedly facing COVID outbreaks.

    So, just how bad are respiratory infections this year, and which viruses are causing the biggest problems?

    COVID

    Until May, COVID case numbers were about half last year’s level, but June’s 32,348 notifications are closing the gap (compared with 45,634 in June 2024). That said, we know far fewer people test now than they did earlier in the pandemic, so these numbers are likely to be an underestimate.

    According to the latest Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report, Australia now appears to be emerging from a winter wave of COVID cases driven largely by the NB.1.8.1 subvariant, known as “Nimbus”.

    Besides classic cold-like symptoms, this Omicron offshoot can reportedly cause particularly painful sore throats as well as gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea.

    While some people who catch COVID have no symptoms or just mild ones, for many people the virus can be serious. Older adults and those with chronic health issues remain at greatest risk of experiencing severe illness and dying from COVID.

    Some 138 aged care residents have died from COVID since the beginning of June.

    The COVID booster currently available is based on the JN.1 subvariant. Nimbus is a direct descendant of JN.1 – as is another subvariant in circulation, XFG or “Stratus” – which means the vaccine should remain effective against current variants.

    Free boosters are available to most people annually, while those aged 75 and older are advised to get one every six months.

    Vaccination, as well as early treatment with antivirals, lowers the risk of severe illness and long COVID. People aged 70 and older, as well as younger people with certain risk factors, are eligible for antivirals if they test positive.

    Influenza

    The 2025 flu season has been unusually severe. From January to May, total case numbers were 30% higher than last year, increasing pressure on health systems.

    More recent case numbers seem to be trending lower than 2024, however we don’t appear to have reached the peak yet.

    Flu symptoms are generally more severe than the common cold and may include high fever, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, sore throat and a runny or blocked nose.

    Most people recover in under a week, but the flu can be more severe (and even fatal) in groups including older people, young children and pregnant women.

    An annual vaccination is available for free to children aged 6 months to 4 years, pregnant women, those aged 65+, and other higher-risk groups.

    Queensland and Western Australia provide a free flu vaccine for all people aged 6 months and older, but in other states and territories, people not eligible for a free vaccine can pay (usually A$30 or less) to receive one.

    RSV

    The third significant respiratory virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), only became a notifiable disease in 2021 (before this doctors didn’t need to record infections, meaning data is sparse).

    Last year saw Australia’s highest case numbers since RSV reporting began. By May, cases in 2025 were lower than 2024, but by June, they had caught up: 27,243 cases this June versus 26,596 in June 2024. However it looks as though we may have just passed the peak.

    RSV’s symptoms are usually mild and cold-like, but it can cause serious illness such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Infants, older people, and people with chronic health conditions are among those at highest risk. In young children, RSV is a leading cause of hospitalisation.

    A free vaccine is now available for pregnant women, protecting infants for up to six months. A monoclonal antibody (different to a vaccine but also given as an injection) is also available for at-risk children up to age two, especially if their mothers didn’t receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy.

    For older adults, two RSV vaccines (Arexvy and Abrysvo) are available, with a single dose recommended for everyone aged 75+, those over 60 at higher risk due to medical conditions, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 60+.

    Unfortunately, these are not currently subsidised and cost about $300. Protection lasts at least three years.

    The common cold

    While viruses including COVID, RSV and influenza dominate headlines, we often overlook one of the most widespread – the common cold.

    The common cold can be caused by more than 200 different viruses – mainly rhinoviruses but also some coronaviruses, adenoviruses and enteroviruses.

    Typical symptoms include a runny or blocked nose, sore throat, coughing, sneezing, headache, tiredness and sometimes a mild fever.

    Children get about 6–8 colds per year while adults average 2–4, and symptoms usually resolve in a week. Most recover with rest, fluids, and possibly over-the-counter medications.

    Because so many different viruses cause the common cold, and because these constantly mutate, developing a vaccine has been extremely challenging. Researchers continue to explore solutions, but a universal cold vaccine remains elusive.

    How do I protect myself and others?

    The precautions we learned during the COVID pandemic remain valid. These are all airborne viruses which can be spread by coughing, sneezing and touching contaminated surfaces.

    Practise good hygiene, teach children proper cough etiquette, wear a high-quality mask if you’re at high risk, and stay home to rest if unwell.

    You can now buy rapid antigen tests (called panel tests) that test for influenza (A or B), COVID and RSV. So, if you’re unwell with a respiratory infection, consider testing yourself at home.

    While many winter lurgies can be trivial, this is not always the case. We can all do our bit to reduce the impact.

    Adrian Esterman receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund.

    – ref. COVID, flu, RSV: how these common viruses are tracking this winter – and how to protect yourself – https://theconversation.com/covid-flu-rsv-how-these-common-viruses-are-tracking-this-winter-and-how-to-protect-yourself-261383

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Woman charged over multiple deceptions

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Today, Detectives from SAPOL’s Anti-Corruption Section arrested and charged a 24-year-old woman from Victoria with 101 counts of deception and 26 counts of attempted deception after a lengthy investigation.

    The woman appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today and was granted conditional bail to appear again on 29 September.

    CO2500007860

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: South Australia’s algal bloom may shrink over winter – but this model suggests it will spread to new areas in summer

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jochen Kaempf, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences (Oceanography), Flinders University

    South Australia is desperate for help to tackle an unprecedented harmful algal bloom that has decimated marine life up and down the coast. While the extent of the damage is still unknown, my preliminary research suggests there’s no end in sight. It may just get better over winter before it gets worse next summer.

    The Karenia mikimotoi bloom first appeared in March on two surf beaches outside Gulf St Vincent, about an hour south of Adelaide. It has since spread, killing all kinds of marine organisms – from crabs and small fish to sharks and rays. Only the neighbouring Spencer Gulf, far west coast and southeast coasts have been spared. For now.

    In preliminary research now undergoing peer review, I have predicted the bloom’s future spread using a new computer model. In the worst-case scenario, the harmful algal bloom would reach the Spencer Gulf and spread – from Port Lincoln to Whyalla and across to Port Pirie – next summer and autumn. That would be extremely bad news for the thriving seafood, aquaculture and tourism industries. They may need help to prepare.

    Some help is on the way. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt yesterday announced A$14 million in federal funding. SA Premier Peter Malinauskas convened an Emergency Management Cabinet Committee meeting today and signed off on a $28 million support package.

    The worst-case scenario forecasts high concentrations of K. mikimotoi in both South Australian gulfs next April.
    Jochen Kaempf

    A rolling disaster

    The algal bloom was first noticed when dozens of surfers and beachgoers on the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula fell ill after exposure to seawater in March.

    Soon, dangerous sea foam appeared. Then the killing began in earnest. Many marine species started washing up dead or dying.

    The bloom began to spread. In mid-April, K. mikimotoi was detected in water samples from Edithburgh and Coobowie on the southeastern corner of Yorke Peninsula.

    In early May, the Kangaroo Island Council announced the bloom had spread across the Investigator Strait affecting the island’s northern coastline.

    Wild weather in June pushed the bloom through the Murray Mouth into the Coorong.

    By July, the state government had detected K. mikimotoi along Adelaide’s metropolitan coastline. Videos of fish kills near the Ardrossan Jetty in the northern Gulf St Vincent also emerged.

    So far, the bloom has not been detected in Spencer Gulf. But my modelling suggests it’s only a matter of time.

    Predicting the future

    I was the first to discover the seasonal upwelling of nutrients in several regions along SA’s southern coastal shelf. This nutrient source fuels the marine food chain. It’s a big part of the reason why the marine life in our Great Southern Australian Coastal Upwelling System is so diverse.

    I also simulated the ocean currents in South Australian gulfs using computer models as early as 2009.

    I have now developed a computer model to predict where the algae will spread next.

    Preliminary results from this research have been submitted to the journal Continental Shelf Research and are being reviewed. But given the speed at which this situation is developing, it’s worth sharing a preprint of this manuscript.

    My model matches what’s known about the early spread of the bloom. It began in the coastal waters of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula. It then invaded Investigator Strait, between the Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, before slowly spreading in a clockwise circulation across the wider Gulf St Vincent.

    When the model is used to forecast how the algae bloom will evolve, the story becomes deeply concerning.

    It predicts the algal bloom will weaken over this winter, as the growth rate will slow in cooler water. In my model, the algae had already invaded the lower Spencer Gulf in May 2025 but at very low concentrations.

    Then, in the worst-case scenario of high growth rates and nothing stopping it, the model predicts the bloom will affect both gulfs – Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf – and Investigator Strait, with severe conditions predicted for the coming summer.

    A bloom in the Spencer Gulf could decimate stocks of Australian sardine in the lower gulf, and potentially also western king prawns and the giant Australian cuttlefish in the upper Spencer Gulf. Some research suggests algal growth may be limited in the hypersaline upper reaches of the gulfs, but the spread of the algae as far as Ardrossan indicates otherwise.

    Under the best-case scenario, the algae’s natural predator, zooplankton, would eat more of the algae, suppressing future flare-ups. So there is some hope, but more research is needed to better understand how zooplankton could control these algae.

    SA also needs to make continuous efforts to monitor K. mikimotoi concentrations. This includes analysis of water samples in both gulfs. It’s important to note satellite images only show the peak phase of the toxic algal bloom, and can be misleading as they also display other species including blooms of “good” algae.

    Fortunately, the $28 million support package includes $8.5 million for early detection and monitoring of harmful algal bloom species. This will involve real-time sensors (buoys), satellite imagery and oceanographic modelling. A new $2 million national testing laboratory will check for toxins, while $3 million will be spent on a rapid assessment of fish stocks and fisheries.

    But if the algae stick around, there may be little anyone can do to protect our marine environment.

    Jochen Kaempf 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. South Australia’s algal bloom may shrink over winter – but this model suggests it will spread to new areas in summer – https://theconversation.com/south-australias-algal-bloom-may-shrink-over-winter-but-this-model-suggests-it-will-spread-to-new-areas-in-summer-261549

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • Google clinches milestone gold at global math competition, while OpenAI also claims win

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Alphabet’s Google and OpenAI said their artificial-intelligence models won gold medals at a global mathematics competition, signaling a breakthrough in math capabilities in the race to build systems that can rival human intelligence.

    The results marked the first time that AI systems crossed the gold-medal scoring threshold at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) for high-school students.

    Both companies’ models solved five out of six problems, achieving the result using general-purpose “reasoning” models that processed mathematical concepts using natural language, in contrast to the previous approaches used by AI firms.

    While Google DeepMind worked with the IMO to have their models graded and certified by the committee, OpenAI did not officially enter the competition. The startup revealed their models have achieved a gold medal-worthy score on this year’s questions on Saturday, citing grades by three external IMO medalists.

    The achievement suggests AI is less than a year away from being used by mathematicians to crack unsolved research problems at the frontier of the field, according to Junehyuk Jung, a math professor at Brown University and visiting researcher in Google’s DeepMind AI unit.

    “I think the moment we can solve hard reasoning problems in natural language will enable the potential for collaboration between AI and mathematicians,” Jung told Reuters.

    OpenAI’s breakthrough was achieved with a new experimental model centered on massively scaling up “test-time compute.” This was done by both allowing the model to “think” for longer periods and deploying parallel computing power to run numerous lines of reasoning simultaneously, according to Noam Brown, researcher at OpenAI. Brown declined to say how much in computing power it cost OpenAI, but called it “very expensive.”

    To OpenAI researchers, it is another clear sign that AI models can command extensive reasoning capabilities that could expand into other areas beyond math.

    The optimism is shared by Google researchers, who believe AI models’ capabilities can apply to research quandaries in other fields such as physics, said Jung, who won an IMO gold medal as a student in 2003.

    Of the 630 students participating in the 66th IMO on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, 67 contestants, or about 11%, achieved gold-medal scores.

    Google’s DeepMind AI unit last year achieved a silver medal score using AI systems specialized for math. This year, Google used a general-purpose model called Gemini Deep Think, a version of which was previously unveiled at its annual developer conference in May.

    Unlike previous AI attempts that relied on formal languages and lengthy computation, Google’s approach this year operated entirely in natural language and solved the problems within the official 4.5-hour time limit, the company said in a blog post.

    OpenAI, which has its own set of reasoning models, similarly built an experimental version for the competition, according to a post by researcher Alexander Wei on social media platform X. He noted that the company does not plan to release anything with this level of math capability for several months.

    This year marked the first time the competition coordinated officially with some AI developers, who have for years used prominent math competitions like IMO to test model capabilities. IMO judges certified the results of those companies, including Google, and asked them to publish results on July 28.

    “We respected the IMO Board’s original request that all AI labs share their results only after the official results had been verified by independent experts and the students had rightly received the acclamation they deserved,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said on X on Monday.

    OpenAI, which published its results on Saturday and first claimed gold-medal status, said in an interview that it had permission from an IMO board member to do so after the closing ceremony on Saturday.

    (Reuters)

  • Google clinches milestone gold at global math competition, while OpenAI also claims win

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Alphabet’s Google and OpenAI said their artificial-intelligence models won gold medals at a global mathematics competition, signaling a breakthrough in math capabilities in the race to build systems that can rival human intelligence.

    The results marked the first time that AI systems crossed the gold-medal scoring threshold at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) for high-school students.

    Both companies’ models solved five out of six problems, achieving the result using general-purpose “reasoning” models that processed mathematical concepts using natural language, in contrast to the previous approaches used by AI firms.

    While Google DeepMind worked with the IMO to have their models graded and certified by the committee, OpenAI did not officially enter the competition. The startup revealed their models have achieved a gold medal-worthy score on this year’s questions on Saturday, citing grades by three external IMO medalists.

    The achievement suggests AI is less than a year away from being used by mathematicians to crack unsolved research problems at the frontier of the field, according to Junehyuk Jung, a math professor at Brown University and visiting researcher in Google’s DeepMind AI unit.

    “I think the moment we can solve hard reasoning problems in natural language will enable the potential for collaboration between AI and mathematicians,” Jung told Reuters.

    OpenAI’s breakthrough was achieved with a new experimental model centered on massively scaling up “test-time compute.” This was done by both allowing the model to “think” for longer periods and deploying parallel computing power to run numerous lines of reasoning simultaneously, according to Noam Brown, researcher at OpenAI. Brown declined to say how much in computing power it cost OpenAI, but called it “very expensive.”

    To OpenAI researchers, it is another clear sign that AI models can command extensive reasoning capabilities that could expand into other areas beyond math.

    The optimism is shared by Google researchers, who believe AI models’ capabilities can apply to research quandaries in other fields such as physics, said Jung, who won an IMO gold medal as a student in 2003.

    Of the 630 students participating in the 66th IMO on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, 67 contestants, or about 11%, achieved gold-medal scores.

    Google’s DeepMind AI unit last year achieved a silver medal score using AI systems specialized for math. This year, Google used a general-purpose model called Gemini Deep Think, a version of which was previously unveiled at its annual developer conference in May.

    Unlike previous AI attempts that relied on formal languages and lengthy computation, Google’s approach this year operated entirely in natural language and solved the problems within the official 4.5-hour time limit, the company said in a blog post.

    OpenAI, which has its own set of reasoning models, similarly built an experimental version for the competition, according to a post by researcher Alexander Wei on social media platform X. He noted that the company does not plan to release anything with this level of math capability for several months.

    This year marked the first time the competition coordinated officially with some AI developers, who have for years used prominent math competitions like IMO to test model capabilities. IMO judges certified the results of those companies, including Google, and asked them to publish results on July 28.

    “We respected the IMO Board’s original request that all AI labs share their results only after the official results had been verified by independent experts and the students had rightly received the acclamation they deserved,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said on X on Monday.

    OpenAI, which published its results on Saturday and first claimed gold-medal status, said in an interview that it had permission from an IMO board member to do so after the closing ceremony on Saturday.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Winter underquoting blitz targets Hume

    Source: Australian Capital Territory Policing

    Property auctions in the City of Hume were targeted by Consumer Affairs Victoria’s underquoting taskforce over the weekend.

    Taskforce inspectors visited Craigieburn and surrounds to monitor auctions for compliance with auction and sales rules, after tracking 70 sales campaigns in the lead up to the weekend. This follows a spike in underquoting complaints in the area, which is popular with first home buyers.

    Inspectors also took the opportunity to educate agents and buyers about underquoting laws.

    The taskforce uses a range of methods to monitor the property market. This includes tracking sales campaigns, inspecting estate agencies and attending auctions. This latest auction sweep follows an inspection blitz in the Doncaster area earlier in the year.

    Since it launched in September 2022, the taskforce has:

    • received more than 4,200 complaints through its dedicated webform
    • monitored over 2,500 sales campaigns
    • attended 275 auctions
    • issued 185 fines totalling over $2 million, and
    • issued 244 official warnings to agents caught breaching their obligations.

    It is also taking legal action against several agents for alleged breaches of the law.

    More than one third of complaints are submitted by real estate agents, showing that agents doing the right thing are also frustrated with unfair and unlawful practices in their industry.

    The underquoting taskforce was made permanent in August 2024.

    If you suspect underquoting, report it to us.

    Find more information about underquoting.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Here’s why 3-person embryos are a breakthrough for science – but not LGBTQ+ families

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Power, Principal Research Fellow, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University

    Last week, scientists announced the birth of eight healthy babies in the United Kingdom conceived with DNA from three people. Some headlines have called it “three-person IVF”.

    The embryo uses the DNA from the egg and sperm of the intended father and mother, as well as cells from the egg of a second woman (the donor).

    This process – known as mitochondrial replacement therapy – allows women with certain genetic disorders to conceive a child without passing on their condition.

    While it’s raised broader questions about “three-parent” babies, it’s not so simple. Here’s why it’s unlikely this development will transform the diverse ways LGBTQ+ people are already making families.

    What this technology is – and isn’t

    The UK became the first country in the world to allow mitochondrial donation for three-person embryos ten years ago, in 2015.

    In other countries, such donations are banned or strictly controlled. In Australia, a staged approach to allow mitochondrial donation was introduced in 2022. Stage one will involve clinical trials to determine safety and effectiveness, and establish clear ethical guidelines for donations.

    These restrictions are based on political and ethical concerns about the use of human embryos for research, the unknown health impact on children, and the broader implications of allowing genetic modification of human embryos.

    There are also concerns about the ethical or legal implications of creating babies with “three parents”.

    Carefully and slowly considering these ethical issues is clearly important. But it’s inaccurate to suggest this process creates three parents.

    First, the amount of DNA the donor provides is tiny, only 0.1% of the baby’s DNA. The baby will not share any physical characteristics with the donor.

    While it is significant that two women’s DNA has been used in creating an embryo, it doesn’t mean lesbian couples will be rushing to access this particular in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technology.

    This technique is only used for people affected by mitochondrial disease and is closely regulated. It is not available more widely and in Australia, is not yet available even for this use.

    Second, while biological lineage is an important part of many people’s identity and sense of self, DNA alone does not make a parent.

    As many adoptive, foster and LGBTQ+ parents will attest, parenting is about love, connection and everyday acts of care for a child.

    How do rainbow families use IVF?

    Existing IVF is already expensive and medically invasive. Many fertility services offer a range of additional treatments purported to aid fertility, but extra interventions add more costs and are not universally recommended by doctors.

    While many lesbian couples and single women use fertility services to access donor sperm, not everyone will need to use IVF.

    Less invasive fertilisation techniques, such as intrauterine insemination, may be available for women without fertility problems. This means inserting sperm directly into the uterus, rather than fertilising an egg in a clinic and then implanting that embryo.

    Same-sex couples who have the option to create a baby with a sperm donor they know – rather than from a register – may also choose home-based insemination, the proverbial turkey baster. This is a cheaper and more intimate way to conceive and many women prefer a donor who will have some involvement in their child’s life.

    In recent years, “reciprocal” IVF has also grown in popularity among lesbian couples. This means an embryo is created using one partner’s egg, and the other partner carries it.

    Reciprocal IVF’s popularity suggests biology does play a role for LGBTQ+ women in conceiving a baby. When both mothers share a biological connection to the child, it may help overcome stigmatisation of “non-birth” mothers as less legitimate.

    But biology is by no means the defining feature of rainbow families.

    LGBTQ+ people are already parents

    The 2021 census showed 17% of same-sex couples had children living with them; among female same-sex couples it was 28%. This is likely an underestimate, as the census only collects data on couples that live together.

    Same-sex couples often conceive children using donor sperm or eggs, and this may involve surrogacy. But across the LGBTQ+ community, there are diverse ways people become parents.

    Same-sex couples are one part of the LGBTQ+ community. Growing numbers of trans and non-binary people are choosing to carry a baby (as gestational parents), as well as single parents who use donors or fertility services. Many others conceive children through sex, including bi+ people or others who conceive within a relationship.

    While LGBTQ+ people can legally adopt children in Australia, adoption is not common. However, many foster parents are LGBTQ+.

    When they donate eggs or sperm to others, some LGBTQ+ people may stay involved in the child’s life as a close family friend or co-parent.

    Connection and care, not DNA

    While mitochondrial replacement therapy is a remarkable advance in gene technology, it is unlikely to open new pathways to parenthood for LGBTQ+ people in Australia.

    Asserting the importance of families based on choice – not biology or what technology is available – has been crucial to the LGBTQ+ community’s story and to rainbow families’ fight to be recognised.

    Decades of research now shows children raised by same-sex couples do just as well as any other child. What matters is parents’ consistency, love and quality of care.

    Jennifer Power receives funding from the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Aged Care and the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Here’s why 3-person embryos are a breakthrough for science – but not LGBTQ+ families – https://theconversation.com/heres-why-3-person-embryos-are-a-breakthrough-for-science-but-not-lgbtq-families-261462

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Eugene Doyle: Nagasaki now a celebration of Israeli genocide

    Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

    COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle

    Israel’s key enablers, the G7, plus Australia and New Zealand, have succeeded in muscling Israel back onto the invite list for the commemorations in Nagasaki on August 9.

    Last year Israel was excluded, triggering a refusal by these countries to attend in 2024.

    Does the “personal” invitation that Nagasaki has just sent to Israel represent a triumph of Western diplomacy or a sick joke?

    You know who your mates are when you’re committing genocide
     As I wrote at the time, the boycott by the powerful white-dominated Western nations was a stunning “Fuck you” to the Hibakusha, the last few survivors of the US’s 1945 nuclear attack.

    More importantly it was as clear a statement of collective commitment to Israel’s war on Palestine as you could possibly wish for.  You really find out who your true mates are when you’re committing genocide.

    At the time, Shigemitsu Tanaka, the 83-year-old head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said he supported the move to keep the Israelis away from the commemorations, saying it was inappropriate to invite representatives from countries waging armed conflicts in defiance of calls from the international community.

    Israel’s invitation is a triumph of Western pressure
     A year later, the City buckled under pressure and has personally invited the Israelis.

    “After Israel was excluded last year over the Gaza war, Nagasaki’s mayor is avoiding renewed diplomatic tensions — especially following a clear message from the US,” Israel’s influential news site Ynet reported this month.

    It is a triumph for Netanyahu and his government, cause for celebration in Tel Aviv, but diminishes the nobility of an event that was created with the explicit intention to say Never Again and to remind the world of the indefensible criminality of attacks on defenceless civilian populations.

    Nagasaki and the Boycott Israel campaign
     Israel goes to incredible lengths to break efforts to impose BDS (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions) and so Nagasaki had to be brought to heel.  July 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of BDS, a non-violent campaign designed to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and apply real-world pressure for the state to change course.

    BDS is potentially a game-changer which is why Israeli government ministers routinely make threats of physical violence against leading BDS activists.

    Israel Katz, currently the Israeli Defence Minister, is on record as calling for Israel to engage in “targeted civil eliminations” of BDS leaders with the help of Israeli intelligence.

    70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza – and Israel is invited to a peace ceremony
     Think for a moment what the presence of Israel at this year’s event represents as an astonishing piece of semiology.  A state that is actively committing the crime of crimes, genocide, sitting alongside the Hibakusha.

    They won’t be the only war criminals in attendance. American, German, and British bombs have levelled the tiny enclave of Gaza.  More of their bombs — 70,000 tons and climbing — have been used to massacre Palestinians in Gaza than were used in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (36,000 tons), the fire bombings of Tokyo (1,665 tons) and Dresden (3,900 tons), and the London Blitz (19,000 tons) combined. And it is happening on our watch.

    Another piece of astonishing optics: less than two months ago the US and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, doing so with no UN mandate but only their position as powerful, lawless states.

    Their actions dramatically raise the prospect of Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others deciding they need nuclear weapons as deterrence.  What look will the US and Israeli ambassadors cast over their faces as the Mayor of Nagasaki delivers the message of “Nagasaki’s wish for the establishment of lasting world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons?”

    Is the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize the next to be trashed?
     Talking of tone deaf and morally repellent, Donald Trump has been openly lobbying to receive the Nobel Peace Prize despite having killed thousands of people and bombed multiple countries this year.

    Interestingly, the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner was Nihon Hidankyo (Japan’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Organisation).

    In his acceptance speech last year, Terumi Tanaka, one of the co-chairpersons of Nihon Hidankyo, said that the organisation was created in 1956 “to demand the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons, as extremely inhumane weapons of mass killing, which must not be allowed to coexist with humanity”.

    New Zealand is a genocide enabler.  What happened to our soft power?
     As a New Zealander I am deeply ashamed of my country for having refused to attend last year’s ceremony and for its criminal complicity with Israel today. New Zealand’s tragic trajectory from humanitarian champions and nuclear-free pioneers to racist genocide enablers is captured in all its horror in this month’s Nagasaki commemorations.

    New Zealand, the country that went to the brink of civil war in 1981 to stop sporting contact with Apartheid South Africa is now a fully-paid up member of Apartheid Israel’s war on Palestine.

    Everywhere our government is tearing down the pillars built by decades of struggle in New Zealand. The anti-nuclear policy, the anti-apartheid victories, the non-aligned foreign policies, the sacred principles of partnership between indigenous Māori and the Pākehā (those who settled from Europe and elsewhere) are all being shredded.

    We refuse to recognise Palestine, we refuse to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ, we refuse to join the Hague Group which is mobilising countries to make those responsible for the genocide accountable and to shoulder state-level responsibility for forcing the end to it.

    But we mobilise to get Israel invited to the Nagasaki peace events.

    From Auschwitz to Nagasaki to Gaza: whatever happened to Never Again? Whatever happened to our decency?

    The Australian journalist Caitlin Johnstone wrote this month “If you’re still supporting Israel in the year 2025, there’s something seriously wrong with you as a person.”  That goes triple for governments.

    Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He contributes to Asia Pacific Report and Café Pacific, and hosts the public policy platform solidarity.co.nz

    This article was first published on Café Pacific.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: May crime statistics

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Property related crime including house break-ins, shop theft and car theft have continued to decline considerably in South Australia, the latest crime statistics have revealed.

    The May rolling year crime statistics reveal the total number of property related offences has decreased by eight per cent – or 7,604 offences – in the period with significant reductions in most offences within the category.

    Robbery and related offences have also continued to fall with a 10 per cent decline in offences recorded in the period – 80 offences – which is the sixteenth successive decrease in offences within that category.

    The May figures reveal aggravated robberies declined by 14 per cent – from 490 to 432 offences reported and non-aggravated robberies rose by three per cent – from 75 to 77 offences reported.

    Within the property related offences category theft and related offences recorded a 10 per cent decline in the period with a reduction in 5,709 offences – from 56,630 to 50,921.

    Car theft recorded a six per cent decline – from 3,725 to 3,513 offences – and theft from a vehicle recorded a 20 per cent drop in offences – from 9,567 to 7,639 offences. This followed similar falls in the previous three reporting periods.

    Shop theft has continued to fall in South Australia as ongoing proactive operations targeting recidivist offenders pay dividends with a seven per cent decline in the May period when 1,224 fewer offences were reported – from 18,405 to 17,181 incidents. This is the seventh successive decline in reported offences.

    House break-ins have also continued to decline with a 10 per cent decrease recorded in the May period – from 5,822 to 5,228 offences – or 594 fewer incidents reported. This followed an 11 per cent decrease in the April period, eight per cent in March and seven per cent in February.

    Non-residential break-ins also showed another healthy decrease with 318 fewer offences reported – from 3,708 to 3,390. The nine per cent drop followed a seven per cent decline in the April period and five per cent reductions in March and February.

    The May rolling year statistics reveal acts intended to cause injury, which includes serious assault resulting in injury and common assault, increased by four per cent from 23,546 to 24,428 incidents reported.

    Within that category the number of assault police incidents reported decreased by four per cent -from 626 to 601 incidents.

    Reported homicides have returned to traditional levels with 10 recorded in the rolling year period compared with 23 in the corresponding period. A similar number were reported in the March and April periods.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Search for remains near Port Lincoln

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Detectives from Major Crime Investigation Branch and local Eyre Western police, with the assistance of local support services will conduct further searches at several locations over the coming days to locate the missing remains of murder victim Julian Story.

    Police will allege Julian was murdered by his partner, 34-year-old Port Lincoln woman Tamika Chesser on Tuesday 17 June 2025.

    Major Crime Investigation Branch, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said information received by the investigation team coupled with the use of specialist equipment has identified several additional search sites in and around Port Lincoln.

    “In the days following the murder, Major Crime Detectives, local police, Water Operations Unit and the SA State Emergency Service conducted extensive searches around Port Lincoln without success,” Detective Superintendent Fielke said.

    “New search areas have been identified and by undertaking these renewed searches, we hope to find Julian’s missing remains, which will give comfort to his family and allow them to peacefully lay him to rest.

    “Police have reviewed a significant amount of CCTV footage since the incident which has provided a number of investigational leads. We also appreciate the ongoing assistance the community of Port Lincoln has provided throughout the investigation.”

    Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au – you can remain anonymous.

    CO2500025517.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Outage advice – Saturday July 26, 2025

    Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

    Please be aware that our Payment Portal, Online Customer Requests and Building Application lodgment portal will be unavailable between:

    Starts: 7:00am on Saturday July 26, 2025

    Ends: 12:00pm on Saturday July 26, 2025

    For any payments please refer to your invoice or statement for other payment options during this period.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Environment – EPA approves two biological controls to combat noxious weed

    Source: Environmental Protection Authority

    The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has approved a rust fungus and a flower weevil to control Darwin’s barberry, a spiny invasive shrub.
    Environment Canterbury, on behalf of the National Biocontrol Collective, applied to use two biological control agents to combat Darwin’s Barberry ( Berberis darwinii) in New Zealand. Those biocontrol agents are a rust fungus ( Puccinia berberidis-darwinii) and the Darwin’s barberry flower weevil ( Anthonomus kuscheli).
    Darwin’s barberry is a resilient noxious weed found in disturbed forests, pastures, shrubland and short tussock-land. It is a threat to indigenous ecosystems throughout the country, as well as to pastures where livestock graze. Standard control methods such as herbicides or weeding are often costly, impractical and harmful to the environment.
    It is native to Chile and Argentina and was introduced to Aotearoa New Zealand as a garden plant in the 1940s. Fruit-eating birds deposit seeds far from the parent bush, increasing its spread.
    The plant can be found throughout New Zealand – particularly in the Canterbury, Otago, and Wellington regions. These biocontrol agents could also be used to target Darwin’s barberry elsewhere in the country.
    Both the flower weevil and the rust fungus proposed for introduction are native to South America. All organisms new to New Zealand must receive approval from the EPA before being released into the New Zealand environment.
    “The independent decision-making committee approved the introduction of these two organisms following a rigorous, evidence-based assessment,” says Dr Chris Hill, General Manager of Hazardous Substances and New Organisms at the EPA.
    “The applicant’s risk assessment showed that these agents are highly unlikely to harm native plants or animals. The weevil does not bite or sting, so there is no health risk to people, and the rust fungus is also benign.”
    Dr Hill says the decision followed public consultation, engagement with mana whenua, and consideration of international best practice.
    “New Zealand has a strong track record of using biological control agents to manage invasive weeds with minimal impact on native ecosystems,” he says.
    In recent years the EPA has approved other biocontrol agents for weeds such as purple loosestrife, old man’s beard, Sydney golden wattle and moth plant.
    For more information, read the decision documents

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – New-age and old school shark bite prevention strategies put to the test on Gold Coast beaches – Flinders Uni

    Source: Flinders University

    22 July 2025 – Amid growing concerns about shark bites on Australian beaches, researchers have developed a new framework to compare and assess the broad range of prevention measures available to help identify which are most suitable to dynamic conditions.

    Flinders University researchers, in collaboration with The University of Queensland and state government agencies, developed 12 comprehensive but adaptable criteria encompassing mitigation efficiency, but also socio-economic and environmental factors.

    Published in the scientific journal People and Nature, the research used this new framework to compare 15 different mitigation measures that could be used on the Gold Coast – including cutting-edge technology and traditional strategies – and reveals that a combination of strategies is most effective at reducing the likelihood of shark bites.

    “Our analysis includes lethal options like traditional nets and drumlines, and non-lethal real-time shark alerts withSMART drumlines, drones, and early warning systems alongside personal electronic deterrents, listening stations, amid many other measures says, Southern Shark Ecology Group Research Leader at Flinders University and study co-author, Professor Charlie Huveneers.

    “It’s designed to be adaptable across various coastal environments, including murky, enclosed bays to clear, dynamic surf beaches and can accommodate new technologies or changing needs over time.

    “Importantly, this approach recognises that no single solution is universally effective; instead, a combination of approaches—such as public education, and behavioural changes— equally shared between state governments and growing numbers of surfers and beachgoers is likely to be most successful in reducing shark-bite risk.”

    Michelle Henriksen, lead author of the study, says public sentiment is shifting towards the deployment of non-lethal strategies, so experts want to gain knowledge about their effectiveness.

    “Results reiterated the societal shift towards non-lethal measures and highlighted which mitigation measures, or performance criteria lacked information, helping to identify knowledge gaps and research needs.”

    “By assessing the effectiveness of non-lethal mitigation, we’ve reflected community sentiment on the importance of introducing new methods that protect both sharks and beachgoers,” Ms Henriksen says.

    Shark-bite prevention measures strengths and weaknesses:

    • Physical Barriers: Effective in calm waters but impractical in surf zones like the Gold Coast.
    • Drones: Widely supported for shark detection; cost-effective and efficient for beach monitoring.
    • Personal electric Deterrents: Public education needed to improve acceptance.
    • SMART Drumlines: Non-lethal but concerns about bait attraction and response times.
    • Tagging: Requires sharks to be tagged and network of acoustic receivers but provide early warnings of shark presence
    • Sonar: Low effectiveness due to limited coverage and detection accuracy; better suited for future use with tech improvements.
    • Behavioural Interventions: Highly supported; focuses on education, personal responsibility, and safer ocean practices for people, instead of focusing on sharks.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Making a big impression

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

    A sizable asset in the making, or a liability in transition? China’s towering phenom Zhang Ziyu has turned heads at her home Asia Cup, leaving the basketball world wonder how such a unique talent could fit into the fast-paced modern game.

    Standing 2.26 meters tall (7-foot-5), with her giant presence a spectacle to behold, China’s 18-year-old center Zhang, dubbed “Baby-face Shaq” by fans, couldn’t hide from the attention at the FIBA Asia Cup in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, where her insurmountable advantage under the rim, as apparent as her weakness in mobility, agility and conditioning, was put on full display.

    China’s Zhang Ziyu (C) dwarves two Japanese opponents during a friendly in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province, June 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

    Limited by head coach Gong Luming to 14 minutes of court time per game, Zhang finished her international debut at the senior level with a team-high 15.6 points on average across five games, ranking second overall after Lebanon’s Rebecca Akl (16.5).

    Despite being triple teamed whenever she played, Zhang proved almost unstoppable near the basket, easily posting defenders up with her bulk to score free points as long as she settled deep enough in the paint.

    Her slow legs and lack of athleticism, however, took a heavy toll on her game, significantly limiting her defensive coverage and threat in offensive transition.

    As currently the world’s tallest professional female player, Zhang could only contribute 0.4 blocks and 5.6 rebounds per game in Shenzhen, ranking 18th and 14th, respectively, in two key stats that measure a post player’s impact.

    A raw talent playing the game, literally, on a level of her own, Zhang’s emergence is sure to pose a huge challenge for opponents as Team China looks to build its future around her.

    “She’s an extraordinary talent with an untapped potential, and could be a huge asset for Chinese women’s basketball if developed in the right way,” Gong said of Zhang’s performance after Team China beat South Korea 101-66 in Sunday’s bronze-medal playoff to finish third on the podium.

    “She obviously lacks experience at this level, and has so much catching-up to do to get used to the physicality and pace of the senior game.

    “Defensively, she has to improve her movement and rebounding, while, offensively, we hope she can develop a more versatile skillset and get more involved in making plays for teammates.

    “She has a long career ahead of her and a vast room for improvement. This was just her first test at the senior level, and I feel like we put way too much expectation on her, which didn’t help,” said Gong, who returned to the team just three months ago for a second stint after guiding the women’s squad to the 2001 Asia championship and 2002 Asian Games titles.

    Zhang’s current incompatibility with the fast-paced, high-intensity game was exposed in Team China’s disappointing 90-81 semifinal loss to Japan, where the host’s strength in the paint was neutralized by Japan’s run-and-gun game, which featured sharp shooting, spacing and quick transition.

    China’s slow-rotating zone defense, with Zhang settled deep down court whenever she’s in the game, allowed Japan’s teen star Kokoro Tanaka too many uncontested shots on the perimeter, where Japan hit 16 three-pointers, 10 more than China did, to upset the host in front of its home fans.

    Corey Gaines, Japan’s head coach, attributed the critical win to his team’s perfect execution of a game plan tailored against the host’s “too obvious” advantage, following two warm-up losses to Team China last month.

    Still, Zhang’s rise to stardom as a potential game-changer on the international stage will be inevitable, according to Australian legend Lauren Jackson.

    The five-time Olympic medalist said she’s been following Zhang’s game as a fan, and feels excited for her future as a star in the making following the NBA Rising Star tournament in Singapore earlier this month.

    “She’s starting to learn the women’s game after graduating from age-grade basketball, and I just hope she’s enjoying every minute, because, before too long, she is going to be the center of everybody’s attention and dominating the FIBA game,” Jackson told ESPN.

    “Obviously she’s super tall, but the way she plays, she certainly has the ability to completely dominate, purely because of her height,” said the 44-year-old former WNBA star.

    “In saying that, she’s got great touch around the ring, she can catch and she’s got a big, strong body, and has the ability to finish under pressure with three or four people hanging off her.

    “It’s exciting to think about where she’s going to go in the game, and what she’s going to do,” said Jackson, a dominant 1.98-meter center in her prime, who retired after helping Australia qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

    Playing in a major home tournament as a teenager was a perfect start for Zhang, and the next big experience is something Jackson has lived and breathed herself — a potential call from the WNBA.

    The high expectations, though, could be a burden that Zhang will need some extra help and support to overcome, said Jackson, who made her major international debut for the Opals at the 1998 world championships and became a big name at the Sydney Olympics.

    “The Australian team, our coach and the team manager made an effort of trying to protect me from the media and the external pressures. In our lead-in games to Sydney, they made sure I wasn’t doing much media and things like that,” she recalls.

    “It was a very strange, surreal time, and I was ignorant to how much pressure was probably on me. I hope she has the same support as I had to help her out.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Survival in the Tropics: Malaysian Army Shares Essential Jungle Training with U.S. and Australian Soldiers

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    PERAK, Malaysia — Deep in the Malaysian jungle, multinational forces from the Malaysian Army, U.S. Army, and Australian Army came together during Exercise Keris Strike 25 to exchange survival knowledge, fieldcraft skills, and cultural practices vital to operating in austere environments.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 22, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 22, 2025.

    New study finds the gender earnings gap could be halved if we reined in the long hours often worked by men
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndall Strazdins, Professor, Australian National University asylun/Shutterstock There are lots of reasons why people work extra hours. In some jobs, it’s the only way to cover the workload. In others, the pay is poor, so people need to work extra time. And in others still, working back

    New study finds the gender earnings gap could be halved if we reined in the long hours often worked by men
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndall Strazdins, Professor, Australian National University asylun/Shutterstock There are lots of reasons why people work extra hours. In some jobs, it’s the only way to cover the workload. In others, the pay is poor, so people need to work extra time. And in others still, working back

    Sky TV to buy channel Three owner Discovery NZ for $1
    By Anan Zaki, RNZ News business reporter Sky TV has agreed to fully acquire TV3 owner Discovery New Zealand for $1. Discovery NZ is a part of US media giant Warner Bros Discovery, and operates channel Three and online streaming platform ThreeNow. NZX-listed Sky said the deal would be completed on a cash-free, debt-free basis,

    Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University Australia has joined 28 international partners in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a lifting of all restrictions on food and medical supplies. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, along with counterparts from

    As female independent MPs descend on parliament, they’re fulfilling the dreams of women across history
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Chappell, Post Doctoral Research, University of New England Australia’s 48th parliament has a record 112 women members. Ten of those women are independents. As they take their seats in the chamber, they’ll be realising the aspirations of some of Australia’s first suffragists who, more than a

    Are screenwriters paid for a product or a service? The definition matters for their workplace rights
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Goodwin, Lecturer in Arts Management and Human Resources, The University of Melbourne Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash The film and television sector in Australia employs over 26,000 workers and generated more than A$4.5 billion in income in 2021–22. TV dramas generate a large part of this revenue. Australian screen

    NZ and allies condemn ‘inhumane’, ‘horrifying’ killings in Gaza and ‘drip feeding’ of aid
    RNZ News New Zealand has joined 24 other countries in calling for an end to the war in Gaza, and criticising what they call the inhumane killing of Palestinians. The countries — including Britain, France, Canada and Australia plus the European Union — also condemed the Israeli government’s aid delivery model in Gaza as “dangerous”.

    Everyone’s talking about the Perseid meteor shower – but don’t bother trying to see it in Australia or NZ
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland View of the 2023 Perseid meteor shower from the southernmost part of Sequoia National Forest, US. NASA/Preston Dyches In recent days, you may have seen articles claiming the “best meteor shower of the year” is about to start. Unfortunately,

    Pumped up with poison: new research shows many anabolic steroids contain toxic metals
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Piatkowski, Lecturer in Psychology, Griffith University MilosStankovic/Getty Images Eighteen-year-old Mark scrolls Instagram late at night, watching videos of fitness influencers showing off muscle gains and lifting the equivalent of a baby elephant off the gym floor. Spurred on by hashtags and usernames indicating these feats involve

    How EVs and electric water heaters are turning cities into giant batteries
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bin Lu, Senior Research Fellow in Renewable Energy, Australian National University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock As the electrification of transport and heating accelerates, many worry the increased demand could overload national power grids. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050. If everyone charges their car and

    The end of open-plan classrooms: how school design reflects changing ideas in education
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leon Benade, Professor in the School of Education of Edith Cowan University (ECU), Perth, WA, Edith Cowan University skynesher/Getty Imaged The end of open-plan classrooms in New Zealand, recently announced by Education Minister Erica Stanford, marks yet another swing of the pendulum in school design. Depending on

    Could Rupert Murdoch bring down Donald Trump? A court case threatens more than just their relationship
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Professor of Journalism, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne If Rupert Murdoch becomes a white knight standing up to a rampantly bullying US president, the world has moved into the upside-down. This is, after all, the media mogul whose US

    PBS and NPR are generally unbiased, independent of government propaganda and provide key benefits to US democracy
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin, Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs, Boise State University Congress’ cuts to public broadcasting will diminish the range and volume of the free press and the independent reporting it provides. MicroStockHub-iStock/Getty Images Plus Champions of the almost entirely party-line vote

    Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: why it’s a bad idea
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hanri Mostert, SARChI Chair for Mineral Law in Africa, University of Cape Town A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country signs away its mineral resources to a superpower

    A popular sweetener could be damaging your brain’s defences, says recent study
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Havovi Chichger, Professor, Biomedical Science, Anglia Ruskin University Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective barriers

    Why has a bill to relax NZ foreign investment rules had so little scrutiny?
    ANALYSIS: By Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau While public attention has been focused on the domestic fast-track consenting process for infrastructure and mining, Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour has been pushing through another fast-track process — this time for foreign investment in New Zealand. But it has had almost no public

    PSNA calls on NZ to urgently condemn Israeli weaponisation of starvation
    Asia Pacific Report The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has called on the New Zealand government to immediately condemn Israel’s weaponisation of starvation and demand an end to the siege of Gaza. It has also called for a permanent ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access to the besieged enclave. “All political parties and elected officials must break

    Labor to put disclaimer under Mark Latham’s caucus room picture
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The picture of Mark Latham on the caucus room gallery of Labor leaders will have an annotation under it saying he was expelled for life and his actions do not accord with Labor values. The first meeting of the new

    Pacific leaders demand respectful involvement in memorial for unmarked graves
    By Mary Afemata, of PMN News and RNZ Pacific Porirua City Council is set to create a memorial for more than 1800 former patients of the local hospital buried in unmarked graves. But Pacific leaders are asking to be “meaningfully involved” in the process, including incorporating prayer, language, and ceremonial practices. More than 50 people

    Newspoll and Resolve give Labor big leads as parliament resumes after the election
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With federal parliament to sit for the first time since the election on Tuesday, Newspoll gives Labor a 57–43 lead and Resolve a 56–44 lead. In Tasmania,

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Sky TV to buy channel Three owner Discovery NZ for $1

    By Anan Zaki, RNZ News business reporter

    Sky TV has agreed to fully acquire TV3 owner Discovery New Zealand for $1.

    Discovery NZ is a part of US media giant Warner Bros Discovery, and operates channel Three and online streaming platform ThreeNow.

    NZX-listed Sky said the deal would be completed on a cash-free, debt-free basis, with completion expected on August 1.

    Sky expected the deal to deliver revenue diversification and uplift of around $95 million a year.

    Sky expected Discovery NZ’s operations to deliver sustainable underlying earnings growth of at least $10 million from the 2028 financial year.

    Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney said it was a compelling opportunity for the company, with net integration costs of about $6.5 million.

    “This is a compelling opportunity for Sky that directly supports our ambition to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s most engaging and essential media company,” she said.

    Confidential advance notice
    Sky said it gave the Commerce Commission confidential advance notice of the transaction, and the commission did not intend to consider the acquisition further.

    Warner Bros Discovery Australia and NZ managing director Michael Brooks said it was a “fantastic outcome” for both companies.

    “The continued challenges faced by the New Zealand media industry are well documented, and over the past 12 months, the Discovery NZ team has worked to deliver a new, more sustainable business model following a significant restructure in 2024,” Brooks said.

    “While this business is not commercially viable as a standalone asset in WBD’s New Zealand portfolio, we see the value Three and ThreeNow can bring to Sky’s existing offering of complementary assets.”

    Sky said on completion, Discovery NZ’s balance sheet would be clear of some long-term obligations, including property leases and content commitments, and would include assets such as the ThreeNow platform.

    Sky said irrespective of the transaction, the company was confident of achieving its 30 cents a share dividend target for 2026.

    ‘Massive change’ for NZ media – ThreeNews to continue
     Founder of The Spinoff and media commentator Duncan Greive said the deal would give Sky more reach and was a “massive change” in New Zealand’s media landscape.

    He noted Sky’s existing free-to-air presence via Sky Open (formerly Prime), but said acquiring Three gave it the second-most popular audience outlet on TV.

    “Because of the inertia of how people use television, Three is just a much more accessible channel and one that’s been around longer,” Greive said.

    “To have basically the second-most popular channel in the country as part of their stable just means they’ve got a lot more ad inventory, much bigger audiences.”

    It also gave Sky another outlet for their content, and would allow it to compete further against TVNZ, both linear and online, Greive said.

    He said there may be a question mark around the long-term future of Three’s news service, which was produced by Stuff.

    No reference to ThreeNews
    Sky made no reference to ThreeNews in its announcement. However, Stuff confirmed ThreeNews would continue for now.

    “Stuff’s delivery of ThreeNews is part of the deal but there are also now lots of new opportunities ahead that we are excited to explore together,” Stuff owner Sinead Boucher said in a statement.

    On the deal itself, Boucher said she was “delighted” to see Three back in New Zealand ownership under Sky.

    “And who doesn’t love a $1 deal!” Boucher said, referring to her own $1 deal to buy Stuff from Australia’s Nine Entertainment in 2020.

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: New study finds the gender earnings gap could be halved if we reined in the long hours often worked by men

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndall Strazdins, Professor, Australian National University

    asylun/Shutterstock

    There are lots of reasons why people work extra hours. In some jobs, it’s the only way to cover the workload. In others, the pay is poor, so people need to work extra time. And in others still, working back late or on weekends is encouraged and rewarded, explicitly and implicitly.

    Those employees who do the extra hours, willingly and without complaint, are seen as hungry and ambitious. A view expressed in some workplaces is simply “that’s what everyone does”.

    But what if we discovered that people – at least in heterosexual couple households – can only work long hours at their partner’s expense? Would it still be OK for workplaces to expect people to work longer than our standard full time week, and incentivise them for doing so?

    Our study, published this month in the journal Social Indicators Research, found in Australian couple households where both partners had jobs, men earned on average $536 more than women every week. In Germany, the weekly gender earnings gap was €400.

    About half of that income gap in both Australia and Germany was due to men working long hours and women effectively subsidising them to do this by cutting back their own work hours.

    It’s tough to combine a job with running a household, but one person working extra hours makes this almost impossible. In households, a job with long work hours means someone else must pick up the rest. This includes caring for kids, running the house, walking the dog, cooking dinner and more.

    What happens when one partner has to pick up the rest

    One in three Australian employees care for children, and 13% of part-time and 11% of all full-time employees give care to someone else, often an ageing parent. This has knock-on effects which are impacting many people in our workforce. The extra hours don’t come out of nowhere, but they have been invisible in what we think of as fair.

    In our study, we costed this knock-on in terms of earnings and work hours gaps in households, and what this could mean for equality of income.

    We studied between 3,000 and 6,000 heterosexual couples from 2002 to 2019 in Australia and in Germany, estimating their weekly earnings and work hour gaps.

    To understand the dynamics in the household, we used a two-stage instrumental variable Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition – a method that allowed us to model earnings gaps as a function of both partners’ paid and unpaid hours. This helped us estimate what the gender gap in hours and earnings would look like if time weren’t being “borrowed” or “subsidised” within the home.

    Changing the hours men and women work

    The results were striking. We showed how one partner’s paid work hours can increase when the other partner does more unpaid (household) work. This ability for partners to “trade” hours was one of the most important drivers of the work hour (and earning) gap.

    So we re-ran models and recalculated what hours a woman and a man would work if one partner wasn’t “subsidising” the other’s work hours. The model showed women would work more hours and men would work fewer when there was a more even split of home duties. The weekly work hour gap shrank to 5.1 hours in Australia (a 58% reduction) and 6.9 hours in Germany (a 47% reduction).

    The impact on earnings was just as significant. The gender earnings gap would shrink by 43% in Australia and 25% in Germany.

    The gender earnings and work hours gaps are well known, and these are not the only countries facing this problem. What hasn’t been shown before is how it works in households to drive gender inequality across the nation.

    The rest of the earnings gap is largely due to differences in pay across male and female industries and jobs, and the persistent gender pay gap in hourly pay.

    According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average gender gap in hourly pay is 11.1%. This gap reflects the fact, hour for hour, women are generally paid less. The average weekly earnings gap is much larger at 26.4%.

    As things currently stand in Australia, women earn only three-quarters of what men do, a shortfall similar to that in (Germany).

    One part of the earnings gap is the gap in the hourly pay rate, but the other is the gap in how many hours are worked. We show how this would shrink if men worked hours that were closer to Australia’s legislated 38-hour week, and workplaces encouraged them to do so.

    Closing the gap

    If we stopped the time-shifting to partners that our culture of long working hours relies upon, we estimate that in a heterosexual couple, men’s hours would average closer to 41 a week, and women’s would increase to 36.

    We could change the long and short hour compromise that so many households have to face. This change could make a huge difference to gender inequality, and women would no longer carry such a large economic cost from their partner’s work.

    Maybe reining in excess hours should be the new focus for gender equality.

    Lyndall Strazdins has received funding from the Australian Research Council to undertake research on this topic.
    She has served as an expert witness on work hours and well-being for the State and Federal Court.

    Liana Leach receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund. She is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).

    Tinh Doan receives funding from the Australia ComCare and the Department of Health and Aged Care for other works that are not related to this article.

    – ref. New study finds the gender earnings gap could be halved if we reined in the long hours often worked by men – https://theconversation.com/new-study-finds-the-gender-earnings-gap-could-be-halved-if-we-reined-in-the-long-hours-often-worked-by-men-260815

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Could Rupert Murdoch bring down Donald Trump? A court case threatens more than just their relationship

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Andrew Dodd, Professor of Journalism, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne

    If Rupert Murdoch becomes a white knight standing up to a rampantly bullying US president, the world has moved into the upside-down.

    This is, after all, the media mogul whose US television network, Fox News, actively supported Donald Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election result and paid out a US$787 million (about A$1.2 billion) lawsuit for doing so.

    It is also the network that supplied several members of Trump’s inner circle, including former Fox host, now controversial Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth.

    But that is where we are after Trump filed a writ on July 18 after Murdoch’s financial newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, published an article about a hand-drawn card Trump is alleged to have sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The newspaper reported:

    A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly “Donald” below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.

    The Journal said it has seen the letter but did not republish it. The letter allegedly concluded:

    Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.

    The card was apparently Trump’s contribution to a birthday album compiled for Epstein by the latter’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being found guilty of sex trafficking in 2021.

    Trump was furious. He told his Truth Social audience he had warned Murdoch the letter was fake. He wrote, “Mr Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but obviously did not have the power to do so,” referring to Murdoch handing leadership of News Corporation to his eldest son Lachlan in 2023.



    Read more:
    How Rupert Murdoch helped create a monster – the era of Trumpism – and then lost control of it

    Trump is being pincered. On one side, The Wall Street Journal is a respected newspaper that speaks to literate, wealthy Americans who remain deeply sceptical about Trump’s radical initiative on tariffs, which it described in an editorial as “the dumbest trade war in history”.

    On the other side is the conspiracy theory-thirsty MAGA base who have been told for years that there was a massive conspiracy around Epstein’s apparent suicide in 2019 that included the so-called deep state, Democrat elites and, no doubt, the Clintons.

    Trump, who loves pro wrestling as well as adopting its garish theatrics, might characterise his lawsuit against Murdoch as a smackdown to rival Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant in the 1980s.

    To adopt wrestling argot, though, it is a rare battle between two heels.

    A friendship of powerful convenience

    Murdoch and Trump’s relationship is longstanding but convoluted. The key to understanding it is that both men are ruthlessly transactional.

    Exposure in Murdoch’s New York Post in the 1980s and ‘90s was crucial to building Trump’s reputation.

    Not that Murdoch particularly likes Trump. Yes, Murdoch attended his second inauguration, albeit in a back row behind the newly favoured big tech media moguls. He was also seen sitting in the Oval Office a few days later looking quite at home.

    But this was pure power-display politics, not the behaviour of a friend.

    Murdoch joined Trump in the Oval Office in February 2025.
    Anna Moneymaker/Getty

    Remember Murdoch’s derision on hearing Trump was considering standing for office before the 2016 election, and his promotion of Ron De Santis in the primaries before Trump’s second term. Murdoch’s political hero has always been Ronald Reagan. Trump has laid waste to the Republican Party of Reagan.

    Murdoch knows what the rest of sane America knows: Trump is downright weird, if not dangerous. This, of course, only makes Murdoch’s complicity in Trump’s rise to power, and Fox News’ continued boosterism of Trump, all the more appalling.

    But, in keeping with Murdoch’s relationship to power throughout his career, what he helps make, he also helps destroy. Perhaps now it’s Trump’s turn to be unmade. As a former Murdoch lieutenant told The Financial Times over the weekend:

    he’s testing out: Is Trump losing his base? And where do I need to be to stay in the heart of the base?

    And here is Murdoch’s great advantage, and his looming threat.

    A double-edged sword

    The advantage comes with the scope of Murdoch’s media empire, which operates like a federation of different mastheads, each with their own market and aspirations. While Fox News panders to the MAGA base, and The New York Post juices its New York audience, The Wall Street Journal speaks, and listens, to business. Each audience has different needs, meaning they’re often presented with the same news in very different ways, or sometimes different news entirely.

    Like a federation, though, News Corp uses its various operations to drive the type of change that affects all its markets.

    It might work like this. The Wall Street Journal breaks a story that’s so shocking it begins to chip away at MAGA’s unquestioning loyalty of Trump. This process is, of course, willingly aided by the rest of the media. The resulting groundswell eventually allows Fox News and the Post to tentatively follow their audiences into questioning, and then perhaps criticising, Trump.

    Fox News audiences could slowly begin to question Trump, or abandon the network entirely.
    NurPhoto/Getty

    The threat is that before that groundswell builds, Murdoch is seriously vulnerable to criticism from a still dominant Trump, who can turn conspiracy-prone audiences away from Fox News with just a social media post. Trump has already been busy doing just that, saying he is looking forward to getting Murdoch onto the witness stand for his lawsuit.

    If the Fox audience decides it’s the proprietor who’s behind this denigration of Trump, they may decide to boycott their own favoured media channel, even though Fox’s programming hasn’t yet started questioning Trump.

    The Murdochs’ fear of audience backlash was a major factor in Fox’s promulgation of the Big Lie after Trump’s defeat in 2020. The fear their audience might defect to Newsmax or some other right-wing media outfit is just as real today.

    History littered with fakery

    We also need to consider that Trump might be right. What if the letter is a fake?

    Murdoch has form when it comes to high-profile exposés that turn out to be fiction. Who can forget the Hitler Diaries in 1983, which we now know Murdoch knew were fake before he published.

    Think also of the Pauline Hanson photos, allegedly of her posing in lingerie, all of which were quickly proved to be fake after they were published by Murdoch’s Australian tabloids in 2009.

    There was also The Sun’s despicable and wilfully wrong campaign against Elton John in 1987 and the same paper’s continued denigration of the people of Liverpool following the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989.

    But while Murdoch’s News Corp has a history of confection and fakery, the Wall Street Journal has a reputation for straight reportage, albeit through a conservative lens. Since Murdoch bought it in 2007, it has been engaged in its own internal battle for editorial standards.

    Media rolling over

    What Trump won’t get from Murdoch is the same acquiescence he’s enjoyed from America’s ABC and CBS networks, which have both handed over tens of millions of dollars in defamation settlements following dubious claims by Trump about the nature of their coverage.



    Read more:
    ABC’s and CBS’s settlements with Trump are a dangerous step toward the commander in chief becoming the editor-in-chief

    In December 2024, ABC’s owner Disney settled and agreed to pay US$15 million (A$23 million) to Trump’s presidential library. The president sued after a presenter said Trump was found guilty of raping E. Jean Carroll.

    Trump had actually been found guilty by a jury in a civil trial of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and was ordered to pay her US$5 million (A$7.6 million).

    CBS’ parent company, Paramount, did similarly after being sued by the president, agreeing in early July to settle and pay US$16 million (A$24.5 million) to Trump’s library. This was despite earlier saying the case was “completely without merit”.

    Beware the legal microscope

    From Trump’s viewpoint, two prominent media companies have been cowed. But his campaign against critical media doesn’t stop there.

    Last week, congress passed a bill cancelling federal funding for the country’s two public-service media outlets, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).

    Also last week, CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s stridently critical comedy show, although CBS claims this is just a cost-cutting exercise and not about appeasing a bully in the White House.

    Presuming the reported birthday letter is real, Murdoch will not bend so easily. And that’s when it will be important to pay attention, because at some point Trump’s lawyers will advise him about the dangers of depositions and discovery: the legal processes that force parties to a dispute to reveal what they have and what they know.

    If the Epstein files do implicate Trump, the legal fight won’t last long and the media campaign against him will only intensify.

    Right now we have the spectre of Murdoch joining that other disaffected mogul, Elon Musk, in a moral crusade against Trump, the man they both helped make. The implications are head-spinning.

    As global bullies, the three of them probably deserve each other. But we, the public, surely deserve better than any of them.

    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. Could Rupert Murdoch bring down Donald Trump? A court case threatens more than just their relationship – https://theconversation.com/could-rupert-murdoch-bring-down-donald-trump-a-court-case-threatens-more-than-just-their-relationship-261532

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: New study peers beneath the skin of iconic lizards to find ‘chainmail’ bone plates – and lots of them

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Roy Ebel, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Biology, Museums Victoria Research Institute

    Radiodensity heatmap of emerald tree monitors. Roy Ebel

    Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. Their lineage not only survived the mass extinction that ended the reign of non-avian dinosaurs, but also gave rise to the largest living lizards on Earth.

    Today, these formidable creatures pace through forests and scrublands, flicking their tongues as they go.

    A new study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society looks beneath their skin. For the first time, it reveals hidden bone structures that may hold the key to the evolutionary success of goannas in Australia.

    An essential organ

    The skin is an organ essential for survival. In some animals, it includes a layer of bone plates embedded among the skin tissue. Think of the armour-like plates in crocodiles or armadillos: these are osteoderms.

    Their size ranges from microscopic to massive, with the back plates of the stegosaurus as the most impressive example.

    A mounted stegosaurus skeleton at the Natural History Museum, London.
    Jeremy Knight/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    We have only just started to understand these enigmatic structures. Osteoderms can be found in animal lineages that diverged up to 380 million years ago. This means these bone plates would have evolved independently, just like active flight did in birds, pterosaurs and bats.

    But what is their purpose? While the advantage of flight is undisputed, the case is not as clear for osteoderms.

    The most obvious potential would be for defence – protecting the animal from injuries. However, osteoderms may serve a far broader purpose.

    In crocodiles, for example, they help with heat regulation, play a part in movement, and even supply calcium during egg-laying. It is the interplay of these poorly understood functions that has long made it difficult to pinpoint how and why osteoderms evolved.

    Sand monitors, also known as sand goannas, are widespread through most of Australia.
    Ken Griffiths/Shutterstock

    A cutting-edge technique

    To help resolve this enigma, we had to go back to the beginning.

    Surprisingly, to date science has not even agreed on which species have osteoderms. Therefore, we assembled an international team of specialists to carry out the first large-scale study of osteoderms in lizards and snakes.

    We studied specimens from scientific collections at institutions such as the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum in Berlin, and Museums Victoria.

    However, we soon learnt that this came with challenges. Firstly, the presence of osteoderms can vary dramatically between individuals of the same species. Secondly, there is no guarantee that osteoderms are sufficiently preserved in all specimens.

    Most importantly, they are buried deep within skin tissue and invisible to the naked eye. Traditionally, finding them meant destroying the specimen.

    Instead, we turned to micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), an imaging technique similar to a medical CT scan, but with much higher resolution. This allowed us to study even the tiniest anatomical structures while keeping our specimens intact.

    Micro-CT-based, computer-generated 3D model of Rosenberg’s goanna (Varanus rosenbergi), with the left half showing osteoderms and endoskeleton.
    Roy Ebel

    Using computer-generated 3D models, we then digitally explored the bodies of lizards and snakes from all parts of the world. Incorporating data from prior literature, we processed almost 2,000 such samples in our search for osteoderms.

    To illustrate our results, we devised a technique called radiodensity heatmapping, which visually highlights the locations of bone structures in the body.

    For the first time, we now have a comprehensive catalogue showing where to find osteoderms in a large and diverse group; this will inform future studies.

    Radiodensity heatmapping shows newly discovered osteoderms (yellow to red) in the limbs and tail of the Mexican knob scaled lizard (Xenosaurus platyceps).
    Roy Ebel

    Not just anatomical curiosity

    What we found was unexpected. It was thought only a small number of lizard families had osteoderms. However, we encountered them nearly twice as often as anticipated.

    In fact, our results show nearly half of all lizards have osteoderms in one form or another.

    Our most astonishing finding concerned goannas. Scientists have been studying monitor lizards for more than 200 years. They were long thought to lack osteoderms, except in rare cases such as the Komodo dragon.

    So we were all the more surprised when we discovered previously undocumented osteoderms in 29 Australo-Papuan species, increasing their overall known prevalence five times.

    Examples of newly discovered osteoderms (magenta) in Australo-Papuan monitor lizards.
    Roy Ebel

    This isn’t just an anatomical curiosity. Now that we know Australian goannas have osteoderms, it opens up an exciting new avenue for further studies. This is because goannas have an interesting biogeographic history: when they first arrived in Australia about 20 million years ago, they had to adapt to a new, harsh environment.

    If osteoderms in goannas showed up around this time – possibly owing to new challenges from their environment – we’d gain crucial insights into the function and evolution of these enigmatic bone structures.

    Not only may we just have found the key to an untold chapter in the goanna story, our findings may also improve our understanding of the forces of evolution that shaped Australia’s unique reptiles as we know them today.

    Roy Ebel receives funding from the Australian Government’s Research Training Program.

    – ref. New study peers beneath the skin of iconic lizards to find ‘chainmail’ bone plates – and lots of them – https://theconversation.com/new-study-peers-beneath-the-skin-of-iconic-lizards-to-find-chainmail-bone-plates-and-lots-of-them-260700

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Pumped up with poison: new research shows many anabolic steroids contain toxic metals

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Timothy Piatkowski, Lecturer in Psychology, Griffith University

    MilosStankovic/Getty Images

    Eighteen-year-old Mark scrolls Instagram late at night, watching videos of fitness influencers showing off muscle gains and lifting the equivalent of a baby elephant off the gym floor.

    Spurred on by hashtags and usernames indicating these feats involve steroids, soon Mark is online, ordering his first “steroid cycle”. No script, no warnings, just vials in the mail and the promise of “gains”.

    A few weeks later, he’s posting progress shots and getting tagged as #MegaMark. He’s pleased. But what if I told you Mark was unknowingly injecting toxic chemicals?

    In our new research we tested products sold in Australia’s underground steroid market and found many were mislabelled or missing the expected steroid entirely.

    Even more concerning, several contained heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium. These substances are known to cause cancer, heart disease and organ failure.

    What are anabolic steroids, and who is using them?

    Anabolic steroids are synthetic drugs designed to mimic the effects of testosterone. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe them for specific health conditions (for example, hypogonadism, where the body isn’t making enough sex hormones). But they are more commonly taken by people looking to increase muscle size, improve athletic performance, or elevate feelings of wellbeing.

    In Australia, it’s illegal to possess steroids without a prescription. This offence can attract large fines and prison terms (up to 25 years in Queensland).

    Despite this, they’re widely available online and from your local “gym bro”. So it’s not surprising we’re seeing escalating use, particularly among young men and women.

    People usually take steroids as pills and capsules or injectable oil- or water-based products. But while many people assume these products are safe if used correctly, they’re made outside regulated settings, with no official quality checks.



    Read more:
    Get big or die trying: social media is driving men’s use of steroids. Here’s how to mitigate the risks

    Our research

    For this new study, we analysed 28 steroid products acquired from people all over Australia which they’d purchased either online or from peers in the gym. These included 16 injectable oils, ten varieties of oral tablets, and two “raw” powders.

    An independent forensic lab tested the samples for active ingredients, contaminants and heavy metals. We then compared the results against what people thought they were taking.

    More than half of the samples were mislabelled or contained the wrong drug. For example, one product labelled as testosterone enanthate (200mg/mL) contained 159mg/mL of trenbolone (a potent type of steroid) and no detectable testosterone. Oxandrolone (also known as “Anavar”, another type of steroid) tablets were sold claiming a strength of 10mg but actually contained 6.8mg, showing a disparity in purity.

    Just four products matched their expected compound and purity within a 5% margin.

    But the biggest concern was that all steroids we analysed were contaminated with some level of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium.

    While all of the concentrations we detected were within daily exposure limits regarded as safe by health authorities, more frequent and heavier use of these drugs would quickly see people who use steroids exceed safe thresholds. And we know this happens.

    If consumed above safe limits, research suggests lead can damage the brain and heart. Arsenic is a proven carcinogen, having been linked to the development of skin, liver and lung cancers.

    People who use steroids often dose for weeks or months, and sometimes stack multiple drugs, so these metals would build up. This means long‑term steroid use could be quietly fuelling cognitive decline, organ failure, and even cancer.

    What needs to happen next?

    Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium often contaminate anabolic steroid products because raw powders sourced from some manufacturers, particularly those in China, may be produced with poor quality control and impure starting materials. These metals can enter the supply chain during synthesis, handling, or from contaminated equipment and solvents, leading to their presence in the final products.

    Steroid use isn’t going away, so we need to address the potential health harms from these contaminants.

    While pill testing is now common at festivals for drugs such as ecstasy, testing anabolic steroids requires more complex chemical analysis that cannot be conducted on-site. Current steroid testing relies on advanced laboratory techniques, which limits availability mostly to specialised research programs such as those in Australia and Switzerland.

    We need to invest properly in a national steroid surveillance and testing network, which will give us data‑driven insights to inform targeted interventions.

    This should involve nationwide steroid testing programs integrated with needle‑and‑syringe programs and community health services which steroid-using communities are aware of and engage with.

    We also need to see peer‑led support through trusted programs to educate people who use steroids around the risks. The programs should be based in real evidence, and developed by people with lived experience of steroid use, in partnership with researchers and clinicians.

    Timothy Piatkowski receives funding from Queensland Mental Health Commission. He is affiliated with Queensland Injectors Voice for Advocacy and Action as the Vice President. He is affiliated with The Loop Australia as the research lead (Queensland).

    – ref. Pumped up with poison: new research shows many anabolic steroids contain toxic metals – https://theconversation.com/pumped-up-with-poison-new-research-shows-many-anabolic-steroids-contain-toxic-metals-261470

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University

    Australia has joined 28 international partners in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a lifting of all restrictions on food and medical supplies.

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong, along with counterparts from countries including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, has signed a joint statement demanding Israel complies with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

    The statement condemns Israel for what it calls “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking “their most basic need” of water and food, saying:

    The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity […] It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.

    Weapon of war

    Gazans, including malnourished mothers denied baby formula, face impossible choices as Israel intensifies its use of starvation as a weapon of war.

    In Gaza, survival requires negotiating what the United Nations calls aid “death traps”.

    According to the UN, 875 Gazans have been killed – many of them shot – while seeking food since the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in late May. Another 4,000 have been injured.

    More than 170 humanitarian groups have called for the food hubs to be shut down.

    Gaza has been described as the “hungriest place on Earth”, with aid trucks being held at the border and the United States destroying around 500 tonnes of emergency food because it was just out of date.

    More than two million people are at critical risk of famine. The World Food Programme estimates 90,000 women and children require urgent treatment for malnutrition.

    Nineteen Palestinians have starved to death in recent days, according to local health authorities.

    We can’t say we didn’t know

    After the breakdown of the January ceasefire, Israel implemented a humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip. Following mounting international pressure, limited aid was permitted and the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations.

    As anticipated, only a fraction of the aid has been distributed.

    About 1,600 trucks entered Gaza between May 19 and July 14, well below the 630 trucks needed every day to feed the population.

    Israeli ministers have publicly called for food and fuel reserves to be bombed to starve the Palestinian people – a clear war crime – to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

    Famine expert Alex De Waal says Israel’s starvation strategy constitutes a dangerous weakening of international law. It also disrupts norms aimed at preventing hunger being used as a weapon of war:

    operations like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are a big crack in these principles [that is] not going to save Gaza from mass starvation.

    Palestinian organisations were the first to raise the alarm over Israel’s plans to impose controls over aid distribution.

    UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher briefed the UN Security Council in May, warning of the world’s collective failure to call out the scale of violations of international law as they were being committed:

    Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory.

    Tom Fletcher briefing the United Nations on the ‘atrocity’ being committed in Gaza.

    Since then, clear and unequivocal warnings of the compounding risks of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing have intensified from the UN, member states and international law experts.

    Weaponising aid

    The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims it has handed out millions of meals since it began operating in the strip in May. But the UN has called the distribution model “inherently unsafe”.

    Near-daily shootings have occurred since the militarised aid hubs began operating. Malnourished Palestinians risking death to feed their families are trekking long distances to reach the small number of distribution sites.

    While the foundation denies people are being shot, the UN has called the aid delivery mechanism a “deliberate attempt to weaponise aid” that fails to comply with humanitarian principles and risks further war crimes.

    Jewish Physicians for Human Rights has rejected the aid’s “humanitarian” characterisation, stating it “is what systematic harm to human beings looks like”.

    Human rights and legal organisations are calling for all involved to be held accountable for complicity in war crimes that “exposes all those who enable or profit from it to real risk of prosecution”.

    Mounting world action

    Today’s joint statement follows growing anger and frustration in Western countries over the lack of political pressure on Israel to end the suffering in Gaza.

    Polling in May showed more than 80% of Australians opposed Israel’s denial of aid as unjustifiable and wanted to see Australia doing more to support civilians in Gaza.

    Last week’s meeting of the Hague Group of nations shows more collective concrete action is being taken to exert pressure and uphold international law.

    Th 12 member states agreed to a range of diplomatic, legal and economic measures, including a ban on ships transporting arms to Israel.

    The time for humanity is now

    States will continue to face increased international and domestic pressure to take stronger action to influence Israel’s conduct as more Gazans are killed, injured and stripped of their dignity in an engineered famine.

    This moment in Gaza is unprecedented in terms of our knowledge of the scale and gravity of violations being perpetrated and what failing to act means for Palestinians and our shared humanity.

    Now is the time to exert diplomatic, legal and economic pressure on Israel to change course.

    History tells us we need to act now – international law and our collective moral conscience requires it.

    Amra Lee 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. Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians – https://theconversation.com/suffering-in-gaza-reaches-new-depths-australia-condemns-inhumane-killing-of-palestinians-261547

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As female independent MPs descend on parliament, they’re fulfilling the dreams of women across history

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Chappell, Post Doctoral Research, University of New England

    Australia’s 48th parliament has a record 112 women members. Ten of those women are independents.

    As they take their seats in the chamber, they’ll be realising the aspirations of some of Australia’s first suffragists who, more than a century ago, staunchly supported independent representation, but failed to gain traction at the ballot box.

    Our earliest female political aspirants, Catherine Spence in Adelaide, Rose Scott in Sydney and Vida Goldstein in Melbourne, eschewed party politics, believing significant social issues should transcend political boundaries.

    Recent close contests in the electorates of Bradfield and the eponymous Goldstein echoed the challenges of female independent candidates across time.

    Australia’ first female candidate

    Spence had been declined preselection for the nascent Labor Party in 1896. This was when women in South Australia, including Aboriginal women, became the first in Australia to have the right not only to vote, but also to stand for parliament.

    Spence believed issues of social justice and electoral reform should override party allegiance.

    Catherine Spence turned down preselection from the Labor party to run as an independent.
    State Library of South Australia

    The following year, Spence nominated for the federal convention to draft a Constitution for the new Australian parliament. Her strongest commitment was to proportional voting based on the Hare system of the single transferable vote, which was ultimately introduced to the Australian Senate in 1948. Spence believed this was the fairest electoral system to give voice to minority concerns.

    She was the only woman to nominate. Although not elected, she won her place in history as Australia’s first female political candidate.

    Acknowledging her defeat, Spence reflected:

    I stood or fell on a question which both parties thought it expedient to ignore […] I look on my position in the poll as very satisfactory.

    Similarly, Goldstein, the first woman to stand for Australia’s federal parliament in 1903, viewed her loss as “virtually a victory”. She explained to her supporters:

    I stood as a protest against press domination and the creation of the vicious system of machine politics. I had the prejudice of ages to fight, and yet I secured more than half of the votes of the candidate heading the polls.

    ‘Women do not vote as women’

    Scott was a political powerbroker of her day.

    Although she did not stand for office, she brought together politicians across the divide with people of influence from the judiciary, publishing and the arts at her Friday evening salons.

    Despite her privileged background and private income, Scott’s political leanings were towards socialism.

    For more than 20 years she corresponded regularly with both Spence and Goldstein. Their extant letters reveal shared concerns for equal pay and education for women and child welfare.

    Significant NSW legislation was reputedly drafted on Scott’s rosewood dining table. She remained staunchly opposed to party politics, scrawling her endorsement across a copy of The Inebriates Act 1900 “non-party and non-sectarian”.

    Scott joined Goldstein on the hustings and furnished letters of support in Goldstein’s campaign pamphlets.

    Spence, however, recalling the bitter lesson of her own candidature, wrote:

    I am not at all sure that Vida Goldstein is wise in standing for the Senate. Women do not vote as women for women.

    Successive, but unsuccessful attempts

    Like Spence, Goldstein was hampered by misinformation, with questions asked about her eligibility to stand for parliament. Both lacked the financial support available to their opponents backed by party organisations.

    Goldstein was attacked in the conservative press for her views on home and marriage. Comments on her dress and appearance trivialised reporting of her political message. Labor newspapers proclaimed that support for Goldstein would split the vote and result in a defeat of Labor’s candidates.

    Vida Goldstein tried to enter politics numerous times, but faced many obstacles.
    Museums Vcitoria

    Spence escaped similar attention because she was short, stout and in her seventies when she campaigned.

    Goldstein nominated for the Senate again in 1910, campaigning for equal pay and federal reform of marriage and divorce laws.

    Although she polled higher than in 1903, her campaign was hampered by lack of funds and negative press coverage.

    Party politics had become more polarised. Many women were now actively joining the Labor Party or supporting the conservative Australian Women’s National League.

    Between 1910 and her final tilt for the Senate in 1917, Goldstein stood twice for the seat of Kooyong, currently held for a second term by independent MP Monique Ryan.

    Goldstein stood as a progressive independent for Kooyong in 1912. Labor did not field a candidate. She polled around half the votes of her male opponent. She stood again in 1915, remaining frank and uncompromising on her independent status:

    as a non-party candidate I had difficulties to face that confronted no other candidate. The non-party candidate does not get the support of the party press. And the other special prejudice I have to fight is that of sex.

    While their work towards women’s suffrage is acknowledged, the broader social and political contributions of our early feminists are often overlooked. When the right to vote still seemed unobtainable, they were lobbying for fairer divorce, child welfare, prevention of domestic violence and equal pay. Political representation seemed a step too far.

    “None of these women could have imagined a Julia Gillard. It would have made their heads spin to think that a woman could be prime minister,” says historian Clare Wright.

    An Australian parliament with majority of cabinet positions held by women, with women leading both the opposition in the House of Representatives and the government in the Senate, would leave them stunned, but triumphant.

    Elizabeth Chappell previously received funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship 2021-2024

    – ref. As female independent MPs descend on parliament, they’re fulfilling the dreams of women across history – https://theconversation.com/as-female-independent-mps-descend-on-parliament-theyre-fulfilling-the-dreams-of-women-across-history-252634

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University

    Australia has joined 28 international partners in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a lifting of all restrictions on food and medical supplies.

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong, along with counterparts from countries including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, has signed a joint statement demanding Israel complies with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

    The statement condemns Israel for what it calls “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking “their most basic need” of water and food, saying:

    The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity […] It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.

    Weapon of war

    Gazans, including malnourished mothers denied baby formula, face impossible choices as Israel intensifies its use of starvation as a weapon of war.

    In Gaza, survival requires negotiating what the United Nations calls aid “death traps”.

    According to the UN, 875 Gazans have been killed – many of them shot – while seeking food since the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in late May. Another 4,000 have been injured.

    More than 170 humanitarian groups have called for the food hubs to be shut down.

    Gaza has been described as the “hungriest place on Earth”, with aid trucks being held at the border and the United States destroying around 500 tonnes of emergency food because it was just out of date.

    More than two million people are at critical risk of famine. The World Food Programme estimates 90,000 women and children require urgent treatment for malnutrition.

    Nineteen Palestinians have starved to death in recent days, according to local health authorities.

    We can’t say we didn’t know

    After the breakdown of the January ceasefire, Israel implemented a humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip. Following mounting international pressure, limited aid was permitted and the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations.

    As anticipated, only a fraction of the aid has been distributed.

    About 1,600 trucks entered Gaza between May 19 and July 14, well below the 630 trucks needed every day to feed the population.

    Israeli ministers have publicly called for food and fuel reserves to be bombed to starve the Palestinian people – a clear war crime – to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

    Famine expert Alex De Waal says Israel’s starvation strategy constitutes a dangerous weakening of international law. It also disrupts norms aimed at preventing hunger being used as a weapon of war:

    operations like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are a big crack in these principles [that is] not going to save Gaza from mass starvation.

    Palestinian organisations were the first to raise the alarm over Israel’s plans to impose controls over aid distribution.

    UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher briefed the UN Security Council in May, warning of the world’s collective failure to call out the scale of violations of international law as they were being committed:

    Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory.

    Tom Fletcher briefing the United Nations on the ‘atrocity’ being committed in Gaza.

    Since then, clear and unequivocal warnings of the compounding risks of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing have intensified from the UN, member states and international law experts.

    Weaponising aid

    The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims it has handed out millions of meals since it began operating in the strip in May. But the UN has called the distribution model “inherently unsafe”.

    Near-daily shootings have occurred since the militarised aid hubs began operating. Malnourished Palestinians risking death to feed their families are trekking long distances to reach the small number of distribution sites.

    While the foundation denies people are being shot, the UN has called the aid delivery mechanism a “deliberate attempt to weaponise aid” that fails to comply with humanitarian principles and risks further war crimes.

    Jewish Physicians for Human Rights has rejected the aid’s “humanitarian” characterisation, stating it “is what systematic harm to human beings looks like”.

    Human rights and legal organisations are calling for all involved to be held accountable for complicity in war crimes that “exposes all those who enable or profit from it to real risk of prosecution”.

    Mounting world action

    Today’s joint statement follows growing anger and frustration in Western countries over the lack of political pressure on Israel to end the suffering in Gaza.

    Polling in May showed more than 80% of Australians opposed Israel’s denial of aid as unjustifiable and wanted to see Australia doing more to support civilians in Gaza.

    Last week’s meeting of the Hague Group of nations shows more collective concrete action is being taken to exert pressure and uphold international law.

    Th 12 member states agreed to a range of diplomatic, legal and economic measures, including a ban on ships transporting arms to Israel.

    The time for humanity is now

    States will continue to face increased international and domestic pressure to take stronger action to influence Israel’s conduct as more Gazans are killed, injured and stripped of their dignity in an engineered famine.

    This moment in Gaza is unprecedented in terms of our knowledge of the scale and gravity of violations being perpetrated and what failing to act means for Palestinians and our shared humanity.

    Now is the time to exert diplomatic, legal and economic pressure on Israel to change course.

    History tells us we need to act now – international law and our collective moral conscience requires it.

    Amra Lee 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. Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians – https://theconversation.com/suffering-in-gaza-reaches-new-depths-australia-condemns-inhumane-killing-of-palestinians-261547

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: UPDATE: Charges – Domestic violence – Angurugu

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    NT Police have now charged a 21-year-old male in relation to a domestic violence incident that occurred in Angurugu over the weekend.

    Yesterday, with support from the Community Justice Group, the alleged offender handed himself into police at Angurugu Police Station. He has since been charged with Recklessly endangering serious harm (aggravated), Aggravated assault and Armed with an offensive weapon. He will face Darwin Local Court on 23 July 2025.  

    The 18-year-old female remains at Royal Darwin Hospital receiving treatment.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are screenwriters paid for a product or a service? The definition matters for their workplace rights

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Goodwin, Lecturer in Arts Management and Human Resources, The University of Melbourne

    Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash

    The film and television sector in Australia employs over 26,000 workers and generated more than A$4.5 billion in income in 2021–22. TV dramas generate a large part of this revenue.

    Australian screen workers, including screenwriters, have traditionally been classified by productions as freelancers or contractors. In many cases, this means they have not been paid entitlements most other workers in Australia have access to.

    A December ruling by the Australian Taxation Office defined many Australian screenwriters as employees, and therefore they should be paid superannuation. Now, the Australian Writers Guild and Screen Producers Australia are each “seeking legal advice” on what this ruling could mean for scriptwriters and Australia’s screen sector.

    Mandated superannuation

    The superannuation guarantee mandates employers make superannuation contributions for eligible employees in line with the minimum contribution rate (now 12%).

    Historically, scriptwriters, like other arts workers, have been mainly engaged as freelancers, not employees. This means they are not always paid superannuation and other legal entitlements that come from being an employee.

    But a December 2024 tax office ruling specifically defined many screen workers as employees.

    This ruling advises that someone who sells an existing script (such as someone who wrote a film at their own initiative, and then sold the script to a producer) is not an employee, but “selling property”. These writers are not eligible for super payments.

    But the ruling found people who are regularly working scriptwriters (such as those working in a writers’ room for a TV series) may be legally considered employees, and are eligible for payments and protections offered to employees.

    Screen Producers Australia sees things differently. Information provided to their members argues scriptwriters are paid for the intellectual property rights associated with their product – meaning they are selling property.

    Opposing this, the Australian Writers Guild argue scriptwriters on long-running TV programs or in writers’ rooms are performing services and are employees of the production companies.

    If the screen production companies do not fall in line with the tax office ruling, the Australian Writers Guild have not ruled out undertaking legal action through a class action suit, or a strike.

    As the guild is not a union, they cannot undertake protected industrial action. But the guild could encourage a “wildcat strike”: a spontaneous work stoppage without union leadership. They recognise, however, this would have the impact on member livelihoods.

    What does this mean for scriptwriters?

    The ruling from the tax office outlines how it would apply the legislation, but it has not yet been tested legally. If the ruling is tested legally – by, say, legal action from scriptwriters seeking superannuation payments – and scriptwriters are found to be employees, it could greatly affect their work and pay.

    Not only could this lead to mandated superannuation contributions, but access to other entitlements such as parental leave, holiday pay and redundancy provisions.

    Australian artists earn on average 26% below the workforce norm, with incomes decreasing in real terms.

    Working conditions for Australians in the screen industries are difficult. Those working in the sector suffer from high levels of burnout and face systemic barriers when not white, male and able-bodied.

    Scriptwriters in Australia often struggle to achieve sustainable careers.
    Aman Upadhyay/Unsplash

    Scriptwriters in Australia often struggle to achieve sustainable careers. Scriptwriting fees often don’t fully cover the research and writing involved in script development, and the rise of streaming services has seen residuals – money made from licence fees of past work – all but disappear.

    Secure work in writers’ rooms for television series is also diminishing as these shrink in both team size and duration, limiting opportunities for emerging writers.

    Freelance scriptwriters may lack basic worker rights like minimum wage, job security, union bargaining and workers’ compensation insurance.

    For those lucky enough to secure work, superannuation and other entitlements can be negotiated into individual contracts. Until now, this has relied on individuals having the power and ability to engage in contract negotiation.

    Creative Workplaces – the division of Creative Australia formed in 2023 to address issues of pay, safety and welfare across the arts – recently launched a website. It offers industrial resources for arts organisations and workers to understand their rights and obligations.

    This is an important tool for all in the creative industries to ensure they receive the minimums under the law. But it is not a regulatory body. The onus is on organisations and workers to put into practice the relevant contracts and employment relationships.

    As the writers guild argues, it should not be up to individual workers to negotiate for basic worker entitlements. The recent tax office ruling, they say, means entitlements should include superannuation for many scriptwriters.

    A sustainable screen career

    As with other workplace issues impacting artists in recent years, scriptwriters deserve basic legal protections. They also deserve the safety and security that comes from being recognised as employees.

    TV drama provides a valuable training ground for Australian creatives. Fostering talent includes the creation of liveable working conditions.

    Initiatives such as Creative Workplaces can provide information, but leaders within creative organisations, production companies and other decision makers must act.

    Producers may choose now to pay super, in line with the tax office ruling, or they may wait for legal precedent to be set. And while they must adhere to legal minimums, production companies must also consider whether those working with them can earn a sustainable living on these minimums, or if they should offer better employment terms.

    If we want a future for screen stories in Australia, support for those working in the sector to build an enduring career is essential.

    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. Are screenwriters paid for a product or a service? The definition matters for their workplace rights – https://theconversation.com/are-screenwriters-paid-for-a-product-or-a-service-the-definition-matters-for-their-workplace-rights-261463

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Learning webinars to assist tertiary teaching online in New Zealand

    Source: Tertiary Education Commission

    Last updated 28 August 2020
    Last updated 28 August 2020

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    In these recorded webinars, New Zealand and Australian experts share their knowledge to enhance the quality of your online teaching practice.
    In these recorded webinars, New Zealand and Australian experts share their knowledge to enhance the quality of your online teaching practice.

    The following webinars provide insights from tertiary education organisations (TEOs), online learning experts, and online learners, which TEOs may find helpful with their online delivery.
    Webinar series 1: Online delivery in response to Covid-19 (2020)

    Webinar series 2: Enhancing learner success through curriculum redesign of online learning (2024)

    Online delivery in response to COVID-19
    Tertiary teaching online: pedagogy and practice
    Mark Nichols of the Open Polytechnic and Ali Hughes from TANZ eCampus both answer the question “What do I need to know to be an effective and engaging teacher in the online space?”
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    We apologise the webinar recording is not complete due to technical issues. To access all the information Mark and Ali shared through the webinar please use the resources below.

    How to support and engage tertiary learners in an online environment (with a focus on pastoral care)
    Dr Cathy Stone of Australia’s University of Newcastle and Dr Teri McClelland from Southern Institute of Technology’s SIT2LRN discuss how to support and engage learners studying vocational and academic based qualifications in an online environment.
    Cathy Stone talks about her experience with the creation of the Australian National Guidelines for improving student outcomes in online learning. Teri McClelland discusses some of the specific practices SIT2LRN has developed to ensure their distance learners are engaged, supported and part of the Southern Institute of Technology’s community.

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    Download:

    Supporting disabled tertiary learners in an online environment
    Karen Hannay and Stephanie Houpt from the Open Polytechnic’s Learning Support Team discuss best practices and supports for disabled learners in an online environment.
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    Enhancing learner success through curriculum redesign of online learning
    A narrative approach to courseware design to support ākonga success
    The Open Polytechnic talk about their design and development function and how they use a narrative to guide learners through a course, informed by analytics. The presentation focuses on the role of courseware design in ākonga success and highlights their asynchronous model, where tutors and learners have the flexibility to engage with course content at different times.
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    Distance learning – a student perspective
    Two distance learners share their experiences of online learning at an undergraduate and Masters levels. In this informative session the learners talk about things that make a difference in supporting their tertiary education experiences as online learners. They discuss barriers and challenges they face in online learning and share what they would like TEOs to know about catering to online learners.
    [embedded content]
    Experiences of online students: then, now and into the future
    Cathy Stone is an independent consultant and researcher, based in Australia. In this presentation, Cathy discusses her research into the online learner experience – exploring the needs and wants of the full range of online learners, from exclusively online to hybrid environments. Cathy provides insights on how learner experiences can improve delivery and talks about the future of online learning.
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    Learning frameworks for engaging online delivery
    Massey University talks about their engagement framework to support rich, connected learning experiences for online learners. The presentation shares the role their Whakapiri framework plays in delivering online learning and teaching. Massey also talks about the challenges and realities of the design process and provide practical tips for TEOs to consider. 
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    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Travel smart this winter: protect your finances and pack with purpose

    Source: Premier of Victoria

    When the temperature drops, you can often find Australians on the move in search of sunshine, snow, or simply a change of scenery. With winter travel in full swing, being smart about how you plan, spend and pack is more important than ever. With the continued rise in scams across the globe, NAB is helping holidaymakers stay one step ahead of common travel scams, while cult luggage brand July has tips on packing with intention and ease.

    From accommodation bookings and event tickets to and taxis and transport, holidays generally mean more spending in more places, and criminals are ready to take advantage.
    NAB Executive, Group Investigations Chris Sheehan said travelling can create the perfect storm for scams.

    “Travel scams tap into emotions including fear of missing out, tiredness and excitement, which can be heightened in an unfamiliar environment or if we’re really focused on looking for a bargain or managing a budget,” Mr Sheehan, a former Australian Federal Police executive, said.

    “Just like you’d check the weather or plan your itinerary, it’s vital to be aware of common scams – whether you’re travelling locally or abroad – so you can recognise the red flags and protect yourself.”

    Three scams to watch out for if you’re heading off on an adventure include:

    • Accommodation or booking website impersonation scams: Criminals can pose as hotels or booking platforms to convince travellers into sharing payment details or transferring money. The biggest red flag is an email or message requesting you to verify payment details or risk losing the reservation. Always type the website address into your browser rather than clicking a link and contact the provider using details you’ve sourced independently.
    • Ticket scams for major events: Fake listings for concerts and sporting events exploit urgency and excitement. Look for tickets through official resellers, or if possible, speak directly to the seller before sending money.
    • Overcharging or wrong charge scams: These often occur in taxis, restaurants or shops, relying on distraction and unfamiliarity. Research typical costs ahead of time, especially when converting currency, and always review your bill before paying.

    But smart travel isn’t just about protecting your wallet, it’s also about packing with purpose. July co-founders Richard Li and Athan Didaskalou swear by two simple packing hacks to help travellers stay organised and avoid overpacking.

    NAB recommends travellers notify their bank if heading overseas, monitor transactions closely, and use secure payment methods. NAB’s scam prevention initiatives — including removing links from text messages and introducing real-time payment alerts to digital banking — helped stop and recover more than $48m in scam payments between October 2024 and March 2025.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: 32 Awarded Scholarships To Tackle Sustainability Challenges

    Source: Government of Singapore

    JOINT NEWS RELEASE BETWEEN MSE, NEA, PUB AND SFA

    Singapore, 21 July 2025 – 16 young individuals have received the Singapore Sustainability Scholarship (SSS) to pursue courses in engineering, environmental, food, and science-related disciplines locally or overseas. Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, presented the scholarships at the award ceremony today. The SSS is jointly offered by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), the National Environment Agency (NEA), national water agency PUB, and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). Minister Fu also presented certificates to 16 in-service scholars, recognising their commitment to enhance their skills and professional expertise, and potential to make even bigger contributions to the public service. The full list of Singapore Sustainability Scholarship and in-service scholars are in Annex A and B respectively.

    2            A total of 293 scholarships have been awarded since the inception of the SSS in 2008. The Scholarship identifies potential future public service leaders with a passion for environmental stewardship, and nurtures them to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, environmental sustainability, water supply resilience and food safety and food security. Upon graduation, scholarship recipients will embark on fulfilling careers with MSE, NEA, PUB, or SFA, working on initiatives that impact the everyday lives of Singaporeans. These include safeguarding Singapore’s coastline from the effects of climate change, ensuring a secure and safe food supply for Singapore, and implementing the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

    Singapore Sustainability Scholarship Recipients

    3         Aarohi Chaudhary, 19, was inspired during her internship in NEA and chose to build a career with the agency. At NEA’s Public Health Policy Department, Aarohi learned that science and policy-making are closely connected while working on a project on new after-death practices. She will be pursuing a Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Oxford and is keen to apply scientific knowledge to address Singapore’s environmental challenges.

    4         Mohd Kasyful Azhim, 24, is a mid-term scholarship recipient with PUB, pursuing a degree in Chemical Engineering at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Kasyful is a passionate advocate for sustainability initiatives and a member of the student board at Al-Mizan Singapore, a non-profit network under the Association of Muslim Professionals. He is eager to advance PUB’s progress in enhancing sustainability across our operations and contribute to Singapore’s Water Story. “Water is at the heart of Singapore’s sustainability roadmap, and I am excited to play a role in ensuring our water future continues to be resilient and secure.”

    5          Darren Chua, 25, represented Singapore in swimming, winning both a Gold and Silver medal for Singapore at the 2023 SEA Games. He is now shifting his focus to veterinary science. Growing up, he spent most of his time in the waters and this ignited his passion for working in aquatic environments. As one of SFA’s scholarship recipients this year, Darren will be pursuing a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland. His studies will equip him with necessary skills to address challenges in aquatic animal health and food security in Singapore.

    In-service Scholarship Recipients

    6           Say Yueyang, Symus is one of our in-service scholars. As the Executive Engineer in NEA’s Radiation Protection and Nuclear Science Group (Nuclear Science and Technology Department, Regulation Division), Symus oversees the implementation of Singapore’s obligations under various nuclear safety conventions and agreements and is involved in strategising and planning engagements with international partners to enhance NEA’s capabilities in nuclear safety, safeguards and security. He will be pursuing an International Master’s Programme in Nuclear Engineering and Management at Tsinghua University, which will provide comprehensive professional education and research opportunities in nuclear science and engineering and strengthen his technical foundation to enable more thorough assessment of nuclear energy technologies.

    ~~ End ~~

     

    For more information, please submit your enquiries electronically via the Online Feedback Form or myENV mobile application.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Consumer NZ – Price it right: Consumer NZ launches campaign to stop misleading supermarket pricing

    Source: Consumer NZ

    A new petition calls for a mandatory supermarket pricing accuracy code, automatic compensation and tougher penalties.

    Consumer NZ has launched a new campaign – Price it right – calling on the government to crack down on misleading supermarket pricing practices that are costing shoppers tens of millions of dollars a year across Aotearoa.

    The consumer watchdog is urging the introduction of a mandatory supermarket pricing accuracy code, with clear rules, meaningful penalties and automatic compensation for consumers when supermarkets get it wrong.

    “We’re asking the government to step in and deal with misleading supermarket pricing,” said Jon Duffy, Consumer NZ chief executive.  

    “Too often, shoppers are charged more at the check-out than what’s shown on the shelf, or they’re misled in some other way. While pricing errors may seem minor on an individual basis, they add up when multiplied across the population. This isn’t OK, particularly at a time when people are struggling to pay their bills.”

    Recent Consumer research found that 62% of New Zealanders noticed pricing errors at the supermarket over the past year.

    “This isn’t just the occasional mistake – it’s an ongoing systemic problem that’s adding to the pain people are feeling at the check-out with food prices that are already too high,” said Duffy.

    Thanks to hundreds of complaints shared by consumers, Consumer filed a formal complaint with the Commerce Commission in 2023. That led to criminal charges being laid against Woolworths NZ and two Pak’nSave stores for misleading pricing. But the problem persists.

    “It’s already illegal for businesses to mislead consumers about prices, but the current law is not forcing supermarkets to up their game. They have had plenty of chances to fix this. The time for talk is over. It’s time for stronger rules with real consequences,” said Duffy.  

    Consumer’s Price it right campaign is calling for:

    • a mandatory supermarket pricing accuracy code with clear pricing rules 
    • automatic compensation when shoppers are overcharged – such as receiving the item free if the scanned price is higher than the shelf price, there is a special that doesn’t offer a genuine saving or the unit pricing is incorrect  
    • clear disclosure of consumer rights in store and online 
    • tougher penalties and infringement notice powers, like those used in Australia, to deter misleading pricing and promotions. 

    “We’re not asking for much – just fair and accurate pricing that consumers can trust,” said Duffy. “It’s a simple step that would make a real difference.”

    What you can do
    Consumer is asking New Zealanders to sign its petition and demand that the government take urgent action. Minister for economic growth Nicola Willis says she’s considering introducing tougher penalties for supermarkets that breach the Fair Trading Act and other changes to ensure shoppers are not misled by pricing. Signing the petition will show your support for these moves.  

    Sign the petition: Tell the government to ‘price it right’
    “It’s time supermarkets were held to account. By signing and sharing the petition, you’re helping stop misleading supermarket pricing and pushing for real change.” (ref. https://consumernz.cmail20.com/t/i-l-fkkjkyk-ijjdkdttjk-j/ )

     

    Note:

    Visit consumer.org.nz to view the campaign

     

    About Consumer

    Consumer NZ is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to championing and empowering consumers in Aotearoa. Consumer NZ has a reputation for being fair, impartial and providing comprehensive consumer information and advice.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –