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Category: Australia

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New appointments to Board of the Office for Environmental Protection

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    News story

    New appointments to Board of the Office for Environmental Protection

    Two appointments and two re-appointments to the OEP Board

    Professor Elizabeth Fisher and Caroline May have been appointed as Non-Executive Directors of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), and Professor Dan Laffoley and Dr Paul Leinster CBE have been reappointed for second terms.

    Elizabeth Fisher’s and Caroline May’s new roles will run from 1 July 2025 until 30 June 2029. Dan Laffoley’s and Paul Leinster’s second terms will run from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2026.

    The appointments have been made in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

    The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) was created in November 2021 under the Environment Act. It is an independent statutory body with a remit to protect and improve the environment by holding government and other public authorities to account in England and Northern Ireland.

    Biographies

    Professor Elizabeth Fisher

    • Professor Elizabeth Fisher is Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.

    • She has over three decades of experience as an environmental law academic and writes widely on environmental law and administrative law in national common law jurisdictions.

    • She was General Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law from 2012 to 2022 and from 2022 to 2025 she held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for a project exploring legal imagination and environmental law.

    • She is a Delegate of Oxford University Press and has served as Vice Dean of the Oxford Law Faculty. She is also an Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and has been a Member of the OEP’s Advisory Group on Environmental Principles since 2023.

    Caroline May

    • Caroline May has been a specialist environmental  lawyer for over 35 years. She is currently head of the environment, ESG and safety practice for Europe, Middle East and Asia at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, where she has been a partner since 2006.

    • She is Chair of the Law Society Climate Change Committee which produced the world’s first professional services guidance on climate change.

    • She is Honorary President of the Legal Sustainability Alliance and a former Director of leading sustainability NGO, the Aldersgate Group. She sat on the National Council of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (UKELA) for 6 years.

    • She is a Freeman of the City of London and is listed in the Ends Power List 2024, as a Green Ambassador for the UK by Legal 500, and in the Guide to the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers.

    Professor Dan Laffoley

    • Professor Dan Laffoley is a scientist, communicator, explorer and marine biologist, with over four decades of experience in the UK, Europe and around the world.  He is a UK and international expert on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and conservation.

    • He is Emeritus Marine Vice Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas responsible for global targets and guidance on ocean protection.

    • Prior to that he led the development and scale-up of the marine conservation work of Natural England and English Nature. He has been responsible for the creation of many global, European and UK public and private sector partnerships, alliances and frameworks that underpin modern-day marine conservation.

    • This work includes creating the concept behind Blue Carbon, scaling up knowledge and action on ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation, scaling-up work on marine World Heritage and conservation of the High Seas, and various global guidance on implementing MPAs and marine spatial planning.

    Dr Paul Leinster CBE

    • Dr Paul Leinster CBE has over 40 years of practical experience in environmental management, science, policy and regulatory development and implementation in the private and public sectors.

    • He is Chair of Water Resources East, the Cambridge Water Scarcity Group, the Bedfordshire Local Nature Partnership, the Great Ouse Rivers Trust, and the Upper and Bedford Ouse Catchment Partnership and is a Board Member of Delphic HSE.

    • He is a visiting professor at Cranfield University where from October 2015 to December 2020 he was Professor of Environmental Assessment and was a Member of the Government’s Natural Capital Committee.

    • Immediately prior to this, he was Chief Executive of the Environment Agency for more than seven years. Prior to joining the EA in 1998 he worked for more than 20 years in the private sector.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: 16 year olds to be given right to vote through seismic government election reforms

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    16 year olds to be given right to vote through seismic government election reforms

    Sixteen year olds will be given the right to vote in all UK elections as part of seismic changes to modernise UK democracy

    • Modernisation of UK democracy will see 16 and 17 year olds able to vote in next general election
    • Voter ID to be extended to include bank cards to help more people exercise their democratic right
    • Tougher new rules to guard against foreign political interference and abuse of campaigners

    Sixteen year olds will be given the right to vote in all UK elections as part of seismic changes to modernise UK democracy, delivering a key manifesto commitment and helping to restore trust in politics through our Plan for Change.         

    This will mean young people, who already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military, will be given the right to vote on the issues that affect them. This will bring UK-wide elections in line with Scotland and Wales and is a major step towards meeting a manifesto commitment, ushering in the biggest change to UK democracy in a generation. 

    The plans, published today [17 July] in a new strategy paper, will boost democratic engagement in a changing world, and help to restore trust in UK democracy.     

    As part of the plans, the government is going further to make sure eligible voters are not deterred from voting, by expanding voter ID to permit the use of UK-issued bank cards as an accepted form of ID at the polling station. This is alongside harnessing more digital options to support voters and polling station staff, including allowing accepted IDs such as the Veteran Card and UK driving licence to be used at polling stations when they become available in digital format.  

    A new digital Voter Authority Certificate will also be created to ensure Electoral Registration Officers can meet the digital needs of voters, reduce printing costs and ensure faster delivery.  

    An increasingly automated voter registration system will also make it easier for people to register to vote and reduce the need to fill out their details across different government services on multiple occasions.      

    Major new changes will boost transparency and accountability in politics by closing loopholes that would allow foreign donors via ‘shell companies’ to influence UK political parties. Meanwhile, new requirements on unincorporated associations will mandate checks on donations over £500 to tackle foreign interference and protect UK democracy from those who attempt to undermine it.   

    Alongside this, the reforms will allow the Electoral Commission to take action and enforce heavier fines of up to £500,000 on those who breach political finance rules, and enable tougher sentences for those who abuse election campaigners – stabilising the foundations of UK democracy.     

    Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said:       

    “For too long public trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline.       

    “We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy, supporting our Plan for Change, and delivering on our manifesto commitment to give sixteen year olds the right to vote.   

    “We cannot take our democracy for granted, and by protecting our elections from abuse and boosting participation we will strengthen the foundations of our society for the future.”       

    Minister for Democracy, Rushanara Ali, said:    

    “We are modernising our democracy, so that it is fit for the 21st century. By delivering our manifesto commitment to extend the vote to 16 and 17 year olds, we are taking a generational step forward in restoring public trust and boosting engagement in UK democracy, supporting our Plan for Change.    

    “By reinforcing safeguards against foreign interference, we will strengthen our democratic institutions and protect them for future generations.”   

    Alongside expanding the right to vote, we are going further to restore and maintain public trust by ensuring elections are as accessible as possible for legitimate voters.      

    That’s why the government is making common sense changes to move towards an automated electoral registration system, stripping complexities and barriers for voters to make their lives easier. Learning from countries such as Australia and Canada, which have high rates of legitimate voter registration via automated systems, the government will bring the UK’s democracy into the 21st century.    

    At the same time, far too many people are being deterred from voting because of voter ID rules, with the Electoral Commission finding that 4% of non-voters at the 2024 General Election saying that a lack of voter ID was a key reason they didn’t vote, equating to around three quarters of a million people across Great Britain.   

    Boosting participation is crucial to restoring faith in democracy, and adding the Veteran ID card last year to the accepted forms of Voter ID was just the start of this. Through the new plans, the government is going further to allow UK-issued bank cards to be used as ID when voting, making it far easier for more voters to meet the requirements.     

    This change will allow us to continue to protect the integrity of the UK electoral system, while allowing greater accessibility. Bank cards, which are issued after the applicant has passed necessary security checks for a bank account, will add a widely and commonly carried item to the range of documents already accepted. Research on the ownership of bank cards shows that over 96% of the UK population has a bank account, with the majority expected to also have a bank card.   

    These measures will strike the right balance by continuing to protect voters from the risk of impersonation, while also removing barriers to ensure legitimate voters are not prevented or discouraged from exercising their right to vote.      

    Another key aspect of the reforms is ensuring UK democracy is protected and all voters, candidates, campaigners and electoral staff are safe from intimidation, harassment and abuse.    

    This behaviour is on the rise, particularly against women and ethnic minorities – with recent Electoral Commission research showing 55% of candidates at the 2024 General Election experienced abuse. The reforms will crack down on these unacceptable practices, delivering tougher sentences for those who intimidate campaigners and stronger protections for candidates in public life by removing the requirement for their home address to be published and openly available.    

    This supports ongoing work including through the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which was given a new mandate by the Prime Minister to coordinate and drive forward government’s response to the full range of threats to UK democracy.    

    That includes working across government with the police, parliamentary authorities, and the Electoral Commission to actively review our levers to tackle the harassment and intimidation of elected representatives, candidates, and electoral staff.  

    In relation to political finance, the changes being brought by the government will effectively meet an evolving and sophisticated threat of illicit money being funnelled from abroad to political parties. Tough new rules will ensure that in the future, ‘shell companies’ will not be permitted to make political donations to UK political parties.  

    This will end the status quo, where a new company registered today, owned by anyone, funded from anywhere, without even a single day of trade, can donate and have influence in UK politics.     

    The introduction of ‘Know your Donor’ checks will increase scrutiny of donations, requiring recipients to conduct enhanced checks to decrease the risk of illegitimate donations entering our system, guarding against foreign interference. This will close loopholes, reinforce our democracy and protect our citizens from those who seek to undermine and harm our society.    

    Further information:      

    • To deliver these changes, we will bring forward an elections bill. The bill will deliver the Government’s manifesto commitments and wider ambitions set out in this Strategy by putting in place the legislation required for these important reforms.
    • A subsequent programme of secondary legislation will set out the detail for implementation and we will provide more detail on implementation timings in due course.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Serious crash at Elizabeth South

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Emergency services are at the scene of a serious crash at Elizabeth South.

    The single vehicle collision occurred on Philip Highway, Elizabeth South at 6.40pm on Thursday 17 July.

    Motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible.

    Emergency crews are expected to remain at the scene for several hours.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 12 countries agree to confront Israel collectively over Gaza after Bogotá summit

    ANALYSIS: By Mick Hall

    Collective measures to confront Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people have been agreed by 12 nations after an emergency summit of the Hague Group in Bogotá, Colombia.

    A joint statement today announced the six measures, which it said were geared to holding Israel to account for its crimes in Palestine and would operate within the states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks.

    Nearly two dozen other nations in attendance at the summit are now pondering whether to sign up to the measures before a September deadline set by the Hague Group.

    New Zealand and Australia stayed away from the summit.

    The measures include preventing the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel and dual-use items to Israel and preventing the transit, docking or servicing of vessels if there is a risk of vessels carrying such items. No vessel under the flag of the countries would be allowed to carry this equipment.

    The countries would also “commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds, where applicable, from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction, as well as our authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

    The countries will prosecute “the most serious crimes under international law through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, in compliance with our obligation to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes”.

    They agreed to support universal jurisdiction mandates, “as and where applicable in our legal constitutional frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory”.

    This will mean IDF soldiers and others accused of war crimes in Palestine would face arrest and could go through domestic judicial processes in these countries, or referrals to the ICC.

    The statement said the measures constituted a collective commitment to defend the foundational principles of international law.

    It also called on the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

    Following repeated total blockades of Gaza since October 7, 2023, Gazans have been dying of starvation as they continue to be bombed and repeatedly displaced and their means of life destroyed.

    The official death toll stands at nearly 59,000, mostly women and children, although some estimates put that number at over 200,000.

    The joint statement recognised Israel as a threat to regional peace and the system of international law and called on all United Nations member states to enforce their obligations under the UN charter.

    It condemned “unilateral attacks and threats against United Nations mandate holders, as well as key institutions of the human rights architecture and international justice” and committed to build “on the legacy of global solidarity movements that have dismantled apartheid and other oppressive systems, setting a model for future co-ordinated responses to international law violations”.

    Countries face wrath of US
     Ministers, high-ranking officials and envoys from 30 nations attended the two-day event, from July 15-16, called to come up with the measures. It is now hoped some of those attendees will sign up to the statement by September.

    For countries like Ireland, which sent a delegation, signing up would have profound implications. The Irish government has been heavily criticised by its own citizens for continuing to allow Shannon Airport as a transit point for military equipment from the United States to be sent to Israel.

    It would also face the prospect of severe reprisals by the US, as would others thinking of adding their names to the collective statement. The US is now expected to consult with nations that attended and warn them of the consequences of signing up.

    The summit had been billed by the UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, as “the most significant political development of the last 20 months”.

    Albanese had told attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful”.

    “This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end,” she said.

    Co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, the Hague group was established by nine nations in late January at The Hague in the Netherlands to hold Israel to account for its crimes and push for Palestinian self-determination.

    Colombia last year ended diplomatic relations with Israel, while South Africa in late December 2023 filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide, which was joined by nearly two dozen countries.

    The ICJ has determined a plausible genocide is taking place and issued orders for Israel to protect Palestinians and take measures to stop genocide taking place, a call ignored by the Zionist state.

    Representatives from the countries arrived in Bogota this week in defiance of the United States, which last week sanctioned Albanese for attempts to have US and Israeli political officials and business leaders prosecuted by the ICC over Gaza.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an illegitimate “campaign of political and economic warfare”.

    It followed the sanctioning of four ICC judges after arrest warrants were issued in November last year for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    Ahead of the Bogota meeting, the US State Department accused The Hague Group of multilateral attempts to “weaponise international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas” and warned the US would “aggressively defend” its interests.

    Signs of division in the West
     Most of those attending came from nations in the Global South, but not all.

    Founding Hague Group members Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa attended the Summit. Joining them were Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

    However, in a sign of increasing division in the West, NATO members Spain, Portugal, Norway, Slovenia and Turkey also attended.

    Inside the summit, former US State Department official Annelle Sheline, who resigned in March over Gaza, defended the right of those attending “to uphold their obligations under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

    “This is not the weaponisation of international law. This is the application of international law,” she told delegates.

    The US and Israel deny accusations that genocide is taking place in Gaza, while Western media have collectively refused to adjudicate the claims or frame stories around Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the strip, despite ample evidence by the UN and genocide experts.

    Since 7 October 2023, US allies have offered diplomatic cover for Israel by repeating it had “a right to defend itself” and was engaged in a legitimate defensive “war against Hamas”.

    Israel now plans to corral starving Gazans into a concentration camp in the south of the strip, with many analysts expecting the IDF to exterminate anyone found outside its boundaries, while preparing to push those inside across the border into Egypt.

    Asia Pacific and EU allies shun Bogota summit
     Addressing attendees at the summit yesterday, Albanese criticised the EU for its neo-colonialism and support for Israel, criticisms that can be extended to US allies in the Asia Pacific region.

    Independent journalist Abby Martin reported Albanese as saying: “Europe and its institutions are guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vessels to US Empire even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery.

    “The Hague Group is a new moral centre in world politics. Millions are hoping for leadership that can birth a new global order, rooted in justice, humanity and collective liberation. It’s not just about Palestine. This is about all of us.”

    The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was asked why Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not take up an invite to attend the Hague Group meeting. In a statement to Mick Hall in Context, a spokesperson said she had been unable to attend, but did not explain why.

    She said Australia was a “resolute defender of international law” and added: “Australia has consistently been part of international calls that all parties must abide by international humanitarian law. Not enough has been done to protect civilians and aid workers.

    “We have called on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    “We have also called on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the ICJ, including to enable the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.”

    When asked why New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters had failed to take up the invitation or send any of his officials, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson simply refused to comment.

    She said MFAT media advisors would only engage with “recognised news media outlets”.

    Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as well as a number of his ministers, have been referred to the ICC by domestic legal teams, accused of complicity in the genocide.

    Evidence against Albanese was accepted into the ICC’s wider investigation of crimes in Gaza in October last year, while Luxon’s referral earlier this month is being assessed by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

    Delegates told humanity at stake
     Delegates heard several impassioned addresses from speakers on what was at stake during the two-day event in Bogota.

    Palestinian-American trauma surgeon, Dr Thaer Ahmad, told the gathering that Palestinians seeking food were being met with bullets, describing aid distribution facilities set up by the US contractor-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as “slaughterhouses”. More than 800 starving Gazans have been killed at the GHF aid points so far.

    “People know they could die but cannot sit idly by and watch their families starve,” he said.

    “The bullets fired by GHF mercenaries are just one part of the weaponisation of aid, where Palestinians are ghettoised into areas where somebody in military fatigues decides if you are worthy of food or not.”

    Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour had urged the summit attendees to take decisive action to not only save the Palestinian people, but redeem humanity.

    “Instead of outrage at the crimes we know are taking place, we find those who defend, normalise, and even celebrate them,” he said.

    “The core values we believed humanity agreed were universal are shattered, blown to pieces like the tens of thousands of starved, murdered and injured civilians in Palestine.

    “The mind and heart cannot fathom or process the immense pain and horror that has taken hold of the lives of an entire people. We must not fail — not just for Palestine’s sake — but for humanity’s sake.”

    At the beginning of the summit, Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir told summit delegates the Palestinian genocide threatened the entire international system.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in The Guardian last week: “We can either stand firm in defence of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”

    Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, as well as Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, met in Brussels at the same time as the Bogota summit, to discuss Middle East co-operation, but also possible options for action against Israel.

    At the EU–Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put forward potential actions after Israel was found to have breached the EU economic cooperation deal with the bloc on human rights grounds. As expected, no sanctions, restricted trade or suspension of the co-operation deal were agreed.

    The EU has been one of Israel’s most strident backers in its campaign against Gaza, with EU members Germany and France in particular supplying weapons, as well as political support.

    The UK government has continued to supply arms and operate spy planes over Gaza over the past 21 months, launched from bases in Cyprus, while its military has issued D-Notices to censor media reports that its special forces have been operating inside the occupied territories.

    Mick Hall is an independent Irish-New Zealand journalist, formerly of RNZ and AAP, based in New Zealand since 2009. He writes primarily on politics, corporate power and international affairs. This article is republished from his substack Mick Hall in Context with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 12 countries agree to confront Israel collectively over Gaza after Bogotá summit

    ANALYSIS: By Mick Hall

    Collective measures to confront Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people have been agreed by 12 nations after an emergency summit of the Hague Group in Bogotá, Colombia.

    A joint statement today announced the six measures, which it said were geared to holding Israel to account for its crimes in Palestine and would operate within the states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks.

    Nearly two dozen other nations in attendance at the summit are now pondering whether to sign up to the measures before a September deadline set by the Hague Group.

    New Zealand and Australia stayed away from the summit.

    The measures include preventing the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel and dual-use items to Israel and preventing the transit, docking or servicing of vessels if there is a risk of vessels carrying such items. No vessel under the flag of the countries would be allowed to carry this equipment.

    The countries would also “commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds, where applicable, from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction, as well as our authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

    The countries will prosecute “the most serious crimes under international law through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, in compliance with our obligation to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes”.

    They agreed to support universal jurisdiction mandates, “as and where applicable in our legal constitutional frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory”.

    This will mean IDF soldiers and others accused of war crimes in Palestine would face arrest and could go through domestic judicial processes in these countries, or referrals to the ICC.

    The statement said the measures constituted a collective commitment to defend the foundational principles of international law.

    It also called on the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

    Following repeated total blockades of Gaza since October 7, 2023, Gazans have been dying of starvation as they continue to be bombed and repeatedly displaced and their means of life destroyed.

    The official death toll stands at nearly 59,000, mostly women and children, although some estimates put that number at over 200,000.

    The joint statement recognised Israel as a threat to regional peace and the system of international law and called on all United Nations member states to enforce their obligations under the UN charter.

    It condemned “unilateral attacks and threats against United Nations mandate holders, as well as key institutions of the human rights architecture and international justice” and committed to build “on the legacy of global solidarity movements that have dismantled apartheid and other oppressive systems, setting a model for future co-ordinated responses to international law violations”.

    Countries face wrath of US
     Ministers, high-ranking officials and envoys from 30 nations attended the two-day event, from July 15-16, called to come up with the measures. It is now hoped some of those attendees will sign up to the statement by September.

    For countries like Ireland, which sent a delegation, signing up would have profound implications. The Irish government has been heavily criticised by its own citizens for continuing to allow Shannon Airport as a transit point for military equipment from the United States to be sent to Israel.

    It would also face the prospect of severe reprisals by the US, as would others thinking of adding their names to the collective statement. The US is now expected to consult with nations that attended and warn them of the consequences of signing up.

    The summit had been billed by the UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, as “the most significant political development of the last 20 months”.

    Albanese had told attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful”.

    “This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end,” she said.

    Co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, the Hague group was established by nine nations in late January at The Hague in the Netherlands to hold Israel to account for its crimes and push for Palestinian self-determination.

    Colombia last year ended diplomatic relations with Israel, while South Africa in late December 2023 filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide, which was joined by nearly two dozen countries.

    The ICJ has determined a plausible genocide is taking place and issued orders for Israel to protect Palestinians and take measures to stop genocide taking place, a call ignored by the Zionist state.

    Representatives from the countries arrived in Bogota this week in defiance of the United States, which last week sanctioned Albanese for attempts to have US and Israeli political officials and business leaders prosecuted by the ICC over Gaza.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an illegitimate “campaign of political and economic warfare”.

    It followed the sanctioning of four ICC judges after arrest warrants were issued in November last year for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    Ahead of the Bogota meeting, the US State Department accused The Hague Group of multilateral attempts to “weaponise international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas” and warned the US would “aggressively defend” its interests.

    Signs of division in the West
     Most of those attending came from nations in the Global South, but not all.

    Founding Hague Group members Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa attended the Summit. Joining them were Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

    However, in a sign of increasing division in the West, NATO members Spain, Portugal, Norway, Slovenia and Turkey also attended.

    Inside the summit, former US State Department official Annelle Sheline, who resigned in March over Gaza, defended the right of those attending “to uphold their obligations under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

    “This is not the weaponisation of international law. This is the application of international law,” she told delegates.

    The US and Israel deny accusations that genocide is taking place in Gaza, while Western media have collectively refused to adjudicate the claims or frame stories around Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the strip, despite ample evidence by the UN and genocide experts.

    Since 7 October 2023, US allies have offered diplomatic cover for Israel by repeating it had “a right to defend itself” and was engaged in a legitimate defensive “war against Hamas”.

    Israel now plans to corral starving Gazans into a concentration camp in the south of the strip, with many analysts expecting the IDF to exterminate anyone found outside its boundaries, while preparing to push those inside across the border into Egypt.

    Asia Pacific and EU allies shun Bogota summit
     Addressing attendees at the summit yesterday, Albanese criticised the EU for its neo-colonialism and support for Israel, criticisms that can be extended to US allies in the Asia Pacific region.

    Independent journalist Abby Martin reported Albanese as saying: “Europe and its institutions are guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vessels to US Empire even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery.

    “The Hague Group is a new moral centre in world politics. Millions are hoping for leadership that can birth a new global order, rooted in justice, humanity and collective liberation. It’s not just about Palestine. This is about all of us.”

    The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was asked why Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not take up an invite to attend the Hague Group meeting. In a statement to Mick Hall in Context, a spokesperson said she had been unable to attend, but did not explain why.

    She said Australia was a “resolute defender of international law” and added: “Australia has consistently been part of international calls that all parties must abide by international humanitarian law. Not enough has been done to protect civilians and aid workers.

    “We have called on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    “We have also called on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the ICJ, including to enable the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.”

    When asked why New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters had failed to take up the invitation or send any of his officials, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson simply refused to comment.

    She said MFAT media advisors would only engage with “recognised news media outlets”.

    Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as well as a number of his ministers, have been referred to the ICC by domestic legal teams, accused of complicity in the genocide.

    Evidence against Albanese was accepted into the ICC’s wider investigation of crimes in Gaza in October last year, while Luxon’s referral earlier this month is being assessed by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

    Delegates told humanity at stake
     Delegates heard several impassioned addresses from speakers on what was at stake during the two-day event in Bogota.

    Palestinian-American trauma surgeon, Dr Thaer Ahmad, told the gathering that Palestinians seeking food were being met with bullets, describing aid distribution facilities set up by the US contractor-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as “slaughterhouses”. More than 800 starving Gazans have been killed at the GHF aid points so far.

    “People know they could die but cannot sit idly by and watch their families starve,” he said.

    “The bullets fired by GHF mercenaries are just one part of the weaponisation of aid, where Palestinians are ghettoised into areas where somebody in military fatigues decides if you are worthy of food or not.”

    Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour had urged the summit attendees to take decisive action to not only save the Palestinian people, but redeem humanity.

    “Instead of outrage at the crimes we know are taking place, we find those who defend, normalise, and even celebrate them,” he said.

    “The core values we believed humanity agreed were universal are shattered, blown to pieces like the tens of thousands of starved, murdered and injured civilians in Palestine.

    “The mind and heart cannot fathom or process the immense pain and horror that has taken hold of the lives of an entire people. We must not fail — not just for Palestine’s sake — but for humanity’s sake.”

    At the beginning of the summit, Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir told summit delegates the Palestinian genocide threatened the entire international system.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in The Guardian last week: “We can either stand firm in defence of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”

    Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, as well as Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, met in Brussels at the same time as the Bogota summit, to discuss Middle East co-operation, but also possible options for action against Israel.

    At the EU–Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put forward potential actions after Israel was found to have breached the EU economic cooperation deal with the bloc on human rights grounds. As expected, no sanctions, restricted trade or suspension of the co-operation deal were agreed.

    The EU has been one of Israel’s most strident backers in its campaign against Gaza, with EU members Germany and France in particular supplying weapons, as well as political support.

    The UK government has continued to supply arms and operate spy planes over Gaza over the past 21 months, launched from bases in Cyprus, while its military has issued D-Notices to censor media reports that its special forces have been operating inside the occupied territories.

    Mick Hall is an independent Irish-New Zealand journalist, formerly of RNZ and AAP, based in New Zealand since 2009. He writes primarily on politics, corporate power and international affairs. This article is republished from his substack Mick Hall in Context with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trade – Premium Beverages from Around the World Make Their Mark in China with Gebrüder Weiss

    Source: Gebrüder Weiss

    From Australian Ginger Beer to Fiji Water, and Vita Coconut Water: Jebsen Group relies on Gebrüder Weiss’s logistics expertise for nationwide beverage distribution across China.

    Shanghai / Lauterach, July 17, 2025. The international transport and logistics company Gebrüder Weiss is driving the dynamic growth of Jebsen Group’s beverage business line in China through comprehensive warehousing and distribution solutions. 

    Headquartered in Hong Kong, Jebsen Group is a well-established trading company known for bringing international premium brands to Greater China and marketing them across the region. 

    Featured brands include renowned products such as Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Fiji Water, and Vita Coconut Water. From Shanghai, the brands are distributed nationwide to supermarkets, wholesalers, and e-commerce platforms.

    “Thanks to Gebrüder Weiss’s modern supply chain infrastructure and professional team, we’ve been able to significantly expand our market position,” said Gary Chan, Head of Supply Chain, Beverage at Jebsen. Customers include leading retailers such as Hema – the Alibaba-owned supermarket chain, as well as JD.com and numerous other retailers and wholesalers throughout China.

    The partnership dates back to 2017, when Gebrüder Weiss provided Sanyi Wine Trading with a warehouse solution to support the market entry of the Australian Bundaberg brand. Following Jebsen Group’s acquisition of Sanyi in 2022, the focus shifted to the premium beverage segment in Greater China. Since then, the collaboration with Gebrüder Weiss has evolved into a comprehensive logistics solution, currently handling over 2,700 orders annually – and growing.

    At the company’s 4,000-square-meter logistics facility in Shanghai, specialized professionals ensure seamless operations. The warehouse was recently certified at Security Level 3 for meeting high safety standards. Services include temperature- and humidity-controlled storage, order processing using the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) method, expiry date monitoring, labeling and packaging, as well as inventory management.

    “The beverage market in China is fast-paced and highly demanding. Our goal is to work closely with the Jebsen team to develop tailored solutions and respond flexibly to changing needs,” said Yongquan Chen, General Manager of Gebrüder Weiss China. Looking ahead, Gebrüder Weiss and Jebsen Group plan to further deepen their successful collaboration and expand their beverage portfolio.

    With extensive experience in beverage logistics in China, Gebrüder Weiss also operates a second logistics hub in Chengdu. There, the company supports leading Baijiu brands – China’s most well-known and best-selling spirit – with customized e-commerce and fulfillment solutions.

    About Gebrüder Weiss

    Gebrüder Weiss Holding AG, based in Lauterach, Austria, is a globally operative full-service logistics provider with about 8,600 employees at 180 company-owned locations. The company generated revenues of 2.71 billion euros in 2024. Its portfolio encompasses transport and logistics solutions, digital services, and supply chain management. The twin strengths of digital and physical competence enable Gebrüder Weiss to respond swiftly and flexibly to customers’ needs. The family-run organization – with a history going back more than half a millennium – has implemented a wide variety of environmental, economic, and social initiatives. Today, it is also considered a pioneer in sustainable business practices. www.gw-world.com

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trade – Premium Beverages from Around the World Make Their Mark in China with Gebrüder Weiss

    Source: Gebrüder Weiss

    From Australian Ginger Beer to Fiji Water, and Vita Coconut Water: Jebsen Group relies on Gebrüder Weiss’s logistics expertise for nationwide beverage distribution across China.

    Shanghai / Lauterach, July 17, 2025. The international transport and logistics company Gebrüder Weiss is driving the dynamic growth of Jebsen Group’s beverage business line in China through comprehensive warehousing and distribution solutions. 

    Headquartered in Hong Kong, Jebsen Group is a well-established trading company known for bringing international premium brands to Greater China and marketing them across the region. 

    Featured brands include renowned products such as Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Fiji Water, and Vita Coconut Water. From Shanghai, the brands are distributed nationwide to supermarkets, wholesalers, and e-commerce platforms.

    “Thanks to Gebrüder Weiss’s modern supply chain infrastructure and professional team, we’ve been able to significantly expand our market position,” said Gary Chan, Head of Supply Chain, Beverage at Jebsen. Customers include leading retailers such as Hema – the Alibaba-owned supermarket chain, as well as JD.com and numerous other retailers and wholesalers throughout China.

    The partnership dates back to 2017, when Gebrüder Weiss provided Sanyi Wine Trading with a warehouse solution to support the market entry of the Australian Bundaberg brand. Following Jebsen Group’s acquisition of Sanyi in 2022, the focus shifted to the premium beverage segment in Greater China. Since then, the collaboration with Gebrüder Weiss has evolved into a comprehensive logistics solution, currently handling over 2,700 orders annually – and growing.

    At the company’s 4,000-square-meter logistics facility in Shanghai, specialized professionals ensure seamless operations. The warehouse was recently certified at Security Level 3 for meeting high safety standards. Services include temperature- and humidity-controlled storage, order processing using the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) method, expiry date monitoring, labeling and packaging, as well as inventory management.

    “The beverage market in China is fast-paced and highly demanding. Our goal is to work closely with the Jebsen team to develop tailored solutions and respond flexibly to changing needs,” said Yongquan Chen, General Manager of Gebrüder Weiss China. Looking ahead, Gebrüder Weiss and Jebsen Group plan to further deepen their successful collaboration and expand their beverage portfolio.

    With extensive experience in beverage logistics in China, Gebrüder Weiss also operates a second logistics hub in Chengdu. There, the company supports leading Baijiu brands – China’s most well-known and best-selling spirit – with customized e-commerce and fulfillment solutions.

    About Gebrüder Weiss

    Gebrüder Weiss Holding AG, based in Lauterach, Austria, is a globally operative full-service logistics provider with about 8,600 employees at 180 company-owned locations. The company generated revenues of 2.71 billion euros in 2024. Its portfolio encompasses transport and logistics solutions, digital services, and supply chain management. The twin strengths of digital and physical competence enable Gebrüder Weiss to respond swiftly and flexibly to customers’ needs. The family-run organization – with a history going back more than half a millennium – has implemented a wide variety of environmental, economic, and social initiatives. Today, it is also considered a pioneer in sustainable business practices. www.gw-world.com

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Suspect sought over e-scooter robbery at Salisbury Downs

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Investigations are continuing into an assault and theft of an e-scooter at Salisbury Downs earlier this month.

    About 4.20am on Sunday 6 July, the victim rode his e-scooter to a service station on Salisbury Highway, Salisbury Downs.  He was confronted on the forecourt by an unknown man armed with a hammer who demanded his e-scooter.

    The victim was assaulted and had his scooter stolen.  The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of injuries.

    The suspect is described as a man with a medium build, dark hair shaved on the sides and appears to have tattoos on the front of his neck and right hand.

    Anyone who recognises the suspect caught on CCTV footage or has information that may lead to his identity is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Charges – Aggravated burglary and robbery – Katherine

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested two males, aged 18 and 14-years-old, in relation to two incidents of an aggravated robbery and burglary that occurred at a Katherine café on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

    Around 8:40pm on 15 July 2025, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports of several people unlawfully entering a café on Katherine Terrace, before leaving location with various stolen food and drink items.

    Early yesterday morning, two males entered the same cafe and assaulted staff inside, before fleeing from the location with stolen food and drink items. Two witnesses stopped to render assistance and confronted the two males before they were allegedly assaulted in the process.

    Katherine general duties responded and with the assistance of the two witnesses, arrested an 18-year-old male a short time later. Later in the day, members from the Katherine Criminal Investigation Branch and Strike Force Cerberus located and arrested a 14-year-old male youth.

    The 14-year-old male was charged with:

    • Aggravated Robbery

    • Aggravated Burglary

    • Assault Worker

    He was remanded to appear before court tomorrow, 18 July 2025.

    The 18-year-old male was charged with:

    • Aggravated Robbery

    • Aggravated Burglary

    • Recruitment of a Child

    • Assault Worker

    He was remanded to appear before Katherine Local Court on 21 July 2025.

    It is unknown at this stage of the investigation if these incidents are linked to a group of people who were involved in an alleged aggravated burglary that took place later in the night involving a stolen motor vehicle.

    The Katherine Criminal Investigation Branch and Strike Force Cerberus have carriage of the two incidents.

    Anyone with information, including dashcam or CCTV footage, are urged to contact police on 131 444 and quote reference NTP2500071849. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man assaulted at South Plympton

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Police are investigating an assault at South Plympton this afternoon.

    Police and paramedics were called to Laurence Street, South Plympton at 4.45pm on Thursday 17 July by reports of an assault.

    The victim sustained serious injuries and is being taken to hospital by ambulance.  His condition is not believed to be life-threatening at this time.

    Anyone who witnessed this incident or has any information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Why a surprise jump in unemployment isn’t as bad as it sounds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of Melbourne

    New figures show Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.3% – its highest level since late 2021 – in June this year, up from 4.1% in May.

    While this is bad news, it’s not as bad as it might seem. Higher unemployment came from more people looking for work. In the long run, that’s good for the economy.

    And these figures also make it more likely we’ll see an interest rate cut next month – which is now looking overdue.

    What’s the bad news?

    This is the second month in a row we’ve seen no growth in total employment, while total hours worked (the number of hours worked by employed individuals, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time or overtime) in the past month has gone backwards.

    All this adds to the picture of a slowing labour market since the start of the year, after surprisingly strong growth in the second half of 2024.

    The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics release also includes data on where extra hours worked during 2025 have come from.

    Employment growth has come entirely from the “non-market sector” – which is healthcare and social assistance, education and training, and public administration and safety. And the big driver of those extra jobs has been in social assistance and health care, which is largely government-funded.

    That means employment has gone backwards in the rest of the economy, adding to a picture of a jobs market being propped up by government investment in the caring economy.

    Why it as bad as you might think

    The reason unemployment rose is that more people were looking for work – so it’s not because employment fell.

    Of course, we’d prefer those people to have found jobs. But it does mean people weren’t losing jobs for the unemployment rate to rise.

    The growth in labour force participation in June continues the trend of strong growth since late 2021. In the long run, that’s a good thing – it means the country can produce more output, and more people gain an income from work.

    An interest rate cut now looks more certain

    A fortnight ago, the Reserve Bank surprised most people by keeping the cash rate on hold at 3.85%.

    Today’s unemployment data is extra evidence that the labour market isn’t contributing to inflation pressure – in fact, it’s the opposite.

    It shows an interest rate cut is now overdue. The Reserve Bank board meets again in mid-August, with a decision on rates announced on August 12.

    When will we know if this is a blip or a trend?

    One possibility is that some of the extra people who became unemployed in June have a job to go to in the next month. Ups and downs in that group have at times been influential in driving unemployment numbers in recent times. In that case, this month’s figures may partly turn out to be a blip. We’ll be able to tell that when we see next month’s figures.

    But the blip is unlikely to explain all of the rise in June. This is also about a labour market that is slowing.

    Jeff Borland receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Why a surprise jump in unemployment isn’t as bad as it sounds – https://theconversation.com/why-a-surprise-jump-in-unemployment-isnt-as-bad-as-it-sounds-261375

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: RAM website updates coming soon

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    The Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) website is your primary channel for information, help and support on RAM.

    Soon the RAM website will be updated with a refreshed look and improved experience. These updates are designed to make it faster and easier for you to find the information you need.

    You don’t need to do anything to prepare for the website updates and can continue accessing it at info.authorisationmanager.gov.auExternal Link as usual.

    Once the updated RAM website is available, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the improved features and may be asked to share your feedback by completing a short survey during your visit.

    Find out more about the RAM website updatesExternal Link.

    Looking for the latest news for Super funds? You can stay up to date by visiting our Super funds newsroom and subscribingExternal Link to our monthly Super funds newsletter and CRT alerts.

    MIL OSI News –

  • West Indies all-rounder Russell to retire from international cricket

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Two-time Twenty20 World Cup winner Andre Russell will retire from international cricket at age 37 after the second T20 match against Australia on July 22 in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, Cricket West Indies (CWI) said on Wednesday.

    All-rounder Russell, who won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016, has earned 84 international caps in the format, scoring three fifties and taking 61 wickets.

    The white-ball specialist, who played only one test match, also appeared in 56 One-Day Internationals (ODI), taking 70 wickets. He last played in the 50-over format in 2019.

    “Words cannot explain what it meant. To represent the West Indies has been one of the proudest achievements in my life,” Russell said in a statement.

    “When I was a kid, I did not expect to get to this level, but the more you start to play and get to love the sport, you realize what you can achieve. This inspired me to become better because I wanted to leave a mark in the maroon colours and become an inspiration to others.”

    Russell, who travels around the world competing in T20 leagues and most recently appeared in Major League Cricket in the U.S. this month, said he wanted to finish his international career on a high.

    “His hunger to perform and win for West Indies has never wavered. I wish him all the best on his next chapter, and I hope he continues to inspire generations to come,” West Indies coach Daren Sammy said.

    West Indies host Australia in the first T20 of the five-match series on Sunday in Kingston. Australia won their test series 3-0.

    -Reuters

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health – ProCare welcomes fast-tracked registration for overseas doctors

    Source: ProCare

    ProCare welcomes the Medical Council’s decision to recognise overseas-trained doctors from Chile, Croatia, and Luxembourg as part of the “Comparable Health System pathway”. Alongside the fast-track registration for GPs from the USA, Canada, and Singapore, this will deliver a much-needed boost to general practices across Aotearoa who are facing a significant GP shortage.

    The decision means ProCare will be better placed to support its primary care network to recruit offshore GPs; further helping to ease workforce pressure and improve access to care for communities.

    Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare, says the organisation is ready to support practices to take full advantage of the change.

    “We know our practices are under pressure and this change gives us a practical way to bring in skilled clinicians faster,” says Norwell.

    Under the changes, GPs from the United States, Canada and Singapore will have their registration applications processed within two months, while specialists from countries such as the UK, Ireland and Australia will benefit from a fast-tracked 20-day assessment process. Japan and South Korea were added to the list in February 2025.

    “At ProCare, we are deeply committed to investing in the primary care workforce. We’ve long advocated for practical solutions that support our network and improve health outcomes for our communities. This announcement aligns with that vision.”

    Earlier this month, ProCare became an Immigration NZ Accredited Employer, allowing it to directly support practices with international recruitment and immigration processes.

    “We’re actively investing in solutions for primary care that make a difference,” says Norwell. “Our investment includes tailored support for general practice teams, leadership development, and tools to improve retention and resilience. We’re committed to building a strong, sustainable workforce that delivers better health outcomes for all New Zealanders.”

    ProCare will continue working closely with its network and partners to ensure overseas-trained doctors are welcomed, supported, and integrated into the communities where they’re needed most.

    Learn about ProCare’s Investment in Workforce: https://www.procare.co.nz/about-us/investment-in-workforce/

    About ProCare

    ProCare is a leading healthcare provider that aims to deliver the most progressive, pro-active and equitable health and wellbeing services in Aotearoa. We do this through our clinical support services, mental health and wellness services, virtual/tele health, mobile health, smoking cessation and by taking a population health and equity approach to our mahi. As New Zealand’s largest Primary Health Organisation, we represent a network of general practice teams and healthcare professionals who provide care to more than 830,000 people across Auckland and Northland. These practices serve the largest Pacific and South Asian populations enrolled in general practice and the largest Māori population in Tāmaki Makaurau. For more information go to www.procare.co.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Upcoming information session on Pillar Two

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    Calling all multinational entities (MNEs) and tax advisers that may be in scope of the global and domestic minimum tax (Pillar Two).

    Join our Pillar Two information session on Friday 15 August from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm AEST.

    The session will provide an overview of the administrative and system aspects of the implementation of the Pillar Two measure in Australia. It’ll cover stakeholder and international engagement, guidance and system development, the design of the new domestic tax return form, lodgment obligations, key considerations for MNEs and available support.

    Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain insights from experts and stay informed.

    Register for this sessionExternal Link now to secure a spot, as this session will not be recorded.

    Keep up to date

    Make sure to sign up to our Business bulletins newsletter to keep an eye out for additional future Pillar Two sessions. Read more articles in our online Business bulletins newsroom.

    Subscribe to our free:

    • fortnightly Business bulletins email newsletterExternal Link
    • email notifications about new and updated information on our website – you can choose to receive updates relevant to your situation. Choose the ‘Business and organisations’ category to ensure your subscription includes notifications for more Business bulletins newsroom articles like this one.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Serious crash at Kurralta Park

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Police are at the scene of a serious crash at Kurralta Park.

    Just before 1pm today (Thursday 17 July), police and emergency services were called to Anzac Highway near Grassmere Street after reports of a two-car crash.

    Citybound traffic is down to one lane.

    Please avoid the area if possible.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: UPDATE: Youths arrested after alleged assault in Hobart CBD

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    UPDATE: Youths arrested after alleged assault in Hobart CBD

    Thursday, 17 July 2025 – 1:25 pm.

    UPDATE @ 1.30pm July 17: Youths arrested after alleged assault in Hobart CBD
    Police have laid charges against two boys over the alleged assault of a teenage boy in Hobart’s CBD on Wednesday.
    A 14-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated robbery, stealing, destroy property, unlawfully tamper or interfere with a motor vehicle, and bail offences. He has been held for court.
    A 12-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated robbery, common assault, stealing and unlawfully tamper or interfere with a motor vehicle. He has been bailed to appear in the Hobart Youth Justice Division in August.
    The charges stem from an altercation at the grassed area of Mather’s Lane, in Hobart’s central business district, about 2.05pm in which police allege a 14-year-old boy was assaulted and had his iPhone stolen.
    Police have appealed to members of the public who may have witnessed the incident, or the events leading up to it, to come forward.
    A group of up to eight youths was seen leaving the area via Criterion Lane immediately following the alleged assault.
    Anyone with information is urged to contact Tasmania Police on 131 444 or provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au (quote Offence Report 780149).

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Straight from the source – July 2025

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    July marks the beginning of a new financial year – a time for all taxpayers including not-for-profits (NFP) to reset, review, and refocus. It’s also tax time, and with that comes the opportunity to strengthen financial foundations, plan for the year ahead, and ensure your NFP is on track to deliver impact.

    The start of July is also a time of deep cultural significance as we celebrate NAIDOC Week. This year marks 50 years of honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the theme ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’ invites us to reflect on the past, empower the present, and invest in the future. It’s a call to honour the legacy of Elders, uplift young Indigenous leaders, and commit to building a future grounded in respect and inclusion.

    At the opening of NAIDOC Week, I was visiting Rainbow Beach in Cooloola, Queensland, where I respectfully acknowledged the traditional lands of the Butchulla and Kabi Kabi peoples. Wherever I travel across Australia, I make it a point to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and learn about Indigenous history – especially the stories that have been passed down through generations. It’s part of my personal commitment to reconciliation.

    On this trip, I discovered that in December 2019, the Federal Court formally recognised the Butchulla people’s native title rights over land and waters between Rainbow Beach and Burrum Heads. This followed their first determination in 2014, which acknowledged their rights over K’gari (Fraser Island). I also came across the beautiful legend behind Rainbow Beach’s name. According to the Kabi Kabi people, the rainbow-coloured dunes – now heritage-listed – were formed when Yiningie, a spirit represented by a rainbow, plunged into the cliffs after battling an evil tribesman who was pursuing the maiden Murrawar. These stories are powerful reminders of the deep spiritual connection between land and culture.

    As we continue to celebrate NAIDOC Week and every day after, let’s continue to listen, learn, and honour the legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – past, present, and future.

    For not-for-profits, this is a timely reminder to:

    • Recognise the legacy of First Nations Elders and leaders who have paved the way.
    • Support the strength and vision of young Indigenous changemakers.
    • Review your organisation’s role in fostering culturally safe and inclusive spaces.
    • Build partnerships with First Nations organisations that uplift community voices.

    Here are some additional important messages I’d like to share with all NFPs.

    Tax Time 2025: lodge your NFP self-review return today!

    Tax Time 2025 kicked off on 1 July, and the second NFP self-review return is now open for lodgment, and due by 31 October 2025.

    We understand that many NFPs haven’t yet lodged their first return – often due to the time needed to set up access to Online services for business. But don’t wait! You can lodge your return now while completing your digital setup.

    Lodge using our self-help phone service by calling 13 72 26 – have your organisation’s ABN and the reference number from your ATO letter ready when you call.

    If your NFP doesn’t have a letter from us with a reference number, phone us on 13 28 66 to ask us to resend a letter. When you phone us, you’ll have to prove you are authorised to contact us on behalf of your NFP.

    The ATO will support NFPs trying to do the right thing and has suspended penalty application for late lodgment of the 2023–24 NFP self-review return as part of the transitional support arrangements for the sector. 

    However, penalties may apply if you don’t lodge your 2024–25 NFP self-review return by the due date.

    Shaping a strategic roadmap for the NFP sector

    At our upcoming NFP Stewardship Group session, we’ll focus on developing a strategic roadmap to guide tax, superannuation, and registry administration through to 2030 and beyond. This initiative reflects our commitment to building a system that is streamlined, fit for purpose, and aligned with the government’s goal of doubling philanthropy by 2030.

    So far, we’ve engaged a diverse range of stakeholders through targeted interviews to gather insights on common challenges, barriers, and opportunities. Their contributions are helping us shape a roadmap that supports NFPs in meeting their obligations with confidence, while enhancing public trust in the sector.

    The response from the sector has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing interest in joining the Stewardship Group and contributing to this important work. These sessions mark the beginning of a collaborative journey, with many opportunities ahead for stakeholders to contribute, test, and validate ideas before any commitments are made.

    Once finalised, the roadmap will outline a coordinated set of projects and activities designed to ensure the sector is well-positioned for long-term sustainability and compliance. We look forward to continuing this work with the broader stakeholder community in the months ahead.

    We continue to receive Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) applications from NFP organisations that do not meet the open membership requirements under the community sheds category.

    Community sheds are charities whose dominant purpose is to advance mental health and prevent or relieve social isolation. A community shed must be open to the community to join and generally not impose criteria restricting membership based on matters such as age, ethnicity or background. Rejecting an application for arbitrary reasons will not constitute open membership.

    Membership may only be restricted in relation to gender or Indigenous heritage or both.

    To meet the open membership requirement, community sheds must:

    • have a clear policy and process for nominating and approving all new members without exception
    • ensure this process is reflected in their governing rules
    • avoid clauses that allow committee members to reject applicants for unspecified or arbitrary reasons.

    We encourage all applicants to review their governing documents carefully and ensure they align with the ATO’s requirements before submitting a DGR application.

    If you have questions or need support, our advice service on 1300 130 248 is here to help between 8:00 am to 6:00 pm AEST, Monday to Friday.

    Community charities that are already listed in a Ministerial Declaration and have registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), can now contact us for guidance on how to apply for DGR endorsement. The best way is to call our dedicated NFP Advice Service on 1300 130 248 between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can email atoendorsements@ato.gov.au

    Support through Australian disaster relief funds (ADRF)

    In times of disaster, Australians come together to support those in need. An Australian disaster relief fund (ADRF) is a public fund established exclusively to provide financial assistance to individuals and communities affected by officially declared disasters. This includes both immediate aid and long-term support for community recovery.

    You can also make a meaningful impact by donating to established DGRs operating in affected areas. These may include public benevolent institutions (PBIs) and other public assistance organisations that provide similar support in their day-to-day operations. By contributing to trusted organisations, your donation helps deliver timely and effective relief to those who need it most.

    The most recent updates to the list of declared disasters are:

    • Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred declared on 1 March 2025
    • Queensland Floods (March 2025) declared on 21 March 2025
    • New South Wales Floods (May 2025) declared on 18 May 2025.

    Details of the declared disasters are available on the Australian Taxation Office website on the list of disasters or by going to www.ato.gov.au and searching for QC 18912.

    Ancillary Funds

    In the lead-up to the end of the financial year, we received a noticeable increase in enquiries to our advice service from ancillary funds.

    A reminder to all private and public ancillary funds – each is governed by its own set of guidelines, which must be followed to ensure compliance.

    Website updates

    You may have noticed that our website content for DGR endorsement has been updated. While the content remains largely unchanged the information has been organised so that it can be accessed more easily, and you will notice that it has been arranged in five tiles that cover:

    1. DGR categories
    2. DGR reforms
    3. Applying for DGR endorsement
    4. Rules and tests for DGR endorsement
    5. Progress of your endorsement application.

    Similarly, all the NFP self-review return information has been reviewed and updated as of 8 July 2025.

    We’re reviewing and rewriting TD 93/190 to update legislative references and clarify the criteria NFP organisations must meet to qualify for an income tax exemption.

    The revised ruling will:

    • reflect current legislation, including all special conditions under Subdivision 50A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
    • explain how ‘community service purposes’ should be interpreted
    • include relevant case law and practical examples of NFP entities that do and do not qualify for the exemption.

    Getting tax ready: your EOFY checklist

    As you can see, there’s a lot happening in July – and it’s never too late to get tax ready! Whether you’re finalising reports or planning ahead, here are some key reminders to help your NFP stay on track:

    • Review your financial records – make sure everything is accurate and up to date.
    • Finalise payroll and superannuation – ensure all obligations are met before deadlines.
    • Prepare your annual reporting – this includes ACNC submissions, any grant acquittals, Ancillary Fund Returns, NFP self-review returns and Income tax lodgments.
    • Acknowledge your donors – send out end-of-year receipts and thank-you messages.
    • Plan for the year ahead – reflect on your impact, set goals, and build a strong foundation.

    Tax time is also a great opportunity to highlight your achievements. Share your impact, thank your supporters, and show how their support and contributions have made a real difference.

    Let’s start the new financial year with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

    Take care and stay safe,

    Jennifer.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Promised and delivered: CIT Woden Campus officially open!

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    As part of ACT Government’s ‘One Government, One Voice’ program, we are transitioning this website across to our . You can access everything you need through this website while it’s happening.

    Released 17/07/2025

    The ACT Government is today celebrating the grand opening of the new state-of-the-art Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) Woden campus.

    CIT Woden is part of the ACT Government’s $14 billion Infrastructure Plan, ensuring Canberra remains one of the world’s most liveable cities as our community grows.

    Up to 6,500 students each year are expected to attend CIT Woden, which welcomes students from next Monday, 21 July for the start of Semester 2. Spanning 22,500 square metres across five levels, CIT Woden contains 66 learning spaces that will support 24 different industry areas.

    CIT Woden is designed to support the skills Canberra needs now and into the future, with a diverse range of courses in areas such as information technology, cyber security, photography, business, hospitality, hairdressing, creative industries and more. Students and the community can also enjoy amenities like a student-operated restaurant, hair and beauty salon, as well as the vibrant public spaces.

    Minister for Skills, Training and Industrial Relations, Michael Pettersson, said the new campus was a game-changer in delivering quality vocational education in the ACT, and has transformed the Woden Town Centre into a vibrant learning hub.

    “We promised to deliver a world-class education precinct in Woden, and we’ve delivered. The training facilities and learning spaces at the new CIT Woden are second to none,” Minister Pettersson said.

    “Students of all ages are going to love this modern and sustainable facility, and we’ve already had a lot of positive feedback from CIT staff who are starting to feel right at home in their new surroundings. This is another example of the ACT Government building Canberra’s future and providing the next generation with the opportunity to gain the skills needed for their chosen careers.”

    CIT Woden is a sustainable, environmentally friendly campus. All electric commercial kitchens and training restaurants, as well as an array of solar panels, will help contribute to the ACT Government’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. The main building’s structure, floors and architectural finish are crafted from cross-laminated timber and glue-laminated timber sustainably sourced and manufactured in Australia.

    Designing with Country has been a guiding principle for the CIT Woden Campus project, from the Brindabellas inspired ‘Walking the Ridgeline’ façade, to reflecting a silhouette of a ‘Mulleun’, or wedge-tailed eagle through the ‘Oculus’ sky light, at the top of level five.

    More than 520 local jobs and apprenticeships were created during construction of CIT Woden, while construction partner, Lendlease, provided nearly 8,000 hours of training during construction.

    – Statement ends –

    Michael Pettersson, MLA | Media Releases

    «ACT Government Media Releases | «Minister Media Releases

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction. But there are plenty more judgement days to come

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney

    This week, the Federal Court found the Australian government has no legal duty to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change. The ruling was disappointing, but it’s not the end of the matter.

    The plaintiffs, Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai, hail from the low-lying islands of Saibai and Boigu, near Papua New Guinea. They argued the Commonwealth was negligent for failing to take strong action on climate change.

    While the judge accepted the devastating effects climate change has wrought on the Torres Strait Islands, he found the Uncles did not prove their case of negligence.

    However, the judge found previous Australian governments had not taken the best available science into account when setting emissions reduction targets. The finding tightens the screws on the Albanese government, which is due to announce Australia’s long-awaited targets to cut emissions out to 2035.

    To protect communities in the Torres Strait, and across Australia, the government must set a 2035 target that is in line with the science.

    And the court finding is unlikely to stem the tide of litigation seeking greater government accountability for climate change – especially for those most vulnerable to its harms.

    Limitations of Australian law

    The Uncles’ case did not fail because there was no merit in their allegations. It failed because Justice Michael Wigney ruled negligence law was not the appropriate vehicle to deal with climate change policy.

    Justice Wigney found the Torres Strait Islanders proved much of their case, including that Australia’s emissions targets set in 2015, 2020 and 2021 were not consistent with the best available science. That science dictates national governments should set emissions reduction targets in line with international efforts to hold global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

    The Coalition was in power during the period in question. Justice Wigney found the government of the day “did not engage with or give real or genuine consideration to the best available science” when setting its targets.

    Looking ahead to our 2035 targets

    The Labor government is currently weighing its 2035 emissions reduction target. The Climate Change Authority, which provides independent advice to government on climate policy, is expected to recommend a target between 65% and 75%.

    But evidence suggests this may not be in line with the best available science.

    For example, according to some scientists, emissions reduction of 90% by 2035, based on 2005 levels, would be required to stay in line with the 1.5°C goal.

    Australia’s 2035 targets are not just crucial to the global effort to tackle climate change. They will also affect our standing in the Pacific at a time of deepening geostrategic competition.

    Australia is bidding to host the UN climate talks next year in partnership with Pacific island countries. Our climate policy for the decade ahead will be a powerful signal to our Pacific neighbours about our commitment to the region, and to climate justice.

    A shifting legal landscape

    Tuesday’s court finding left open the possibility an appeal court may revisit the state of the law, and recognise the duty of care claimed by the Uncles.

    This would require an appeal to the full court of the Federal Court. Wigney was a single judge and considered himself bound by past precedent set by the full court.

    Around the world, courts and human rights bodies are holding governments accountable for climate inaction. It is possible for Australian law to do the same.

    International courts and human rights bodies are holding governments accountable for climate inaction.
    Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

    Courts in the Netherlands and Belgium, for example, have recognised government duties to heed the science to address foreseeable harms of climate change.

    Next week, the International Court of Justice – the world’s highest court – will issue an historic legal opinion on the obligations of nations to tackle climate change.

    This opinion will clarify the obligations of countries to prevent human rights harms caused by climate change, and to limit pollution of the Earth’s oceans and climate system. The opinion will be non-binding, but could influence future climate litigation.

    What’s more, attribution science is improving all the time. This field of science examines how greenhouse gas emissions affect a particular weather event or climate pattern.

    Clearer attribution science will provide courts an ever-stronger basis to consider how government policy decisions on emissions cause climate impacts – and resulting harms to people.

    As the legal responsibilities of governments are clarified, further strategic litigation in Australia is likely.

    Change is coming

    In his judgement, Justice Michael Wigney said the law currently “provides no real or effective legal avenue” for people or communities to seek legal recourse for government inaction on climate change. That will remain the case until the law changes, he said.

    To remain legitimate, legal norms must reflect changing social expectations. History shows laws can adapt when they are challenged repeatedly by those who are harmed by the status quo. Eventually, the dam wall breaks, and law is reinterpreted.

    A clear example is the Mabo case of 1992. The High Court of Australia acknowledged the obvious fact that Indigenous peoples have lived on this continent for tens of thousands of years, and that the “terra nullius” (land belonging to no-one) concept was a legal myth.

    The Mabo decision allowed common law to recognise native title. It was a departure from previous rulings which relied on the terra nullius concept to reject native title claims.

    Australia’s legal norms largely pre-date the scientific consensus on climate change. They must evolve to better recognise climate impacts that are harming Australians. While this week might not have been the time, change is inevitable.

    As Justice Wigney said, until the law adapts, the key avenue for change is public advocacy, protest and voter action at the ballot box.

    Wesley Morgan is a fellow with the Climate Council.

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

    – ref. Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction. But there are plenty more judgement days to come – https://theconversation.com/australia-got-off-on-a-technicality-for-its-climate-inaction-but-there-are-plenty-more-judgement-days-to-come-261305

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University

    klebercordeiro/Getty

    If you spend any time in the wellness corners of TikTok or Instagram, you’ll see claims women need one to two hours more sleep than men.

    But what does the research actually say? And how does this relate to what’s going on in real life?

    As we’ll see, who gets to sleep, and for how long, is a complex mix of biology, psychology and societal expectations. It also depends on how you measure sleep.

    What does the evidence say?

    Researchers usually measure sleep in two ways:

    • by asking people how much they sleep (known as self-reporting). But people are surprisingly inaccurate at estimating how much sleep they get

    • using objective tools, such as research-grade, wearable sleep trackers or the gold-standard polysomnography, which records brain waves, breathing and movement while you sleep during a sleep study in a lab or clinic.

    Looking at the objective data, well-conducted studies usually show women sleep about 20 minutes more than men.

    One global study of nearly 70,000 people who wore wearable sleep trackers found a consistent, small difference between men and women across age groups. For example, the sleep difference between men and women aged 40–44 was about 23–29 minutes.

    Another large study using polysomnography found women slept about 19 minutes longer than men. In this study, women also spent more time in deep sleep: about 23% of the night compared to about 14% for men. The study also found only men’s quality of sleep declined with age.

    The key caveat to these findings is that our individual sleep needs vary considerably. Women may sleep slightly more on average, just as they are slightly shorter on average. But there is no one-size-fits-all sleep duration, just as there is no universal height.

    Suggesting every woman needs 20 extra minutes (let alone two hours) misses the point. It’s the same as insisting all women should be shorter than all men.

    Even though women tend to sleep a little longer and deeper, they consistently report poorer sleep quality. They’re also about 40% more likely to be diagnosed with insomnia.

    This mismatch between lab findings and the real world is a well-known puzzle in sleep research, and there are many reasons for it.

    For instance, many research studies don’t consider mental health problems, medications, alcohol use and hormonal fluctuations. This filters out the very factors that shape sleep in the real world.

    This mismatch between the lab and the bedroom also reminds us sleep doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Women’s sleep is shaped by a complex mix of biological, psychological and social factors, and this complexity is hard to capture in individual studies.

    Let’s start with biology

    Sleep problems begin to diverge between the sexes around puberty. They spike again during pregnancy, after birth and during perimenopause.

    Fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones, particularly oestrogen and progesterone, seem to explain some of these sex differences in sleep.

    For example, many girls and women report poorer sleep during the premenstrual phase just before their periods, when oestrogen and progesterone begin to fall.

    Perhaps the most well-documented hormonal influence on our sleep is the decline in oestrogen during perimenopause. This is linked to increased sleep disturbances, particularly waking at 3am and struggling to get back to sleep.

    Some health conditions also play a part in women’s sleep health. Thyroid disorders and iron deficiency, for instance, are more common in women and are closely linked to fatigue and disrupted sleep.

    How about psychology?

    Women are at much higher risk of depression, anxiety and trauma-related disorders. These very often accompany sleep problems and fatigue. Cognitive patterns, such as worry and rumination, are also more common in women and known to affect sleep.

    Women are also prescribed antidepressants more often than men, and these medications tend to affect sleep.

    Society also plays a role

    Caregiving and emotional labour still fall disproportionately on women. Government data released this year suggests Australian women perform an average nine more hours of unpaid care and work each week than men.

    While many women manage to put enough time aside for sleep, their opportunities for daytime rest are often scarce. This puts a lot of pressure on sleep to deliver all the restoration women need.

    In my work with patients, we often untangle the threads woven into their experience of fatigue. While poor sleep is the obvious culprit, fatigue can also signal something deeper, such as underlying health issues, emotional strain, or too-high expectations of themselves. Sleep is certainly part of the picture, but it’s rarely the whole story.

    For instance, rates of iron deficiency (which we know is more common in women and linked to sleep problems) are also higher in the reproductive years. This is just as many women are raising children and grappling with the “juggle” and the “mental load”.

    Women in perimenopause are often navigating full-time work, teenagers, ageing parents and 3am hot flashes. These women may have adequate or even high-quality sleep (according to objective measures), but that doesn’t mean they wake feeling restored.

    Most existing research also ignores gender-diverse populations. This limits our understanding of how sleep is shaped not just by biology, but by things such as identity and social context.

    So where does this leave us?

    While women sleep longer and better in the lab, they face more barriers to feeling rested in everyday life.

    So, do women need more sleep than men? On average, yes, a little. But more importantly, women need more support and opportunity to recharge and recover across the day, and at night.

    Amelia Scott is a member of the psychology education subcommittee of the Australasian Sleep Association. She receives funding from Macquarie University.

    – ref. Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains – https://theconversation.com/do-women-really-need-more-sleep-than-men-a-sleep-psychologist-explains-259985

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: More support to help Australian business go global

    Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

    To help Australian businesses access new export opportunities and navigate the global trading environment, the Albanese Labor Government is expanding the Go Global Toolkit and launching the Go Global Export Academy.

    The Go Global Toolkit is a one-stop-shop for businesses of all sizes to assess and improve their export readiness, providing Australian businesses with better understanding of markets, local laws, regulations and requirements as well as information on tariffs and taxes.

    More than 200,000 users have accessed the Go Global Toolkit in the past year, and research indicates it has saved businesses thousands of hours over the course of their export journey.

    The expanded Toolkit will be complemented by the launch of the Go Global Academy, and will feature a series of Market Spotlight webinars to support the launch. The series will showcase insights from key export markets in Asia, Europe, UK, the Middle East, America and the Pacific. The Market Spotlight series kicks off this week, and businesses can register for free at https://export.business.gov.au/.

    The Go Global Toolkit forms part of the Government’s Simplified Trade System reforms, which is streamlining our trade system to make it cheaper, faster and easier for Australian importers and exporters to do business.

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell:

    “Trade is vital to Australia’s economic prosperity – one in four Australian jobs are trade-related, with jobs in export industries pay 10 per cent more on average.”

    “The Albanese Government is working to create new opportunities for Aussie businesses, including in India, Southeast Asia, the UK and the Middle East.”

    “We want to make it as easy as possible for Australian businesses to discover and take up opportunities – and that’s exactly what the Go Global Toolkit does.”

    Austrade General Manager for Trade, Jay Meek:

    “Using the resources in the Go Global Toolkit – including live and on demand webinars through the Go Global Export Academy – will enable exporters to pivot when market conditions change or be first to market when new opportunities open up.”

    “Businesses can use the Go Global Toolkit Tariff Finder to explore what tariffs and taxes apply to their goods – knowledge that will arm them with the tools to navigate an increasingly complex world.”

    “The Go Global Toolkit now features a more personalised user experience with content tailored to individual business needs. Central to this is providing the right information to help exporters compare markets and build a resilient diversification strategy.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: ASEAN Young Business Leaders to meet in Viet Nam, marking 50 years of ASEAN-New Zealand relations

    Source: Asia New Zealand Foundation

    Business leaders from New Zealand and Southeast Asia will gather in Viet Nam this July for the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative (YBLI) Summit, taking place from 23-27 July 2025 in Da Nang and Hue. The event is hosted by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono in partnership with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
    The Summit brings together YBLI programme alumni and entrepreneurs from a range of industries – including agribusiness, technology, tourism, fashion, health, and food and beverage – to connect, collaborate, and explore new growth opportunities.
    “Through this Summit, we aim to build lasting connections among entrepreneurs from New Zealand and ASEAN,” says Suzannah Jessep, Chief Executive at the Asia New Zealand Foundation. “Viet Nam is an important partner in the region and strengthening relationships, trade and economic ties here benefits both sides.”
    Nick Siu, Director of Business and Entrepreneurship at the Foundation, adds, “This is a chance for emerging leaders to learn from each other, find ways to collaborate, and develop new ideas that could lead to partnerships.”
    “YBLI opened doors for my business, helping to secure our first export customer in Singapore. I look forward to strengthening these connections at the upcoming event,” says Nick Carey, Managing Director, Green Meadows Beef, New Zealand.
    “The Summit is a great opportunity to connect with fellow changemakers and discover ways to advance our sectors together,” says Bicky Nguyen, Co-founder, Cricket One, Viet Nam.
    “Since attending the last YBLI event, I’ve grown my consulting firm and am now expanding into Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region,” says Kaye-Maree Dunn, Managing Director Making Everything Achievable and Āhau NZ Limited.
    The Summit marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and both ASEAN and Viet Nam, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
    “New Zealand is proud to be a close friend and partner of ASEAN for more than 50 years,” says New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam, Caroline Beresford. “Strengthening these ties goes beyond diplomacy – the Summit empowers young leaders, builds partnerships, and creates mutually beneficial opportunities for both ASEAN and New Zealand.”
    -END-
    About the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono
    Established in 1994, the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono is New Zealand’s leading provider of Asia insights and experiences. Its mission is to equip New Zealanders to excel in Asia, by providing research, insights and targeted opportunities to grow their knowledge, connections and experiences across the Asia region. The Foundation’s activities cover more than 20 countries in Asia and are delivered through eight core programmes: arts, business, entrepreneurship, leadership, media, research, Track II diplomacy and sports.
    About the ASEAN Young Business leaders Initiative
    The ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative (YBLI) is a key part of the New Zealand Government’s ASEAN strategy. The aim of the programme is to facilitate trade and build connections between business leaders and entrepreneurs in New Zealand and Southeast Asia. This is achieved through short, targeted visits to New Zealand and Southeast Asia for ASEAN entrepreneurs and Kiwi entrepreneurs respectively.  

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Thursday, 17 July 2025 – 12:46 pm.

    A man has been charged as investigations continue into the stealing of five vehicles from a North Hobart car yard in May.
    Last month, police from the South East, Glenorchy and Bridgewater Criminal Investigation Branches executed several searches in the Montrose and Derwent Valley areas, alongside the Southern Drugs and Firearms Unit.
    A Toyota Rav 4 stolen from a North Hobart car yard was located at an address in Magra, as well as close to $150,000 of other property also believed to be stolen.
    The property included a firearm, several motor vehicles, a trailer, a generator, and about one tonne of fuel. A quantity of illicit drugs was also located.
    A 36-year-old Magra man has since been charged with various stolen property and firearms offences and will reappear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on 12 September 2025.
    Four of the five vehicles stolen from the North Hobart car yard have been recovered.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: UPDATE: Fatal Crash – Delamere

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force are continuing to investigate the fatal crash in Delamere yesterday.

    One vehicle, a silver Mitsubishi Pajero, was carrying four occupants, aged 63, 63, 70 and 76, while the second vehicle, a Toyota 76 series troop carrier, was carrying a 25-year-old man.

    The 76-year-old man was declared deceased at the scene.

    Investigations have now confirmed that the Toyota was stolen from a residence on Heron Crescent, Katherine.

    Police urge anyone with information to make contact on 131 444.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 17, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 17, 2025.

    Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University klebercordeiro/Getty If you spend any time in the wellness corners of TikTok or Instagram, you’ll see claims women need one to two hours more sleep than

    I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miriama Young, Associate Professor Music Composition, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne Marco Zorzanello It was late January when I got the call. I’m asked to bring my sound art to a collaborative ecology and design project, Song of the Cricket, for the Venice Biennale

    Is it okay to boil water more than once, or should you empty the kettle every time?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Faisal Hai, Professor and Head of School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Wollongong Avocado_studio/Shutterstock The kettle is a household staple practically everywhere – how else would we make our hot drinks? But is it okay to re-boil water that’s already in the kettle

    What does Australian law have to say about sovereign citizens and ‘pseudolaw’?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeleine Perrett, PhD Candidate in Law, University of Adelaide Armed with obscure legal jargon and fringe interpretations of the law, “sovereign citizens” are continuing to test the limits of the Australian justice system’s patience and power. A few weeks ago, two Western Australians were jailed for 30

    Is childbirth really safer for women and babies in private hospitals?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University A study published this week in the international obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG has raised concerns among women due to give birth in Australia’s public hospitals. The study compared the outcomes

    We were part of the world heritage listing of Murujuga. Here’s why all Australians should be proud
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo McDonald, Professor, Director of Centre for Rock Art Research + Management, The University of Western Australia Senior Ranger, Mardudunhera man Peter Cooper, oversees the Murujuga landscape Jo McDonald, CC BY-SA On Friday, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in northwest Western Australia was inscribed on the UNESCO World

    Is our mental health determined by where we live – or is it the other way round? New research sheds more light
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hobbs, Associate Professor and Transforming Lives Fellow, Spatial Data Science and Planetary Health, Sheffield Hallam University Photon-Photos/Getty Images Ever felt like where you live is having an impact on your mental health? Turns out, you’re not imagining things. Our new analysis of eight years of data

    The secret stories of trees are written in the knots and swirls of your floorboards. An expert explains how to read them
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne Magda Ehlers/Pexels, CC BY Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine grain, a stunning red hue or a

    Tasmania is limping towards an election nobody wants. Here’s the state of play
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hortle, Deputy Director, Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania In the darkest and coldest months of the year, Tasmanians have been slogging through an election campaign no one wanted. It’s been a curious mix of humdrum plodding laced with cyanide levels of bitterness, with the most

    What is astigmatism? Why does it make my vision blurry? And how did I get it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Ground Picture/Shutterstock Have you ever gone to the optometrist for an eye test and were told your eye was shaped like a football? Or perhaps you’ve noticed

    From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Ronnie Yoshiko Fujiyama: how electric guitarists challenge expectations of gender
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janelle K Johnstone, Associate Lecturer Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, PhD Candidate School of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University American gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar on stage in 1957. Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images I’ve been playing a

    Ken Henry urges nature law reform after decades of ‘intergenerational bastardry’
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has warned Australia’s global environmental reputation is at risk if the Albanese government fails to reform nature laws this term. In his speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Henry

    David Robie: New Zealand must do more for Pacific and confront nuclear powers
    Rongelap Islanders on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior travelling to their new home on Mejatto Island in 1985 — less than two months before the bombing. Image: ©1985 David Robie/Eyes of Fire He accused the coalition government of being “too timid” and “afraid of offending President Donald Trump” to make a stand on the

    First-hand view of peacemaking challenge in the ‘Holy Land’
    Occupied West Bank-based New Zealand journalist Cole Martin asks who are the peacemakers? BEARING WITNESS: By Cole Martin As a Kiwi journalist living in the occupied West Bank, I can list endless reasons why there is no peace in the “Holy Land”. I live in a refugee camp, alongside families who were expelled from their

    Politics with Michelle Grattan: Malcolm Turnbull on Australia’s ‘dumb’ defence debate
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government remains in complicated territory on the international stage. It has to tread carefully with China, despite the marked warming of the bilateral relationship. It is yet to find its line and length with the unpredictable Trump administration.

    Why is Israel bombing Syria?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University Conflict in Syria has escalated with Israel launching bombing raids against its northern neighbour. It follows months of fluctuating tensions in southern Syria between the Druze minority and forces aligned with the new government in Damascus. Clashes erupted

    Bougainville election: More than 400 candidates vie for parliament
    By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist More than 400 candidates have put their hands up to contest the Bougainville general election in September, hoping to enter Parliament. Incumbent President Ishmael Toroama is among the 404 people lining up to win a seat. Bougainville is involved in the process of achieving independence from Papua New

    Scientists could be accidentally damaging fossils with a method we thought was safe
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mathieu Duval, Adjunct Senior Researcher at Griffith University and La Trobe University, and Ramón y Cajal (Senior) Research Fellow, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) 185,000-year-old human fossil jawbone from Misliya Cave, Israel. Gerhard Weber, University of Vienna, CC BY-ND Fossils are invaluable archives

    Right-wing political group Advance is in the headlines. What is it and what does it stand for?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Riboldi, Lecturer in Social Impact and Social Change, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney Advance/Facebook Political lobby group Advance has been back in the headlines this week. It was revealed an organisation headed by the husband of the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Jillian Segal,

    We travelled to Antarctica to see if a Māori lunar calendar might help track environmental change
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Winton, Senior Research Fellow in Climatology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Holly Winton, CC BY-SA Antarctica’s patterns of stark seasonal changes, with months of darkness followed by a summer of 24-hour daylight, prompted us to explore how a Māori lunar and environmental calendar

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – From 4 trades to 40,000: How 30 years of CommSec has shaped Aussie investing – CBA

    Source: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

    CommSec reflects on its 30-year journey and the future of investing.

    When CommSec launched on 17 July 1995, just four trades were placed via telephone and fax, at $75 each. Investing was slow and largely reserved for the few who had the time, knowledge, and access.

    But that day marked the beginning of a shift that would help reshape how Australians engage with financial markets. Fast forward to today, and investors can trade on the bus to work with the tap of their phone.

    “Many younger investors would find it hard to imagine what it was like buying and selling shares 30 years ago. Back in the early ‘90s, investing wasn’t exactly easy. Picture having to put in a call to a stockbroker, sometimes even fax orders, fill out reams of paperwork, and then wait for what felt like weeks for your share certificate to arrive,” said CommSec’s Executive General Manger James Fowle.

    “In 2025, that same process now takes a matter of seconds and you can do it straight from your mobile.”

    https://youtu.be/AforSgYeUQA?si=k1ocLNyupyitvbCr

    CommSec’s vision 30 years ago was to make the stock market easy, accessible and affordable.

    Three decades later, CommSec customers now execute around 40,000 trades daily, with the average value of shares bought and sold on the platform reaching $575 million each day. In the past 30 years, CommSec has completed nearly 160 million orders, worth more than $2.5 trillion – roughly the equivalent size of Australia’s economy.

    CommSec’s journey in many ways mirrors the broader evolution of investing in Australia, moving from the margins to the mainstream and becoming a core part of how Australians build wealth.

    Through a commitment to empower more Australians to grow their wealth, CommSec has helped transform how Aussies invest.

    “Over the past 30 years, CommSec has played a critical role in shaping the way Australians invest. Whether a first-time investor or seasoned portfolio builder, we’ve always pathed new ground to make investing more accessible to all Australians through innovation and education. Trust is key to who we are and I’m thankful to the millions of Australians who continue to trust us to grow their wealth,” said Fowle.

    The evolution of investing

    CommSec’s path to becoming Australia’s leading online broker has transpired largely due to the platform’s ability to meet the evolving needs of investors.

    In 1997, CommSec became the first Australian broker to launch a share trading website, paving the way for a digital trading future.

    By 2001, around 80 percent of CommSec’s trades were being placed online, mirroring a broader trend: Australians wanted more control, more transparency, and more speed when they invested.

    In 2008, CommSec launched Australia’s first iPhone trading app, making trading accessible to Aussies with a smartphone.  And in 2019, CommSec Pocket was launched – a low cost, simple investing app that aims to empower more Australians to start their investing journey.

    Fast forward to today, and nearly 50 per cent of trades are made via mobile.

    Over the years, market participation has also grown across demographics as government privatisations, the rise of self-managed super funds (SMSFs), the popularity of exchange traded funds (ETFs), and the increasing use of mobile apps have all contributed to a more engaged and informed investor base.

    Ten years ago, 20 per cent of CommSec’s customers were under 40 – today, that number has more than doubled to 43 per cent. Meanwhile, the percentage of female investors on CommSec has almost tripled in the past 5 years.

    “Markets have become more dynamic, and so have investors,” said Tom Piotrowski, CommSec’s long-time market analyst.

    “We’ve gone from a world where people waited for the morning paper to receive market news, to one where they’re trading on their phones during a lunch break. Now we’re pushing out a daily podcast and educating our customers on TikTok. That shift has been extraordinary to witness.”

    Not only that, CommSec has taken great strides in making investing more accessible through education. Initiatives like CommSec Learn offers tips to beginners, while the CommSec Invest podcast breaks down the fundamentals of investing. Also, bite sized content is delivered through channels like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

    A trusted partner through volatility

    From bull markets to the GFC, CommSec has supported customers through the uncertainty and volatility of the market.

    In CommSec’s 30-year history, the top 10 trading days have all occurred over the last 5 years.

    “Covid really changed the market – the number of first-time traders has more than doubled since February 2020,” said Fowle.

    “The introduction of tariffs by President Trump on April 2 rattled global financial markets, with the three-day drop in the S&P 500 being one of the worst market sell-offs since World War II, while the ASX witnessed its biggest one-day drop since 2020. In fact, April 7 was CommSec’s largest trading day in three years, with the team processing over $1.4 billion in trades.

    “What makes me proud is not just how we responded to the high and low moments like these; but how over three decades, CommSec has remained a trusted partner for Australians on their investment journey.”

    Looking forward to the future

    As technology continues to evolve at an ever-accelerating pace, CommSec is committed to remaining at the forefront of innovation to help more Aussies invest and grow their wealth.

    “The Australian stock market is poised for continued evolution, with technology playing a central role in shaping trading practices and investor engagement,” Fowle said.

    “I’m incredibly proud that CommSec, 30 years on, continues to make investing easy, accessible and affordable. As innovation continues to accelerate, we are well positioned to continue to harness new technologies to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

    30 Years of CommSec by the Numbers

    Australian Markets Since 1995

    The ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index has risen 335%
    Average NSW house prices have increased by 751%
    CBA’s share price has grown from $9.34 (30/6/95) to $184.75 (30/6/25), a 1878% increase
    Wealth per capita has surged from $96,810 to $810,000

    CommSec Firsts

    July 1995: First direct broker
    1997: First free live share price quotes
    November 2003: First retail Stop Loss order
    July 2008: First Financial Services iPhone App

    Average number of trades

    Four trades on day 1
    10,000 trades per day by 2002
    40,000 /$575m per day by 2025

    Method of Trading

    Telephone and Fax only on launch 31 July 1995 ($75 per trade)
    Internet access was offered in October 1996, providing information only. Trading started March 1997. 80% of trades made online by 2001

    Top trading days

    2020 and 2021 dominate the top five biggest trading days showing the impacts of COVID.
    The sixth biggest trading day was on 7 April 2025, following the announcement of U.S. tariffs.
     

    Stocks over time

    Top 5 stocks: 25 June 1995

    1. BHP
    2. News Corp
    3. NAB
    4. CRA
    5. WBC  

    Top 5 Stocks: 26 June 2025  

    1. CBA
    2. BHP
    3. Rio Tinto
    4. NAB
    5. CSL

    CommSec customers

    Percentage of customers under 40:

    Now: 39.80%
    5 years ago: 25.57%
    10 years ago: 20.19%
    30 years ago: 26.42%

    Percentage of female customers with holdings:

    Now: 27.46%
    3 years ago: 12.62%
    5 years ago: 10.60%.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: US Army Deploys, Fires Mid-Range Capability During Talisman Sabre 25

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia — The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) deployed a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) to Australia and conducted a Standard Missile 6 live fire on July 15th, 2025, successfully sinking a maritime target in support of Exercise Talisman Sabre 25, a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and Australian militaries. The deployment demonstrates the 3rd MDTF’s ability to deploy and support regional security and stability.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miriama Young, Associate Professor Music Composition, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne

    Marco Zorzanello

    It was late January when I got the call. I’m asked to bring my sound art to a collaborative ecology and design project, Song of the Cricket, for the Venice Biennale of Architecture. When such as invitation arrives, you have no choice but to jump in.

    I see an image of the site for the project: the Gaggiandre at the Arsenale – a medieval shipyard that serviced the Venetian military at its imperial peak.

    Once a resplendent hive of industry, it is even detailed by Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy:

    As in the arsenal of the Venetians,
    all winter long a stew of sticky pitch
    boils up to patch their sick and tattered ships
    that cannot sail (instead of voyaging,
    some build new keels, some tow and tar the ribs
    of hulls worn out by too much journeying;
    some hammer at the prow, some at the stern,
    and some make oars, and some braid ropes and cords;
    one mends the jib, another, the mainsail)

    The Gaggiandre is a cavernous, church-like space flanked by stone colonnades, wooden roof beams, and situated, in true Venetian style, on a bed of water. With long reverberation times, music in this space would need to be slowly unfolding, drawing the listener in and inviting them to meditate.

    It is a place of reflection, both metaphorically and physically. To a sound artist, creating for the Gaggiandre is a dream.

    Art and the Anthropocene

    The Song of the Cricket exhibit has been on display at the Biennale since May. Its purpose is to bridge ecological research with sound art to raise awareness for our fragile biodiversity, with a focus on the critically endangered Adriatic bush-cricket, Zeuneriana marmorata.

    Zeuneriana marmorata is a rare species found in wetlands in north-eastern Italy and Slovenia.
    Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    What better place than Venice – a city slowly sinking – to reflect on where we stand in this moment of environmental collapse?

    The exhibit was created by a large team of collaborators. It features several mobile habitats populated with Zeuneriana. Some of these habitats sit on the Arsenale lawn, while other symbolic habitats float on the water as life rafts. Alongside the enclosures, my pre-composed “sound garden” plays through speakers onto the lawn.

    At the end of the Biennale, the team, led by landscape architect and ecologist Alex Felson, intends to use the life rafts to ceremonially transport incubated eggs to a new home on the mainland.

    The installation features mobile cricket habitats on the lawn, as well as symbolic life rafts on the water.
    Miriama Young

    Sounds of nature and Vivaldi

    On the lawn, the chirrup of live courting bush-crickets blends with pre-recorded sounds of their ancestors. These ancestral sounds might double as a lullaby for newly orphaned eggs, as adults only live a few months.

    The accompanying sound garden is richly diverse, created from an array of fauna sounds drawn from Northern Italian wetland environments, including the Eurasian reed warbler, the cuckoo and, my personal favourite, the green toad.

    My intention is for the soundscape to transport audiences to a different time and place: to a future where these species thrive in a healthy ecology.

    Excerpt from the Song of Crickets sound installation.
    Miriama Young and Monica Lim1.73 MB (download)

    There is a second element to the sound installation, created with support from sound technologist Monica Lim. Informed by the music of Antonio Vivaldi, this element serves to further activate the untapped airspace and enhance visitors’ experience of the site.

    Born in Venice in 1678, Vivaldi is a ubiquitous and avoidable cliché for locals. Yet his music was the perfect inspiration for this project, as it encodes a hidden ecological story.

    Vivaldi incorporated the literal sounds of nature into The Four Seasons (1723), with particular species’ songs annotated onto the score.

    The Song of the Cricket borrows elements from Vivaldi’s Summer: Allegro non Molto. In the short section I drew from, the cuckoo, turtledove and goldfinch are all musically described and credited by Vivaldi.

    And although they are not expressly mentioned, I imagine bush-crickets also pervade Vivaldi’s Summer movement, as we know they were once prolific in the Venice lagoon, and would have filled the summer air during his lifetime. You might hear them in the rapidly repeating (tremolo) string gestures.

    The cricket’s song serves as a indicator of an ecosystem’s health. But the sound of crickets in Venice today is largely missing.

    Our take on Vivaldi is slowed down 30 times, magnified and fragmented, voiced through synthesizers, and piped into the Gaggiandre through five speakers – creating an immersive experience that feels at once futuristic and Baroque.

    Mobile habitats awaiting the Zeuneriana marmorata eggs float on the water.
    Marco Zorzanello

    Bridging the past and an imagined future

    The decision to borrow from music of the Western historical canon (in this case Vivaldi) fits into a burgeoning movement that composer Valentin Silvestrov coined “eschatophony”.

    This is presumably a portmanteau of “eschatology”, the study of the end of the world, and “phony”, which in this case relates to sound (such as symphony). Here, we are left only to wrestle with and re-contextualise our musical past, to create “echoes of history”.

    The inclusion of sound is still a novelty at the architecture Biennale. Of the 300 exhibits this year, I can count on one hand the projects that incorporated sound. All of them were special.

    Sound creates a remarkable theatre, both through its immediacy, as well as its capacity to elevate a project beyond the prosaic, into the poetic.

    Venice is a city where history pervades at every turn. The Song of the Cricket invites listeners in, offering them space to reflect, and to imagine a future where ecosystems might once again thrive.

    This article is part of Making Art Work, our series on what inspires artists and the process of their work.

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

    – ref. I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket – https://theconversation.com/i-created-a-vivaldi-inspired-sound-artwork-for-the-venice-biennale-the-star-of-the-show-is-an-endangered-bush-cricket-259681

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miriama Young, Associate Professor Music Composition, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne

    Marco Zorzanello

    It was late January when I got the call. I’m asked to bring my sound art to a collaborative ecology and design project, Song of the Cricket, for the Venice Biennale of Architecture. When such as invitation arrives, you have no choice but to jump in.

    I see an image of the site for the project: the Gaggiandre at the Arsenale – a medieval shipyard that serviced the Venetian military at its imperial peak.

    Once a resplendent hive of industry, it is even detailed by Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy:

    As in the arsenal of the Venetians,
    all winter long a stew of sticky pitch
    boils up to patch their sick and tattered ships
    that cannot sail (instead of voyaging,
    some build new keels, some tow and tar the ribs
    of hulls worn out by too much journeying;
    some hammer at the prow, some at the stern,
    and some make oars, and some braid ropes and cords;
    one mends the jib, another, the mainsail)

    The Gaggiandre is a cavernous, church-like space flanked by stone colonnades, wooden roof beams, and situated, in true Venetian style, on a bed of water. With long reverberation times, music in this space would need to be slowly unfolding, drawing the listener in and inviting them to meditate.

    It is a place of reflection, both metaphorically and physically. To a sound artist, creating for the Gaggiandre is a dream.

    Art and the Anthropocene

    The Song of the Cricket exhibit has been on display at the Biennale since May. Its purpose is to bridge ecological research with sound art to raise awareness for our fragile biodiversity, with a focus on the critically endangered Adriatic bush-cricket, Zeuneriana marmorata.

    Zeuneriana marmorata is a rare species found in wetlands in north-eastern Italy and Slovenia.
    Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    What better place than Venice – a city slowly sinking – to reflect on where we stand in this moment of environmental collapse?

    The exhibit was created by a large team of collaborators. It features several mobile habitats populated with Zeuneriana. Some of these habitats sit on the Arsenale lawn, while other symbolic habitats float on the water as life rafts. Alongside the enclosures, my pre-composed “sound garden” plays through speakers onto the lawn.

    At the end of the Biennale, the team, led by landscape architect and ecologist Alex Felson, intends to use the life rafts to ceremonially transport incubated eggs to a new home on the mainland.

    The installation features mobile cricket habitats on the lawn, as well as symbolic life rafts on the water.
    Miriama Young

    Sounds of nature and Vivaldi

    On the lawn, the chirrup of live courting bush-crickets blends with pre-recorded sounds of their ancestors. These ancestral sounds might double as a lullaby for newly orphaned eggs, as adults only live a few months.

    The accompanying sound garden is richly diverse, created from an array of fauna sounds drawn from Northern Italian wetland environments, including the Eurasian reed warbler, the cuckoo and, my personal favourite, the green toad.

    My intention is for the soundscape to transport audiences to a different time and place: to a future where these species thrive in a healthy ecology.

    Excerpt from the Song of Crickets sound installation.
    Miriama Young and Monica Lim1.73 MB (download)

    There is a second element to the sound installation, created with support from sound technologist Monica Lim. Informed by the music of Antonio Vivaldi, this element serves to further activate the untapped airspace and enhance visitors’ experience of the site.

    Born in Venice in 1678, Vivaldi is a ubiquitous and avoidable cliché for locals. Yet his music was the perfect inspiration for this project, as it encodes a hidden ecological story.

    Vivaldi incorporated the literal sounds of nature into The Four Seasons (1723), with particular species’ songs annotated onto the score.

    The Song of the Cricket borrows elements from Vivaldi’s Summer: Allegro non Molto. In the short section I drew from, the cuckoo, turtledove and goldfinch are all musically described and credited by Vivaldi.

    And although they are not expressly mentioned, I imagine bush-crickets also pervade Vivaldi’s Summer movement, as we know they were once prolific in the Venice lagoon, and would have filled the summer air during his lifetime. You might hear them in the rapidly repeating (tremolo) string gestures.

    The cricket’s song serves as a indicator of an ecosystem’s health. But the sound of crickets in Venice today is largely missing.

    Our take on Vivaldi is slowed down 30 times, magnified and fragmented, voiced through synthesizers, and piped into the Gaggiandre through five speakers – creating an immersive experience that feels at once futuristic and Baroque.

    Mobile habitats awaiting the Zeuneriana marmorata eggs float on the water.
    Marco Zorzanello

    Bridging the past and an imagined future

    The decision to borrow from music of the Western historical canon (in this case Vivaldi) fits into a burgeoning movement that composer Valentin Silvestrov coined “eschatophony”.

    This is presumably a portmanteau of “eschatology”, the study of the end of the world, and “phony”, which in this case relates to sound (such as symphony). Here, we are left only to wrestle with and re-contextualise our musical past, to create “echoes of history”.

    The inclusion of sound is still a novelty at the architecture Biennale. Of the 300 exhibits this year, I can count on one hand the projects that incorporated sound. All of them were special.

    Sound creates a remarkable theatre, both through its immediacy, as well as its capacity to elevate a project beyond the prosaic, into the poetic.

    Venice is a city where history pervades at every turn. The Song of the Cricket invites listeners in, offering them space to reflect, and to imagine a future where ecosystems might once again thrive.

    This article is part of Making Art Work, our series on what inspires artists and the process of their work.

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

    – ref. I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket – https://theconversation.com/i-created-a-vivaldi-inspired-sound-artwork-for-the-venice-biennale-the-star-of-the-show-is-an-endangered-bush-cricket-259681

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –