BROOKFIELD, Wis., Oct. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CIB Marine Bancshares, Inc. (the “Company” or “CIB Marine”) (OTCQX: CIBH) announced that it has completed the $13.4 million full and final redemption of all of its preferred stock at $825 per share. Effective October 31, 2024, CIB Marine transferred the necessary funds to its redemption agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A., and all of CIB Marine’s outstanding preferred shares were redeemed pursuant to the Notice of Redemption and Letter of Transmittal dated October 17, 2024.
Mr. Brian Chaffin, President & CEO of CIB Marine, commented, “This is an important accomplishment for the Company. In addition to providing liquidity to our preferred shareholders, the redemptions created value for our common shareholders and strategic opportunities for the Company. I want to thank the common shareholders who supported the Company through this process and assisted us in the execution of our disciplined process to reach an outcome that benefitted all stakeholders.”
Any preferred shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares, are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Questions specific to the redemption process may be directed to Computershare at (800) 546-5141. For any other questions, please contact CIB Marine’s Shareholder Relations Manager, Ms. Elizabeth Neighbors, at (262) 695-4342 or Elizabeth.Neighbors@cibmarine.com.
CIB Marine Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for CIBM Bank, which operates nine banking offices and has mortgage loan officers and/or offices in ten states. More information on the Company is available at www.cibmarine.com, including recent shareholder letters, links to regulatory financial reports, and audited financial statements.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CIB Marine has made statements in this release that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. CIB Marine intends these forward-looking statements to be subject to the safe harbor created thereby and is including this statement to avail itself of the safe harbor. Forward-looking statements are identified generally by statements containing words and phrases such as “may,” “project,” “are confident,” “should be,” “intend,” “predict,” “believe,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect CIB Marine’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance that are subject to many uncertainties and factors relating to CIB Marine’s operations and the business environment, which could change at any time.
There are inherent difficulties in predicting factors that may affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements.
Stockholders should note that many factors, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this release and in the documents that are incorporated by reference, could affect the future financial results of CIB Marine and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this document. These factors, many of which are beyond CIB Marine’s control, include but are not limited to:
economic, political, and competitive forces affecting CIB Marine’s banking business;
the impact on net interest income and securities values from changes in monetary policy and general economic and political conditions; and
the risk that CIB Marine’s analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful.
These factors should be considered in evaluating the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. CIB Marine undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and CIB Marine’s actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in forward-looking statements.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: J. Brian Chaffin, President & CEO (217) 355-0900 brian.chaffin@cibmbank.com
Source: US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC
WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today announced its Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Amanda J. Lavis as Director of the agency’s new Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (OEEO).
In June, the FDIC Board announced the creation of the OEEO to serve as a single point of entry for employee complaints of discrimination and retaliation. In this role, Ms. Lavis will lead the OEEO’s work to intake, investigate, and report on complaints of employment discrimination within the FDIC workplace. The OEEO, along with the agency’s new Office of Professional Conduct (OPC), will report directly to the FDIC Board.
Ms. Lavis was selected from among several highly qualified candidates after a competitive, nationwide public solicitation. Most recently, she served as Chief Culture Officer for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), where she was the primary EEO advisor to the Commanding General and executive leadership.
She previously served as the State of Hawaii’s EEO Officer, serving as the primary EEO advisor to the Governor and Executive Branch. As an attorney and partner at Rhoads & Sinon LLP, Ms. Lavis worked with financial institutions and other private and public sector clients on employment issues and all aspects of EEO compliance.
Ms. Lavis has a Juris Doctor from the Villanova University School of Law, a Master of Business Administration from Shippensburg University, and a Bachelor of Science in International Business from Messiah University.
BOUSSARD & GAVAUDAN HOLDING LIMITED October 2024 TRANSACTION IN OWN SECURITIES ACTIVITY REPORT1
The Company announces that pursuant to the general authority granted by shareholders of the Company on 28 May 2019 to make market purchases of its own Ordinary shares, it repurchased 0 Euro shares in October 2024.
Figure of the share buy back programme for October 2024
Share Buy Back Programme
Liquidity Enhancement Agreement
Aggregate number of transactions conducted in October 2024
0
0
Average size of the transactions
0
0
Following this transaction, the Company has:
Euro share outstanding excluding share held in treasury
12,299,516
Euro share held in treasury
0
GBP share outstanding excluding share held in treasury
123,090
GBP share held in treasury
0
Total number of shares
12,422,606
31stOctober 2024
For further information please contact: Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management, LLP
Emmanuel Gavaudan (London) +44 203 751 5389
The Company is established as a closed-ended investment company domiciled in Guernsey. The Company has received the necessary approval of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and the States of Guernsey Policy Council. The Company is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets as a collective investment scheme pursuant to article 2:73 in conjunction with 2:66 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht). The shares of the Company (the “Shares”) are listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The Shares are also listed on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc’s main market for listed securities.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This announcement is not intended to and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to purchase any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of the securities referred to in this announcement in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.
Neither the Company nor Boussard & Gavaudan Fund Plc has been, and neither will be, registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). In addition the securities referenced in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Consequently any such securities June not be offered, sold or otherwise transferred within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons except in accordance with the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom and under circumstances which will not require the issuer of such securities to register under the Investment Company Act. No public offering of any securities will be made in the United States.
You should always bear in mind that: all investment is subject to risk;
results in the past are no guarantee of future results;
the investment performance of BGHL may go down as well as up. You may not get back all of your original investment; and
if you are in any doubt about the contents of this communication or if you consider making an investment decision, you are advised to seek expert financial advice.
This communication is for information purposes only and the information contained in this communication should not be relied upon as a substitute for financial or other professional advice.
1 This report includes the transactions conducted by both BGHL, for the share buy back programme and Exane, for the Liquidity Enhancement Agreement.
BOUSSARD & GAVAUDAN HOLDING LIMITED October 2024 TRANSACTION IN OWN SECURITIES ACTIVITY REPORT1
The Company announces that pursuant to the general authority granted by shareholders of the Company on 28 May 2019 to make market purchases of its own Ordinary shares, it repurchased 0 Euro shares in October 2024.
Figure of the share buy back programme for October 2024
Share Buy Back Programme
Liquidity Enhancement Agreement
Aggregate number of transactions conducted in October 2024
0
0
Average size of the transactions
0
0
Following this transaction, the Company has:
Euro share outstanding excluding share held in treasury
12,299,516
Euro share held in treasury
0
GBP share outstanding excluding share held in treasury
123,090
GBP share held in treasury
0
Total number of shares
12,422,606
31stOctober 2024
For further information please contact: Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management, LLP
Emmanuel Gavaudan (London) +44 203 751 5389
The Company is established as a closed-ended investment company domiciled in Guernsey. The Company has received the necessary approval of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and the States of Guernsey Policy Council. The Company is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets as a collective investment scheme pursuant to article 2:73 in conjunction with 2:66 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht). The shares of the Company (the “Shares”) are listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The Shares are also listed on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc’s main market for listed securities.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This announcement is not intended to and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to purchase any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of the securities referred to in this announcement in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.
Neither the Company nor Boussard & Gavaudan Fund Plc has been, and neither will be, registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). In addition the securities referenced in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Consequently any such securities June not be offered, sold or otherwise transferred within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons except in accordance with the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom and under circumstances which will not require the issuer of such securities to register under the Investment Company Act. No public offering of any securities will be made in the United States.
You should always bear in mind that: all investment is subject to risk;
results in the past are no guarantee of future results;
the investment performance of BGHL may go down as well as up. You may not get back all of your original investment; and
if you are in any doubt about the contents of this communication or if you consider making an investment decision, you are advised to seek expert financial advice.
This communication is for information purposes only and the information contained in this communication should not be relied upon as a substitute for financial or other professional advice.
1 This report includes the transactions conducted by both BGHL, for the share buy back programme and Exane, for the Liquidity Enhancement Agreement.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) today announced that shareholders approved all seven proposals presented at the 2024 Annual General Meeting. Approximately 87.6 million shares, representing approximately 79.6% of the shares outstanding as of the record date, were voted at the meeting. Check Point would like to thank shareholders for the support and confidence they have in the company and its employees.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leading AI-powered, cloud-delivered cyber security platform provider protecting over 100,000 organizations worldwide. Check Point leverages the power of AI everywhere to enhance cyber security efficiency and accuracy through its Infinity Platform, with industry-leading catch rates enabling proactive threat anticipation and smarter, faster response times. The comprehensive platform includes cloud-delivered technologies consisting of Check Point Harmony to secure the workspace, Check Point CloudGuard to secure the cloud, Check Point Quantum to secure the network, and Check Point Infinity Platform Services for collaborative security operations and services.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results or events in the future are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected. These risks include our ability to continue to develop platform capabilities and solutions; customer acceptance and purchase of our existing solutions and new solutions; the market for IT security continuing to develop; competition from other products and services; and general market, political, economic, and business conditions, including acts of terrorism or war. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 2, 2024. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Check Point as of the date hereof, and Check Point disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
MEDIA CONTACT: Gil Messing Check Point Software Technologies press@checkpoint.com
INVESTOR CONTACT: Kip E. Meintzer Check Point Software Technologies ir@checkpoint.com
This fall in Lviv, Ukraine for three days over 250 Ukrainian health care professionals gathered together for a medical conference to take a master class in radiology and participate in hands-on training workshops.
The conference held Sept. 25-27 was co-chaired by UConn School of Medicine professor and chair of Diagnostic Imaging & Therapeutics Dr. Leo Wolansky who also delivered several lectures.
Dr. Leo Wolansky.
“I am so impressed with the spirit of the Ukrainian people. They insist on keeping their lives normal. Hopefully, our resuming our in-person conference series, now in its twenty-eighth year, contributed a little bit to that normalcy,” says Wolansky.
The three-day conference was also co-chaired by Dr. Tetyana Yalynska. It was organized by Friends Of Radiology in Ukraine (FORUkraine), the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA), and the Association of Radiologists of Ukraine (ARU), and was hosted by the First Territorial Medical Association of Lviv. Additional sponsorship came from Rotary, St. Paraskeva’s, Azaris, Ulrich, and Guerbet.
This year’s event carries forward the FORUkraine conference series founded by Wolansky in 1996 at the Lviv Medical University (the Lviv Medical Institute). Since its inception, the conference series has been innovative using state-of-the-art education as a tool to promote the Ukrainian language. The purpose of the program is to teach Ukrainian-language based, state-of-the-art Diagnostic Imaging (Radiology).
The long-standing in-person conference was interrupted for the last five years due to the COVID-19 crisis and followed by the war in Ukraine. Starting in 1998, Dr. Yuriy Ivaniv, head of post-graduate imaging education for the Lviv Oblast co-chaired the conferences with Wolansky and renamed it “Practical Questions in Contemporary Clinical Imaging.” The conference series continued every one or two years from then till 2019 when the program joined forces with the ARU and the American Society of Neuroradiology and held a combined conference with the Ukrainian Congress of Radiology, with ARU President Yalynska co-chairing with Wolansky. This took place in Kyiv and Irpin, the only time the program deviated from its home in Lviv.
Despite the war, several international imaging experts attended the event in-person in Ukraine to lecture. One of these was Dr. John (Ivan) Kachura, an Interventional Radiologist and professor of Medical Imaging at University of Toronto, who stated that he was impressed by the knowledge of Ukraine’s radiologists, but especially by their tremendous interest in the presented material. Also onsite was Dr. Andrew Dobrotwir, consultant radiologist from Melbourne, Australia, who lectured and also ran a hands-on workshop on Point Of Care Ultrasound (POCUS). Dobrotwir was accompanied by his sister-in-law, Teresa Lachowicz, who spoke at the conference about humanitarian work that she and Dobrotwir were carrying out including donations of POCUS equipment.
Several international lecturers also virtually presented for the conference including Laura Oleaga, Amy Juliano, Diana Kaya, Andrew Loginsky, and Ivan Wolansky. In addition, virtual presentations came from UConn’s Jill Wruble, Sarah LaPierre, and Racquel Helsing. Several Ukrainian physicians also presented at the conference, including Nataliya Deresh, Igor Ivaniv, and others.
Nataliya Motrynets, medical director of the host institution, presented about the hospital’s accomplishments, and also gave the faculty a tour of the facilities where many soldiers who have lost limbs in the war are being rehabilitated with cutting-edge prostheses.
For Wolansky, a semiprofessional musician, a highlight of his trip to Ukraine was when he and his wife, Maria, met Dudaryk, Lviv’s internationally renowned boys choir, at Mass on the last day of the trip. The children’s choir had performed the refrain for Wolansky’s recent music video, helping draw attention to the plight of Ukraine’s children.
Wolansky added, “Despite air alerts driving conference participants into the bomb shelter on two occasions, these brave Ukrainians insist that normal life must go on!”
Monologue performance is a technically demanding but deeply rewarding form of theatre. Monologues are the purest form of storytelling an actor can engage in.
Before I was a drama teacher and researcher, I was an actor on stage and television in Australia and in the United Kingdom.
As an actor, you are always having to prepare monologues as audition pieces. Here are some principles and techniques to help you with this process, to allow you to draw in your audience and strengthen your artistic expression.
Choosing your monologue
Successful characterisation in monologue acting depends on “casting” yourself well. This means choosing a text and a character that resonate with your own persona and emotional range.
Even if you decide you want to play someone with a completely different age, gender and life experience to your own, there should be something about this character that speaks to you: maybe it’s their sense of vulnerability, their love of life, their rage at unfair circumstances. The more you can relate to some specific aspect of this person, the easier it will be to access the emotional range to play them.
If you decide on a character from a well-known play, make sure you have an understanding of the whole text the piece comes from.
Finding the personality
As an actor, you should have a good grasp of your character’s personality and attitudes to life.
Look for clues in the monologue or the overall play that tell you something about this person’s inner psychology. Do they always agree with everyone, or are they always complaining? How do they talk about themselves, how do they talk about other people?
In a well-written play, dialogue is always filled with signals like these that actors rely on when creating characters.
Another useful approach is to develop a detailed backstory for the role you are playing. Performers often use journalling or visualisation to deepen their emotional connection with the person they are depicting.
Taking time to imagine these key “memories” can provide an emotional anchor when you want to access different parts of their personality. The audience will never know these choices you have made, but you will carry them within you, and they can add depth and dimension to your portrayal.
Making the character physical
Along with analysing your character’s psychology and motivations, spend time working on their physicality.
How does this person move through the world? Are they a daydreaming wanderer, or a short sharp stepper who is always in a hurry? Do they close themselves off from the world with hunched shoulders, or do they stand tall and project themselves outward?
These qualities might change throughout the monologue as your character moves through different thoughts and memories.
Making stage direction choices for a monologue can be one of the most challenging things to get right. Simple things such as walking downstage to talk directly to your audience, or sitting down at a particular moment, can add effective dynamics to your performance. But any choices you make must come from an inner impulse within your character. Movement needs to be motivated by some kind of shift in their thoughts.
Breaking down the monologue
To identify these shifts, break down your script into key “beats”. These are the moments in a text where your character starts talking about something new. You can use these to create shifts in movement, tone and pace.
Incorporating different beats into your piece is vital for keeping your audience’s interest. Every monologue should take the audience on a journey through a character’s inner life. Ensuring this journey includes some surprises or effective use of dramatic tension will help make your piece work as a solo performance.
Sit down with the script and a pencil to find the ‘beats’ of the monologue. Media_Photos/Shutterstock
Sit down with a pencil and mark down any point in the script where you think the character starts thinking or talking about something new. Once you have all these internal shifts marked out, decide if any of these could be played with a contrasting emotional tone and pace to create dramatic effect.
Who are you talking to?
Performing a piece on your own can be daunting as there are no other characters to respond to or generate reactions from. Understanding who your character is speaking to during the monologue means you can use your audience as an additional “actor”. Are they an ally or an enemy? Or are these private thoughts, with the audience as a witness to your inner mind?
Clarifying this relationship can help you make clearer choices in how you deliver your lines.
Give yourself time
There are many creative decisions to be made when preparing a monologue performance.
Make sure to give yourself enough time to make these decisions and to learn your lines by heart.
Experiment with lots of different choices when you are starting out and rehearse your piece as often as possible. This will help reduce nerves when it comes to your final performance as it’s difficult to focus on acting when your mind is racing trying to remember what to say next.
Once the hard work of preparation, experimentation and creative expression is done, there is no better feeling than nailing a solo performance!
Natasha Beaumont 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.
Public trust in the auditing profession is under intense pressure. A series of high-profile scandals, both in Australia and overseas, has severely damaged its reputation.
This week, Australia’s corporate watchdog – the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – put the entire sector on notice.
In a letter to auditors on Wednesday, ASIC announced it would soon commence a new data-driven surveillance of auditor independence and conflicts of interest. Put simply, any practices that could compromise the integrity of auditing work.
The move comes amid longstanding calls for stronger regulation. Some have gone as far as to call for auditors – particularly the “big four” – to be banned from offering consulting services to their audit customers. Why? Fears it helps companies unethically game the system.
But our recent research, which specifically examines chief executive pay, offers an alternative perspective and suggests we should tread carefully.
The “big four” – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG and Deloitte – are the world’s largest professional services firms. They offer services in auditing, consulting, tax and advisory services.
Known for their extensive resources and global reach, these firms serve major clients, including many publicly listed companies and governments.
However, some have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest that may arise when these firms provide both consulting and auditing to the same client.
Auditing is the process of examining a company’s financial statements and processes to ensure both accuracy and compliance with accounting standards.
Conducted by external auditors, it’s meant to give investors, regulators, and the public confidence that a company’s financial picture is accurate and trustworthy.
The key worry is that offering both services risks compromising an auditor’s objectivity and independence.
Auditors may be incentivised to shy away from scrutinising their clients too closely, if it helps preserve lucrative consulting contracts.
How much money should the boss make?
Professional services firms, including the big four, are often engaged as external consultants to help decide on “executive compensation” – how much a company’s chief executive should be paid.
Chief executive pay is highly contentious. They can earn staggering amounts of money, which can sometimes appear disconnected from how well a company is actually performing and what’s in its shareholders’ best interests.
Large companies often outsource decisions about how much to pay chief executives. GaudiLab/Shutterstock
Compensation consultants are hired to help structure these pay packages, ideally by setting up performance targets that align chief executives’ incentives with shareholder value.
The idea is that if you don’t meet a certain goal as the boss, you should miss out on being paid for it.
But these consultants can also be a part of the problem. As chief executives can influence whether a particular consultant is hired or retained, consultants might design favourable contracts to increase their chances of getting hired again.
How? By setting up targets that are easy to hit, or vague enough to avoid true accountability.
Such accountability in executive compensation is extremely important. How much those at the top get paid should reflect the quality of their decisions.
Without proper oversight, pay structures risk incentivising quick wins instead of long-term growth, which could potentially harm investors, employees and the company’s future.
To solve this problem, you need transparent performance metrics. This makes it easier for shareholders to see whether chief executives are truly earning their pay.
When executive compensation consultants do their job well, such transparency gets built in. So how does the big four score?
What we found
Our study, published in the Australian Journal of Management, analysed chief executives’ compensation structures in a sample drawn from the 500 largest companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), between 2005 and 2019.
We found that the big four, when engaged as compensation consultants, appeared to uphold more rigorous standards than their smaller counterparts.
For example, big four firms were more likely to recommend including performance measures like “relative total shareholder return”, which takes the performance of a company’s competitors into account.
This can reduce the likelihood of “pay for luck” – paying a chief executive extra when a company performs well simply due to market-wide factors, such as movements in commodity prices or currency exchange rates.
Non-big four consultants, on the other hand, showed a tendency towards less clearly defined targets, which can open the door to less accountability.
Compensation consultants should set targets for chief executives that genuinely reflect good performance. Owlie Productions/Shutterstock
What’s behind this effect?
One possible explanation for our findings is that the big four’s multi-service approach gives them less reliance on securing repeat business from any single client.
With consulting, tax, audit and advisory services across various industries, these firms aren’t as dependent on individual clients, which can give them greater freedom to recommend compensation packages that may not always align with a chief executive’s preferences.
It has been argued, including by former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Graeme Samuel, that the big four’s consulting services pose potential conflicts that could compromise their audit duties.
The same could be said for other advisory services provided by these firms.
However, our findings offer evidence that when it comes to executive compensation, the big four’s reputation and expertise may actually discourage practices that obscure performance metrics or result in excessive chief executive pay.
Any reforms should tread carefully
The auditing sector will be watching the outcomes of ASIC’s forthcoming “crackdown” closely. The case for stricter oversight is strong.
But we should be careful not to lose the nuance of this issue. In some cases, the big four’s multi-service approach may actually elevate governance standards rather than erode them.
In a market dominated by these firms, the consequences of their exit from consulting services could extend beyond audit independence.
Ironically, forcing these firms out of consulting could make auditing their primary revenue source from many clients, creating the very dependence regulators aim to avoid.
Are we ready to face the unintended effects of limiting these firms’ roles? If our research is any indication, the answer is not so clear-cut.
As an undergraduate student, Helen Spiropoulos did two internships at Deloitte in the areas of Audit and then Consulting (Strategy and Operations).
Rebecca L. Bachmann 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.
Student behaviour is one of the biggest issues facing Australian schools. A survey of Queensland teachers earlier this year found “managing student behaviour” was the main thing taking their time away from teaching.
Along with students talking out of turn, using their phones or not paying attention, there are regular reports of students being violent and abusive towards teachers. Australian classrooms are rated among the “least favourable” for discipline in the OECD.
Amid a push to include more classroom management training for teachers, what other approaches could we look at to improve behaviour?
What happens in Norway?
For several decades Norwegian school children have been assessed twice a year on their sense of personal order (being punctual, well-prepared and following up on homework) and social behaviour (showing care and respect for others).
Until Year 8, students receive comments and then they also get a grade (good, quite good or not so good).
Teachers in all subjects report to the child’s home base teacher who calculates an average, noting any poor examples of poor personal order and social behaviour. The overall report is shared with the student and parents receive a copy.
The goal, as specified in Norway’s Education Act, is to ensure a good and safe school environment and “social learning”. This means learning to behave around others through observing, modelling and imitating the behaviours of others.
This is on top of learning knowledge and skills.
Norwegian students can be graded on whether they follow rules about snowball throwing. Maria Sbytova/Shutterstock
Research on teachers and students describe it as a valued tool for dealing with students who disrupt the learning environment in the classroom.
Even when young adults apply for jobs after university or vocational study, employers can be interested in the grade received for order and behaviour at school. Students and their teachers are aware it can indicate trustworthiness and employability.
A not uncommon story repeated by Norwegian parents to their teenage children is “if you have a record of behaving poorly or arriving late at school it doesn’t bode well whether you want to work on a construction site, in an office or on a hospital ward”.
There are Norwegian critics of this approach. Some researchers argue behaviour grades can sometimes say more about who are the “teachers’ favourites”.
But despite some limited trials to refine Norway’s behaviour grading, there are currently no plans to remove it.
What about Australia?
There is some precedence for reporting on behaviour in Australia.
For example, Queensland public schools report about effort and behaviour against a five-point scale: excellent, very good, satisfactory, needs attention and unacceptable.
But assessment criteria and evidence for the reporting of student effort and behaviour seems to be a more subjective appraisal than reporting against other standards in the curriculum.
Schools can teach students more than academic knowledge or vocational skills.
And while addressing behaviour in schools is complex (and will not be solved by any single thing), reporting on behaviour could provide a regular opportunity for Australian teachers, schools and parents to reflect on how a students is progressing.
Grading students could make students more accountable for how they interact with their peers and their teachers.
It could also help build their understanding of what is acceptable, not just in the classroom but in the community more broadly. For example, if there are specific rules about how you speak to others, whether you are safe in the playground and respectful in the classroom.
This type of social learning is important, because it can help teach students to be inclusive and responsible towards others. It can also help to create a safer school environment for all students and staff.
At the moment, there is a general requirement in the Australian Curriculum to teach students social and emotional skills across all subjects.
But it is up to state and territory education authorities to work out if and how students are assessed about this. This includes any reasonable adjustments for students with disability or other special needs.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Griffith, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow and Director, UniSA Microscopy and Microanalysis Facilities, University of South Australia
This is the next article in our ‘Light and health’ series, where we look at how light affects our physical and mental health in sometimes surprising ways. Read other articles in the series.
You’re not feeling well. You’ve had a pounding headache all week, dizzy spells and have vomited up your past few meals.
You visit your GP to get some answers and sit while they shine a light in your eyes, order a blood test and request some medical imaging.
Everything your GP just did relies on light. These are just some of the optical technologies that have had an enormous impact in how we diagnose disease.
1. On-the-spot tests
Point-of-care diagnostics allow doctors to test patients on the spot and get answers in minutes, rather than sending samples to a lab for analysis.
The “flashlight” your GP uses to view the inside of your eye (known as an ophthalmoscope) is a great example. This allows doctors to detect abnormal blood flow in the eye, deformations of the cornea (the outermost clear layer of the eye), or swollen optical discs (a round section at the back of the eye where the nerve link to the brain begins). Swollen discs are a sign of elevated pressure inside your head (or in the worst case, a brain tumour) that could be causing your headaches.
The invention of lasers and LEDs has enabled many other miniaturised technologies to be provided at the bedside or clinic rather than in the lab.
Pulse oximetry is a famous example, where a clip attached to your finger reports how well your blood is oxygenated. It does this by measuring the different responses of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood to different colours of light.
Pulse oximetry is used at hospitals (and sometimes at home) to monitor your respiratory and heart health. In hospitals, it is also a valuable tool for detecting heart defects in babies.
See that clip on the patient’s finger? That’s a pulse oximeter, which relies on light to monitor respiratory and heart health. CGN089/Shutterstock
2. Looking at molecules
Now, back to that blood test. Analysing a small amount of your blood can diagnose many different diseases.
A machine called an automated “full blood count analyser” tests for general markers of your health. This machine directs focused beams of light through blood samples held in small glass tubes. It counts the number of blood cells, determines their specific type, and reports the level of haemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that distributes oxygen around your body). In minutes, this machine can provide a snapshot of your overall health.
For more specific disease markers, blood serum is separated from the heavier cells by spinning in a rotating instrument called a centrifuge. The serum is then exposed to special chemical stains and enzyme assays that change colour depending on whether specific molecules, which may be the sign of a disease, are present.
These colour changes can’t be detected with the naked eye. However, a light beam from an instrument called a spectrometer can detect tiny amounts of these substances in the blood and determine if the biomarkers for diseases are present, and at what levels.
Light shines through the blood sample and tells us whether biomarkers for disease are present. angellodeco/Shutterstock
3. Medical imaging
Let’s re-visit those medical images your GP ordered. The development of fibre-optic technology, made famous for transforming high-speed digital communications (such as the NBN), allows light to get inside the body. The result? High-resolution optical imaging.
A common example is an endoscope, where fibres with a tiny camera on the end are inserted into the body’s natural openings (such as your mouth or anus) to examine your gut or respiratory tracts.
Surgeons can insert the same technology through tiny cuts to view the inside of the body on a video screen during laparoscopic surgery (also known as keyhole surgery) to diagnose and treat disease.
Doctors can insert this flexible fibre-optic tube with a camera on the end into your body. Eduard Valentinov/Shutterstock
How about the future?
Progress in nanotechnology and a better understanding of the interactions of light with our tissues are leading to new light-based tools to help diagnose disease. These include:
nanomaterials (materials on an extremely small scale, many thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair). These are being used in next-generation sensors and new diagnostic tests
wearable optical biosensors the size of your fingernail can be included in devices such as watches, contact lenses or finger wraps. These devices allow non-invasive measurements of sweat, tears and saliva, in real time
AI tools to analyse how blood serum scatters infrared light. This has allowed researchers to build a comprehensive database of scatter patterns to detect any cancer
a type of non-invasive imaging called optical coherence tomography for more detailed imaging of the eye, heart and skin
fibre optic technology to deliver a tiny microscope into the body on the tip of a needle.
So the next time you’re at the GP and they perform (or order) some tests, chances are that at least one of those tests depend on light to help diagnose disease.
Matthew Griffith receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research council.
For a fleeting moment in early October, it looked like the US presidential electoral system might become an issue in this year’s election. The Democratic vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, told two audiences that the Electoral College should be abolished and replaced by a direct national popular vote.
Walz was shut down quickly by Kamala Harris’ campaign with a brief statement that abolishing the Electoral College is not its official position. Walz duly walked back his comments and the story had a shelf-life of fewer than 24 hours.
But the Electoral College issue may well come back to haunt the Harris campaign should this year’s election produce yet another “runner-up” president – when the loser of the popular vote wins the electoral vote and therefore the election.
If the race is as close as most polls are indicating, this is a possible outcome. And Republican former President Donald Trump is more likely than Harris to be the beneficiary of this archaic, undemocratic voting system.
How the Electoral College works
There is a two-stage, indirect election for the president under the Electoral College system.
First, there is the popular vote in each of 50 states and District of Columbia on November 5 to choose “electors”, who formally cast the “electoral vote” on December 17 in what is known as the “Electoral College”.
It is the electoral vote that determines the president, not the popular vote.
To make things even more complicated, each state is awarded electoral votes based not on its population, but on its representation in the US Congress.
Each state has at least one member of the House of Representatives and two members of the Senate, meaning every state has at least three electoral votes regardless of its population size.
There are 538 votes in the Electoral College, and an absolute majority of those – 270 or more – is needed to win. The Constitution also contains a complex and highly undemocratic contingency procedure should no candidate win an Electoral College majority. The choice of president would then be decided by the House of Representatives with each state delegation having just one vote.
Sample presidential ballot from Arlington County in the state of Virginia showing that voters will be selecting electors, not the candidate directly. Arlington County Electoral Board
The origins of the Electoral College
It is not surprising the Electoral College is an undemocratic institution – it was deliberately designed to be. The method of electing the president was an expression of a very conservative philosophy of government embodied by most of the framers of the Constitution when they met in Philadelphia in 1787.
The framers had strong views the presidency should be an office above politics. They also felt the choice should be made by those with knowledge, experience and understanding of government and statecraft.
As such, the framers objected to a popular vote for the president, because they feared it would lead to what one of the founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, called “tumult and disorder”. The framers were vehemently opposed to direct democracy, preferring instead what they called a “republic”.
Their solution was to allow the state legislatures to determine how the electors from each state should be chosen. In the beginning, most states’ legislatures chose the electors to decide who was president – not the people.
The Electoral College structure – and its philosophical underpinnings – were then locked into the Constitution and purposely designed to exclude the people from the process.
It has also been argued that race and slavery were integral to its design. By piggy-backing on the already-agreed compromise over representation in Congress and the counting of slaves as “three-fifths of all other persons”, the framers of the Constitution handed the major slave-holding states far more clout not only in Congress, but in the selection of the president, as well.
In the longer term, the framers weren’t entirely successful in their efforts because two major political developments in the early 19th century forced some adaptation to the model.
As the American frontier expanded and political parties were developed, people began demanding a greater role in American democracy. This put pressure on state legislatures to cede their power to select electors and allow popular voting for the Electoral College instead.
By the mid-19th century, the Electoral College was operating in much the same way as it does today.
Surprisingly, this required no constitutional amendment because the wording of the Constitution gave the states the flexibility to respond to the demand for popular voting:
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors…
But that didn’t change the fact that it was the “electors” who would still choose the president, not the people directly.
How the Electoral College distorts the popular vote
The electoral vote always distorts the popular vote by exaggerating the winner’s margin of victory. In very close contests, it can also go against the popular vote, as it has done on four occasions – 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016.
Two mechanisms are responsible for this.
First, the populations of small states are over-represented in the Electoral College compared to the larger states because of the guaranteed minimum three electoral votes.
For example, Alaska, with three electoral votes, has one electoral vote for every 244,463 inhabitants (based on 2020 US census data). In contrast, New York, with 28 electoral votes, has one electoral vote for every 721,473 inhabitants. So, an electoral vote in Alaska is worth almost three time as much as an electoral vote in New York.
Second, and far more significant, is the “winner-takes-all” arrangement. In every state, except Maine and Nebraska, the winner of the popular vote takes 100% of the electoral votes, no matter how close the contest is.
Even in Maine and Nebraska, it’s winner-takes-all, except those states award two electoral votes to the statewide winner of the popular vote and one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each of its congressional districts.
Few Americans would be conscious of how the winner-takes-all system works, either.
Put simply, when voters cast a ballot, they are, in effect, voting multiple times – once for each elector in the state supporting the presidential candidate of their choice. They do this by marking just one box alongside their preferred candidate’s name.
For example, if Harris defeats Trump by 51-49% of the popular vote in Pennsylvania, every one of the 19 electors on Harris’ slate will defeat every one of Trump’s 19 electors by the same margin. The popular vote may have been close, but in the electoral vote, it’s 19-0 for Harris.
When that is repeated across all 50 states, the Electoral College vote will always exaggerate the margin of victory compared to the popular vote.
In the 1992 presidential election, for example, Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush by a landslide in the electoral college, 370-168. However, Clinton only edged Bush by 5.5 percentage points in the popular vote (43% to 37.45%). Independent candidate Ross Perot, meanwhile, earned nearly 19% of the popular vote, but because he didn’t carry any states, he got zero electoral votes.
And when the loser of the popular vote wins the electoral vote, such as Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, it shows the total number of popular votes won by a candidate is less important than where those votes are located.
To win in the Electoral College, a candidate needs to have their vote distributed economically between the states. In a majoritarian democracy (based on the principle of majority rule), this ought not to be a feature of the electoral system. But the US presidential election process was never designed to operate this way.
Lastly, the Electoral College also heavily determines the nature of the election campaign. Most states in the US are “safe” wins for one party or the other.
As such, the efforts of the candidates are concentrated in the handful of states that are competitive – the so-called “battleground” states. The rest of the country tends to be ignored.
The future of the Electoral College
That the Electoral College survives into the 21st century is partly due to the adaptability of the Constitution to deal with the earlier challenge in the 1800s over the selection of electors in the states, as well as the immense difficulty of amending the Constitution.
This is despite the fact a clear majority of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favour of a national, direct popular vote for the presidency.
What happens in this election is anyone’s guess. With the polls showing such narrow margins in the popular vote in the battleground states, the outcome is not only unpredictable, it may even be random. And that’s a terrible comment on the state of American democracy.
John Hart 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.
Increased land management by Aboriginal people in southeastern Australia around 6,000 years ago cut forest shrub cover in half, according to our new study of fossil pollen trapped in ancient mud.
Shrubs connect fires from ground cover to the forest canopy, allowing fires to spread and intensify quickly. The reduction in shrub cover, linked to evidence for increasing population size and more widespread landscape use by Aboriginal people, would have dramatically decreased the potential for high-intensity bushfires.
We also found the shrub layer in modern forests is even greater than it was 130,000–115,000 years ago, when the climate was similar to today’s but there were no people around.
Our deep-time research shows how important Indigenous cultural practices were for reducing dangerous high-intensity fires. It also suggests a way forward in Autralia’s current fire crisis, which climate change is making worse.
The trouble with shrubs
For decades, Australia has tried to manage fires by suppressing them. This strategy may be effective in the short term, but it has led to dire consequences in the long term.
Over the past 20 years, the forests and woodlands of southeastern Australia have become hotspots for major fires.
Fire suppression has allowed vegetation, particularly in the shrub layer, to grow without constraint. Shrubby, mid-height vegetation acts as a ladder, enabling fires to spread up from the ground to the forest canopy. This results in more intense and uncontrollable fires.
Summary timeline of past landscape changes across southeastern Australia. We show changes from pre-human contact (top), through Indigenous population expansion (middle), to the present (post-colonial, bottom). Simon Connor, CC BY
Evidence for denser vegetation comes from tiny, fossilised grains of pollen that are laid down in layers of ancient sediment in wetlands and lake beds. By extracting fossil pollen from mud, scientists can develop a picture of vegetation in the past.
Our new study used archaeological data and information preserved in ancient mud. We looked at how the vegetation of southeastern Australia changed in response to climate and human management over the past 130,000 years.
We wanted to see how things changed in key periods: before human arrival in Australia, through periods of Indigenous occupation, and following British colonisation.
We used sophisticated models to estimate vegetation cover and how it related to human land use at different times.
Caring for Country
Indigenous Australians have been the custodians of this continent for millennia. Their journey in Australia started at least 65,000 years ago.
Indigenous Australian cultural burning practices are complex and varied. However, in many parts of the continent they included regular, controlled burns. These helped to manage vegetation growth and reduce the risk of high-intensity fires.
Since British colonisation, the landscape of Australia has undergone significant changes, with both more open pastures and more densely vegetated forests. The introduction of European land management practices, including fire suppression, disrupted the fire regimes Indigenous Australians had maintained for thousands of years.
A call for change: integrating Indigenous Knowledge
To address this crisis, a shift in fire management strategies is essential. One promising approach is to integrate Indigenous fire management practices into contemporary fire management plans, working with Traditional Owners to best care for Country.
This must be done in a way that supports Indigenous livelihoods and fosters connection to Country, not by management agencies simply appropriating Indigenous know-how.
Indigenous Australians possess hundreds of generations’ worth of experience in managing the country’s fire-prone landscapes. Indigenous-led fire management is already being reinvigorated in northern Australia.
Our research demonstrates that southeastern forests and woodlands were effectively managed in the past and would also benefit from Indigenous caring-for-Country practices today.
Reducing dangerous fuels in the shrub layer means less high-intensity fires threatening the bush–urban interface, such as the 2019–20 Black Summer fires.
Indigenous-led burning at a project site in Tasmania. Matthew Newton / RUMMIN Productions
Higher temperatures and prolonged droughts have created ideal conditions for bushfires to spread. Colonisation has compounded the problems arising from human-driven climate change.
But there is no fire without fuel. It is the combination of increased biomass and a warming climate that now fuels fires of unprecedented scale and intensity, posing a significant threat to lives, property and ecosystems.
Australia’s fire crisis is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted solution. By learning from and working with Indigenous practitioners, Australia can develop more effective and sustainable fire management strategies. This collaborative approach offers a path forward to tame the flames and protect the nation’s unique and diverse landscapes.
Michela Mariani receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust and is affiliated with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) and the Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (CIEHF).
Anna Florin receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH).
Haidee Cadd receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH).
Simon Connor receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with CABAH, the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage.
Matthew Adeleye does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –– U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) launched the eighth year of his Congressional Youth Cabinet on Tuesday at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock. The meeting brought together 114 high school juniors who were selected from public, private, charter and homeschool students across the state for their involvement and leadership in their communities.
“The Congressional Youth Cabinet benefits Arkansas students and families as well as their communities by promoting a healthy public policy dialogue and developing the next generation of leaders in our state. I am pleased to welcome this group of bright young people to contribute their ideas and experiences as we explore legislative solutions to the issues that interest them most,” Boozman said. “Their enthusiasm for enhancing their own understanding of civic engagement and helping shape the future of our state and country is inspiring.”
Senator Boozman and Congressional Youth Cabinet participants in Little Rock.
The Congressional Youth Cabinet is a non-partisan program that gives students insight and experience with the legislative process. The students will attend meetings throughout the year and work in teams to select and research national issues. In the spring, the students will present their policy recommendations to the senator.
Click here for more photos from the CYC kick-off.
The following students were selected to participate in the Congressional Youth Cabinet for the 2024-2025 school year:
1st Congressional District
Jack Coleman – Mountain Home
Mark Gregory Green – Harrison
Lindsay Dunsing – Alpena
Luke Wilkins – Batesville
Penelope Jackson – Melbourne
Natalie Rodriguez – Cabot
Ella Curry – Alpena
Suraya Tennison – Alpena
Sara Hinson – Bergman
Kayla Thorndike – Cabot
Adam Stanisor – Cabot
Bryce Veasman – Cabot
Kaitlyn Carmical – Cabot
Jeremy Jason – Lake City
Andrew Boots – Jonesboro
Spencer May – Jonesboro
Sam Vaught – Wynne
Christian Boykin – Earle
Ajiah Parker – Earle
Aryanna Perry – Earle
Jada Maples – Earle
Lucas White – Manila
Kera Fesperman – Marion
Penelope Marie Salas – Marion
Gabrielle Weathers – Lepanto
Harlynn Robertson – Jonesboro
Deven Isbell – Jonesboro
William Crader – Jonesboro
Bentley McCoy – Clarendon
Sam Sabbatini – Hazen
Hailey Nichols – Wynne
Derek Lately Jr. – Earle
Zavion Maples – Earle
Kialynn Mitchell – Earle
2nd Congressional District
Claira Tittle – Searcy
Landon Hillman – Jacksonville
Eva Harrell – Maumelle
Yusuf Taha Guven – Little Rock
Jayden Branch – Jacksonville
Garrett Fisher – Greenbrier
Fatimah Jabbar – North Little Rock
Zachary Tancinco – Searcy
Canadee Mosley – Conway
Jil Patel – Jacksonville
Luis Denilso Calderon – Little Rock
Katharine Wekly – Conway
Savannah Shelley – Little Rock
Gregory Lin – Searcy
Grabiela Valadez-Rizo – Little Rock
Lisandro Isai Salas – Little Rock
Ashlynn Pecanty – Maumelle
Damian Morales – Little Rock
David Salinas – Bryant
Ethan Bolton – Jacksonville
Sophie Swiney – Bradford
3rd Congressional District
Schuyler Henehan – Fort Smith
Robinson Skaggs – Bentonville
Cole Kessman – Fayetteville
Kyndall Richey – Bentonville
Manvitha Narasimhan – Bentonville
Evalyn Clark – Bentonville
Lily Cate Caldwell – Bentonville
Matthew Velasquez-Amaya – Fort Smith
Preston Thai – Bentonville
Khant Sin – Fayetteville
Evangelina Hernandez – Fort Smith
Grayson Proctor – Lavaca
Adrian Gonzalez – Lavaca
Sydney Turner – Fayetteville
Lydia Parsley – Springdale
Terri Michelle Turner – Fort Smith
Alee Thongprachanh – Fort Smith
Colt Hood – Greenland
Caroline Sanders – Bentonville
Sullivan Shepard – Rogers
Oakley Allen – Fort Smith
Weston Arnett – Greenwood
Jadyn Patterson – Bentonville
Saqib Memon – Fayetteville
Sarah Amor – Fort Smith
Clara Hibbard – Mountainburg
Drake Norris – Fort Smith
Madelyn Maxey – Fort Smith
Aubree Stewart – Springdale
Aneeka Srivastava – Bentonville
Nidhi Nair – Bentonville
Grace Dickinson – Tontitown
Tatum Grace Loe – Fort Smith
Nathan Barney – Bentonville
Jude Alfaouri – Fayetteville
Claire Hassler – Fort Smith
Hannah Elliott – Greenwood
4th Congressional District
Dana Liu – Russellville
Ian Warnick – Russellville
Peyton Gustave Blasé – Ozark
David Culver – Ozark
Sydnie Herriage – Ozark
Elizabeth Harrison – Russellville
Mallory Cloud – Russellville
Audrey Rogers – Russellville
Tristan Marrufo – DeQueen
Kyle Williamson – DeQueen
Miley Byler – DeQueen
Isabel Rivas – Russellville
Hannah Grace Skinner – Texarkana
Christian Hunter – Arkadelphia
Yasmine Sakr – Hot Springs
Mary Lopez-Furlong – Hot Springs
Tucker Arnold – Hot Springs
Heather Atchley – Sheridan
Madilynn Stuffle – Hot Springs
Alexandria Evans – White Hall
Blake Levi Jimerson – Sheridan
Carson Brody Lyons – Sheridan
Whether it’s the development of a board game to tackle teenage mental health, or deciphering treatment-resistant brain tumours, the University of South Australia is stepping up to support children struggling with mental and physical health concerns.
Eight UniSA research projects have been awarded almost $740,000 in research funding from the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation (CRF) to help improve children’s health and wellbeing.
The successful projects comprise:
MindScape: Co-creation of an evidence-based board game to address adolescent mental health. Lead investigator: Dr Jacinta Brinsley.
A Phase 1 trial of group improvisational theatre games that include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy treatment for children and teens who stutter. Lead investigator: Dr Michelle Swift.
Minimising treatment-induced disease in children with the nerve cell cancer neuroblastoma. Lead investigator: Professor Greg Goodall.
Turning off the danger signal: reducing ventilator-induced lung injury in preterm babies. Lead investigator: Dr Jack Darby.
Launching Early Childhood Numeracy: Fostering mathematical self-efficacy of preschool children and their parents for lifelong learning. Lead investigator: Dr Chelsea Cutting.
Developing lab-grown paediatric brain tumours that mimic the response to treatment of real tumours to learn how they adapt and resist radiotherapy. Lead investigator: Professor Benjamin Thierry.
Improving the understanding of fetal DNA found in maternal blood during pregnancy towards designing more comprehensive non-invasive prenatal genetic tests. Lead investigator: Dr Marnie Winter
Re-examining the scope of statutory child protection to improve responses to children. Lead investigator: Professor Leah Bromfield.
UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Enterprise and Standing Acting Vice Chancellor, Distinguished Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO, says the support provided by the Channel 7 CRF is invaluable.
“The Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation is a longstanding supporter of quality research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of complex health and welfare issues facing children today,” Prof Hughes-Warrington says.
“All children deserve to thrive. These grants will enable our researchers to investigate, trial and uncover new solutions so that young children can live fuller and healthier lives.
“We are very proud of this achievement, our best ever result with the Foundation, and look forward to continuing invaluable work for children.”
Avoiding this catastrophe of humanity’s making is the purpose of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia. COP16 has been reviewing progress on implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15 in Montreal, Canada, in 2022. Progress has been incremental at best.
These pledges, plans and goals, while necessary and commendable, are also far removed and often intangible for everyday citizens. Collective global action is inherently political. It moves at glacial pace when urgent action is needed.
The issues can seem so colossal and complex that individuals often feel powerless. This may mean they do nothing or, worse, add to the problem. But, in fact, there are five steps individuals can take to help end the biodiversity crisis.
So why isn’t government action enough?
COP16 wraps up on November 1, but has so far failed to live up to expectations. The COP16 chair claims it has put biodiversity “on an equal footing” with climate. However, solid commitments have yet to emerge.
For example, before COP16, governments had pledged only US$250 million (A380 million) of the estimated $200 billion per year required by 2030 for the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. Pledges of another $163 million this week take the total number of contributors to a mere 12.
Only 15% of countries (including Australia) met the deadline to submit their plans to meet the goals set at COP15. These include protecting at least 30% of the world’s land and water and restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
Our everyday decisions can’t be divorced from nature
“Natural capital” is a buzzword in global initiatives, government policies, marketing slogans and sustainability frameworks worldwide. Natural capital refers to all living and non-living natural resources that provide products and services of value to society. In essence, it’s what we commonly call “nature”.
Understanding and managing natural capital is crucial for conserving biodiversity, addressing climate change and ensuring future generations’ wellbeing by not exceeding our planetary boundaries. It’s why we’ve recently created the Natural Capital Primer. It’s a website that explains how our everyday lives, businesses and economies depend on nature.
By understanding our connection to nature, we can all reduce our impact on nature. Here are five ways you can make a difference, starting today.
The Natural Capital Primer explains the concept, aiming to shift attitudes toward nature and promote global conservation.
1. Cut consumption when you can
Do you really need to update your mobile phone, your summer wardrobe or your flat-screen TV? What we buy reverberates around the globe.
Our demand for new products affects resource extraction (leading to habitat loss), carbon emissions (propelling climate change) and pollution (degrading habitat). These impacts are often far from where we make our purchases. From the lithium in our phones to the plastics in our clothes and the metals in our vehicles, our consumption drives demand, which almost inevitably harms biodiversity.
If you do need to replace something, consider buying second-hand or products made from recycled materials.
2. Watch what you eat
Agriculture is the single greatest driver of changes in land use and biodiversity loss. We all need to eat, of course, but where possible buy local and sustainably produced foods.
Reducing processed foods in your shopping trolley is a good start. Cutting your intake of over-fished, wild-caught seafood, red meat and palm oil-based products will also help. This issue is not straightforward because these products are available as a confusing mix of unsustainable and sustainable options.
A further complication, made worse by the rise of greenwashing, is that it can be hard to work out exactly what is in certain foods or where they came from. Sustainability certification and apps (GoodFish Australia, for example) can help consumers make better choices.
3. Choose renewable energy
The climate and biodiversity crises are inseparable. Neither can be resolved in isolation. For example, nature-based solutions, such as protecting forests as carbon sinks, will help with both the climate crisis and biodiversity.
With greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, which threatens many species, a whole range of our choices determine the impacts of our energy use. From your mode of transport to powering your home, choose renewable energy sources.
Tech giants such as Google and Amazon are turning to nuclear energy to power their generative AI and cloud storage in an effort to reduce their climate impact. However, 100% renewable energy is realistic if consumers demand it from their power companies and governments.
4. Get your hands dirty
You can take direct action to protect and increase biodiversity. Volunteer or donate to environmental projects in your neighbourhood. Not only will this make you feel good, but revegetation and habitat restoration do improve local biodiversity.
Many grass-roots, community-driven projects are making a difference on the ground. They range from urban restoration work, such as the Merri Creek restoration in Melbourne, to forest stewardship projects, such as Tarwin River Forest in Gippsland, Victoria. Get local and get involved!
5. Adjust expectations and accept responsibility
People in wealthy countries (such as Australia) have both the biggest environmental footprints and the most capacity to adapt. They must lead change.
The process starts with increasing awareness of the issues and taking responsibility for change. That includes adjusting our expectations about how and where we live.
Small changes are magnified when repeated by millions of people. We should never doubt the power of cumulative impact. After all, it’s what got us into this mess in the first place.
So while governments and corporations haggle, posture and delay over global targets and policies, we can all start right now to make a difference through smarter decisions and sustainable choices.
Jim Radford receives funding from Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, the National Environmental Science Program Resilient Landscapes Hub, Transport for NSW, SmartSat CRC, Macdoch Foundation and Australian Wool Innovation. He is a member of Standards Australia Biodiversity Committee and North Central CMA Science Advisory Panel.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Oct. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ: ESGR) announced today that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has closed a previously announced ground-up loss portfolio transfer transaction with subsidiaries of QBE Insurance Group Limited (“QBE”) to reinsure a portfolio of US commercial liability and workers’ compensation business, largely underwritten on recently discontinued programs.
Under the reinsurance agreement, QBE ceded net reserves of approximately $376 million, and Enstar’s subsidiary provided approximately $175 million of cover in excess of the ceded reserves.
Completion of the transaction followed receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of various other closing conditions.
About Enstar
Enstar is a NASDAQ-listed leading global insurance group that offers innovative capital release solutions through its network of group companies in Bermuda, the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Australia, and other international locations. A market leader in completing legacy acquisitions, Enstar has acquired 120 companies and portfolios since its formation in 2001. For further information about Enstar, see www.enstargroup.com.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) joined Congressman Glenn Ivey (MD-06), Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain, Prince George’s County Council Member Sydney Harrison, Montgomery County Council Member Will Jawando, and local leaders at the grand opening of WSSC Water Company’s Piscataway Bioenergy Facility in Accokeek, Maryland. This project was made possible in part by Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Below are excerpts of his remarks:
“We had a pandemic not too long ago. It hit us right between the eyes and cost us a million citizens. And one of things was when the pandemic hit, we found out was that we were reliant on an awful lot of people overseas to produce masks. We didn’t have enough masks to protect our people. And why do I say this? Because in the last Congress – not this Congress, which has been the least effective Congress in which I’ve served since 1981. But having said that, the last Congress, the 117th was one of the most productive Congresses – with the relevance of this today. We enacted four bills that were investing in America, were building America, creating jobs in America, and we invested a lot in science. We invested a lot in the environment. We invested in making sure America was all that it could be.”
“But in the infrastructure bill, normally you think of roads, bridges, highways, airports, seaports, et cetera et cetera, we also invested in something that we knew was critical and had been a failure of infrastructure. Flint, everybody heard of Flint, Michigan? Kids died because the water in Flint, Michigan, was not clean and it made them sick. And so we knew that infrastructure was more than just roads and transportation facilities, et cetera et cetera. It was also clean water, clean pipes.”
“And then in the investment – in the IRA – we invested a lot of money in climate. And in the science bill, we put the largest investment in science in the history of the world. America will be better in the next decade, and the decade thereafter and the decade thereafter because of those investments in those four bills.”
“It’s a lot of money we’ve sent throughout the country to make sure, that this country, in fact, is in the future and will be getting to, very quickly, hopefully certainly by 2050 – a green environment. Why do we want to get there? Because it is critically important for the wellbeing of every one of our people. Over 300 million strong. And it’s also very important for the world because if America is clean, then the world will be clean. Because we produce a lot of pollution in this world. China does as well. The largest country, India, does as well. The largest countries. And it is incumbent upon us to do not only for our own citizens but for the global community. That’s why this event is so, very important.”
“Not only does it take a product that was waste product, that was causing us a problem, it turns that problem into an asset. And I’m so glad to be here with all of you. I want everybody for the WSSC to stand up and be recognized.”
“Thank you. Thank you all very much. Because all of the talk, all of the money, all of the activity that the rest of us do empowers you to do things but it would not happen without you. The end would not happen. The objective of our work, our legislation, our money, whether it’s at the federal, state, or local level, would not make a difference if it was not for all of you who stood up. And who, every day, turn that money into product. Turn that money into advantage. Turn that money into a positive result for our community.”
Revelations that a New Zealand trawler has destroyed kilograms of deep sea corals in a region of the South Pacific earmarked for protection, illustrates exactly why New Zealand must stop bottom trawling these international waters, says Greenpeace Aotearoa.
A New Zealand trawler, The Tasman Viking which is owned by Westfleet, pulled up several species of deep sea coral while trawling in international waters of the Tasman Sea last month.
The coral ‘encounter’ happened on Lord Howe Rise, a region renowned for diverse marine life including corals, sponges, whales and seabirds, triggering an international fishing rule that will see the area temporarily closed to trawling and countries with a fisheries interest in the area notified.
Greenpeace campaigner Ellie Hooper says this latest coral destruction by a New Zealand trawler is an embarrassment, calling it yet another example of how destructive bottom trawling is and why it must be banned.
“It’s reckless environmental vandalism to bulldoze coral, an essential building block for ocean life, especially in the middle of a biodiversity crisis”, says Hooper.
“New Zealand trawlers are the last, and only boats still bottom trawling the South Pacific high seas. As a country, we’re an outlier on this issue, flying in the face of the New Zealand public, who want bottom trawling banned from vulnerable areas, and the opinion of our international neighbours.
“If we want a healthy planet, and marine life to thrive, New Zealand must stop bottom trawling seamounts and other vulnerable areas in the South Pacific.”
Last year Westfleet, which is partly owned by Sealord,was fined over $52,000and The Tasman Viking convicted following an incident where rare bamboo coral, pulled up in trawl nets, was illegally released overboard before a fisheries observer had a chance to properly document it.
The incident also happened in the Lord Howe Rise region, and despite the conviction, The Tasman Viking, wasgiven a new high seas trawling permitin June 2024
The waters aroundLord Howe Rise are rich and abundant, and include a chain of seamounts or underwater mountains that are home to a variety of marine life from coral to whales and seabirds including the antipodean albatross.
Greenpeace and allies are calling for one of the world’s first global ocean sanctuaries to be created in this region, with the Australian government taking a step forward towards this goal in announcing a science symposium on the site for 2025.
“While other nations are progressing with protecting the high seas from harm, New Zealand is dragging behind, still permitting bottom trawling in these precious areas, despite other countries pushing for them to be closed,” says Hooper.
“To give the ocean a chance to recover and thrive, the New Zealand government must end the countries’ bottom trawling operation in the South Pacific high seas, and get with the programme on protection.”Scientists agree that to help stave off the worst of the climate crisis at least30% of the world’s oceans must be protectedfrom industrial harms by 2030. Creating global ocean sanctuaries in international waters, those areas outside of any one country’s jurisdiction, will play a crucial role in achieving this 30×30 goal. A recentreport released by Greenpeace Internationalshows that urgent action is needed to create marine protected areas. At the current rate of protection it would take till 2107 to reach the 30×30 goal.
Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
1st November, 2024. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has received confirmation that Dr Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopedic surgeon, has been detained by Israeli forces along with several medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza during a military operation at the hospital on 26 October. We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague.
Dr Obeid has been working tirelessly since the beginning of the war, offering his support as a doctor to multiple hospitals in Gaza. His work has saved countless lives.
Our last contact with Dr Obeid was on the afternoon of 25 October. He had been sheltering and offering his support as a surgeon at Kamal Adwan hospital when it was besieged by Israeli forces.
We have officially requested information from the Israeli authorities on Dr Obeid’s detention status, his current location, and any information regarding his physical and mental well-being.
Prior to his detention Dr Obeid shared this testimony describing the situation in the hospital:
“There is death in all types and forms in Kamal Adwan hospital and north Gaza. The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is targeted too. It just looks like a movie; it does not seem real.
About five days ago, my house was hit. They completely blew up the roof and water tanks, but we were at the ground floor and only one person got injured, thank God. We left a few times, moving to different areas, my family and neighbors were terrified. I sheltered in Kamal Adwan hospital with my wife and children, and I am now working here, where I can treat numerous patients.
There are no words to describe the situation in Kamal Adwan hospital: it is disastrous. The hospital is completely overwhelmed. There are injured people everywhere, outside and inside the hospital, and we do not have medical and surgical equipment to treat them.
Ambulances cannot move. We cannot reach the bodies of the people killed and cannot save the injured ones who lie in the streets. Many of them died before reaching the hospital, and others died inside the hospital as we could not treat their wounds.
We have 30 people dead inside the hospital, and around 130 injured patients who need urgent medical care. Medical staff are exhausted, and many are injured as well. We feel hopeless. I just don’t have words.
We call on all the countries in the world to consider north Gaza, and to lift the blockade that has led to the death of so many people.”
MSF calls for the safety and the protection of our colleague, and for all medical staff in Gaza who work under impossible conditions and are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.
MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. In 2022, more than 120 project staff from Australia and New Zealand worked with MSF on assignment overseas.
MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au
Organisations and community groups who manage airports and airstrips across remote Australia will be able to apply for new funding to deliver critical upgrades from Monday, with $25 million available under a new round of funding.
The highly successful Remote Airstrip Upgrade (RAU) Program provides funding to improve the safety and accessibility of aerodromes in remote and very remote areas of Australia.
Remote airstrips provide critical access for Australians living in the far reaches of our country by connecting them with services in major regional centres, but they’re also vital to the delivery of urgent supplies and facilitation of life-saving emergency flights.
Upgrade works under the Program may include improving all-weather capabilities such as sealing or resealing runways to ensure air operators can land safely and without damaging their aircraft, or lighting to allow aircraft to land at night.
This latest grant funding will also encourage successful applicants to use the allocated funding to conduct safety training for key operational personnel.
The Albanese Government has committed $50 million in the 2024-25 Budget to deliver an additional two rounds of the RAU Program.
Applications for Round 11 are set to open from Monday, 4 November for grants of between $5,000 and $4 million covering 50 per cent of eligible costs, or up to 100 per cent for Indigenous-owned and/or operated aerodromes that meet certain requirements.
Following feedback from previous rounds of the RAU Program, Round 11 has been expanded to support improved access to air services for people with disability. This may include items such as ramps, signage or aircraft boarding facilities.
These works can be undertaken as a standalone project or in conjunction with other safety and access works at the airport.
More information on the RAU Program, including Round 11 Guidelines, will be available at business.gov.au from Monday 4 November.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Senator for Queensland, Anthony Chisholm:
“Safe and accessible airstrips are critical to safeguarding the quality of life in many remote and very remote communities across Australia, as they keep essential services running and allow businesses to grow and thrive.
“Improving the resilience of these aerodromes will also mean people who are based in remote areas can continue to live, do business and retire there, knowing they will have access to the emergency and other services needed in any stage of life.
“As remote communities across Northern Australia head into another wet season and bushfire warnings become more frequent across the country, I urge aerodrome owners and operators to take a look at the guidelines and consider applying to make their priority upgrades a reality.
“The Aviation White Paper backed this Program due to its support for some of our most vulnerable who reside in these remote communities, so I’m pleased to hear that measures allowing people with a disability to access air services have been prioritised under the RAU.”
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The Northern Territory Police Search and Rescue Section (SRS) conducted an intensive search and rescue exercise (SAREX) in Batchelor last week, focusing on testing and refining the agency’s land search and rescue response capabilities. The exercise showcased the effectiveness of deploying K9 units and other specialist police assets in challenging field conditions, vital for enhancing operational readiness across the Territory.
The exercise revolved around a simulated missing person report, where the search began after an abandoned vehicle was discovered on a remote dirt road in Batchelor. The scenario required the missing person, who had wandered a considerable distance from the vehicle, to be located by the Northern Territory (NT) Search and Rescue K9 Unit, an external agency working in collaboration with our NT Police Dog Operations Unit. Various specialist sections of NT Police were deployed to establish a field search headquarters, coordinate search efforts, and safely recover the missing person according to the rescue plan.
As part of NT Police’s responsibility under the Intergovernmental Agreement, the SRS coordinates both marine and land search and rescue operations. This recent training exercise provided a critical opportunity to assess the deployability of police SAR assets to regional and remote areas, demonstrating the team’s ability to respond to emergencies across varied and demanding terrains.
Acting Sergeant Chris Grotherr explained, “The main purpose of this SAREX was to test our Land SAR response capabilities, particularly the deployment of K9 assets in the field, alongside other specialist resources, such as the Mounted Unit, motorcycles, ATVs, and drone capability. This allows us to identify gaps in our capabilities and find ways to bridge them, ensuring we are constantly improving our readiness for future operations.”
The exercise also offered vital training for SRS and other specialist police sections, helping them understand local conditions at this time of year and the specific challenges associated with the terrain in the Batchelor region.
In the 12 months ending June 2024, the SRS responded to over 80 search and rescue incidents across the NT, assisting 93 people and saving 10 lives. These successes highlight the importance of ongoing training and multi-agency collaboration. Regular exercises like the one in Batchelor help the team maintain proficiency in operating specialist equipment and assets, while identifying any maintenance or serviceability issues that need to be addressed.
“Operating specialist equipment in real-world conditions is key to maintaining our proficiency and ensuring all assets are mission-ready,” A/Sgt Grotherr added. “The insights gained from this exercise are invaluable in fine-tuning our response strategies moving forward.”
The NT Police are dedicated to maintaining a high standard of search and rescue readiness, working continuously to enhance their operations and ensure the safety of all Territorians, no matter the challenge or location.
Media Note: Imagery, including interview footage, overlays, and still shots, is available upon request.
The Fire Danger Period will commence on November 11
The Fire Danger Period (FDP) will begin at 01.00am on Monday, November 11, for the following municipalities in CFA’s northwest Region:
City of Greater Bendigo
Central Goldfields Shire Council
Mount Alexander Shire Council
Residents living in these districts are asked to take this opportunity ahead of the FDP to clean up their properties, while landowners are encouraged to conduct safe private burn-offs where possible.
CFA District 2 Assistant Chief Fire Officer Archie Conroy said residents should take note of the conditions and prepare accordingly.
“Conditions across the northwest region are drier than usual, warranting the implementation of restrictions to protect our communities,” Archie said.
“Macedon Ranges Shire is currently the exception, and we’ll be assessing conditions there closely.
“As we head into the warmer months, small actions like reducing vegetation and securing your property can make a significant difference in protecting both homes and lives.
“We’re working hard to monitor conditions, and every precaution you take now helps build a stronger line of defence against fire.”
Those conducting burn-offs must notify authorities online at the Fire Permits Victoria website (www.firepermits.vic.gov.au), or by calling ESTA on 1800 668 511.
By registering your burn-off online, you allow emergency call takers to allocate more of their time taking calls from people who need emergency assistance immediately.
No burning off is permitted during the FDP without a Permit to Burn, which can be applied for through the Fire Permits Victoria website.
There are very strict conditions attached to these permits and the liability sits with the permit holder to ensure they always act safely.
Fire Danger Period information:
A written permit is required to burn off grass, undergrowth, weeds or other vegetation during the FDP. You can apply for a permit atfirepermits.vic.gov.au. It can also be issued by the Municipal Fire Prevention Officer or the CFA District Office.
Lighting fires in the open without a permit can bring a penalty of more than $21,800 and/or 12 months imprisonment. For a full list of conditions, visitcfa.vic.gov.au/can.
To find out what you can and can’t do during FDP, visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/canor by calling VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226.
Source: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association
Headline: Media Release: Australia wins bid to host 2026 global carbon capture conference – Australian Energy Producers
The Australian oil and gas sector’s leadership in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) – a key emissions reductions technology – is set to be showcased on the world stage.
Australian Energy Producers is pleased to announce it will co-host the world’s leading CCUS conference in Perth in 2026, in partnership with the CSIRO, CO2CRC and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
The Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT) Conference, run by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, brings together over 1,000 CCUS researchers, industry leaders, government officials, and stakeholders from around the world to discuss and share the latest developments with the technology.
Australian Energy Producers Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch said Australia’s selection to host GHGT-18 reinforced its standing as a global leader in CCUS research, development and deployment.
“Australia has two of the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects operating globally – Chevron’s Gorgon Project and the Santos and Beach Energy joint venture Moomba Project,” she said.
“These projects are today storing emissions equivalent to taking one million cars off the road each year.
“CCUS is a key technology in efforts to reach net zero in Australia and the region.
“The International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and CSIRO have all found that there is no pathway to net zero without CCUS.”
The 2026 event will be the third time Australia has hosted the global conference, having hosted it in Cairns in 2000 and Melbourne in 2018.
The announcement last week in Canada during the closing session of GHGT-17 coincided with a major CCUS milestone for Australia, with the Moomba CCS Project achieving first injection and full ramp up.
“Australia has a comparative advantage in CCUS, with world class geology, industry experience, and strong links with regional trading partners looking to collaborate on CCUS,” Ms McCulloch said.
“Scaling up CCUS is an opportunity to not just reduce emissions but also create new jobs and attract new investment.”
Australia’s hosting of the conference is supported by Business Events Perth, reflecting the opportunity for GHGT-18 to amplify Western Australia’s global standing as a premier destination for impactful global events.
As a three-day fact-finding mission from a group of Pacific leaders drew to a close in New Caledonia, and with the outcomes report not expected before next year, the visit to the riot-hit French Pacific territory seems to have triggered a new sense of awareness locally about the values of Pacific regional mechanisms of “talanoa” embodied by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Local President Louis Mapou stressed on several occasions during the visit that New Caledonia’s situation was the “subject of much attention” in the Pacific region.
He suggested that one of the reasons for this could be because of a potential “spillover” effect that could “jeopardise cohesion in the Pacific”.
However, Mapou also stressed that he had received the message conveyed by the PIF “Troika-Plus” group that “they’re ready to take part in [New Caledonia’s] reconstruction”.
‘New Caledonia’s regional integration in its region’ Mapou said that one of the recurrent themes during the PIF visit was “New Caledonia’s regional integration in its region”.
“Whatever might be said, in many ways, New Caledonia does not know its [Pacific] region very well. Because it has this affiliation relationship to Europe and France that has prevailed over all these years,” he told local media.
“So, in a certain way, we’re just discovering our region. And in this process, the Pacific Islands Forum could bring a sort of leverage,” he said.
Kanaky New Caledonia, as well as French Polynesia — both French Pacific entities — became full members of the Pacific Islands Forum in 2016, after several years of “associate members” status.
Mapou said New Caledonia’s current status vis-à-vis France was mentioned during talks with the PIF mission.
“I spoke with them about obstacles that should be removed, that are directly related to our current status. This is part of topics on which we should be working in future,” he said.
“They’re very open-minded, they don’t have any preconceived ideas, they’re happy to talk equally about the concepts of independence, just as they are for keeping [New Caledonia] within the French Republic,” he revealed.
One of the unexpected outcomes, beyond the specific fact-finding mission that brought this PIF “Troika-Plus” leaders’ delegation to New Caledonia, seems to have underlined the values of regionalism, as well as New Caledonia’s long-awaited and genuine integration in its “regional environment”.
These values seem to have been recognised by all sides of New Caledonia’s political spectrum, as well as all walks of life within the civil, economic, educational and religious society.
PIF’s “Troika-Plus” leaders meet with Southern Province President Sonia Backès (third from left) at SPC headquarters last Monday. Image: PIF/RNZ Pacific
Pacific diversity in status During the past few days, informal exchanges with the Pacific leaders have also allowed New Caledonia’s authorities to share and compare possible ways forward regarding the territory’s political status.
“They readily exchanged their own experiences with our government. The Cook Islands, which is a self-governing state in ‘free association’ with New Zealand; Tonga, which has never been colonised; and the Solomon Islands, who have also undergone inter-ethnic conflicts and where the young population was also involved. And Fiji, which obtained independence (in 1970), had decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth and is finally re-discussing its link with Great Britain,” Mapou briefed local media on Tuesday.
The leaders spent three days (October 27-29) in the French Pacific territory to gather information on the ground, after destructive riots broke out in May, resulting in 13 deaths and extensive economic damage estimated at €2.2 billion.
During the three days, the PIF leaders met a wide range of political, business, religious, and civil society leaders to get a first-hand account of the situation.
On Tuesday, the “plus” component of the troika, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, reiterated the mission’s assigned mantra in a manner of conclusion to their mission.
“We were here to understand and make recommendations. We have heard many extremely different attitudes. We hope it will be possible to find a solution for the people and the government,” Rabuka told religious leaders.
Bitterness from civil society The long series of talks, within a particularly tight schedule, also allowed groups within New Caledonia’s civil society — including traditional chiefs, youth, human rights activists, educationists, mayors and women — to express their views directly during the Pacific leaders’ visit.
Some of these groups also took the opportunity to point out that they were not always listened to in other circumstances.
“Today, peace has just been through a rough episode. And we, women, are being asked to help. But when was the last time we were heard?
“We’ve already said women should be part of all levels of decision-making, including on matters of dealing with violence and access for women to economic empowerment.
“We were ignored. And then, when fire breaks out, we’re being asked for help because this is the foundation of Pacific values,” said Sonia Tonga, the president of the Oceania Union of Francophone Women, which groups women’s groups from New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis-and-Futuna and Vanuatu.
Talking about the youth, she said there was an “ill-being”, “they don’t recognise themselves in this system, including for education. We’re trying to fit an Oceanian society into a framework that has not been designed for them.
“When will we be heard in our country?”.
As part of talks with church leaders, it was also pointed out that there were benefits from sharing experiences with Pacific leaders.
“I’ve been many times in Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and other Pacific islands. They too have had their hard times.
“And they too are familiar with the experience of violence which is difficult to bring back to a path of dialogue,” said 80-year-old Nouméa Catholic Archbishop Michel-Marie Calvet, a respected figure.
In terms of earlier crises in the Pacific region, among PIF member island states, in the early 2000s, civil unrest occurred in both Fiji and the Solomon Islands, with shops being targeted and looted.
Under Pacific Islands Forum mechanisms, especially the declaration of Biketawa, this prompted in 2003 the setting up of “RAMSI” (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands), with mostly Australia and New Zealand military and police as its main contributors, with additional input from other Pacific island countries.
In Fiji, the mission to defuse the crisis, associated with an attempted coup and a MPs hostage situation within Parliament buildings in May 2000, was mainly achieved by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) through protracted negotiations and without violence.
Forum “Troika-Plus” leaders in New Caledonia conducting a fact-finding mission to assess the situation on ground. Image: X /@ForumSEC/RNZ Pacific
Supporting Pacific dialogue In the political sphere, there was a recognition of the benefits of a Pacific perspective.
“There is a Pacific tradition of dialogue and talanoa. So, I think [the PIF leaders] can invite pro-independence parties to come to the [negotiating] table,” said New Caledonia’s Mayors’ Association president Pascal Vittori.
“We’re actually expecting PIF will back this notion of dialogue — that’s what’s important now,” he told local media.
Sonia Backès, one of the staunchest defenders of New Caledonia remaining part of France, told reporters on Monday: “We didn’t ask for this [mission]. Now we’re waiting for this (troika) report based on their observing mission.
“We all know that there are biased views on the part of some, one way or the other.
“So we hope the final report will be as fair and neutral as possible so as not to add fuel to the fire.”
Following their visit to New Caledonia and based on the information gathered, the Forum “Troika-Plus” leaders are expected to compile a “comprehensive report” to be submitted to the next annual Forum Leaders’ Summit in the Solomon Islands in 2025.
“The terms of reference of this mission were discussed beforehand between the government of New Caledonia, the Pacific Islands Forum and the (French) State. We all agreed that what was most important was to have an assessment of the situation.
“There is a need to provide information to the public so that it is an informed opinion leader. It’s important in those times of misinformation and manipulation from one side or the other,” French ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan told public broadcaster NC la 1ère TV on Tuesday evening.
Business sector now needs Pacific market overtures Even the business sector now seems to believe that, as a result of the widespread destruction caused by the riots, which has left more than 800 companies burnt down and looted, as well as thousands jobless, the wider Pacific region has now become a new potentially attractive market.
“Our local market has just shrunk considerably and so we will need to find new openings for our products. In that perspective, our cooperation with the Pacific is very, very strategic”, said business leaders association MEDEF-NC president Mimsy Daly.
She had once again presented a detailed view of the widespread devastation caused by the recent riots and those who took part.
“‘Were they aware of what they were doing?’ is one of the questions I was asked,” she wrote on social networks after her encounter with the “Troika-Plus”.
“A logical question when you know that what has been destroyed equals about 70 percent of the GDP of the Cook Islands, 100 percent of the GDP of the Solomon Islands and 40 percent of the GDP of Fiji.”
But she admitted the response to this complex question was “primordial” and “every light will have to be shed on the matter”.
In a wrap-up of the three days, President Mapou held a final meeting with the group on Tuesday.
Wide circle of ‘concertation’ needed French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, after a final meeting with the delegation, said: “They have come here to seek the profound causes of what happened on May 13. They have been listening very closely.
“I understand their view is that a wide circle of concertation [cooperation] will be required to reach an agreement,” he said.
He elaborated, saying that the Pacific Forum leaders seemed to place a lot of hope in the notions of “trust”, the “necessity of living together” and the PIF’s “will to help, while saying that, at the same time, the solution lies in the hands of New Caledonia”.
French President Macron (right) with New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou (left) and former New Caledonia Congress President Roch Wamytan (centre) earlier this year. Image: RNZ Pacific
Next: another ‘concertation and dialogue’ mission Following the PIF “Troika-Plus” mission, another visit is expected in New Caledonia in the next few days — this time coming from Paris.
This new high-level visit will be headed by the presidents of both houses of Parliament in France (Senate and National Assembly), respectively Gérard Larcher and Yaël Braun-Pivet, from November 9-14.
They will lead what is described as a “mission of concertation and dialogue”.
The dates come as a top-level meeting took place last week, presided by French Head of State Emmanuel Macron and attended by French minister for Overseas François-Noël Buffet (who had just returned from New Caledonia), French PM Barnier, Larcher and Braun-Pivet.
The objective, once again, was to reinforce the signal that the time had come to resume political dialogue.
Macron indicated earlier that he still intended to host a meeting in Paris sometime in November.
Buffet was also in New Caledonia earlier this month for four days to assess the situation and try to restore a path to dialogue between all political stakeholders, both pro-independence and pro-France.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Two decades ago, the fight against climate change was often framed as a personal choice. You might try to reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding flights or change your buying habits to avoid meat or reduce plastic.
But this approach lost popularity, as it shifted responsibility from producer to consumer. The carbon footprint, for instance, was famously popularised by oil company BP. In 2008, well-known American climate activist Bill McKibben pointed out the impotence of individual action without collective action.
Behavioural researchers also began finding a seeming paradox – many of us expressed strong interest in taking individual action on climate, but our actual behaviours barely changed.
Much focus shifted to top-down efforts such as government incentives for clean energy and commitments at a national level to cut emissions.
But there is still a role for individuals – especially around demonstrating what clean alternatives actually look like. For instance, the more solar panels are installed on rooftops in your neighbourhood, the more likely you are to consider it. This neighbourhood effect also affects uptake of electric vehicles and e-bikes. This is especially important if we are to see clean alternatives go mainstream rather than stop at a small fraction of the population.
Of course, individual actions can only go so far. As our research on sustainable consumption has shown, individual actions can be magnified with a backdrop of institutional support.
The neighbourhood effect has influence on solar and electric vehicle uptake. zstock/Shutterstock
What we say and what we do
Humans are complicated. We often say we want to make greener choices – but in reality, we act differently.
Individual climate action sounds great in theory. If many of us chose electric vehicles or bikes, installed solar panels and built energy efficient houses, our actions in aggregate could contribute to wider emissions goals. Then there are choices such as reducing dairy and meat, installing LED lights and buying produce with less packaging.
Everyday actions can contribute too, such as washing clothes in cold water, avoiding putting aircon too low or heating too high, and wearing extra layers of clothes. Recycling, repairing and reusing offer us still more methods to extend the life of our products, reduce waste and save money.
Yet it turns out the reality of individual action on climate is much more complicated – because we are complicated.
When surveyed, a majority of us say we want green, sustainable products. But when we go to the shops, we often don’t actually buy them. My colleagues and I have dubbed this the “Janus faced” consumer phenomenon – we often say one thing but do another.
Why might that be? One reason is many consumers believe green products – whether electric cars or detergents – will perform worse. Green products are also perceived to be more expensive and inconvenient to use.
Then there’s the question of virtue signalling. This is a phenomenon where consumers purchase highly visible green products primarily to signal they’re a person who cares about the environment without necessarily doing so.
Some of these challenges are being overcome. It’s hard to write off modern electric cars as inferior when they can accelerate faster and run much cheaper than fossil fuel cars. While early adopters of solar might once have been seen as virtue-signallers, the main reason Australian households go solar is to save money on the power bill, according to a CSIRO survey.
Individual action can only go so far. For individual action to create sustained impact, it needs supportive policies and institutional backing.
For instance, a 2023 report found many Australian clean energy organisations would like to re-use solar panels for community projects or as a low-cost option for households. This makes sense, given used solar panels are often 80% as good as new ones.
But for consumers to actually act on this, they need institutional scaffolding. If you’re going to buy used solar, you want to make sure they are in good condition. Without a certification process, their willingness will come to nothing.
While many of us say we would consider buying an electric vehicle, the uptake is constrained by things outside our control such as whether there are enough public chargers in cities and rural areas.
You can see the importance of institutional backing clearly in transport. The Melbourne-Sydney flight path is the fifth busiest in the world. That’s because there are no fast green alternatives. If there was high-speed rail as in China or Japan, many of us would choose to avoid the emissions caused by flying. But it doesn’t exist (yet), so our individual choices are curtailed.
Which way forward?
As climate change intensifies, more and more of us say we are willing to act on our beliefs and concerns on an individual level. Even better, more of us are actually doing what we say we will.
Not everywhere, of course. For many Australians, switching from petrol to electric might be easier than giving up meat or a flight to Japan. But some progress is better than none.
This groundswell is encouraging. But our individual efforts can only go so far. To make the most of it, we need institutional scaffolding. Australia has world-beating rooftop solar uptake because state and federal governments used subsidies and incentives to make the emerging technology cheaper. With incentives on offer, millions of us made individual choices to take it up.
We are more than consumers, of course. Our power as individuals isn’t limited to choosing specific products. As citizens, we can push for our governments to provide the essential scaffolding we need to make greener choices.
Sukhbir Sandhu has received research grants from Australian Research Council (Discovery), Green Industries SA, and the European Union.
Unless you’re a moderator for a local community group discussing garbage collections or dog park etiquette, you are unlikely to fully understand the sheer volume and scale of abuse directed at people online.
But when social media moderation and community management is part and parcel of your daily work, the toll on people and their loved ones can be enormous. Journalists, often early in their careers, can be on the receiving end of torrents of abuse.
If they come from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds, that reluctance to report can be even higher than other colleagues.
There’s growing employer concern about how moderating confronting content can affect people’s wellbeing. Employers also have a duty to keep their staff safe at work, including online.
The ABC wanted to understand what this looked like in practice. Its internal survey data shows just how bad the problem has become for moderators who are employed to keep audience members safe when contributing to online discussions.
What did the ABC find?
In 2022, the ABC asked 111 staff who were engaged in online moderation as part of their jobs to self-report the frequency of exposure to potentially harmful experiences.
First it was important to understand just how long people were spending online moderating content. For those who had to moderate content every day, 63% they did it for less than an hour and a half, and 88% moderated for less than three hours.
The majority of staff surveyed saw potentially harmful content every week.
71% of moderators reported seeing denigration of their work weekly, with 25% seeing this daily.
Half reported seeing misogynistic content weekly, while more than half said they saw racist content weekly.
Around a third reported seeing homophobic content every week.
In the case of abusive language, 20% said they encountered it weekly.
It’s a confronting picture on its own, but many see more than one type of this content at a time. This compounds the situation.
It is important to note the survey did not define specifically what was meant by racist, homophobic or misogynistic content, so that was open to interpretation from the moderators.
Some people employed by Facebook to filter out the most toxic material and have gone on to take the company to court.
In one case in the United States, Facebook reached a settlement with more than 10,000 content moderators that included U$52 million (A$77.8 million) for mental health treatment.
In Kenya, 184 moderators contracted by Facebook are suing the company for poor working conditions, including a lack of mental health support. They’re seeking U$1.6 billion (A$2.3 billion) in compensation.
In Australia, moderators during the height of the COVID pandemic reported how confronting it could be to deal with social media users’ misinformation and threats.
A 2023 report by Australian Community Managers, the peak body for online moderators, found 50% of people surveyed said a key challenge of their job was maintaining good mental health.
What’s being done?
Although it is not without its own issues, the ABC is leading the way in protecting its moderators from harm.
It has long worked to protect its staff from trauma exposure with a variety of programs, including a peer support program for journalists. The program was supported by the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma Asia Pacific.
But as the level of abuse directed at staff increased in tone and intensity, the national broadcaster appointed a full-time Social Media Wellbeing Advisor. Nicolle White manages the workplace health and safety risk generated by social media. She’s believed to be the first in the world in such a role.
As part of the survey, the ABC’s moderators were asked about ways they could be better supported.
Turning off comments was unsurprisingly rated as the most helpful technique to promote wellbeing, followed by support from management, peer support, and preparing responses to anticipated audience reactions.
Turning off the comments, however, often leads to complaints from at least some people that their views are being censored. This is despite the fact media publishers are legally liable for comments on their content, following a 2021 High Court decision.
Educating staff about why people comment on news content has been an important part of harm reduction.
Some of the other changes implemented after the survey included encouraging staff not to moderate comments when it related to their own lived experience or identity, unless they feel empowered in doing so.
The peer support program also links staff others with moderation experience.
Managers were urged to ensure that self-care plans were completed by staff to prepare for high-risk moderation days (such as the Voice referendum). These includes documenting positive coping mechanisms, how to implement boundaries at the end of a news shift, debriefing and asking staff to reflect on the value in their work.
Research shows one of the most protective factors for journalists is being reminded that the work is important.
But overwhelmingly, the single most significant piece of advice for all working on moderation is to ensure they have clear guidance on what to do if their wellbeing is affected, and that seeking support is normalised in the workplace.
Lessons for others
While these data are specific to the public broadcaster, it’s certain the experiences of the ABC are reflected across the news industry and other forums where people are responsible for moderating communities.
It’s not just paid employees. Volunteer moderators at youth radio stations or Facebook group admins are among the many people who face online hostility.
What’s clear is that any business or volunteer organisation building a social media audience need to consider the health and safety ramifications for those tasked with maintaining those platforms, and ensure they build in support strategies.
Australia’s eSafety commissioner has developed a range of publicly available resources to help.
The author would like to acknowledge the work of Nicolle White in writing this article and the research it reports.
Alexandra Wake is a member of Dart Asia Pacific, having previously served as a director of its Board. She is currently a joint recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, Australian Journalism, Trauma and Community.
CFA firefighters battled a recycling truck fire this morning at Colac which prompted a warning to the community to stay indoors.
CFA was called to the truck fire on the corner of Calvert Street and Queen Street at 7.14am today.
Firefighters found the rubbish in the recycling truck on fire and heavy haulage machinery was called to the scene to help lift the truck to empty its contents onto the ground.
CFA District 6 Assistant Chief Fire Officer Craig Brittain said the volunteer firefighters who responded to this incident have done an amazing job.
“On inspection there was quite a number of items such as aerosol cans that shouldn’t be in a recycling bin that have possibly caused the fire so we will investigate that further,” Craig said.
“Community members need to please be careful what they put into rubbish bins.”
An excavator was also called in to pull apart the rubbish to assist firefighting with extinguishing the fire.
A Watch and Act message was issued asking people in the area to stay indoors due to the dangerous smoke from the burning plastic and other materials in the truck. That warning has since been downgraded to an Advice message.
The incident was brought under control at 8.48am and declared safe at 9.05am.
CFA has four trucks on scene from Colac, Cororooke and Larpent.
Headline: FEMA Senior Leaders Continue to Survey Impacted Areas and Meet with Local Officials as Helene, Milton Recovery Progresses
FEMA Senior Leaders Continue to Survey Impacted Areas and Meet with Local Officials as Helene, Milton Recovery Progresses
WASHINGTON – More than a month after Helene made landfall, FEMA officials remain on the ground coordinating with local officials in affected states to help guide their recovery. Visits included Victoria Salinas, Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator, meeting with officials over several days in North Carolina and Florida. Salinas and other FEMA officials discussed how the communities were progressing in their recovery and surveyed the effectiveness of modern building codes in minimizing storm-related damage.FEMA has approved more than $1.3 billion in direct assistance to Hurricanes Helene and Milton survivors. These funds help survivors with housing repairs, personal property replacement and other essential recovery efforts. Additionally, over $1.1 billion has been approved for debris removal and emergency protective measures, which are necessary to save lives, protect public health and prevent further damage to public and private property. More than 1,400 FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance team members are in affected neighborhoods across affected states helping survivors apply for assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources. Also,FEMA now has 76 Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout the hurricane affected communities. Center locations can be found at FEMA.gov/DRC. Centers can provide survivors in-person help with their applications and answer questions they have about available resources to help with their recovery.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Operation Blue Roof which is a free service to homeowners for 25 counties in Florida impacted by Hurricane Milton. Residents can sign-up at www.blueroof.gov or by calling 888-ROOF-BLU (888-766-3258). The sign-up period deadline is Nov. 5.FEMA encourages Helene and Milton survivors to apply for disaster assistance online as this remains the quickest way to start your recovery. Individuals can apply for federal assistance by: Applying online at disasterassistance.govUsing the FEMA AppCalling 800-621-3362, Staffed daily from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. local timeVisiting a Disaster Recovery Center to talk with FEMA and state agency officials and apply for assistancePresident Joseph R. Biden has approved major disaster declarations in six states–Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia–affected by Helene. He has also approved a major disaster declaration for Florida following Hurricane Milton.These photos highlight response and recovery efforts across states affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
SWANNANOA, North Carolina – FEMA sets up a mobile Disaster Recovery Center in an affected North Carolina community. Helene survivors in Swannanoa and nearby areas can visit this center to apply for federal disaster assistance and ask questions about available state and federal resources for their recovery. (Photo Credit: FEMA)
SAVANNAH, Georgia – FEMA staff and FEMA Corps members help survivors of Hurricane Helene at the Disaster Recovery Center in Savannah. (Photo Credit: FEMA)
CORTEZ, Florida – Victoria Salinas, FEMA Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator, and other FEMA personnel join Manatee County officials in the Hunters Point Neighborhood in Cortez. There they spoke with an owner of a property development to talk about how building codes helped the community following the recent hurricanes. (Photo Credit: FEMA)
COLLETSVILLE, North Carolina – Victoria Salinas, FEMA Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator, surveys the flood damage from Wilson Creek along Brown Mountain Road with members of the Collettsville Fire Department. Salinas also talked with the owners of the Brown Mountain Resort as they shared their story of surviving the flood from Hurricane Helene. (Photo Credit: FEMA)
FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Toolkit provides graphics, social media copy and sample text in multiple languages. In addition, FEMA has set up a rumor response web page to reduce confusion about its role in the Helene and Milton response and recovery. annie.bond Wed, 10/30/2024 – 17:58
Released by: Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health
Western Riverina communities will soon benefit from new and expanded healthcare facilities with the new Clinical Services Building a key component of the $250 million Griffith Base Hospital Redevelopment nearing completion.
Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park and the Member for Murray Helen Dalton today toured the new hospital’s state-of-the-art Clinical Services Building, which will provide contemporary, high-quality healthcare under the one roof.
The new Clinical Services Building is on track for completion in the coming months. This will be followed by an operational commissioning period before health services are safely transferred from the current hospital to the new facility. It is expected to open in early 2025.
The new hospital will include:
An expanded Emergency Department
Two operating theatres, and an additional procedure room in the perioperative suite
A new and expanded ICU
Expanded medical imaging services and pharmacy services
Maternity and birthing and paediatric services
Surgical and medical wards with four new mental health inpatient beds to care for people over 16 years of age with low complexity mental health conditions who require a short stay admission
New aged care and rehabilitation beds
Three palliative care rooms, a family lounge and an outdoor terrace within the medical inpatient unit to provide end of life care for patients
An expansion of ambulatory care space for the community to access more specialist clinics including renal, oncology, hospital in the home, and expanded outpatient services.
The new three storey Clinical Services Building is located behind the existing hospital and when it opens, it will be accessible through the existing main entry until the new main entry is completed. Health services are continuing to operate during construction.
Once the new hospital opens, work will focus on carpark construction, refurbishment of the Ambulatory Care Hub and landscaping of the health campus.
Quotes attributable to Regional Health Minister Ryan Park:
“When complete, the purpose-built Clinical Services Building will house all major health services under the one roof, significantly transforming patient, carer and staff experience.
“Griffith and surrounding communities will benefit from a bigger Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and an additional procedure room in the operating suite at the new Hospital.
“An expanded medical imaging department will also deliver improved radiology services with a new CT and nuclear medicine service in purpose build and designed spaces.
“The Minns Labor Government is committed to improving healthcare in rural and regional communities.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Murray Helen Dalton:
“The Griffith Base Hospital Redevelopment will support contemporary models of care and improve healthcare experiences for our community.
“I’m glad this new hospital has been designed in close collaboration with staff and clinicians and includes inpatient rooms with ensuites, a new café and landscaped community courtyards and gardens.
“Projects like this one not only support the health and wellbeing of our community, but also deliver direct and indirect jobs in health, construction and related industries.”
