NewzIntel.com

Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI USA: THOMPSON ANNOUNCES OVERALL WINNER, SOLANO COUNTY FINALIST FOR FOURTH DISTRICT’S 2025 CONGRESSIONAL ART COMPETITION

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mike Thompson Representing the 5th District of CALIFORNIA

    Napa – Sunday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) announced that Isabella Macias, a sophomore at American Canyon High School, was chosen as California’s Fourth District winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition. Analise Bittle from Rio Vista High School was named as the Solano County finalist.

    “I always look forward to the Congressional Art Competition. It’s a wonderful chance for my colleagues, visitors of the Capitol, and me to admire the incredible talent of high school student-artists from our district and nation,” said Thompson. “Congratulations to Isabella Macias for being selected as this year’s winner representing California’s Fourth District, and congratulations to Analise Bittle on being named the Solano County finalist in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. Analise’s artwork stood out for its creativity and skill, and it’s a testament to the incredible talent we have in California’s Fourth District.”

    “Every year, I’m amazed by the creativity and skill these students bring to their work, and this year was no different. Thank you to all the young artists who submitted pieces and to their families and teachers for their support and guidance, and to our judges for their thoughtful consideration. I can’t wait to see Isabella’s artwork proudly displayed in the United States Capitol.”

    The winning piece, “Representation Matters” is composed of acrylic on canvas. 

    The Solano County finalist piece, “Essence”, is composed of acrylic, gouache, color pencil on canvas.

    This year’s Congressional Art Competition judges were:

    • Kristina Young, local Napa Artist
    • Marc Pandone, Professor at Solano Community College

    Each spring, Members of Congress host the Congressional Art Competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent across their districts and our nation. Since the Artistic Discovery Competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.

    To enter, students submit entries to their representative’s office and panels of district artists select the winning artwork. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The winning works are displayed for one year in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

    The complete list of artists recognized includes: 

    • Alivia Tucker, Lake County 2025 Finalist
    • Isabella Macias, Napa County 2025 Finalist and Winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition
    • Analise Bittle, Solano County 2025 Finalist
    • Lynna Xu, Sonoma County 2025 Finalist
    • Amy Shan, Yolo County 2025 Finalist

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: THOMPSON ANNOUNCES OVERALL WINNER, SONOMA COUNTY FINALIST FOR FOURTH DISTRICT’S 2025 CONGRESSIONAL ART COMPETITION

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mike Thompson Representing the 5th District of CALIFORNIA

    Napa – Sunday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) announced that Isabella Macias, a sophomore at American Canyon High School, was chosen as California’s Fourth District winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition. Lynna Xu from Sonoma Academy was named as the Sonoma County finalist.

    “I always look forward to the Congressional Art Competition. It’s a wonderful chance for my colleagues, visitors of the Capitol, and me to admire the incredible talent of high school student-artists from our district and nation,” said Thompson. “Congratulations to Isabella Macias for being selected as this year’s winner representing California’s Fourth District, and congratulations to Lynna Xu on being named the Sonoma County finalist in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. Lynna’s artwork stood out for its creativity and skill, and it’s a testament to the incredible talent we have in California’s Fourth District.”

    “Every year, I’m amazed by the creativity and skill these students bring to their work, and this year was no different. Thank you to all the young artists who submitted pieces and to their families and teachers for their support and guidance, and to our judges for their thoughtful consideration. I can’t wait to see Isabella’s artwork proudly displayed in the United States Capitol.”

    The winning piece, “Representation Matters” is composed of acrylic on canvas. 

    The Sonoma County finalist piece, “Flames of Hope”, is composed of acrylic on canvas.

    This year’s Congressional Art Competition judges were:

    • Kristina Young, local Napa Artist
    • Marc Pandone, Professor at Solano Community College

    Each spring, Members of Congress host the Congressional Art Competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent across their districts and our nation. Since the Artistic Discovery Competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.

    To enter, students submit entries to their representative’s office and panels of district artists select the winning artwork. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The winning works are displayed for one year in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

    The complete list of artists recognized includes: 

    • Alivia Tucker, Lake County 2025 Finalist
    • Isabella Macias, Napa County 2025 Finalist and Winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition
    • Analise Bittle, Solano County 2025 Finalist
    • Lynna Xu, Sonoma County 2025 Finalist
    • Amy Shan, Yolo County 2025 Finalist

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Defense of the Courts and the University

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Rep Ro Khanna (CA-17)

    In Defense of the Courts and the University 

    Rep. Ro Khanna | Yale Law School | 4.15.25

    My return today is not one of nostalgia for good pizza or to relive faded dreams. I chose to come to Yale at a serious moment in the life of our Republic because the Woodward Report, issued by this very institution in 1974, defines the paramount duty of the American university: the defense of free expression and free inquiry.

    There are moments in a mature democracy — dating as far back as the prosecution of Socrates — when institutions must stand firm as guardians of free thought against the roar of the crowd.

    This is such a moment.

    In our nation, a mobocratic spirit — fanned by amoral, ambitious men — threatens not only our constitutional way of life but freedom of thought itself. For generations, American power has been checked by the Constitution and the quiet strength of reasoned debate. Politicians have bowed to the courts and stood before the people — not to silence opposition, but to answer it. 

    But today, a great anger grips the public — burned by years of war, wearied by economic stagnation, and fearful that the foreign-born among us now comprise a larger share of our population than at any point in a century. From this disquiet rises not a call to reform, but to dismantle — to cast off the judges in their robes, the scholars in their gowns, and the press with its inconvenient questions. 

    And at the head of this gathering storm stands JD Vance — calling on the President to defy the Supreme Court, and casting universities like Yale, his alma mater and mine, as the enemy.

    He claims that you here at Yale are being corrupted — taught to reject American values — as if he alone possesses the authority to define what it means to be an American, as if the life of the mind is to be excised from our nation’s story. How far we have fallen from the days when Thomas Jefferson chose not to list the presidency on his epitaph, but instead the founding of a university. 

    Jefferson understood that the life of the mind is as vital to liberty as the laws we live by, and that an educated citizenry is essential for democracy to thrive.

    Now, I remember they don’t teach much black letter law at Yale. But the President must obey court orders is about as basic as it gets. Our whole system depends on the idea that the Constitution gives the courts the power to say what the law is in any given case. In Cooper versus Aaron, the Court held that the “Constitution is the supreme law of the land,” and when specific disputes arise, the judiciary gets to decide what the law requires. In Youngstown, the Court made it clear that President Truman was limited by the Constitution and could not seize steel mills for our national defense during the Korean war because Congress did not give him that power.

    This check on executive power has not only kept the President from becoming a king — it is what has made America the most innovative and dynamic free enterprise economy in the world. We saw the fiasco of a President imposing tariffs on a whim. But imagine if he could go further: launch investigations into companies he disliked, void contracts to punish rivals, deport an immigrant business leader for political gain, or pull funding from scientists and scholars who challenge convention. 

    Those who complain that America suffers from too much regulation certainly would not want the system to be replaced with arbitrary decision making by the state. The United States has been successful because the predictability and stability the rule of law provides for long term economic investment. Unlike other nations, our business leaders do not have to worry about capricious rule changes that benefit political elites or worry about their assets being seized.

    And yet, every day that Vance tweets of defying court orders, he chips away at that trust — the invisible thread that binds our economic, social, and political life. Most recently, he defended the deportation of Abrego Garcia to a notorious Salvadoran prison — even after his own administration called it an “administrative error”. When Americans asked for due process, he answered not with reason, but with feigned rage — accusing us of sympathy for a gang member. Nine Supreme Court justices firmly rejected his claim that Abrego had no legal right to be here.

    To stir up public fury by painting due process as weakness is a timeless danger. Lincoln saw it clearly. In his Lyceum Address, he warned against mob vengeance, saying:

    “When men take it in their heads to hang gamblers or burn murderers, they should recollect that… they will be as likely to hang someone who is neither a gambler nor a murderer.”

    Without due process, Vance is as likely to destroy the life of an innocent man as he is to punish the guilty. And he does not seem to care. But Lincoln cared. He warned: 

    “The innocent… fall victims to the ravages of mob law, and thus it goes on, step by step, till all the walls erected for the defense of the persons and property of individuals, are trodden down, and disregarded.”

    We have been fortunate in our history to have leaders — like Lincoln — who appealed not to fury, but to reason. But we’ve also seen leaders, like Vance, who win public adulation by stoking anger and treating legal limits as nuisances to be ignored. Lincoln’s path is harder, slower — but it is truer to our founding, as it defends the sacred right of the individual over the exercise of impulsive power.

    Now, Vance says the President, elected by the people, should tell the Court what the Constitution means — and if the Court disagrees, let them try to enforce their ruling. That the President, as a co-equal, may simply ignore the Court’s judgment of the law. 

    In Vance’s America, the police can knock on any immigrant’s door, deport him to a dictatorship without due process, and then wash their hands of his fate, pretending that America is powerless to free someone outside our border. They did this with Abrego. They did this with Merwil Gutierrez, a 19 year old Venezuelan, who may have had no criminal record and whose heartbroken father is searching for him in vain . JD Vance, your cold indifference to the lives of vulnerable immigrants mocks every principle that this law school was built to uphold.

    Your affiliation with this law school is now a stain on the degree of every Yale graduate. I hope Yalies –alumni, student, faculty and administrators will have the moral clarity to say so plainly.

    But what about Vance’s argument that courts can be wrong?

    Here again, Lincoln teaches us. He did not accept the abhorrent Dred Scott decision as the final word, recognizing that the decision was destined to be overturned, not through blanket defiance of the judiciary, but through a legal crusade for equality. Lincoln’s reverence for the law did not weaken his moral clarity — it deepened it. He showed that his cause was not mere personal conviction, but rooted in the values and documents etched into the nation’s character. He pursued it through argument, elections, legislation, and new judicial appointments. He didn’t trample the Constitution in the name of justice — he worked through the Constitution to achieve justice. 

    And so must we.

    In our system, there is no Executive sovereignty. No Congressional sovereignty. No Judicial sovereignty. There is only popular sovereignty. The people ultimately decide what the Constitution means and what our laws should be. But that power is channeled through a constitutional framework — where the popular will must express itself through an intricate and deliberate system of elections, legislation, court decisions, appointments, and amendments. When Vance urges the President to defy that framework in the name of a false populism, he does not honor the people’s will — he undermines it. Ours is not a system of brute majoritarianism, but of constitutional self-government. To abandon that is a radical rejection of the very design of the American experiment.

    Vance has not only declared war on the courts — but on the universities. And it is no accident. As Stephen Kotkin observed in his study of Stalin, strongmen do not fear recessions or even failed wars as much as they fear the university. The greatest threat to consolidating power is not resistance — it is alternatives. Vance calls the university the enemy because he knows what lives here: historians, economists, law professors, and scientists who threaten him not with force, but with ideas.

    Why else propose raising the endowment tax from 1.4 to 35%, if not from a deep fear that the ideas presented in lecture halls may take root in the hearts of a new generation? That young Americans might see a nation not of grievance, but of promise. That is what Vance fears most—not rebellion, but the birth of new thinking. 

    If ever there were a moment in our nation’s history for the defense of liberalism — as a defense of free thought and the examined life — it is now. Those who sneer at our universities — who mock thinking, learning, and degrees for cheap applause while credentialing themselves — are engaged in rank hypocrisy. They are gatekeepers of privilege, dissuading their fellow citizens from pursuing for their families the very opportunities they seek for their own children.

    I hope university presidents will find their voice, pledging mutual support to each other, by remembering leaders like Yale’s Kingman Brewster, who stood with student protestors even when donors withdrew their support; Harvard’s James Conant, who resisted McCarthyism in the face of pressure from government and alumni; and Chicago’s Robert Hutchins, who defended the independence of scholarship against the demands of powerful business interests. Their place in history was not secured by the size of the endowment they left behind, but by the ideals they refused to abandon.

    President Garber, you’ve shown courage in standing up to the bullies in the White House. I have no doubt that Harvard—with its legacy of liberty predating the founding of our nation—will prevail over the fleeting ignorance of our time. 

    President McInnis, I hope you will follow his lead.

    And let Brewster, Conan, Hutchins, and Garber be an example for each of you. When  a student is snatched from campus and denied due process, speak up. When  a student protestor is harassed for their viewpoint, stand in their defense. When you are told to keep silent about the need for diversity by a potential employer, walk away.

    Each of us must ask: What, in this hour, are we willing to risk? What is needed is not the towering courage of a Socrates, nor even of my grandfather, who spent four years in jail as part of Gandhi’s movement for Indian independence. What is needed now are the small acts of conscience that together shape the soul of a nation.

    We may not have been able to save the deportation of Abrego or Gutierrez, but the louder we speak, the more of us who speak, the longer we speak, the more we become a human shield against an arbitrary state and resist the cold routinization of injustice. This is the time to stand up for a free society. 

    As for me, I have called out the richest man in the world, who responded by declaring on X that my career is over. I have called out J.D. Vance, who said I was a whiny congressman who disgusts him. But I have no regret.

    In speaking out, we can find direction not only from Woodward’s report celebrating free expression but also from his seminal work on the history of segregation, which Dr. King called the “bible of the civil rights movement.” Woodward reminded us that the path to Jim Crow was not inevitable. What was true of the 1890s is true today. To paraphrase Woodward: “There are still real choices to be made, and alternatives to the course that now threatens us are still available”.

    In times of crisis, this nation has often cast aside the old guard and turned to a new generation for new paths. That we were fortunate to witness Lincoln’s unlikely rise in our darkest hour is perhaps the strongest evidence of providence. The fate of liberal democracy now rests not only with those of us in Congress — it rests with you. It rests on whether you will rise to history’s call.

    I believe you will.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Davids Criticizes Administration’s Proposal to Cut Head Start Programs

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-3)

    Yesterday, Representative Sharice Davids and 89 of her Congressional colleagues criticized the Trump Administration’s efforts to eliminate critical Head Start programs that promote early childhood development and ease the burden of child care on working families. Multiple Head Start programs in the Kansas City area have already closed this year.

     

    In a letter to President Donald Trump and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the lawmakers demanded answers from the administration about how they intend to fill the gap left by the potential elimination of Head Start and support students, teachers, and parents who benefit from these investments. 

     

    “A shutdown of Head Start programming would have devastating, far-reaching impacts for nearly half a million children, families and local communities,” the Members wrote. “Over 800,000 children benefit from attending 17,000 Head Start Centers across the country, strengthening their early education and providing developmental screenings.”

     

    “Additionally, the National Head Start Association estimates that more than one million parents who use Head Start and Early Start centers would lose necessary child care, impacting their ability to attend in-person work, causing further workforce disruptions,” the Members continued. “The impacts of these cuts would be generational and long-lasting.”

     

    The Members concluded, “While we share the administration’s goal of rooting out waste and abuse in government, attempting to defund early education programming and indiscriminately attacking our nation’s most vulnerable families is not the appropriate way to increase government efficiency.”

     

    As a first-generation college student who worked her way from Leavenworth High School to Cornell Law School, Davids understands the value of quality education for student success and our overall economy. She has long fought to protect education and child care in Kansas and has been a fierce critic of the administration’s efforts to defund the Department of Education. She has visited multiple Head Start programs in Kansas including Kansas City Kansas Public School’s Successful Beginnings, Family Conservancy, the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Project Eagle, and Olathe Public Schools Head Start.

       

    Students in early childhood education programs are less likely to repeat grades, are 25 percent more likely to graduate high school, and are four times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree in comparison to non-Head Start students. But long-term benefits of Head Start programs are not only limited to educational success. Children in Head Start are healthier and have better social and emotional skills. In adulthood, statistics show that former Head Start students experience greater economic stability and earn higher wages.

    You can read the full letter here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Davids Continues Farm Bill Listening Tour in Anderson County

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-3)

    GARNETT, KS – Today, Representative Sharice Davids visited Phelon Farms, a corn grower in Garnett, as part of her ongoing Farm Bill Listening Tour. During her visit, she toured the operation, helped apply fertilizer, and held discussions with farm owners and agribusiness leaders, reaffirming her commitment to crafting a bipartisan Farm Bill that addresses the needs of Kansas agriculture.

    With the Farm Bill extended through September 30, 2025, and negotiations ongoing, Davids is using her tour to reconnect with Kansas farmers, producers, and ranchers and gather input on their priorities. Davids, a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, serves as the Ranking Member of the General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit Subcommittee.

    “Farmers, ranchers, and producers are the backbone of our economy and communities, and their voices need to be at the center of the Farm Bill debate,” said Davids. “With so many facing uncertainty from tariffs, supply chain issues, and rising costs, we need to have their backs now more than ever. As I continue meeting with ag leaders across the Third District, I’m focused on making sure this bill supports the needs of every operation — from family-owned farms like Phelon Farms to our specialty crop growers and beyond.”

    “As a farmer, I believe it is vital to work with our elected officials on both sides of the aisle to get a comprehensive Farm Bill passed,” said Adam Phelon, local farmer and Kansas Soybean Association board member. “Whether it be trade, tariffs, regulations, or market development, the decisions made in Washington D.C. affect Kansas farmers on a daily basis. And it’s through conversation and continued work that we hope to find common-sense solutions that are sufficient and beneficial to everyone here in the heartland of America. Having elected officials that choose to stay involved and work to find those solutions is necessary. And that’s why, not only having Representative Davids on the House Ag Committee, but also making these stops to talk to local farmers about these issues should be applauded.”

      

    To prepare for the Farm Bill discussion, Davids embarked on a Farm Bill listening tour, where she visited a poultry and livestock operation in Anderson County, a co-op in Franklin County, a goat farm in Miami County, an organic vegetable farm in Johnson County, and an educational community farm in Wyandotte County. Davids also toured a Garnett-based renewable ethanol producer, participated in FFA activities at Spring Hill High School, served a school lunch at Black Bob Elementary in Olathe, spoke with industry leaders on financial support programs for farmers, toured a dairy farm in Garnett, and more.

    Davids has consistently pushed back against President Trump’s reckless trade and agriculture policies that have created uncertainty for Kansas farmers. She spoke out against abrupt tariffs, which could raise costs and disrupt markets, and highlighted the $27 billion in agricultural export losses farmers faced under previous Trump-era tariffs. She also condemned the administration’s elimination of key USDA programs that have destabilized local food systems and left school districts and food banks scrambling.

    “Kansas soybean growers anticipate seeing our priorities advanced in the next Farm Bill, including a robust farm safety net and expanded program access that fits unique grower needs,” said Adam Phelon, local farmer and Kansas Soybean Association board member. “We appreciate the influence Kansas’ elected officials serving on agriculture committees have in directing legislation that works in favor of farmers.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fiji Indians in NZ ‘not giving up’ on Pasifika classification struggle

    By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific Waves presenter/producer, and Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor

    The co-founder of Auckland’s Fiji Centre is concerned that Indo-Fijians are not classified as Pacific Islanders in Aotearoa.

    This week marks the 146th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured labourers from British India to Fiji, who departed from Calcutta.

    On 14 May 1879, the first group of 522 labourers arrived in Fiji aboard the Leonidas, a labour transportation ship.

    That date in 1987 is also the date of the first military coup in Fiji.

    More than 60,000 men, women and children were brought to Fiji under an oppressive system of bonded labour between 1879 and 1916.

    Today, Indo-Fijians make up 33 percent of the population.

    While Fiji is part of the Pacific, Indo-Fijians are not classified as Pacific peoples in New Zealand; instead, they are listed under “Indian” and “Asian” on the Stats NZ website.

    Lasting impact on Fiji
    The Fiji Centre’s Nik Naidu, who is also a co-founder of the Whānau Community Centre and Hub, said that he understood Fiji was the only country in the Pacific where the British implemented the indentured system.

    “It is also a sad legacy and a sad story because it was basically slavery,” he said.

    “The positive was that the Fiji Indian community made a lasting impact on Fiji.

    “They continue to be around 30 percent of the population in Fiji, and I think significantly in Aotearoa, through the migration, the numbers are, according to the community, over 100,000 in New Zealand.”

    Fiji Centre co-founder Nikhil Naidu . . . Girmit Day “is also a sad legacy and a sad story because it was basically slavery.” Image: Asia Pacific Report

    However, he said the discussions on ethnic classification “reached a stalemate” with the previous Pacific Peoples Minister.

    “His basic argument was, well, ethnographically, Fijian Indians do not fit the profile of Pacific Islanders,” he said.

    Then-minister Aupito William Sio said in 2021 that, while he understood the group’s concerns, the classification for Fijian Indians was in line with an ethnographic profile which included people with a common language, customs and traditions.

    Aupito said that profile was different from indigenous Pacific peoples.

    StatsNZ and ethnicity
    “StatsNZ recognises ethnicity as the ethnic group or groups a person self-identifies with or has a sense of belonging to,” Aupito said in a letter at the time.

    It is not the same as race, ancestry, nationality, citizenship or even place of birth, he said.

    “They have identified themselves now that the system of government has not acknowledged them.

    “Those conversations have to be ongoing to figure out how do we capture the data of who they are as Fijian Indians or to develop policies around that to support their aspirations.”

    Girmitiyas – Indentured labourers – in Fiji . . . shedding light on the harsh colonial past in Fiji. Image: RNZ Pacific/Fiji Girmit Foundation

    Naidu believes the ethnographic argument was a misunderstanding of the request.

    “The request is not to say, like Chinese in Samoa, they are not indigenous to Samoa, but they are Samoans, and they are Pacific Chinese.

    “So there is the same thing with Fijian Indians. They are not wanting to be indigenous.

    Different from mainland Indians
    “They do want to be recognised as separate Indians in the Pacific because they are very different from the mainland Indians.

    “In fact, most probably 99 percent of Fijian Indians have never been to India and have no affiliations to India because during the Girmit they lost all connections with their families.”

    However, Naidu told Pacific Waves the community was not giving up.

    “There was a human rights complaint made — again that did not progress in the favour of the Fijian Indians.

    “Currently from . . . Fiji Centre’s perspective, we are still pursuing that.

    “We have also had a discussion with Stats NZ about the numbers and trying to ascertain just why they have not managed to put a separate category, so that we can look at the number of Fijian Indians and also relative to Pacific Islanders.”

    Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told RNZ Pacific that as far as Fiji is concerned, Fijians of Indian descent are Fijian.

    Question to minister
    Last year, RNZ Pacific asked the current Minister for Pacific Peoples, Dr Shane Reti, on whether Indo-Fijians were included in Ministry of Pacific Peoples as Pacific people.

    In a statement, his office said: “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is undertaking ongoing policy work to better understand this issue.”

    Meanwhile, the University of Fiji’s vice-chancellor is asking the Australian and British governments to consider paying reparation for the exploitation of the indentured labourers more than a century ago.

    Professor Shaista Shameem told the ABC that they endured harsh conditions, with long hours, social restrictions and low wages.

    She said the Australian government and the Colonial Sugar Refinery of Australia benefitted the most financially and it was time the descendants were compensated.

    While some community leaders have been calling for reparation, Naidu said there were other issues that needed attention.

    He said it had been an ongoing discussion for many decades.

    “It is a very challenging one, because where do you draw the line? And it is a global problem, the indenture system. It is not just unique to Fiji.

    “Personally, yes, I think that is a great idea. Practically, I am not sure if it is feasible and possible.”

    Focus on what unites, says Rabuka
     Fiji is on a path for reconciliation, with leaders from across the political spectrum signing a Forward Fiji Declaration in 2023, hoping to usher in a new era of understanding between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians.

    Rabuka announced a public holiday to commemorate Girmit Day in 2023.

    In his Girmit Day message this year, Rabuka said his government was dedicated to bringing unity and reconciliation between all races living in Fiji.

    “We all know that Fiji has had a troubled past, as it was natural that conflicts would arise when a new group of people would come into another’s space,” he said.

    “This is precisely what transpired when the Indians began to live or decided to live as permanent citizens.

    “There was distrust as the two groups were not used to living together during the colonial days. Indigenous Fijians did not have a say in why, and how many should come and how they should be settled here. Fiji was not given a time to transit.

    “The policy of indenture labour system was dumped on us. Naturally this led to tensions and misunderstandings, reasons that fuelled conflicts that followed after Fiji gained independence.”

    He said 146 years later, Fijians should focus on what unites rather than what divides them.

    “We have together long enough to know that unity and peace will lead us to a good future.”

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Adams Statement on President’s Budget Proposal

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Senior Member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education & Workforce Committee, released a statement on President Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

    “The president’s budget proposal is reckless and cruel, and would strip services away from millions of Americans,” said Congresswoman Adams. “It includes tens of billions of dollars in cuts to Title I schools, the NIH, and rental assistance—programs that we know work—in exchange for bigger tax breaks for billionaires. Fortunately, Congress, not the White House, sets the budget, and if this bill ever comes before us, I will vote against it.”

    The president’s proposal includes unprecedented cuts that would rob millions of Americans of their food and housing security, healthcare, and educational opportunity.

    “A budget is a reflection of the values you hold, and this budget speaks plainly to who the president is,” Adams continued. “He values making it harder for you to access Medicaid and Social Security. He values tax cuts for his friends over making sure Americans have a place to sleep at night. He values putting money in the pocket of Elon Musk while cutting services to you. He’s laid his values out before us, and I will continue to fight to ensure those values never become law.” 

    His proposed cuts include:

    • $4.5 billion in cuts to Title I schools and K-12 programs.
    • $1.6 billion in cuts to TRIO and GEAR UP, two critical programs for students from low-income households and students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
    • $980 million in cuts to the Federal Work-Study Program.
    • $729 million in cuts to Adult Education Programs.
    • $18 billion in cuts to the National Institute of Health.
    • $3.6 billion in cuts to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, slashing their budget in half.
    • $674 million in cuts to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
    • $1 billion in cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
    • $26.7 billion in cuts to State Rental Assistance Block Grants.
    • $425 million in cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a critical food assistance and domestic farm program that aids older Americans and food banks.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Adams Statement on President Trump’s First 100 Days, Immense Harm to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), released a statement on President Trump’s first 100 days in office and the immense harm him and Republicans in Congress have brought to the residents of NC-12, the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and the country.

    “After 100 days under President Trump, his term can only be defined by economic hardship, divisive, partisan politics, and letting millions suffer for bigger tax breaks for billionaires,” said Congresswoman Adams. “The last three months have been disastrous, and my constituents have made it clear to me that they are overwhelmingly worse off thanks to this administration. But my Republican colleagues have no issues supporting President Trump’s cruel, unconstitutional actions anyway.”

    “While Republicans cower to the White House, Democrats will continue to work for every single American,” Adams continued. “I will keep fighting their reckless agenda in committee and on the House floor. I will continue listening to my constituents so I can advocate for their needs. And I will continue to work with our partners in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to ensure our community will take care of our neighbors, even when this administration won’t.”

    Harm to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community

    The Trump Administration has directly harmed hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District and in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. As Republicans look to pass their partisan budget bill, the harm will only grow.

    Education

    “Education isn’t a privilege, it’s a right and we will not let Republicans take it away from our children,” said Adams. “We are seeing this unconstitutional attempt to dismantle the federal Department of Education fought in court and I will continue to fight these cuts in Congress. Now, more than ever, we need to protect the educational future of our students.” 

    Hunger

    • Elon Musk’s DOGE has made major cuts to food security programs, including $30 million to North Carolina’s Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.
    • Now, Republicans in Congress are attempting to cut $230 billion in SNAP funding, the largest food security program in the country.
    • 160,000 Mecklenburg County residents receive aid from SNAP and the program carries with it $500 million in economic impacts.
    • This bill would also cut funds to the Free Student Lunch Program which 40,000 CMS students use for a reliable meal.

    “You can’t be healthy if you’re hungry,” said Adams. “At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, Republicans want to cut food security programs from the people who need it most. Our children, our elderly, our disabled, and our working families all rely on SNAP to put food on the table. Democrats will not allow our constituents to starve.”

    Healthcare

    “We cannot let Republicans treat lifesaving healthcare programs like Medicaid as if they’re just budget line items,” said Adams. “2.6 million North Carolinians rely on Medicaid for their health and wellness, providing affordable, accessible care to our most vulnerable. Make no mistake, Americans will die if Republicans cut Medicaid, all so they can give tax breaks to billionaires.” 

    Housing

    • As Charlotte-Mecklenburg faces an affordable housing crisis, the Trump Administration is cutting funds for critical rental and housing assistance.
    • The Republican Continuing Resolution cut rent subsidies and homelessness response grants by more than $700 million.
    • Funding for affordable housing developments remains frozen, throwing these developments into uncertainty.
    • Charlotte’s largest homeless shelter is facing uncertainty and unease due to the Trump Administration’s cuts on housing.

    “While rental and housing costs continue to rise, Republicans want to cut an essential lifeline to affordable housing,” said Adams. “Housing security impacts everything: physical and mental health, job and economic stability, and food security. Yet, the Republican plan is to increase evictions while slashing housing and homeless support. That’s unacceptable. While I fight these cuts in Congress, I’m working with partners at the state, county, and local level to ensure we can continue providing fair housing for the people of my district.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus Leader Encouraged by new Executive Order on HBCUs

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams Ph.D. (NC-12), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, and Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Bipartisan, Bicameral Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus, released a statement following President Trump’s executive order on HBCUs.

    “I welcome all and every initiative to support our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities because supporting HBCUs is not a partisan issue,” said Congresswoman Adams. “HBCUs are centers of achievement, excellence, and success, and have always punched above their weight, even in the face of historic underfunding.”

    “In order to win the race in the 21stcentury to remain the world’s leading innovative country, we must have robust investments in our HBCUs through bills like the FUTURE Act and HBCU PARTNERS Act, two bills I fought hard to have signed into law. We also need to ensure our state governments are fully funding our 1890s Land Grant HBCUs, something the executive order stressed the importance of,” Adams continued.

    “We still have more work to do though, especially in holistic infrastructure investments at HBCUs, and I look forward to working with this administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass more impactful, bipartisan legislation for our HBCUs.”

    “I’m a former college professor and I always told my students that we have to have a sense of urgency about the tasks in front of us. We need real timelines, and I am ready to work now. But, I must also say, if the administration dismantles our U.S. Department of Education, the future for HBCUs will further be in question. Let’s work together to ensure these institutions of higher education always remain HBCU Strong,” Adams concluded.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Adams, Kamlager-Dove Convene Roundtable to Address Black Higher Education and Strengthening HBCUs

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), founder and co-chair of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus, and Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Congressional Black Caucus Whip, held a roundtable discussion with Reps. Sewell (AL-07), Hayes (CT-05), Sykes (OH-13), Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Brown (OH-11), and Figures (AL-02), HBCU leadership, students, and advocacy organizations to highlight the impacts of Trump Administration policies on the HBCUs that have played a vital role in empowering Black students across the country. 

    The roundtable included presidents from Howard University, Bowie State University, Morgan State University, and Virginia Union University and representatives from Texas Southern University, the United Negro College Fund, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the 1890 Foundation to discuss student life concerns, academic access and funding, infrastructure and facilities, and the role of the federal government. 

    “HBCUs have always punched above their weight, producing the leaders, innovators, and changemakers who move this country forward,” said Congresswoman Adams. “Despite their success though, they face historic underfunding that force them to do more with less. It’s time we meaningfully invest in HBCUs so they can continue serving their students for generations to come.”

    “Our HBCUs continue to face systemic challenges that impact student success, campus quality-of-life, and institutional growth. Shamefully, the Trump Administration’s attacks on DEI initiatives and higher education funding have only made these challenges worse,” said Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove. “Now is the time for policymakers, education leaders, and students to engage in direct dialogue about solutions to protect and uplift Black students.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray, Reps. Pocan and Stefanik Reintroduce Bicameral, Bipartisan Bill to Improve Training for School Food Service Workers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, reintroduced the Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act, legislation to improve training for food service employees in schools. The legislation would assist in the implementation of existing professional standards for these workers by ensuring that training occurs during work hours and at no cost, and if training is unable to occur during scheduled work hours, the bill makes clear that employees must be informed in advance and compensated appropriately. Representatives Mark Pocan (D, WI-02) and Elise Stefanik (R, NY-21) are introducing companion, bipartisan legislation in the House.
    “School food service workers do the essential work of making sure our kids are fed at school and can focus on their learning instead of an empty stomach,” said Senator Murray. “Our commonsense bipartisan bill would make sure those workers get the training they need during work hours at no cost to them—and that if training happens after work hours, food service workers are fairly compensated for their time. This is about fairness and making sure our schools can recruit and retain skilled food service employees.”
    “Nutritious meals are as important to a child’s development as learning to read, and school food service workers play a vital role in guaranteeing every child gets the healthy food they deserve,” said Rep. Mark Pocan. “The Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act will make it easier for workers to complete needed training and ensure food service workers have the skills to safely serve our kids. I’m proud to sponsor this critical bill with colleagues from across the aisle and in the Senate because good food and good jobs should be a part of 21st-century schools.”
    “School meals support learning and student success. Every day, dedicated food service professionals prepare and serve school meals to all of our students, providing the nutrition that is essential for learning and participation. Our food service professionals need appropriate support and training for the expertise required to feed our students,” said Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association. “The Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act will help ensure that our food service professionals have access to training sessions during their paid work days or are compensated if the training has to occur outside of work hours. I am proud to support this legislation that will help ensure our students receive the healthy, nutritious meals they need to thrive.”
    The reauthorization of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 enacted professional standards for food service workers. These standards worked to ensure that school meals are as healthy as possible for students. The Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act builds on these standards and would:
    Ensure that training sessions occur primarily during regular, paid working hours;
    Compensate workers for training sessions that must occur outside of work hours;
    Make every effort to inform workers of training sessions that must take place outside of work hours;
    Ensure that school food service workers are not penalized if they are unable to attend training sessions outside of work hours; and
    Promote in-person, hands-on training whenever possible and appropriate.
    The text of the Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act is available HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Rep. Fleischmann Introduces Bipartisan Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)

    Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) introduced the bipartisan Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act, which would authorize a study to designate a 287-mile trail linking Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina as a National Scenic Trail. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC). The trail, which crosses mountains and valleys and passes alongside streams and waterfalls, is on federal land for 95 percent of its length and would be administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

    “I am proud to lead this effort and work with my bipartisan colleagues in the House and Senate to designate the beautiful Benton MacKaye Trail as a National Scenic Trail. The Benton MacKaye Trail is an invaluable part of my district in East Tennessee that thousands of Tennesseans and Americans hike each year, and the trail connects some of the most beautiful and pristine parts of Tennessee with Georgia and North Carolina,” said Congressman Fleischmann. “The Benton MacKaye Trail deserves a National Scenic Trail designation. I call on my colleagues in the House and Senate to act quickly to pass our bipartisan bill and send it to President Trump for his signature.”

    “The Benton MacKaye trail is deserving of consideration as a National Scenic Trail. I’m pleased to join my fellow Tennessean Congressman Fleischmann and Senators Tillis and Warnock on legislation to do just that,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. “National designation would mean increased tourism and enjoyment of the outdoors along the entire 287-mile stretch of the trail.”

    “Completed in 2005, the Benton MacKaye Trail provides an exceptional opportunity for tens of thousands of people to get outdoors each year and experience the stunning beauty of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The legislation introduced today, the Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2025, is a critical step forward in the process of evaluating the trail’s potential to become our nation’s 12th National Scenic Trail,” said Bob Cowdrick, President of the Benton MacKaye Trail Association. “This study would help protect our storied outdoor heritage for future generations, support local economies, and provide a wide array of recreation opportunities for everyone from day hikers to thru-hikers and solo trekkers to families. We are grateful to Congressman Fleischmann for championing this effort to preserve a trail that means so much to so many.”

    In addition to Congressman Fleischmann’s support, H.R. 2768 is cosponsored in the House of Representatives by Reps. Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chuck Edwards (NC-11), and Lucy McBath (GA-06). The bill, introduced by Sen. Thom Tills (R-NC) in the Senate, is cosponsored by Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Guardians of the Gulf: meet the summer biosecurity champions

    Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines

    Over the sun-soaked days of summer, a dedicated crew in bright blue shirts was hard at work at marinas, boat ramps, and community events across Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.

    These were the biosecurity champions – nineteen passionate people on a mission to protect the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana and its precious islands from invasive pests.

    Armed with knowledge, smiles, and a deep love for nature, the champions clocked over 2,000 hours over the season, connecting with nearly 15,000 boaties, fishers, divers, and curious beachgoers.

    Their goal?

    To stop hitchhiking pests like rats, plague skinks, and Argentine ants from sneaking onto the Gulf’s predator-free islands, home to rare species like saddlebacks, blue penguins, and kiwi.

    “It’s been an awesome summer out at local marinas and boat ramps, chatting with boaties and the local community about our beautiful Hauraki Gulf and the biosecurity risks it faces!” said Anna Moir, a returning champion.

    “People really want to help once they know how important it is. I’ve felt empowered and proud to be part of the fight to protect our little slice of paradise.”

    Their message was simple but powerful: check, clean, and close your gear. Whether it’s a chilly bin, dive bag, or a kayak hatch, any place a pest can hide needs to be checked before heading to an island; even things like firewood, pot plants, or muddy shoes can carry biosecurity threats.

    The champions were vital in spreading the word about new Controlled Area Notices (CANs) and educating the public on marine pests like exotic caulerpa. They brought biosecurity to the forefront at big events like the Auckland Boat Show and the Moana Festival where people not only learned but got excited about helping out.

    For Lewis Luo, a first-time champion, the role was more than just a summer job.

    “This role has given me a wonderful feeling of community. I feel privileged to work alongside such a talented and like-minded team to help protect our wonderful Hauraki Gulf.”

    Inspired by his experience, Lewis is now planning a career in environmental protection.

    Thanks to funding from the Natural Environment Targeted Rate (NETR) and support from Biosecurity New Zealand, this was the largest group of champions yet. And judging by the smiles, stories, and new awareness sparked this summer, it won’t be the last.

    Want to be part of something meaningful next summer? Join the Biosecurity Champions and help ensure our islands remain pest free for generations to come.

    Your bright blue shirt could be the start of something big.

    Everyone is encouraged to stay informed and play an active role as a Biosecurity Champion.

    Contact us: biosecurity@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz if you have concerns or want to report a pest sighting.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Auckland Council announces first stage of CCO Reform

    Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines

    Auckland Council’s Chief Executive, Phil Wilson, has confirmed the final decisions of the Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) Reform consultation with staff across the Auckland Council Group, aimed at achieving greater strategic alignment, accountability and better outcomes for Auckland.

    Following the Governing Body’s request for CCO reform in December last year, the decisions outline how best to integrate into Auckland Council: Eke Panuku Development Auckland, as well as the economic development functions of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. 

    From 1 July, there will be three new functions within Auckland Council focused on creating an inclusive, innovative and resilient Auckland economy.

    • An Auckland Urban Development Office responsible for driving integrated implementation and delivery of quality urban development in the council group’s identified growth priority areas and large-scale projects. It will apply an economic and commercial lens. The Auckland Urban Development Office would include urban regeneration and place-based leadership on agreed large-scale projects.

    • Creation of a Property Department within Auckland Council responsible for system leadership, providing centre of excellence advice and the delivery of our customer facing property functions from across Auckland Council and Eke Panuku, including the management of commercial property, Westhaven, Silo and Viaduct Marinas, and the leasing of our community property facilities. The focus of this team will be to optimise value from our property assets across the council group and ensure decisions are made by appropriately experienced staff who will take into account the council’s overall strategic direction.

    • An Economic Development Office focused on economic development for the council group and responsible for business attraction, social and sector innovation, economic transformation and industry development support with a vision of inclusive, innovative, resilient economic growth for a prosperous Auckland.

    Mr Wilson says he is genuinely excited about the establishment of a highly strategic Urban Development Office within Auckland Council that will take the council’s ability to support regeneration and development for Auckland to a new level.

    “The office will be a clear ‘front door’ and single point of contact for our external investor, developer, private sector, iwi, and Crown agency partners. It will streamline and enhance our ability to achieve smart and sustainable urban development outcomes in strategically prioritised regeneration and growth locations. Including greenfield where appropriate.

    “Likewise, I’m delighted to finalise a robust structure to take a systems-leadership role across the council and bring about consistency in the way we manage our considerable property holdings. Property is a key strategic lever to build strong communities, provide council services, and shape or enable good quality growth. Our new structure will set us up for success by bringing the important and interrelated property functions together.

    “Getting both of these areas right is significant because, as Auckland continues to grow and as government planning, funding and infrastructure policy direction evolves, we need to be ready to respond to the increasing opportunities and challenges,” says Mr Wilson.

    Additionally, Mr Wilson has confirmed decisions to improve the programming and delivery of events, placemaking and activations across the group, resulting in a unified group approach with clearer areas of responsibility for teams. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited would lead regional programming and deliver all regional, mega, major and city centre events; Auckland Council Events would deliver local and civic events; and the Auckland Urban Development Office would lead and deliver placemaking and activation activities in priority locations to mitigate the impact of capital delivery works and regeneration programmes.

    In the city centre, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited will lead events, manage Aotea Square and Te Komititanga and be the primary lead for activations in the city centre. The Auckland Urban Development Office will deliver placemaking and will lead activations in the city centre directly related to capital works and development programmes, particularly where needed to support transformation in regeneration areas or mitigate disruption from construction.

    “These important changes will provide our staff with clear areas of responsibility which is the foundation for effective collaboration. We’ll also begin using a single Auckland Council brand across our events and a shared regional calendar so Aucklanders can have complete picture of what’s happening in their region,” he says.

    Recruitment is now underway for the new positions created in the Auckland Urban Development Office and Property Department and enabling functions to bring the new operating model and structure to life.

    About the CCO Reform Transition Programme

    On 12 December 2024, the Governing Body requested Auckland Council proceed with changes to our CCO model to strengthen the Auckland Council Group. 

    The Mayor and Councillors noted the valued contribution made by all kaimahi and reiterated that this isn’t about changing service levels. This is about reviewing how the services are best delivered. It was agreed that the work would seek to align and reinvigorate the CCO model; strengthen council’s ability to support elected members to make integrated decisions; and ensure the Auckland Council Group is set up in the best way to deliver on its Long-term Plan and broader vision for Auckland.

    Lead by experienced kaimahi from across the council group, there are four workstreams to shape recommendations for a new way of working that ensures we are best set up to deliver for Tāmaki Makaurau: the Structural integration of Eke Panuku and the economic development activities of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited; Strengthening the CCO model; and Transport Reform and Auckland Council Group Shared Services.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: APEC Officials Propel AI and Demographic Agendas Jeju, Republic of Korea | 14 May 2025 Issued by the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting Chairing the meeting, Ambassador Seongmee Yoon emphasized Korea’s vision for a forward-looking and action-oriented APEC agenda this year.

    Source: APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

    As global uncertainties mount and long-term challenges reshape the economic landscape, APEC economies gathered in Jeju this week to accelerate collaboration on connectivity, innovation and prosperity.

    At their two-day meeting, senior officials advanced region-wide efforts on emerging priorities such as artificial intelligence, demographic transformation and economic integration, building on recent ministerial meetings and stakeholder dialogues.

    Chairing the meeting, Ambassador Seongmee Yoon emphasized Korea’s vision for a forward-looking and action-oriented APEC agenda this year.

    “Korea’s priorities this year reflect the urgent need to future-proof our economies,” Ambassador Yoon said. “We are advancing innovation not just in technology, but in how we cooperate, how we trade and how we prepare our people for what’s next. We are strengthening connections across borders, across sectors and between generations. And we are pursuing prosperity that benefits all the people in the region.”

    “This meeting in Jeju is where we take those ideas and turn them into deliverables,” she added. “As we move toward the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Gyeongju, Korea is committed to driving meaningful, cooperative outcomes that benefit the whole APEC region.”

    The meeting opened with updates from key stakeholder groups, including the APEC Business Advisory Council, the Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the APEC Study Centers Consortium.

    Senior officials reviewed outcomes from recent ministerial meetings on ocean sustainability and human resources development, where ministers underscored the need for resilient labor systems and sustainable marine economies. Ministerial meetings on education and trade will follow on 14 and 15–16 May, respectively.

    They also considered the next steps for Korea’s flagship deliverables, including the proposed APEC AI Initiative, which outlines a region-wide approach to harnessing artificial intelligence for inclusive and sustainable growth. The initiative promotes a shared outlook, capacity building and investment in sustainable AI infrastructure.

    Additionally, Korea’s proposed Collaborative Framework on Demographic Changes was discussed, aiming to help economies address the implications of declining fertility rate and aging populations.

    “APEC’s strength lies in its ability to bring economies together to tackle profound challenges without losing sight of practical outcomes,” said Eduardo Pedrosa, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.

    “In Jeju, we’re seeing that in action; real collaboration on the future of artificial intelligence, on adapting to demographic transitions and on strengthening economic integration. These are not abstract goals. They’re essential to building a region that is more competitive, more connected and more resilient.”

    The Committee on Trade and Investment reported progress on economic integration in the region, trade facilitation and the inclusive growth agenda. Discussions also covered the evolution of APEC’s structural reform priorities, services competitiveness and the transition from informal to formal economies.

    Ambassador Yoon encouraged officials to continue building consensus and delivering tangible results ahead of upcoming sectoral ministerial meetings and APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

    “Our work here lays the groundwork for impactful deliverables in Gyeongju,” she concluded. “Let us move forward with clarity, urgency and a commitment to deliver on our vision.” 

    For more information or media inquiries, please contact:
    [email protected]

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 14, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on May 14, 2025.

    Young detainees often have poor mental health. The earlier they’re incarcerated, the worse it gets
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emaediong I. Akpanekpo, PhD Candidate, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Populist rhetoric targeting young offenders often leads to kneejerk punitive responses, such as stricter bail laws and lowering the age of criminal responsibility. This, in turn, has led to more young people being held in detention.

    PNG police authorised to use lethal force with ‘domestic terrorist’ kidnappers as one hostage escapes
    RNZ Pacific An escape of a 13-year-old girl from a hostage crisis on the border of Papua New Guinea’s Western and Hela provinces has boosted hopes for the rescue of her fellow captives. The group of 10 people was taken captive early on Monday morning at Adujmari. PNG Police Commissioner David Manning has called the

    Political parties can recover after a devastating election loss. But the Liberals will need to think differently
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Australia has just had its second landslide election in a row. In 2022, there was a landslide against the Liberals, but not to Labor, which fell over the line (as a majority

    NZ celebrates Rotuman as part of Pacific Language Week series
    By Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai, RNZ Pacific journalist Aotearoa celebrates Rotuman language as part of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ Pacific Language Week series this week. Rotuman is one of five UNESCO-listed endangered languages among the 12 officially celebrated in New Zealand. The others are Tokelaun, Niuean, Cook Islands Māori and Tuvaluan. This year’s theme is, ‘Åf’ạkia

    In Indonesia, Albanese has a chance to reset a relationship held back by anxiety and misperceptions
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hangga Fathana, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) Yogyakarta Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has wasted little time taking his first overseas trip since Labor won a historic victory in Australia’s federal election. He’ll head to Indonesia today to meet the country’s new president, Prabowo

    From GPS to weather forecasts: the hidden ways Australia relies on foreign satellites
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Steer, Chair, Australian Centre for Space Governance, Australian National University Japan Meteorological Agency via Wikimedia You have probably used space at least 20 times today. Satellites let you buy a coffee with your phone, book a rideshare, navigate your way to meet someone, and check the

    Using a blue inhaler alone is not enough to manage your asthma
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Hughes, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, University of Sydney New Africa/Shutterstock Inhalers have been key to asthma management since the 1950s. The most common, salbutamol, comes in a familiar blue-coloured inhaler (or “puffer”). This kind of “rescue inhaler” brings quick relief from asthma symptoms. You may know

    The pay equity puzzle: can we compare effort, skill and risk between different industries?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma Piercy, Lecturer, Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Waikato Getty Images Last week’s move by the government to amend pay equity laws, using parliamentary urgency to rush the reforms through, caught opposition parties and New Zealanders off guard. Protests against the Equal Pay Amendment Bill

    Sussan Ley makes history, but faces unprecedented levels of difficulty
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University As if by visual metaphor, Sussan Ley’s task seemed both obvious and impossible in her first press conference as the new Liberal leader. Three years ago this month, Ley had done something uncannily similar to what Ted O’Brien

    View from The Hill: Ley says Liberals must ‘meet the people where they are’, but how can a divided party do that?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Cynics point out that when a party turns to a woman leader, it is often handing her a hot mess. That’s certainly so with the federal Liberals, now choosing their first female leader in eight decades. For the Liberals, and

    It’s a hard job being environment minister. Here’s an insider’s view of the key challenges facing Murray Watt
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University Australia’s new environment minister, Murray Watt, is reported to be a fixer. That’s good, because there’s a lot to fix. Being environment minister is a hard gig. It often requires difficult choices between environmental and

    AWPA calls on Albanese to raise West Papuan human rights with Prabowo
    Asia Pacific Report An Australian solidarity group for West Papuan self-determination has called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the human rights crisis in the Melanesian region with the Indonesian president this week. Albanese is visiting Indonesia for two days from tomorrow. AWPA has written a letter to Albanese making the appeal for

    The US and China have reached a temporary truce in the trade wars, but more turbulence lies ahead
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Draper, Professor, and Executive Director: Institute for International Trade, and Jean Monnet Chair of Trade and Environment, University of Adelaide Defying expectations, the United States and China have announced an important agreement to de-escalate bilateral trade tensions after talks in Geneva, Switzerland. The good, the bad

    Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider turned lead into gold – by accident
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ulrik Egede, Professor of Physics, Monash University Sunny Young / Unsplash Medieval alchemists dreamed of transmuting lead into gold. Today, we know that lead and gold are different elements, and no amount of chemistry can turn one into the other. But our modern knowledge tells us the

    New Caledonia riots one year on: ‘Like the country was at war’
    SPECIAL REPORT: By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/bulletin editor Stuck in a state of disbelief for months, journalist Coralie Cochin was one of many media personnel who inadvertently put their lives on the line as New Caledonia burned. “It was very shocking. I don’t know the word in English, you can’t believe what you’re seeing,”

    New Caledonia riots one year on: ‘Like the country was at war’
    SPECIAL REPORT: By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/bulletin editor Stuck in a state of disbelief for months, journalist Coralie Cochin was one of many media personnel who inadvertently put their lives on the line as New Caledonia burned. “It was very shocking. I don’t know the word in English, you can’t believe what you’re seeing,”

    From nuclear to nature laws, here’s where new Liberal leader Sussan Ley stands on 4 energy and environment flashpoints
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland Sussan Ley has been elected Liberal leader after defeating rival Angus Taylor in a party room vote on Tuesday. Now the leadership question is settled, the hard work of rebuilding the party can begin. In

    The ‘extroverted’ north and ‘introverted’ south: how climate and culture influence Iranian architecture
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mahsa Khanpoor Siahdarka, PhD Candidate in Built Environment, RMIT University Shutterstock The architecture of northern Iran exhibits an extroverted quality. Buildings are designed to let in the sounds of rain, birds and rustling trees, as well as scents of nature. Architecture in this region is characterised by

    ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 13, 2025
    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on May 13, 2025.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Young detainees often have poor mental health. The earlier they’re incarcerated, the worse it gets

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emaediong I. Akpanekpo, PhD Candidate, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney

    Populist rhetoric targeting young offenders often leads to kneejerk punitive responses, such as stricter bail laws and lowering the age of criminal responsibility. This, in turn, has led to more young people being held in detention.

    In Australia, the number of young people held in detention facilities increased by 8% (from 784 to 845) between the June quarter of 2023 and the June quarter of 2024.

    But what if some of these young people were treated and helped, rather than incarcerated? A series of recently published studies examining mental health in the youth justice population suggests treatment would be more beneficial than punitive measures – some of which may even promote persistent offending.

    Increased incarceration

    New South Wales saw a 31% increase in young people in detention between 2023 and 2024.

    Increases in youth detention numbers have also been reported in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and South Australia over the same period.

    About 60% of young people in detention are First Nations youth.

    Custody as a catalyst

    Young people in the justice system have significantly higher rates of mental ill-health and adverse childhood experiences than their peers in the general population.

    However, less clear is how involvement in the justice system, particularly custody, affects the severity and trajectory of these mental health issues over time.

    Our team examined how exposure to the justice system affected mental health among young people in NSW. We analysed administrative health and justice data over two years post-supervision.

    These data came from more than 1,500 justice-involved youth who participated in the Young People in Custody Health Survey in 2003, 2009 and 2015 and Young People on Community Orders Health Survey between 2003 and 2006.

    We found young people who had spent time in custody faced markedly higher rates of subsequent psychiatric hospitalisation compared with those supervised in the community.

    The risk of psychiatric hospitalisations was higher for those with multiple custody episodes. This demonstrates the significant negative impact of incarceration on the mental health of young people long after they are released.

    We also examined how the impact of custody on psychiatric hospitalisations differed by age.

    We found psychiatric hospitalisation rates were similar among youth aged 14–17 years who had been supervised in the community, compared with those aged 18 and older.

    However, youth aged 14–17 who were placed in custody were hospitalised at significantly higher rates than their older peers aged 18 and above.

    This suggests incarceration is particularly harmful for younger offenders.

    How does this affect crime?

    When we examined the long-term consequences of youth detention on subsequent offending, we found conviction during adolescence, especially before the age of 14, significantly increased the likelihood of later entering the adult prison system.

    Those who were incarcerated during adolescence faced a fivefold increase in the risk of being incarcerated as an adult, compared with young people who’d never been in custody.

    This suggests it may be beneficial to delay the involvement of young people in the justice system to help prevent repeat offending in the future.

    Breaking the cycle

    So what can be done to help?

    In NSW, laws allow young people with mental health conditions to be diverted from judicial processes into treatment. Such laws for young people also exist in other states, although specific models vary.

    While research shows those diverted into treatment have a lower risk of reoffending, less than half of eligible youth receive this option.

    How do we help those who miss out? Our studies examined whether going to mental health services voluntarily (without a court order) could help reduce recidivism.

    Among boys who had been in custody, we found they were 40% less likely to reoffend if they received mental health treatment after release than those who did not receive such treatment.

    A similar, but larger, benefit was observed among boys supervised in the community. There, mental health treatment was associated with a 57% reduction in reoffending risk.

    Evidence-based reform

    Evidence shows punitive measures do not deter youth crime, but instead are likely to perpetuate cycles of offending into adulthood.

    Policymakers should reimagine youth justice to protect young people and create real pathways to rehabilitation.

    Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to delay the onset of formal contact with the justice system aligns with developmental science and prevents early criminalisation of young people.



    Read more:
    Locking up young people might make you feel safer but it doesn’t work, now or in the long term

    Enhancing routine mental health screening in the justice system and expanding access to diversion programs is warranted.

    Our findings on the benefits of routine mental health treatment highlight the potential for more integrated approaches. When combined with wraparound services for health and education, they could be even more effective.

    As detaining a young person costs around $1 million annually, mental health treatment-based approaches make sound financial sense too.

    Tony Butler receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

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

    – ref. Young detainees often have poor mental health. The earlier they’re incarcerated, the worse it gets – https://theconversation.com/young-detainees-often-have-poor-mental-health-the-earlier-theyre-incarcerated-the-worse-it-gets-252376

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders on Trump’s ‘Disastrous’ Reconciliation Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

    WASHINGTON, May 13 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today  gave remarks on the floor of the Senate opposing Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill which will cut Medicaid, nutrition, education, and other programs for working families. 

    Sanders remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched HERE:

    The American people, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, understand that we have a corrupt campaign finance system which allows billionaires and their lobbyists to play an enormously powerful role in electing candidates, defeating candidates and in crafting legislation. This is true of the Democratic Party and it is true of the Republican Party. 

    Today, with Republicans in control of the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, we are seeing how this corrupt process plays out for the priorities of the Republican party and for their billionaire campaign contributors.

    M. President: This so-called reconciliation bill, President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that the Republicans are rushing through the House right now is a rather extraordinary piece of legislation. In many respects, given the crises facing our country, this legislation does exactly the opposite of what should be done.

    It is no secret that we have more income and wealth inequality in our country today than we have ever had.

    Today, the wealthiest man in the world, Mr. Elon Musk, who is now worth more than $400 billion, owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of American society. The top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. And CEOs of large corporations now make over 350 times what their workers make.

    Unbelievably, according to the RAND Corporation, over the past 50 years, nearly $80 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% of the American people to the top 1%.

    What we have seen is the very wealthiest people in America are becoming much richer while at the same time, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and many millions of families are struggling to put food on the table. That is the economic reality of today.

    What does President Trump and Republicans’ reconciliation bill do to address this grossly unfair and unstable situation? What are they doing when the very rich are becoming much richer while working families struggle?

    Here’s the answer: this legislation makes the rich and wealthy campaign contributors even richer while making life harder and more stressful for the working families of our country.

    This legislation provides massive tax breaks to the top 1% and large corporations in our country and pays for these tax cuts by cutting Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, nutrition, education and other programs that are life and death for working families.

    Let me give you one example of how outrageous this legislation is.

    As currently written, this bill provides a $235 billion tax break to the top two-tenths of 1% by increasing the estate tax exemption for couples to $30 million.

    The estate tax is only applicable to the very wealthiest people in this country who inherit substantial sums of money from a relative.

    Under this provision, a couple that inherits $30 million would now pay ZERO tax on that inheritance. Once again, this provision applies only to the top two-tenths of 1% of Americans – the very, very wealthiest people in this country. 99.8% of Americans would not benefit by one nickel under this provision.

    Further, M. President, this legislation would provide a $420 billion tax break to large, profitable corporations that are stashing their profits in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens and who, by the way, are replacing American workers with robots.

    Bottom line: The tax provisions in the reconciliation bill provide huge benefits to the people in our country who need them the least while doing great harm to ordinary Americans. 

    M. President, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent, you know that our current health care system is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is cruel and it is wildly expensive. 

    Despite spending almost twice as much per capita on health care as any other major nation, some 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured. And we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all as a human right.

    So, given that reality, how does this reconciliation bill address the horrific health care crisis in America? Does it expand health care to more Americans and lower the number of uninsured? Does it take on the greed of the insurance companies and the drug companies who make tens and tens of billions of dollars every year by ripping off the people of our country? Is that what this reconciliation bill does? Not quite.

    What this legislation does do is cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act by $715 billion, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would eliminate  health insurance for over 13.7 million Americans. In other words, this legislation makes a very bad situation, in terms of our health care crisis, catastrophically worse.

    If we were to pass this bill, the number of Americans who would be uninsured or underinsured would rise to almost 100 million Americans. In other words, instead of lowering the number of uninsured or underinsured people in this country, this bill greatly increases that number. But that’s not all that this legislation does.

    This bill forces millions of Medicaid recipients who make as little as $16,000 a year to pay a co-pay of $35 each time they visit a doctor when they get sick – up to 5% of their annual income. What will be the impact of that?

    According to a study from Yale University some 68,000 Americans die every year because they don’t get to a doctor on time.

    Now, if you’re making a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year, the odds are that a $35 co-payment will not deter you from going to the doctor. You may not like it, but you fork over the $35 to go to the doctor when you are sick.

    But M. President, if you are a low income American and you are struggling to pay the rent, or you’re struggling to buy food for your kids or pay for child care, that $35 co-pay may be just too much – and the result is that you don’t see the doctor when you should.

    M. President: When you throw almost 14 million Americans off the health insurance they have and when you force low-income people to pay a $35 co-payment that they can’t afford to pay, no one can deny that many thousands more Americans will die if this bill is signed into law.

    This bill is a death sentence for many thousands and thousands of people.

    Further, M. President, when Trump and the Republicans in the House make massive cuts to Medicaid, they are also talking about making massive cuts to community health centers which provide primary health care to over 32 million low-income and working class Americans.

    Community health centers rely on Medicaid for 43% of their revenue. When you make massive cuts to Medicaid you are significantly cutting back on the access that millions of low-income and working class Americans will have to primary health care.

    M. President, it is not just community health centers that would be devastated by this legislation. All across this country,  rural hospitals are shutting down and facing enormous financial pressure. This legislation will only accelerate those closures and bring increased hardship to rural America at a time when rural America already has enough problems.

    Here is what Rick Pollack, the president and CEO of the American Hospital Association said: “These proposed cuts will not make the Medicaid program work better for the 72 million Americans who rely on it. Instead, it will lead to millions of hardworking Americans losing access to health care and many of our nation’s hospitals struggling to maintain services and stay open for their communities.”

    Further, M. President, I hope my colleagues will listen to what Bruce Siegel, the president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals said in opposition to this bill: “Hospitals, which already operate on thin margins, cannot absorb such losses without reducing services or closing their doors altogether.”

    That is exactly what rural America does not need. We don’t need more hospitals shutting down. M. President, we cannot allow that to happen.

    And let’s be clear: It’s not just hospitals and community health centers that are opposed to this legislation. Physicians throughout this country have also come out in strong opposition to this legislation.

    Let me read from a statement issued today in opposition to this bill from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association: “Our organizations, representing more than 400,000 physicians who serve millions of patients, are alarmed by proposals to implement cuts or other structural changes to Medicaid during the budget reconciliation process. Cuts to Medicaid will have grave consequences for patients, communities and the entire health care system. With reduced federal funding, it will be harder for patients to access care, states will be forced to drop enrollees from coverage, and it will limit the health care services patients can access and cut payment rates … The impact of cuts to Medicaid funding is significant and wide-reaching, and it must be reconsidered.”

    That’s what medical organizations in our country representing 400,000 doctors are saying about this disastrous piece of legislation.

    Further, M. President, at a time when 22% of our seniors are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year, this legislation will make it much harder for seniors and people with disabilities to receive the care they desperately need in nursing homes. When Medicaid provides over 60% of the revenue nursing homes rely on, slashing Medicaid will be a disaster for the seniors and disabled who need to live in nursing home care.

    And that’s not all that this legislation is doing.

    For the vast majority of Americans, including myself, who believe that women should have the right to control their own bodies, this bill essentially defunds Planned Parenthood which provides vital health care to millions of women.

    But it is not just our health care system that would be devastated under this legislation.

    While this bill provides massive tax breaks to billionaires, it would cut $290 billion from nutrition programs that would take food away from an estimated 4 million children and about half a million seniors.

    M. President: I don’t know if there is any religion in this world where it would be morally appropriate to take food out of the mouths of hungry kids and frail seniors in order to provide more tax breaks to billionaires?

    Further, M. President: For the many young people in our country struggling with student debt and others who wonder how they will ever be able to afford to go to college, this bill cuts federal funding for education by more than $350 billion.

    What does that mean? Among other things, it means that the average student loan borrower with a bachelor’s degree in America would see his or her loan payments increase by about $3,000 per year – or some $244 a month.

    At a time when college is now unaffordable for millions of young people, at a time when we desperately need a well-educated population and the best educated workforce in the world, this bill moves us in the wrong direction.

    Finally, M. President, at a time when we already spend more on the military than the next nine nations combined and when everyone knows there is massive waste and fraud in the Pentagon, this bill increases defense spending by $150 billion.

    And M. President, this is just some of what’s in this terrible bill. There are many other horrific provisions which are equally damaging that I have not touched upon.

    M. President, it seems to me that this bill reflects exactly what is wrong with our current corrupt political system. When we have massive income and wealth inequality, our job is to demand that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes, not give huge tax breaks to the very rich.

    When 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, our job should be to guarantee health care to every man, woman and child in this country, not throw 13 million Americans off of the health care they currently have.

    When children and seniors go hungry here in the wealthiest country on Earth, our job should be to make sure that all Americans have the nutrition they need to lead healthy lives, not increase the level of hunger in our country. 

    M. President, in many respects, this bill represents exactly why many Americans are giving up on democracy and  have such contempt for Congress. At a time when the richest people have never had it so good, they see Republican leadership working overtime to make the billionaire class even richer. 

    At a time when a majority of Americans are struggling to put food on the table and pay for health care, they see Republican leadership making life even more difficult for average Americans.

    M. President, this is a disastrous piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues to oppose it.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Govt finally admits 180,000 in line for a pay cut

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    The Government finally admitted late last night that roughly 180,000 people will be affected by its decision to halt pay equity claims.

    “Last week the Government killed 33 pay equity claims, pushing the law change through under urgency, with the clear intention of paying for their budget off the backs of hardworking women,” Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.

    “Now the Minister has finally admitted just how many people they’ve screwed over: roughly 180,000 people, mostly women, had their claims tossed out, just in time for Mother’s Day.

    “This is money that was set aside to lift women’s pay, but this Government has chosen to take this money because their Budget didn’t add up. That is a pay cut, plain and simple.

    “These are nurses, teachers, care and support workers who have been fighting for years for pay equity. These are the workforces made up of mostly women, who hold this country together. This is National telling them they are not valued.

    “Across the country thousands of women are making their voices heard and Labour proudly stands with them. We will restore women’s fundamental rights to equal pay for equal work,” Jan Tinetti said.

    Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Mann Applauds House Agriculture Reconciliation Bill to Cut Waste, Strengthen SNAP

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Tracey Mann (Kansas, 1)

    CLICK HERE to download Rep. Mann’s opening remarks.

    CLICK HERE to watch Rep. Mann’s opening remarks on YouTube.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (KS-01) applauded the House Agriculture Committee’s portion of the reconciliation bill during opening remarks of the committee’s markup. The bill institutes long-overdue accountability measures for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), expands work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, and closes loopholes in work requirement waivers. Rep. Mann also praised the investments the bill makes in strengthening the farm economy, expanding the farm safety net, updating reference prices, and investing taxpayer dollars in places they can see a return.

    Rep. Mann’s Opening Remarks as Prepared:

    Thank you, Chairman Thompson, for holding today’s mark up and for your leadership in crafting this legislation that I truly believe will revitalize the farm economy for those who feed, clothe, and fuel the world not just in the Big First District of Kansas but across our country, all while faithfully stewarding taxpayer dollars and creating opportunities for more people to benefit from the dignity of work and achieve the American dream.

    This bill makes crucial investments to support the farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers of the Big First and across rural America. Farmers are struggling, with production costs up over 30 percent and commodity prices down substantially, and they are in desperate need for some degree of relief. We aren’t going to solve all of their problems here today, but we can help provide them some certainty by updating reference prices, expanding access to crop insurance, and increasing investment in export promotion programs. This bill does exactly that, and it will help ensure a safe, reliable, and stable food supply for years to come.

    This legislation also allows us to be forward thinking about the needs of the agricultural community by directing funds to areas with a high return on investment, including by addressing the deferred maintenance backlog at land-grants like Kansas State University for vital ag research and protecting consumers and producers through livestock biosecurity that can fend off growing threats like New World Screwworm. 

    And just as important is the work this legislation does to protect and preserve the SNAP program for those who need it most and ensure that we have a strong safety net for generations to come. We aren’t here today making these reforms to SNAP just because we believe they are more efficient or because they will save us money, we are pursuing these changes because it is wrong to jeopardize the benefits of the single mom taking care of kids too young to be in school or the disabled and elderly in order to subsidize someone who is perfectly capable of making an honest income, but isn’t willing to join the workforce. By definition, these are “able bodied adults without dependents.” These changes will ensure that these individuals are served by the program as it was intended: not as a couch that you can sit on as long as you want, but as a true safety net that gets you back on the ladder of opportunity and back into a job where you can experience the dignity of work and have a shot at the American dream.

    The world doesn’t wait for Congress to act, and global competitors continue to grow stronger every day. Failure is not an option. Agriculture is the backbone of our country, supporting the nation’s food security, trade, and overall economic strength, and today we have in front of us a once in a lifetime opportunity to provide our farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers with certainty, fairness, and the tools they need to keep feeding, clothing, and fueling America. Now is the time for this Committee to step up and deliver for them. Passing this bill is a commitment to rural America and to the future of American agriculture, and I look forward to supporting it today.

    ###

    For more information about Representative Mann, visit: www.mann.house.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Getting kids back in school

    Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

    Frontline attendance services will receive a significant funding boost so they can support more schools and reach double the students, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says.

    Budget 2025 includes a $140 million package to improve attendance over the next four years. This includes around $123 million for the delivery of a new attendance service and almost $17 million to support and strengthen frontline attendance services.

    “Frontline attendance services will be more accountable, better at effectively managing cases, and data driven in their responses. To achieve this, they will soon have access to a new case management system and better data monitoring, and their contracts will be more closely monitored,” Mr Seymour says.

    “In 2024 the Education Review Office (ERO) completed a report into attendance services which found that the system designed to get students back in school was ineffective and required substantial reform. For example, the current system fails to consistently improve student attendance because funding varies between providers. Many services are under resourced and cannot meet demand.

    The 2024 ERO report made four recommendations for a successful new attendance service:

    • Having effective targeted supports in place to address chronic absence
    • Increasing the focus on retaining students on their return
    • Putting in place an efficient and effective model
    • Strengthening how we prevent students becoming chronically absent

    “The new attendance services model addresses the first three recommendations. The wider attendance action plan, which includes the requirement for schools to have their own attendance management plan, aligned with the Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) in place by Term 1 of 2026, will address all four,” Mr Seymour says.

    “Service providers will work with families, local communities and social agencies to deliver comprehensive services. The level of service provided will depend on the need. It will range from advice and support to schools, to intensive case management of students.

    “Schools with the highest numbers of chronically absent students will be able to apply for funding for an in-school service. The schools in this bracket tend to be ones in higher Equity Index (EQI) groups, facing the most socio-economic barriers.”

    Transitioning to the new Attendance Service will begin at the end of this year and the new services will become fully operational from early 2026. The Ministry of Education will work with providers to ensure the transition is smooth, and that students continue to receive the services they need during this period.

    “Attending school is the first step towards achieving positive educational outcomes. Positive educational outcomes lead to better health, higher incomes, better job stability and greater participation within communities. These are opportunities that every student deserves,” Mr Seymour says.

    Please find ERO’s report here: Left behind: How do we get our chronically absent students back to school?

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Senate AG Committee Hearing, Durbin Speaks About Deadly Cost Of Dust Storms, Advocates For Programs To Incentive Farmers To Plant Cover Crops

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    May 13, 2025
    At the top of the hearing, Durbin introduced witness Mrs. Megan Dwyer, Illinoisan and Director of Conservation and Nutrient Stewardship at the Illinois Corn Growers Association
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, introduced Mrs. Megan Dwyer, an Illinoisan and the Director of Conservation and Nutrient Stewardship at the Illinois Corn Growers Association, at today’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.  The hearing, entitled “Perspectives from the Field, Part 4: Conservation,” focused on farm conservation programs to promote soil health, water quality, air quality, and wildlife habitats. 
    “This hearing on conservation has brought some wonderful talent and resources to the Committee room this afternoon.  One of them is my special guest, Mrs. Megan Dwyer, of Coal Valley, Illinois.  A fourth-generation farmer, Megan, along with her husband Todd, run crop and livestock operations with their families in both Coal Valley and Geneseo, [Illinois],” Durbin said as he introduced Mrs. Dwyer.  “Megan also serves as Director of Conservation and Nutrient Stewardship for the Illinois Corn Growers, and her expertise in conservation makes her an especially valuable witness today.”
    “She will be sharing her expertise with the Committee – just like she has shared her knowledge with my staff, members of the Illinois delegation, farm groups, and many other on farm conservation practices,” Durbin said.
    Video of Durbin’s remarks is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s remarks is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s remarks is available here for TV Stations.
    Following the introduction of Mrs. Dwyer, Durbin asked questions of the Committee’s witnesses.  He began by recalling a deadly 72 car pile-up in Central Illinois in 2023, which was caused by a dust storm, and noted that conservation funds are critical to supporting farmers in planting cover crops that mitigate these dust storms.  He then asked Mrs. Dwyer why Illinois, despite its position as a top agricultural state, receives a disproportionately low level of conservation funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
    “Two years ago, my wife was visiting family and called me and told me that something was happening on I-55, which is just south of Springfield.  She said, ‘I’ve been diverted… Must have been an accident.’  It sure was.  In May 2023, on I-55, south of Springfield, there was a 72 vehicle pile-up that took the lives of eight people.  The reason? A dust storm.  The University of Illinois recently completed a study that concluded the lack of ground cover and dry conditions were contributing to that,” Durbin said.
    “Mrs. Dwyer… you indicated that Illinois ranks very low in conservation dollars sent by USDA.  We need more.  Can you explain why we [receive] so few [conservation funds]?” Durbin asked.
    Mrs. Dwyer agreed that Illinois should receive more conservation funds from USDA, but she advocated for more holistic support for farmers, including assistance in completing complex paperwork to request conservation funds as farmers are continually denied funding from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
    “Are we dealing with the commitment being there to move forward, but a lack of resources [for farmers]?” Durbin followed up.
    Mrs. Dwyer affirmed Durbin’s line of thinking, and she spoke about the difficult decision for farmers to convert usable land to be used for conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  Mrs. Dwyer explained that USDA must consider new and innovative programs to incentivize farmers to plant cover crops on their land.
    Video of Durbin’s remarks is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s remarks is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s remarks is available here for TV Stations.
    Durbin has advocated for Illinois to receive USDA conservation funding that is proportionate to Illinois’ ranking as a top agricultural state.  Last August, Durbin led members of the Illinois delegation in writing to USDA, urging the agency to allocate additional conservation funds to Illinois. In her opening statement, Mrs. Dwyer shared that Illinois received an additional $15 million in EQUIP funds last year due to outreach by Durbin and others members of the Illinois delegation to USDA.
    Durbin has also written about the importance of providing farmers with conservation funding, which allows farmers to plant cover crops to mitigate dangerous, and sometimes deadly, dust storms in Central Illinois.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Green Budget: Free GPs for all

    Source: Green Party

    The Green Party has launched its plan for Free GPs as part of its Green Budget.

    “Healthcare isn’t a luxury, it’s a human right we can afford to provide to all,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson.

    “In the last election, we campaigned on providing free dental for all. Today, we’re expanding that to ensure nobody is priced out of receiving the care they need, whether that is from the dentist or the doctor.

    “Successive Governments have failed to invest in the health of our communities, resulting in more and more people falling through the cracks and being left behind. A shocking 44 percent of Māori have an unmet need for primary care.

    “This is just common sense. Free GP visits will reduce the pressure our hospitals are under by stopping small issues becoming big ones that need emergency treatment.

    “Our approach will make sure communities right across the country have access to the care they need with our Community Health Service. We will create community care clinics in the highest need areas first, such as South Auckland, which has an estimated shortage of about 127 GPs.

    “Community not-for-profit primary care providers, such as kaupapa Māori providers, will also be funded to provide free GP and nurse visits alongside the Community Health Service.

    “We will build the workforce we need to support our communities and ensure everyone has access to a GP by maximising the medical student caps at both Auckland and Otago University. This will begin to close workforce gaps and ensure we have what we need to meet increased demand.

    “Rather than leaning on private healthcare and leaving thousands out in the cold like the current Government, we can take control and build a health system that supports all of us and leaves nobody behind,” says Marama Davidson.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Toddler attacked by roaming dogs in front yard

    Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines

    A two-year-old child sustained life-threatening injuries in a horrific dog attack in March 2024.

    The young boy was mauled by two dogs while playing in the front yard of his south Auckland home. The unprovoked and sustained attack left him with several serious wounds to his neck and head, and a fractured shoulder blade, requiring multiple surgeries and a prolonged hospital stay.

    The dogs, two American Bulldogs roamed freely into the child’s yard and attacked him without warning.

    Despite heroic efforts by bystanders and the victim’s mother, who physically lifted her child to safety, the dogs continued to attack. CCTV footage confirmed the brutality of the attack, which ended only when the dogs were forcibly removed and driven away by the owners’ relatives.

    On 30 July 2024, the Auckland Council commenced a criminal prosecution against the owner, laying two charges for owning dogs that attacked a person causing serious injury.

    Last week in the Manukau District Court, Judge Moala sentenced the owner, Ms Janna Faumui who had pleaded guilty to the charges, to 150 hours of community work and ordered her to pay $2,000 in emotional harm reparation to the victim’s family.

    Judge Moala considered that where the victim of a dog attack has suffered near-fatal injuries, the starting point for sentence is likely to be one of imprisonment.

    However, the Judge did not consider imprisonment was appropriate in this particular case given the defendant’s lack of criminal history and there being no indication she was a danger to the community. The defendant was given credit for her early guilty pleas, her lack of conviction history and the remorse she had shown for the offending. 

    Chair of the Regulatory and Safety Committee, Councillor Josephine Bartley expressed heartfelt concern for the toddler.

    “It is not okay for dogs to be roaming or uncontrolled. The trauma and injuries inflicted on this child were horrific and entirely preventable,” she said.

    “Dog owners must understand their responsibilities. This is not optional. If they fail in those duties, we will not hesitate to prosecute.”

    Auckland Council’s General Manager of Licensing and Compliance, Robert Irvine, says this is another devastating example of the serious consequences of roaming dogs in our city.

    “We commend the bravery of the bystanders who tried to intervene in the attack,” said Mr Irvine.

    “No one should ever have to witness such violence, especially a parent.”

    “We have increased the number of Animal Management Officers and their proactive patrolling in high-risk areas, and we are doing all we can to prevent incidences like this from happening, but we can’t be everywhere all the time. We need dog owners to take responsibility for their dogs, keep them contained and not allow them to roam,” adds Irvine.

    The council has confirmed both dogs were voluntarily surrendered and euthanised following the attack.

    Auckland Council urges all dog owners to ensure their pets are secure, well-trained, and never allowed to roam.

    “One moment of negligence can result in a lifetime of pain,” says Mr Irvine.

    Further case highlights dangers of careless dog ownership

    In a separate case in the Manukau District Court, Maxine Hona was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and ordered to pay $200 in emotional harm reparation after her dog, Otis, seriously attacked a visitor in her home in March 2024.

    Despite Ms Hona’s attempt to contain her dog before allowing the victim inside, it escaped and launched a persistent attack, injuring both the visitor and Ms Hona herself.

    The court rejected arguments that this was an exceptional incident and made an order for the dog’s destruction.

    Judge Patel stressed that even one-off failures to control dogs can have devastating consequences.

    This case reinforces Auckland Council’s message: pet ownership comes with absolute responsibility. There is no margin for error when it comes to public safety.

    More information about responsible dog ownership is available on the Auckland Council website. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Foreign engineer delves into China’s EV industry

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    Sitting at his desk, turning on his computer and entering his password, Indian Joseph begins his working day.

    Joseph is an electric drive assembly and testing engineer. This is his third year with Chinese electric vehicle company NIO and his 13th year in China.

    For Joseph, the rapid technological changes in the EV industry are an opportunity to constantly learn new things. “Unlike the traditional automotive industry, there are so many new, constantly improving technologies in EVs. As someone who works at the forefront of R&D, I am constantly exposed to new things, and my technical knowledge and skills are constantly being enriched,” says Joseph.

    Hu Bo, Joseph’s colleague and also an electric drive assembly and testing engineer, praises him: “Joseph has more than ten years of experience in the electric vehicle industry. He is an excellent engineer and has unique methods for solving complex technical problems.”

    “As a global company, overseas engineers are an important part of NIO’s technology ecosystem, helping us better interact with the global market. In order for China’s EV industry to maintain its leading position, it is necessary to attract global innovation resources,” Hu Bo said.

    Thirteen years ago, Joseph, a graduate in automotive engineering from Coventry University in the UK, came to China with hope and excitement.

    Joseph’s initial work was not as an automotive engineer, but at a consulting firm specializing in the automotive industry. “At the time, the Chinese EV industry was in its infancy, and we were mostly doing market analysis,” Joseph says.

    In 2022, Joseph moved to Hefei, Anhui Province, and became an electric vehicle engineer. He believes that, like many Chinese electric vehicle companies, NIO has strong innovation capabilities, and he enjoys challenging and creative work. “Here, I don’t have to follow a template, and I can always implement my ideas.”

    Having worked in China for over a decade, Joseph has witnessed the rapid development of China’s electric vehicle industry: “When I first came here, I never imagined that electric vehicles would develop so quickly in China and would be in every home within a few years.”

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The growth rate and potential of the Chinese market are attractive to American companies

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    Peng Zhenke, president of Pfizer China and chairman of the executive committee of the pharmaceutical research and development working committee of the China Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, recently announced Pfizer’s plans to invest another US$1 billion in China by 2030. The company has already opened a new research and development center in Beijing and an innovation center in Hangzhou.

    Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the academic committee of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce of China, noted that investments by American companies in China can be divided into two main categories:

    First, market-oriented: companies that provide goods and services directly to the Chinese market, such as Tesla, Starbucks, and General Motors, which make significant profits in China.

    Second, global supply chain oriented: companies that use China as an important base for organizing supply chains and creating added value on a global scale, seeking maximum benefit. A typical example is Apple.

    China has enormous growth potential, making it particularly attractive to American companies, especially multinational corporations.

    Cui Shoujun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, identifies three key aspects that determine the irreplaceable strategic value of the Chinese market for many American companies:

    First, the advantages of a super-large market: China, with a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of over 400 million, has huge demand. Growing urbanization in China has driven steady growth in demand for home appliances, automobiles, communications, medical services and other consumer goods.

    Secondly, the obvious advantages of the full industrial chain: China has 41 major industrial categories, 207 medium sub-categories and 666 minor sub-categories, being the only country in the world represented in all industrial sectors of the UN classification. China’s supply chain is not only comprehensive and complete, but also extremely flexible and responsive.

    Third, continuous expansion of high-level opening-up and optimization of the business environment: China creates favorable conditions for the development of foreign companies, including American ones.

    Peng Yu, director of the International Trade Research Department at the Institute of World Economy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, stressed that the Chinese market provides American companies with many business and profit opportunities. China is the largest export market for American soybeans and cotton, the second-largest export market for integrated circuits and coal, and the third-largest export market for medical equipment and automobiles.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: PNG police authorised to use lethal force with ‘domestic terrorist’ kidnappers as one hostage escapes

    RNZ Pacific

    An escape of a 13-year-old girl from a hostage crisis on the border of Papua New Guinea’s Western and Hela provinces has boosted hopes for the rescue of her fellow captives.

    The group of 10 people was taken captive early on Monday morning at Adujmari.

    PNG Police Commissioner David Manning has called the perpetrators “domestic terrorists” and warned that officers were able to use lethal force if needed to secure the release of the hostages.

    The girl Aiyo’s fellow captives are four adults — a teacher and his wife, and a health worker and his wife — along with another four school girls.

    The Post-Courier reports that the kidnappers have demanded the government pay a ransom of K500,000 (NZ$207,000) for the safe release of the captives.

    Aiyo has told police that the kidnappers had threatened to harm the group if no money was forthcoming.

    Assistant Commissioner of Police, Commander Steven Francis, said officers were working around the clock to secure their safe release.

    Locals in the Adujmari district have so far raised more than K11,000 (NZ4500) to try and negotiate the safe release of the group.

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: Deepening China-Latin America ties reflected in daily life

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

    People walk past a Chinese supermarket in Chinatown in Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 10, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MEXICO CITY, May 13 — As exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin American countries continue deepening, Chinese elements such as Chinese restaurants, China-made automobiles and China-built subway trains, as well as various Chinese cultural symbols on the streets, are gradually making more presence in the daily lives of locals, turning the vision of deepening interactions between China and Latin American countries into reality.

    Performers demonstrate hanfu attire during an event celebrating the UN Chinese Language Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
    People watch a lion dance performance at the fourth edition of the Chinese New Year culture festival, in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 25, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    People visit the pavilion of China at the 41st Expocomer in Panama City, the capital of Panama, March 26, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    People have meals at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown in Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 10, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    An electric and combustion dual-power train manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. awaits departure at the central station in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 19, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    People take an electric bus manufactured by Chinese bus maker Yutong in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, March 31, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Liang Qing (L), a Chinese language teacher at the Confucius Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, instructs a Peruvian student in writing Chinese calligraphy in Lima, capital of Peru, April 22, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Performers present a dragon dance during the “China in Lujan” festival in Lujan, Argentina, May 4, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A girl performs during the third edition of the Chinese New Year Cultural Festival at the National Center for the Arts (CENART) in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, Feb. 3, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Political parties can recover after a devastating election loss. But the Liberals will need to think differently

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University

    Australia has just had its second landslide election in a row.

    In 2022, there was a landslide against the Liberals, but not to Labor, which fell over the line (as a majority government) by three seats and with just over 32% of the primary vote. But the Coalition – actually Liberal – loss of seats, at 19, was the kind of result usually associated with the term “landslide”.

    In 2025, we have a genuine landside to Labor. At the time of writing, the ABC has declared a Labor gain of 15 seats (78 to 93), but with the strong likelihood of one more, and an outside chance of another.

    Labor’s share of the two-party preferred vote sits at 54.8%. To add a bit of historical perspective: Labor’s two-party preferred vote is lower than the Coalition’s in the so-called Vietnam election of 1966 (56.9%) and the Dismissal election of 1975 (55.7%), but better than John Howard’s in 1996 (53.6%) and Tony Abbott’s in 2013 (53.5%). The Coalition managed 94 seats in a slightly smaller House of Representatives of 148 (compared to 150 at the 2025 election) in 1996. Labor might also land on 94 this time, once the counting is done.

    For Labor, it is a victory on a scale only rivalled – and indeed slightly overshadowed statistically – by John Curtin’s wartime election in 1943, when Labor gained 49 seats in a House of 74. That was two-thirds of the available seats and perhaps 58% of the two-party preferred vote. (The full distribution of preferences only came in later elections). In 2025, Labor is likely to land on just under 63% of the House.

    Big majorities carry their own headaches, as Labor’s factional wrestling of recent days reminds us. But a big loss is a much worse ordeal for the loser.

    First, there is the problem of finding a leader. He, or she, will be selected from depleted ranks. They will often inherit a demoralised party that will lack belief in its ability to return to office in a single term – allowing that there has been no one-termer in Australian federal politics since the Scullin government (1929-32).

    Sussan Ley, the new Liberal leader, will realise – or should realise – that as a leader elected following such a defeat, her chances of ever making it to the prime ministership are slim.

    Since the second world war, a new leader chosen after a loss of office has never become prime minister. Peter Dutton, who became opposition leader in 2022, joined Billy Snedden (after 1972), Kim Beazley (1996), Brendan Nelson (2007) and Bill Shorten (2013) as those who never went on to lead the country.

    But any leader who slips into the role – either re-elected or for the first time – after a big loss is a long shot to make it. The best example we have from the postwar era is Gough Whitlam, elected leader in February 1967 after one of the biggest landslides in Australian political history, won by Harold Holt at the 1966 election. It is therefore worth revisiting what he did to get there.

    Whitlam biographers such as Graham Freudenberg and Jenny Hocking have offered us a detailed picture of Whitlam’s systematic work on reforming the party and policy as part of his pitch to the people. The Liberals could do worse than think in those terms as they contemplate their rebuild. They have vast work to do on all of those fronts.

    As a party, Labor was a basketcase in 1967. In Victoria, it was dominated by a group of left-wing unionists and members who seemed more concerned with maintaining ideological purity than winning elections. Whitlam taunted them at the state conference in 1967 that “certainly, the impotent are pure”.

    But between 1967 and 1972, Whitlam and his allies – some of them on the left outside Victoria – modernised the party’s structures and rules, and moderated left-wing domination of the Victorian branch. Alongside these reforms came a comprehensive policy overhaul – the formulation of what Whitlam reverentially called “The Program” – drawing on a vast network of experts across the country and the most compelling models from other countries.

    This was paired with a redesign of the party’s image that helped it win back a vast number of voters at the 1969 election, culminating in the remarkable, election winning “It’s Time” campaign in 1972.

    It was a six-year effort, and it was far from easy. But it is perhaps the best modern example we have of what a shattered party needs to do to win back office.

    Labor faced similar challenges after 1975 and, although the process was messier, Bob Hawke’s eventual election in March 1983 owed much to a process of reform of Labor party, policy and image led by Bill Hayden between 1977 and 1983. This time, it was the Queensland branch of the party – Hayden’s own – that needed an overhaul, which it received through federal intervention of the kind applied to Victoria a decade before.

    Labor also worked out a Prices and Incomes Accord with the union movement, designed to avoid many of the economic and political problems experienced by Whitlam in government, such as runaway inflation. Hayden, like Whitlam before him, crafted an electable opposition. Hawke, however, reaped the benefit after he replaced Hayden on the eve of the 1983 campaign.

    There are lessons here for the Liberals. First, they can no longer avoid party reform. Their post-election reviews of recent times often read like Gothic tales: indeed, I could recommend the Western Australian one after the 2021 state election only to those with stomachs capable of standing up to slasher movies.

    Second, the 2025 election revealed a Coalition policy wasteland. Some, such as the idea of a nuclear power plants across the country, were daft. Others, like cuts to the fuel excise for a year – coinciding with a decline in petrol prices – were dross. Others again simply made it appear the Coalition was making it up as it went along. It would be hard to conceive of anything further removed from the best examples we have of policy rebuilding by shattered parties.

    Finally, there are the people. Who, exactly, are the Liberals trying to win over? From May 2022, Dutton seemed to have his eye on Labor voters in the outer suburbs, but he did very little that was likely to win them over. He did even less to win over groups who have turned decisively away from the Liberals in recent years, such as women and the young.

    Whatever efforts they made to win over the so-called multicultural communities, such as Chinese-Australian voters, were undone by clumsy messaging from the ministerial ranks about “spies”. In the end, it often seemed that Dutton – and possibly also most of the survivors of 2022 – didn’t have their hearts in appealing to the kinds of voters who had turned to the teals, Labor and Greens in 2022. They preferred to commune with their own.

    The impotent are still pure: the Liberals emerge from the 2025 campaign unsullied by a dalliance with strangers. They now have their reward. Whether a party organisation with branches dominated by the ideologue, the conservative, the elderly and the eccentric can act as an instrument for forging a new electoral alliance of the kind that set up the party in the 1940s for decades of success must be considered doubtful. There is no Robert Menzies on the horizon. And there is no Liberal movement speaking a language of progress rather than reaction.

    This is the greatest crisis faced by Australia’s centre right since 1943 – and we can be certain that, unlike Ben Chifley, Anthony Albanese won’t do his opponents the favour of trying to nationalise the banks.

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

    – ref. Political parties can recover after a devastating election loss. But the Liberals will need to think differently – https://theconversation.com/political-parties-can-recover-after-a-devastating-election-loss-but-the-liberals-will-need-to-think-differently-232695

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Green Budget: Early Childhood Education for Everyone

    Source: Green Party

    The Green Party has unveiled its new plan to make Early Childhood Education (ECE) free.

    “This is about making ECE for everyone,” says Green Party co-leader, Marama Davidson.

    “Every child deserves the best possible start in life. However, ECE costs are a huge stress and barrier for many families.

    “Families in Aotearoa face some of the highest ECE costs in the world. A lot of families pay around $10,000 a year per child – making ECE the biggest household cost after housing for many.

    “One of the main reasons for this is corporate greed. Too much money meant for our children disappears into corporate profits, while parents pay sky-high fees and teachers earn far too little.

    “Our plan makes ECE accessible for whānau while enhancing the quality of care our tamariki receive.

    “We will initially cap charges at $10 per day per child on top of the current 20-hour free entitlement. This represents a significant shift from the $12 an-hour some families currently pay. By 2029, we will make ECE free by raising the entitlement to 35 hours a week.

    “This is what ECE can look like when we put our kids first and push aside the corporate greed that is dominating the sector.

    “A large portion of the Government’s funding for ECE goes straight into the pockets of for-profit chains. These for-profit providers benefit from hundreds of millions in public subsidies while charging high fees and paying low wages to teachers which impacts upon the quality of care. Teacher’s working conditions are our children’s learning conditions.

    “Our Budget covers the full cost of delivering quality ECE, ending subsidies to corporations and instead supporting community-based and public centres that prioritise the needs of our kids, not the interests of shareholders.

    “With a Green Government, whānau will have the confidence that their tamariki are receiving quality care, without huge costs,” says Marama Davidson.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –