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Category: Great Britain

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mystery solved: our tests reveal the tiny algae killing fish and harming surfers on SA beaches

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Murray, Professor; Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney

    Anthony Rowland

    Confronting images of dead seadragons, fish and octopuses washed up on South Australian beaches – and disturbing reports of “more than 100” surfers and beachgoers suffering flu-like symptoms after swimming or merely breathing in sea spray – attracted international concern last week.

    Speculation about the likely cause ranged from pollution and algae to unusual bacterial infections or viruses. Today we can reveal the culprit was a tiny – but harmful – type of planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi.

    The SA government sent us water samples from Waitpinga Beach, Petrel Cove Beach, Encounter Bay Boat Ramp and Parsons Headland on Tuesday. We studied the water under the microscope and extracted DNA for genetic analysis.

    Our results revealed high numbers of the tiny harmful algal species – each just 20 microns in diameter (where one micron is one thousandth of a millimetre). While relatively common in Australian coastal waters, blooms of K. mikimotoi occur only sporadically. But similar harmful algal blooms and fish kills due to K. mikimotoi have happened in the past, such as the 2014 bloom in Coffin Bay, SA. And this latest one won’t be the last.

    Sick surfers and dead marine life from strange sea foam (ABC News)

    Harmful algal blooms

    Single-celled, microbial algae occur naturally in seawater all over the world.

    They are also called phytoplankton, because they float in the water column and photosynthesise like plants. “Phyto” comes from the Greek word for plant and “plankton” comes from the Greek word for wanderer, which relates to their floating movement with ocean currents and tides.

    Like plants on land, the microalgae or phytoplankton in the ocean capture sunlight and produce up to half the oxygen in our atmosphere. There are more than 100,000 different species of microalgae. Every litre of seawater will normally contain a mixed group of these different microalgae species.

    But under certain conditions, just a single species of microalgae can accumulate in one area and dominate over the others. If we are unlucky, the dominant species may be one that produces a toxin or has a harmful effect.

    This so-called “harmful algal bloom” can cause problems for people and for marine life such as fish, invertebrates such as crabs, and even marine mammals such as whales and seals.

    There are hundreds of different species of harmful algae. Each produces its own type of toxin with a particular toxic effect.

    Most of these toxic chemical compounds produced by harmful algae are quite well known, including neurotoxins that affect the brain. But others are more complicated, and the mechanisms of toxicity are poorly understood. This can make it more difficult to understand the factors leading to the deaths of fish and other marine life. Unfortunately, the toxins from K. mikimotoi fall into this latter category.

    Introducing Karenia mikimotoi

    Karenia mikimotoi under the microscope.
    Shauna Murray

    The species responsible for recent events in SA beaches, K. mikimotoi, causes harmful algal blooms in Asia, Europe, South Africa and South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand. These blooms all caused fish deaths, and some also caused breathing difficulties among local beachgoers.

    The most drastic of these K. mikimotoi blooms have occurred in China over the past two decades. In 2012, more than 300 square kilometres of abalone farms were affected, causing about A$525 million in lost production.

    Explaining the toxic effects

    Microalgae can damage the gills of fish and shellfish, preventing them from breathing. This is the main cause of death. But some studies have also found damage to the gastrointestinal tracts and livers of fish.

    Tests using fish gill cells clearly show the dramatic toxic effect of K. mikimotoi. When the fish gill cells were exposed to intact K. mikimotoi cells, after 3.5 hours more than 80% of the fish cells had died.

    Fortunately, the toxin does not persist in the environment after the K. mikimotoi cells are dead. So once the bloom is over, the marine environment can recover relatively quickly.

    Its toxicity is partly due to the algae’s production of “reactive oxygen species”, reactive forms of oxygen molecules which can cause the deaths of cells in high doses. K. mikimotoi cells may also produce lipid (fat) molecules that cause some toxic effects.

    Finally, a very dense bloom of microalgae can sometimes reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water column, which means there is less oxygen for other marine life.

    The human health effects are not very well known but probably relate to the reactive oxygen species being an irritant.

    K. mikimitoi cells can also produce “mucilage”, a type of thick, gluey substance made of complex sugars, which can accumulate bacteria inside it. This can cause “sea foam”, which was evident on beaches last week.

    South Australia’s marine emblem, the leafy seadragon, washed up dead on the beach.
    Anthony Rowland

    Unanswered questions remain

    A question for many people is whether increasing water temperatures make blooms of K. mikimotoi more likely.

    Another concern is whether nutrient runoff from farms, cities and aquaculture could cause more harmful algal blooms.

    Unfortunately, for Australia at least, the answer to these questions is we don’t know yet. While we know some harmful algal blooms do increase when nutrient runoff is higher, others actually prefer fewer nutrients or colder temperatures.

    We do know warmer water species seem to be moving further south along the Australian coastline, changing phytoplankton species abundance and distribution.

    While some microalgal blooms can cause bioluminescence that is beautiful to watch, others such as K. mikimotoi can cause skin and respiratory irritations.

    If you notice discoloured water, fish deaths or excessive sea foam along the coast or in an estuary, avoid fishing or swimming in the area and notify local primary industry or environmental authorities in your state.

    Shauna Murray receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the New South Wales Recreational Fisheries Trust, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and the Storm and Flood Industry Recovery Program. She is President of the Austalasian Society of Phycology and Aquatic Botany and past chair of the NSW Shellfish Committee.

    Greta Gaiani 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. Mystery solved: our tests reveal the tiny algae killing fish and harming surfers on SA beaches – https://theconversation.com/mystery-solved-our-tests-reveal-the-tiny-algae-killing-fish-and-harming-surfers-on-sa-beaches-252810

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Security of payment: preventing enforcement of adjudicated amounts to contractors in precarious financial positions

    Source: Allens Insights (legal sector)

    Stays granted even if contractors are not insolvent 6 min read

    The Queensland Supreme Court has granted a stay preventing enforcement of a judgment debt obtained by a contractor in reliance upon an adjudication decision pursuant to the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) (BIF Act).

    In this Insight, we consider Taringa Property Group Pty Ltd v Kenik Pty Ltd [2024] QSC 327 and similar cases in NSW and Victoria, with a focus on two key questions:

    • can contractors in liquidation benefit from security of payment legislation?
    • how do courts approach stay applications made by the principal where the contractor is solvent, but in a precarious financial position?

    Key takeaways 

    • Taringa Property Group is a welcome development for principals in Queensland as it lays the foundation for seeking a stay, even when a contractor is not in liquidation.
    • Insolvency remains a major challenge for contractors, who may now experience more difficulties in enforcing payment of adjudicated amounts which can, in turn, exacerbate cash flow problems.
    • Courts maintain a wide discretion and will consider each stay application on its own facts and circumstances—however, a major consideration is how long the stay will likely be.
    • We expect to see an increase in security of payment adjudication and related court litigation as a result of the likely reforms in Victoria.

    Taringa Property Group Pty Ltd v Kenik Pty Ltd [2024] QSC 327

    TPG (Principal) engaged Kenik (Contractor) to design and construct a retail complex at Taringa.

    The contract ended in August 2023 and the Contractor made a final payment claim in September 2023 for $9.7 million. Following the Principal issuing a payment schedule (with a scheduled amount of nil), the Contractor made an adjudication application under the BIF Act, where the adjudicator awarded the Contractor $4.2 million. The Contractor obtained judgment in respect of the adjudicated amount.

    The Principal commenced two applications in the Queensland Supreme Court:

    • First, seeking to have the adjudication decision declared void for jurisdictional error or, in the alternative, a stay of the judgment debt.
    • Second, seeking final relief relating to the contract (specifically, that the Contractor is not entitled to retain the adjudicated amount).

    The court warned that considerable caution should be given to the granting of the stay as it detracts from the primary purpose of the BIF Act in enabling a contractor to be paid.1 Any risk of non‑recovery of payments made under the BIF Act as a consequence of the financial failure of the contractor after the receipt of the BIF payment is generally to lie with the principal.2

    The court gave three examples of circumstances of when a stay might be granted:3

    • where the contractor has taken steps to make the task of recovering any BIF payment more difficult for the principal by way of restructuring its financial affairs;
    • where the contractor engages in tactics to delay the resolution of the substantive proceeding;4 or
    • where the contractor is in liquidation or in some form of external administration due to liquidity issues at the time the BIF payment would otherwise be made.

    Essentially, there needs to be a real risk that the Principal will suffer prejudice or damage if a stay is not granted. However, Justice Hindman rejected the proposition that the risk must reach the level of certainty before a stay might be granted—in other words, the threshold is not so high that the contractor must actually be in external administration or must be positively proved to be hopelessly or otherwise insolvent.5

    Justice Hindman found ‘undisputed’ evidence of serious financial instability and that, if a stay is granted, the Contractor is most likely to financially fail.6 It was further observed that, even if it received the adjudicated amount, the Contractor was still likely to go into external administration as it would be insufficient to satisfy its debts.

    The court concluded that if the stay was refused, there would be a very high risk that the Contractor would not be able to repay the adjudicated amount should the Principal succeed in its claim for final relief. The practical effect of refusing the stay would be to transform the Contractor’s interim entitlement under the BIF Act into a final payment, unable to be recovered by the Principal, and at odds with the intended operation of the BIF Act.

    In a separate proceeding following this decision, a creditor of the Contractor successfully obtained an order that the Contractor be wound up.7

    The decision is currently under appeal.

    Discussion 

    Insolvency has been a major challenge for contractors, who are experiencing obstacles at every turn—high inflation, regulatory reforms, supply-chain issues, delayed effects of the pandemic, labour shortages etc. The main purpose of the BIF Act (and equivalent acts) is to help contractors be paid for the work they do, so stays to delay payment to contractors may have significant consequences and could potentially increase insolvency rates in the industry.

    New South Wales

    Since 2019, NSW has had a prohibition on companies in liquidation using the security of payment process8—the only jurisdiction in Australia to have such an express carveout. Companies in liquidation may not serve or enforce payment claims, or make applications for adjudication of a payment claim.

    Where contractors are not in liquidation, courts have been cautious in light of the policy of the statute and have undertaken a close analysis of the extent or certainty of the risk of prejudice or damage if a stay is not granted. Nevertheless, courts have been ready and willing to grant stays if the failure to do so would have the practical effect of making permanent that which, clearly enough, the legislature intended to be only interim.9

    Recently, the NSW Supreme Court noted that, although it does make it harder to obtain a stay when the contractor is not in liquidation, it by no means follows that a stay cannot be obtained unless it is.10

    The court further observed that:

    ‘up to a point, the more financial difficulty the contractor is in, the less reason there is for granting a stay, as the more likely it will be that the grant of such a stay will result in the contractor being deprived of the cashflow which is needed to sustain its operations. It is only when insolvency becomes inevitable, or at least highly probable, that the dynamics reverse because of the possibility that an interim payment will effectively become final.’11

    Indeed, in another recent decision, the court considered that even a ‘significant risk’ was not sufficiently certain of financial difficulty such that a stay should be granted.12 We note, however, in that case the contractor continued to trade, unlike the contractor in Taringa Property Group.

    The decision in Taringa Property Group, although the first of its kind in Queensland, is consistent with the approach taken in NSW.

    Victoria

    Victorian principals can still run the argument that contractors in liquidation may not use the payment regime, though this is unlikely to be without serious consideration by the courts due to conflicting decisions on this issue.13

    There is also a question of whether, in seeking a stay against a contractor who is not in liquidation, a principal is required to show that there is more than a real risk the contractor would not be able to repay the adjudicated amount in order to succeed.14

    At least one decision has granted such a stay, without requiring that higher standard.15 In that case, the stay was justified—save the fact of the parlous financial circumstances of the contractor—on the basis that it would be limited in time, and therefore minimal in the prejudice it caused the contractor.16 The likely takeaway is that, where the court is able to grant the stay on conditions or for a limited time period, application of a higher standard in the form of more than a real risk may be less relevant.

    On a wider note, principals in Victoria should be prepared to engage in more and broader adjudications in the near future as a result of the likely reforms to the current Victorian act. Consequently, it is expected that there will be an increase in proceedings seeking final determination of rights under contract and corresponding stay applications.

    To read more about Victoria’s proposed reforms, including the removal of Victoria’s unique ‘excluded amounts’ regime, removal of the concept of ‘reference dates’, an introduction of a blackout period and the introduction of a new provision allowing notice-based time bars to be declared unfair, see Government support for security of payment reform in Victoria.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Search continues for woman missing on Flinders Island

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Search continues for woman missing on Flinders Island

    Monday, 24 March 2025 – 2:20 pm.

    Police are continuing to search the Flinders Island area for 68-year-old Victoria Jean Paine.
    The White Beach resident has not been seen or heard from since Wednesday 19 March and there are concerns for her welfare.
    Police from Flinders Island and Launceston along with SES volunteers, and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter have been involved in searches over the weekend.
    The search will continue today, including a targeted ground search and sea search utilising police divers on Police Vessel Cape Wickham. 
    Anyone with information or who may have been contacted by Victoria after 2pm Wednesday should contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Four missing people rescued in Far North

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Four people stranded in the State’s Far North have been rescued.

    Shortly after 4pm on Sunday 23 March, contact was made with a group of four missing people who had become stranded in the outback after suffering mechanical issues with their car.

    The group had left Oodnadatta on Friday at 4pm, believed to be heading to Finke in the Northern Territory. However, concerns were raised when the group had failed to arrive.

    Supplies, including food and a satellite phone, were provided to the group yesterday.

    The four people were successfully retrieved and transported to Coober Pedy this afternoon.

    There were no reports of injuries.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Silicosis is ruining the lungs of construction workers. An AI-powered breath test can detect it in minutes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Alexander Donald, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney

    Irene Miller/Shutterstock

    Silicosis is an incurable but entirely preventable lung disease. It has only one cause: breathing in too much silica dust. This is a risk in several industries, including tunnelling, stone masonry and construction.

    Just last week, ABC reported that 13 workers from tunnelling projects in Sydney have been diagnosed with silicosis. It’s yet another reminder that current diagnostic methods are limited. They often detect the disease only after the lungs already have significant damage.

    Our new study, published in the Journal of Breath Research, provides the latest results on a breath test for detecting silicosis powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s non-invasive and measures dozens of molecules to identify silicosis in just minutes.

    The test we’ve developed achieved over 90% accuracy in differentiating silicosis patients from healthy individuals. This is better than traditional lung function tests.

    While our test is yet to be trialled in real-world clinics, our results so far suggest breath testing could become a crucial tool in workplace health screening. Early detection would prevent suffering and disease progression, and reduce healthcare costs.

    Silicosis is a growing problem – but hard to detect

    Currently, more workers in New South Wales, elsewhere in Australia and internationally are being diagnosed with silicosis at younger ages. The Australian government has responded by banning engineered stone, but that doesn’t address ongoing risks in other industries.

    Patients with silicosis often describe a feeling like they are slowly being strangled, with every breath becoming more difficult over time. In advanced stages, silicosis can be fatal unless patients can access a lung transplant.

    The only way to stop the progression of silicosis is removing affected workers from further silica exposure. This is why diagnosing patients in the early stages – before irreversible lung damage occurs – is critical.

    However, this isn’t easy to achieve. Lung function testing and chest X-rays only identify the problem once irreversible lung damage has occurred. In some cases, patients also need CT scans and invasive biopsy to confirm diagnosis. But CT scans, although much higher resolution, also rely on visible signs of silicosis.

    And these methods are costly and take time, making it harder to easily screen the thousands of workers who could be at risk.

    This is where breath testing comes in.

    Research team members Merryn Baker (left) and Dr Laura Capasso supervise a study participant providing a breath test sample for analysis.
    Richard Freeman/UNSW

    How breath tests can detect disease

    Human breath contains hundreds of volatile organic compounds – small gas molecules that come from metabolic processes in the body, as well as the environment.

    The composition of these molecules changes in response to physiological conditions like disease. However, volatile organic compounds are often present in extremely low concentrations – we need highly sensitive technology to detect them reliably.

    Our team has developed tools that can detect volatile organic compounds at concentrations as low as parts per trillion. This is equivalent to detecting a single drop of liquid diluted in multiple Olympic-sized swimming pools.

    This level of sensitivity allows us to identify very small biochemical changes in breath. AI is key to this approach. Our machine learning model analyses breath samples to tell apart healthy individuals and those with silicosis.

    This builds on our previous work using AI to analyse blood plasma for early Parkinson’s disease detection with high accuracy and interpretability, which allows us to determine the chemical features that contribute the most to model accuracy. Interpretability refers to the ability to understand and explain how the AI model arrives at its predictions, providing insights into which data inputs are most important.

    Now, we have applied similar methods to breath analysis. Thanks to the sensitivity of our test, we could potentially detect silicosis at very early stages.

    Breath samples could be collected at scale at workplaces to monitor the health of at-risk workers.
    Richard Freeman/UNSW

    How well does it work?

    In our new study, the breath test was trialled on 31 silicosis patients and 60 healthy controls. The AI-powered model successfully distinguished silicosis cases with over 90% accuracy.

    The test takes less than five minutes per sample, making it feasible for large-scale health screening. Additionally, the test doesn’t require subjects to fast or undergo any special preparation beforehand.

    An important question in breath analysis is whether external factors, such as diet or smoking, influence test results. Our study included smokers and non-smokers in both silicosis and healthy control groups, and the test maintained high accuracy.

    Our results show great promise, but there are challenges to overcome. The test relies on highly sensitive instrumentation that, while compact (less than a cubic metre), still requires technical expertise to operate.

    The AI-powered breath test involves specialised tools to perform the analysis.
    Richard Freeman/UNSW

    Currently, breath samples are collected in clinics and transported to a lab for analysis. We hope future iterations could allow for testing in workplace settings, creating routine screening programs. Further validation in larger, diverse worker populations is also necessary before full implementation.

    The next phase of research will involve refining the AI model and expanding real-world testing to thousands of silica-exposed workers who might be at risk.

    While routine medical evaluations will still be necessary for at-risk workers, the addition of breath analysis could enable more continuous monitoring than what is currently practical. It could help detect silicosis earlier, before the symptoms become irreversible, reducing long-term health risks.

    Acknowledgements: Aruvi Thiruvarudchelvan and Jeff Gordon also contributed to this research.

    William Alexander Donald receives funding from the Australian Research Council, iCare Dust Diseases Board, Coal Services NSW Health & Safety Trust, US National Institutes of Health and several industry research contracts. He is an advisor to Preview Health and Mass Affinity. He is president of the Australian & New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry.

    Deborah Yates is an occupational respiratory physician and a director of Thomas-Yates Pty Ltd, a medical services company, and an expert advisor to the Asbestos & Dust Diseases Research Institute, Concord, NSW. She is an independent director of the board of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a global advisor to the Royal College of Physicians of London, independent member of the NSW Mine Safety Advisory Council and Councillor to the Australian Society of Salaried Medical Officers (ASMOF) of NSW, the doctors’ union. She acts also as an advisor to Tuberous Sclerosis Australia and LAM Australasia. She receives no funding for any of these roles. She has recently received funding for investigator-initiated grants from Boehringer Ingelheim and iCare NSW as well as the Coal Services Trust, and has previously participated in several industry initiated research studies into asthma and chronic cough. She is a member of the iCare Medical Advisory Panel. She has in the past acted in an advisory capacity and given paid lectures for Glaxo Smith Klein, Astra Zeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim. She has no shares in mining companies or pharmaceutical companies and is not a member of any political parties.

    Merryn Baker’s PhD research was funded by UNSW through the Scientia Scheme.

    – ref. Silicosis is ruining the lungs of construction workers. An AI-powered breath test can detect it in minutes – https://theconversation.com/silicosis-is-ruining-the-lungs-of-construction-workers-an-ai-powered-breath-test-can-detect-it-in-minutes-252640

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Investigation team calling for information about former police officer

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Investigation team calling for information about former police officer

    Monday, 24 March 2025 – 1:08 pm.

    As was announced on 26 February, Tasmania Police is conducting an investigation into former police officer Dale Cook, who has been charged with allegedly accessing child exploitation material.
    Acting Commissioner Jonathan Higgins said the investigation is examining Cook’s entire career to determine whether he used his position as a police officer to commit child sexual abuse crimes or any other criminal offending and identify any misconduct during his employment with Tasmania Police.
    “The investigation has independent oversight by the Integrity Commission and is being run concurrently with the criminal case he is currently facing charges over,” Acting Commissioner Higgins said.
    “We strongly encourage anyone with information to come forward, as every piece of information, no matter how small, can be key to the outcome of an investigation.”
    “The investigators would like to hear from anyone with information by 5 May 2025, however information after this time will of course still be examined.”
    “The specialist investigation team recognises the need to offer choice and confidentiality to anyone wanting to provide information.”
    There are several ways information can be provided to investigators.
    This includes:

    Sending a direct email to the investigation team at cookinvestigation@police.tas.gov.au
    Submitting an online form which allows you the option or remaining anonymous, or providing your details if you are willing to be contacted.
    Submitting a report to the Tasmania Police Professional Standards online portal.
    If you would like to meet in person, contact the investigation team at cookinvestigation@police.tas.gov.au and they will arrange this at a time and place that ensures confidentiality.

    “An important part of the investigation is also receiving any relevant information from people who have previously been in the workplace with Dale Cook, and our staff are being contacted to facilitate this.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: (WIP) High Court says no to travelling Group Costs Orders

    Source: Allens Insights (legal sector)

    Impact on class action landscape: Victoria’s magnet effect 7 min read

    In the first of a string of upcoming decisions about the class action landscape, the High Court of Australia handed down judgment in Bogan v Smedley on 12 March 2025.1 The Court held that a group costs order (GCO) made in a class action commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria could not travel to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and that, consequently, neither could the proceeding.

    Key takeaways 

    Background

    The legislative regime

    Group costs orders

    In every state and territory across Australia, legislation prohibits a law practice from charging contingency fees. Since July 2020, however, Victorian legislation has contained an exception for GCOs—orders allowing the representatives of plaintiffs in a class action to recover as costs a specified percentage of any award or settlement obtained in the proceeding.

    To make a GCO, the Supreme Court of Victoria must be satisfied that it is ‘appropriate or necessary to ensure that justice is done in the proceeding’.2

    Transfer of proceedings

    At the heart of this proceeding was s1337H(2) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), which allows a court to transfer a proceeding to another court if it appears to the first court that, ‘having regard to the interests of justice’, it is more appropriate for the second court to determine the matter.

    Notably, this provision only applies to a proceeding with respect to a civil matter arising under, relevantly, the Corporations Act or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (ASIC Act).

    The Arrium proceeding

    On 14 August 2020, a class action was commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria against the directors of Arrium Ltd (Arrium) and its auditor, alleging contraventions of the Corporations Act, the ASIC Act and the Australian Consumer Law. There was evidence that the proceeding was originally intended to be filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where Arrium had its principal place of business and where the relevant events had largely taken place. The High Court inferred that the ultimate choice to file in Victoria rather than NSW was to take advantage of the availability of GCOs.

    The plaintiffs applied for a GCO on 2 February 2021. On 26 February 2021, one of the defendants applied to transfer the proceeding to the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

    The Supreme Court of Victoria made orders that the GCO application be determined first, before the transfer application. As noted by the High Court, no objection was taken to that order at the time. A GCO was then made in favour of the plaintiffs’ solicitors entitling them to 40% of any award or settlement (the Arrium GCO).

    The transfer application was not ultimately dealt with by the Supreme Court of Victoria. Instead, three questions arising on that application were removed to the Victorian Court of Appeal:

    1. whether the Arrium GCO would remain in force if the proceeding were transferred to the Supreme Court of New South Wales;
    2. if not, whether the absence of the Arrium GCO in the Supreme Court of New South Wales was a relevant factor to the transfer application; and
    3. whether the proceeding should be transferred.

    Decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal

    In respect of those questions, the Victorian Court of Appeal unanimously held that:

    1. the Arrium GCO would not remain in force if the proceeding were transferred to the Supreme Court of New South Wales;
    2. this was relevant to (and decisive of) the transfer application; and
    3. the proceeding should not be transferred.

    The same questions were subsequently removed to the High Court for determination.

    Summary of findings

    A majority of the High Court (Chief Justice Gageler, Justices Gordon, Gleeson, Jagot and Beech-Jones ) and Justice Edelman (in separate reasons) reached the same conclusion on each question as the Court of Appeal. Justice Steward disagreed on the second question, holding that the availability or not of a GCO in the Supreme Court of New South Wales was not relevant to the transfer application.

    Would the Arrium GCO remain in force in NSW?

    The parties agreed that the Supreme Court of New South Wales had no power to make an order in the nature of the Arrium GCO. The issue for the High Court instead turned on whether a provision of the Corporations Act would give legal force to the Arrium GCO if the proceeding were transferred.

    The High Court held that it would not. To the contrary, the provision could only apply if the Supreme Court of New South Wales had power to make an order providing for at least ‘similar steps’ to the Arrium GCO. The parties agreed it did not have that power and, accordingly, the Arrium GCO could not be carried into NSW. 

    Was the absence of the Arrium GCO relevant to the transfer application?

    The majority held that the absence of the Arrium GCO could not be ignored in considering whether transfer to NSW was in ‘the interests of justice’. Importantly, it was agreed between the parties that there was not a realistic prospect of alternative funding being obtained in the absence of the Arrium GCO. In this regard the majority stated that the capacity of the plaintiffs and class members to obtain access to justice ‘bear[s] vitally’ on the interests of justice,4 a sentiment echoed by Justice Edelman.5 In the views of the majority and Justice Edelman, these matters were decisive of the transfer application because, on the facts of the case, there was a ‘considerable risk’ that the proceeding would not be able to continue without the GCO.6

    By contrast, Justice Steward held that the Arrium GCO was not relevant to, and so not determinative of, the transfer application. His Honour disagreed with the majority on the basis that a GCO offers a plaintiff an advantage (a way of ensuring the financial viability of a proceeding) and imposes on a defendant a corresponding disadvantage (being subjected to a proceeding which would not be viable in any other jurisdiction). To consider the Arrium GCO a relevant factor would, in his Honour’s view, be for the court to ‘play favourites’.7 As his Honour noted, NSW did not cease to be a place where the plaintiffs could obtain justice merely because Victoria introduced laws introducing an exception to an otherwise national ban on contingency fees, and nor did those laws mean NSW was not a suitable forum in which to litigate class actions.

    Will a GCO always anchor proceedings to Victoria?

    The majority also noted that common factors bear on the determination of GCO applications and transfer applications. As noted above, the former involves consideration of whether the GCO is appropriate or necessary to ensure that justice is done, while the latter involves an inquiry into ‘the interests of justice’. While the High Court stopped short of articulating a general rule, its reasoning suggests that where a GCO has been made (because the court is satisfied that it is appropriate or necessary to ensure that justice is done), that will tend in favour of it being in the interests of justice that the proceeding remains in Victoria.

    Looking ahead

    One route not taken by the parties in this case was to challenge the sequence in which the Supreme Court of Victoria dealt with the GCO and transfer applications. If the transfer application was heard before the making of the GCO, the transfer application would have been decided by reference only to the connections the proceeding had to Victoria and NSW respectively. It remains to be seen what the attitude of the courts will be to that kind of challenge, however, it may be one strategy open to parties faced with similar circumstances in future.

    The majority’s reasoning also suggests a potential shift in the High Court’s approach to considering factors relevant to the ‘interests of justice’ and similar assessments. The High Court previously held that whether an action can proceed is not relevant to that inquiry.8 By contrast, in Bogan v Smedley, the majority and Justice Edelman held that whether the action could proceed was relevant to an inquiry into whether the transfer was ‘in the interests of justice’. As further matters come before the High Court which require a similar analysis, it will be interesting to monitor the extent to which the Court considers the survival of a proceeding to be relevant to ‘ensuring justice is done’.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Giving rivers room to move: how rethinking flood management can benefit people and nature

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christina McCabe, PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Ecology, University of Canterbury

    Shutterstock/S Watson

    When we think about flood management, higher stop banks, stronger levees and concrete barriers usually come to mind. But what if the best solution – for people and nature – isn’t to confine rivers, but to give them more space?

    This alternative is increasingly being considered as an approach to mitigating flood risk. But allowing rivers room to move also delivers ecological benefits far beyond flood risk reduction. It supports biodiversity, improves water quality and stores carbon.

    As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme floods, rethinking our approach to managing floodplain rivers has never been more urgent.

    Climate change, floods and river confinement

    Climate change is amplifying flood risks worldwide, and Aotearoa New Zealand is no exception. Large floods are expected to become much more frequent and severe, threatening communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.

    Many of these risks are made worse by past management decisions that have artificially confined rivers within narrow channels, cutting them off from their natural floodplains.

    Floodplain river systems have historically been dynamic, shifting across landscapes over time. But extensive stop banks, modification of river channels and land development have restricted this natural variability.

    Strangling rivers in this way transfers and heightens flood risks downstream by forcing water through confined channels at greater speeds. It also degrades ecosystems that rely on the natural ebb and flow of river processes.

    The Waiau River, a gravel-bed braided river in the South Island, has been constrained by land development, primarily for agriculture.
    Background satellite image: Google (c) 2025 Airbus, CC BY-SA

    Giving rivers space to roam

    The idea of allowing rivers to reclaim space on their floodplains is not new.

    In the Netherlands, the Room for the River programme was a response to flooding in 1995 that led to large-scale evacuations of people and cattle. In England, predictions that economic risks associated with flooding will increase 20-fold within this century ignited the Making Space for Water strategy.

    However, these initiatives typically remain focused on flood protection, overlooking opportunities to maximise ecological benefits. Our new research shows that well-designed approaches can deliver ecological gains alongside flood protection.

    This is crucial because floodplain river systems are among the most valuable ecosystems. They provide about a quarter of all land-based ecosystem services such as water retention and pollutant filtration, as well as educational, recreational and cultural benefits.

    Managing rivers for variability

    A fundamental shift in river management involves acknowledging and accommodating natural variability. Floodplain rivers are not static: they change across landscapes and through time, responding to seasonal flows, sediment movement and ecological processes.

    Braided rivers are an example of floodplain rivers that have natural variability and diverse habitat types.
    Angus McIntosh, CC BY-SA

    Our research synthesises the ecological processes that are enabled when floodplain rivers have room to move.

    Rivers that are not unnaturally confined are typically more physically complex. For instance, along with the main river channel, they might have smaller side channels, or areas where the water pools and slows, springs popping up from below ground to re-join the surface waters, or ponds on the floodplain.

    A diverse range of habitats supports a rich variety of plant and animal life. Even exposed gravel, made available in rivers that flow freely, provides critical nesting sites for endangered birds.

    Biodiversity is not one-dimensional. Instead, it exists and operates at multiple scales, from a small floodplain pond to a whole river catchment or wider. In a dynamic, ever-changing riverscape, we might find the genetic composition of a species varying in different parts of the river, or the same species of fish varying in their body size, depending on the habitat conditions.

    These examples of natural biological variability enable species and ecosystems to be resilient in the face of uncertain future conditions.

    Rivers that have room to move on their floodplains are highly dynamic. This diagram shows the main types of ecological variability in a free-flowing river: physical variability, habitat heterogeneity and variable ecosystem processes.
    Adapted from McCabe et al. 2025 Nature Water, CC BY-SA

    At a larger scale, the type and number of species that live in different floodplain river habitats also varies. This diversity of biological communities produces variation in the functions ecosystems perform across the river, such as the uptake of nutrients or processing of organic matter. This can even help to diversify food webs.

    These variations mean not all species or groups of species in the river will be vulnerable to the same disturbances – such as droughts or floods – at the same time. This is because plants and animals in rivers have evolved to take advantage of long-term rhythms of floods and droughts in different ways.

    For instance, the cottonwood poplars of the southwest United States time their seed release with the highly predictable rhythms of snowmelt-driven spring floods in that part of the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, whitebait fish species typically deposit their eggs during high autumn flows, which then get transported to sea as larvae during high winter flows.

    Some animals need multiple habitats within the river for different stages of life. Other creatures travel from afar to use river floodplains for only a short time. The latter includes the banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus), endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. This bird travels as far as 1,700km to nest on braided-river gravels each spring. Banded dotterels are in decline, and they rely on habitats provided by rivers that have space to roam.

    The endangered black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus) uses gravel bar habitats on river floodplains for nesting.
    Angus McIntosh, CC BY-SA

    A call for more sustainable river management

    As climate change accelerates, we must rethink how we manage our waterways. Reinforcing levees and deepening channels may seem like logical responses to increased flood risk, but these approaches often exacerbate long-term vulnerabilities and transfer risk elsewhere.

    We call for practitioners to broaden the scope of values included in river management policy and programmes to include ecological variability.

    Nature-based solutions are approaches that seek to benefit both people and nature. By working with nature rather than against it, we can create landscapes that are more resilient, adaptive, and supportive of both people and biodiversity.

    It’s time to embrace a new paradigm for river management – one that sees rivers not as threats to be controlled, but as lifelines to be protected and restored.

    Christina McCabe receives funding through an Aho Hīnātore doctoral research scholarship at the University of Canterbury.

    Jonathan Tonkin receives funding from a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and the Centre of Research Excellence Te Pūnaha Matatini. He also receives funding from the Antarctic Science Platform and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

    – ref. Giving rivers room to move: how rethinking flood management can benefit people and nature – https://theconversation.com/giving-rivers-room-to-move-how-rethinking-flood-management-can-benefit-people-and-nature-251225

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Pro-Palestinian protesters challenge NZ’s Winston Peters at state of the nation speech

    Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

    Like a relentless ocean, wave after wave of pro-Palestinian pro-human rights protesters disrupted New Zealand deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ state of the nation speech at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday.

    A clarion call to Trumpism and Australia’s One Nation Party, the speech was accompanied by the background music of about 250 protesters outside the Town Hall, chanting: “Complicity in genocide is a crime.”

    Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) co-chair John Minto described Peters’ attitude to Palestinians as “sickening”.

    Inside the James Hay Theatre, protester after protester stood and spoke loudly and clearly against the deputy Prime Minister’s failure to support those still dying in Gaza, and his failure to denounce the ongoing genocide.

    Ben Vorderegger was the first of nine protesters who appealed on behalf of people who have lost their voices in the dust of blood and bones, bombs and sniper guns.

    Before he and others were hauled out, they spoke for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza — women, men, doctors, aid workers, journalists, and children.

    Gazan health authorities have reported that the official death toll is now more than 50,000 — but that is the confirmed deaths with thousands more buried under the rubble.


    The Christchurch Town Hall protest.            Video:PSNA

    Real death toll
    The real death toll from the genocide in Gaza has been estimated by a reputed medical journal, The Lancet, at more than 63,000. A third of those are children. Each day more children are killed.

    One by one the protesters who challenged Peters were manhandled by security guards to a frenzied crowd screaming “out, out”.

    The deputy Prime Minister’s response was to deride and mock the conscientious objectors. He did not stop there. He lambasted the media.

    At this point, several members of his audience turned on me as a journalist and demanded my removal.

    Pro=Palestine protesters at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday to picket Foreign Minister Winston Peters at his state of the nation speech.Image: Saige England/APR

    This means that not only is the right to free speech at stake, the right or freedom to report is also being eroded. (I was later trespassed by security guards and police from the Town Hall although no reason was supplied for the ban).

    Inside the Christchurch Town Hall the call by Peters, who is also Foreign Minister, to “Make New Zealand Great Again” continued in the vein of a speech written by a MAGA leader.

    He whitewashed human rights, failed to address climate change, and demonstrated loathing for a media that has rarely challenged him.

    Ben Vorderegger in keffiyeh was the first of nine protesters who appealed on behalf of Palestinans before
    being thrown out of the Christchurch Town Hall meeting. Image: Saige England/APR

    Condemned movement
    Slamming the PSNA as “Marxist fascists” for calling out genocide, he condemned the movement for failing to talk with those who have a record of kowtowing to violent colonisation.

    This tactic is Colonial Invasion 101. It sees the invader rewarding and only dealing with those who sell out. This strategy demands that the colonised people should bow to the oppressor — an oppressor who threatens them with losing everything if they do not accept the scraps.

    Peters showed no support for the Treaty of Waitangi but rather, endorsed the government’s challenge to the founding document of the nation – Te Tiriti o Waitangi. In his dismissal of the founding and legally binding partnership, he repeated the “One Nation” catch-cry. Ad nauseum.

    Besides slamming Palestinians, the Scots (he managed to squeeze in a racist joke against Scottish people), and the woke, Peters’ speech promoted continued mining, showing some amnesia over the Pike River disaster. He did not reference the environment or climate change.

    After the speech, outside the Town Hall police donned black gloves — a sign they were prepared to use pepper-spray.

    PSNA co-chair John Minto described Peters’ failure to stand against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians as “bloody disgraceful”.

    The police arrested one protester, claiming he put his hand on a car transporting NZ First officials. A witness said this was not the case.

    PSNA co-chair John Minto (in hat behind fellow protester) . . . the failure of Foreign Minister Winston Peters to stand against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is “bloody disgraceful”. Image; Saige England/APR

    Protester released
     The protester was later released without any charges being laid.

    A defiant New Zealand First MP Shane Jones marched out of the Town Hall after the event. He raised his arms defensively at protesters crying, “what if it was your grandchildren being slaughtered?”

    I was trespassed from the Christchurch Town Hall for re-entering the Town Hall for Winston Peters’ media conference. No reason was supplied by police or the Town Hall security personnel for that trespass order..

    “The words Winston is terrified to say . . . ” poster at the Christchurch pro-Palestinian protest. Image: Saige England/APR

    It is well known that Peters loathes the media — he said so enough times during his state of the nation speech.

    He referenced former US President Bill Clinton during his speech, an interesting reference given that Clinton did not receive the protection from the media that Peters has received.

    From the over zealous security personnel who manhandled and dragged out hecklers, to the banning of a journalist, to the arrest of someone for “touching a car” when witnesses report otherwise, the state of the nation speech held some uncomfortable echoes — the actions of a fascist dictatorship.

    Populist threats
    The atmosphere was reminiscent of a Jorg Haider press conference I attended many years ago in Vienna. That “rechtspopulist” Austrian politician had threatened journalists with defamation suits if they called him out on his support for Nazis.

    Yet he was on record for doing so.

    I was reminded of this yesterday when the audience called ‘out out’ at hecklers, and demanded the removal of this journalist. These New Zealand First supporters demand adoration for their leader or a media black-out.

    Perhaps they cannot be blamed given that the state of the nation speech could well have been written by US President Donald Trump or one of his minions.

    The protesters were courageous and conscientious in contrast to Peters, said PSNA’s John Minto.

    He likened Peters to Neville Chamberlain — Britain’s Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940. His name is synonymous with the policy of “appeasement” because he conceded territorial concessions to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, fruitlessly hoping to avoid war.

    “He has refused to condemn any of Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, including the total humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza.”

    Refusal ‘unprecedented’
    “It’s unprecedented in New Zealand history that a government would refuse to condemn Israel breaking its ceasefire agreement and resuming industrial-scale slaughter of civilians,” Minto said.

    “That is what Israel is doing today in Gaza, with full backing from the White House.

    “Chamberlain went to meet Hitler in Munich in 1938 to whitewash Nazi Germany’s takeovers of its neighbours’ lands.

    “Peters has been in Washington to agree to US approval of the occupation of southern Syria, more attacks on Lebanon, resumption of the land grab genocide in Gaza and get a heads-up on US plans to ‘give’ the Occupied West Bank to Israel later this year.

    “If Peters disagrees with any of this, he’s had plenty of chances to say so.

    “New Zealanders are calling for sanctions on Israel but Mr Peters and the National-led government are looking the other way.”

    New Zealand First MP Shane Jones marched out of the Town Hall after the event, dismissing protesters crying, “what if it was your grandchildren being slaughtered?” Image: Saige England/APR

    Only staged questions
    The conscientious objectors who rise against the oppression of human rights are people Winston Peters regards as his enemies. He will only answer questions in a press conference staged for him.

    He warms to journalists who warm to him.

    The state of the nation speech in the Town Hall was familiar.

    Seeking to erase conscientiousness will not make New Zealand great, it will render this country very small, almost miniscule, like the people who are being destroyed for daring to demand their right to their own land.

    Saige England is a journalist and author, and a member of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA). She is a frequent contributor to Asia Pacific Report and Café Pacific.

    Part of the crowd at the state of the nation speech by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday. Image: Saige England/APR

    This article was first published on Café Pacific.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged after police seize shortened semi-automatic rifle from vehicle

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged after police seize shortened semi-automatic rifle from vehicle

    Monday, 24 March 2025 – 10:19 am.

    A man has been charged with multiple firearms and drug-related offences after police seized a shortened semi-automatic rifle and a significant quantity of cash during a vehicle search at Westbury yesterday.
    Uniform officers from Central North attempted to intercept a vehicle on Mary Street before locating the vehicle parked behind a Westbury business.
    The driver – a 33 year old Kings Meadows man- was drug tested and returned a positive result.
    During a subsequent search of his vehicle, police located and seized a shortened semi-automatic rifle, quantities of methylamphetamine, illegal stimulants and prescription drugs and more than $120,000 in cash believed to be proceeds of crime.
    The driver was charged with multiple firearm and drug-related offences, including possess prohibited firearm to which a firearms licence may not be issued, possess shortened firearm, possess controlled drug and dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime.
    He was detained to appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court today.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Firearms and ammunition surrendered to police during amnesty drive

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Firearms and ammunition surrendered to police during amnesty drive

    Monday, 24 March 2025 – 11:10 am.

    Police continue to encourage Tasmanians to surrender illegal or unwanted firearms and related items, after eight firearms and a large quantity of ammunition were surrendered as part of a mobile amnesty drive over the weekend. 
    “As part of a firearms amnesty drive across the state over the weekend, eight firearms and a large quantity of ammunition were surrendered to police,” said Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar.
    “This is eight firearms now out of our community that can’t get into the wrong hands and be used to commit crime or cause harm.” 
    Included in the surrendered firearms were one shotgun, three rifles, two air rifles, one pistol and one gel blaster that has the appearance of a firearm. 
    “While it’s pleasing that people surrendered these items, we know there continues to be people in our community that have illegal or unwanted firearms, which is a concern.” 
    “Under Tasmania’s permanent firearms amnesty you can surrender illegal or unwanted firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, or gel blasters that have the appearance of a firearm at any time without fear of being prosecuted for the possession.” 
    “If you have items to surrender, or you know of someone who has illegal firearms, please contact police on 131 444.” 
    Crime Stoppers Tasmania Ambassador, Mark Mewis said, “if you suspect that someone has an illegal firearm or ammunition, you can help keep your community safe by sharing what you know with Crime Stoppers.” 
    “The public can provide information anonymously to Crime Stoppers, safely and without the need to say who you are, get involved, or put yourself at risk of harm. Submit your tip at crimestopperstas.com.au or on 1800 333 000,” added Mr Mewis.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Pro-Palestinian protesters challenge Peters at state of the nation speech

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Saige England in Christchurch

    Like a relentless ocean, wave after wave of pro-Palestinian pro-human rights protesters disrupted New Zealand deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ state of the nation speech at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday.

    A clarion call to Trumpism and Australia’s One Nation Party, the speech was accompanied by the background music of about 250 protesters outside the Town Hall, chanting: “Complicity in genocide is a crime.”

    Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) co-chair John Minto described Peters’ attitude to Palestinians as “sickening”.

    Inside the James Hay Theatre, protester after protester stood and spoke loudly and clearly against the deputy Prime Minister’s failure to support those still dying in Gaza, and his failure to denounce the ongoing genocide.

    Ben Vorderegger was the first of nine protesters who appealed on behalf of people who have lost their voices in the dust of blood and bones, bombs and sniper guns.

    Before he and others were hauled out, they spoke for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza — women, men, doctors, aid workers, journalists, and children.

    Gazan health authorities have reported that the official death toll is now more than 50,000 — but that is the confirmed deaths with thousands more buried under the rubble.

    Real death toll
    The real death toll from the genocide in Gaza has been estimated by a reputed medical journal, The Lancet, at more than 63,000. A third of those are children. Each day more children are killed.

    One by one the protesters who challenged Peters were manhandled by security guards to a frenzied crowd screaming “out, out”.

    The deputy Prime Minister’s response was to deride and mock the conscientious objectors. He did not stop there. He lambasted the media.

    At this point, several members of his audience turned on me as a journalist and demanded my removal.

    Pro-Palestine protesters at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday to picket Foreign Minister Winston Peters at his state of the nation speech. Image: Saige England/APR

    This means that not only is the right to free speech at stake, the right or freedom to report is also being eroded. (I was later trespassed by security guards and police from the Town Hall although no reason was supplied for the ban).

    Inside the Christchurch Town Hall the call by Peters, who is also Foreign Minister, to “Make New Zealand Great Again” continued in the vein of a speech written by a MAGA leader.

    He whitewashed human rights, failed to address climate change, and demonstrated loathing for a media that has rarely challenged him.

    Ben Vorderegger in keffiyeh was the first of nine protesters who appealed on behalf of Palestinans before
    being thrown out of the Christchurch Town Hall meeting. Image: Saige England/APR

    Condemned movement
    Slamming the PSNA as “Marxist fascists” for calling out genocide, he condemned the movement for failing to talk with those who have a record of kowtowing to violent colonisation.

    This tactic is Colonial Invasion 101. It sees the invader rewarding and only dealing with those who sell out. This strategy demands that the colonised people should bow to the oppressor — an oppressor who threatens them with losing everything if they do not accept the scraps.

    Peters showed no support for the Treaty of Waitangi but rather, endorsed the government’s challenge to the founding document of the nation – Te Tiriti o Waitangi. In his dismissal of the founding and legally binding partnership, he repeated the “One Nation” catch-cry. Ad nauseum.

    Besides slamming Palestinians, the Scots (he managed to squeeze in a racist joke against Scottish people), and the woke, Peters’ speech promoted continued mining, showing some amnesia over the Pike River disaster. He did not reference the environment or climate change.

    After the speech, outside the Town Hall police donned black gloves — a sign they were prepared to use pepper-spray.

    PSNA co-chair John Minto described Peters’ failure to stand against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians as “bloody disgraceful”.

    The police arrested one protester, claiming he put his hand on a car transporting NZ First officials. A witness said this was not the case.

    PSNA co-chair John Minto (in hat behind fellow protester) . . . the failure of Foreign Minister Winston Peters to stand against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is “bloody disgraceful”. Image; Saige England/APR

    Protester released
     The protester was later released without any charges being laid.

    A defiant New Zealand First MP Shane Jones marched out of the Town Hall after the event. He raised his arms defensively at protesters crying, “what if it was your grandchildren being slaughtered?”

    I was trespassed from the Christchurch Town Hall for re-entering the Town Hall for Winston Peters’ media conference. No reason was supplied by police or the Town Hall security personnel for that trespass order..

    “The words Winston is terrified to say . . . ” poster at the Christchurch pro-Palestinian protest. Image: Saige England/APR

    It is well known that Peters loathes the media — he said so enough times during his state of the nation speech.

    He referenced former US President Bill Clinton during his speech, an interesting reference given that Clinton did not receive the protection from the media that Peters has received.

    From the over zealous security personnel who manhandled and dragged out hecklers, to the banning of a journalist, to the arrest of someone for “touching a car” when witnesses report otherwise, the state of the nation speech held some uncomfortable echoes — the actions of a fascist dictatorship.

    Populist threats
    The atmosphere was reminiscent of a Jorg Haider press conference I attended many years ago in Vienna. That “rechtspopulist” Austrian politician had threatened journalists with defamation suits if they called him out on his support for Nazis.

    Yet he was on record for doing so.

    I was reminded of this yesterday when the audience called ‘out out’ at hecklers, and demanded the removal of this journalist. These New Zealand First supporters demand adoration for their leader or a media black-out.

    Perhaps they cannot be blamed given that the state of the nation speech could well have been written by US President Donald Trump or one of his minions.

    The protesters were courageous and conscientious in contrast to Peters, said PSNA’s John Minto.

    He likened Peters to Neville Chamberlain — Britain’s Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940. His name is synonymous with the policy of “appeasement” because he conceded territorial concessions to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, fruitlessly hoping to avoid war.

    “He has refused to condemn any of Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, including the total humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza.”

    Refusal ‘unprecedented’
    “It’s unprecedented in New Zealand history that a government would refuse to condemn Israel breaking its ceasefire agreement and resuming industrial-scale slaughter of civilians,” Minto said.

    “That is what Israel is doing today in Gaza, with full backing from the White House.

    “Chamberlain went to meet Hitler in Munich in 1938 to whitewash Nazi Germany’s takeovers of its neighbours’ lands.

    “Peters has been in Washington to agree to US approval of the occupation of southern Syria, more attacks on Lebanon, resumption of the land grab genocide in Gaza and get a heads-up on US plans to ‘give’ the Occupied West Bank to Israel later this year.

    “If Peters disagrees with any of this, he’s had plenty of chances to say so.

    “New Zealanders are calling for sanctions on Israel but Mr Peters and the National-led government are looking the other way.”

    New Zealand First MP Shane Jones marched out of the Town Hall after the event, dismissing protesters crying, “what if it was your grandchildren being slaughtered?” Image: Saige England/APR

    Only staged questions
    The conscientious objectors who rise against the oppression of human rights are people Winston Peters regards as his enemies. He will only answer questions in a press conference staged for him.

    He warms to journalists who warm to him.

    The state of the nation speech in the Town Hall was familiar.

    Seeking to erase conscientiousness will not make New Zealand great, it will render this country very small, almost miniscule, like the people who are being destroyed for daring to demand their right to their own land.

    Saige England is a journalist and author, and a member of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA). She is a frequent contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

    Part of the crowd at the state of the nation speech by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday. Image: Saige England/APR

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Firearms Incident in Lutana

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Firearms Incident in Lutana

    Saturday, 22 March 2025 – 9:06 am.

    Around 9:30pm on Friday 21 March 2025 police were notified that a firearm was discharged into a residential address on Derwent Park Road, Lutana causing damage to a window.
    Several people were inside the property, thankfully, no one was injured.
    A crime scene was declared for the purpose of forensic examination.
    Witnesses observed a silver hatch style vehicle leaving the area through Goodwood.
    The incident appears targeted and there is no suggestion of a risk to the wider community.
    If you were in the area around the time and witnessed suspicious activity or have dash cam or CCTV footage of the silver vehicle, please phone 131 444 or contact Crime Stoppers Tasmania on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au.
    Information can be provided anonymously. Please quote Offence Report 770152.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Closing of 19th Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Closing of 19th Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games

    Saturday, 22 March 2025 – 2:00 pm.

    Emergency service workers and volunteers will today mark the closing of the 19th Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games.
    Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Rob Blackwood said the games had brought together not just police, fire, ambulance and SES, but also those emergency staff that work in customs, corrections, royal lifesaving, environment and the coast guard.
    “Throughout the week we have seen participants enjoying both friendship and sportsmanship, with more than 2,000 competitors in over 50 individual sporting events and over 5,000 medals being presented to our competitors.” he said.
    “It was extraordinary to see everyone come together to support one another while also enjoying some healthy competition. Supporting the mental and physical health of police officers, as well as other emergency services is extremely important, and we hope this year every participant is walking away with great memories.”
    “This year more than 200 volunteers also donated their time to make the games possible and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank them, as well as all of the sponsors, clubs and venues who are hosting the events.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Murder Investigation Underway

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Murder Investigation Underway

    Saturday, 22 March 2025 – 2:49 pm.

    Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of an incident at Dickson Street, Glenorchy on 11 March where a man sustained a serious head injury.
    “Sadly, police can advise the man has died earlier today in the Royal Hobart Hospital, and our thoughts are with the young man’s family and friends,” said Detective Acting Inspector Nicholas Bowden, from Glenorchy CIB.
    The police investigation is now a murder inquiry.
    Emergency services were called to the scene about 11.30pm on 11 March, arriving to find a 19-year-old man unconscious and non-responsive outside a property.
    “The young man has received a stab wound to the head.  A police investigation is ongoing into the circumstances surrounding this incident,” he said.
    “Detectives are following a specific line of inquiry.  Investigations indicate that the person or people responsible and the victim knew each other, and that this was an isolated incident.
    “If anyone has any information in relation about this matter, I ask them to come forward.
    “In particular, if anyone saw a small four door sedan, possibly silver in colour, with several occupants, in the area of Dickson Street at the time, please contact Police.  We are particularly interested in dash cam or other CCTV vision.”
    Information can be provided to direct to Glenorchy CIB on 131 444 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers Tasmania at crimestopperstas.com.au or on 1800 333 000 – quote OR769213.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM tells councils to prove action on pothole plague to unlock extra cash and reveals £4.8bn for major roads

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    PM tells councils to prove action on pothole plague to unlock extra cash and reveals £4.8bn for major roads

    The Plan for Change is tackling the pothole plague, building vital roads and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer

    • £1.6 billion investment to tackle scourge of potholes to be delivered to councils from next month as PM tells councils to put cash to use
    • for the first time every council in England must publish how many potholes they’ve filled or lose road cash
    • local authorities that comply will receive their full share of the £500 million roads pot – enough to fill the equivalent of 7 million potholes a year, as part of the government’s Plan for Change
    • government also announces £4.8 billion for 25/26 for motorways and major A-roads including economy boosting road schemes on the A47 and M3

    The public will now see exactly what’s being done to tackle potholes, as the government demands councils prove their progress or face losing cash. 

    From mid-April, local authorities in England will start to receive their share of the government’s record £1.6bn highway maintenance funding, including an extra £500m – enough to fill 7 million potholes a year. 

    But to get the full amount, all councils in England must from today (24 March 2025) publish annual progress reports and prove public confidence in their work. Local authorities who fail to meet these strict conditions will see 25% of the uplift (£125m in total) withheld.

    Also today, the Transport Secretary has unveiled £4.8bn funding for 2025/6 for National Highways to deliver critical road schemes and maintain motorways and major A-roads.

    This cash will mean getting on with pivotal schemes in construction, such as the A428 Black Cat scheme in Cambridgeshire, and starting vital improvements to the A47 around Norwich and M3 J9 scheme in Hampshire, building thousands of new homes, creating high-paid jobs, connecting ports and airports, to grow the economy and deliver the Plan for Change.  

    It comes as figures from the RAC show drivers encounter an average of 6 potholes per mile in England and Wales, and pothole damage to cars costs an average £600 to fix. According to the AA, fixing potholes is a priority for 96% of drivers. 

    This government is delivering its Plan for Change to rebuild Britain and deliver national renewal through investment in our vital infrastructure which will drive growth and put more money in working people’s pockets by saving them costs on repairs.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

    The broken roads we inherited are not only risking lives but also cost working families, drivers and businesses hundreds – if not thousands of pounds – in avoidable vehicle repairs. Fixing the basic infrastructure this country relies on is central to delivering national renewal, improving living standards and securing Britain’s future through our Plan for Change.

    Not only are we investing an additional £4.8 billion to deliver vital road schemes and maintain major roads across the country to get Britain moving, next month we start handing councils a record £1.6 billion to repair roads and fill millions of potholes across the country.

    British people are bored of seeing their politicians aimlessly pointing at potholes with no real plan to fix them. That ends with us. We’ve done our part by handing councils the cash and certainty they need – now it’s up to them to get on with the job, put that money to use and prove they’re delivering for their communities.

    The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: 

    After years of neglect we’re tackling the pothole plague, building vital roads and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer.

    The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they will have to show progress or risk losing 25 per cent of their £500m funding boost. 

    Our Plan for Change is reversing a decade of decline and mending our pothole-ridden roads which damage cars and make pedestrians and cyclists less safe.

    To ensure councils are taking action, they must now publish reports on their websites by 30 June 2025, detailing how much they are spending, how many potholes they have filled, what percentage of their roads are in what condition, and how they are minimising streetworks disruption.

    They will also be required to show how they are spending more on long-term preventative maintenance programmes and that they have robust plans for the wetter winters the country is experiencing – making potholes worse. 

    By the end of October, councils must also show they are ensuring communities have their say on what work they should be doing, and where. The public can also help battle back against pothole ridden roads by reporting them to their local council, via a dedicated online portal. 

    To further protect motorists given continued cost-of-living pressures and potential fuel price volatility amid global uncertainty, the government has frozen fuel duty at current levels for another year to support hardworking families and businesses, saving the average car driver £59.  

    Edmund King, AA president and member of the Pothole Partnership, said:  

    Getting councils to show value for money before getting full funding is a big step in the right direction, as it will encourage a more concerted attack on the plague of potholes. At the same time, local authorities can share best practice, so others can learn what new innovations and planned maintenance techniques have worked for them.” 

    The £4.8bn for National Highways will protect the country’s strategic road network, which provides critical routes and connections across the country for people, businesses and freight to help drive for growth as part of Plan for Change.

    The £4.8bn includes a record £1.3bn investment to keep this vital network in good repair, so the network remains fit for the future, and £1.8bn for National Highways’ daily operations that are critical to ensuring the network runs safely and smoothly for millions of people and businesses that rely on it every day. As well as £1.3bn for essential improvement schemes to unlock growth and housing.  

    Since entering office, the government has approved over £200m for the A47 Thickthorn Junction, and £290m for M3 Junction 9 plus £90m for local road schemes like the A130 Fairglen Interchange, the South-East Aylesbury Link Road, the A350 Chippenham Bypass, the A647 scheme in Leeds. This is a total of over £580m for schemes to get Britain moving.

    Roads media enquiries

    Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

    Switchboard 0300 330 3000

    Updates to this page

    Published 23 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Housing Bill: Women must be better protected to flee domestic abuse

    Source: Scottish Greens

    23 Mar 2025 Housing

    The Bill must protect as many women as possible.

    More in Housing

    Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman has lodged proposals to expand the definition of domestic abuse to protect more women and children who are facing homelessness. The proposal will be considered as an amendment to the upcoming Housing (Scotland) Bill.

    Ms Chapman believes that the Scottish Government’s current definition within the context of this bill is not broad enough to offer the necessary protections, only covering violent, threatening and intimidating conduct.

    The expanded definition that Ms Chapman is calling for would see controlling, coercive, and degrading behaviour included within the definition – a change that charity organisation Scottish Women’s Aid has long called for.

    Ms Chapman said:

    “Women might feel unable to leave a violent and abusive relationship for fear of ending up homeless, and that sense of feeling trapped only increases when there are children involved in the process.

    “This bill must work to enhance the support we offer women and children, so that they are better protected and able to flee from abuse, without fear of being left homeless or placed in unsuitable and unsafe accommodation due to their experience of abuse not matching the government’s definition.

    “By expanding the definition of domestic abuse, we can help to resolve that fear and create a more hopeful future for women and their families who are rebuilding their lives.”

    Ms Chapman has also lodged an amendment that would force the Scottish Government to implement the findings of their December 2020 report on improving housing outcomes for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

    The actions called for in the report include: improving how homelessness due to domestic abuse appears in statistics, developing a Housing First pathway for women experiencing domestic abuse, and developing a timetable to implement the Ending Homelessness Together action plan that will ensure the homelessness system meets the needs of diverse groups of women.

    Ms Chapman said:

    “There are groups who have been waiting years for the findings of this report to be put into action. My proposal will bring them forward and help ensure that women and children experiencing domestic abuse are provided with the right services, with the right support and regular reviews to ensure that progress is being made.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: More officers on streets to smoke out illicit tobacco and vapes

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    More officers on streets to smoke out illicit tobacco and vapes

    More officers trained and funding provided as clampdown on illegal tobacco and vape trade accelerates.

    Tighter and tougher protections to protect children and communities from illicit tobacco and vapes have been unveiled today (Sunday 22 March) as the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves closer to creating a smokefree UK.   

    A new £10 million boost for Trading Standards will bolster operations in local communities for the next year, to fund an expected 80 more apprentice enforcement officers to stop harmful tobacco and vape products finding their way into neighbourhood shops and stopping underage sales.    

    Officers work closely with local police to take down organised crime groups that operate within networks to supply illegal vapes. Trading Standards plays a key role, operating targeted seizures and sending sniffer dogs to hunt down illicit vapes hidden in shops. 

    Today’s package builds on robust measures in place to tackle illicit tobacco and vapes, including HMRC and Border Force’s £100 million Illicit Tobacco Strategy to crack down on illegal tobacco. Alongside this, the new vaping duty (which will come into force in 2026) will introduce new civil and criminal powers, giving them the ability to seize products and recruit over 200 additional compliance staff.  

    This new funding sits alongside the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which will create the world’s first smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 and toughening laws to protect children from addiction.  

    The Bill will also introduce new £200 on the spot fines in England and Wales for breaches of age of sale restrictions, alongside powers to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.     

    This action delivers on the government’s Plan for Change to create an NHS fit for the future by focusing on the crucial role prevention can take in cutting waiting lists, while also making our streets safer by tackling organised crime. 

    Minister for Public Health and Prevention Ashley Dalton said:  

    Buying illicit tobacco and vapes may save a few pennies in your pocket, but they can be incredibly dangerous and are often linked to criminal activity.   

    It’s vital the Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves forward so we can tackle this illicit trade and free our children from a life imprisoned by addiction. By phasing out tobacco, introducing new restrictions on vapes and putting more boots on our streets, we’re taking the concrete action needed to deliver our Plan for Change and bring us that one step closer to a healthier, smoke-free future.”  

    John Herriman, Chief Executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said:  

    CTSI is very welcoming of the announcement of substantial funding for Trading Standards services across England. This much-needed investment will strengthen our ability to support businesses in complying with current and future tobacco and vaping regulations and will also ensure we are well placed to support the protection of public health. It also reinforces our commitment to taking firm action against anyone who seeks to harm their local communities by choosing to operate outside the law. With these additional resources, we can make a real difference in both keeping consumers safe, and ensuring a fair and responsible marketplace.

    Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said:

    Illicit tobacco and vape products are prevalent in our communities, trapping people – including children and young people – in a dangerous cycle of addiction that could endure for another generation. 

    The scourge of illicit nicotine products are largely powered by organised crime, and the products represent an important money-spinner that help fund organised crime groups’ other illegal schemes, such as human trafficking and modern slavery. 

    While Trading Standards seized more than a million illegal vapes, 19 million counterfeit cigarettes and 5,103kg of illicit hand rolling tobacco last year, further action and resources are needed by enforcement bodies to disrupt supply and clamp down on the perpetrators. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is an important step in the right direction, providing more resources to a stretched Trading Standards workforce who, alongside other enforcement partners, are working hard to help the government meet its aims for a smoke-free generation.

    Updates to this page

    Published 23 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: First Minister to attend Tartan Week events

    Source: Scottish Government

    Opportunity to promote strong business links with US.

    First Minister John Swinney will undertake a series of engagements in New York as part of Tartan Week, the annual celebration of Scottish heritage and culture in the United States.

    In recognition of the important role of the US as a key investment and trading partner, the First Minister will meet a number of high profile current and potential investors to promote the economic opportunities on offer in Scotland.

    Speaking ahead of his visit, the First Minister said:

    “Scotland enjoys deep AND ENDURING links with the US, which is both our largest inward investor, and second largest export market after the European Union.

    “In 2023, exports of Scottish goods to the US were worth £4 billion. And here in Scotland, more than 700 US-owned enterprises provide employment to more than 115,000 people.

    “Scotland is open for business and is one of the best places in the world to invest. We have a reputation as a world-class entrepreneurial nation, with the number of start-ups, spinouts, and scale up companies growing at pace. We also have the potential to become a strategic hub for future renewable energy investments, specifically by developing and scaling projects in offshore wind, green hydrogen, and energy storage.

    “Tartan Week in April is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Scottish culture, and promote economic opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.

    “I am looking forward to attending this week’s Tartan Week events, meeting our dynamic diaspora, and engaging with some of our biggest current and potential investors. I want to showcase Scotland’s progressive international outlook, and our focus on innovation, sustainability and growth.”

    Background

    A more detailed itinerary of the First Minister’s programme will be released in due course.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Update II: Police in contact with missing group near Oodnadatta

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Police along with other government agencies will be recovering the group of four stranded people in the Far North this morning.

    Shortly after 4pm yesterday, contact was made with a group of four missing people who had become stranded in the outback after suffering mechanical issues with their car. The group had left Oodnadatta on Friday at 4pm, believed to be heading to Finke in the Northern Territory. However, concerns were raised when the group had failed to arrive.

    Supplies were provided to the group including food and a telephone, and plans were made to recover them today.

    Police have maintained contact with the group overnight, and resources are stationed in the Far North, and at the earliest opportunity this morning, these resources will return to the area the group were located to recover them.

    More updates will come to hand when available throughout the day.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Kevin Quigley, Scholarly Director of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance, Dalhousie University

    After a busy two weeks as prime minister, Mark Carney has called an election for April 28.

    As the first in Canadian history to be named prime minister without ever having held public office, Carney is hoping he can win the trust of Canadians. He’ll run for a seat in the Ottawa riding of Nepean.

    Trustworthiness is awarded to those who are at least perceived as knowledgeable, transparent and concerned. Can Carney pull it off?

    When it comes to economics, Carney is among the most knowledgeable in the country. After obtaining a PhD at the University of Oxford, Carney has had a distinguished public service career in the Canadian Department of Finance, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

    With such a high level of economic uncertainty today in the face of repeated threats from United States President Donald Trump, his supporters say he’s the right person to lead Canada. His chief rival, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, was first elected to the House of Commons at the age of 25 and has quite a different CV.

    Is Carney empathetic?

    Carney, however, might struggle more with the other characteristics of trustworthiness — seeming open and showing concern.

    The Conservatives have criticized Carney for not being more transparent about his private financial interests. While Carney is following disclosure rules, the Conservatives argue Canadians need to know more about whether he’s in a conflict of interest when he makes decisions in government.

    Carney’s answers to questions about his time at Brookfield Asset Management have on occasion been unsteady.

    On the surface, this is about transparency, but in fact it’s just as much about empathy and whether Carney can relate to working-class voters. By alluding to Carney’s wealth and connections, the Conservatives are implying that Carney is an out-of-touch elite who doesn’t share the concerns of average Canadians.

    Some of the early visuals of Carney can cut both ways.

    His recent chummy embrace at the Élysée with French President Emmanuel Macron exemplifies how immediately comfortable he is with world leaders. Some will find this reassuring, given the state of geopolitics; others might find it privileged and off-putting. Even his hockey skills, which were part of a recent photo-op in Edmonton when he practised with the Oilers, were acquired partly during his time at Harvard University, an institution among the most elite in the world.

    Empathy, instinct

    Can Carney connect with people?

    Arguably, he needs work on this front. He might consider some of his Liberal predecessors.

    Former prime minister Justin Trudeau could certainly rally a crowd. Trudeau became a motivational speaker in the 2000s and used opportunities like the WE Charity to practise public speaking to what would become an important constituency for him — young voters — when he led the Liberals to victory in 2015.

    Not everything can be taught at school. Political instinct is also crucial. It requires reconciling the knowledge of experts with the concerns of everyday citizens. There is no formula for this balance sheet.

    Here again, Trudeau had insight. Bill Morneau, a corporate executive himself and the former federal finance minister, noted after the COVID-19 pandemic that government payouts had been too generous and driven more by Trudeau’s view of the politics of the moment than by the economic analysis provided to him by the Finance Department.

    This may be so, but most would say Trudeau handled the early stages of the pandemic deftly.

    Chretien’s skills

    It was interesting that at the recent Liberal convention confirming Carney as leader, delegates gushed over former prime minister Jean Chretien, far from an elitist. A winner of three consecutive majorities, Chretien delivered a speech that went over at least as well with delegates as Carney’s.

    Chretien had unparalleled political instincts. When Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney rolled out the GST in 1991, it was deeply unpopular. Despite Chretien later famously backtracking on his original opposition to the GST, the Liberal Party under his stewardship used the issue to exact maximum damage on the Progressive Conservatives, delivering them a near-fatal blow.

    Chretien’s killer instincts trumped expert knowledge. While the Progressive Conservatives paid a heavy price for adopting the GST, the policy was largely advocated and shaped by business and economic elites, including in the Department of Finance. Good economics does not always make for good politics.

    Emotions to run high

    If the 1988 federal election that focused almost exclusively on free trade with the U.S. is any indication of what the next few weeks will look like in Canada, the election campaign is going to get heated quickly. Arguments may be more emotional than sensible.

    The fact that Carney dropped the carbon tax and capital gains tax was an early sign that he’s not an economist anymore, he’s a politician.

    The challenge for Carney — and for any politician in the heat of an election campaign battle — will be to find the sweet spot that reconciles expert opinion with public concerns and to articulate policies in a manner that voters will understand and support.

    Kevin Quigley receives funding from SSHRC.

    – ref. Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out – https://theconversation.com/can-mark-carney-truly-connect-with-canadian-voters-canada-will-now-find-out-252365

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: South West Sydney to benefit from $110 million investment in critical upgrades on Henry Lawson Drive

    Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency

    The Albanese Labor Government is building New South Wales’ future through a partnership with the New South Wales Government to deliver the next stage of upgrades to Henry Lawson Drive. 

    The Australian and NSW governments will each provide $110 million to progress the next stage of upgrades to Henry Lawson Drive. 

    Henry Lawson Drive is a vital north-south connection in Sydney, carrying around 38,000 vehicles during daily peak periods. 

    It follows the northern bank of the Georges River, passing through Georges Hall, East Hills and onto Peakhurst. 

    The road varies between a single lane in each direction, to six-lane dual carriageway road towards Peakhurst. 

    The Henry Lawson Drive Stage 1B project will upgrade approximately 1.8 kilometres of Henry Lawson Drive from Auld Avenue, to its connection with the M5 motorway. 

    The works will widen this busy section of the road from a two-lane road to a four-lane divided road.

    This will provide more capacity for a growing number of vehicles and reduce delays due to merging required by vehicles heading north off the M5 motorway. 

    Intersections will also be upgraded to improve road safety and connections to the Bankstown Airport and surrounding areas. 

    The project will include the construction of new walking and cycling shared paths, improving access to the Auld Avenue sporting fields and Milperra Sports Centre. 

    Quotes attributable to Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:

    “Ducking and weaving between two and four lane sections of Henry Lawson Drive between the M5 and Milperra Road will no longer be a thing when these vital works are complete. 

    “This road sees tens of thousands of cars during weekday peak periods, but also on the weekend as people head to Flower Power. 

    “Widening this road will ensure we have the capacity to accommodate the traffic on these roads, 24 hours, seven days a week. 

    Quotes attributable to NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison:

    “This is welcome funding, allowing us to fast track Stage 1B of Henry Lawson Drive. 

    “The work on Henry Lawson Drive builds on the nearby $144 million Stage 1A upgrade that has made it easier to travel between Auld Avenue and Tower Road, and further upgrades to the north in Georges Hall.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Free To Be Who You Are

    Source: Liberal Democrats UK

    The freedom to live your life as the person that you are, secure in the knowledge that their fundamental rights will be protected is not a lot to ask.

    But in our country there are still too many people for whom that is an aspiration.

    Our  LGBTQ+ community face prejudice, discrimination and hostility simply because of who they are. 

    Their health care, their housing, even their education can all be affected. 

    But today I believe  we have taken an important step forward in protecting vital rights and setting out how our government should deliver a positive future for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.

    Our policy paper: ‘Free To Be Who You Are’  sets out how we will continue to pursue that Liberal Democrat goal of a society where nobody’s life chances are limited or constrained because of who they are.

    Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of  each of the great strides the UK has made towards LGBTQ+ equality. It was Ed Davey in 2003 who proposed the clause which finally repealed “Section 28”, the Conservatives’ law which prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities. 

    Lynne Featherstone – the first ever Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister – was the driving force behind the legislation that made Same Sex marriage happen. 

    And it was the former Liberal Democrat MP John Leech who spearheaded the campaign to pardon Alan Turing and Lib Dem peer Lord Sharkey, tabled the amendment to the Policing and Crime Act 2017 which posthumously pardoned thousands of gay men who had been criminalised for their sexuality.

    Our party had been pushing to lift the ban on men who have sex with men’s ability to donate blood for over 15 years by the time it finally happened in 2021. 

    That is the proud tradition of which we are the keepers.

    We know there is still a lot to do but each step is important to progress in achieving that free and fair society.

    The measures we voted through today will mean:

    • Ensuring LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic abuse and hate crime get the support they deserve, including by delivering training for police and support services
    • Ending anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in social care, by commissioning an urgent investigation into anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in social care with recommendations on how to prevent it.
    • Banning medically unnecessary, non-consensual treatments or surgeries for intersex infants and children.
    • Pushing for all integrated care boards in England to immediately remove the requirement for lesbian couples to pay for artificial insemination before accessing NHS-funded IVF services.
    • Banning all forms of conversion “therapies” and practices.
    • Implementing a new LGBTQ+ Action Plan to coordinate cross-government work on delivering LGBTQ+ equality.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Foot and Mouth disease detected in Slovakia

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Foot and Mouth disease detected in Slovakia

    The UK Chief Veterinary Officer is urging livestock keepers to remain vigilant to the clinical signs of FMD following the recent outbreaks in Europe

    The Slovak Government has reported three cases of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) close to the Slovakian – Hungarian border. The cases were identified in three separate premises housing cattle.

    The UK Government had already taken action to prevent the commercial import from Slovakia of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other non- domestic ruminants and porcines such as deer and their untreated products, such as fresh meat and dairy. This will protect farmers and their livestock. 

    Since 8 March, travellers to GB have not been able to bring meat, meat products, milk and dairy products, certain composite products and animal by products of pigs and ruminants, or hay or straw, from Hungary and Slovakia after a case on the Hungarian border with Slovakia. 

    The UK Chief Veterinary Officer is urging livestock keepers to remain vigilant to the clinical signs of FMD following the recent outbreaks in Hungary, Germany and now Slovakia. There are no cases in the UK currently.   

    FMD poses no risk to human or food safety, but is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals such as wild boar, deer, llamas, and alpacas. Livestock keepers should therefore be absolutely rigorous about their biosecurity.   

    FMD causes significant economic losses due to production losses in the affected animals as well as loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat, and milk for affected countries.  

    UK Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Christine Middlemiss said:

    Foot and Mouth disease has now been confirmed in Slovakia, we remain in contact with our European counterparts to understand the latest situation. 

    We have seen a disturbing number of foot and mouth cases on the continent, and we need to stay on high alert to the risk of disease incursion – as a government, at the border and on our farms.

    Protecting animal health and minimising the risk of disease incursion remains our top priority. Livestock keepers are reminded to continue exercising the upmost vigilance for signs of disease, follow scrupulous biosecurity and report any suspicion of disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

    Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said:

    With disease now confirmed in Slovakia , it is clear the Government’s precautionary approach to ban Slovakian imports was the right one.  

    The confirmation of a Foot and Mouth disease in a third European country is a serious concern, the government will take whatever action is necessary to prevent the further spread of disease.   

    Ensuring the safety of our livestock sector and protecting our farmers will always be a top priority.

    This comes as the government announced a £200 million investment in the UK’s main research and laboratory testing facilities at Weybridge to bolster protection against animal disease.   

    What you can do   

    If you’re an animal keeper, read about how to spot foot and mouth disease and report it.   

    If you’re an importer or exporter, read about the import restrictions for foot and mouth disease.    

    Clinical signs to be aware of vary depending on the animals, but in cattle the main signs are sores and blisters on the feet, mouth and tongue with potentially a fever, lameness and a reluctance to feed. In sheep and pigs, signs tend to manifest with lameness with potential for blistering.     

    While horses and companion animals are not susceptible to FMD, hay feed or straw bedding, if sourced from an infected area, could act as a fomite and therefore also prevented from entering GB. 

    Maintaining good biosecurity is essential to protecting the health and welfare of herds and critical to preventing the spread of diseases such as FMD and preventing an outbreak spreading.   

    Foot and mouth disease is a notifiable disease and must be reported. If you suspect foot and mouth disease in your animals, you must report it immediately by calling:   

    • 03000 200 301 in England    
    • 0300 303 8268 in Wales    
    • your local  Field Services Office in Scotland

    For more information, visit: Imports, exports and EU trade of animals and animal products: topical issues – GOV.UK

    Updates to this page

    Published 22 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: A Plaid Cymru government would “cut taxes to support small Welsh businesses”

    Source: Party of Wales

    Plaid Cymru economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher to announce plans to help local businesses.

    A Plaid Cymru government would cut taxes for small, independent Welsh businesses.

    Plaid Cymru’s economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher is expected to outline his party’s plans during his Spring Conference speech.

    In his speech, Mr Fletcher is expected to highlight the struggles that independent businesses face in Wales, saying that there are “countless examples the length and breadth of Wales where the full potential of our domestic businesses is going unfulfilled”, with “too many independent shops, pubs, cafés and restaurants having to close” which has led to the decline of town centres.

    The Plaid Cymru Economy spokesperson will say that Wales needs to change how it taxes our town centre businesses to realise the potential of town centres and independent businesses.

    He will outline Plaid Cymru’s plans to use the business rate multiplier to “reduce rates for independent businesses in retail or hospitality”.

    According to Mr Fletcher, the policy would be cost-neutral, as a Plaid Cymru-led Government in 2026 would “look at how we charge rates so that those who can afford to pay more, contribute more”.

    In his speech to the Plaid Cymru Spring Conference, Plaid Cymru Economy Spokesperson, Luke Fletcher MS will say,

    “Our high streets provide a lens on the challenges facing Welsh businesses – challenges that Labour in Wales has failed to address or made actively worse over a quarter of a century in power.

    “It’s a story we’re all too familiar with, isn’t it? On high streets across Wales there are empty buildings and shuttered shop fronts where thriving local businesses should be. Pubs, cafés and restaurants, all struggling with a cost-of-doing business crisis – a crisis made worse by sky-high taxes on businesses and Labour’s scrapping of business rates relief.

    “An independent store owner on the high street in Aberystwyth pays nearly ten times more than a major chain on the town’s outskirts, and significantly more than would an equivalent business in England. In Bridgend, a locally owned and managed coffee shop and bakery pays the same level of non-domestic rates as its multinational competitors. Instead of being able to grow and develop as a business, investing locally in the supply chain, training and jobs, it is a business simply looking to survive.

    “There are countless examples the length and breadth of Wales of businesses’ full potential going unfulfilled – too many of what should be successful businesses going to the wall. And the result? Town centres in decline, instead of on the up.

    “I am proud that more and more businesses are looking to Plaid Cymru for the solution. And I am even more proud that we are able to offer one.

    “If we want our town centres to thrive, then we need to change how we tax the businesses on our high streets, to better support the kinds of successful Welsh-owned shops, cafés, bars and restaurants we all go to our town centres for.

    “There’s a solution that is well within our grasp.

    “Through varying the multiplier, we have the power to reduce rates for independent businesses in retail, leisure and hospitality. It really is that simple. And by looking at how we charge rates so that those who can afford to pay contribute more, it would also be cost-neutral.

    Mr Fletcher will also say,

    “In the coming weeks, I will formally be launching ‘Making Wales Work: Plaid Cymru’s new economic plan’. I am proud of the amount of hard work that has gone into this plan, and the new and ambitious vision for the Welsh economy that it represents.

    “That vision and that ambition extends from our seabed to our high streets, and covers everywhere in between.

    “Our plan will see capital built, retained and recycling in our communities, instead of it leaking – and in some cases flooding – out of Wales. It will grow and sustain Welsh-owned businesses, delivering good jobs, reviving our town centres, and boosting living standards.

    “I am clearer now than ever that Wales needs a Government with real vision and with fire in its belly.

    “Wales needs a Plaid Cymru Government – and next year we will have an historic opportunity to deliver one. “

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Plans to boost skills and diversity in UK cyber backed by tech giant IBM

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Plans to boost skills and diversity in UK cyber backed by tech giant IBM

    Technology giant IBM have backed plans to diversify the UK’s cyber sector and encourage young people into cyber careers.

    IBM to host 2025 CyberFirst Girls Competition Platform.

    • Global tech giant IBM to provide platform for flagship cyber skills programme for girls – boosting diversity in the booming £13 billion cyber sector as more young people explore careers in cyber
    • girls between 12-13 to be supported in developing new computing and cyber skills
    • partnership comes as best and brightest cyber minds gear up to represent UK Cyber Team in a series of international challenges

    Technology giant IBM have backed plans to diversify the UK’s cyber sector and encourage young people into cyber careers, as the government safeguards online services which deliver economic growth – central to the Plan for Change. 

    In new support being announced today (Saturday 22 March), IBM have agreed to partner with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to provide the online platform for the CyberFirst Girls competition – a UK-wide programme open to girls between the ages of 12 and 13. 

    The CyberFirst Girls Competition, currently run by the NCSC, is the UK’s flagship cyber security programme for schools, with more than 85,000 students across the country having taken part since its launch in 2017. It puts students through a series of cyber challenges from cryptography and networking to artificial intelligence, building up their skills and encouraging them to consider future careers in the field. To support the next generation of cyber talent, IBM will provide the platform for the 2025 edition of the competition. 

    Improving the diversity of the UK’s cyber sector is a key priority for the government, with women currently accounting for just 17% of our cyber workforce. Though average salaries in the sector exceed £56,000 – with the top 20% of earners receiving salaries between £73,000 and £350,000 – almost half of UK businesses (44%) also report having cyber security skills gaps, meaning it’s more pressing than ever to ensure the next generation of cyber security leaders are joining the ranks. 

    Minister for Cyber Security Feryal Clark said: 

    If we’re going to keep the UK safe from the threats we face online, then we need to build a diverse workforce which is reflective of every community in the country.

    By partnering with IBM to deliver the next edition of the CyberFirst Girls Competition, we’re driving forward our plans to do exactly that – building up the skills of young girls across the country and nurturing the next generation of UK cyber leaders.

    The girls who will benefit from this support could even go on to represent the UK Cyber Team – the cream of the crop of British cyber talent who will fly the flag for us across the world – and I’ll be proudly cheering the team on today as they head to Dublin for their first international competition.

    Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, said:

    Over the past decade, the CyberFirst Girls Competition has offered tens of thousands of young women a fun opportunity to test their cyber skills against real-world cyber problems.

    I’m delighted that a new partnership across government and the private sector will be taking forward the delivery of this vital initiative which is inspiring the next generation of cyber security professionals.

    We need a cyber industry which reflects our diverse society and encourages the most talented individuals to keep our digital lives secure.

    Today’s partnership comes as some of the country’s best and brightest cyber minds prepare to represent the UK Cyber Team in their first international competition – putting their skills to the test against Ireland, Germany, and Denmark. 

    The UK Cyber Team programme is an e-sports style cyber security competition launched in collaboration with SANS, which looks to identify the next generation of cyber talent. Competitors have gone through a rigorous set of challenges to showcase their skills, with 30 18-25 year olds from across the country qualifying to represent the UK Cyber Team. 

    These competitors are drawn from across the country, representing their home communities across London, the South Wast, Wales, Scotland, the North of England, West Midlands, and the South West.  With 37% of the team being female, 57% being male, and 3% identifying as non-binary, the UK Cyber Team is a true representation of communities and backgrounds up and down the country. 

     Mark Hughes, IBM Global Managing Partner for Cyber Security, said:

    IBM is delighted to build upon our partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre by supporting the CyberFirst Girls competition with DSIT. Our commitment to fostering diversity in cybersecurity remains unwavering, as highlighted in our ‘Diversity & Inclusion in Cybersecurity’ initiative.

    This new collaboration is a significant step towards nurturing the next generation of cyber leaders, ensuring a more inclusive and robust industry. We are confident that this partnership will make a substantial impact in encouraging more young girls to pursue rewarding careers in cybersecurity.

    The move to boost cyber skills is part of the government’s wider work to grow the economy and develop the successful UK cyber security sector, which is now worth £13.2 billion, up 12% on the previous year.

    Notes to editors

    1. The 2024 Cyber security skills in the UK labour market report shows strong demand for cyber skills in the UK, with 44% of businesses reporting a skills gap. Salary data is also sourced from this report
       2. The 2025 Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis shows the UK cyber security sector generated revenue of £13.2 billion, up 12% since last year. 2,165 companies employ 67,300 people (full time equivalents), up 11% since last year, an increase of around 6,600 jobs
    3. The total gross value added (GVA) for the sector has reached c. £7.8 billion, an increase of 21% since last year
    4. The 2025/2026 CyberFirst Girls Competition will be run as a partnership between DSIT, NCSC and IBM.

    DSIT media enquiries

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    Updates to this page

    Published 22 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Killers with severe mental health issues are perceived as monsters – a terrible failure of academics like me

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Crawford, Professor of Health Humanities, University of Nottingham

    According to an investigation by Hundred Families, a charity that supports and advocates for families affected by mental health homicides, each year an average of 65 mentally ill people carry out killings. Between 2018-2023, 390 mental health patients in England committed, or were suspected of, murder or manslaughter.

    The findings come after an independent report exposed a series of NHS failures in the treatment of Valdo Calocane, a man with schizophrenia who killed three people in Nottingham in 2023.

    The cases of killers Calocane and Axel Rudakubana – who stabbed three small girls to death and attempted to kill several others in Southport in 2024 when he was 17 years-old – have sparked fierce debate over the place within wider society of people with severe mental health issues. According to many, it appears they don’t have one.

    Calocane and Rudakubana were labelled “evil”, “sadistic” and “cowardly”, amid renewed calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty.

    When sentencing Rudakubana to a minimum term of 52 years in January 2025, Mr Justice Goose said: “Many who have heard the evidence might describe what he did as evil, who could dispute it?”

    Public opinion on the likes of Calocane and Rudakubana seems clear: they are monsters, capable only of inflicting misery on others. At best, they don’t deserve to live among right-minded people. At worst, they don’t deserve to live at all.

    It’s now known that both Calocane and Rudakubana had received treatment for severe mental health issues but stopped engaging with health services before committing their crimes. In the eyes of many – including media commentators, politicians and sizeable swaths of the public – suffering severe mental health illness doesn’t affect someone’s responsibility for their actions.

    As a human being, I regard the prevailing narrative around stories such as Calocane’s and Rudakubana’s with a tremendous sense of sadness. As an academic specialising in social and cultural perspectives of mental health, I regard it with a profound sense of frustration – and maybe even failure. Let me try to explain why.

    A question of accountability

    A key reason why those with severe mental health issues are customarily condemned as wicked and irredeemable is that we continue to believe that a person should invariably be held accountable for their own actions. This is a damagingly simplistic view.

    Media coverage of Rudakubana often described him as ‘evil’

    Anyone who has worked in the field of mental health knows there are many cases in which people’s minds, to all intents and purposes, aren’t their own. Those, like Calocane, suffering from an overwhelming condition such as schizophrenia, for example, frequently have no grasp of reality and have hampered moral reasoning.

    It’s reasonable to say some people with severe mental health issues can represent a danger to themselves and others. But this doesn’t mean they should be abandoned or “locked up”. What they need is support from mental health systems that are genuinely integrated, effective and reliable.

    Calocane and Rudakubana’s victims, their families and all those cruelly affected by their crimes were catastrophically let down in this respect. But so were Calocane and Rudakubana. The notion that the pair “stopped engaging” is a poor excuse for the cataclysmic shortcomings of a system that should be rooted in diligence, outreach and persistent follow-ups.

    However uncomfortable the idea, much of the accountability here lies not with the killers – and that, of course, is what they are – but with those who left them unsupported and in a position to devastate others’ lives and their own. Ultimately, it’s the system itself that disengages – sometimes with the most appalling consequences.

    When findings alone aren’t enough

    Numerous studies have shown how those in the grip of psychosis and similar illnesses don’t choose to be “evil”. They don’t choose to experience horrific delusions about the world around them. They don’t choose to endure hallucinations that tell them to carry out terrible acts.

    Yet the broader public seems to have little or no interest in such findings. Alarmingly, the same might be said of many policymakers. Their knowledge and opinions are instead more likely to be shaped by rhetoric and knee-jerk denunciation.

    This goes to the heart of a major challenge for academics in my own field and for the research community as a whole: how best to communicate our work and make it truly accessible. We need to accept that research alone is often woefully insufficient.

    A few years ago, in collaboration with Aardman Animations, the studio behind household names such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, I produced a series of short films highlighting young people’s mental health. In months, these films reached an audience of more than 17 million. More recently, in another effort to spread the word, I wrote The Wonders of Doctor Bent, a novel that explores society’s lingering propensity to treat isolated and tormented people with the utmost contempt.

    None of this is to say research is pointless – yet it’s surely of limited value if the insights it delivers remain largely unacknowledged, especially where matters of the most extraordinary significance are concerned.

    As the unhelpful clamour around mental health and “monsters” drags on, the lesson is both clear and familiar: the best way of having conversations about stigma, responsibility and the cost of abdicating our social obligations to those suffering from severe mental illness is to involve the whole of society. Not just the mental health community, police and the justice system, but the general public as well.

    Paul Crawford receives funding from UK Research and Innovation including Arts and Humanities Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, UKRI Cross Council, The Leverhulme Trust, The British Academy

    – ref. Killers with severe mental health issues are perceived as monsters – a terrible failure of academics like me – https://theconversation.com/killers-with-severe-mental-health-issues-are-perceived-as-monsters-a-terrible-failure-of-academics-like-me-252053

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Charges – Domestic violence – Alice Springs

    Source: New South Wales Department of Education and Communities

    The Northern Territory Police Force has charged a 26-year-old male in relation to a domestic violence incident in Alice Springs yesterday.

    Around 4:40pm, police received reports that a 24-year-old female had been strangled and punched multiple times to the face in a vehicle at a set of traffic lights on the corner of Stott Terrace and the Stuart Highway by a male known to the victim.

    It is alleged that the incident occurred around 8am and afterwards, the male took her to his residence where he stole the female’s phone so that she could not seek assistance. Hours later, she located her phone and reported the incident to police.

    General duties members attended and witnessed the man fleeing from the residence. A cordon was set up and he was arrested after a short foot pursuit. The female was transported to Alice Springs Hospital in a stable condition to be treated for facial injuries.

    The male has since been charged with:

    1. Unlawfully Cause Serious Harm
    2. Choking, Strangling or Suffocating
    3. Theft
    4. Breach Bail

    He is remanded to appear in Alice Springs Local Court on Monday.

    If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties due to domestic violence, support services are available, including, but not limited to, 1800RESPECT (1800737732) or Lifeline 131 114.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Call for information – Sexual assault – Alice Springs

    Source: New South Wales Department of Education and Communities

    The Northern Territory Police Force is calling for information in relation to an alleged sexual assault that took place at a fast-food restaurant this morning.

    About 6:30am, police received reports of a sexual assault on a 19-year-old female in the bathroom of a fast-food restaurant on the corner of Parsons Street and Railway Terrace. The female alerted staff who then called police.

    Investigations are ongoing to locate the alleged offender and determine the circumstances of the incident.

    Police are calling for any witnesses within the area at the time who may have information that can assist police in their enquiries to make contact on 131 444.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arrest – Domestic violence – Katherine

    Source: New South Wales Department of Education and Communities

    The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested a 21-year-old female in relation to a stabbing incident in Katherine last night.

    About 7:45pm, police received multiple reports that a 41-year-old male, who is known to the alleged offender, had multiple stab wounds to his shoulder.

    The male was transported to Katherine Regional Hospital by St John Ambulance in a stable but serious condition. He was later transported to Royal Darwin Hospital for further treatment to his injuries.

    Investigations are ongoing and the crime command have carriage.

    If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties due to domestic violence, support services are available, including, but not limited to, 1800RESPECT (1800737732) or Lifeline 131 114.

    MIL OSI News –