Significant Achievements made under Special Campaign 4.0 in Department of Health and Family Welfare 52,665 physical files reviewed, 31,659 physical files weeded out, 5,160 Public Grievances and 595 Appeals have been disposed of, Revenue of Rs.18,63,356 generated by selling of scrap materials and 1,433 Cleanliness Campaigns conducted
Posted On: 01 NOV 2024 8:04PM by PIB Delhi
The Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW) launched Special Campaign 4.0 from October 2 to October 31, 2024, aimed at institutionalizing cleanliness (Swachhata) and reducing pending tasks across its headquarters, central government hospitals, attached offices, subordinate offices, autonomous bodies, and CPSUs nationwide.
Under the leadership of Union Health Secretary Ms. Punya Salila Srivastava, the campaign’s implementation was regularly reviewed to ensure efficiency and meet established targets.
Key achievements during the campaign include the disposition of 25 references from Members of Parliament, 3 Parliamentary assurances, 5,160 public grievances, and 595 associated appeals, as well as the simplification of 45 rules and processes. Additionally, 52,665 physical files were reviewed, resulting in the weeding out of 31,659 files, and 12,428 e-files were reviewed, with 10,174 closed. The campaign also saw the conduct of 1,433 cleanliness campaigns across various offices, freeing up 40,742 sq. ft. of office space, and generating revenue amounting to ₹18,63,356 from the sale of scrap materials and e-waste. These activities reflect DoHFW’s commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and promoting a culture of cleanliness within its institutions.
The progress of implementation phase of the campaign was uploaded daily on SCDPM portal (https://scdpm.nic.in) of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG). Social media updates, PIB Statements and Best Practices were also uploaded on the portal by showcasing the progress in the campaign.
Few highlights are as follows:
On 16th October, 2024, Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) along with Ms. Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary reviewed the activities undertaken by DoHFW in ‘Special Campaign 4.0
Training of Safai Mitras on ‘Swachhata Hi Sewa’ module on iGOT Platform was conducted on 23rd October, 2024 (chaired by Ms. Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary) as a part of the Karmayogi Saptah (National Learning Week) and Special Campaign 4.0
During Special Campaign 4.0, ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ module was completed by more than 11,500 employees including officers on iGOT platform and more than 7,500 Safai Mitras in physical mode
AIIMS, Jodhpur transforming plastic containers into planters which aims to minimize environmental impact of plastic while encouraging a culture of creativity and responsibility among staff
Before After
Conversion of discarded chairs into functiona/ attractive benches and signage stands at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal to encourage upcycling
DoHFW remain committed to the goals of Special Campaign 4.0 and will continue to contribute actively in the activities of the campaign even after the campaign ended on 31st October, 2024. It has been emphasised that with the combined efforts of all, lasting improvements in cleanliness and governance can be achieved.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah interacts with the librarians of trust-run libraries and government libraries in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat The role of libraries is very important in building the future of a country
Shri Amit Shah donates books worth Rs 2 lakh to each library under his Lok Sabha constituency
Suggests ways to increase readership by at least 30 percent in coming days
Emphasizes making heritage books available online
Union Home Minister advises using software to understand individuals’ reading preferences
It will help librarians procure more books of readers’ choice
Shri Amit Shah also inaugurated 15 MW waste-to-energy plant set up by Jindal Urban Waste Management near Piplaj village in Ahmedabad
Built at a cost of Rs 375 crore, waste-to-energy plant has the capacity to convert 1,000 metric tonnes of waste into electricity per day
Waste-to-energy plant will strengthen the waste management of the entire Ahmedabad city, it will meet the energy requirements as well
Posted On: 01 NOV 2024 6:48PM by PIB Delhi
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah today interacted with the Librarians of trust-run libraries and government libraries in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat and said that the role of libraries is very important in building the future of a country.
In a post on X platform, Shri Amit Shah said, “Libraries play an important role in building the future of any country. Today I interacted with the librarians of the trust-run libraries and government libraries of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. I am happy that these librarians are promoting the interest of library enthusiasts in books by making an emotional connect with them. Due to their efforts, the number of readers in these libraries is going to increase by at least 30% in the coming days.”
On this occasion, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah donated books worth Rs. two lakh to each library under his Lok Sabha constituency. Apart from this, he suggested ways to increase readership by at least 30 percent in the coming time and emphasized on making heritage books available online. Shri Shah advised using software which can help understand individuals’ reading preferences and help librarians procure more books of their choice.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah also inaugurated a 15 MW waste-to-energy plant set up by Jindal Urban Waste Management near Piplaj village in Ahmedabad today.
In another post on X, Shri Amit Shah informed, “Today inaugurated a 15 MW waste-to-energy plant set up by Jindal Urban Waste Management near Piplaj village in Ahmedabad. Built at a cost of ₹ 375 crore, this plant has the capacity to convert 1,000 metric tonnes of waste into electricity per day. It will strengthen the waste management of the entire Ahmedabad city and will meet the energy requirements as well.”
किसी भी देश के भविष्य के निर्माण में पुस्तकालयों की अहम भूमिका होती है। आज गाँधीनगर लोकसभा क्षेत्र के ट्रस्ट द्वारा संचालित पुस्तकालयों और सरकारी पुस्तकालयों के पुस्तकालयाध्यक्षों के साथ संवाद किया।
मुझे खुशी है कि ये पुस्तकालयाध्यक्ष, लाइब्रेरी प्रेमियों के साथ भावनात्मक संबंध… pic.twitter.com/AXLz5FFEXk
आज अहमदाबाद के पीपलज गाँव के पास जिंदाल अर्बन वेस्ट मैनेजमेंट द्वारा स्थापित 15 मेगावाट वेस्ट-टू-एनर्जी प्लांट का उद्घाटन किया। ₹375 करोड़ की लागत से बना यह प्लांट प्रतिदिन 1,000 मीट्रिक टन वेस्ट को बिजली में बदलने की क्षमता रखता है। यह पूरे अहमदाबाद शहर के वेस्ट प्रबंधन को… pic.twitter.com/47H8LXjmDT
The last date for submission of applications by the selected meritorious students on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for the year 2024-25 has been extended up to 15.11.2024. The NSP portal is open for submission of applications by students with effect from 30th June 2024. In this project year 2024-25, the selected students are first to do a One-Time Registration (OTR) on the NSP, after which they have to apply for the scholarship scheme that they have selected. The FAQ details for registration on NSP can be accessed at https://scholarships.gov.in/studentFAQs.
Through the ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme’ implemented by the Department of School Education & Literacy, scholarships are awarded to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to arrest their drop-out after elementary level, i.e., Class VIII and encourage them to complete their school education up to higher secondary level, i.e., Class XII.
The scheme provides one lakh fresh scholarships every year for Class IX students who clear the qualifying exam for the scholarship conducted by the State/UT governments. The scholarship is continued through renewal mode from Classes X to XII based on the student’s academic performance. The scheme is applicable only to students studying in State Government, Government-aided, and local body schools and the scholarship amount is Rs. 12000 per annum per student.
The National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) is implemented through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) – the one-stop platform for scholarship schemes disbursed to students by the Government of India. As of 01.11.2024, 86323 fresh and 162175 renewal applications have been finally submitted by applicants. NMMSS scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) following DBT mode. The eligibility parameters for availing the scholarship include parental income not more than Rs. 3.50 lakh per annum and a minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in the Class VII examination for appearing in the selection test for award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students).
On the NSP portal, there are two levels of verification of the scholarship application of selected students: Level-1 (L1) verification is at the Institute Nodal Officer (INO) and Level-2 (L2) is with the District Nodal Officer (DNO). The last date for INO level (L1) verification is 30.11.2024 and for DNO level (L2) verification is 15.12.2024.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)
Defendant Facilitated Russia’s Acquisition of Millions of Dollars of U.S.-Made Dual-Use Electronics Used in Radar, Surveillance, and Military Research and Development
Vadim Yermolenko, 43, a dual U.S.-Russian national and resident of New Jersey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States for his role in a transnational procurement and money laundering network that sought to acquire sensitive dual-use electronics for Russian military and intelligence services.
“This defendant joins the nearly two dozen other criminals that our Task Force KleptoCapture has brought to justice in American courtrooms over the past two and a half years for enabling Russia’s military aggression,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This defendant admitted to playing a central role in a now-disrupted scheme with Russian intelligence services to smuggle sniper rifle ammunition and U.S. military grade equipment into Russia. The Justice Department will never stop working to aggressively disrupt and prosecute both the criminal networks and the individuals responsible for bolstering the Russian war machine.”
“The illegal export of sensitive, dual-use technologies in support of Russia’s war effort poses a significant threat to the United States and its allies and must not be tolerated,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The defendant in this case played a key role in exporting U.S. technology that in the hands of our adversaries could pose great danger to our national security. The FBI and its partners will continue to focus on protecting strategic innovation at home and hold accountable anyone who facilitates illegal transfers to hostile nations like Russia.”
“To facilitate the Russian war machine, the defendant played a critical role in exporting sensitive, dual-use technologies to Russia, facilitating shipping and the movement of millions of dollars through U.S. financial institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “This plea highlights my Office and our law enforcement partners continued commitment to use all tools available to prosecute those who unlawfully procure U.S. technology to send to Russia.”
According to court documents, the defendant was affiliated with Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC, Moscow-based companies that operate under the direction of Russian intelligence services to procure advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment for Russia’s military industrial complex and research and development sector. Serniya and Sertal operated a vast network of shell companies and bank accounts throughout the world, including the United States, that were used in furtherance of the scheme to conceal the involvement of the Russian government and the true Russian end users of U.S.-origin equipment.
The defendant and his co-conspirators unlawfully purchased and exported highly sensitive, export controlled electronic components, some of which can be used in the development of nuclear and hypersonic weapons, quantum computing and other military applications. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) levied sanctions and imposed additional export restrictions on Serniya, Sertal, and several individuals and companies used in the scheme, calling them “instrumental to the Russian Federation’s war machine.”
Sertal was licensed to conduct highly sensitive and classified procurement activities by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s principal security agency and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union’s KGB. The Serniya network’s Russian clients included State Corporation Rostec, the state-owned defense conglomerate; State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (Rosatom); the Ministry of Defense; the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR); and various components of the FSB, including the Department of Military Counterintelligence and the Directorate for Scientific and Technological Intelligence, commonly known as “Directorate T.”
To carry out the scheme, the defendant helped set up numerous shell companies and dozens of bank accounts in the U.S. to illicitly move money and export-controlled goods. During the period charged in the indictment, more than $12 million passed through accounts owned or controlled by the defendant. These funds were used in part to purchase sensitive equipment used in radar, surveillance and military research and development. In one instance, money from one of the defendant’s accounts was used to purchase export-controlled sniper bullets, which were intercepted in Estonia before they could be smuggled into Russia.
Co-defendant Alexey Brayman previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and is awaiting sentence. The case against co-defendant Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected FSB operative, was dismissed after Konoshchenok was removed from the United States as part of a prisoner exchange negotiated between the United States and Russia. Defendant Nikolaos Bogonikolos’ case remains pending. Defendants Boris Livshits, Alexey Ippolitov, Svetlana Skvortsova, and Yevgeniy Grinin remain at large.
The FBI, BIS, and IRS are investigating the case.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and Estonian authorities provided valuable assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Artie McConnell, Andrew D. Reich, and Matthew Skurnik for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Today’s actions were coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture and the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force. Task Force KleptoCapture is an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Research Professor, Political Economy Research Institute, UMass Amherst
A Massachusetts ballot initiative would get rid of the state’s tipped minimum wage.AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
The federal minimum wage for tipped workers has stood at US$2.13 an hour since 1991. Back then, it amounted to half the $4.25 regular minimum wage. But Congress has failed to increase the tipped minimum while periodically raising the regular wage floor. Today, the tipped rate is less than one-third of the $7.25 federal full minimum wage.
As of October 2024, 30 states and Washington, D.C., had instituted their own, higher, regular minimum wages. The number of states taking this step keeps rising in part because Congress hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage since 2009. Over the years, many states have also adopted higher wages for tipped workers. Seven states have no tipped minimum wage at all, which means that employers must pay at least the state-mandated minimum wage to all workers, including those who earn tips.
If Massachusetts voters approve a ballot initiative on Nov. 5, 2024, their state will gradually raise the state’s tipped minimum wage until it matches the state minimum wage. That is, it will rise from $6.75 to $15 per hour by 2029.
Massachusetts would be joining eight states that require – or are on their way to requiring – the full minimum wage for tipped workers: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Michigan. Two major cities, Chicago and Washington, D.C., have similar measures on their books, too.
To inform the debate about tipped wages, we – a labor economist and a sociologist – analyzed the potential impacts of implementing a full minimum wage for workers, businesses and consumers in Massachusetts. We found more evidence of potential upsides than downsides.
Tipped minimum earners’ demographics
For our study, we analyzed labor market data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We found that tipped workers are largely waiters, bartenders, hosts and bussers employed in bars and restaurants. They tend to earn low wages. Most are women, and they are disproportionately people of color.
In Massachusetts, tipped workers typically earn low pay: On average, they take home $20.30 per hour, including what they get in gratuities. That’s about two-thirds of the state average hourly pay of $31.50.
About 66% of tipped workers are women, compared with 49% in the state’s workforce as a whole. Some 43% are people of color, compared with 29% of all people employed in Massachusetts.
Teens also make up a disproportionate share of Massachusetts’ tipped workers: 15%, versus 4% for the broader workforce. But the vast majority of tipped workers are at least 20 years old.
Opponents argue that scrapping the lower minimum wage could backfire for tipped workers if their customers give smaller tips once they know employers have to pay tipped workers more – or some jobs are eliminated. They also worry that business costs would spike, raising prices. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, opposes the measure.
In Arizona, voters will cast their ballots on another ballot initiative that calls for a different type of tipped minimum wage reform. It calls for pegging the state’s tipped minimum wage to 25% below the full minimum wage. If approved, Arizona would effectively lower its tipped minimum wage, which currently stands at $11.35 an hour, to $10.76. Today, Arizona’s tipped minimum wage is $3.00 below the state’s full minimum wage of $14.35.
Prone to wage theft
When tipped workers’ base wages plus their tips do not add up to at least the state’s minimum wage, employers are supposed to make up the shortfall. This makes these workers particularly vulnerable to being underpaid, a form of wage theft.
The consequences of this vulnerability are plain to see in restaurants and hotels. The hospitality industry, which employs the highest share of tipped workers, accounts for less than 6% of employed workers in Massachusetts.
However, it accounts for nearly 14% of all complaints workers lodged with the Massachusetts attorney general’s office in 2023, including disproportionately high levels of complaints about minimum wage violations, the nonpayment of wages and tip violations.
The hospitality industry also accounts for over 36% of all enforcement actions – investigations that produced evidence of labor violations – found by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office.
The Massachusetts ballot initiative has stirred controversy in the state.
Effects on earnings
Two peer-reviewed economicstudies that examined three decades of data found that tipped workers earn measurably more money as subminimum wage rates increase.
Consider, for example, the $18.79 average hourly wage of tipped workers in states that treat tipped employees like other workers. This is 21.2% higher than the average $15.50 among tipped workers in states where the federal $2.13 subminimum wage remains in effect.
Only part of this difference can be explained by the 15.7% difference in average wages for all workers in those different clusters of states.
What could happen with business costs
To be sure, more than doubling the $6.75 tipped rate in Massachusetts to $15.00 may sound like it could cause business costs to soar. A couple of factors, however, would soften the blow.
First, we have calculated that the average tipped worker in Massachusetts restaurants earns about $11.75 an hour, before tips. Raising this rate to $15.00 is equal to a 28% increase – a much smaller lift than increasing the wage from $6.75 to $15.00. In addition, raising a worker’s wage from $11.75 to $15.00 by 2029 is equivalent to raising it to $13.00 in today’s dollars, or a 10% boost, after adjusting for projected inflation.
Second, as we explained in our study, since tipped workers make up about 30% of Massachusetts restaurant workers, and the payrolls of these businesses typically amount to about 30% of their revenue, these numbers imply that eliminating the tipped minimum wage by 2029 would increase the average Massachusetts restaurant’s costs by 1%.
If the average Massachusetts restaurant were to pass its entire labor cost increase onto the consumer through higher prices, this would mean that restaurant prices would rise about 2%.
This is equal to a $50 restaurant meal instead costing $51 – arguably a small price increase.
The two studies mentioned above, which reviewed decades of data to see whether tipped workers earned more, also looked at whether businesses in states that increased their tipped minimum wage cut more jobs compared with businesses in states that didn’t.
Although both research teams looked at basically the same data, one study found evidence of more job losses and the other did not, due to the different statistical choices they made. These studies, that is, produced inconclusive results about what raising the tipped minimum wage does to employment.
There’s far more research on whether increasing the regular minimum wage has caused significant job losses. Studies have found that when it has gone up, employers have faced cost increases that are similar to what we’ve estimated for Massachusetts employers, if the state were to eliminate its tipped minimum wage. And that evidence points to no significant job losses.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In a new report launched on Tuesday, the UN independent expert on human rights in Russia exposes alarming patterns of torture used as a State-sanctioned tool of repression to stifle dissent and intimidate communities abroad. UN News spoke to Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, and former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. They serve in their individual capacity, independent of the UN system and national governments. They are not UN staff and draw no salary.
TORONTO, Nov. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Partners Value Investments L.P. (TSXV: PVF.UN, PVF.PR.U) (the “Partnership”), Partners Value Investments Inc. (TSXV: PVF.WT, PVF.PR.V) (“PVII”) and Partners Value Split Corp. (TSX: PVS.PR.G, PVS.PR.H, PVS.PR.I, PVS.PR.J, PVS.PR.K, PVS.PR.L) (“PV Split” and together with the Partnership and PVII, the “PVI Group”) together announce the completion of a share capital reorganization involving a change in how the Partnership owns its interest in PVII and how PVII owns its interest in PV Split.
Pursuant to the reorganization, among other things, PVII amended its articles to: (a) redesignate the voting common shares held by the Partnership (“Common Shares”) as Class A restricted voting shares, which have substantially the same terms as the Common Shares but are entitled to elect 50% of the directors of PVII; and (b) create Class B restricted voting shares (“Class B Shares”), which are not entitled to dividends, are redeemable for a nominal amount and are entitled to elect 50% of the directors of PVII. A new trust, Partners Value Holding Trust, subscribed for Class B Shares and is the sole owner of PVII shares of that class. As a result, the Partnership no longer controls PVII, but has retained 100% of its economic interest in PVII.
A similar change has been made to the articles of PV Split. As a result of the transaction, PVII now owns 100% of the Class A restricted shares of PV Split, which have substantially the same terms as the voting shares of PV Split but are entitled to elect 50% of the directors of PV Split and a new trust, Partners Value Split Holding Trust, holds 100% of the new Class B restricted voting shares of PV Split, which are not entitled to dividends, are redeemable for a nominal amount and are entitled to elect 50% of the directors of PV Split. As a result, PVII no longer controls PV Split, but has retained 100% of its economic interest in PV Split.
After these changes, which have no impact on the publicly-traded units of the Partnership, it is expected that PVII and PV Split will both continue to be considered mutual fund corporations for tax purposes under current law and following the implementation of proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (Canada) relating to mutual fund corporations.
For additional information, please contact Investor Relations at ir@pvii.ca or 416-643-7621.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Note: This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, “intends”, “targets”, “projects”, “forecasts”, “seeks”, “likely” or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “would” and “could”. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements relating to and regarding the qualification of PVII and PV Split as mutual fund corporations and the economic impact of the proposed transaction on the PVI Group. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of presenting information about current expectations and plans of management of the PVI Group relating to the future, and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Although management believes that these forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the PVI Group, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement the PVI Group to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to: changes to the qualification of PVII or PV Split as “mutual fund corporations” under the Income Tax Act (Canada); changes in in government regulation and legislation; changes in tax laws; the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors; the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchanges rates; operational and reputational risks; catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes; the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts and the outbreak of disease including epidemics and pandemics; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in the PVI Group’s documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada.
The PVI Group cautions that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the PVI Group’s forward-looking statements and information, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, the PVI Group undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements and information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman cosponsored a HouseResolutioncondemning President Biden’s remarks referring to President Trump’s supporters as ‘‘garbage’’.
Representative Hageman stated, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are no longer hiding their disdain for more than half the country. Sadly, these are not “just words” – they reflect their contempt for the citizens of this country, while confirming that their willingness to pursue incredibly harmful policies over the last 4 years is due to their dislike for millions of Americans. Examples of their harmful policies are legion, but include weaponizing the government to silence those with differing views from sharing their voice on social media, attending church services, or speaking out during school board meetings; erasing America’s borders to import well over 12,000,000 illegals, and providing them with money, housing, food and other services that our very own citizens cannot afford; and unleashing a crime wave in our cities. When name calling doesn’t suffice, Biden and Harris are forcing Americans to the unemployment line by overregulating industries such as mining, oil & gas production, and ranching out of business.”
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Contact: Chris Berardi, Sr. Advisor/Communications Director
The United States, through USAID, announced it provided an additional $26.7 million to the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in a continued push to support health workers and advance primary health care. The announcement will be highlighted on the sidelines of next week’s GFF 19th Investors’ Group meeting and Trust Fund Committee meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. This funding will strengthen country and global efforts to increase access to resilient, responsive, and sustainable primary health care and health workforces.
With these newly-announced funds, USAID has provided more than $30 million to the GFF since 2023, securing a seat on the GFF Trust Fund Committee. This position enables USAID to contribute to the GFF’s strategic priorities and participate in the oversight and approval of grants. To date, the GFF has committed more than $1.4 billion from its Multi-Donor Trust Fund, linked to over $11 billion in World Bank financing.
The GFF is a multi-stakeholder global partnership that currently supports 36 low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with the highest maternal, newborn, and child mortality burdens and significant gaps in financing. By working closely with partner country governments and the World Bank, the GFF incentivizes national investment in primary health system capacity to improve the health of women, children, and adolescents. To date, every one dollar of GFF grant financing has brought in an additional seven dollars in the World Bank Group funds for country health investments. A key component of the GFF is also providing technical assistance and financing to develop national strategies to improve the health of women, children, and adolescents.
This partnership between USAID and the GFF will enhance governments’ capacity to leverage support across partners, align investments around national priorities, and strengthen primary health care. Countries with health systems anchored in a strong health workforce are proven to deliver better results, expand service coverage, and lower maternal and child mortality from a variety of causes. By partnering with the GFF, USAID is working with country partners to strengthen health systems to effectively reduce inequities in life expectancy and build resilience against health threats.
News In Brief – Source: US Computer Emergency Readiness Team
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released the following statement:
“The IC assesses that Russian influence actors manufactured a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia. This judgment is based on information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities. The Georgia Secretary of State has already refuted the video’s claims as false.
Russian influence actors also manufactured a video falsely accusing an individual associated with the Democratic presidential ticket of taking a bribe from a U.S. entertainer.
This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans, as detailed in prior ODNI election updates. In the lead up to election day and in the weeks and months after, the IC expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”
What you need to know: Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have reached a settlement with La Habra Heights to bring the city into compliance with state housing law.
SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the state has entered into a stipulated judgment with the City of La Habra Heights, putting the city on an expedited timeline to submit a compliant housing element to the Department of Housing and Community Development. The new housing plan must create 244 housing units, including at least 164 that are affordable to low or very-low-income households.
“No more excuses — every community has a responsibility to create housing and to help reduce homelessness. I am pleased that La Habra Heights has come to the table and agreed to meet their housing goals for a community that desperately needs more affordable homes.”
Governor Gavin Newsom
“The City of La Habra Heights has done the right thing. Instead of continuing to skirt California’s housing laws, it will finally be complying with its legal obligation to plan for 244 housing units,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “My office will not let up: no matter the size of the city or county, we will not rest until every local government in California plans for the future and does its part to tackle our housing crisis.”
The City of La Habra Heights is designated as a high opportunity jurisdiction by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Opportunity Area 2024 map, indicating access to good schools, less pollution, and jobs—all factors that impact long-term success for families with children. However, the city currently has only single-family homes, with no multifamily housing and zero affordable units.
The deadline for the City of La Habra Heights to adopt a compliant housing element was October 2021.
After repeated attempts to assist the city to come into compliance, HCD’s Housing Accountability Unit — launched by Governor Newsom in 2021 — issued a Notice of Violation on March 19, 2024. HCD then worked with the Attorney General’s Office to reach today’s agreement with La Habra Heights.
Despite the agreement, until La Habra Heights fulfills its obligations under the agreement, the city remains subject to the “Builder’s Remedy” and cannot refuse to permit certain affordable housing projects. The city also remains ineligible to receive key state housing and homelessness funds.
HCD, through the Attorney General’s Office, has now entered into five agreements over housing element compliance. The previous four were San Bernardino, Coronado, Malibu, and Fullerton.
“This latest agreement is a key example of why it is so important that every city, big and small, is held accountable for doing its fair share to address the statewide housing need,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “When La Habra Heights adopts a compliant housing element, it will — for the first time ever — make land available for multifamily and affordable housing, creating a path to opportunity for more families in this high-resource community.”
All state and local public agencies must take deliberate action to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing — combating disparities resulting from past patterns of segregation. Increasing supply of multifamily housing expands access to fair housing for lower-income and historically disadvantaged groups, in turn fostering more inclusive communities.
More housing. More accountability.
Since taking office, Governor Newsom has invested $40 billion in housing production. The state has also invested over $27 billion to help communities address homelessness.
Governor Newsom championed the creation of the Housing Accountability Unit at HCD to ensure cities and counties fulfill their legal responsibilities to plan and permit their fair share of housing. This focus on accountability has, in part, led to a 15-year high in housing starts in California. Since its establishment, the Housing Accountability Unit has supported the development of 7,513 housing units, including 2,765 affordable units, through enforcement actions and by working with local jurisdictions to ensure compliance with housing law.
Addressing the homelessness crisis
Today’s action also follows the Governor’s recent executive order urging local governments to quickly address encampments and provide individuals experiencing homelessness with the care, compassion, and support they need. Earlier this month, the Governor announced $130.7 million in new funding for local communities to help people experiencing homelessness in dangerous encampments, paired with robust accountability measures.
California recently announced 37 new grant awards totaling more than $827 million to help more than 100 local communities and organizations create long-term solutions to address homelessness, with strong accountability and transparency measures and clear expectations to ensure that local strategies to address homelessness are measurable and effective.
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Source: United States Department of Justice (National Center for Disaster Fraud)
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Washington, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
Walter Holt III, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts before Senior United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer.
In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, on or about March 12 and May 27, 2021, Holt prepared and submitted falsified Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-19 relief loan applications for Charleroi, Pennsylvania, borrowers, for which he took a fee.
Judge Fischer scheduled sentencing for January 31, 2025. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Holt.
WTO ambassadors, Swiss authorities, heads of intergovernmental organizations, representatives of non-governmental organizations, business and academia participated in the event, which was opened by Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
In his introduction, Mr Michel told a large audience that today the world “is on a knife edge”, with war and conflict piercing the heart of the multilateral system and global confidence. Current conflicts are creating a devastating cocktail of humanitarian catastrophes, destabilisation and insecurity, driving the world away from the rule of law toward the law of force, he noted.
Every week, the world sees the devastating effects of climate change across regions, he said. It also has to live through the “mind-blowing revolution” of artificial intelligence (AI), with its vast potential but also with its risks for human rights, democracy and the global trading system. Against this backdrop, he stressed that “no country alone can face all these challenges,” making cooperation and multilateralism more necessary than ever.
Mr Michel said that the success of the European Union is an example of how cooperation and integration help to build bridges, allowing member states to cooperate and reach compromise on difficult issues. That translates into reducing overdependence and building mutually beneficial partnerships. “We want to build bridges, not barriers. And that requires more trust. More dialogue between nations. And less polarisation that drives nations apart,” he said.
Highlighting the need to build mutually beneficial partnerships, the President of the European Council called for a multipolar world where each country, or group of countries, can set its own path, with respect for the common rules. “It shouldn’t be about choosing one side over another. We need to listen, cooperate, and forge common decisions based on smart compromise. And we have to develop our collective intelligence for solving collective problems,” he noted.
In order to make multilateralism work, he said: “We need to build more trust. People must believe in each other when they make agreements and work together. And building trust requires respect for international law, crucial when nations cooperate together. We also need trade because it generates prosperity and helps us achieve our common goals. And we must transform global multilateral institutions, so they are strong and fit for the 21st century.”
Mr Michel commended the “tireless efforts and relentless determination” of DG Okonjo-Iweala to bring trust back to the heart of the WTO. He underlined that for the European Union, strengthening the WTO is a strategic priority. “A strong, well-functioning WTO is essential to fair and predictable global trade, based on common rules. We must pursue the necessary reforms to make the WTO a powerful force,” he said.
This includes overhauling the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism to include a reliable appeal process, he said, as agreed by members at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2022, while preserving the core principles established in 1995. Looking forward, he also cited the need to address issues such as subsidies and state support and stated that WTO reform must ensure inclusivity, enabling both developed and developing nations to participate equitably.
DG Okonjo-Iweala expressed her appreciation for the very timely insights of President Michel in the current challenging context. “He understands, as we do, that trade is not a means in itself, or even solely an engine of greater productivity and growth, but that trade is a force for social inclusion, economic development, environmental sustainability – and yes – peace.”
DG Okonjo-Iweala said that President Michel is not just a committed multilateralist but someone who is committed to ensuring that multilateralism delivers results for people by using trade as a tool to integrate people and places left out of the gains of recent decades. “Our collective efforts to reform and update the WTO are part of making trade work for everyone,” she added.
Following the lecture, Mr Michel took part in a conversation with DG Okonjo-Iweala on the future of international trade at a time of economic, political and environmental uncertainty, moderated by Professor Muhammadou Kah, Ambassador of the Gambia to the WTO.
The WTO’s Presidential Lecture Series provides a platform for distinguished speakers from around the world to deliver lectures on various aspects of multilateral cooperation and global governance. Several events are held each year.
More information on the lecture series is available here.
Uncertainty about the election getting to you? Is anxiety the dominant feature of your emotional landscape, maybe with a small sprinkling of impending doom?
It’s difficult not to be worked up about politics in today’s polarized climate. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on, you may find yourself glued to your browser or TV, gobbling up every tiny tidbit of news and feeling your stress levels skyrocket.
I’m a psychologist who develops and tests strategies for combating anxiety. As I constantly tell my stressed-out clients, when it comes to election news, there’s a fine line between being well informed and being oversaturated with information.
If you’re ready to short-circuit your stress spiral, here are three science-backed strategies for coping with anxiety in times of uncertainty.
Approach your emotions with mindfulness
Being mindful refers to the quality of awareness you bring to your experiences – specifically, nonjudgmental attention focused on what’s happening right now.
Mindfulness practices originated in Eastern spiritual traditions, including Buddhism. Over the past several decades, mindfulness has gained popularity as a powerful tool for managing anxiety. For instance, meditation apps such as Headspace and Calm incorporate it. Even if meditation isn’t your thing, though, you can still apply nonjudgmental awareness, focused on the present, to election-related anxiety.
Be present. Anxiety can draw you into an uncomfortable spiral of “what-ifs” about the future. When you make a point to be present, you remind yourself what is actually happening right now, rather than letting hypothetical fears take over.
Although you may have serious concerns about the fate of the nation, those outcomes have not yet come to bear. As I tell my patients, “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. For now, focus on the step right in front of you.”
If you notice yourself getting carried away by thoughts of the future, you can pull yourself back to the present by bringing awareness to simple sensations – the feel of your feet on the floor, the rhythm of your breath, or the sounds around you – and remind yourself that you are safe in the current moment.
Pay nonjudgmental attention. Many people are hard on themselves for feeling strong emotions. This critical mindset might look like telling yourself that you’re overreacting, or that it’s weak to let others see that you’re upset. You might even view that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach as evidence that negative outcomes are right around the corner.
Making judgments about your emotions only serves to make you feel worse. In fact, researchers find that pushing away emotions or beating yourself up for having them leads to more frequent and stronger anxiety.
Instead, try giving yourself a break. Tell yourself, “This election is high stakes, so it makes sense I’m anxious.” Then, notice if your anxiety is driven by a fear about the future, and bring yourself back to the present.
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to shift away from rigid, all-or-nothing thinking about the future.
When people are anxious, they tend to focus on the worst-case scenario. For example, you might be telling yourself, “With this candidate in office, things will be terrible and I won’t be able to cope.”
In this scenario, I encourage my patients to move past that initial thought of how awful it will be and instead consider exactly how they will respond to the inauguration, the next day, week, month and so on.
Cognitive flexibility allows you to explore how you will cope, even in the face of a negative outcome, helping you feel a bit less out of control. If you’re experiencing a lot of anxiety about the election, try thinking through what you’d do if the undesirable candidate takes office – thoughts like “I’ll donate to causes that are important to me” and “I’ll attend protests.”
Choose your actions with intention
Another tool for managing your anxiety is to consider whether your behaviors are affecting how you feel.
Remember, for instance, the goal of 24-hour news networks is to increase ratings. It’s in their interest to keep you riveted to your screens by making it seem like important announcements are imminent. As a result, it may feel difficult to disconnect and take part in your usual self-care behavior.
Try telling yourself, “If something happens, someone will text me,” and go for a walk or, better yet, to bed. Keeping up with healthy habits can help reduce your vulnerability to uncontrolled anxiety.
It’s not on your shoulders to solve every single problem in the world. AP Photo/John Hanna
Post-Election Day, you may continue to feel drawn to the news and motivated to show up – whether that means donating, volunteering or protesting – for a variety of causes you think will be affected by the election results. Many people describe feeling guilty if they say no or disengage, leading them to overcommit and wind up overwhelmed.
If this sounds like you, try reminding yourself that taking a break from politics to cook, engage with your family or friends, get some work done or go to the gym does not mean you don’t care. In fact, keeping up with the activities that fuel you will give you the energy to contribute to important causes more meaningfully.
Shannon Sauer-Zavala receives funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.
DENVER – Today, Governor Polis released the administration’s Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget proposal. This strategic budget proposal makes prudent investments that protect Colorado’s funding for education, continue investing in public safety, and prioritize fiscal responsibility to maintain financial reserves and ensure the state is prepared for future rainy days.
“We’ve made real progress on what matters most to Coloradans over the last five years, and this budget is about protecting those investments while ensuring that we are putting fiscal responsibility front and center, driving greater government efficiency, and continuing delivering for Coloradans. This budget reflects tighter budget conditions due to rapidly declining inflation, and I’m proud of the values and priorities represented here,” said Governor Jared Polis.
Since taking office in 2019, the Polis-Primavera administration has delivered on the priorities most important to Coloradans. This includes everything from delivering free, full-day kindergarten and universal preschool; cutting health care costs through Reinsurance, the Colorado Option, Prescription Drug Affordability Board, capping the cost of insulin and more; saving Coloradans money by cutting income, and property taxes; moving closer to the goal of 100% renewable energy while saving Coloradans money on their energy bills, and more. This work all continues.
This budget builds on those investments with continued support to help make Colorado one of the ten safest states. This includes:
$15.0 million to support and sustain Colorado’s emergency and operational communications dispatching system, which is used by 90 percent of the state’s first responders. This will help first responders do their jobs effectively.
$3.4 million to the Crime Prevention Through Safer Streets program. This grant program supports local governments and law enforcement entities in making physical infrastructure and security improvements like improved lighting, which can reduce crime and make neighborhoods safer.
$1.7 million to increase the bed cap for youth detention to reflect increasing demands across the state and provide more services for at-risk youth.
$1.8 million in repurposed funding for Colorado Youth Detention Continuum (CYDC) programs to provide community-based placements for at-risk youth.
$2.0 million to the Youth Delinquency Prevention and Intervention program, which supports the collaborative work of community-based organizations and local governments to reduce crime among youth.
$0.9 million for legislation to address the penalty for firearm theft, the connection between motor vehicle theft and firearm possession, and establish an entity to research and make recommendations on criminal justice policy.
$7.6 million to expand capacity at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Fort Logan for competency restoration, which will accommodate more individuals in the criminal justice system to gain competency and proceed to trial more quickly.
$6.1 million for Community Corrections to expand the capacity at facilities often called “halfway houses,” which are an effective and less expensive alternative to traditional incarceration facilities.
$0.6 million to support crime victims by investing in the Address Confidentiality Program resources. This increase in state investment will backfill declining federal funds so that DPA can continue this program to protect survivors of stalking, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
This budget also prioritizes education funding to ensure the success of students and educators, including:
$115 million from the General Fund to bolster Total Program funding for education in an effort to preserve a significant balance in the State Education Fund to ensure the state never has to go back to a Budget Stabilization Factor.
Proposed changes that move Colorado to the best-practice of a current-year enrollment funding method. Adopting a method based on current-year enrollment more accurately represents the current population of students to better target resources to where kids are. Only nine other states employ a method that averages enrollment over multiple years.
$13.5 million in categorical funding to specific groups of students and student needs, including special education, transportation, English language proficiency, and career and technical education.
$3.4 million in repurposed funding to provide greater support to young students with reading deficiencies (K-3) using evidence-based interventions.
$2.0 million to provide support and new learning opportunities to students attending turnaround and priority improvement schools.
$7.8 million placeholder for Universal Preschool reflecting anticipated Proposition EE and General Fund revenue.
$3.6 million funding increase to support Early Intervention, which provides developmental supports such as speech therapy to children from birth through age two with developmental delays.
Fiscal responsibility is also front and center in this budget with a proposal to maintain a 15 percent reserve level in FY 2025-26. This was made possible by difficult decisions and balancing actions made to balance the budget and protect funding for critical investments in education, public safety and health care.
This budget also requests a number of transfers, efficiencies, and other policy changes to slow the growth in spending and limit spending to create space for critical budget needs.
In addition to these priorities, the budget also makes critical investments in economic growth, housing, child care, higher education, health care and Medicaid funding, support for counties and benefits administration to help connect Coloradans to services faster, support for homelessness, expanding behavioral health care, in Colorado’s state employees, and investments to help Colorado celebrate its 150th birthday and America’s 250th birthday.
In total, this budget requests total expenditures of $46.1 billion, including $17.8 billion General Fund. Read the full budget letter here and view the slide deck here.
CFA volunteer Fiona Burns was recognised in today’s Australia Day Honours, receiving an Australian Fire Service Medal for her more than 21 years of dedicated service to CFA and her community.
Fiona Burns has been an inspirational member of CFA for more than 21 years, serving as a member of two brigades (Launching Place and Hillcrest) and is the current group officer of Yarra Valley Group.
She has served with distinction as an officer of her brigade and group for 19 of her 21 years of CFA service.
Fiona has distinguished herself through her outstanding ability and reputation as an extremely capable member of incident management teams. As a result, she was chosen to take on Level 3 planning officer role in incident control centres (ICC) at large and prolonged, multi-agency campaign fires in 2013, 2019-20 and again in 2024 in Gippsland and the Grampians.
In addition, she has represented CFA internationally as a planning officer undertaking two five-week stints to support fire suppression in Canada in 2014 and 2015. She has been a Level 3 accredited planning officer for 10 years.
“I love the planning officer role because I can take my fireground skills and use them in ICCs to support our firefighters on the front line,” Fiona said. “It’s a demanding role but I really enjoy the challenges.”
Fiona is also an experienced fireground commander where she identifies emerging operational leaders with whom she willingly shares her significant experience.
Her extensive fire management experience and analytical ability were influential during the successful transition of the former Launching Place and Woori Yallock brigades into one new brigade – Hillcrest Fire Brigade – in 2007.
As brigade captain, Fiona was responsible for driving the creation of an emergency services hub with Ambulance Victoria, co-locating an ambulance at Hillcrest Fire Station to allow better medical response for the Yarra Valley and surrounds.
Fiona was a foundation mentor in CFA’s statewide Women In Leadership mentoring program, and she is still involved in this important initiative. She is also part of the District 13 Captains’ Leadership Mentoring Program, providing guidance to new captains about leadership and administration. These programs align with Fiona’s leadership philosophy.
“Throughout my journey, I’ve been fortunate to have incredible mentors and supporters who share their knowledge and experiences with me, and I believe that it’s my responsibility to do the same for emerging leaders.
”By sharing my experiences and insights, I hope to inspire others to realise their potential and contribute meaningfully to CFA and beyond.
“I gain as much from the people I mentor as they get from me. It’s not a one-way street.
As a mentor, Fiona encourages diversity and opportunity to the women of CFA and is helping to future-proof CFA by developing a pool of future leaders to replace those currently holding leadership roles.
She has been a CFA trainer and assessor since 2013 and continues to combine her practical skills and knowledge to deliver training in District 13 on General Firefighter, Low Structure and Introduction to AIIMS courses, as well as leading skills maintenance and specialised bushfire training for brigades in the group and other local brigades.
Fiona has made significant contributions to community safety and education. She is a founding committee member of the Teenage Road Information Program (TRIP) and has been the chair of TRIP for the past six years. TRIP is presented by people who have lived the experience of a road crash. It includes all the emergency services agencies who attend a crash and have to deal with the resulting devastation. It’s a hard-hitting program that’s delivered in a funeral home.
“TRIP is my passion. It is primarily aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds because statistics show they have more crashes,” Fiona said.
“The program is designed to be thought-provoking and initiate conversations between mates and families about making good decisions while driving. There are consequences to decisions that drivers make. For every road fatality about 800 people are impacted.”
Along with TRIP, Fiona is an ongoing advocate of creating links to local Yarra Valley community groups that has ensured the development of more integrated emergency preparedness and response planning processes between Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Victoria State Emergency Service, local government, community groups and the local schools.
Post Black Saturday, Fiona recognised that some lives were lost by people who tried to stay to rescue their pets. The Grab and Go Pet Bag concept was developed as a result of a local school art competition. The bags, which are made from reusable calico, include a checklist for pet owners who need to evacuate.
“It was an absolute delight for me to present a framed Grab and Go Pet Bag to the winning student at their school assembly.
“I want to take moment to acknowledge those who have played a significant role in shaping my CFA journey. Brian Willians, my first captain, set a strong foundation for me. Graeme Bourne offered unwavering support during my early captaincy days. Lex de Man for his support to establish and develop Hillcrest brigade, whilst Geoff Conway and Graeme Armstrong provided me exceptional leadership and guidance. Locally, Don Bigham and Roly Rak challenged and supported me, pushing me to grow in ways I hadn’t imagined and seek opportunity to enhance our local brigades’ capacity and capability.
“Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank my mum. None of us can volunteer without the unwavering support of our loved ones, and her encouragement and support has been a cornerstone of my journey.”
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) issued the following statement today after voting to confirm Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security:
“In our conversations throughout the confirmation process, Governor Noem has demonstrated to me that she’s willing to work together to tackle the important challenges facing our country, including strengthening border security and protecting our communities from the spread of illicit fentanyl. Of course, there are policy areas where we disagree, but we do agree that there is no more important task of government than keeping people safe. I believe that she has the qualifications necessary to be our next Secretary of Homeland Security, and I look forward to partnering with her in the future.”
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
January 25, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after President Donald Trump unlawfully fired at least 12 independent inspectors general across multiple federal agencies:
“President Trump’s firing of at least 12 independent inspectors general at important federal agencies is a continuation of his efforts to reshape the federal government without oversight or accountability—and with loyalty to Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone. It is a brazen attempt to rig these offices to look the other way when violations of law take place. These dismissals clearly violate federal law, which requires the President to provide Congress with 30-day notice of intent and detailed reasons to fire inspectors general.
“Inspectors general are vital for keeping the government honest and revealing waste, fraud, and abuse. Less than one week in office and President Trump is dismantling the checks and balances on the Executive Branch at an astounding rate.”
JOINT NEWS RELEASE BETWEEN NEA, BCA, JTC, MPA, NPARKS, PUB, SDC, SFA AND SL
Singapore, 30 October 2024 – The clean-up of Shell’s leaked slop in the channel between Pulau Bukom and Bukom Kechil, including the cleaning of the oil-stained rock bunds and infrastructure, has been completed.
2. There have been no other oil sightings at sea and ashore since 20 October 2024 when Shell first reported the leak.
3. There are also no oil sightings arising from the separate oil overflow bunkering incident on 28 October off Changi.
4. All the seaward oil response assets deployed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) for both incidents will stand down today.
5. The containment and absorbent booms that were installed by government agencies at various locations as a precautionary measure since 20 October, will be removed progressively.
6. Investigations by the National Environment Agency and MPA into the leaked slop incident at Pulau Bukom are ongoing. MPA will also be investigating the Changi oil overflow bunkering incident.
~~ End ~~
For more information, please submit your enquiries electronically via the Online Feedback Form or myENV mobile application.
The Queensland Government’s decision to abolish the state’s Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry and repeal its Path to Treaty Act marks a major step backwards for First Nations rights, says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss.
Newly-elected Premier David Crisafulli, who was sworn into office this week, said yesterday he will follow through on his election promise to end the Queensland’s truth- telling inquiry, which is underway, and repeal its treaty legislation.
Commissioner Kiss, a proud Kaanju and Biri/Widi woman who grew up in Rockhampton on the lands of the Darumbal People, was previously the Executive Director of the Interim Truth and Treaty Body supporting Queensland’s Path to Treaty.
“The decision to scrap the Inquiry, denying our First Nations People a chance to share their stories to help accurately convey our state’s history, is extremely disrespectful and harmful,” Commissioner Kiss said.
“It is disrespectful to communities, but also to the many people who put in years of work to make this Inquiry happen. This includes the contributions of everyday Queenslanders – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – who provided invaluable input to support truth, justice and healing.
“The inaugural truth-telling hearings of the Commission that occurred in September showed the enormous contribution that this process can make to public understanding of the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland, building a basis for dialogue, understanding and compassion. These hearings showed the immense benefits truth-telling has for everyone.
“The Path to Treaty was something our People have long called for. They believe this is what is needed to bring Queenslanders together in a way that fosters unity, understanding, respect, dignity and wellbeing for all. In particular, those Elders who have lived experience of the impacts of colonial policies and practices of the past, and our families and communities who experience the ongoing trauma and effects.
“Now more than ever, we need policies that promote reconciliation and unity – not division and discord. First Nations Queenslanders deserve and need to have their rights upheld and their stories heard.”
Commissioner Kiss has written to Premier Crisafulli, urging him to reconsider his decision and offering to work collaboratively with his government to achieve better outcomes for First Nations people in Queensland.
“I am very keen to establish a positive working relationship with the new Queensland Government – supporting it to advance the human rights of First Nations people. Truth-telling about past and ongoing injustice is critical to advancing human rights and building a better future for First Nations people and all Queenslanders. I urge the Premier to reconsider his decision,” Commissioner Kiss said.
“With the absence now of a First Nations member in the new Queensland Government, it is of great importance to include First Nations People in decisions that affect them. That means meeting with us, talking with us and hearing and incorporating our views into decisions that will impact us all.”
A new season of short film creation under the Falcon Project was launched at the China National Film Museum on Oct. 28 in Beijing.
Leadership, mentors and guests pose for a group photo at a new Falcon Project creative season launch ceremony held at the China National Film Museum in Beijing, Oct. 28, 2024. [Photo courtesy of China Film Association]
With the theme of “The City in My Heart – The Jingchu Land that Extends for Thousands of Miles,” the new season will give participating young filmmakers a platform to produce shorts about Hubei province. The term “Jingchu” is an ancient name for what is now China’s Hubei province.
Shorts will be no longer than 30 minutes and depict everyday stories, focusing on the five Hubei cities of Huangshi, Jingzhou, Xianning, Jianshi, and Xiangyang.
Deng Guanghui, the resident vice president of the China Film Association (CFA), at the ceremony stated that this season of the Falcon Project aims to be an educational platform to help budding filmmakers cultivate their cinematic skills as well as hone creativity.
As the second run of this mentorship program, this season plans to continue the Falcon Project’s objective of guiding young talent with documenting the era and expressing various sentiments of the people.
“I hope that young filmmakers will set the right direction, create for the great era and use the medium of film to document the new journey of the new era,” Deng said, “by fulfilling their artistic mission and telling good Chinese stories, they shall create film works of both artistic grace and substantial content to reflect the history, culture and eras of transformation in Hubei.”
As part of the bigger outreach project to connect future filmmakers with today’s industry, selected young filmmakers will be given the chance to work with established professionals. Additionally, numerous filmmakers specializing in professional fields such as cinematography, sound recording and film art will be invited to contribute as mentors, providing comprehensive guidance and support throughout the project.
Interested young filmmakers are asked to submitted a short no longer than three minutes as part of the registration process. Tian Zhuangzhuang, veteran actor, filmmaker and artistic director for the Falcon Project, explained: “a 3-minute short film can reveal the creator’s basic understanding of film visuals and aesthetic talent. Creators should be focusing on reality and rooting in life to find better stories. I hope we can cultivate better talent for the film industry.”
At the launch ceremony, other mentors also stepped onstage to share their experiences and expectations. Among them, Wang Kai, a native of Wuhan, Hubei province, expressed his hope that through these future shorts, everyone will be able to understand and appreciate the spirit and mentality of Hubei and its people in a more holistic and multi-dimensional way.
Participating young directors and screenwriters from the previous program also appeared on stage to share their gratitude, insights and anticipations. They encouraged more young filmmakers to join the new season to showcase Hubei stories and make friends with those who share similar visions.
Entitled “The City in My Heart – Altay,” the previous season saw the production of shorts that focused on Altay, a prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Mentors for the new Falcon Project creative season share their expectation and insights on stage at the China National Film Museum in Beijing, Oct. 28, 2024. [Photo courtesy of China Film Association]
Liu Haijun, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee, noted in his speech that Hubei is an important, historic and strategic area within China, holding a vital role in Yangtze River civilization as well as Chinese society as a whole.
“This short film season, focusing on Hubei, fully leverages the unique influence and communicative power of short films to more vividly shape the urban and cultural image of Hubei, spread Jingchu culture and enhance understanding of the region. It is a very meaningful activity,” he stated.
This new Falcon Project creative season is guided by the CFA and sponsored by the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Hubei Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The season is organized by the Hubei Changjiang Film Group and the Hubei Film Association.
Registration for the season is open from Oct. 29 to Dec. 15, with applicants being chosen for two categories: directing and screenwriting. The process then will include phases ranging from talent selection and training to filming and post-production.
Trifork Group AG Company announcement no. 39/2024 Schindellegi, Switzerland – 1 November 2024 Interim Financial Report for the third quarter ending 30 September 2024
Trifork Group reports -0.8% revenue growth in the core business, adjusts full year-outlook, and targets around EURm 10 in annual cost savings to improve margins
CEO Jørn Larsen comments on the third quarter: “2024 has proven to be one of Trifork’s most challenging years. The private sector business environment for many of the services we provide remained difficult and unpredictable through the third quarter, but we cannot only blame the market. Some of our units have struggled to secure new customers or new engagements with existing customers. This will be fixed, based on the ways of working of our well-performing units.
We underestimated the negative margin impact from persistently lower-than-expected revenue growth throughout the year. In response, we will now extend our cost savings program with the aim to reduce overall annual cost by around EURm 10. We will introduce a 10% cut in selected management remuneration led by myself and our CFO, make further rightsizing in low-performing units, and reduce other costs until we see an improved market situation. Reducing our workforce in certain units is a necessary but difficult decision that weighs heavily on me and our business unit leaders and we will work closely together to make the right decisions. We do not know when a market improvement will materialize, but with a broader customer network and pipeline than ever before, we are prepared to capitalize when it does, at which time we aim to return to double-digit growth with a double-digit EBIT margin.
These challenges in parts of the organization are offset by many positive developments too. Our Public sector business, accounting for 39% of revenue, is back on track with healthy growth and a robust pipeline. Our strategic focus on the U.S. market is also yielding results, with solid growth and a promising pipeline for 2025. US revenue increased by 56% in Q3 and 29% in the first nine months compared to the same periods in 2023. Additionally, our Run business is building momentum for recurring revenue growth, and our new office in Oman is off to a strong start, powered by our proprietary platforms. Finally, our most valuable companies in Trifork Labs are performing very well.”
Third quarter 2024
Trifork Group
In Q3 2024, Trifork Group revenue amounted to EURm 47.1, a net decline of -1.8% from Q3 2023, the combined result of an inorganic growth of 4.9% and an organic decrease of 6.8%. In the quarter, Trifork had EURm 0.5 less revenue from the more volatile and non-core hardware and third-party licenses compared to Q3 2023. Adjusted for this, Group revenue growth was -0.8% in Q3 2024.
Trifork Group adjusted EBITDA amounted to EURm 5.3, corresponding to 11.3% margin. No special items were recorded.
Trifork Group EBIT amounted to EURm 1.1, corresponding to 2.4% EBIT margin.
Trifork Group net income amounted to EURm 1.6.
Trifork Segment
In Q3 2024, adjusted EBITDA in the Trifork Segment amounted to EURm 5.8 (Q3 2023: EURm 7.0). The adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.3% (Q3 2023: 14.5%).
Sub-segments
Inspire revenue increased by 11.6% to EURm 0.8 and realized an adjusted EBITDA of EURm -0.6 (Q3 2023: EURm -0.9).
Build revenue declined by -2.9% to EURm 34.5 and realized an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.3% (Q3 2023: 18.5%).
Run revenue increased by 2.2% to EURm 11.7. Adjusted for volatile and non-core hardware and third-party licenses, revenue growth was 8.4%. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 33.5% (Q3 2023: 23.2%).
Trifork Labs
In Q3 2024, fair value adjustment of Trifork Labs investments was EURm 1.7. The book value of all minority investments was EURm 75.4 at the end of the quarter. EBT from Trifork Labs was EURm 2.1 in the quarter.
The financial outlook for 2024 is adjusted as follows:
Revenue is expected in the range of EURm 205-208 (previously EURm 215-220) equal to -1.4 to 0.0% growth. The revised revenue guidance is explained by lower revenue expectations in the fourth quarter, including around EURm 7 (license and hardware sales) in revenue on already agreed engagements now delayed to 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA in Trifork Segment is expected in the range of EURm 25-27 (previously EURm 31-34). The revised guidance on adjusted EBITDA in Trifork Segment is explained by the lower revenue outlook and the additional costs of reorganizations in Q3 and Q4.
EBIT in Trifork Group is expected in the range of EURm 8-10 (previously EURm 14-17).
As the planned transaction in our managed security services is not yet to be closed, we have excluded any potential effect from its potential deconsolidation in the guidance. We expect a positive effect between EURm 3-5 on unadjusted EBITDA and EBIT when the process is completed.
Main events in the third quarter of 2024
Inspire Q3 is seasonally a quarter with low conference activity. Hence, the conference activities in the quarter were primarily focused on preparing for GOTO Copenhagen and GOTO Chicago in October. The online GOTO universe continued to grow in with 1.9 million combined views on YouTube and Instagram in Q3, and 74.6 million views in total. At the end of the quarter, we had 1.0 million subscribers. We are continuously sharpening our planning of events and have optimized our cost structure through the year. The improved earnings momentum continued in Q3, and in the first three quarters Inspire improved EBITDA with EURm 0.8 compared to the same period last year.
Build Build revenue declined by 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. The weakness came primarily from the private sector, which accounted for 61% of revenue. Corporates continued to take a cautious approach to IT spending in light of the global economic uncertainty, geopolitical uncertainty, and higher interest rates compared to previous years. The continued low activity from private sector customers has been particularly visible in UK, whereas our private sector engagements in the US displayed comparatively better performance. Danish public revenue grew 15% in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year. After a soft start to the year with disruptions to existing customer engagements, our Danish Public business has gained momentum with several key wins and ramp-up of delivery on existing framework agreements won in previous quarters and years. Public wins in Q3 included The IT and Development Agency at the Danish Ministry of Taxation as well as The Danish Business Authority.
Run Revenue in Run increased by 2.2% in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year. Our Cloud Operations business has built a solid sales pipeline supported by our new Contain cloud product offering. This is driven by both public and private customers. As announced in Q2, our managed services security business is in discussion with potential strategic partners in order to accelerate growth and market share. Our Splunk services gained momentum in Q3 with key customer wins and a new product offering for SME’s compliance with NIS2 cyber regulation.
Trifork Labs In Q3, Trifork Labs completed no new investments or exits. One Labs company completed an internal financing round. Activities in the quarter primarily included reviewing investment proposals from new investors in individual Labs companies. The most valuable companies in Trifork Labs are performing to a satisfactory degree. Dividends of EURm 0.2 were received in the quarter.
Results presentation
Trifork will host a results presentation and Q&A session with CEO Jørn Larsen and CFO Kristian Wulf-Andersen today, 1 November 2024 at 11:00 CET in a live webcast that can be accessed via the following link, or via the investor website:
Investors Frederik Svanholm, Group Investment Director & Head of Investor Relations frsv@trifork.com, +41 79 357 7317
Media Peter Rørsgaard, CCO Fintech & Head of Press Relations pro@trifork.com, +45 2042 2494
About Trifork Group Trifork is a pioneering global technology partner, empowering enterprise and public sector customers with innovative solutions. With 1,278 professionals across 76 business units in 15 countries, Trifork delivers expertise in inspiring, building, and running advanced software solutions across diverse sectors, including public administration, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, energy, financial services, retail, and real estate. Trifork Labs, the Group’s R&D hub, drives innovation by investing in and developing synergistic and high-potential technology companies. Trifork Group AG is a publicly listed company on Nasdaq Copenhagen. Learn more at trifork.com.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says that as far as Fiji is concerned, Fijians of Indian descent are Fijian.
While Fiji is part of the Pacific, Indo-Fijians are not classified as Pacific peoples in New Zealand; instead, they are listed under Indian and Asian on the Stats NZ website.
“The ‘Fijian Indian’ ethnic group is currently classified under ‘Asian,’ in the subcategory ‘Indian’, along with other diasporic Indian ethnic groups,” Stats NZ told RNZ Pacific.
“This has been the case since 2005 and is in line with an ethnographic profile that includes people with a common language, customs, and traditions.
“Stats NZ is aware of concerns some have about this classification, and it is an ongoing point of discussion with stakeholders.”
The Fijian Indian community in Aotearoa has long opposed this and raised the issue again at a community event Rabuka attended in Auckland’s Māngere ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa last month.
“As far as Fiji is concerned, [Indo-Fijians] are Fijians,” he said.
‘A matter of sovereignty’ When asked what his message to New Zealand on the issue would be, he said: “I cannot; that is a matter of sovereignty, the sovereign decision by the government of New Zealand. What they call people is their sovereign right.
“As far as we are concerned, we hope that they will be treated as Fijians.”
More than 60,000 people were transferred from all parts of British India to work in Fiji between 1879 and 1916 as indentured labourers.
Today, they make up over 32 percent of the total population, according to Fiji Bureau of Statistics’ 2017 Population Census.
Sangam community NZ leader and former Nadi mayor Salesh Mudaliar . . . “If you do a DNA or do a blood test, we are more of Fijian than anything else. We are not Indian.” Image: RNZ Pacific/Lydia Lewis
Now many, like Sangam community NZ leader and former Nadi Mayor Salesh Mudaliar, say they are more Fijian than Indian.
“If you do a DNA or do a blood test, we are more of Fijian than anything else. We are not Indian,” Mudaliar said.
The indentured labourers, who came to be known as the Girmitiyas, as they were bound by a girmit — a Hindi pronunciation of the English word “agreement”.
RNZ Pacific had approached the Viti Council e Aotearoa for their views on the issue. However, they refused to comment, saying that its chair “has opted out of this interview.”
“Topic itself is misleading bordering on disinformation [and] misinformation from an Indigenous Fijian perspective and overly sensitive plus short notice.”
‘Struggling for identity’ “We are Pacific Islanders. If you come from Tonga or Samoa, you are a Pacific Islander,” Mudaliar said.
“When [Indo-Fijians] come from Fiji, we are not. We are not a migrant to Fiji. We have been there for [over 140] years.”
“The community is still struggling for its identity here in New Zealand . . . we are still not [looked after].
He said they had tried to lobby the New Zealand government for their status but without success.
“Now it is the National government, and no one seems to be listening to us in understanding the situation.
“If we can have an open discussion on this, coming to the same table, and knowing what our problem is, then it would be really appreciated.”
Fijians of Indian descent with Prime Minister Rabuka at the community event in Auckland last month. Image: Facebook/Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka
Lifting quality of data Stats NZ said it was aware of the need to lift the quality of ethnicity data across the government data system.
“Public consultation in 2019 determined a need for an in-depth review of the Ethnicity Standard,” the data agency said.
In 2021, Stats NZ undertook a large scoping exercise with government agencies, researchers, iwi Māori, and community groups to help establish the scope of the review.
Stats NZ subsequently stood up an expert working group to progress the review.
“This review is still underway, and Stats NZ will be conducting further consultation, so we will have more to say in due course,” it said.
“Classifying ethnicity and ethnic identity is extremely complex, and it is important Stats NZ takes the time to consult extensively and ensure we get this right,” the agency added.
This week, Fijians celebrate the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. The nation observes a public holiday to mark the day, and Fijians of all backgrounds get involved.
Prime Minister Rabuka’s message is for all Fijians to be kind to each other.
“Act in accordance with the spirit of Diwali and show kindness to those who are going through difficulties,” he told local reporters outside Parliament yesterday.
“It is a good time for us to abstain from using bad language against each other on social media.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Days from the US presidential election, the polls are showing the outcome of the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remains a nail biter.
With the United States our closest ally, the result could have potential implications for Australia in areas such as climate change policy, defence and the economy. If there is a Trump victory, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also have the challenge of building a relationship with an unpredictable character.
To discuss the state of the contest and what comes next, we’re joined by Bruce Wolpe, senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Wolpe worked with the Democrats in Congress, and on the staff of Julia Gillard. Last year, he authored the book, Trump’s Australia.
Wolpe regards the election as too close to call.
They’re just deadlocked in two fundamental respects. National head-to-head across the country – the popular vote – they’re 49-48, 47-47, no one cracking 50, and there’s no clear favourite. And then that same pattern exists in all of the seven swing states that will decide the election per the Electoral College.
In terms of key issues:
Just as it is here in Australia, hip pocket is the strongest determinant of how you will vote, and so inflation and the state of the economy, in the lived experience, is the number one issue. Americans and Australians share the same experience over the past post-COVID years where there’s been an outbreak of inflation and high interest rates. And that means that the basket of goods that you buy day in, day out, week in, week out, from the supermarket to your petrol to your insurance prices are up between 10 and 40%.
The second big issue is immigration. As I’m sure you know from looking at the news over the past three years, just following things, the southern border with Mexico has been effectively out of control. It’s back under control but in that time, perhaps millions of people have flowed into the United States.
The third big issue is abortion rights, reproductive health rights and its future. The Supreme Court two years ago repealed Roe v Wade, which established a right found in the Constitution for women to take care of their reproductive health services. That’s the first time that a universal human constitutional right has been repealed since Dred Scott in the Civil War [denying slaves’ rights]. Three generations of women have grown up with the protections for them.
This has become a very powerful issue. And 52% of all voters are women.
On what either a Harris or a Trump administration might look like for Australia:
I think with Harris, we would just see very strong continuity with Biden. I mean, on foreign policy issues, they really have worked together.
The relationship with Australia is fine. Her relationship with the Prime Minister is absolutely fine. They know each other, can work together, a very comfortable working relationship.
[As to] Trump and Australia: first, I really have to say in the first [Trump] term, I think Australia had the most untroubled relationship with Trump than any other country in the world, and that includes Israel, that includes Europe, that includes Canada.
There is a structural trade surplus that the United States has with Australia. So Australia is not number one on the hit list of nations that are, quote, taking advantage of the United States in their trade agreements. […] It will start off in Trump’s head with all the countries that he wants to go after – I don’t think Australia is high on the list.
However, on a personal level, Wolpe says there might be some issues between Trump and Albanese:
I think personally it will be rocky at the start for several reasons. First, Trump will be briefed on everything that the Prime Minister has said on him and his presidency. And he attacked Trump for the January 6th insurrection. He’s for abortion rights and attacked the ruling of the Supreme Court. He’s for gun control, and Australia has a completely different posture on gun control, and Trump is strong on the Second Amendment. If Trump looks at the agenda of the Albanese government, it is a mirror image of Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda adjusted for realities in both countries. But it’s the same deal.
Michelle Grattan 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.
BILL SHORTEN, MINISTER FOR THE NDIS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: Good afternoon, everybody. It’s great to be here with Louise Glanville, who is the National Quality and Safeguards Commissioner for the NDIS, and also with Associate Commissioner Natalie Wade. Two bits of good news for Australians with disability and indeed for Australians generally. The first is that the National Disability Insurance Agency has released its Annual Financial Statement, the AFSR, and it demonstrates that because of the reforms that we’ve undertaken in the last nearly three years, that the Scheme is going to spend $1 billion less in the last 12 months than was expected.
So, Treasurer Chalmers said the forecast was that the Scheme for financial year 2023/24 would be $1 billion higher than it actually was. Now the Scheme is looking after more people than ever in the last 12 months, there’s 660,000 Australians receiving valuable and life changing support on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. What we were able to do is invest in outcomes and actually spend a little less than we forecast we would. So great news for the future sustainability of the Scheme. And it reflects well on the changes which Labor’s been making.
The other bit of really good news is that the National Quality and Safeguards Commission has released its annual statement, its annual report, and it demonstrates that for the first time really since the creation of the NDIS, we’re coming to grips with handling complaints. Complaints are up 78%, not because there’s been a 78% jump in problems, but rather that for the first time, a properly resourced Quality and Safeguards Commission is able to investigate 111,000 different matters.
The Scheme is changing lives, but there have been problems with it. There have been problems because the Scheme’s been treated as the only lifeboat in the ocean for Australians with disability, because there hasn’t been proper scrutiny of the payment system, because whilst most providers are doing a great job, some are not. But what we’re able to say today is that the reforms which Labor has put in place with people with disability, with states and territories, is improving the bottom line of the Scheme. We’re getting better outcomes without having to spend quite as much money as we expected to, which is good news for taxpayers and for people on the Scheme, because quality is being emphasised. But also, the National Safeguards Commission, who is the watchdog, to make sure that participants on the Scheme are both safe and receiving quality services Labor has invested significantly, we’ve doubled their staff, we’ve majorly increased their funding. What it means is we’re now able to ensure that we are now seeing greater attention paid to the quality and the safeguarding of NDIS participants.
Why don’t we leave it at that from me for now. We’re happy to take questions, but I might invite Louise Glanville, the new Quality and Safeguards Commissioner, to explain what’s been happening with how we’re keeping people safe. And then I might invite Natalie Wade, the Associate Commissioner, to add some further remarks.
LOUISE GLANVILLE, NDIS QUALITY AND SAFEGUARDS COMMISSIONER: Thank you for that, Minister. It’s great to be here with you and with Natalie today. And what’s really important about the work of the Commission, that it is building progressively to being a strong regulator. Indeed, we want to be a formidable regulator. We want to ensure that people with disability are receiving the sorts of supports they need and the quality of services that they need. We know there are many providers out there that do fantastic work in relation to the disability space, and we are keen to ensure that that continues into the future.
It’s important that we think about the human rights of people with disability in this respect, and that we deliver on the promise of the NDIS for people to live ordinary lives, like we all do, in every single way. So, it’s wonderful to be here and to watch the way in which the regulatory tools that we can be using to assist with that process are really on the increase and on the improve that the government, the federal government has made substantial commitment to our resourcing to enable us to do that work well. There has been a strong staff grown, and certainly I give credit to my predecessor, Mike Phelan, who has been acting in this space and has done some great work in leading the team at the commission in order to do this very important piece of work that will assist in ensuring the sustainability of the NDIS over time.
NATALIE WADE, NDIS QUALITY AND SAFEGUARDS ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER: Thank you, Minister and Commissioner Glanville. Today’s annual report from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, really highlights that with the increase in complaints there is a demonstrated trust between the Commission, but also the disability community, where people with disabilities are bringing forward to us at the regulator, the issues that they’re facing in receiving quality and safe services.
It is fundamental to our work as a regulator to hear directly from people with disability and for them to trust that when they tell us that there is a problem, that they will be able to receive a response and resolve, and those matters will be [inaudible].
It’s really important to reflect on the increase of regulatory action that has been taken by the Commission in the last 12 months. It is absolutely imperative that providers be supported to understand their role in providing quality and safe services to people with disability. But it’s also fundamental to ensure that when things go wrong or providers do not do what they are expected to do, that regulatory action follows. And today’s annual report really highlights that that is exactly what has been happening in the last 12 months.
Commissioner Glanville and I are very much looking forward to continuing the work from the last 12 months and ensuring that the human rights of people with disability is centred in our work, that providers are most supportive, and that we all move forward to advance the rights of people with disability as we regulate this space.
JOURNALIST: Part of these reports, will anything in the near future be addressing the wait times to get onto the NDIS?
SHORTEN: Yeah, the NDIS has grown remarkably. The year before I became the Minister, it was growing at 23%. That’s too fast. That’s I think reflecting also a lack of other services for Australians with disability. One thing that has happened though in the last 12 months as we’ve been reforming the Scheme, is that there’s been almost the analogy that, there’s almost been a rush for last drinks at the pub, so to speak, by a proportion of providers who have been desperate to try and get some extra money out of the Scheme before they can’t any longer. So that has led to, I think, a surge in people seeking change of circumstances. Listen, long story short, we’ve got to treat every application and every change of circumstance as serious and legitimate until proven otherwise.
But what that has meant is a doubling in the workload of the agency. We’ve surged workforce to help get rid of the backlog of claims. We’re sorry that people have been inconvenienced, but we are now seeing a decrease in the claims coming in and the variations coming in as people calm down and realize that the Scheme isn’t actually just trying to exit a whole lot of people with permanent disability.
And also, some of the shonks are now being chased out. I mean, I think it shows the determination of the Albanese government that we have banned for life, in many cases 200 people, from providing services to the Scheme. 200 plus people have been banned in the last two years, 124 in the last 12 months. This is a clear message that if you just want to use people with disability as human ATMs, if you think that somehow a government Scheme of taxpayer money is easy pickings, you’re wrong. That’s changing.
JOURNALIST: And so, how is that working? How do you monitor those shonks for lack of a better word?
SHORTEN: When I became Minister three years ago, frankly, I was shocked and appalled at what I discovered. The Scheme had been rolled out and there were over half a million people on the Scheme, and that was good by the previous government. But the complete naivety, negligence of a lack of scrutiny of payments meant that people were able to draw down, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars with no accountability, that there was no pre-checking of the integrity of invoices before they were paid, that we see price gouging, where some service providers will provide an identical service to someone on the Scheme to who’s not on the Scheme, identical, and it could be a shower chair or it could be a some other service, but they charge the NDIS participant more just because they’re on the NDIS.
So, we’ve now got rules against that. We’ve set up what’s called a Fraud Fusion Taskforce. They have got hundreds of investigations underway. It shouldn’t have been the case, but it’s taken until now and this government, to get 21 Commonwealth agencies working with each other. And, you know, we’re now sending people to jail for ripping off the Scheme. I think there was a view in the unethical parts of the community that NDIS is a government Scheme, it’s easy money to cheat. Those wells are drying up, because we are now investing in a state-of-the-art investigation processes. I must always stress though, it is changing hundreds of thousands of lives for the better, and most service providers are doing a good job. But there has been an element of fraud, unethical behaviour, price gouging and opportunism. And we say to those people, get off our Scheme, you’re not welcome, you will get caught.
JOURNALIST: And then just a question, locally in Port Augusta earlier this week, there was the death of a 26-year-old woman with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Are you aware of that?
SHORTEN: It’s shocking and tragic about Tegan’s passing in Port Augusta. She wasn’t on the NDIS. South Australian Police are investigating it. It’s not compulsory to be on the NDIS, but I think it is a wakeup call for community to look out for each other. This is a more general comment, not reflecting on the NDIS, but just all of us. Someone who’s vulnerable is not someone else’s business. We should all keep an eye out for our neighbours. You can do that without being a nosey parker, but we’ve got to look after each other. SA police will do, I’m sure, an excellent job in getting to what has happened. We certainly will take a keen interest to see what lessons there are.
One thing that the NDIS is doing is that when people are presenting for their plans, we are now – and this is following Annie Smith’s death, that tragedy which was completely avoidable and culpable – what we are now doing is making sure that if you’re on the NDIS, you’ve got more than one relationship. You can’t just be with a carer or just with a family member. We want to make sure that that’s a red flag to us because we it takes it takes a village to support anyone. And that’s what we’ve got to behave. We’ve got to get back to that true Australian value.
JOURNALIST: Are you aware of she was receiving any government payments, Centrelink or?
SHORTEN: I don’t know.
JOURNALIST: And now completely unrelated from Canberra. Um, do you believe the Prime Minister and his claims about contact with Qantas?
SHORTEN: Yes, I do. Um, the Prime Minister has been diligent in reporting, um, any upgrades and disclosures. He’s acted consistently with the standards which are set out for our parliamentarians. The opposition has tried to smear the Prime Minister, but a lot of it seems to have blown back in their own face. Again, you know, Mr. Dutton, he says it’s wrong of Mr. Albanese to accept an upgrade, which he declared. But then again, when you take a favour from Gina Rinehart, you know, is there an expectation? So, their transport spokeswoman, Bridget, just said it came out all guns blazing but managed to shoot her foot off.
So, what Australians want us to do is adhere to proper standards of ethical conduct. What Australians want us to do is be transparent in our dealings with all people, and what they want us to do is get on with the cost-of-living issues. I mean, the opposition, the Liberal Party, has stolen a week of the nation’s life talking about this. All it’s done is probably depress Australians opinions of politicians generally. But in the meantime, people are battling their mortgages. People are trying to make ends meet. That’s where Labor’s head is at. And I think that’s what they expect of all parliamentarians.
JOURNALIST: Someone leaking out of the ministry called the Prime Minister a sook. So, you think that the PM is being a sook in this situation?
SHORTEN: Oh, I’m not even going to respond. I mean, frankly, that is not an accurate characterisation.
The Government today launched three measures to enhance the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS), following the announcement of reforms to the talent admission regime in the 2024 Policy Address.
The first measure calls for expanding the list of eligible universities under the TTPS. Thirteen top Mainland and overseas universities/institutions have been added to the list, making a total of 198 eligible schools.
The newly added universities/institutions include nine Mainland universities ranked from 11th to 20th under the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Best Chinese Universities Ranking in the past five years, but have yet to be included in the original list of eligible universities.
They also cover four top-five specialised institutions on the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of “Art & Design” in the past five years, namely, Royal College of Art; University of the Arts London; Parsons School of Design, The New School; and Rhode Island School of Design.
The second measure entails extending the validity period of the first visas of Category A applications under the TTPS, ie applicants with an annual income reaching $2.5 million or above in the year immediately preceding the date of application.
For the applicants with approval given from October 16, the day the 2024 Policy Address was announced, the validity period of their first visa has been extended to three years to facilitate their planning to move to Hong Kong with their families.
The new measure also applies to around 21,000 Category A applicants whose applications were approved before the announcement of the 2024 Policy Address. They may, from today onwards, apply to the Immigration Department within three months before their limit of stay expires, and will be granted extension of stay for one year unconditionally.
If they have secured offers of employment, or have established or joined in a business in Hong Kong upon applying for an extension, they may be granted an extension of stay for up to three years after submitting relevant proof.
The last measure involves enhancing the assessment criteria and arrangements of the General Points Test under the QMAS.
Starting today, the General Points Test (GPT) under the QMAS has been enhanced by adopting a more objective and clear scoring criteria, and streamlining the application and selection process. The enhanced GPT replaces the original item-by-item scoring system with an assessment questionnaire.
Applicants should confirm if they meet the 12 assessment criteria in the questionnaire under six major aspects, namely age, academic qualifications, language proficiency, work experience, annual income and business ownership, and submit supporting documents.
The applicants can submit applications if they meet at least six assessment criteria. The Immigration Department will pass the eligible applications to a newly established assessment panel for further selection.
The assessment panel, chaired by the Secretary for Labour & Welfare with other relevant bureau secretaries as members, will provide advice to the Director of Immigration for his approval decision, based on the deliberation outcome.
There will be no annual quotas under the enhanced GPT. For applications submitted under the original GPT before the implementation of the enhancement measures, the department will continue the processing in accordance with the original criteria and procedures, and conclude the assessment as soon as possible.
The electronic application platform for the enhanced GPT has commenced operation. For enquiries, contact the Immigration Department’s enquiry hotline: 2824 6111, fax to: 2877 7711 or email to: enquiry@immd.gov.hk.
Secretary of Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said that since the new talent admission regime was implemented at the end of 2022, over 380,000 applications have been received, with nearly 24, 000 applications approved. Additionally, around 160,000 people of talent have arrived in Hong Kong with their families.
“The enhancement measures implemented today will help further attract talent conducive to Hong Kong’s development, enrich the local talent pool, enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the quest for talent, and consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an international talent hub,” he added.
DAVID PENBERTHY, HOST: Well, it’s a very opportune breaking at eight this morning, because on the same day that major reforms and savings are being announced to the NDIS, we have the Minister for the NDIS, not just here in Adelaide, but here in our studio in Adelaide. Bill Shorten is with us here at FiveAA HQ this morning. Minister, good morning and thanks so much for coming in.
BILL SHORTEN, MINISTER FOR THE NDIS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: Good morning gentlemen. Thanks for having me here.
PENBERTHY: Now look, we’ve had, we’ve done a lot of work lately. Mr. Shorten, on the NDIS. And we’ve had a few local cases that have been in the headlines. There was another one too, that I spoke to your office about myself earlier this week, which very, very kindly has been resolved. But in a in a broader sense, we’ll start with the big sort of headline figures. This thing has grown like mad and was on target to become, I think, the biggest budgetary item, bigger than the age pension. What are the reforms that you’ve put in place? How much are you going to save, and is it possible to do that without reducing the level of service that people have come to rely on?
SHORTEN: Yes, it is possible to improve the scheme without undermining its fundamental values. When I became Minister nearly three years ago, the reality is there was over half a million people on the scheme, changing a lot of lives for the better, hundreds of thousands of lives for the better, a lot of very good service providers. But there has been insufficient attention to the administration of the scheme and that has changed. So, one issue was that the scheme was almost becoming the only lifeboat in the ocean. So as soon as you have a disability, everyone says, oh, that’s an NDIS matter. Well, the fact of the matter is, the NDIS is only designed for personal budgets for the most profoundly disabled, not for everyone.
But the states have been good. Peter Malinauskas, Mally, he’s a rock star. He’s been helping lead the States and working with Nat Cook here to make sure we start developing with Amanda Rishworth, working services up outside the scheme. So that’s one reform, not everyone needs to flock to the NDIS. And within the scheme itself, there was no back-office payments checking. Like, I don’t want to make people, you know, just sort of drive off the road as they’re listening here. But it was possible for people to draw down 20 and $30,000 out of their packages with no invoices.
We see some service providers, you know, you have a shower chair and then you have an NDIS shower chair. And guess what? They’re identical. But when it’s called an NDIS shower chair, it’s four times as much. We’ve now made that illegal. 92% of service providers are currently unregistered. Like, imagine having a system where you can drive on Adelaide roads. You can have the driver’s license system or the not the driver’s license system. So, we’re overhauling how we register. We’re overhauling how we assess people, making it consistent. We also, we’ve put a sort of in and out list what you can spend your resources on. And whilst that’s led to tears at bedtime by some of the dodgy providers with crystal therapy and other therapies which are just not evidence based, the truth of the matter is it’s now providing clarity.
All of this means that we can get the growth of the scheme to about 8% when, the year before I became the Minister, it was 23%, but next year we’re on track to have growth at only 12%, so we’re still investing.
PENBERTHY: So, about a billion bucks, you’re looking at saving?
SHORTEN: Well, we’ve saved a billion. We’ve spent $1 billion less than we thought we would in May. So, for the financial year 2023/24, we thought it would be 42.5 billion. And it’s actually come in under $42 billion, which means that we’re just running the scheme better. That doesn’t mean that we’re not providing services. There’ll be more people on the scheme next year than this year. There’ll be more money invested in people next year than this year. But what we are saying is, if you’re getting a service, is it a quality service? Is it, are you not being price gouged? You know, yesterday in the Downing Street court in Sydney, we, through long investigations, three dodgy gentlemen or two dodgy gentlemen and a lady, are going to jail for ripping off $5.8 million. We’ve set up a criminal task force. We’ve got 21 Commonwealth agencies. You know, to channel my inner Clint Eastwood, I say to dodgy providers, do you feel lucky? Because we will catch you.
PENBERTHY: Have there been any successful prosecutions under those laws?
SHORTEN: Yes. We’ve got 56 people are in court or on the desk of the relevant public prosecutor, Director of Public Prosecutions, 500 investigations. We’ve released some information this morning. Under my predecessors, yes, the Liberals, they had a safeguards commission which is meant to handle complaints. But that’s where complaints used to go to die. It was not transparent. This year we’ve just after – we’ve tripled the number of people working in the complaints Commission from 367 to 1052. We’ve given them money. When I put in an acting administrator into the Complaints Commission to liven it up. He was a former policeman. I said, tell me what you found, Mike. And Mike said, oh, you’ve got state of the art investigation systems for 1988. So, we’ve upgraded the ICT. Now the complaints have gone up 78%, my usual, you know, Ratbag critics say, oh, that proves that everyone’s unhappy because you’re the Minister. No, it just means for the first time, we’re following up the complaints. They’ve always been there.
PENBERTHY: Minister we’ve got some callers with questions for you. Geraldine’s on the line Geraldine good morning to you.
CALLER: Hi Bill. I’m getting a ramp put in and there’s a quote on it, it’s $17,000.
SHORTEN: Oh, that’s rubbish.
CALLER: Yeah. Now I believe that they’re ripping the system off. And this this man, he’s. That’s all he does. Him and his two sons. And they employed, more or less employed by my provider. And I just hope the government can do something to get a cheaper ramp for me, because I haven’t been outside my home for 11 months. If there was a fire here, I’d burn to death because I can’t go up and down the steps and I’ve got to wait another till June or July next year to save up enough money to pay for the ramp.
SHORTEN: Well, I don’t know if you’re on the NDIS or another government payment scheme?
CALLER: My Aged Care.
SHORTEN: Okay, well, what we’ll do is if we can get your details offline, I don’t know if a ramp should cost $17,000, but my gut says that must be a beautiful ramp.
PENBERTHY: Yeah. The on ramp to the New South Road extension cost that much.
SHORTEN: Yeah, it sounds like a piece of art. Um, so what we have seen, and Geraldine, thanks for calling, is just because it’s the government money and a government package doesn’t give some contractors the God given right to rip taxpayers and people off. So, we’ve now in the NDIS, I’ve now got through the Competition Commission laws which say you cannot be charged more for an identical service or product than if you weren’t on the scheme. So, what we can do is you can, what it means is if they were selling you an NDIS ramp, we’re now allowed to look at the books of the company and see what they charge other people for ramps, and if it’s if it’s less that they charge another punter than someone on the NDIS, that’s against the law now.
PENBERTHY: So, it should be. Minister, there’s another local story we’ve been following closely. Listener by the name of Alex Castoroides, who has called in. I just note who explained to us his situation. A severely disabled daughter who requires two on one care all day, had been in school and receiving terrific care, and they’d had a good experience on the NDIS. That ended, and he’s had some trouble continuing it, so much so they’ve had to sell their business. He’s told us his family home has been at risk. He’s on the line now. Alex, good morning to you. You’re speaking with the NDIS Minister, Bill Shorten.
CALLER: Good morning. Good morning.
SHORTEN: Good morning, Alex.
CALLER: Minister. Yeah. Just quickly touch on my daughter’s case. Um, she finished school last year, and we spent the whole year preparing her to come out into the public and be part of the, you know, the wide world out there. And we put in a change of circumstance with NDIS and – because obviously we had to fill that gap between 9 and 3 where she needed care, where she used to be at school. Instead of giving us the extra care, we actually got our, our funds slashed. And the person that made the decision said that Georgia only needed one on one care. She has got a two on one restraining order set up through [inaudible]. She has all the reports from her psychologist and OT that she does need two on one care at all times. And when this decision was made, it just destroyed our lives. Where, like Will said, I had to sell my business to look after my, I had to close my business, actually, to look after my daughter to help her. And, you know, we did the review. The gentleman used old information, that worked for NDIS, and quoted things when George was at school not being in public. And we did a review of the review. The lady totally bunged that up. She asked for the new information. We provided it to her again. She didn’t use the new information. She thought we didn’t give it to her. We gave her the reference number of the call we did with NDIS to say this is where we’ve uploaded all the information and here’s the email. And, you know, her response was, oh, I saw the email from my colleague, but I thought it was an American date, so I didn’t open it.
So that was her reasoning. And she used the old information for my daughter’s schooling days, to say her, she sticks with her judgment. It’s only one on one care and we were not going to give you any extra funding. So, we followed the process, and we applied for the tribunal. With the help of Senator Nat Cook, the federal health Minister, they’ve all helped me and sent emails to your office. We haven’t had much response, and much help. And I’ve been in the Advertiser. I’ve been on 5AA trying to get this hurried up because my daughter’s health was spiralling out of control and mental health, that is. To the point where four weeks ago, um, she was out of control. We had to call the ambulance. The poor girl that was looking after her on her own just couldn’t control her anymore. The ambulance took her to the QEH, and she was put in an induced coma due to her state, for three weeks. And she’s just come out of the induced coma. They did all the testing on her. Her health is perfectly fine, and they’ve put it down to her situation of losing her carers and all of that situation that the NDIS put us through with the bunged-up decisions that they made.
You know, we’re on the we’ve got no savings no more. No one’s, no one’s helping us in a hurry. And now that the, the next excuse is, oh, you’ve signed up with the tribunal so we can’t help you. And that’s from your office. So, you know, what do you want us to do? That’s what I want to know. Like the NDIS is there for specifically for my daughter. And I praise you for what you’re doing now. It’s amazing. And I can’t believe it wasn’t done earlier, what you’re what you’re doing now. But my daughter is sitting here on the couch having to learn how to walk again, how to talk again. And we’re in a mess.
And this system, from April to now, we’re still fighting and sitting by my daughter’s bedside watching her, the tube down her throat, not knowing if she’s going to live anymore. You know, I still have to take calls, and I still have to try and fight the NDIS and the tribunal system to try and get, you know, put back what my daughter needs. And I’m one of many. And, you know, you just said before, the system is there for people like my daughter. But I’m sorry, but it’s failed dismally. The workers that, the worker that did that last review of the review, you know, I know nothing’s going to happen to her. But if she could come now to my house and see my daughter the way she is because of her silly decision, of not bothering to read any of the new reports we gave, not bothering to read any of the incident reports that we gave…
PENBERTHY: Minister, can anything be done in Alex’s case to at least get this process moving along a little bit more quickly so he can get some clarity?
SHORTEN: Yeah. First of all, Alex, it can’t be easy having to share that story. And you’re a good dad, and I know you’re doing your absolute level best. And I’m sorry that you’ve had a bad experience with the Agency, so no ifs or buts. I’m sorry. What I understand about your case is that the package was north of $300K, for a year? I understand that on October the 30th, the matter, that plan has been kept at the same level for the next six months while you go through the appeals process?
CALLER: Yeah.
SHORTEN: The fact of the matter is, there is a legal system. And if something’s before the courts, I can’t just simply step in and act as judge. You know, there’s a separation of powers between the politician and the legal process. But I do understand that the plan you had last year has now been approved on the 30th of October for the next six months. At the same level I get. There’s also issues about – the school system at least had your daughter, but now post school and you leave school, it’s a bit of a black hole. And then, there’s no I don’t think there’s been enough work – this is not you, but this is the system – that when people finish school and they’ve got a profound disability, they’re sort of left to their own devices. So, we’ve set up some projects to try and work out how we can do better stuff for school leavers so that it’s not the, ‘left to your own devices’ that you’ve been in.
Just on the, the general point. So, on your matter, your plan has been rolled over for the next six months. Status quo payment. That was decided, I think, on the 30th of October. But just to other people who are listening, this is a problem. But God only knows what would happen if we didn’t have an NDIS at all. And no other country in the world has it, so that doesn’t help you. But going to the general issue, I don’t know what this country would do without the NDIS. And the problem we got is that in your matter, you feel that the evidence hasn’t been looked at properly, the people making the decisions haven’t taken into account matters. When I became the Minister, there were 4000 staff at the agency. Now, my predecessors capped the number of people at the agency at 4000. In 2017, there were 4000 people working on matters like yours, your daughter’s, everyone else, and there were 170,000 people on the scheme.
When I became the Minister, there’s over half a million people on the scheme and still 4000 people. So, we’ve now started to invest in planner capability because I want you to have a more consistent experience. But anyway, I know your matters in the courts, but I do know that rather than get nothing until the court matters resolved, your plan has been rolled over for the next six months so that there are funds there.
PENBERTHY: All right. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that story, Alex. It’s full on and thanks to you as the Minister too, Mr. Shorten to, you know, take what Alex is saying as seriously as you have because –
SHORTEN: Oh, yeah.
PENBERTHY: – it’s been a big story locally.
SHORTEN: Yeah, no, I get it. That’s tough.
PENBERTHY: Why can’t that cap change?
SHORTEN: Oh, we have changed it.
PENBERTHY: How on earth can 4000 people look after? Because – and the case I mentioned the other day that I won’t go into now, but it feels like half the battle is actually just getting responses from within the organisation, in the same way it is with My Aged Care?
SHORTEN: Yeah, to be fair to the Agency, they were underfunded, as was the complaints commission, but now we’ve put on an extra 2000 people, so it takes a while to get people up to speed. Of the leadership of the Agency, we have changed that. The new Chair of the Agency is Kurt Fearnley, who’s just an amazing Australian, charismatic, smart, capable, passionate, doesn’t take a backward step. The leadership of the Agency, of the top 11 people who were running it, there’s one left. We’ve sort of changed the guard there, and now we’re bringing in people and training them up.
We had a call centre which was contracted out, which meant that if you rang the call centre and they were getting nearly 2 million calls a year –
PENBERTHY: 2 million?
SHORTEN: Because of their contract, yeah, they couldn’t get, they couldn’t access the information. So, we’re now bringing some of that in-house, but we’re investing in the capability of the agency, more people and training them more so we hope we can get more consistent decision making.
PENBERTHY: It was a long chat in the end, but a good chat. We thank you. Thank you for coming in. Mr. Shorten, we’ll catch up with you again soon.
On Oct. 26, Beijing Love Book Cancer Foundation (LBCF), in collaboration with Beijing Cancer Rehabilitation Society (BCRS), organized an educational event for breast cancer patients in Beijing. The initiative sought to empower patients by deepening their understanding of comprehensive cancer treatments and recovery strategies, thereby encouraging a more positive approach to standardized care. The event showcased the screening of “Healthy Her,” a documentary that delves into the lives of breast cancer patients, offering the public a closer look at daily challenges that patients face. In addition, the gathering featured a walking activity that is a form of therapeutic exercise included as part of a multifaceted approach to recovery.
People participate in a charity walk at Longtan Lake Park in Beijing, China, Oct. 26, 2024. [Photo by Liao Jiaxin/China.org.cn] Jiang Zefei, vice director of the Department of Oncology at the Fifth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital, said: “This event is designed to inspire patients to maintain a positive and optimistic outlook in their fight against cancer and to bolster their confidence in returning to societal life.” “We anticipate a future where collaborative efforts from all societal sectors will provide comprehensive support for breast cancer patients, both physically and psychologically,” he added. Breast cancer is a common life-threatening disease that affects women’s health in China. As per the data released by China’s National Cancer Center, the country reported approximately 357,200 new breast cancer cases in 2022, placing it fifth in mortality rates. With advancements in standardized treatments and the introduction of innovative drugs and therapies, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer patients diagnosed at early stages in China has surpassed 80%, according to Professor Mo Xueli from Peking University Shougang Hospital. Professor Shi Anli, honorary director of Cancer Rehabilitation Society of China Anti-Cancer Association (CRS) and a three-time cancer survivor, mentioned the important role of novel medical treatments. Reflecting on her own experiences, she said: “Genetic testing during my third cancer battle enabled highly precise treatment approaches.” She further commented on the progress in pharmaceutical development, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy, which have broadened treatment options, improved clinical outcomes and significantly enhanced the psychological well-being of patients. Professor Mo also emphasized that the government has significantly ramped up its efforts in screening for cervical and breast cancer. In Jan. 2022, the National Health Commission’s Department of Women’s and Children’s Health released a strategic plan for cervical and breast cancer screenings. For breast cancer, the strategy pushes for the early diagnosis rate to reach over 70% by the end of 2025, aiming to elevate health standards for women.
A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the United States not to obstruct peace efforts in the Ukraine crisis, as U.S.-led arms transfers to Kyiv continue.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting, where UN Undersecretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu noted that the Ukrainian armed forces continue to receive arms transfers and other forms of military support, including heavy conventional weapons.
Nakamitsu expressed concern over the use and transfer of cluster munitions, highlighting their indiscriminate nature and potential for widespread pollution.
Geng said the immediate priority is to adhere to the principles of no battlefield spillover, no escalation of hostilities, and no incitement by any party to quickly de-escalate the situation and seek a political solution to the crisis.
China urges parties involved in the conflict to demonstrate political will and engage in peace talks as soon as possible, Geng said. He also called on the international community to create favorable conditions and provide constructive assistance for this process.
It is the United States that has been aggravating security tensions in Europe, increasing trust deficits and promoting divisive confrontations, Geng said, adding that after the conflict broke out, the U.S. continued to send weapons to the battlefield, openly advocating for the weakening and defeat of Russia, pushing its geopolitical strategy in a blatant manner.
It is also the U.S. that has repeatedly smeared China’s peace efforts, tied China to Russia, tried to drive a wedge between China and Europe, and deliberately fostered camp-based rivalry, said the Chinese diplomat.
Selling fear, creating enemies and inciting confrontation will not only bring disputes and chaos to the world but will also ultimately harm the U.S. itself, Geng warned.
China has not provided weapons to any party in the Ukraine conflict and has strictly controlled dual-use items, Geng said in response to Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood’s accusations that China has provided decisive support for Russia.
Chinese companies engage in regular trade with countries worldwide, including Russia and Ukraine, in compliance with World Trade Organization rules and market principles, and are beyond reproach, Geng added.
From the very beginning, China has called for a ceasefire, an end to hostilities, the resolution of disputes through diplomatic negotiations, and a push toward a political solution, according to the Chinese envoy.
Over the past three years, China has been vocal and active in these efforts, he said. “Who is truly supporting peace, and who is obstructing it? I think the international community sees this very clearly.”
China opposes the United States’ use of the Ukraine issue to discredit and pressure China, imposing unilateral sanctions and illegal “long-arm jurisdiction” on Chinese entities and individuals, Geng said, adding that China will take all necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Xi, UAE president exchange congratulations over 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties
BEIJING, Nov. 1 — Chinese President Xi Jinping and President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday exchanged congratulatory messages over the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
China and the UAE are good friends who trust each other and good partners for win-win cooperation, Xi said.
Over the past 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-UAE relations have maintained sound and steady development, with strengthened political mutual trust, deepening synergy of development strategies, fruitful practical cooperation in various fields, close people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and sound communication and coordination in regional and international affairs, he added.
Xi recalled that during Mohamed’s state visit to China in May, the two heads of state reached an important consensus, which has charted the course for developing China-UAE relations in the next stage.
Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-UAE relations and stands ready to work with Mohamed to take the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as a new starting point to push the China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level, so as to make a greater contribution to regional and world peace and stability while delivering more benefits to the two peoples.
