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  • MIL-Evening Report: Who is Sean Baker, the indie filmmaker behind Oscar sweeper Anora?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Duncan Caillard, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology

    Director Sean Baker has made history by becoming the first person to win four Academy Awards in the same night for the same film – Anora – taking home prizes for original screenplay, film editing, directing and best picture.

    Anora centres on Ani (Mikey Madison), a Brooklyn sex worker entangled with Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the immature son of a Russian oligarch. After Ivan disappears, Ani searches through New York with his handler Toros (Karren Karagulian) to find him.

    Baker’s Oscars sweep capped off a string of wins over the past year, but surprised many pundits who expected three-and-a-half hour epic The Brutalist to take home the top prize.

    He’s made the 97th Academy Awards one for the history books. So who is Sean Baker?

    An indie film lifer

    Baker has been a fixture of the international film festival circuit for more than a decade. His films are carefully researched character studies, often focused on sex workers, immigrants and low-income communities.

    Baker maintains creative control by working with ultra-low budgets, often serving as writer, director and editor simultaneously. He often casts new or non-professional actors and prefers to shoot on location with natural light.

    His breakout film Tangerine (2015) followed two transgender African American sex workers in Los Angeles. Tangerine grapples with the complicated lives of its characters but also celebrates their humour and friendships. The film was a technical milestone: shot entirely on the iPhone 5S by cinematographer Radium Cheung. The total estimated budget was just US$100,000.

    Baker’s next film, The Florida Project (2017), was a portrait of low-income children living in cheap motels near Walt Disney World. The film playfully frames its characters’ difficult childhoods as colourful and ecstatic, drawing an outstanding performance from six-year-old star Brooklynn Prince in her first film appearance.

    Red Rocket (2021) centred on a retired porn star returning to his Texas home town, but struggled at the box office amid the COVID pandemic.

    Baker’s film budgets have increased gradually over time, but have still remained very small by Hollywood standards. The Florida Project was produced on a measly budget of US$2 million, while Anora cost just US$6 million. For context, the production of last year’s best picture winner Oppenheimer (2023) cost Universal Pictures about US$100 million (before marketing costs).

    The high price of creative freedom

    Anora premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, where it won the coveted Palme d’Or.

    The Palme d’Or is widely considered the most prestigious award in international art cinema – and has launched previous Oscar winners such as Parasite (2019), The Zone of Interest (2023) and Anatomy of a Fall (2023). These awards play an important role in marketing and financing films outside the studio system.

    The realities of independent filmmaking are harsher than the glittering appearance of awards season. Independent filmmakers are often precariously employed and earn modest incomes from their work.

    In a speech delivered at the Director’s Guild of America Awards earlier this month, Baker laid out the financial difficulties associated with working as an indie director:

    It’s just simply not enough to get by on in today’s world, especially if one is is trying to support a family. I personally do not have children, but I know for a fact that if I did, I would not be able to make the movies that I make.

    Fellow nominee Brady Corbet, who made The Brutalist with about US$10 million, faced similar challenges, saying in an interview with Vanity Fair that he had made nothing from his two previous films.

    Little films on the big screen

    Anora has arrived during a time of great upheaval in Hollywood. Studios and streaming giants are adjusting their business models to maximise profits.

    Meanwhile, the industry is still recovering from strikes in 2023 by the Writers Guild of America and The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which shut down productions for months.

    Hollywood has often turned to independent filmmakers in such moments of crisis. In the 1970s, independent filmmakers such as John Cassavetes, Roger Corman, George Lucas and David Lynch disrupted an industry that was stagnating after its Golden Age.

    Today, distributors such as Neon (which distributed Anora) and A24 specialise in marketing independent films through careful awards campaigns and viral marketing strategies.

    Baker’s win underscores the role of independent films — less constrained by commercial expectations — in shaping the industry’s future. By taking greater creative risks, his style of intimate filmmaking is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood’s stuffy, franchise-driven business model.

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

    – ref. Who is Sean Baker, the indie filmmaker behind Oscar sweeper Anora? – https://theconversation.com/who-is-sean-baker-the-indie-filmmaker-behind-oscar-sweeper-anora-251272

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: NZ hopes to store carbon in marine ecosystems – but some are so degraded they’re already a source of emissions

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Francis Thrush, Director of the Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Shutterstock/Danita Delimont

    For New Zealand, a country with an underwater territory 14 times its landmass, marine ecosystems present a significant opportunity to investigate carbon storage options.

    Prompted by a 2023 report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the government recognised the need to focus on the oceans in addressing climate change.

    In its emissions reduction plan for 2026-2030, it highlights the potential to harness marine habitats as carbon sinks and to count this towards the country’s efforts to slow climate change.

    Several blue-carbon studies report on stocks of carbon in sediments and mangrove, saltmarshes and kelp forests. This tells us how much carbon is stored in these ecosystems – but very little about how carbon flows through them and the factors that influence whether it is stored or emitted.

    Research shows seagrass meadows, mangroves, saltmarshes and kelp forests are significant carbon stores.
    Shutterstock/Daniel Poloha

    This is important. Marine ecosystems can be both sinks or sources of carbon. If we don’t understand how organic material is transformed or how carbon dioxide (CO₂) is either taken up by plants or emitted into the atmosphere, we will likely make poor decisions about nature-based solutions.

    To address this, we have invited researchers from the Scandinavian research partnership CoastClim – an innovative project linking seafloor biodiversity and climate – to bring their unique set of instrumentation to New Zealand to explore patterns in greenhouse gas emissions from the seafloor.

    The measurements we made this summer are tracking emissions of methane and CO₂ from seafloor sediments in the upper reaches of several harbours (Waitemata, Mahurangi and Whangateau) in the Auckland region.

    We found CO₂ concentrations were up to eight times higher than atmospheric levels in more disturbed and polluted parts of these harbours. Methane concentrations were up to 30 times higher. This shows that degraded habitats are indeed transformed into net emitters of greenhouse gases.

    Paying attention to land-coast connections

    There has been concern about the health of the Firth of Thames, at the back of the Hauraki Gulf, because the area drains a large catchment with intensive agriculture.

    We found this region is a significant source of greenhouse gases.

    Our sampling on the open coast revealed high draw-down of CO₂ in healthy patches of kelp. But this effect was reversed in areas where New Zealand’s endemic sea urchin, kina, has grazed off the kelp. These regions are known as kina barrens and they dominate many non-protected reefs.

    Kina, New Zealand’s endemic sea urchin, grazes on kelp and can turn the seafloor into a source of emissions.
    Wikimedia Commons/Shaun Lee, CC BY

    Our data highlight an important finding relevant to how we manage marine ecosystems and address both the biodiversity and climate crises. As we stress and degrade these ecosystems, they have less capacity to process carbon in ways that store it or move it into food webs. The system fails in its self-regulation and transforms into a net source of greenhouse gases.

    We argue that we have to manage these ecosystems in an integrative fashion, considering the long-term stores of carbon and the time it takes to build them up, along with the many processes that move carbon from one part of the ecosystem to another.

    Considering the dynamics of marine carbon and restoring or protecting coastal ecosystems are good options for addressing multiple challenges. We shouldn’t just be looking for good places to bank carbon but also those where good management can reduce seafloor disturbance and therefore limit the release of greenhouse gases.

    Considering climate and biodiversity

    This project highlights the importance of considering both biodiversity and climate together. If we manage one ignorant of the other, we risk failure because biodiversity matters to how we address climate change.

    This holistic understanding of the stock and flows of carbon (long-term sequestration and carbon in living organisms) is necessary if we are to identify viable long-term carbon stores. It is also crucial to assessing how the stresses we put on the marine environment can turn an ecosystem from a carbon sink to a source.

    Working with our Scandinavian colleagues also confirmed our earlier research. For a number of years, we have been studying how different stressors – including sediment disturbance, nutrient flows from land and microplastic pollution affect the way nitrogen, carbon and oxygen are processed in coastal sediments.

    These processes have implications for the release of greenhouse gases. But until now, we have not been able to test some connections and close the loop on some of our ideas.

    As with most interventions to natural ecosystems, we are better off accepting they are complex, and that any supposed “silver bullet” solutions can have unintended consequences.

    Simon Francis Thrush receives funding from currently from MBIE and the Auckland Foundation.

    – ref. NZ hopes to store carbon in marine ecosystems – but some are so degraded they’re already a source of emissions – https://theconversation.com/nz-hopes-to-store-carbon-in-marine-ecosystems-but-some-are-so-degraded-theyre-already-a-source-of-emissions-248875

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Another US funding cut threatens human rights in North Korea – and hands more power to a dictator

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Chubb, Associate Professor of International Relations, Deakin University

    Shutterstock

    This week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea issued an appeal to the international community. She expressed concern about the future of civil society work on North Korean human rights.

    The cause for alarm is a sudden freeze on the funds of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)- a US nongovernmental organisation.

    One major beneficiary of funds from the NED are groups documenting and helping to stop human rights abuses in North Korea.

    The funding halt threatens to damage further the lives of people living under one of the world’s most egregious authoritarian regimes.

    What is the NED?

    The NED is a US institution with a long history in its foreign policy, described as a “bastion of Republican internationalism”. Established by an act of Congress, it was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.

    With bipartisan support, the NED is squarely based on core Republican values of spreading democracy through the world. It supports the work of nongovernmental organisations in more than 100 countries every year.

    While it is unclear why Elon Musk, in his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, has suddenly taken aim at this institution, the consequences of cutting off funding overnight are easy to see.

    One result is the likely end of decades-long work on North Korean human rights.

    How this affects North Korea

    One of the groups hit hard by this funding freeze is the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. The original single-issue North Korean human rights organisation, it’s now planning to shut its doors.

    Without NED funding, it says it cannot cover its running costs, such as paying the rent or staff salaries.

    It also can’t continue its important work investigating and documenting human rights abuses suffered by North Korean people.

    The Citizens’ Alliance is just one of many groups, most of which are based in South Korea, that rely on the NED for their work.

    The political environment in South Korea is uncertain and precarious for North Korean human rights activists. Despite efforts to diversify funding sources over many decades, there are few other options.

    I have studied this question in-depth and over two decades. It’s a problem that cannot be overcome overnight, or even in the medium term, as it’s so deeply embedded, both politically and socially.

    In the absence of funding opportunities in South Korea, Seoul-based groups must look abroad.

    Yet many of the international support schemes available exist to fund in-country democratisation and human rights efforts.

    The authoritarian regime in North Korea is so complete that no active, open civil society efforts can safely take place. The movement relies entirely on transnational activism and so doesn’t neatly fit into existing funding schemes.

    On top of this, the funding freeze comes at a particularly bad time, with South Korea in a state of political turmoil. In the wake of the President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment following his declaration of martial law, it is unclear what the future of the limited number of existing initiatives will be.

    Putting North Korea in the spotlight

    For a long time, the plight of those suffering human rights abuses inside the secretive country was not well known to the outside world.

    For decades, civil society groups built coalitions, gathered information, wrote reports, compiled databases, held public awareness-raising events, and lobbied politicians at all different levels. They then succeeded in bringing about the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry into North Korean Human Rights.

    This inquiry, chaired by Australia’s Michael Kirby, has been the definitive document on North Korean human rights for more than ten years.

    Its findings of gross violations of human rights inside the country have formed the evidentiary basis for international action on North Korean human rights. Examples of the report’s findings include:

    • the use of political prison camps, torture, executions and other sorts of arbitrary detention to suppress real or perceived political dissent

    • an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and association

    • the use of access to food as a means of control over the population.

    Non-profit North Korean human rights groups remain at the centre of this work. Having succeeded in putting the issue squarely on the international agenda, they continue to press for greater attention on the human rights situation from the international community.

    The groups relying on NED funding do a wide range of work. They support North Koreans living in South Korea and elsewhere abroad. Some provide support to formally record human rights abuses, helping build a robust database of testimony from survivors.

    Others back in-country accounts from underground North Korean journalists, and more still do myriad other advocacy, support and accountability work.

    But now this work could all end more suddenly than anyone could have expected.

    More power to a dictator

    The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights has paused all but its most urgent programs and launched an appeal for donations. Executive Director Hannah Song has described the situation as a crisis of “a massive and sudden cut to funding that threatens the crucial work of those on the frontlines”.

    Sokeel Park, the leader of another nongovernmental group working in this space, described it as “by far the biggest crisis facing NGOs working on this issue since the start of the movement in the 1990s”.

    This is no exaggeration. The North Korean human rights movement has had an outsized effect on the international community’s awareness and understanding of how the North Korean government maintains order and represses dissent.

    So who wins out of this? North Korea’s Supreme Leader and dictator, Kim Jong-un.

    Back in 2018, US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address centred on the human rights violations suffered by the North Korean people at the hands of the authoritarian regime. Trump declared:

    we need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose.

    Now, by effectively silencing the government’s most vocal critics, the Trump administration appears to be giving breathing room to one of the world’s most atrocious authoritarian regimes.

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

    – ref. Another US funding cut threatens human rights in North Korea – and hands more power to a dictator – https://theconversation.com/another-us-funding-cut-threatens-human-rights-in-north-korea-and-hands-more-power-to-a-dictator-251239

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: March 3rd, 2025 Heinrich Statement Opposing Education Secretary Nominee Linda McMahon

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
    WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement opposing the nomination of Linda McMahon for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education: 
    “Linda McMahon has no respect for the essential role of public education in our democracy and is wholly unqualified to lead the U.S. Department of Education. That makes sense when you consider the only reason Donald Trump and Elon Musk nominated her is so that she executes their plan to abolish the Department of Education. 
    “Every child should have the right to access a quality public education in their neighborhood school. Trump, Musk, and McMahon disagree. Their anti-education agenda will harm our kids and starve our local schools of essential federal resources in order to placate billionaires. Their education proposals will mean lay offs for some of our kids’ favorite teachers, shuttering of after school programs, and no federal department looking out for students with disabilities.
    “On behalf of New Mexico’s kids and their futures, I voted no on Linda McMahon’s nomination for Secretary of Education.”
    Background on How Linda McMahon & President Trump’s Threats to Dismantle the Education Department Will Harm New Mexico’s Students, Parents, and Educators:
    Title I Funding
    87% of schools in New Mexico receive a total of $147 million in federal Title I funding from the Department of Education. This funding supports low-income students with literacy and math. Title I funds are used for:
    Hiring additional teachers and specialists who support students and their teachers with literacy and math instruction
    Purchasing additional instructional materials
    Teacher training
    Parent engagement
    Smaller Classroom Sizes
    Federal Pell Grants
    More than 44,000 low-income college students in New Mexico — including students in vocational-technical certificate programs — currently receive a Federal Pell Grant from the Department of Education. Pell Grants help New Mexicans pay for tuition, housing, food, transportation, books, and other education-related costs.
    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Funding
    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds special education services. 16.5% of New Mexico students are on an individualized education plan (IEP) and receive services under this program. New Mexico receives $120 million per year in IDEA funding from the Department of Education. IDEA funding can be used to pay special education instructors, support services such as behavioral health specialists, and classroom materials and equipment designed for students with disabilities.
    21st Century Community Learning Center (After School Program) Funding
    The Department of Education administers Title IV, Part B funds for after school programs. In New Mexico, 124 schools receive this funding for their after school enrichment and tutoring programs.
    Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act Funding
    The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act funds grants for equipment and programming for high school career and technical education programs. New Mexico receives $10.5 million in Carl Perkins Act Career and Technical Education Improvement Act funding from the Department of Education.
    Title II, Part A Funding
    Title II, Part A funds teacher professional development. New Mexico receives more than $2 million per year from the Department of Education to help educators improve and expand their teaching skills.
    Title III Funding
    Title III funds help students learn English. 1 out of 3 families in New Mexico speak a language other than English at home and about 1 out of 6 students are classified as English learners. New Mexico currently receives about $9 million per year to help kids learn English.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Shaheen Guest for Joint Address to Congress Will Highlight Impact of Trump’s Proposed Tariffs on Granite State Small Businesses

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
    (Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced that Rebecca Hamilton, the co-owner and co-CEO of Badger in Gilsum, New Hampshire, will be her guest for President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress tomorrow night. Badger, a family-owned manufacturer of natural personal care products, is one of dozens of small businesses in New Hampshire that have been impacted by the uncertainty around President Trump’s proposed tariffs and would be devastated if the tariffs on Mexico and Canada go into effect.
    “I’m honored to have Rebecca Hamilton joining me for the Joint Address to Congress to call attention to the harmful and costly impact of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada,” said Senator Shaheen. “Badger is family-owned and operates on razor-thin margins—they can’t afford to budget for tariffs that would amount to another tax on their small business. To grow and create good-paying jobs that boost our local economies, small businesses like Badger need to see federal policies that support a stable and strong economy—tariffs do the exact opposite.”
    “The decision to levy tariffs on key trading partners hurts small businesses like ours, which are the backbone of the U.S. economy,” states Rebecca Hamilton, co-CEO and second-generation owner of Badger. “We rely on smooth international trade for sourcing raw materials and packaging that are either not grown or commercially available in the U.S.  These tariffs would destabilize our business, damage our distribution and market position in Canada, and result in higher prices for our consumers in both the U.S. and the 15 other countries in addition to Canada that import our products. It becomes a no-win situation.”
    Shaheen immediately condemned the proposed Trump tariffs after they were announced and took to the Senate floor to detail the harmful impacts that the delayed Trump tariffs would have on Granite Staters. Shaheen also led the New Hampshire Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to the White House urging him not to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China which are expected to cost the average American $1,200 per year. Shaheen also recently met with representatives from local Chambers of Commerce across New Hampshire about the harmful impact of the potential Trump tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
    Earlier this year, Shaheen introduced new legislation with U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) to shield American businesses and consumers from rising prices imposed by tariffs on imported goods into the United States. The Senators’ legislation would keep costs down for imported goods by limiting the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—which allows a President to immediately place unlimited tariffs after declaring a national emergency—while preserving IEEPA’s use for sanctions and other tools.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray On Trump’s Joint Congressional Address

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Senator Murray: “The state of the union is that the President is spitting in the face of the law and he is letting an unelected billionaire fire cancer researchers and wreck federal agencies like the Social Security Administration at will.”
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on her decision to not attend President Donald J. Trump’s joint Congressional address:
    “I will not be attending President Trump’s address to Congress. The state of the union is that the President is spitting in the face of the law and he is letting an unelected billionaire fire cancer researchers and wreck federal agencies like the Social Security Administration at will.
    “The state of the union might be great for corrupt billionaires like Elon Musk as Trump guts our foremost consumer protection agency, and even for dictators like Putin, who are cheering on the dismantling of USAID and the betrayal of our allies—but the rest of the country is in a state of emergency as Elon fires the experts responding to bird flu or managing our nuclear weapons stockpile, all while Republicans sprint to tear apart Medicaid and kick families off their health care to pass massive tax giveaways for billionaires.
    “Instead, I’m meeting with constituents who have been harmed by this administration’s reckless firings and its illegal and ongoing funding freeze across government. There are farms and small businesses across Washington state and America who are on the verge of collapse because Trump and Elon are illegally blocking federal dollars they are owed. There are thousands of fired federal workers, many of them veterans, who have been carelessly laid off by Trump and Musk with no consideration for the services they provide and how that might harm millions of Americans, whether that’s VA patient safety or the timely disbursement of Social Security checks. I’ll be focused on sharing those stories from Washington state.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of Confirmation Vote, Senator Murray Blasts Linda McMahon’s Nomination: “We Cannot Have a Secretary of Education Who Doesn’t Believe in Having a Secretary of Education”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ICYMI: Pressed by Sen. Murray, McMahon Can’t Name a Single Requirement of Landmark Education Law; Murray Grills McMahon on Trump Plans to Dismantle Education Department, DOGE Access to Sensitive Student Data
    WATCH: At Nomination Hearing, Murray Grills McMahon on Trump Plans to Dismantle Education Department
    *** WATCH: Senator Murray’s floor speech***
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, took to the Senate floor to speak out against the nomination of Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. A formal pre-school teacher and community college educator herself, Senator Murray sounded the alarm over President Trump and Elon Musk’s plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, which would devastate students, families, and schools across the country.
    “We need a Secretary of Education with a really deep understanding of how to use this crucial position to strengthen educational opportunities and outcomes for every student in this country. We need a Secretary of Education who will put students first—not billionaires—who will stand up for our kids, every single one of them, even if it means standing up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk… On each of those accounts, Linda McMahon fails to make the grade,” said Senator Murray.
    “Let’s be clear what it will mean if Trump, Musk, and McMahon have their way, and try to turn the Department of Education into something that kids read about in our history books,” continued Senator Murray. “There are 26 million K-12 students from low-income neighborhoods who could see their schools lose federal funding, lay off teachers, or even close. There are 9.8 million students at rural schools that count on federal support, which could face similar challenges. There are 7.4 million students with disabilities who could see the IDEA program upended, cutting off support that state and local taxpayers will need to provide. There are 6.6 million students who get Pell Grants to help them afford college, prepare to enter the workforce, or further their careers—who could be impacted by the chaos of abolishing the Department. And there are 8.1 million high school students and 3.3 million college students who are served by our career and technical education programs that are administered by the Department of Education.
    “So here is my message to everyone, and like any good preschool teacher, I am going to make this short and simple: We cannot have a Secretary of Education who doesn’t believe in having a Secretary of Education. That’s kind of common sense,” said Senator Murray.
    A senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.
    During McMahon’s confirmation hearing, Senator Murray pressed McMahon on whether she will ensure approved funding gets out to serve students as the law requires and whether she would protect students’ data from DOGE. She also asked McMahon to name a single requirement of ESSA—and McMahon demurred, failing to name any.
    Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below and video is HERE:
    “I got my start in politics as a mom in tennis shoes fighting to protect a preschool program—and I still wear that label proudly.
    “I am a former preschool teacher. I’m also a former community college educator. And I am also a former school board member.
    “So, I don’t mess around when it comes to making sure every single one of our students, in every corner of our country, has access to a quality public education—one that leaves them prepared for the future, and opens the doors of opportunity wide.
    “That’s not a responsibility I take lightly. It never will be.
    “Our kids are the future of this country, and the Department of Education is really at the heart of how we make sure they are set up for success. But Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to rip the heart out of public education in America—and abolish the Department of Education.
    “Well, not if I can help it. And that’s why I believe we need a leader at the Department of Education who actually believes in the mission of the Department of Education!
    “We need a Secretary of Education with a really deep understanding of how to use this crucial position to strengthen educational opportunities and outcomes for every student in this country.
    “We need a Secretary of Education who will put students first—not billionaires—who will stand up for our kids, every single one of them, even if it means standing up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
    “And, Madam President, on each of those accounts, Linda McMahon fails to make the grade.
    “I’ve had concerns from the outset about whether Ms. McMahon has the experience we should expect from an Education Secretary, and I’m sorry to say my concerns have not been alleviated. Far from it!
    “I asked her in her confirmation hearing about the Every Student Succeeds Act, that is the law I negotiated with Republicans to finally fix No Child Left Behind, and provide more flexibility to states and schools, while ensuring accountability for our tax dollars. She couldn’t name a single requirement of the law—not one!
    “How is she supposed to enforce our education laws when she didn’t even bother to study up before her Senate confirmation hearing?
    “On fighting for public schools, it is already painfully clear that McMahon’s plan for our students and schools is in lockstep with Trump’s pro-billionaire agenda.
    “They are going to let public schools get robbed blind as the richest people in the world suck money out of the schools and communities that need it the most. They’re going to cut off funding that directly supports our students and teachers, and send it straight to the pockets of unaccountable private and for-profit K-12 schools.
    “And on standing up for our students, standing up to President Trump—Linda McMahon got it backwards.
    “When I asked her at our hearing about making sure schools get the money that we, Congress, passes—even if Trump and Musk try to block it—and making sure that our students’ data is protected as DOGE tries to muck around with no oversight or accountability, she made it very clear: she would not stand in their way.
    “But it gets worse, because when it comes to Trump’s mission of destroying the Department of Education, she’s all too ready to grab a hatchet and get to work.
    “The irony is, that while Trump and Musk talk about eliminating the Department of Education, they are trying to involve the federal government even deeper into schools than ever before.
    “They talk about how schools and parents know best—and then threaten schools if they don’t do what they say!
    “Apparently, Ms. McMahon thinks: why should we have a Department of Education if Trump and Elon Musk actually can just tell schools what they can do, and what they can teach?
    “Well let’s be clear what it will mean if Trump, Musk, and McMahon have their way, and try to turn the Department of Education into something that kids read about in our history books.
    “There are 26 million K-12 students from low-income neighborhoods who could see their schools lose federal funding, lay off teachers, or even close.
    “There are 9.8 million students at rural schools that count on federal support, which could face similar challenges.
    “There are 7.4 million students with disabilities who could see the IDEA program upended, cutting off support that state and local taxpayers will need to provide.
    “There are 6.6 million students who get Pell Grants to help them afford college, prepare to enter the workforce, or further their careers—who could be impacted by the chaos of abolishing the Department.
    “And there are 8.1 million high school students and 3.3 million college students who are served by our career and technical education programs that are administered by the Department of Education.
    “Trying to abolish the Department—or even just taking a wrecking ball to the critical work that it does—will hurt our students who face homelessness. It will cut off federal aid to students who want to pursue a higher education. It will undermine enforcement of the rights of students with disabilities. It will reduce assistance intended to lift up students not getting the support they need, weaken protections for students, scrap evidence-based research that helps us know what is working, for whom, and how, and it will leave for-profit colleges free to rip off students and families, which we have seen happen in the past, and we can’t let that happen again.  
    “So, the fact that Ms. McMahon has not opposed Trump’s grand plan to abolish the Department of Education is not just a red flag—it is a blinking, blaring fire alarm.
    “It means either she doesn’t fully understand just what the Department does and how devastating it would be to abolish, or she doesn’t care. Either way, I have to say, I find that disqualifying.
    “So here is my message to everyone, and like any good preschool teacher, I am going to make this short and simple: We cannot have a Secretary of Education who doesn’t believe in having a Secretary of Education. That’s kind of common sense.
    “I mean, why would we have someone in charge of the education department who thinks it should not exist, who doesn’t care if we have a Department focused on getting our students and schools the support they need?
    “So, Madam President, let me finish with this. I still have in my office a quilt that my kids, in my preschool, made for me on the very last day I taught preschool.
    “It is hung prominently on the wall of my biggest meeting room, it is a beautiful patchwork of squiggles and smiles drawn in bright messy crayon.
    “And when I look at it, I remember the little hands that made each one of those squares. I think about those little heads with big curious minds and a world of possibilities before them.
    “I remember the responsibility that we all felt to make sure they were leaving our preschool ready to succeed.
    “I wonder how many of the children that made those little small squares now have kids of their own.
    “And I reflect on how the decisions we make in education today—the policies that we fight for, the people that we confirm or reject here—will set a course for our children and our country for years to come.  
    “There are two clear courses ahead of us with this vote: one where we have a Department of Education that continues to work to support every student, and give them a bright possible future—or one where we don’t.
    “One where every kid is on their own. One where lights are turned off, anddoors are shut,and opportunities are closed—unless you happen to have the right zip code, or the right money.
    “I know which future I’m going to vote for today—the one where we live up to our responsibility and all of our kids can live up to their fullest potential and pursue big dreams.
    “I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for that future—and against Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER TO BRING CENTRAL NY USDA WORKER – FIRED BY DOGE AFTER YEARS OF SERVICE – WHO HELPED FARMERS & RURAL BUSINESSES ACROSS UPSTATE NY AS HIS PERSONAL GUEST TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S JOINT ADDRESS TO…

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
    Tiffany Ramos, A Rome, NY Native & SUNY Morrisville Graduate, Worked At The USDA Since 2021, Helping Farms, Businesses & Residents Of Rural Communities Across Upstate, Until She Was Unfairly Fired As “Probationary” Amid Blind Rash Of DOGE Cuts
    Senator Says Callously Firing Dutiful Public Servants Like Tiffany And Slashing USDA Programs That Farmers & Rural Areas Depend On Does Nothing To Stop Government Waste, And Shows Why Efficiency Demands A Scalpel, Not A Chainsaw
    Schumer: We Should Not Be Firing The Upstate NY-er’s Who Help Our Farmers & Rural Businesses Grow
    Amid mass firings and funding freezes at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) because of DOGE, hurting farms, businesses, and residents of rural communities in Upstate NY and across all corners of NY, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he will bring former Syracuse USDA employee, Tiffany Ramos, as his personal guest to attend President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress. Tiffany was fired earlier this month from the USDA’s Rural Development (RD) office where she worked helping farmers, businesses, and rural communities across Upstate NY get the financial assistance they needed, despite her years of service and critical work helping rural New Yorkers.
    “Our farms and rural businesses are the lifeblood of Upstate NY, and the backbone of America. For nearly half a decade, Tiffany Ramos brought passion and commitment to her work at the USDA’s offices in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley, helping rural communities across Upstate New York.  Support for our farmers, support for rural businesses, and jobs like Tiffany’s that help rural areas thrive are not government waste,” said U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer. “Tiffany embodies the devotion and determination that makes America’s public servants the best in the world. I am all for cutting out inefficiency, but you use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. You don’t rip resources away from our farmers and rural businesses that are already struggling. I am proud to bring Central New York’s own Tiffany Ramos as my guest to President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress and will be fighting to reverse cuts like these that hurt Upstate NY’s farms and rural businesses.”
    “My colleagues and I at the USDA proudly serve the farmers and businesses in our rural communities, living alongside them, understanding their needs, and fighting for their interests. The mass terminations at USDA is not just about me losing my job, it’s the dangerous message we’re sending to rural America. We’re telling farmers, small business owners, healthcare providers and residents of rural communities that they don’t matter enough for our federal government to support the staff needed to help them succeed,” said former USDA employee Tiffany Ramos. “The extraordinary members of the federal civil service I have had the pleasure of working with are not the enemy and are not sitting behind computers doing nothing, rather we are hard at work out in our communities every single day.”
    Tiffany Ramos is a former Farm Service Agency (FSA) Program Technician and RD Business Program Technician based at the USDA’s offices in Oneida and Onondaga Counties. Originally from Rome, NY Tiffany graduated from SUNY Morrisville with an Associate’s Degree in Equine Science & Farm Management in 2009 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Business Development in 2021.
    Tiffany started her career at the USDA in 2021 as an FSA Programs Technician. Over her years of work at FSA, Tiffany served as Oneida County’s primary technical contact on Farm Storage Facility loans, Marketing Assistance loans, conservation programs, and more. In 2024, Tiffany voluntarily transferred to USDA RD’s office in Syracuse to fill a Business Program Technician position that had been open for years. During her time at RD, Tiffany took on a statewide portfolio overseeing various loan, loan guarantee, and grant programs to help provide financial support to farms and rural businesses. 
    Tiffany was not on the initial list of probationary employees provided to the USDA after President Trump took office, but after her recent transfer Tiffany specifically reached out to OPM to double check her status. On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, OPM informed Tiffany that her years of service at FSA would be counted towards her retirement and leave. Nonetheless, Tiffany was blindsided by an email the very next day with news of her immediate termination. Since then, Tiffany has not received any update on the termination procedure or next steps, leaving her unclear on the status of healthcare insurance and making it difficult to file for unemployment benefits.
    Tiffany’s termination letter claimed that her continued employment was not “in the public interest” despite all of Tiffany’s performance evaluations rating her as “Fully Successful” and zero documentation of poor performance or unsatisfactory work. Schumer said this is a prime example of blind and misguided ‘DOGE’ layoffs hurting American farmers, businesses and residents in our rural communities while creating chaos in every corner of New York State and all across the country.
    President Trump has fired federal workers across Upstate New York, including at the USDA’s Syracuse office where workers like Tiffany help farmers and rural businesses. In January, President Trump froze all federal payments including at the USDA, creating ongoing chaos for farmers and rural communities in Upstate New York. Farmers across the country are still reporting missing payments that they depend on to continue operations. Schumer explained that laying off workers like Tiffany is only hurting farmers, businesses, and rural communities more by cutting off resources they need and limiting staff who can help them.
    President Trump’s layoffs have hurt programs across the USDA, which in tandem with chaos from executive orders, the funding freeze, and slashing of other critical programs like USAID that support farmers, are causing serious financial hardship and worry for agriculture across America. Experts say these massive layoffs at the USDA, which range from those who help rural businesses to top agricultural scientists, could have severe and long lasting impacts for farms and America’s food supply chain. Schumer said DOGE’s approach of fire first and ask questions later cannot continue. As one significant example, last month, DOGE carelessly fired approximately 25% of the employees working on combatting bird flu at the USDA, and now struggling to rehire them, and undermining a response to reduce the crushing prices of eggs Americans are facing.
    Farmers in Upstate NY have reported missing or delayed payments from dozens of programs. One example are programs in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Senator Schumer led to passage in the Senate, which boosted funding for the USDA RD’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides loans and grants to help farmers improve their infrastructure, expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. The USDA has made billions of dollars available through REAP, but due to Trump’s federal funding fiasco ‘DOGE’ is reviewing millions in REAP payments, and farmers are missing REAP payments they rely on.  Schumer said we cannot continue cutting off resources for farms and rural America and is fighting to reverse these harmful cuts at the USDA.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER BRINGS HUDSON VALLEY’S JESSICA MARTINEZ, A CANCER SURVIVOR WHO NEEDS MEDICAID TO LIVE, AS GUEST TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS; SENATOR SAYS NY & HUDSON VALLEY WILL BE…

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
    Jessica Martinez From Peekskill, NY Is A Cancer Survivor With Multiple Sclerosis Who Needs Medicaid To Live & Care For Her Children, And If These Cuts Were To Go Through, She Fears Health Care For Families Like Hers Would Be First On The Chopping Block
    Just Last Week House Republicans Passed The First Step For The Biggest Cut To Healthcare And Medicaid In History – $880 BILLION – Which Could Hurt Millions of New Yorkers Including 240,000+ in Rockland & Westchester Counties
    Schumer: Hudson Valley Families Would Be Among Hardest Hit With Trump’s Cruel And Severe Medicaid Cuts 
    After House Republicans passed a plan for the biggest federal funding slash for Medicaid in history just last week, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he will bring Jessica Martinez, Peekskill cancer survivor with multiple sclerosis who relies on Medicaid to live, as his personal guest to attend President Trump Joint Session of Congress. 
    “Over 240,000 families in Rockland and Westchester Counties rely on Medicaid. If President Trump and congressional Republicans continue their cruel plan for the largest healthcare cut in history, it will be Hudson Valley families who suffer the consequences. Jessica Martinez and her family need Medicaid to live, and they don’t deserve to have their healthcare put on the chopping block to pay for Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires,” said Senator Schumer. “I’m proud to welcome Jessica as my guest to President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress. Jessica is a cancer survivor, and continues to live with multiple sclerosis, and without Medicaid she wouldn’t be able to afford her medications. There are 7 million across the Empire State like Jessica, and New Yorkers aren’t going to take these Medicaid cuts lying down. The mere suggestion that we should cut over $800 billion from this lifesaving program to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and giant corporations is an outrage. That’s why I will be fighting alongside Jessica and thousands of other Hudson Valley families to reject this plan to cruelly cut healthcare to bankroll tax cuts for billionaires.”
    “Medicaid has allowed me to remain as healthy as I can for as long as I can after an illness that left me hospitalized. Medicaid has made it possible to care for my children and their own medical needs. It’s a lifeline to me and my family. Without Medicaid, I shudder in wondering how I can care for myself and my deteriorating health moving forward and who will care for my children when I can no longer do so. We know what the consequences would be for our communities if the Republican agenda is passed,” said Jessica Martinez. “I am grateful to Senator Schumer for the honor of being his guest to the joint session of Congress and look forward to traveling to DC to share firsthand how people like myself and others will be hurt if Republicans move forward with their plan to cut federal funding for Medicaid.”
    Jessica Martinez is a lifelong Hudson Valley native. As a mother of four children, two of whom have special needs, she’s been deeply involved in the fight for fairness as an advocate in Peekskill. After being hospitalized with multiple sclerosis, Jessica has been on a long-term recovery plan for the past decade. Medicaid has made it possible for Jessica to be healthy today and to care for her children and their medical needs. Jessica needs Medicaid to live and is worried that Republican healthcare cuts will mean she can no longer care for herself or her children.
    Last week, House Republicans voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the nation and supports Americans with disabilities, children, seniors, veterans, and people in communities across the country, both urban and rural.
    Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care coverage to more than 70 million Americans – including over 7 million in New York. Schumer said any cuts to Medicaid of this magnitude at over $880 billion could impact care for households across in America. There are an estimated 678,375 in the Hudson Valley on Medicaid, including 242,302 in Rockland and Westchester Counties.
    Medicaid covers 1 in 5 people living in the United States, including nearly half of all children. Major cuts to the program would mean ripping away health care from millions of families who count on it— not only jeopardizing healthcare for them, but the financial stability of hospitals, nursing homes, and community health centers that rely on this funding to continue to provide patients the care they need. Medicaid cuts on the scale House Republicans are proposing would precipitate a crisis for hospitals and nursing homes across the Hudson Valley’s healthcare system, impacting care for all.
    “Hudson Valley and Westchester residents are waking up to the outrageous impacts of these cuts. I stand with brave citizens like Jessica and the thousands organizing and rallying to preserve life-saving healthcare,” added Schumer.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Guidelines to boost continuing education

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    The Ministry of Education has released this year’s guidelines for managing continuing education programs and off-campus teaching sites, emphasizing the need to align talent cultivation with national strategies and market demands.
    “Higher education institutions should make continuing education an integral part of their talent cultivation and social service system,” the guidelines state. “Institutions should fully consider their educational positioning and academic strength, as well as market demands and the employment competitiveness of disciplines. They should also thoroughly justify the need for new programs before opening them and continuously optimize the structures of such programs.”
    Continuing education is a parallel track to China’s regular higher education system, which consists of full-time, campus-based study for recent high school graduates who have passed the national college entrance exam, or gaokao. Continuing education, by contrast, offers full-time or part-time programs designed for adults seeking to upgrade their skills or qualifications. It includes online education, adult education, the higher education self-study test and open education.
    To improve the structure of continuing education programs, the guidelines encourage higher education institutions with the necessary conditions to establish new programs in fields such as advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, life sciences, energy, green low-carbon development, international organizations and financial technology. Institutions are also urged to offer programs in areas concerning people’s livelihoods, such as domestic services.
    The guidelines support the creation of programs in fields of urgent need, including opera, cultural relic protection and restoration, non-common languages, foreign-related legal systems and international communication.
    The new measures are part of China’s broader efforts to reform its continuing education sector.
    In 2022, the Education Ministry issued a plan to promote continuing education reform, aiming to address issues such as unclear positioning, underdeveloped standards, unsound systems and low-quality talent cultivation, while advancing high-quality educational development.
    Data from the Education Ministry shows that 1,725 higher education institutions offered continuing education programs, enrolling a total of 12.093 million students in 2021 — about 25 percent of the country’s total higher education enrollment.
    However, as regular higher education expands, the scale of continuing education is shrinking, wrote Yue Chuanyong, former vice-president of Ningbo University in Zhejiang province, and Xu Rihua, a lecturer at the university’s Institute of Adult Education.
    “As such, the focus of continuing education needs to transition from scale expansion to quality improvement,” they wrote in an article published on the ministry’s website.
    Starting this fall, the Ministry of Education will standardize terminology for continuing education, eliminating terms such as “correspondence education” and “part-time education” in favor of the uniform term “non-full-time education”.
    Continuing education programs at regular universities will uniformly admit students through the adult college entrance examination, meet basic professional teaching requirements, standardize the minimum duration of study and unify graduation certificates, according to the new guidelines.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China reports vibrant sci-tech voluntary services sector

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

    BEIJING, March 3 — China’s volunteer sci-tech services sector is full of vigor and vitality, with significant numbers of volunteers and related teams, according to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).

    More than 5.2 million sci-tech volunteers have registered on the country’s various science and technology volunteer services platforms, according to statistics from CAST.

    Across the country, there are more than 110,000 sci-tech volunteer service teams, and more than 300,000 related activities are carried out annually.

    In recent years, China’s sci-tech voluntary services sector has entered a new stage of vigorous development. Focusing on the country’s development strategy, sci-tech volunteers and voluntary service organizations play active roles in sci-tech consultation, promotion and education, and in fields such as free clinical treatment and social services, according to CAST.

    The number of free sci-tech museums in China increased from 92 in 2015 to 409 in 2024, an average annual increase of 35, per CAST statistics.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Palestine urges Israel to withdraw from Gaza

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    This photo shows a view of one of the displacement camps at the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, on Feb. 25, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Monday called for the Israeli army to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and allow the State of Palestine to assume its duties.

    In a press statement, the ministry called for real international measures “to curb the occupation’s aggression against our people and their rights in a way that ensures the establishment of a ceasefire and the rapid empowerment of the State of Palestine and its internationally recognized legitimate institutions to carry out their responsibilities and immediately extend their sovereignty over the Gaza Strip and the entire Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.”

    Earlier on Saturday, the 42-day initial phase of the three-stage agreement between Hamas and Israel expired, with no breakthrough announced for its next phase.

    Israel is seeking to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement for an additional 42 days, while Hamas rejects this and wants to move forward with negotiations for the second phase.

    The second phase of the agreement is supposed to focus on the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the implementation of a permanent ceasefire.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s ice city greets over 90 million visitors in 2024-2025 winter season

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    The craze for winter sports has fueled tourism in China’s ice city of Harbin, with the number of tourist arrivals growing 9.7 percent year on year to over 90 million during the 2024-2025 winter season.

    As one of China’s top winter tourism destinations, Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, saw its tourism sector rake in 137.22 billion yuan (about 19 billion U.S. dollars) from Nov. 8, 2024, to Feb. 28, 2025, up 16.6 percent year on year, according to Harbin’s culture and tourism bureau.

    The number of international visitors to Harbin, in particular, surged 94.2 percent compared to the last winter season, driven by an influx of tourists from Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and ASEAN countries, the bureau said.

    Harbin has ignited a fervor for ice and snow tourism on Chinese social media this winter, since the opening of the 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival on Jan. 5.

    Attractions such as Harbin Ice-Snow World, the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, Central Avenue, St. Sophia Cathedral and the Siberian Tiger Park, alongside the festival, were among the most popular tourist destinations. Notably, Harbin Ice-Snow World welcomed a record-breaking 3.56 million visitors during its 68 days of operations.

    The ninth Asian Winter Games and a series of test events held in Harbin also contributed to the tourism surge. The city has built more than 500 ice-and-snow sports venues, and 15 local ski resorts have upgraded their facilities, entertaining spectators and athletes from around the world.

    Cultural venues such as the Harbin Museum and the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army also experienced increased visitor traffic.

    China has unveiled an ambitious plan to develop its ice and snow economy as a new economic driver, targeting a total market size of 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a guideline released by the State Council in 2024.

    Leveraging the opportunity, Harbin is implementing a slew of market regulation and tourist guidance measures to continue optimizing its tourism experience, unleashing greater economic momentum for its ice and snow resources.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Christchurch Police crack down on antisocial road user behaviour

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Canterbury Police issued 179 infringements over the weekend as we responded to antisocial road user behaviour in the district.

    As predicted, the car enthusiast event was incredibly well-run with limited complaints or issues, the event organisers maintained a good line of communication with Police over the course of the weekend.

    The issues arose following the event, with a small number of attendees, and many who just came for the activity post-event, deciding to engage in dangerous driving behaviour on our roads.

    Police made it clear over the three nights, this activity would not be tolerated as we responded to unofficial ‘meets’ and antisocial road user activity as it arose.

    Over the course of the weekend, a total of 179 infringements were issued, 6 vehicles were impounded, and 44 vehicles – deemed not to be road worthy – were ordered off the road.

    Alongside this, one person was arrested for a warrant to arrest, 10 drivers were served licence suspension notices, six drivers were forbidden to drive for their offending on the night, and three drivers were processed for excess breath alcohol.

    Police also collected information over the course of the weekend which will be used for future enforcement action.

    Canterbury Police would like to thank the members of the public that reported unlawful driving behaviour throughout the weekend.

    Anyone who witnesses any antisocial driving behaviour is urged to contact Police on 111 with as much information as they can safely gather.

    Information can also be provided for non-emergencies online at 105.police.govt.nz clicking “Make a Report” or by calling 105.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: More locally trained doctors in primary care

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Health Minister Simeon Brown has today announced further initiatives as part of a package to tackle shortages in general practice and improve access to primary care and health outcomes.

    “I am focused on ensuring Kiwis have better access to primary care services, and strengthening our health workforce is a key part of that,” Mr Brown says.

    “Today I am announcing:
     

    • An increase in the number of training placements for doctors at medical schools by a further 25 each year.
       
    • Up to 50 New Zealand-trained graduate doctors a year to train in primary care settings. 
       

    “We can’t just rely on sourcing our doctors from overseas – we must ensure a sustainable pipeline of New Zealand-trained doctors.

    “As part of our plan, we will fund more Kiwis to train as doctors by boosting the number of placements at medical schools by a further 25 each year.

    “During the term of this Government, medical school placements have already increased by 75 places each year. This additional funding will bring the total of extra places to 100, seeing the cap on first-year medical school enrolments increased to 639 annually from 2026.

    “We need to make investments now to grow this important workforce, so that New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare – now, and in the future.

    “This boost delivers on our commitment to train more talented, local students.”

    The additional places will be allocated across the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, beginning in 2026. 

    “We are also ramping up the number of trainee GPs to give Kiwis better access to healthcare in their communities,” Mr Brown says.

    “New Zealand has a shortage of family doctors, who play an important role in helping Kiwis to stay well and out of emergency departments.

    “Providing opportunities for graduate doctors to receive clinical supervision and gain registration in a primary care environment is part of our plan to increase GP numbers.

    “This initiative will allocate $23.3 million over four years to introduce a funded primary care pathway to registration for New Zealand-trained graduate doctors. The majority of time will be spent in primary care providers, instead of hospitals.

    “Talented graduate doctors who have an interest in primary care will be given an early opportunity to pursue that interest, working in communities right across the country.

    “Funding will support up to 50 New Zealand-trained graduate doctors into these primary care settings each year from 2026.

    “A stronger health workforce that we can retain is critical to achieving our goal of ensuring all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare.

    “These initiatives are the latest in a series to improve access to primary care and ensure New Zealanders can see their doctor, faster.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As Measles Epidemic Spreads, Warren Demands RFK Jr. Explain “Irresponsible and Reckless” Efforts to Undermine Vaccines at Health Agency

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    March 03, 2025

    “You were an anti-vaccine crusader before becoming HHS Secretary, and now appear to be continuing that crusade while in office — risking deadly consequences for the American public.” 

    “These are dangerous times for public health – and your irresponsible and reckless efforts to undermine the nation’s vaccine policy threaten to fan the flames of disaster.” 

    Text of Letter (PDF)

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy regarding his dangerous actions to undermine vaccines and vaccine production, just weeks after he was confirmed as Secretary and days after he published a new op-ed.  

    “In your March 2nd op-ed responding to the Texas measles outbreak, which has already killed one unvaccinated child, you failed to include a strong call for vaccinations. Instead, you claimed that ‘good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases.’ Do you believe good nutrition is a better defense against measles than the MMR vaccine?” asked Senator Warren. “Will you change course and tell American parents to vaccinate their children to protect against measles, yes or no?”

    Ahead of his February 2025 confirmation vote in the Senate, Secretary Kennedy committed to maintaining the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Process (ACIP), which advises the federal government on vaccine approvals, and that he would “base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research.”

    However, on February 20, 2025, Politico reported that Secretary Kennedy had started preparing to replace members of the committee. Shortly after, he postponed ACIP’s first meeting of his tenure — during which it had planned to take votes related to vaccines for “HPV, RSV, influenza, and Lyme disease” — without rescheduling it for a later date. 

    Later that month, Secretary Kennedy cancelled a meeting of a key FDA committee that would have selected the flu strains included in the 2025-26 flu vaccine. The flu is estimated to kill between 6,000 and 52,000 Americans each year, and the delay of this meeting threatens the timely manufacturing of this year’s flu vaccines. 

    “(I)nterfering with the timely production of a safe and effective flu vaccine will endanger thousands — particularly children and seniors, who are most likely to die or become hospitalized due to the flu,” said Senator Warren. 

    Meanwhile, Secretary Kennedy is chairing a “Make America Healthy Again” commission, created by President Trump, which is already undermining confidence in vaccines. Secretary Kennedy has declared that the commission will investigate the “childhood vaccine schedule” and that “nothing is going to be off limits.” 

    Amidst multiple public health crises, Secretary Kennedy’s actions are dangerous. In Texas, a deadly measles outbreak is raging. The United States is also in the middle of its deadliest flu epidemic in 15 years, with at least 19,000 Americans dead. Experts are increasingly warning about the spillover of the H5N1 bird flu into humans, and the potential for a deadly pandemic. Last week, HHS announced that it is “reevaluating” its funding agreement with Moderna for an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine.

    “The mission of the agency you lead is ‘to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans.’ You are already failing to do so — and you must reverse course immediately,” said Senator Warren.

    Senator Warren demanded Secretary Kennedy explain his recent actions to undermine vaccines at HHS by March 10, 2025. 

    Senator Warren has led the resistance to Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, for his conflicts of interest and misleading views on vaccines: 

    • On February 13, 2025, following Senate Republicans voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Elizabeth Warren released a statement calling his confirmation “a huge mistake” and said his conflicts of interest would allow him and his family to “continue getting richer from his anti-vaccine crusade.” 
    • On February 12, 2025, on the Senate floor, Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Democrats in delaying a final vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In her speech, she warned that American families and children would pay the price for Mr. Kennedy’s “conspiracy-driven health care decisions,” while his serious ethics conflicts remain unresolved.
    • On February 6, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote to then-nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about his continued conflicts of interest. The senators called out Mr. Kennedy’s plan to enter office with a serious ethics conflict by keeping a financial interest in anti-vaccine lawsuits within his family, asked him to recuse himself from former clients’ matters, commit to not lobbying HHS after his tenure as Secretary, and more.
    • On February 4, 2025, following the Senate Finance Committee vote to advance the nomination of RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren gave remarks regarding Mr. Kennedy’s continued conflicts of interest. 
    • On February 3, 2025, Senators Warren and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to RFK Jr., pressing him to urgently resolve his serious conflicts of interest before the committee vote Wednesday morning.
    • On January 31, 2025, following pressure from Senate Democrats, RFK Jr., agreed to amend his flawed ethics agreement (see Warren QFRs at the end of Part 2 and start of Part 3).
    • On January 29, 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren questioned Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, about his dangerous conflicts of interest and record of profiting from anti-vaccine conspiracies.
    • On January 18, 2025, ahead of RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren sent a 34-page letter detailing her concerns with his nomination and asked him to answer 175 questions ahead of his hearing before the Finance Committee.
    • On November 14, 2024, in response to the news that President-elect Donald Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Warren released a statement calling him a “danger to public health, scientific research, medicine, and health care coverage for millions of Americans.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: UPDATED: Primary care funding a positive step in the right direction, says College of GPs

    Source: Royal NZ College of General Practitioners

    This statement has been updated to reflect the Minister’s latest announcement made at 1pm today. The updated text is bolded–
    The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has welcomed the Health Minister’s funding announcement saying it is a big step in the right direction towards building a well-resourced and sustainable primary care workforce.
    Increased investment in primary care has long been at the forefront of our members’ concerns and the College’s advocacy work, particularly improving access to GP, rural hospital and primary care services and growing, and retaining, the workforce.
    College President Dr Samantha Murton says, “Any additional funding for primary care will ultimately benefit our patients and improve health outcomes, and as specialist GPs and rural hospital doctors who work in the community, this is our priority.
    “As we know there are many areas in primary care that need permanent solutions and further investment, and the Minister has shown that he is willing to invest broadly. I hope that by incentivising primary care to nursing graduates they will see the value in what our workforce does and choose to stay in it for the long-term. This will help alleviate nursing workforce challenges especially in rural communities. Pay parity between primary and secondary nursing is what we still need to aim for.
    “Providing timely and accessible care for all New Zealanders and the increased availability of telehealth will be beneficial, but it needs to be offered alongside improved support for face-to-face primary care services to ensure continued patient safety. Telehealth fills a niche, not a void,” says Dr Murton.
    College Chief Executive Toby Beaglehole says, “Enabling more overseas doctors to gain general registration in primary care in New Zealand and gain valuable first-hand experience will boost the workforce pipeline. That said, we cannot take our focus off supporting our homegrown workforce. New Zealand needs to attract and retain 300 general practice registrars per year just to maintain GP numbers and investment in the training programme is critical to this.
    “The Minister’s latest announcement to increase our homegrown workforce is welcomed by the College. These medical graduates who choose to train in primary care will see firsthand just how important and impactful continuity of care can be at a community level and, we hope they follow the rewarding pathway of becoming a specialist GP.
    “Additional support will also be needed for our current specialist GPs who will be supervising these graduates on top of their already busy workloads.
    “Investment in strong, future focused and sustainable primary care will reduce the pressure on secondary care. We look forward to further engagement with Minister Brown on lasting solutions that increase access to specialist general practitioners for New Zealanders and thank him sincerely for the steps he has announced.
    “The College is pleased to see our ongoing advocacy has been reflected in the Minister’s decisions and we look forward to learning the specifics of this additional funding.” 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police seek witnesses to fatal Woodville crash

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Attribute to Detective Sergeant Joe Salisbury:

    Police investigating a fatal crash near Woodville yesterday are seeking dashcam footage from the public.

    The crash happened on Saddle Road about 11am on Monday 3 March, when a green-coloured truck overturned and hit a white Ford Transit van travelling in the opposite direction.

    The driver of the van sadly died at the scene, while a passenger in the van was physically unharmed.  The truck driver also received injuries and had to be cut from the vehicle. Police are providing support to those involved, and the family of the deceased. 

    The investigation into the cause of the crash will likely take some time, but we hope motorists or members of the public may have information that can help. We would like to hear from any motorists who have dashcam footage from that section of road around the time of the crash, or anyone who witnessed it.

    If you have any information that could help our enquiries, please update us online now or call 105.

    Please use the reference number 250303/5741.

    While the investigation is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time.

    ENDS

    Issued by the Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Transcript-radio interview-ABC South East NSW Breakfast

    Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

    EDDIE WILLIAMS: Bega will become home to a new Medicare urgent care clinic, while the existing clinic at Batemans Bay will see its hours extended under an election promise from the Labor Government. It’s part of a $644 million commitment to open another 50 urgent care clinics across the country. The Member for Eden-Monaro is Kristy McBain. Good morning. 

    KRISTY MCBAIN: Good morning, Eddie. 

    WILLIAMS: How do these clinics work?

    MCBAIN: These clinics are aimed at trying to free up emergency departments for real emergencies. Those urgent matters like cuts that need stitches, burns, a sprain at the local football on the weekend, minor breaks. Those things can all be done through the Urgent Care Clinic, so that you’re not waiting in an emergency department, and you’re leaving the resources there for people who need emergency care. 

    WILLIAMS: Have they been effective in that? Or do patients often end up being referred to the emergency department anyway? 

    MCBAIN: There are times where patients do get referred to the emergency department. I was at an Urgent Care Clinic yesterday, and previously they had referred someone who had chest pains to the emergency department. They do refer patients that are in emergency situations anyway, that’s what they’re required to do. It’s our health system working to its best, where we’ve got GPs taking care of those routine appointments, where you’ve got Urgent Care Clinics dealing with people that have got, urgent medical needs. Then you’ve got the emergency department dealing with those serious emergency issues in our hospitals. 

    WILLIAMS: Why Bega as a location for one of these clinics? 

    MCBAIN: We went to the last election with a commitment to open 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and we’ve delivered 87. We know that they’ve been incredibly effective, but the locations of the additional 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics were determined based on advice from the Department of Health and Aged Care. The exact locations of those will be worked through with an independent commissioning process, which is the same process that has delivered the previous 87. That commissioning process is run by the primary health networks or state and territory governments, independent of the Commonwealth. We’re looking at the data which shows where these clinics are best located, and making sure we’re giving people more options and more choice for healthcare. 

    WILLIAMS: When you say, you know that they’re working, the Royal Australian College of GPs says there’s been no sign of an evaluation to show whether they are actually providing value for money or helping keep people away from hospital. Is this really the best use of $644 million, or would, more support for GPs be a better bang for buck? 

    MCBAIN: Obviously, we’ve strengthened Medicare rebates over the last three years. We’ve tripled that bulk billing incentive, and worked really closely with GPs on a whole range of things. The announcement we made to strengthen Medicare by a further investment of $8.5 million not only provides additional rebates in the Medicare system, it also provides more Commonwealth supported places at universities to train doctors. It provides scholarships to nurses and nurse practitioners to upskill themselves to get further qualifications. It provides incentives to get those medical graduates to take up the GP specialisation so that we can get more doctors into our system. That’s on top of waiving HECS for doctors and nurse practitioners who go out and practice in rural and remote Australia. We’re really focused on that workforce issue, as well as strengthening Medicare, as well as providing more healthcare options across our communities. 

    WILLIAMS: Yeah. Does that work for workforce issue going to be a challenge here as well? How difficult will it be to staff these clinics? 

    MCBAIN: The workforce issue has been there for many decades. What we’re doing is concentrating on how we can get more people studying medicine at university. As I said, more Commonwealth supported places. We’ve worked with communities across the country to put in rural medical schools and training options into our regional hospitals so that people, when they come out and train in a regional area, are more likely to stay there. We are continuing to focus on that workforce issue with a number of the incentive programs that we’ve got now for doctors and nurse practitioners to go out into our region. We’ll continue to focus on the training option as well as strengthening the rebates, as well as making sure we’ve got more care options. It’s incredibly important that we continue to keep those focuses on all aspects of healthcare. 

    WILLIAMS: When would you hope that this clinic in Bega would open? 

    MCBAIN: Obviously following the next election that independent commissioning process will be undertaken by the Primary Health Network or the state government, depending on who we partner with at that time. Hopefully we’ll see one up and running very soon. 

    WILLIAMS: You’re hearing from Kristy McBain, the Member for Eden-Monaro. Labor’s also promising to freeze the excise on beer. The Coalition’s committed to the same. Will you consider freezing the tobacco excise as well?

    MCBAIN: We’ve listened to communities and I’ve spoken to numerous publicans and club managers across our community. What we don’t want to see is people not going out to socialise. We don’t want to see some of our small businesses that provide social connection in our community fail because of the excise, which goes up by CPI twice a year. We’ve campaigned really heavily to make sure that this announcement was made. It’s incredibly important that we continue to focus on how we can assist people with cost of living. This is another way, along with our cheaper medicines policy, the cheaper childcare policy. At this stage, we haven’t discussed the excise on tobacco. 

    WILLIAMS: Telstra held a community forum in Narooma on Friday. That was something you’d asked them to do after a lot of locals had poor mobile coverage during peak holiday season. How confident are you that things will be better next summer? 

    MCBAIN: It was really good for Telstra to hear directly from community members about the frustrations they had with congested signals and call drop outs, particularly during the summer period. They have assessed the tower that services the main township of Narooma and have found that it is congested and they are looking at putting up additional spectrum on that tower. It’s in addition to the work that they’re doing for a new tower in Dalmeny, and small cells in mystery Bay, which have been funded already. It was incredibly pleasing for community to hear that their concerns were being heard, and that there is more work happening, particularly on that Narooma Tower with additional spectrum. It is important, though, that we continue to tell Telstra when there are problems, so that it can be reported and it can be looked into by the Telstra engineers. We remain open to passing that feedback directly to Telstra for consumers, if that’s what’s required. 

    WILLIAMS: Couple of quick questions from the community on health. Jane asks where’s the funding for dental clinics in the hospital and down at Pambula Community Centre? Or what can the government do when it comes to dental care in the region? 

    MCBAIN: Obviously dental care is provided by Community Health through New South Wales Health. We continue to work with them on how we can provide more options to the community, particularly into dental care. The community health fair in Pambula does a great job, but it takes a while to get an appointment and we continue to work with the New South Wales Health Department on what additional options they can provide.

    WILLIAMS: Robyn in Bega asks, if you have a fracture, wouldn’t a hospital be faster than an Urgent Care Clinic? 

    MCBAIN: At times an Urgent Care Clinic can be faster. We saw over the weekend when I was in Queanbeyan someone that came in with what appeared to be a fracture or a break in the foot. It turned out to be a serious sprain instead. They were in and out of that Urgent Care Clinic within an hour. It’s important to know if you do need to be referred on to emergency department, you will, but in many cases,  it can be dealt with quicker through the emergency care centre. 

    WILLIAMS: Kristy McBain, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. 

    MCBAIN: Good to be with you. 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks by President Trump on Investment Announcement

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    class=”has-text-align-center”>Roosevelt Room
    2:38 P.M. EST
         THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  Thank you very much.
         Thank you very much.  This is a very big day for a lot of reasons, but this gentleman is a very unique man.  I think I can say, in the world of chips, certainly, but in the world pretty much of business, nobody has done what he’s done.  For those of you that are into that world, you would say, “Wow, he’s a legend.”  But he is a legend.  And it’s an honor to be with you.  Very great honor.  Thank you very much.
         MR. WEI:  Thank you, Mr. President.
         THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.
         Welcoming, from TSMC — which is the biggest there is, at a level that you can’t even calculate, frankly — C.C. Wei, to the White House for a very historic announcement.  This is a tremendous thing for our country and, hopefully, for his company. 
         We’re also pleased to be joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, another two very highly respected people.  It’s great to have you guys involved.  And, David, thank you very much for coming on.
         David is sort of the king of intellect in that world.  We have some good people.     Today, Taiwan Semiconductor is announcing that they will be investing at least $100 billion dollars in new capital in the United States over the next short period of time to build state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facilities.  I think, mostly, it’s going to be in Arizona, which is what I understand, which is a great state.  I like it because I won it.  But I won most of them — (laughs) — actually.  So — but I did.  We won it, and we won it big.
         The most powerful AI chips in the world will be made right here in America, and it’ll be a big percentage of the chips made by his company.  But, as you know, they’re based mostly in Taiwan.  And they’re far and away the biggest.  There’s nobody even close. 
         This $100 billion in new investment will go into building five cutting-edge fabrication facilities in the great state that we just discussed, Arizona, and will create thousands of jobs — many thousands of jobs, and they’re high-paying jobs.     In total, today’s announcement brings Taiwan Semiconductor investments to about $165 billion — they’ve started already — among the largest new foreign direct investments in United States.
         Apple, as you know, made a big announcement last week of $500 billion, and we have some others that have announced. 
         We have many that want to announce.  But I don’t have time to do all of these announcements, I tell you.  But, for you, I’m doing the announcement.
         MR. WEI:  Thank you.
         THE PRESIDENT:  This will create hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity and boost America’s dominance in artificial intelligence and beyond. 
         Semiconductors are the backbone of the 21st century economy — and, really, without the semiconductors, there is no economy — powering everything from AI to automobiles to advanced manufacturing.  And we must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here, in American factories, with American skill and American labor.  And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
         As you know, Taiwan pretty much has a monopoly on that market.  And I think “pretty much” is not a term that’s even appropriate.  They do have a monopoly.  And this is a tremendous move by the most powerful company in the world. 
         It’s a matter of economic security.  It’s also a matter of national security for us.  And, at the same time, Mr. Wei will be able to diversify and have his tremendous presence in another place and a very safe place.  And I want to thank Taiwan Semiconductor for doing the announcement.  
         And I’d like to ask Mr. Wei to say a few words, if you might.
         And I’d also like to ask Howard and David — you can say a couple of words.  But maybe you should go first because, right now, he’s the most important man in the room.  I’m sorry, fellas.
         Please.
         Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Great honor.  
         MR. WEI:  Thank you, Mr. President.
         THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.
         MR. WEI:  I’m a — I’m a little bit nervous, so I have to pull out my piece of paper.
         Mr. President, Secretary Lutnick — and, David, I didn’t know that — your title, but — okay.
         First, I want to thank — say thank you to Mr. President to give me this opportunity to announce our big project in the U.S. 
    TSMC is the world’s largest chip manufacturing, founded by Dr. Morris Chang in 1987.  It’s now at the forefront of semiconductor technology, supporting AI advancement and industry growth. 
         In fact, I would like to wind back the time that in 2020 we have to thank President Trump’s vision and his support.  So, TSMC start the journey of establishing the advanced chip manufacturing in Arizona.  And now, let me proudly say, now the vision become reality.  
         In Phoenix, Arizona, with 3,000 employees, we are producing the most advanced chip made on U.S. soil with the success of our first fab. 
         So, we are now very happy to announce we are going to invest additional 100 billion U.S. dollar in addition to our current 65-billion-U.S.-dollars investment in Arizona.  We are going to build three more new fab — be- — after we promised the three fabs already, and another two very advanced packaging fab, and, most important, an R&D center, also in Arizona. 
         For this, all the investment — $165 billion — is going to create thousand of the high-paid job, as the president just announced.  And we are, most important — actually, we are going to produce many AI chips.  We are going to produce many chips to support AI’s progress and to support the smartphone’s progress. And, again, with that, I want to thank President Trump again for his support.  In addition, I also want to thank my customers in the U.S., such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom.  They all support TSMC’s manufacturing in the U.S.  Without their support, we probably cannot make it true. 
    So, again, I want to thank them.  Also, I’d like to thank the TSMC’s employee.  Without their effort, we just cannot make it today. 
    That’s all I want to say.  And thank you. 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  That’s great.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much. 
    Howard, please.  David.
    SECRETARY LUTNICK:  Sure.
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you. 
    SECRETARY LUTNICK:  So, I’m thrilled to be here today, because President Trump has made it a fundamental objective to bring semiconductor chip manufacturing home to America. 
    Under the Biden administration, TSMC received a $6 billion grant, and that encouraged them to build $65 billion.  So, America gave TSMC 10 percent of the money to build here.  And now you’re seeing the power of Donald Trump’s presidency, because TSMC, the greatest manufacturer of chips in the world, is coming to America with $100 billion investment.  And, of course, that is backed by the fact that they can come here because they can avoid paying tariffs. 
    So, the idea is: Come to America.  Build greatness in America.  Build for the American customers — the Apple, Nvidia, that whole list that Chairman Wei gave — in order to bring production to America. So, we’re really, really excited.  This continues the most incredible path you’ve ever seen, in these first weeks and months of the Trump administration, of incredible manufacturing coming to America.  The keys that the president has called out are coming here.  They’re coming here in huge size because they want to be in the greatest market in the world, and they want to avoid the tariffs that, if they’re not here, they’d have to suffer. 
    So, I want to congratulate C.C. Wei for bringing in this incredible $100 billion investment, but it’s on the shoulders of our president, Donald Trump, which is why he’s coming. 
    So, thank you.  
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.
    David.  
    MR. SACKS:  Thank you, sir.  Well, the products that TSMC makes are literally the most important products in the world.  I mean, these advanced chips power everything.  They power AI.  They power your phone.  They power your cars.  And without them, the whole modern economy would stop, but they’re not made in the United States. 
    So, for TSMC to move here is a huge, huge development, and we owe that to President Trump’s leadership on the economy and Secretary Lutnick as well.  And, C.C., thank you for — for coming here. 
    Thank you.  Yeah.
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, David. 
    So, thank you very much.  A big percentage of chips with this investment will be made now — a big percentage.  Worldwide, we had very little.  Almost none.  We used to have a lot with Intel.  But we had very little.  And we’ll be at close to 40 percent of the market with this transaction and a couple of others that we’re doing.  That’s a tremendous leap — like, a leap that nobody would have really said was possible. 
    So, I just want to thank you all for being here.  If you want a couple of questions.
    (Cross-talk.)
    Q    On the — 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Ideally on this subject. 
    Yes, please. 
    Q    — specific number of jobs it will create.   He said thousands —
    THE PRESIDENT:  They — yeah.
    Q    — but do you have a better —
    THE PRESIDENT:  They — you’re probably talking about 25,000 jobs.  But it’ll get bigger and bigger with time.  Knowing this gentleman, it’ll get bigger and bigger.  There’ll be no stopping him.  (Laughs.)
    Q    Mr. President, what more —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Brian, go ahead.
    Q    Right.  In addition to the jobs, you talked about national security, and that’s one thing I think a lot of Americans —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah. 
    Q    — at home don’t understand.  Explain the national security aspect of this. 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, without the chips and semiconductors, nothing runs today.  You can’t buy a car without them.  You can’t get a radio, a television, nothing — you can’t get anything.  And we thought it was very important — obviously, business was, but we thought even to terms of national security, to have this large percentage of the chips, semiconductors, and other things that they make — the most important product, and not a product that you can really copy.  It takes years and years.  
    You’re on the needle of a pin is total genius.  I mean, they can put things — I mean, something the size of the needle, the point of a pin, they put information that is just not even believable. 
    So, if you would — 
    (Cross-talk.) 
    If you would see this, it’s just really something. 
    Yes, Brian. 
    Q    Can I — one — one more aspect to that.  Honda —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah. 
    Q    — announced they’re coming to Indiana because of the tariffs.  Once again —
    THE PRESIDENT:  That’s right.
    Q    — you’re bringing additional jobs in manufacturing.  Do you want to comment on that as well?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Honda is coming, and I told you about Apple, that they’re going to be starting to build massively here — $500 billion.  And we have many other companies.  It’s going to be announced, but we had many that have already announced.  And no, it’s going to be great.  It’s looking — it’s looking really strong.  I don’t think this country has ever seen anything like we’re seeing right now. 
    Now, the tariffs, as you know, it will start a week earlier than the reciprocal, which is going to be on — a couple of weeks earlier.  Reciprocal tariffs start on April 2nd.  And I wanted to make it April 1st, but I didn’t want to do — I didn’t want to go April Fool’s Day — (laughter) — because that cost me — that costs a lot of money, but — that one day.  So, we’re going April 2nd.
    But very importantly, tomorrow, tariffs — 25 percent on Canada and 25 percent on Mexico, and that’ll start.  So, they’re going to have to have a tariff.  So, what they’ll have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States — in which case, they have no tariffs.  In other words, you build — and this is exactly what Mr. Wei is doing by building here.  Otherwise, they’ll build — if they did them in Taiwan to send them here, they’ll have 25 percent or 30 percent or 50 percent or whatever the number may be someday.  It’ll go only up.  But by doing it here, he has no tariffs, so he’s way ahead of the game. 
    And I would just say this to people in Canada or Mexico, if they’re going to build car plants, the people that are doing them are much better off building here, because we have the market.  We’re the market where they sell the most.  
    And so, I think it’s going to be very exciting.  Very exciting for the automobile companies.  Very exciting for — I can think of any — as an example, North Carolina, they had the great — I used to go there to buy furniture for hotels, and it’s been wiped out.  That business all went to other countries, and now it’s all going to come back into North Carolina — the furniture manufacturing business.
    Please.  
    Q    Mr. President —
    Q    Is the Ukraine minerals deal now dead, or can it be revived?  What — what’s your —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I’ll let you know.  We’re making a speech — you probably heard about it — tomorrow night, so I’ll let you know tomorrow night. 
    But, no, I don’t think so.  I think it’s — look, it’s a great deal for us, because, you know, Biden very, very, foolishly — stupidly, frankly — gave $300 billion and — $350 billion, more accurately — to a country to fight and to try and do things.  And you know what happened?  We get nothing.  We get nothing — just gave it. 
    We could have rebuilt our entire U.S. Navy with $350 billion.  Think of it.  Three hundred and fifty billion, we could have rebuilt our U.S. Navy.
    So, he gave it away as fast as the money could be gone.  And what we’re doing is getting that all back and a lot more than that.  And what we need — it’s very important for this business that we’re talking about here, with chips and semiconductors and everything else — we need rare earths.  And the deal we have is we have the finest rare earths that you can. 
    Q    Sir, on Ukraine.  Sir, on Ukraine.
         Q    Are you going to press back —
    Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  What do you need to see from President Zelenskyy to restart these negotiations?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I just think he should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin.  We’ve given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us, because, as you know, that’s right there.  That’s the border. 
    This country really was like the fence on the border.  It was very important to Europe.  And I’m not knocking Europe, I’m saying they’re just — they were a lot smarter than Joe Biden, because Joe Biden didn’t have a clue.  He just gave money hand over a fist, and they should have been able to equalize with us. 
    In other words, if we gave a dollar, they should have given.  Well, we gave $350 billion.  They probably gave 100, but on top of it all, they get their money back, because they are doing it in the form of a loan, and it’s a secured loan.  
    So, when I saw that, which I’ve known about for a little while, I said, “It’s time for us to be smart.”  At the same time, it’s great for them, because they get us in the country taking the rare earth, which is going to fuel this big engine, and especially the engine that we’ve, in a very short time, created.  And we get something, and we’re in the — we’re there.  We have a presence there. 
    With all of that being said, I want one thing to happen: I want all of those young people to stop being killed.  They’re being killed by the thousands every single week.  Last week, 2,700 were killed.  Twenty-seven hundred young — in this case, just about, all young boys from Ukraine and from Russia.  And that’s not young people from the United States, but it’s on a human basis. 
    I want to see it stop.  The money is one thing, but the death.  And they’re losing thousands of soldiers a week, and that’s not including the people that get killed every time a town goes down or a missile goes into a town.
    (Cross-talk.)
    We — and — and I want to see it stop. 
    Yes.  
    Q    Mr. President, are you considering canceling military aid to Ukraine?  And can we get a reaction to what the Kremlin just said, that your administration is bringing U.S. worldview in alignment with Moscow’s?  
    THE PRESIDENT:  So, this is a deal that should have never happened.  This is a deal that would have never happened, and it didn’t happen — for four years, it didn’t happen.  It was never even close to happening.  If I were president, would not have happened.  And October 7th would have — would not have happened in Israel.  And inflation wouldn’t have happened. 
    And Afghanistan, disastrous — the way they withdrew — not the fact that they withdrew but the way they withdrew — would have never happened.  And we would have had Bagram right now instead of China having it.  It was one hour away from where China makes their nuclear weapons.  We would have kept Bagram — one of the biggest air bases in the world. 
    All of these things happened, and it’s a shame.  But it is what it is, and now we’re here.  I want to see it end fast.  I don’t want to see this go on for years and years.
    Now, President Zelenskyy supposedly made a statement today in AP — I’m not a big fan of AP, so maybe it was an incorrect statement — but he said he thinks the war is going to go on for a long time, and he better not be right about that.  That’s all I’ll say.
    Q    Mr. President, is there any —
         Q    Could this project — could this minimize the impact of the U.S. with chips should China decide to isolate Taiwan or China decide to take Taiwan? 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it’s a very interesting point.  It’s a great question, actually.  But this would certainly — I can’t say “minimize.”  That would be a catastrophic event, obviously.  But it will at least give us a position where we have — in this very, very important business, we would have a very big part of it in the United States.  So, it would have a big impact if something should happen with Taiwan.
    Q    And with Russia sanctions, are you looking at relieving Russian sanctions if there is a peace deal?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we’re going to make deals with everybody to get this war, including Europe and European nations.  And they’ve acted very well.  You know, they’re good people.  I know; most of them are friends of mine — the heads of state, the heads of the various countries, prime ministers from the different — I got four prime ministers and five presidents called me over the last two days, and they want to work it out.  They want to get it worked out.  
    And I think they’re also — you know, they’re talking money, but the money is less important than the deaths.  We’re talking thousands of young people a week.  And people would say why do I care about Ukraine, young people; why do I care about — and not all young, but they’re pretty young.  You know, Ukraine is running a little bit low, and they’re getting older.  They’re recruiting older people.  It’s a very, very sad thing that’s happening over there, and we want to get it finished.  We want to stop the death. 
    (Cross-talk.)
    Q    Mr. President, on the tariffs.  Is there any room left for Canada and Mexico to make a deal before midnight?  And should we expect those Chinese tariffs, the extra 10 percent to take effect tomorrow?
    THE PRESIDENT:  No room left for Mexico or for Canada.  No, the tariffs, you know, they’re all set.  They go into effect tomorrow.
    Q    Mr. President, just a follow-up on my colleague’s question.  Hearing —
    THE PRESIDENT:  And just so you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from Mexico and, as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada.  And China also had an additional 10, so it’s 10 plus 10.  
    And it comes in from Canada, and it comes in from Mexico, and that’s a very important thing to say.
    Yeah, please.  Go ahead.
    Q    Have you decided if you’re going to suspend military aid to Ukraine?  Have you made that decision?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I haven’t even talked about that right now.  I mean, right now, we’ll see what happens.  A lot of things are happening right now, as we speak — I mean, literally as we speak.  I could give you an answer and go back to my office — the beautiful Oval Office.  I could go back into the Oval Office and find out that the answer is obsolete.
         It’s like his business.  It’s obsolete.  You come up with a new chip, and it’s obsolete about two minutes later, right?  But that’s what’s good about his business.  That’s why he’s the only one that’s successful in it.  But — 
         Q    And on tariffs, sir.
         Q    Mr. President, just to follow up my colleague’s question from Russia is saying that your foreign policy is largely in line with their vision.  Should that be concerning to Americans? 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Said what?
    Q    Should that be concerning to Americans?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Read the statement.
    Q    That Russia — Russia says that your administration’s foreign policy is, quote, “largely in line” with their vision.
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I tell you what, I think it takes two to tango, and you’re going to have to make a deal with Russia, and you’re going to have to make a deal with Ukraine.  You’re going to have to have the ascent, and you’re going to have to have the consent from the European nations, because I think that’s important, and from us. 
    I think everybody has to get into a room, so to speak, and we have to make a deal.  And the deal could be made very fast.  It should not be that hard a deal to make.  It could be made very fast. 
    Now, maybe somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, and if somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long.  That person will not be listened to very long.  Because I believe that Russia wants to make a deal.  I believe, certainly, the people of Ukraine want to make a deal.  They’ve suffered more than anybody else.  We talk about suffering — they’ve suffered.
    But if you think about it, under President Bush, they got Georgia, right?  Russia got Georgia.  Under President Obama, they got a nice, big submarine base, a nice big chunk of land where they have their submarines.  You know that, right?  Crimea.  Under President Trump, they got nothing.  And under President O-Biden, they tried to get the whole thing.  They tried to get the whole big Ukraine, the whole thing.  If I didn’t get in here, they would’ve gotten the whole thing.  
    So, I can only say — you can go back to Bush, you go back to Obama, and go back to Biden — they took a lot.  The only one they didn’t get — you know what I gave them?  I gave them anti-tank missiles.  That’s what I gave them.  I gave them sanctions on Russia — on Russia.  I gave them Javelins.  You know the Javelins?  You know when they took out all those tanks?
    You know, the tanks were heading to Kyiv by the hundreds, and they were unstoppable, and I gave them Javelins. 
    So, you know, I really — Putin is the one that will tell you this has not been so good for them.  The fact is that I just want fairness.  I want fairness. 
    But think of it.  I gave Russia nothing except grief.  I gave them nothing.  I gave them sanctions and Javelins.  That’s what I gave them. 
    Obama gave them sheets.  And you heard that statement before.  It’s a very famous — Trump gave them Javelins, and Obama gave them sheets.  And then they say how close I am to Russia. 
    Let me tell you, we have to make a deal, because there are a lot of people being killed that shouldn’t be killed.  But remember, Trump gave them nothing, and the other presidents gave them a lot.  They gave them everything.
    Q    Mr. President, on trade.  You met with president — Argentine President Javier Milei at CPAC.  He wants to sign a free trade agreement —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Right. 
    Q    — with the United States.  Is that something that you would consider, even with Argentina, or any other country?
    THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll consider anything.  And Argentina — I think he’s great, by the way.  I think he’s a great leader.  He’s doing a great job.  He’s doing a fantastic job.  Brought it back from oblivion. 
    Yeah, we’ll look at things.  We’re looking at the UK with things.  It doesn’t have to be tariffs.  But tariffs are easy, they’re fast, they’re efficient, and they bring fairness. 
    For instance, when people kill their dollar, their equivalent of the dollar, whatever — whether it’s the yuan or the yen in Japan or the yuan in China — when they drop them down, that gives us — that puts us at a very unfair disadvantage.  So, all I have to do is say, “Howard, we’re going to have to raise the tariffs a little bit.”
    Because I’ve called President Xi, I’ve called the leaders of Japan to say, “You can’t continue to reduce and break down your currency.  You can’t do it, because it’s unfair to us.”  It’s very hard for us to make tractors — Caterpillar — here, when Japan, China, and other places are killing their currency, meaning driving it down. 
    So, all of these things add up, and the way you solve it very easily is with tariffs.  Because when they do that, instead of having to make phone calls every day, like I used to do with certain leaders — President Xi, a little bit — a lot of phone calls talking about the fact that they’re lowering their yuan.  They’re lowering it down.  And that makes it very, very hard for us. 
    So, this way, I just say, “Look, let them do that, and we make up for it with the tariffs.”  But —
    Q    Will you be speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about tariffs today? 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, sure, I will.  I have a lot of respect for her.  I have a lot of respect for her. 
    (Cross-talk.) 
    Q    After the 10 percent tariff take ef- —
    THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah. 
    Q    — takes effect, it’ll be 20 percent on China now.  How high are you willing to go against China?
    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I can’t say.  It depends on what they do with their currency.  It depends on what they do in terms of a retaliation with some kind of an economic retaliation, which I don’t think they’re going to retaliate too much.  
    Hey, look, the United States has been taken advantage of for 40 years.  The United States has been a laughing stock for years and years.  That’s why this gentleman has built in Taiwan, instead of building here.  It would have been better if he built here.  
    If we had a president that knew what they were doing — and we had a lot of them very bad on trade.  Look, I’m a huge fan of Ronald Reagan, but he was bad on trade.  Very bad on trade.  He allowed a lot of people, a lot of businesses, to be taken.  So, I say that with due respect, because I — he was so great on other things, but he was bad on trade. 
    We are setting records right now — records like nobody has ever seen before.  When you have companies like this coming in and almost 40 percent of their company, in one signature, is going to be devoted to what he does, which is one of the most important — important businesses in the world, that’s an unbelievable thing.  When Apple now is going to start building all of their plants here, all because of what we’ve done in terms of — it’s not because he likes me or they like me.  They don’t probably like me at all.  I don’t know.  I think he likes me a little bit, at least.  (Laughter.)
    MR. WEI:  No, I like you.
    THE PRESIDENT:  But you know what?  It’s the incentive we’ve created or the negative incentive.  I mean, it’s going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country.  They can’t come in and steal our money and steal our jobs and take our factories and take our businesses and expect not to be punished, and they’re being punished by tariffs. 
    It’s a very powerful weapon that politicians haven’t used because they were either dishonest, stupid, or paid off in some other form.  And now we’re using them.
    Q    Have you spoken with President Xi?
    Q    Agriculture — 
    THE PRESIDENT:  Say it. 
    Q    Have you spoken with President Xi about this this term?
    THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t want to tell you that. 
    Q    On those incentives, sir.
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everybody. 
    (Cross-talk.) 
    Thank you.  Thank you very much.
                                 END                3:07 P.M. EST

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Honors Wayne Everett of Fultondale as March “Veteran of the Month”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) released a video honoring U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Wayne Everett as the March “Veteran of the Month.”

    Excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s remarks can be found below, and his complete remarks can be found here.

    “Challenges are a part of life that show us what we’re really made of. Corporal Wayne Everett of Fultondale reminds us that while we can’t control what challenges life throws our way, we can control how we respond. 

    He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1965, leaving his small town of East Lake for the jungles of Vietnam. After discharging from the military, Wayne took his young family back home to the Birmingham area to work with his father as a painter for the next decade. His years in active duty taught him lessons he carried with him in raising his family and in his career. 

    Wayne took on the role of caregiver when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, and they were raising young children. Even in the face of tragedy, Wayne’s loyalty never wavered. And despite his wife’s passing, Wayne continued to devote himself to his church and his family. Some years after, he remarried to an old friend where they joined their lives as a blended family.

    He is admired by all who know him, including his stepdaughter Reata, who nominated him for this recognition.

    While Wayne is a man of few words, his character and actions speak volumes.”

    Senator Tuberville recognizes a different Alabama veteran each month for their service and contribution to their community. Constituents can nominate an Alabama veteran and submit their information to Senator Tuberville’s office for consideration by emailing press_office@tuberville.senate.gov. 

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Australian Deputy PM: New centre to protect Fraser Coast turtles breaks ground

    Source: Minister of Infrastructure

    Work has started on the Fraser Coast Turtle Rehabilitation and Research Centre dedicated to the recovery of sick and injured marine turtles and vital research on the threats they face.

    Led by the University of the Sunshine Coast, the centre on the Hervey Bay foreshore will transform care for many at-risk marine turtles, removing the need to transport them several hours to receive life-saving treatment.

    More than 1,400 turtles have been rescued on the Fraser Coast over the past two years, with more than 300 needing specialist care at the nearest rehabilitation facility on the Sunshine Coast. 

    The project will retrofit existing buildings with a new fit-for-purpose facility including a specialist turtle life support system and indoor tanks to care for sick and injured sea turtles.

    The Centre will also be a hub for researchers investigating the general health of marine life across the wider region, and the emerging threats they face, including a deadly “soft shell syndrome”, which is plaguing the local turtle population.

    The Australian Government is providing $250,000 funding for the works with the Queensland Government allocating $1.17 million.

    Quotes attributable to Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm:

    “Queensland is home to some of the world’s most diverse marine wildlife and this $250,000 investment will help safeguard the Fraser Coast’s turtle populations for future generations.

    “This facility will also boost the local economy with an estimated 15 jobs set to be created, along with students, researchers and tourists all set to walk through its doors, which benefits the entire region.”

    Quotes attributable to Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie:

    “We’re proud to partner with the University of Sunshine Coast to deliver this critical infrastructure on the Hervey Bay foreshore. 

    “Queenslanders voted for a fresh start and the State Government is committed to partnering with local government to deliver local projects that create jobs, provide long-term economic benefits and improve the lifestyle of Queenslanders no matter where they live.”

    Quotes attributable to Fraser Coast Mayor, George Seymour:

    “This facility will benefit the region’s wildlife, university students and the broader community, including Butchulla traditional owners.

    “This is an excellent partnership between all three levels of government, community groups and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

    “The turtles are an endangered species, so it is important that we research what has been happening to the local population that has caused the large number of fatalities and casualties.”

    Quotes attributable to University of the Sunshine Coast Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Helen Bartlett 

    “We are pleased to formally announce the name for the new centre, which will give our threatened turtles the greatest opportunity for survival, is the ‘UniSC Milbi Centre – Sea Turtle Research and Rehabilitation’. 

    “Milbi is the Butchulla word for sea turtle and the Dayman Park site where the centre is located holds great cultural significance for the Butchulla people and their deep connection with the Milbi and other sea and land creatures. 

    “This is reflected in the design and operation of the centre, where Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers will help to care for rescued sea turtles on country, and science and Indigenous knowledge will combine to fill gaps in our local and global understanding of marine turtles.

    “Six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are found in the region – all listed as vulnerable or endangered – and are ecologically and genetically linked to other parts of Australia and the wider Pacific region.

    “To rescue and care for marine turtles is vitally important, as is research to better understand the cause of strandings and deaths, and to increase their chances of survival once they are rehabilitated and returned safely to the sea. 

    “This centre will be a hub for vital research that will help to inform local, state, national and international responses to mitigate threats to marine turtles, including disease and climate change.

    “Ongoing funding support from governments, organisations and the community is vital for our endangered sea turtles.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New centre to protect Fraser Coast turtles breaks ground

    Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

    Work has started on the Fraser Coast Turtle Rehabilitation and Research Centre dedicated to the recovery of sick and injured marine turtles and vital research on the threats they face.

    Led by the University of the Sunshine Coast, the centre on the Hervey Bay foreshore will transform care for many at-risk marine turtles, removing the need to transport them several hours to receive life-saving treatment.

    More than 1,400 turtles have been rescued on the Fraser Coast over the past two years, with more than 300 needing specialist care at the nearest rehabilitation facility on the Sunshine Coast. 

    The project will retrofit existing buildings with a new fit-for-purpose facility including a specialist turtle life support system and indoor tanks to care for sick and injured sea turtles.

    The Centre will also be a hub for researchers investigating the general health of marine life across the wider region, and the emerging threats they face, including a deadly “soft shell syndrome”, which is plaguing the local turtle population.

    The Australian Government is providing $250,000 funding for the works with the Queensland Government allocating $1.17 million.

    Quotes attributable to Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm:

    “Queensland is home to some of the world’s most diverse marine wildlife and this $250,000 investment will help safeguard the Fraser Coast’s turtle populations for future generations.

    “This facility will also boost the local economy with an estimated 15 jobs set to be created, along with students, researchers and tourists all set to walk through its doors, which benefits the entire region.”

    Quotes attributable to Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie:

    “We’re proud to partner with the University of Sunshine Coast to deliver this critical infrastructure on the Hervey Bay foreshore. 

    “Queenslanders voted for a fresh start and the State Government is committed to partnering with local government to deliver local projects that create jobs, provide long-term economic benefits and improve the lifestyle of Queenslanders no matter where they live.”

    Quotes attributable to Fraser Coast Mayor, George Seymour:

    “This facility will benefit the region’s wildlife, university students and the broader community, including Butchulla traditional owners.

    “This is an excellent partnership between all three levels of government, community groups and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

    “The turtles are an endangered species, so it is important that we research what has been happening to the local population that has caused the large number of fatalities and casualties.”

    Quotes attributable to University of the Sunshine Coast Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Helen Bartlett 

    “We are pleased to formally announce the name for the new centre, which will give our threatened turtles the greatest opportunity for survival, is the ‘UniSC Milbi Centre – Sea Turtle Research and Rehabilitation’. 

    “Milbi is the Butchulla word for sea turtle and the Dayman Park site where the centre is located holds great cultural significance for the Butchulla people and their deep connection with the Milbi and other sea and land creatures. 

    “This is reflected in the design and operation of the centre, where Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers will help to care for rescued sea turtles on country, and science and Indigenous knowledge will combine to fill gaps in our local and global understanding of marine turtles.

    “Six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are found in the region – all listed as vulnerable or endangered – and are ecologically and genetically linked to other parts of Australia and the wider Pacific region.

    “To rescue and care for marine turtles is vitally important, as is research to better understand the cause of strandings and deaths, and to increase their chances of survival once they are rehabilitated and returned safely to the sea. 

    “This centre will be a hub for vital research that will help to inform local, state, national and international responses to mitigate threats to marine turtles, including disease and climate change.

    “Ongoing funding support from governments, organisations and the community is vital for our endangered sea turtles.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: National coordination and partnership disrupting retail crime

    Source: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council

    Over 100 arrests made as a result of national investigations through Opal

    The fight against retail crime continues building momentum thanks to strong partnerships between policing and retailers and recent Government announcements to strengthen legislation.

    The national team collating and coordinating intelligence from police forces and retailers across the country has now effected over 100 arrests (108) of individuals involved in organised retail crime, collectively responsible for over £5.2m in losses to businesses.

    The team within Opal (policing’s national intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime) has been operational since 1 May 2024 and is funded by the Pegasus Partnership, a joint initiative between the Home Office, policing and retailers and facilitated by PCC Katy Bourne. It coordinates the sharing of intelligence to gain a clearer picture of those who are behind the increase in retail crime.

    Opal’s team receives referrals from police forces and retailers and builds intelligence packages, mapping out offending across the country and providing investigative support to bring the highest harm offenders to justice. A package will then be collated and shared with the most appropriate police force to progress the investigation and take action against offenders.

    In addition, new legislation announced in the Crime and Policing Bill makes assault of a retail worker a standalone offence and alongside a change to ensure all offences of shop theft are tried as ‘general theft’, removing the perceived immunity granted to shop theft of goods to the value of £200 or less.

    Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman is National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for acquisitive crime. She said:

    “We’re fast approaching a year since the organised retail crime team within Opal began accepting referrals and it’s positive to see so many results, with real impact being made. Behind each offender is not just a list of offences, but damage to businesses and all too often trauma experienced by retail workers who suffer abuse at the hands of these criminals.

    “We want retailers, workers and the public to feel safe in our shops and to know that policing is doing everything we can to tackling the problem. Working in partnership with retailers, Opal can build a detailed picture of offending across borders so there is quite literally nowhere for these individuals and groups to hide.

    “The recent announcements of a standalone offence for assault of a retail worker and the legislation change to ensure any shop theft offence is dealt with robustly, whatever the value, further strengthens our policing response and shows the seriousness of this criminality.

    “In addition this dedicated work at a central level, we are seeing much progress in police forces developing their response to retail crime, working closely with their partners to improve the safety of our communities. From prevention to dealing with offenders, we must keep working collaboratively to drive this offending out of our high streets.”

    Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner and APCC joint lead for Business and Retail Crime, Katy Bourne, said:

    “I’m thrilled that our Pegasus Partnership is working so well. The results so far from Opal’s Organised Retail Crime Team are impressive and demonstrate the value of the unique partnership between our major retailers and police to identify organised retailed crime gangs and prolific offenders.

    “Momentum has been gathering  since the start of Opal’s operations, leading to over 100 arrests across 31 different organized crime groups and £5.2 million of losses linked to offenders. I’m delighted that our Pegasus Partnership has been proven successful and the investment from retailers has clearly paid off as the Government has now allocated funding to Opal.

    “Information and intelligence-sharing will remain vital if we want to target offenders and make our high streets and shops safer places for everyone. My congratulations and thanks to the Opal team and our local forces for these excellent results.”

    Results from the Opal Organised Retail Crime team since 1 May include:

    • 108 arrests from 31 different organised crime groups
    • Responsible/linked to £5.2m of loss
    • 268 offenders have been identified – ie. Opal was able to link offender/s to an incident where a suspect had previously not been known. Whether through the facial recognition database on the Police National Database or other routes.
    • 93 vehicles have been identified linked to shop theft offending
    • 112 pieces of intelligence either developed by Opal around ORC or intelligence received from retailers – then submitted into policing
    • 194 collaborations and coordinations – where Opal has brought together police forces and/or retailers in a joint approach to disrupt an organised crime group.
    • 32 court outcomes related to shop theft offenders
    • A total of 24 years in prison sentences for those who have already been through the courts (more to follow)
    • 8 offenders deported

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: The Week the World Changed

    Source: ACT Party

    The Haps

    Parliament didn’t sit last week, so your property was safe. ACT’s MPs were out, including at the Northland Field Days, Auckland’s Round the Bays, and holding public meetings as far south as Invercargill. This Thursday David Seymour and Todd Stephenson are holding a public meeting in Queenstown, details here, and on Friday Simon Court is in Hokitika, details here.

    The Week the World Changed

    Lots changed last week, or at least long-telegraphed changes were spelled out more in neon lights than dots and dashes. New Zealand’s insularity is famous, if there was a nuclear war in Europe the Herald would still lead with Auckland property prices, or whether the All Blacks will be free-to-air.

    Insularity is all fine, most of the world is a hellhole most of the time anyway. But insularity can’t protect us from all hells, and some of them have got closer in the last week.

    The protection we’ve had from the seas and friendly navies is ebbing away, even though we’ve relied on it since humans arrived here.

    Part I: Nobody else could get here.

    Part II: Only the British could get here.

    Part III: Only the Americans could get here.

    Depending on your perspective, the British part might be a mixed blessing, but on the whole we’ve built one of the most successful societies in history with little care for our security.

    If that changes, we’re going to have very different things to think and worry about. We’ll have to think about confronting others who want to dominate and perhaps kill us for the first time in generations. Even the Herald will need to sharpen up.

    The Trump-Zelensky-Vance conflagration was extraordinary. Trump is elected and the U.S. is a sovereign nation. They can act however they like, so we’re not passing judgement. We’re just trying to think through what it means for our sovereign nation. We don’t think there’s enough public debate about this to be ready for the world we’re entering.

    After World War I the U.S. went isolationist, when World War II began the German Army was ten times larger than theirs. By the time they had U-Boats off the Eastern seaboard and planes bombing Hawaii, they were arming up again.

    After World War II they decided to keep policing the world. It led to an extraordinary period of peace and prosperity (maybe it will be known as the second Elizabethan era, after QEII). Now the Americans are out of that game again. The Oval Office conflagration was perhaps just the neon-lit spelling out of something that’s been coming a long time.

    Add that together with the Chinese ‘taskforce’ of three ships (and one sub?). It was not extraordinary, it just hasn’t happened here for a couple of generations. Ships that could easily rain down munitions on New Zealand cities, with there being little we can do about it, is a new thing to living New Zealanders. Perhaps nuclear-powered American ships weren’t that bad after all?

    The Cook Islands appear to be shifting their allegiance or at least trying to eat their cake and have it, too. Their comprehensive strategic partnership with the Chinese Government appears to open the Cooks up to Chinese investment and development, as well as resource extraction. It might allow a workforce of Chinese nationals in the Cooks that would give the Chinese Government reason to ‘protect’ them. That would be a crisis.

    From a defence and security point of view, the Cook’s gambit is a stationary version of the ships. The Chinese Government is asserting that the South Pacific is in their sphere of influence, and that’s a different proposition from the democratic British or Americans doing it.

    It all adds up to our country needing to change footing. Muldoon once said ‘New Zealanders will never vote on foreign affairs.’ We’ve been shielded, but as our shields ebb away, we will need to change our stance.

    A lot of questions become much clearer.

    Could we afford to ban oil and gas exploration?

    Could we afford to shut the country down for an extravagantly long time over COVID?

    Could we afford to create a binary state based on a false interpretation of the Treaty?

    The answer was always no, but now there is another reason why.

    The New Zealand project needs to sort its internal problems with a lot more maturity, so we can face up to external ones. Another reason why we cannot afford a Labour-Green-Te Pāti Māori fiasco, and why ACT must keep the alternative Government bold.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Transport – EMA backs congestion charging as Auckland’s traffic woes worsen

    Source: EMA

    The release today of a study on congestion in Auckland adds to the urgency around the introduction of time of use charging, says the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA).
    Auckland’s Cost of Congestion white paper, released by Mayor Wayne Brown, found congestion will cost Auckland $2.6 billion a year by 2026 – factoring in the cost of lost time, as well as impacts like reduced business investment and consumer spending.
    EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald says there finally seems to be the political will to implement time of use charging in New Zealand’s largest city.
    The government’s Time of Use Charging Bill will be read in Parliament this month, and Auckland’s Mayor has come out strongly in support.
    “The EMA has long advocated for time of use charging as it will help maximise the use of existing motorway and arterial corridors around the slowly choking greater city area,” says McDonald.
    “The EMA commissioned NZIER to conduct a similar survey in 2019, which put the cost of congestion to Auckland’s economy at up to $1.3 billion annually.
    “Things have clearly gotten worse.
    “The local traffic modelling in the new report shows Aucklanders now sit in traffic for 29 million hours a year.
    “Congestion charging is intended to reduce this traffic and introduce more certainty into travel times on our roading network, but it will also improve air quality and help to fund public transport.
    “This means that allowing businesses and tradespeople who need their vehicles to effectively deliver goods and services around the city will have flow-on effects.
    “There are also social benefits for residents who need their vehicles to make doctor’s appointments or drop kids at sport practices.
    “Moves to charge commuters who travel at peak times will encourage many to use public transport and help the city derive maximum benefit from the City Rail Link when it comes online in early 2026.”
    In central London, congestion charging was introduced in 2003 and has helped cut traffic by around 15%.
    In Stockholm, where congestion charging was introduced in 2007, it has reduced traffic within the city centre by about 20%.
    “Congestion charging has been shown to work around the world and the case for implementing it in Auckland grows by the day,” says McDonald.
    “It’s time to put a solid case to residents that time of use charging has social as well as business benefits.
    “It needs to be done right, but it also needs to be done with some urgency if we are going to unlock productivity in New Zealand.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Hassan Announces Cheri Bryer, Medicaid Beneficiary, as her Guest for President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced today that she will host Medicaid beneficiary Cheri Bryer of Lebanon as her guest for President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress on Tuesday. Eleven years ago, Cheri was battling addiction and other mental health challenges. Thankfully, Cheri was eligible for Medicaid, which allowed Cheri to access residential addiction treatment and enter recovery. Because of the care that Cheri got through Medicaid, she was able to return to work and now gets her health insurance coverage through her employer. Today, Cheri works as a senior perinatal peer support educator and coordinator in the Maternal Health Innovations grant on Dartmouth Health’s Population Health team. The budget proposal from President Trump and Congressional Republicans, which guts Medicaid to pay for tax giveaways for corporate special interests and billionaires, threatens the care for 180,000 Granite Staters – care that helped Cheri enter recovery and re-enter the workforce.

    “As Cheri’s experience demonstrates, Medicaid helps people get and stay healthy, which in turn strengthens our economy and our workforce. If Congressional Republicans and President Trump pass their budget plan to gut Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires, it is people like Cheri and the mothers in recovery that she supports who will pay the price,” said Senator Hassan. “I want to thank Cheri for joining me for this year’s Joint Address to Congress, for speaking out about the difference that Medicaid has made in her life, and for her continued work to help pregnant women and new mothers get the care that they need. And I will continue to stand up to attempts to take health care away from the 180,000 Granite Staters who count on Medicaid.”

    “In my work, I have helped hundreds of women gain and sustain recovery. Without access to Medicaid, recovery would have been impossible. As a mom myself who struggled when my children were young, I now support other young mothers. Addiction is a disease and treatment for medical conditions requires medical coverage,” said Cheri Bryer.

    The Congressional Republican budget plan, endorsed by President Trump, threatens to make sweeping cuts to Medicaid in order to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires. More than 180,000 Granite Staters get health care through Medicaid, including nearly 90,000 children. In her role as Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, last week Senator Hassan shared a new Joint Economic Committee analysis showing the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Granite Staters including the fight to combat the opioid epidemic. Senator Hassan has heard directly from Granite Staters about the importance of safeguarding Medicaid. Last Monday, Senators Hassan and Shaheen hosted a roundtable discussion highlighting the harmful impact of potential Republican cuts to Medicaid. Senator Hassan has also spoken out on the Senate floor about the proposed cuts to Medicaid.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Senate Judiciary Democrats Press Justice Department On Diversion Of Law Enforcement To Purported Immigration Enforcement Initiative

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    March 03, 2025

    Under the guise of “enhanced immigration enforcement efforts,” Donald Trump and Pam Bondi continue to weaken the Department’s national security and public safety capabilities by reallocating vital resources, reassigning career officials, and purging longtime civil servants

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi on her reallocation of resources from mission-critical Department of Justice (DOJ) projects to purported “immigration enforcement initiatives.”

    The Justice Department recently issued a directive to take legal action against so-called “sanctuary cities,” demanded an increase in immigration-related prosecutions, and reallocated resources away from critical national security and public safety efforts. The Senators request that Attorney General Bondi rescind this memo.

    The Senators begin by summarizing how the directive undermines our country’s national security and public safety capabilities, writing: “We are alarmed at recent changes within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that have significantly destabilized the agency and made America less safe. The shortsighted removal or reassignment of senior career DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials with national security expertise have diminished the country’s ability to respond to national security or public safety threats. We ask that you rescind the January 21, 2025, Memorandum and reverse any personnel decisions that diverted resources away from the Department’s critical national security and public safety missions.”

    The Senators then criticize the January 21, 2025, memo’s broad directive to divert resources away from vital law enforcement activities to vague immigration enforcement efforts, writing: “We are deeply disturbed that the Department is redirecting resources from the prosecution of violent crimes to the pursuit of dubious claims against so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions. Multiple studies have shown that localities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement do not have higher crime rates.  Reassigning law enforcement officers to ill-defined immigration-focused initiatives, for which they have no expertise, and instructing prosecutors to investigate and potentially pursue charges against sanctuary jurisdictions will not successfully target those who pose an actual threat to public safety. These reassignments drain law enforcement resources from critical missions and create an experience and leadership vacuum in our national security, counterintelligence, and public safety apparatus.”

    The brain drain of the Department’s senior expertise is so severe that all the career officials who attended the daily threats session for years have been removed from their positions, per public reporting. A large number of officials have been reassigned to a newly created “Sanctuary City Enforcement Working Group,” despite the attorneys having no experience in immigration law and the group having no enforcement or litigation authority, which led to forced multiple resignations by veteran attorneys.

    Other reported efforts underway reallocate valuable government resources from critical missions to immigration enforcement matters, including from efforts to fight transnational-organized crime, violent crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism.

    The Senators then outline the disruption caused by the resource reallocation, writing: “The sweeping changes to personnel assignments and resource allocation across DOJ will lead to widespread disruption and delay in prosecutions, investigations, and sensitive operations… It is irresponsible and dangerous to divert DOJ and FBI law enforcement officials from their primary missions and areas of expertise to bolster the Trump Administration’s mass deportation effort.”

    The Senators conclude with a request to rescind the January 21, 2025, memo, before making a series of information requests with a deadline of March 17, 2025, writing: “DOJ’s extensive focus on immigration enforcement, to the detriment of other vital national security and public safety priorities, intentionally diverts the Department’s resources and will fail to actually move the needle on immigration enforcement. Personnel at DOJ, the FBI, and other component agencies are now limited in their ability to combat threats to public safety and national security, and a dedicated and talented workforce is facing a crisis of morale. To that end, we ask that you rescind the January 21, 2025, Memorandum and reverse any personnel decisions that diverted resources away from critical national security and public safety missions.”

    In addition to Durbin, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Alex Padilla (D-CA).

    For a PDF copy of the letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, click here.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Wyden, Kishnamoorthi Introduce Legislation To Reduce Tobacco Use In America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    March 03, 2025

    The End Tobacco Loopholes Act would establish a new federal e-cigarette tax, increase tobacco tax rate, & close tax loopholes

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoothi (D-IL-08), and several Senate Democratic colleagues today introduced the End Tobacco Loopholes Act, legislation that would close tax code loopholes for tobacco products to lower tobacco use and reduce health care spending.  The legislation would establish a federal tax on e-cigarettes as 30 states have done, update the federal cigarette tax rate for the first time in more than 15 years to restore its public health impact, and harmonize the tax rate across tobacco products to address gamesmanship by manufacturers.  Increasing the price of tobacco products has been found to be the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use, particularly among children.

    “Big Tobacco’s deadly profit scheme relies on addicting children.  Our most effective strategy to reduce smoking and prevent a new generation from becoming addicted is to price these dangerous tobacco products out of the reach of children.  But federal law has not been updated in 16 years, creating loopholes that Big Tobacco has used to hook kids,” Durbin said.  “The End Tobacco Loopholes Act would help reduce tobacco and e-cigarette use, save billions in health care costs, and improve the health of children for generations to come.”

    “Big Tobacco is driving addiction, particularly among young people, and raking in the profits,” Wyden said. “This bill is about the health and safety of young people in America and accountability for the tobacco industry. Closing tax loopholes on tobacco products and setting the right policies to discourage their use is a public health no-brainer.”

    “Big Tobacco has systematically targeted Americans and their children with advertising for decades, first with cigarettes, now with e-cigarettes and vaping products,” Krishnamoorthi said.  “Unless we begin taxing e-cigarettes like other addictive products, Big Tobacco will continue to hitch future generations of Americans to a lifetime of addiction and health issues.  To properly end the youth vaping crisis, it’s time to make Big Tobacco pay its fair share and hit them where it matters: their bottom line.”

    Joining Durbin, Wyden, and Krishnamoorthi in introducing today’s bill are U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Ed Markey (D-MA).

    The End Tobacco Loopholes Act would close tax code loopholes for tobacco products by increasing the federal tax rate on cigarettes, pegging it to inflation to ensure it remains an effective public health tool, and setting the federal tax rate for all other tobacco products at this same level.  While e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, and are now subject to the full regulatory framework of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Premarket Tobacco Product Applications, they are not subject to federal taxes—which has created an effective price discount that has contributed to the explosion of youth use of e-cigarettes.  The End Tobacco Loopholes Act would follow the lead of 30 states and Washington, D.C. that have set their own state taxes, by setting a federal tax on these vaping products.  The legislation also closes numerous tax and regulatory loopholes that the tobacco industry has exploited for large cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco by shifting production and sale schemes to avoid taxes and oversight, resulting in nearly $4 billion in lost federal revenue between 2009 and 2018.  In addition, large cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco remain dramatically undertaxed compared to cigarettes, at a time when their use—especially among youth—is trending at a comparable rate to cigarettes. 

    Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death, annually accounting for 480,000 deaths—or 1 out of every 5 deaths—in America.  Nearly one-third of the middle and high school students using tobacco products use two or more tobacco products.  Tobacco use costs more than $600 billion a year, including $241 billion in direct medical care, 60 percent of which is paid through government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and $365 billion in lost productivity. 

    The Institute of Medicine, U.S. Surgeon General, and World Health Organization have determined that increasing the price of tobacco products is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use, with studies showing a 10 percent cigarette price increase results in a three-five percent reduction in consumption.

    The End Tobacco Loopholes Act of 2025 is endorsed by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Parents Against Vaping, and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Busy weekend for Western road police

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Busy weekend for Western road police

    Tuesday, 4 March 2025 – 11:19 am.

    Western road police are calling for people to heed safety advice, following a series of offences detected over the weekend.
    Acting Inspector Martin Parker said a range of drivers had been caught driving dangerously, drink driving, speeding and driving while disqualified.
    “On Saturday evening a 32-year-old Penguin man was arrested after reportedly evading police, crossing train lines and driving into an apple orchard on Mersey Main Road at Spreyton,” he said.
    “The vehicle’s registration had expired, the driver was unlicensed and he returned a positive drug test.”
    “The man was charged with a range of offences and had his vehicle seized by police.”
    “The same day, a 20-year-old man from Mountain River was charged with drink driving after he was intercepted on Edward Street, Devonport and returned a reading of 0.140.”
    “Also on Saturday, a 29-year-old man from Wynyard was charged with evading police and speeding after being caught on Calder Road at Wynyard.”
    “On Sunday, a 37-year-old man from Upper Burnie was caught driving while disqualified after a random intercept on Reeve Street, South Burnie.”
    “Three men were also caught speeding on the Murchison Highway between Tullah and Waratah on Sunday.”
    “A 34-year-old man and a 68-year-old man both from Victoria were each caught driving at 137 km/h in a 100 km/h zone.”
    “A 31-year-old man from Shorewell Park was caught at 125 km/h.”
    “Police will continue to enforce the road rules to keep everyone in our community safe.”
    “If you’re committing an offence, you can expect to be caught.”

    MIL OSI News –