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Category: Transport

  • MIL-OSI USA: 50 Wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    Here are 50 reasons why President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill is the best chance in a generation to pass critical reforms for which Americans voted:
    It delivers the largest tax cut in American history. This means an extra $5,000 in Americans’ pockets with a DOUBLE-DIGIT percent DECREASE to their tax bills. Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 will pay around 15% less in taxes.
    It makes the Trump Tax Cuts permanent, preventing the largest tax increase ever. If the bill doesn’t pass, Americans will see the largest tax increase in history.
    It raises Americans’ take-home pay by as much as $13,300 and wages by as much as $11,600.
    It reverses the spending curse plaguing Washington, D.C. The bill delivers the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years, with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings — the largest single reduction in mandatory spending in our country’s history.
    It delivers NO TAX ON TIPS and NO TAX ON OVERTIME. This makes good on two of President Trump’s cornerstone campaign promises and will benefit hardworking Americans where they need it the most — their paychecks.
    It provides historic tax cuts for seniors.
    It finishes President Trump’s border wall. As a result, 701 miles of primary wall, 900 miles of river barriers, 629 miles of secondary barriers, and 141 miles of vehicle and pedestrian barriers will be constructed.
    It boosts Border Patrol and ICE agents on the frontlines with the largest border security investment in history. This means funding to hire 10,000 new ICE personnel, 5,000 new customs officers, and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents to detain and deport at least one million illegal immigrants annually.
    It increases the child tax credit to $2,500 per family.
    It protects Medicaid for Americans who truly need it. This bill eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse by ending benefits for at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants who are gaming the system.
    It implements popular work requirements for able-bodied Americans receiving taxpayer-funded benefits. Through commonsense, Clinton-era work, volunteer, education, or training requirements, the One Big Beautiful Bill lifts Americans up to find a better quality of life through the dignity of work.
    It eliminates hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Scam tax credits. The legislation immediately stops credits from flowing to China, saving taxpayers $500+ billion every year.
    It reverses electric vehicle mandates that let radical climate activists set the standards for American energy.
    It ends Biden’s war on American energy. The bill finally unleashes American energy dominance by opening federal lands and waters to oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and mineral leasing.
    It streamlines onerous permitting processes so America can get building again.
    It refills the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to safeguard America’s energy security.
    It repeals and rescinds every “green” corporate welfare subsidy in Democrats’ so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”
    It stops illegal immigrants from receiving tax credits and taxes remittances sent to foreign countries.
    It supports small businesses by increasing the Section 199A deduction to 23% — promoting the growth and success of Main Street.
    It incentivizes MADE IN AMERICA. The bill rewards companies that build their products in America with lower taxes — and allows Americans who buy an American-made vehicle to fully deduct their auto loan interest.
    It creates new Trump Savings Accounts for newborns — allowing children across America to experience the miracle of compounded growth.
    It expands access to childcare for hardworking American families.
    It provides a historic increase in funding for the U.S. Coast Guard. This will help block illegal drugs and migrants from entering our country, protect our sovereignty in the Arctic, and promote our national security.
    It supports building new factories to grow domestic business operations. The bill renews 100% immediate expensing and interest deductions, increases the small business deduction, and establishes 100% immediate expensing for equipment and machinery.
    It helps American farmers, producers, and ranchers compete and sell products in foreign markets. The bill makes sure American farmers aren’t crowded out by foreign imports in liquid fuel production markets.
    It holds woke, elitist universities accountable by increasing the endowment tax on large universities.
    It protects hardworking taxpayers by canceling Biden’s illegal and unfair student loan bailouts.
    It ends taxpayer-funded sex changes. It reverses the Biden-era mandate that Medicaid cover so-called “gender transition” procedures — ending the taxpayer-funded chemical castration and mutilation of American children.
    It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to revolutionize our nation’s defense capabilities and protect the homeland against new threats by funding President Trump’s Golden Dome.
    It enhances the capacity of America’s naval fleet. The bill provides billions of dollars to revitalize America’s shipbuilding and maritime industrial base.
    It modernizes air traffic control — fulfilling President Trump’s plan to completely overhaul the systems that keep Americans flying safely and efficiently.
    It strengthens SNAP benefits. The legislation requires states to contribute a greater portion of the cost of administering benefits, thereby controlling costs, and closes the excessively broad loopholes for work requirements.
    It implements critical program integrity and cost containment provisions in Medicaid to strengthen it for future generations. These include removing deceased individuals from the program and limiting retroactive coverage from three months to one month prior to enrollment.
    It safeguards Second Amendment rights by removing tax and registration requirements for firearm silencers and eliminating silencers from the National Firearms Act.
    It provides critical disaster recovery funding to farmers, producers, and ranchers.
    It provides funding to rebuild America’s military — including $9+ billion to improve quality of life for our servicemembers, $20+ billion to bolster U.S. munitions production, and $12+ billion to modernize our nuclear arsenal.
    It expands health savings accounts to give Americans greater choice and flexibility in how they spend their money.
    It gives $10,000 bonuses annually over the next four years to Border Patrol and ICE agents on the frontlines.
    It incentivizes scholarships that empower American families and students to choose the education that best fits their needs.
    It repeals Democrats’ insane attack on the gig economy — ending the requirement that Venmo, PayPal, and other gig transactions over $600 be reported to the IRS.
    It reforms and streamlines the federal student loan program to drive down tuition costs and simplify repayment plans. This includes reasonable limits on amounts students can borrow.
    It strengthens accountability for students and taxpayers on federal student loans. The bill imposes “skin in the game” requirements to hold universities financially accountable to the government on defaulted federal student loans.
    It implements critical reforms to Pell Grants to make sure they prioritize students who truly need financial assistance while promoting completion. The legislation allows grants to be used for short-term, high-quality workforce training programs to support Americans who want to learn a trade instead of the traditional four-year colleges.
    It increases timber sales on federal lands. This means an increase in timber production and improvement to forest management — improving the resilience of timber and saving billions on future wildfire suppression costs.
    It authorizes the sale of expanded spectrum MHz to strengthen rural broadband and secure America’s technological dominance in AI and other emerging technologies.
    It creates permanent fees that illegal immigrants must pay for their applications so American taxpayers aren’t saddled with covering these costs. These fees will bring in over $77 billion to cover adjudication costs and fund immigration processes and enforcement actions.
    It protects family farmers. The bill prevents the greedy death tax from hitting two million family-owned farms who would otherwise see their exemptions cut in half and cuts taxes on farmers by over $10 billion.
    It ends abusive financing practices in Medicaid by freezing existing provider taxes and prohibiting new provider taxes. This ensures states cannot improperly increase the federal government’s cost-share of a state Medicaid program at the expense of taxpayers.
    It reins in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren has long functioned as another woke, weaponized arm of the bureaucracy — with minimal accountability or oversight — that leverages its power against certain industries and individuals disfavored by the so-called “elites.”
    It rolls back harmful Biden-era regulations that increase cost and administrative burdens with limited flexibility for states. These burdensome regulations, such as federal staffing mandates at nursing homes, lead to closures, reduced access to care, and increased costs, particularly in areas already overwhelmed by labor shortages.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Note to Correspondents:  on attack on a convoy in Sudan

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Five members of a UN humanitarian convoy were killed on Monday night and several more were injured during an attack near Al Koma in North Darfur. 

    We condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrendous act of violence against humanitarian personnel who literally put their lives at risk in an attempt to reach vulnerable children and families in the famine-impacted areas of Sudan. 

    This joint WFP-UNICEF convoy was made up of 15 trucks, and they had travelled over 1,800 km from Port Sudan and were carrying nutrition supplies and food. The Agencies were negotiating access to complete the journey to El Fasher when the convoy was attacked. The route that the convoy was going to take was shared in advance, and parties on the ground were notified and aware of the location of the trucks. 

    Many of our trucks were burned in the attack, and critical humanitarian supplies were damaged. It is devastating that the supplies have not reached the civilians in need. This was the first UN humanitarian convoy that was going to make it to El Fasher in over one year.

    All attacks on humanitarian personnel, their facilities and vehicles must stop. These are violations under international humanitarian law. And we call for an urgent investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account. 

    We call for safe, secure and the best possible operating conditions and for international humanitarian law to be respected by all parties, and not just in Sudan, but in all conflict-impacted countries. Under international humanitarian law, aid convoys must be protected, and parties have an obligation to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.  

    For those who were killed in the line of duty in Sudan, we of course extend our condolences to their families and loved ones, and we wish a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the attack.

    Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Lois Frankel Appointed to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21)

    Washington, DC – Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-22) announced her recent appointment by Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which governs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

    “I’m deeply honored to join the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and help carry forward its mission to preserve the memory of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust,” said Rep. Frankel. “At a time when antisemitism is surging at alarming levels, it is our duty to keep the Holocaust’s lessons alive and stand united against bigotry, violence, and ignorance in all its forms.”

    Rep. Frankel, who serves as Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, is one of five Members of the House of Representatives appointed to the Council. The Council also includes five members of the Senate, 55 presidential appointees, and three ex-officio members representing the Departments of State, Education, and the Interior. She joins Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Don Bacon (R-NE-2), David Kustoff (R-TN-8), and Max L. Miller (R-OH-7).

    Each year, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum welcomes nearly 2 million visitors, including students, educators, and global dignitaries. As a world-renowned institution, the Museum preserves one of the largest archives of Holocaust documentation, supports cutting-edge research, and educates millions through in-person and online programs. It also leads efforts to prevent modern-day atrocities through its Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide and works globally to combat antisemitism and uphold human rights.

    Established by Congress in 1980, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council serves as the governing board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial dedicated to honoring Holocaust victims and educating future generations to stand up against hatred and defend human rights.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Testimony Before the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Chairman Hagerty, Ranking Member Reed, and members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today.[1]

    I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our important mission on behalf of our fellow citizens, investors, and taxpayers. I also appreciate the opportunity as well to speak to some of my priorities as Chairman.

    On April 22, I was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump; my family was by my side. I am honored by the trust and confidence that the President and the Senate placed in me to lead the SEC.

    I have returned to the SEC where I was a Commissioner from 2002 to 2008. In that time, I advocated for greater transparency at the agency and emphasized robust cost-benefit analysis when considering new regulations. I also previously served on the staff of two SEC chairmen—Richard Breeden, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and Arthur Levitt, appointed by President Bill Clinton.

    With my fellow Commissioners, Congress, and SEC staff, I look forward to working to ensure that the United States is well-positioned to seize on the new excitement for investment and economic opportunity that President Trump’s leadership and pro-growth policies have inspired.

    SEC Mission

    First and foremost, it is a new day at the SEC. I am determined that we return to our core mission that Congress set for us more than 90 years ago.

    The SEC’s three-part mission was enunciated by Congress in the Exchange Act: protecting investors; facilitating capital formation; and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets.  

    Investor protection is vital to our mission—holding accountable those who lie, cheat, and steal. The SEC will remain vigilant in our important role to ensure that investors have confidence to participate in the markets.

    Capital formation is also at the root of what we do—fostering a direct, economical route for investors’ capital to find its way to entrepreneurs and industry to create products and services. This engine of growth employs people, helping them to work and save to achieve their dreams.

    The third core part of our mission is maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Congress calls on the Commission to ensure that our regulations balance costs and benefits, that they do not become too burdensome by adding needless friction to the marketplace, undermining the capital formation that yields so much benefit.

    During my tenure as Chairman, the SEC will not stray from this core three-part mission.

    My time in public service and the private sector, both earlier in my career and more recently, has allowed me to see firsthand how regulations affect markets and investors. They can stoke innovation, facilitate investment goals, and create opportunities—or burdens—on businesses’ ability to compete and serve their customers.

    How we implement regulations at the SEC is crucial; it is one thing to write a regulation, quite another for it to achieve its intended goal. Regulation should be smart, effective, and appropriately tailored within the confines of our statutory authority.

    It takes market experience and focused application to ensure that customers and investors of financial services firms benefit from efficient, effective, and well-designed regulation. Our goal at the SEC must be to facilitate those efforts, analyze their effectiveness, and use our enforcement power to cure and rectify wayward actions.

    In short, clear rules of the road benefit all market participants.

    The SEC is returning rulemaking to regular order. Our comment periods will not be artificially short, and the public will have ample time to provide feedback. The SEC will also be sure to take into consideration how rules overlap and how regulatory burdens build, in keeping with our obligation to consider their costs and benefits. The SEC also looks forward to working with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on our rulemaking.

    I am grateful to Commissioner Mark Uyeda for his stewardship of the agency as acting Chairman of the SEC from January to April, a very productive three months.

    During this transition, he brought clarity to some urgent policy issues that we faced in the courts and some organizational issues as the new Administration came into office.

    He established the Crypto Task Force together with Commissioner Hester Pierce, which has worked with staff to provide necessary guidance to the industry. He normalized the agency’s stance regarding materiality of disclosure requirements to comply with Supreme Court rulings and backed agency actions to extend certain compliance dates and remove personally identifiable information (PII) from the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).

    As we look ahead, I am confident in the direction of our work. My experience over the decades will naturally inform my approach as Chairman.

    The Commission will focus on providing meaningful pathways for entrepreneurs to obtain the capital that they need to execute their innovative ideas and grow their companies in both the private and public markets. At the same time, investors that provide such capital must be able to continue to depend on effective enforcement against fraudulent activities.

    Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request

    On May 30, I submitted to Congress the agency’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request.[2] I am pleased to support President Trump’s request of $2.149 billion for SEC operations. This request reflects the focus on returning to the core mission that Congress set for the agency as well as the resource needs for the Crypto Task Force. This budget level is flat as compared to both the FY 2025 and FY 2024 enacted funding levels.

    The budget request contemplates approximately 4,100 full-time equivalents (FTEs), which is a net reduction of 447 FTEs compared to the FY 2025 level due to attrition following early retirement and buy-out offers in calendar 2025. At this lower FTE level, the budget request actually is approximately $100 million more than the amount that would be required to maintain our current state of operations. There is some uncertainty regarding the FY 2026 budget, including the potential transfer of the functions of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) into the SEC.[3] If Congress approves this budget request, we anticipate that this funding could support such a transfer of the PCAOB functions into the SEC in FY 2026.

    SEC Fees

    The SEC’s funding is deficit neutral, as by law any amount appropriated to the agency will be offset by fees on securities transactions under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).

    On April 8, 2025, the SEC announced that starting on May 14, 2025, the fee rates applicable to most covered sales would be set at $0 per million in securities transactions.[4] The Commission determined this new rate in accordance with the Exchange Act.

    The Commission collected its entire FY 2025 appropriation before the new fee rate of $0 per million became effective on May 14. The prior fee rate was $27.80 per million. The Commission is required to set the fee rate to a level that generates fees equal to the Commission’s appropriated amount, so no further collections for fiscal year 2025 are required.

    The Commission will continue to keep this committee, and the public, informed of developments relating to fees on the SEC website.

    SEC Staff Numbers

    The SEC’s Offices and Divisions have decreased headcount by 15% since the beginning of the current fiscal year. Many of our colleagues at the SEC elected to take advantage of the Administration’s Fork in the Road, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), or Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP). Some left to pursue other opportunities. These departures leave vacancies that in many cases need to be filled. When I left the agency in 2008, we had approximately 3,600 employees. At our height a year ago, we had approximately 5,000 employees plus 2,000 contractors. Today we are at approximately 4,200 employees and 1,700 contractors.

    Digital Assets

    From 2017 until my nomination, I worked to help develop best practices for the digital assets industry and saw firsthand how ambiguous or nonexistent regulations in this space created uncertainty and inhibited innovation. That lack of regulatory framework also invites fraud. 

    A key priority of my Chairmanship will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law. Clear rules of the road are necessary for investor protection against fraud—not the least to help them identify scams that do not comport with the law.

    Policymaking will be done through notice and comment rulemaking not through regulation-by-enforcement. The Commission will utilize its existing authorities to set fit-for-purpose standards for market participants. The Commission’s enforcement approach will return to Congress’ original intent, which is to police violations of these established obligations, particularly as they relate to fraud and manipulation.

    This undertaking requires coordination across multiple offices and divisions within the Commission, which is why I am pleased that Commissioner Uyeda and Commissioner Hester Peirce have worked together to establish the Crypto Task Force. For too long, the Commission has been hindered by policymaking silos. The Crypto Task Force exemplifies how our policy divisions can come together to expeditiously provide long-needed clarity and certainty to the American public.

    I am confident that Commissioner Peirce, known for her principled and tireless advocacy for common-sense policy, is the right person to lead the Crypto Task Force’s effort to come up with a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets.

    The task force has held four roundtables so far on further defining security status, tailoring regulation for crypto trading, custody considerations, and tokenization. I look forward to the input from industry and additional public feedback during the next roundtable on decentralized finance.

    This is important work. Entrepreneurs across the United States and around the world are harnessing blockchain technology to modernize aspects of our financial system. I anticipate benefits from this market innovation for efficiency, cost reduction, transparency, and risk mitigation.

    SEC Commissioner Roles

    In addition to Commissioner Peirce’s continued leadership of the Crypto Task Force, I have asked Commissioner Uyeda to be our “ambassador” to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has agreed to take on the SEC’s administrative law proceedings framework and the procedures in adjudications used by our administrative law judges in light of Supreme Court rulings that oblige us to rethink and reform this area.

    Reorganization

    Under Acting Chairman Uyeda, the reporting lines in the Divisions of Enforcement and Examinations were realigned to better reflect each Division’s national programs to improve efficiency, management, and oversight of the Divisions. There will be targeted, common-sense reorganizations to come at the SEC. To start, I am seeking approval from Congress to disband what is known as agency’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub). Innovation should be ingrained into the culture SEC-wide and not limited to a relatively small office. Established in 2018, FinHub was created during a critical period of emerging technologies. The rapid development of distributed ledger technology, including digital assets, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, required a centralized effort to build understanding at the SEC. The principles and priorities under which it was established are being integrated into the very fabric of the SEC.

    Technology Review and Optimizing Efficiency

    We have begun a process to review our technology infrastructure and our contractual obligations. This review is long overdue—call it a spring cleaning and reassessment of contracts, especially regarding information technology.

    We publicly announced last month that the Commission determined that certain masked data fields on publicly available reports on Form N-PORT submitted between Feb. 3, 2025, and May 8, 2025, were inadvertently made public on the SEC’s EDGAR system. This was the result of a software update effective Feb. 3. The masking error has been corrected and did not affect Form N-PORT filings made after May 8, 2025.

    This situation is not acceptable. I have directed the initiation of a comprehensive review of the EDGAR system to ensure for data integrity. We need to evaluate what we have, where our vulnerabilities are, and how we can shore up and improve our systems. We will work on optimizing our efficiency and eliminating redundancy.  

    SEC Regional Offices and Leasing

    The SEC has 10 regional offices across the country. In late February, the General Services Administration (GSA) informed the SEC that it would terminate leases utilized by the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office and the Philadelphia Regional Office. Discussions with the GSA and the landlords are ongoing, and I will keep this Committee apprised of those developments. In the meantime, the leases are in their “soft term” and are not terminated.

    I firmly believe in the SEC’s regional office concept. We cannot and should not have all of the SEC’s staff in Washington and New York. Risk management, human resource development, and practicality for our examination teams—as one example—provide ample reinforcement for the need to maintain these offices.

    Conclusion

    As I said at the outset of this testimony, it is a new and brighter day for the SEC.

    We will work with our colleagues in the Administration, especially other financial services regulators, and with Congress to bolster the economy and build on U.S. leadership of the global markets.

    This is a pivotal moment for our economy. Entrepreneurs, businesses, and individuals here at home and across the globe are eager to invest in America.

    This SEC will work to protect investors from fraud, keep politics out of how our securities laws and regulations are applied, and advance clear rules of the road that encourage investment in our economy to the benefit of all Americans.

    This SEC will work to ensure that regulations promote capital formation rather than stifle it. We will work together to ensure American investors get disclosures that actually help them understand the true risks of an investment.

    This SEC will make every effort to ensure that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business. Americans should always have utmost confidence when investing their hard-earned dollars to save and provide for their future and the future of their families.

    Thank you.

     

    [1] The views expressed in this testimony are those of the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission or any Commissioner. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Press conference – Wangaratta, Victoria

    Source: Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority

    CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Well, it is fantastic to be here in Wangaratta today, celebrating the completion of the Wangaratta Rail Precinct, and of course Tranche 1 of Inland Rail Beveridge to Albury. This has been a huge construction process. Inland Rail is building this double-stacked freight route for the Australian Government, and I’m really pleased that as part of that, as part of the need to get double-stacked trains onto Inland Rail, we’ve also been able to upgrade this rail precinct here in Wangaratta at the same time.

    Inland Rail is an incredibly big and complex project, over 1,600 kilometres of rail track taking freight off our busy roads. Seventy per cent of our freight task, we are estimating, will come onto Inland Rail once complete. And of course, we’re concentrating on the construction of Inland Rail to Parkes and beyond, being able to unlock the possibilities of getting freight from Melbourne and all the way to Western Australia into the Port of Botany and also to Newcastle. Really delighted, as a part of this project, there have been so many local people from this outstanding district employed on this project, because not only is Inland Rail a freight project, it is also a great employment generator. So, the fact that we’ve seen local electricians, plumbers, construction workers building this precinct here for the people of Wangaratta, I think, is a great testament to the skills and contributing- as part of Inland Rail contributing to the skills growth here in this community.

    Inland Rail, as I said, is a multi-billion dollar project. It’s a really significant project that the Australian Government is very proud to be delivering for the Australian people and [indistinct] celebrating this significant milestone here today.

    Happy to take any questions.

    JOURNALIST: A multi-billion-dollar project for the Australian people – just why is double-stacked freight important to them?

    CATHERINE KING: Well, in order to make sure that Inland Rail is viable compared to road, you need to be able to deliver the volume that road can at the time that road can. So, really, Inland Rail is premised on double-stacked trains, 24-hour Melbourne to Brisbane delivery. And that premise is really important to make rail and make sure rail remains competitive against the alternate routes, which is both coastal shipping and of course road freight. What we do want to do is see- we’re seeing a growth in freight across this country. That’s a good thing. But what we’re also seeing, of course, is more and more heavy vehicles on our road, and we want rail to take on a greater share of that. That’s both good for productivity but also good for the economy, for road safety, and for our communities.

    JOURNALIST: I mean, more passenger freight through Wangaratta, do you reckon that might create some new opportunities for Wangaratta as well?

    CATHERINE KING: Well, obviously the opportunities of Inland Rail to be able to get goods to market in a more efficient way, hopefully in a cheaper way as well, is really significant for Australia’s freight task. We know that it is significantly growing. The demand for Australian goods is growing. The opening up again by the Albanese Labor Government of markets in China has been very important, being able to get goods out of our port but also being able to get goods in and into communities. So white goods from Melbourne up to Brisbane, being able to provide those opportunities for people to sell those in Melbourne, but also for farming communities as well.

    And again, with the development of this precinct, what that has also opened up is opportunities for perhaps new businesses to come into this precinct. I’ve heard talk about maybe a brewery behind us there. That would be a great opportunity, market stalls, to be able to use the precinct for other economic opportunities and social opportunities for the people of Wangaratta.

    JOURNALIST: You’ve been to a few project openings here at the Wangaratta [indistinct]?

    CATHERINE KING: She’s pretty nice, I’d have to say. It’s a really great station precinct. The thing that I’m really proud of as well is the disability access. A lot of our train stations for passengers in particular were built over 100 years ago, and they are not disability friendly. Making sure people can actually access the platforms, access trains safely, but also there’s access [indistinct] and being able to go to the toilet. So those sorts of things, this has really meant that Wangaratta is actually now compliant, as I understand it, with the disability standards, means that we can actually make sure that people with disability can access the train just like everybody else as they always should have been. So that’s something I think the Wangaratta community can be very proud of.

    JOURNALIST: How much did these works actually cost?

    CATHERINE KING: These works, overall, are well over $100 million. You heard there around about $270 million overall for the overall project, Albury to Beveridge. And the train station here I think was around about $70 million, but I’ll have to check the figures with Inland Rail.

    Any other questions? Thank you. Thanks – did you want Nick as well to ask some technical questions about the project?

    Nick, you’re up.

    NICK MILLER: Nick Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Inland Rail. Look, delighted to be here today to open this precinct. It’s been a long and tough journey for the teams, but the outcome, as you can see around here, is outstanding. Fantastic for the community. Great for their journey to get double-stacked trains from Melbourne to Brisbane. This is a really important milestone for that goal.

    JOURNALIST: Can you go through some of the impacts local businesses received as a result of this?

    NICK MILLER: Yeah, local business and work construction partner, McConnell Dowell, put an enormous effort into that. Over 1,600 people have worked on this project since its commencement, and around 1,500 of those people have been locals. We’ve spent over $160 million on this project with local businesses and around $10.5 million on this project with First Nations local businesses. We’re really proud of those statistics.

    JOURNALIST: Has this been a long time coming today?

    NICK MILLER: Well these projects are really challenging. It’s a brownfields environment so we’re operating on an existing track, and on this particular site we’ve really relocated the western track and the dive over another side of the station has been removed. So a lot of that work has to happen during what’s called possessions. So you do a lot of preparation work and we have two possessions notionally a year, and those possessions are for around 60 to 100 hours, and there’s a very intensive period of activity goes on in construction during those possessions. So brownfields projects do take longer than greenfields projects.

    JOURNALIST: And this would stack up quite significantly compared to other projects Australia has rolled out in the past?

    NICK MILLER: Oh absolutely. This is a significant project. As the Minister spoke of, this is a multi-billion dollar project, Inland Rail. It’s a critically important project for the Australian economy and for the regions of Australia. If we think about the trains that run on Inland Rail, 1.8 kilometres long, double stacked, each one of those trains will take 110 B-doubles off the road. That’s good for safety, it’s good for sustainability, and it’s good for the economy in terms of having an efficient connection between Brisbane and Melbourne and the inland ports along that route.

    JOURNALIST: What would be the consequence of taking those B-doubles off the road in terms of the economy?

    NICK MILLER: Well, it’s a good question because ultimately if you look at the freight tasks now in 2040, 2050, the freight tasks expect to grow over 26 per cent. So the reality is, the secret here is it’s not just about road and it’s not just about rail. It’s a combination. As our economy grows and the volume of our goods increases, the combination is going to be important for the Australian economy.

    JOURNALIST: Just to confirm, is it around $70 million invested here into this project?

    NICK MILLER: No, this project from Beveridge to Albury, Tranche 1 was around $300 million.

    JOURNALIST: So, the actual Wangaratta project though, how much did that cost? This and the Green Street bridge?

    NICK MILLER:        Sorry, I…

    All good. Thank you.

    UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Local member?

    HELEN HAINES [FEDERAL INDEPENDENT MEMBER FOR INDI]: Good morning everyone. It’s a big day in Wangaratta for the opening of this new railway precinct as a result of the Inland Rail Project. This is a nation building project for Australia but it has impacts on small towns all the way along the line. So for a regional centre like Wangaratta to transform our railway precinct, to make it more accessible for people, to connect our health services in our town with a modern facility such as this is indeed a good day for our town.

    I think what we’ve seen today with Inland Rail, with V-Line, with the federal government, with Minister King, I want to thank Minister King and her government and her department for the way they’ve engaged with me as the Member for Indi in making sure that the work that takes place along the Inland Rail works hand in glove with the community and with community expectations. So what we’ve seen today is a reflection of that. We just saw a community choir coming and having some fun but celebrating the impact of this project on our town.

    I’m really impressed with the amount of economic development that’s happened as a result of this project. We heard today from Inland Rail some astounding statistics about the numbers of local businesses and input into this project. That has a trickle-down effect right across our community. But what we’re left with actually is a legacy, and this legacy is one where we do see, from this day forward an improvement to our town. Better parking, better disability access, better and safer access to the trains and a beautiful new precinct that connects and helps us to the main part of our city. So very, very proud and happy to be here today to celebrate this.

    JOURNALIST: This seems like a significant improvement for Wangaratta moving into the future with the projected population growth. So I suppose this is bringing services and infrastructure up to standards to meet that growth.

    HELEN HAINES: Yes, indeed. This is a growing regional city. We’ve seen net migration out of the city’s inter-country areas such as ours since COVID and we need to make sure that the infrastructure matches the population growth. What I’d like to see now of course is improved engagement, improved services when it comes to the numbers of trains available on our timetable and additional carriages for example. We’ve seen the numbers of people using the train increase with the changes in fares and I think we’re only going to see more and more growth as people come and realise what a fantastic facility this is.

    So that’s the next part of the work of course is to make sure that the services can match the facilities here, but primarily this is a project for freight, not a project for passengers, but to get both improvements is a really significant thing and a great thing for Wangaratta I think, and of course we’ve got work happening further down the railway line in Benalla and in Euroa.

    JOURNALIST: Obviously not your issue but you touched on getting more services through here, and I think a lot of people would like that.

    HELEN HAINES: Look, absolutely they would. The numbers of people who are now using the services has grown exponentially, and that’s a result of good service and affordable fares. So, we need to put all of those things together. But what we’re here today to look at is the infrastructure, and we need infrastructure projects of this magnitude in rural and regional Australia and certainly across the electorate of Indi, so I’m very pleased with the result that we’ve had here today. It’s been years in the making. Lots of relationships along the way, but I think what we’ve seen today is how when people work collaboratively in good faith with clear intent, we can get a great outcome.

    JOURNALIST: We’ve heard some ideas about maybe a brewery going up around here. Have you got any ideas what you’d like to see?

    HELEN HAINES: I just heard that for the very first time, and well, who’s going to argue with a new brewery right? But I think what this has created is a reimagining of this space. I’ve lived in this town for nearly 40 years and this area of the railway precinct is one we’ve turned our back on for a long time. But now I think I’m certainly seeing it with new eyes and clearly other people are too. I can see community usage of this space in all sorts of imaginative ways, and who knows, maybe that may include a brewery. But you know, we have the North Eastern Hotel right across the road there, and I think we’ll see usage of this space in whole new ways.

    Okay, thank you.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Interview – ABC Radio Goulburn Murray

    Source: Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority

    SANDRA MOON [HOST]: It is 10.37, and you’ve no doubt seen all of the work that has been happening with the Inland Rail Project. There’s been bridge works, track duplication – even a makeover for Wangaratta’s train station is part of the Beveridge to Albury part of the project. And today, that new station is going to officially open. The Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Development, Catherine King, will be there for the formalities, and is with you now. Good morning.

    CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Good morning, Sandra. Lovely to be here in Wangaratta.

    SANDRA MOON: Yeah, it’s a big makeover for the Wangaratta train station.

    CATHERINE KING: I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I’ve heard lots about it. This, of course, marks the completion of the work of the first tranche of the Albury to Beveridge section of Inland Rail. Inland Rail is delivering that project on behalf of the Australian Government, and the Wangaratta precinct and the station upgrade, pedestrian underpass, disability standards for the station have been a really great part of the benefit coming to the community from Inland Rail. Not only are we delivering Inland Rail to get freight off our roads as much as we possibly can, but we’re also trying to improve the amenity as we go along the way as we build this project.

    SANDRA MOON: And so when we look at Inland Rail for residents in the northeast of the state here, what sort of difference will it make for them?

    CATHERINE KING: Well, it’s ostensibly a freight project. So, what we’re trying to do is get from Melbourne to Brisbane. First, we’re doing the section from Melbourne to Parkes to where- and then that allows us to get more freight onto rail. So that’s less trucks travelling on our roads and on our interstate routes in particular, where there’s a heavy load from our heavy vehicles, so trying to get more freight on. So really, Inland Rail delivers that, and productivity and freight.

    But as we’ve gone along the road, we’ve actually improved road access. We’ve been improving pedestrian access. In the case of Wangaratta, of course, improving the station and also bringing up its disability compliance as well, which some of these older stations have really struggled with.

    SANDRA MOON: And when it’s finished, the Government has promised that freight will get from Brisbane to Melbourne in less than 24 hours. How far off that are we?

    CATHERINE KING: Well, we did a major review when we came to government three years ago, the Schott review, to really look at what was happening with Inland Rail. It was a project that had, frankly, blown out in costs. There had been some significant problems in terms of the way in which it was being managed, so we had a lot of work to do to clean that up. We accepted all of the recommendations of the Schott review. What we’ve been concentrating on is getting the Inland Rail project built to Parkes – that opens us up to being able to get freight to the west and also into Port of Botany and into Newcastle. And we’re progressing with the work to get planning approval – we haven’t got planning approval yet – through the rest of New South Wales and then into Queensland, and then we’ll start construction once we’ve got those planning approvals in place. But we’ve had to do quite a bit of work in government to really clean this project up, and there’s some big investments that we’ll still need to make.

    SANDRA MOON: Well, it certainly is an absolutely huge project, and I’m sure that there’ll be many people in the local area that are happy to see the completion of some of these as they start to roll out.

    CATHERINE KING: It’s a really complex project. It’s over 1600 kilometres of track, which is basically the biggest infrastructure project in the country. And it is also- as I said, it’s interacting between freight and passenger route as well. And so that, again, adds to the complexities. You’ve got to keep passenger trains- you’ve got to be able to keep trains going at the same time as you’re building this really significant infrastructure project.

    SANDRA MOON: On ABC Goulburn Murray, you’re hearing from the Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Development, Catherine King, who is also the Minister for Local Government. So, while I do have you, we’ve heard a lot from state inquiries around councils really struggling to make ends meet. You referred the issue to a federal inquiry last year, and councils are expected to struggle even more when the Victorian Government’s new emergency services levy comes into force – which, of course, has been extremely controversial in this part of the world. What will the Federal Government be doing this term to help councils be even more sustainably funded?

    CATHERINE KING: Well, the first thing is, as you have quite rightly pointed out, local government is a level of government in and of its own right, and it interacts most closely with state governments, and state governments have responsibilities in relation to local government. At the federal level, we’ve had- we obviously provide millions of dollars in financial assistance grants, which recognises that there is some infrastructure and services that are beyond the capacity of councils to raise rates for in and of their own right. And the Federal Government has an interest, particularly in things like child care and aged care, in terms of those sorts of services, but also making sure that they’ve got untied money for roads.

    A while back, we also recognised that because of particularly the 2022 weather events that many councils were struggling, and post-COVID struggling with the costs of keeping up with some of those roads. So, we wanted to make a contribution to that. We’re not responsible 100 per cent for that, but what we did is we doubled the amount of Roads to Recovery, and that’ll steadily climb in our term up to $1 billion dollars. So that’s a billion dollars per year that will be distributed to councils. We received an interim report that was tabled at that House of Reps committee. They’ll, I assume, reconvene and continue with their work and provide the Parliament with a final report, and the Government will look at that and look at the recommendations of what we can implement.

    In particular, I think where the Federal Government really is looking for assistance from local government is in the delivery of the 1.2 million homes. Local government has a really significant role to play in assisting, particularly in improving the planning process to get those homes up and built as quickly as possible, and to add to the productivity of the construction sector. So, if we’re going to do things in relation to local government, it will be in relation to issues like that.

    SANDRA MOON: Well, we thank you for your time this morning, and I’m sure that you will understand if we’re not unhappy if it does rain just a little bit today, that would be great.

    CATHERINE KING: [Laughs] Absolutely. Out my way- my electorate’s Ballarat, and we’re as dry- have been as dry as anything. We’re pretty windy today, so I hear, but just the rain is so, so welcome. Despite the fact that it’s got cold, we really desperately need the rain.

    SANDRA MOON:  We do indeed.

    CATHERINE KING: It’s terrible to see, you know? What a country. We’ve got drought through South Australia and Vic and WA, and floods in New South Wales. Just horrendous at the moment.

    SANDRA MOON:  Yeah. Thank you again for your time.

    CATHERINE KING: Good to be with you, Sandra.

    SANDRA MOON:  Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Development, that’s Catherine King, who is in in town in Wangaratta for the official opening of the Wangaratta train station as part of the Inland Rail Network, with the sort of Beveridge to Albury part of the project.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Over $2.56 million in safety upgrades completed on Jerrara Road

    Source: Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority

    Goulburn Mulwaree Council has successfully completed over $2.56 million road safety upgrades on a 3.6 kilometre section of Jerrara Road, improving driving conditions and reducing crash risks.

    The project focused on smoothing out the road by fixing steep rises, dips, and sharp curves that made driving challenging, especially through areas with rolling hills.

    This work was funded by the Australian Government’s Black Spot Program ($1,939,062) and the NSW Government’s Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund ($624,000).

    It included shoulder improvements, creation of clear zones, installation of flexible roadside barriers, improved road geometry, curved shoulder upgrades, installation of audio edge and centre lines, and removed sight distance issues at the Jerrara Road intersection. 

    Line marking has also been improved. Together, these projects significantly improve safety and accessibility on Jerrara Road for all users.

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

    “These upgrades formed part of the Albanese Government’s ongoing commitment to improve safety on NSW’s regional roads network.

    “We’re determined to do what we can, through initiatives like the Black Spot Program, to ensure people who travel on Australia’s regional road network get home safely each time they travel.” 

    Quotes attributable to NSW Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison: 

    “The NSW Government’s Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund supports regional councils to continue vital repair and maintenance work following recent severe weather and natural disasters.

    “It’s great to see another project completed which will deliver safer, smoother trips for locals.

    “We’re committed to working with regional councils to improve their roads and build the roads they need to help their growing communities prosper.”

    Quotes attributable to Mayor of Goulburn Mulwaree Council Nina Dillon: 

    “This upgrade represents a major investment in community safety. 

    “Jerrara Road is an essential connection for residents, visitors, and freight and these works ensure it is safer and more reliable for everyone who uses it.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: A new era for Tasmania: Opening of the new Bridgewater Bridge

    Source: Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority

    The Albanese and Rockliff Governments are proud to mark a historic milestone for Tasmania, with the official opening of the new Bridgewater Bridge – the largest transport infrastructure project in the state’s history.

    The $786 million project represents a significant investment in Tasmania’s future, delivering modern infrastructure that improves connectivity, enhances freight and passenger movement, and supports economic growth across the state.

    The Australian Government contributed $628.8 million to the transformative project, with the Tasmanian Government contributing the remaining $157.2 million. The new bridge has been delivered on time and on budget.

    The new four-lane bridge will deliver faster, more reliable travel times for commuters, freight operators and locals, significantly reducing bottlenecks on this key section of the highway network.

    The new bridge is the fifth to be built across the River Derwent at Bridgewater and symbolises the next chapter in the evolution of this critical transport link.

    It replaces ageing infrastructure with a state-of-the-art structure that will serve the people of Tasmania for decades to come. 

    The 1.2-kilometre-long crossing will improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, with new interchanges, a 3-metre-wide shared path and modern safety features.

    The bridge also includes improved access for marine traffic, with a higher clearance and no lift span, reducing delays and improving efficiency for both road and river users.

    It has been designed to support growth throughout the region and has been built with a vision towards the future of the state.

    Since construction began in October 2022, the project has supported around 1000 jobs, more than 25 per cent of which were employees from the local area.   

    Thanks to targeted employment and training programs, the project has created pathways for apprentices, trainees and people new to the civil construction industry to gain real-world experience on a nationally significant construction site.

    This ensures the state’s workforce is equipped for the pipeline of future Tasmanian infrastructure projects.

    The new bridge will open to traffic from tomorrow (Monday, 2 June) with all four lanes operating at 80 km/h.

    Works across the project site will continue over coming weeks, including landscaping, construction of the new roundabout linking Old Main Road and Gunn Street, and removal of the temporary bridge and barges.

    For more information about the project and to see the latest flythrough footage, visit the project website at bridgewaterbridge.tas.gov.au.

    Quotes attributable to Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese:

    “My Government is building Australia’s future by investing in transformative transport infrastructure like the Bridgewater Bridge.

    “We have worked with the Tasmanian Government to deliver a landmark project that will improve safety, deliver a better commuter experience, and boost productivity in this great state.

    “The Bridgewater Bridge is about more than meeting the needs of Tasmanians today – it’s about making sure that Tasmanians have the world class infrastructure they deserve for generations to come.”

    Quotes attributable to Premier of Tasmania Jeremy Rockliff: 

    “This is a bridge built by Tasmanians for Tasmanians, and is something that everyone in the State can be proud of.

    “The Bridgewater Bridge has been talked about for decades, but together with every person involved in this project, we have delivered it.

    “The new Bridge is a testament to what we can achieve in Tasmania when we work together.

    “Major infrastructure projects like this inspire, support our economy, upskill our people, and build a better Tasmania: now and for the future.

    “I want to acknowledge the Federal Government for working with us to deliver this inter-generational infrastructure for Tasmania.”

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

    “The first Bridgewater Bridge opened in 1848, and today we’re opening the fifth, marking a historic milestone in the history of Tasmania.

    “Investing in major infrastructure projects doesn’t just keep people and goods moving, it provides an ongoing boost to local economies through more efficient and effective transport.

    “We are proud to partner with the Tasmanian Government and local industry to deliver this important project which will improve safety, support economic growth and leave a lasting legacy for future generations.”

    Quotes attributable to Tasmanian Minister for Infrastructure Kerry Vincent: 

    “This bridge stands as a testament to what can be achieved when we work together.

    “It is more than just concrete and steel. It is a once-in-a-generation project and a symbol of what the future holds for Tasmania.

    “I want to thank the local community for their patience and understanding during the construction period.

    “The resilience of the local community and the travelling public are what has made this landmark of national significance a success.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Brisbane 2032 Games Coordination Commission Visit: A Collective Vision

    Source:

    Thank you Andrew for your kind introduction and welcome.

    It’s a pleasure to be here, and I thank the Brisbane 2032 OCOG for hosting this event. 

    I want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet the Turrbal and Jagera peoples and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

    Together Australians stand on the shoulders of 1,600 generations of First Nations people, and that is our shared history.

    I also acknowledge to CO-Com, executives and the IOC delegation, particularly President-elect Kirsty Coventry and new Co-Com Chair Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski, who is all but a local… training under own Vicki Roycroft at the Brisbane Showgrounds… Mikee, please know, I view you as my Vicki Roycroft.

    Thank you to my fellow OCOG members, and AOC President Ian Chesterman and new CEO Mark Arbib… Mark’s presence means there are three Federal Sport Ministers in this room – what could go wrong.

    While our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wishes he could be here this week with you, he has just returned from the Pope’s inauguration in Rome.

    If there is one sentence that resonates long after you leave Brisbane… I hope it is this –

    The re-election of the Albanese Government ensures Australia is absolutely committed to making the Brisbane Games – a great Games, for our athletes, for Queensland, Australia and the Pacific.

    There’s a quote from outgoing President Bach that has stuck with me and lights our path to 2032…

    “Like no other human activity, sport is about bringing people together in the spirit of friendship and respect. Sport always builds bridges, it never erects walls.”

    The Australian government views Brisbane 2032 as an amphitheatre for our athletes to bring people together for greater health and social cohesion from playground to podium. 

    Because sport makes us hug strangers. And we have evidence of that right below us – on that grass.

    I understand there is a tour of this stadium later today but this venue is so much more than turnstiles and corporate boxes.

    You see, for decades that grass behind you was only known for men clashing in violent rugby contests.

    Until we hosted the Women’s Football World Cup in 2023, when just down there, three seconds changed a nation.

    A moment when a young woman called Cortnee Vine, who learned to kick a ball in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, 10 kms north of here, curled a penalty past France’s goalkeeper to send Australia through to the World Cup semi-final. 

    Our greatest World Cup achievement.

    I was sitting just up there. I cried. I launched a ferocious hug on a bewildered Prime Minister that prompted Federal Police to hover.

    Cortnee’s goal speaks to why the 2032 Games must be about sporting Moments not monoliths.

    That moment and significant funding from the Australian government led to a ten per cent increase in women’s football participation post tournament.

    That match is among the top five most watched television programs in Australian history.

    In fact, four of those five are women’s sporting events, including Cathy Freeman’s 400 metre gold in Sydney.

    This September marks 25 years since those Sydney Games transformed Australia.

    Brisbane 2032 must and will drive even greater participation and social cohesion.

    As a key Games Delivery Partner, I want to assure the Games family the Australian Government is a steadfast partner and we thank the IOC for your esteemed leadership.

    Our immediate areas of focus include governance, infrastructure, impact and legacy.

    I know how dedicated the IOC is to fostering sport through the Pacific and note your recent trip to Guam – we share that same passion.

    We will make 2032 a north star for a more inclusive sport environment throughout the region and for our Pacific family.

    From the outset the Australian Government has backed Brisbane 2032.

    We provided more than $8.6 million to the Queensland Government to support its candidature bid and its only grown from there.

    Already, our 2032 funding commitment across infrastructure, transport, high performance, major events and grass roots has exceeded $16 billion dollars. 

    This includes more than $12.4 billion dollars in Games related transport, more than $3.4 billion dollars in Games venues and in the past 18 months alone almost a billion-dollar commitment to grass roots and high-performance sport.

    Crucially, we made a two year $489 million in Olympic and Paralympic sport as we head to LA28.

    This is the largest Olympic and Paralympic sport investment ever.

    This means that 95% of Olympic and Paralympic summer sports are receiving increased funding with an average increase of 64% per year, compared to the period leading up to Paris Games.

    More sports are being supported too, with an increase from 54 to 68 summer Olympic and Paralympic programs funded in the lead-up to LA.

    We have also increased our Direct Athlete Investment Scheme – DAIS – funding, boosting it to $41.4m across two years.

    DAIS is money in the athlete’s pocket so they can spend more time training and less time fundraising.

    This means more than 1000 Australian athletes now receive DAIS funding.

    Crucially we have also doubled the money going towards Paralympic sports with an extra $54.9m over the next two years.

    The is the largest commitment an Australian government has made to Para-Sport and will shift the balance of funding from 85 per cent able bodied and 15 per cent people with a disability, to 75 per cent able bodied and 25 per cent people with a disability.

    And, while it hasn’t been announced yet, the Federal Government will invest an additional $2.1m so our Paralympians can travel to Milan Cortina to chase gold. 

    We are determined to do more – because we know 3 in 4 Australians with a disability want to play sport but only 1 in 4 have the opportunity.

    While as Minister for Sport, I am first and foremost athlete-led.

    We have also made major infrastructure commitments including a record $249m for the Australian Institute of Sport to improve our national centre of excellence where our juniors and elites train. 

    This is the biggest investment in the AIS since the early 80’s – before Kirsty and I were born.

    This is on top of our $200m Play Our Way fund for women’s and girls sport infrastructure and programs – the largest ever sport funding package to build female changerooms and women-specific sporting environments.

    And… since we came to Government Labor has funded more than $80m in Major Events as well including the Canoe World Champs that the IOC’s own Jess Fox will star in later this year.

    The Albanese Government will also invest up to $3.435 billion in Games venues in a 50/50 partnership with the Queensland Government.

    BUT – we are also funding significant Games transport.

    $12.4 billion committed for transport projects in South East Queensland already identified by the Queensland Government as necessary for the Games.

    This includes faster rail, highway upgrades, and major connection pieces that support 2032.

    So this $16 billion commitment will revitalise the AIS, boost high‑performance sport, increase participation, reduce injuries, enhance guardrails and sport safety, fund legacy arenas and the connections that allow people to visit them while improving integrity for the benefit of all Australians.

    And recent news helps us all. Last week I was honoured to be named Minister for Communications, opening greater synergies for the world’s biggest media event.

    Sport and Comms is now in the infrastructure department, and already Sport Integrity Australia have flagged a goal to embed integrity as a design principle of sport infrastructure.

    We are also continuing work on our IOC Guarantees.

    As part of the candidature process to secure hosting rights, the Albanese Government committed to a range of operational support services.

    These include communications, national security, taxation, integrity, safety and safeguarding, and visa handling.

    We are committed to delivering on these guarantees, taking a coordinated approach across all involved departments to create solutions.

    These threads I’m discussing today are hemmed through Australia’s first ever ten-year plan for sport.

    Australia’s National Sport Strategy, Sport Horizon, will capitalise on sport’s power, and outlines my government’s priorities for this sector.

    It affirms our commitment to creating a safe, fair, and sustainable sector that grows participation, drives positive social change, grows our economy and strengthens international relationships.

    It emphasises the pursuit of gender equity.

    For the first time in Australian history, sporting boardrooms across Australia must meet gender equity targets or risk government funding being withdrawn.

    I have mandated our sports sector must achieve the following governance targets by no later than 1 July 2027:

    50% of all board directors are women and/or gender diverse 

    50% of board chairs are women and/or gender diverse 

    50% of specified board sub-committee members are women and/or gender diverse.

    Because we view sport as a transponder for social change. 

    As President Bach says, sport builds bridges, never erects walls.

    And… we must remember this – 

    The Games’ most valuable treasure – is its athletes. 

    It is not about politicians or political point-scoring.

    Our job is to work with Federations to create environments where brilliance thrives, and then… get out of the way.

    Our job is to enable athletic moments to replace monoliths in 2032.

    So that grass right there conjures the next Cortnee Vine.

    So the aquatic centre a kilometre away creates history like Kirsty did in Athens and Beijing. 

    So Victoria Park is an amphitheatre for our next Cathy Freeman gold medal euphoria.

    I was born and raised in this city… 

    I am not just determined, I am obsessed. Brisbane 2032 will be a great Games.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Prime Minister Schoof tenders government’s resignation

    Source: Government of the Netherlands

    News item | 03-06-2025 | 17:18

    Following the conclusion of the leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) in the House of Representatives that he would no longer lend support to the government, the prime minister called a meeting of the cabinet. The outcome of that meeting was that PVV members of the government tendered their resignations to the King. The prime minister and the remaining members of the government resigned their portfolio, office or role.

    The King, at the recommendation of the prime minister, and with immediate effect, has granted honourable discharge to the members of the government who were nominated by the leader of the PVV parliamentary party for the following appointments:

    • Fleur Agema as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport;
    • Dick Beljaarts as Minister of Economic Affairs;
    • Barry Madlener as Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management;
    • Marjolein Faber as Minister of Asylum and Migration;
    • Reinette Klever as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development;

    as well as: 

    • Ingrid Coenradie as Minister for Detention and Protection;
    • Zsolt Szabó as Minister for Digitalisation and Kingdom Relations;
    • Chris Jansen as Minister for the Environment and Public Transport;
    • Vicky Maeijer as Minister for Long-term and Social Care.

    Their tasks will be temporarily carried out by other members of the government.

    With respect to the prime minister and the remaining members of the government, the King has considered their resignations and has asked that they continue to carry out the duties that they consider necessary to the interests of the Kingdom.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Safety works complete at Eumundi-Noosa Road

    Source:

    Motorists and bike riders will now benefit from safety improvements along the Eumundi-Noosa Road, between Lenehans Lane, and the Doonan and Beckmans Road roundabout in Noosaville.

    Both the Australian and Queensland Governments made significant contributions of $12.5 million for a joint investment of $25 million to deliver these critical safety works under the Road Safety Program. 

    Eumundi-Noosa Road has a significant crash history. The completed works will improve safety by separating through traffic, reducing the potential for head-on crashes, and improving conditions for all road users. 

    Key improvements delivered as part of the safety project include:

    • increasing separation between lanes of opposing traffic by a wide centre lane treatment
    • road widening and resurfacing 
    • installing audio tactile line marking to alert drivers if they drift from their lane
    • the removal of roadside hazards
    • providing safety improvements for bike riders, including sealed shoulders and left-turn lanes at key intersections
    • installing targeted roadside safety barriers, including motorcycle protection
    • the relocation and modification of existing street lighting to suit the wider road formation

    As one of two primary routes linking the Bruce Highway with Noosa, the safety improvements along the Eumundi-Noosa Road will benefit a broad mix of road users and vehicle types, including a significant portion of commuter and tourist traffic. 

    More information about the project’s safety feature can be accessed here.  

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

    “We’re proud to have partnered with the Queensland Government to deliver these important safety upgrades, which will help to reduce crashes and serious injuries on this section of the Eumundi-Noosa Road.

    “As the key connection between the Bruce Highway and Noosa, these improvements are set to benefit both locals and those travelling from out of town to visit the popular region. 

    “The Road Safety Program is one of many initiatives in our government’s strategy to reduce the nation’s road toll.” 

    Quotes attributable to the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Brent Mickelberg:

    “It is important we take every step possible to help reduce road trauma across Queensland, which includes delivering lasting infrastructure that ensures safer journeys for all road users.

    “Road safety is a top priority for the Crisafulli Government and I’d like to thank the local community and motorists for their patience whilst these important safety improvements were underway.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Wangaratta station officially opens as work on Inland Rail Beveridge to Albury Tranche 1 is complete

    Source:

    The transformed Wangaratta railway station has been officially opened today, marking the completion of major works on Inland Rail’s Beveridge to Albury (B2A) Tranche 1 project.

    Inland Rail – which will run double-stacked freight trains via regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland – will cut rail freight travel time between Melbourne and Brisbane to less than 24 hours. 

    At Wangaratta, modifications of the station precinct and the replacement of the adjacent Green Street bridge were required to allow sufficient clearance for double-stacked freight trains. 

    Together with construction partner, McConnell Dowell, Inland Rail transformed the station by:

    • relocating the east track to form a new west track 

    • adding a new western platform 

    • removing two footbridges and replacing them with a single pedestrian underpass 

    • lowering the tracks under Green Street bridge and 

    • replacing the Green Street bridge on the same alignment.

    Wangaratta station is now more accessible with a new western carpark, better connected with new pathways, lifts, ramps and stairs and safer with the installation of 35 security cameras.

    In addition, Inland Rail also lowered the tracks under the Murray Valley Highway at Barnawartha North and replaced bridges over the rail line at Glenrowan and Seymour-Avenel Road.

    Wangaratta station is the centrepiece of the B2A Tranche 1 project, which also involved upgrading sections of the 262 km of existing rail between Beveridge and Albury.

    Tranche 2, which will complete the Victorian section of Inland Rail, is already underway. 

    Work on B2A Tranche 1 has delivered significant benefits for local communities and businesses in regional Victoria. 

    Almost 1,650 people were employed on the project, including 59 First Nations people, 124 women, 39 apprentices, and 176 young adults under the age of 25.

    1,578 workers were residents from across the region and 488 were from Wangaratta.

    346 local businesses (10 of which were First Nations-owned) secured contracts worth $161.3 million on the project.

    Of this, $18 million was invested across 43 Wangaratta businesses, that were engaged to deliver everything from electrical services, plumbing and traffic management to precast concrete products, equipment hire, accommodation and catering. 

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

    “Inland Rail will transform the way we’re able to move freight across Australia; it’s essential infrastructure that will help us keep pace with our nation’s population growth. 

    “The project is now well on the way, with the opening of the Wangaratta station and the completion of the first of two tranches on the Beveridge to Albury section.

    “Almost 1,650 people were employed on this project, and injected $18 million in Wangaratta businesses.

    “Inland Rail is projected to carry 70% domestic use goods, which means we’ll be able to get food from our growers to our suppliers to our homes in rapid speed.”  

    Quotes attributable to Inland Rail CEO Nick Miller:

    “The opening of the Wangaratta railway station precinct and the completion of B2A Tranche 1 is an exciting milestone for the whole project.

    “We are another step closer to running double-stacked freight trains from Melbourne to Brisbane.

    “The high numbers of local workers and businesses engaged on the project is a terrific result and it’s something we want to replicate all the way to Brisbane.

    “We’re determined this project leaves a legacy in the towns it touches, and not just new railway infrastructure.

    “We want to expose local workers to new opportunities, boost skills and develop and expand capabilities of businesses so they can grow and thrive after we’re gone.

    “All levels of government worked closely with local communities to build important new infrastructure that will benefit Australia for decades.”

    Quotes attributable to Federal Labor Senator for Victoria Lisa Darmanin:

    “It’s full steam ahead for Inland Rail, and the opening of the new Wangaratta Station is a significant milestone for both the community and this essential infrastructure project.”

    “This is a national project with genuine local benefits for the Wangaratta community – workers, businesses and transport users alike.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Radio 5AA Adelaide, Afternoons with Stacey Lee

    Source:

    STACEY LEE [HOST]: Well, the main construction works are now underway on the Torrens to Darlington, the last little bit of the puzzle to fix up South Road. And here in town today to make the announcement is the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Honourable Catherine King, and she joins me in the studio. Good afternoon, Minister

    CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Good afternoon. It is great to be here in Adelaide again. 

    STACEY LEE: And thank you for your time and coming into the studio. It seems like just last week you were being sworn in as the infrastructure Minister once again. 

    CATHERINE KING: Well, it was last week or last Tuesday, and so absolutely fantastic. First big project I get to come to is the Torrens to Darlington, which is absolutely going great guns. You cannot miss that construction work has well and truly started. 

    STACEY LEE: Yeah, absolutely. Why was this the first one you wanted to visit as the new slash old minister? 

    CATHERINE KING: Well, it’s pretty much the biggest project, the biggest road project in the country. I think North East Link in Victoria would sort of have some equivalence to it. It’s a big project. You’re going to have three tunnel boring machines. So, the work that you’re starting to see at the moment is all of the work getting ready for the tunnel boring machines to come in. And so basically they build them on a big platform, they drop that down about 25 meters, and then they get assembled and go, and they’re huge. They’re absolutely massive. You’ll see lots of activity around all of that. And so being able to just go and have a look at that work that started some of the side roads to make sure we can keep traffic flying. They’ve been completed as well. So, you’re going to see construction started. It’s a big project that’s going to be going for the next three to four years, really. So great to be able to get on site. And as I said, biggest, biggest, really road project in the country. And it’s at a stage where we could go and have a look at it.

    STACEY LEE:  And certainly the biggest one that our state’s seen. We’ve got the the Heysen Tunnels on the on the freeway, but these tunnels will be…

    CATHERINE KING: they will be amazing. There are a few things I love about this project. I love it. I love a good infrastructure project, but what I particularly like about this is that you’ve got three tunnel boring machines. That’s unusual. Normally, there’s two at most. So that’s really quite different. But the other is that a number of people employed on it, about 5500 are going to be employed. A lot of them locals. And I met a couple of Victorians who’ve moved off over to Adelaide from the Big Builds that they’ve been doing in Victoria, and are just loving living in Adelaide. So, we’re trying to entice them back over the border, but I think they’re probably staying here for a long, well, certainly for a while, yet. But also, the green space that you’re going to gain from this project as well, like it’s often when you see these really massive road projects, you see them really dividing suburbs, and they can cut across suburbs, and it’s impossible to, you know, really live around them, whereas, because you’re going underground here, you get all of this space back that the community can use. So, this is a really amazing project, and I think you’re going to see lots of lots of great art, great parks, that’s also part of it, which give the community back their space

    STACEY LEE: up above ground. I was thinking, are we building parks underground? Now that’s something new.

    CATHERINE KING: Green space on top, the green space on top. So, a lot of people employed. But then, of course, there’s the savings. You’re getting rid of those 21 sets of traffic lights. And you think every time you’re stopping at a traffic light, that’s minutes and minutes you’re in the car just waiting, and 21 of those going out, 40 minutes will be saved in that drive if you’re driving that route regularly. And that’s 40 minutes you get back with your kids, or get to stay and have a little sleep in in the morning if you’re trying to get to work. 

    STACEY LEE: I thought you were going to say, or stay at work a bit longer.

    CATHERINE KING: (laughs) no I want people home to do the things that they love doing as well, as well as being able to get to work more efficiently as well. 

    STACEY LEE: Yeah, absolutely. Now, you mentioned the timeline. Is it on track? When is it expected to be finished? Because this is the last piece of the puzzle; we’ve been waiting for years.

    CATHERINE KING: Yeah, it’s a real so, so with infrastructure projects, everyone wants them done tomorrow, but they’re big and they’re complex engineering projects. So, 2031 is meant to be the completion of this project. Of course, if you have, you know, we’re not looking likely at the moment, but really heavy rains that cause problems or things that delay, you know, but I think they’ve done all of that preliminary work, so all the geo tech work, so they know that it’s not, you know, mostly clay underground, if you hit really heavy rock that slows the tunnel boring machines down. But all of that, all of that on time to date, and we hope the project proceeds that way. 

    STACEY LEE:  2031, did you say?

    CATHERINE KING: Yeah, well, that’s the, that’s the finish, and it feels like, but also, it’ll go really quick. You’ll, you’ll see the amount of work that’s being done on it. But you’ve got to start. You don’t start these projects. You don’t finish them.

    STACEY LEE: And does South Road, as it currently stands, remain open while the tunnel…?

    CATHERINE KING: So, yeah that’s right. So that, again, that adds to complexity of projects. You still got to be able to move people around the city. So that’s, that’s what happens in the meantime. So, this is really, you’ll see, you’ll start to see all that happening underground. Well, you won’t send underground, but you’ll see all the work starting at the entrance. 

    STACEY LEE: And in terms of funding, I believe this was a 50/50, funding, yeah?

    CATHERINE KING: That’s right. So, $7.7 billion from each level of government. And what you’re seeing is the Commonwealth is increasingly stepping into that space now, into sort of some of the suburbs and cities that we traditionally wouldn’t have been in. So that’s been happening over a long period of time. The Commonwealth sort of traditionally only funded those big, you know, big roads outside of cities, the connecting parts. And then over time, we’ve increasingly been stepping into the space of funding more in terms of the suburbs and suburban roads and connectivity. So that’s sort of why our infrastructure pipeline has grown. But also you’re seeing us involved in projects like the Torrens to Darlington. 

    STACEY LEE: And potentially other projects as well, like the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass, which was a big one during the election campaign. 

    CATHERINE KING: yeah, well, we announced just over half a billion dollars for that. That’s been a really important project for us as well, so that, and also the Curtis Road Level Crossing Removal, again, a really big project and we’ve been involved, obviously, in a lot of the level crossing removals. I think there’s three to four of them happening at the moment, and they really do change again the amount of time people are stuck waiting in cars to actually get to where they need to go.

    STACEY LEE: Yeah. In terms of the freight bypass, that was a big one in a in a very marginal seat during the election and Labor won that seat. I think the agreement prior to the election, or the commitment from your party, was 50% funding split. Did you have a chance to pull the Premier aside today and say, hey, I know your budget’s coming up in a few months. Are you willing to commit to the other 50?

    CATHERINE KING: Well that would be a matter for their budget. You know the thing that I would say about the relationship I have with Tom Koutsantonis and also Premier Malinauskas. But of course, my boss, the Prime Minister, with the Premier in particular, is a really collaborative one. We work together. We work through issues, and we will, you know, we think the bypass is important. We put that half a billion dollars plus on the table. And we look forward to working with the South Australian Government to deliver that project. 

    STACEY LEE: How confident are you that it’ll get off the ground? 

    CATHERINE KING: Well, I think it’s important. I think we do need to bear in mind that there are always capacity constraints in terms of infrastructure as well. So, we’ll have to talk to them about the timing of the project. You know, we might need to do some planning and geo tech work and all of that stuff first. But you know, they know it’s important. They’ve committed to the you know, they’re committed to the project. You know, they’ve brought the project to us so that 50% that we’ve put on the table, we’re really keen to work with the South Australian Government on that, and we’ll work through whatever issues there are going forward.

    STACEY LEE: And it is still a priority for your government given now that’s no longer a marginal seat, and the other one Boothby is no longer marginal either? 

    CATHERINE KING: Yeah, I guess what I’d say with infrastructure, what I’ve been really at pains to do is to try and stop some of this sort of – it’s a marginal seat or it’s not a marginal seat. Like what we’ve tried to do, we’ve asked states to deliver now, under the reforms, we put in place 10-year infrastructure plans, and really, what we’re doing is looking at projects that are part of that 10-year long-term horizon of infrastructure projects. So it became obviously a political issue in the election campaign – that happens, we have elections, that always occurs. But really, this has been really important, you know, it was in our last budget, the state government had brought it to us as a project. So we just work our way, pretty much systematically, through those and start delivering and that’s really been my experience, is get the planning work done, make sure that we know how much it’s going to cost, and then you start doing the work on it. Part of the problem of what I inherited is that we often had lots of press releases that were very politicised. It was often about marginal seats or what was happening there, and not enough money allocated to it. In fact, we didn’t even know as a Commonwealth how much something was going to cost, because the previous government had said, oh, we’ll put, you know, $200 million into this, or $400 million. And you suddenly look at it, and we did a big review, and you go, actually, it’s going to cost a lot more than that. How are we going to find the money? So really, what we’re trying to do is planning work, planning money, planning work, first get an idea about that and then work with the State governments to actually deliver them. And that’s proving to be a really good model. 

    STACEY LEE: Yeah, well, I guess that happens with every project at the moment. You know, costs have blown out over the last few years a lot. So hopefully, I know there’s a lot of people I’m in, I’m in the seat of Sturt, and so it was a big issue for me in the lead up to the election, for a lot of people. So hopefully in the state budget next month, I think, we get some sort of a resolution on whether that early work can occur in those investigations, and we’ll go from there. 

    CATHERINE KING: Yeah, no, that would be great. 

    STACEY LEE: Up to anything else while you’re in town, Minister? 

    CATHERINE KING: No, this was a big thing today. And as I said, it was great to see the amount of workers that are on site, they’re really excited. Like, the thing about construction workers too, is they love these projects and being able to show off what they’re doing. And this is a big build, so I hope lots of people get the opportunity. There’s a great visitor center that’s got the example of the tunnel boring machines in there is go and have a bit of a look. There’ll be a bit of disruption while this build is occurring. That’s inevitable, but it’ll really make a huge difference to the city, and to people’s lives. 

    STACEY LEE: Alright, well, I’ll leave you to get back to it. Maybe you can stop off at the central market for lunch before you head. 

    CATHERINE KING: Generally, I always stop off at the Haigh’s. We’ll see about that. I’m trying to lose a bit of weight, but that always happens in in Adelaide, we hit the Haigh’s. It is always amazing. And everyone tells me it tastes better when you buy it in Adelaide, absolutely, that’s what I’m told. 

    STACEY LEE: Well it’s in walking distance from the studio so I’ll let you get to it. Thank you for coming in. 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Media conference – Adelaide

    Source:

    NADIA CLANCY [STATE MEMBER FOR ELDER]: I’m Nadia Clancy. I am the Member for Elder I’m here today with the Premier Peter Malinauskas as well as Federal Minister for Infrastructure Catherine King. We also have State Minister who you are all well accustomed to, Minister Koutsantonis, and my electorate boundary mate, Jayne Stinson. So we’re right in the electorate of Elder at the moment and I am so excited to see so much activity on site at the moment. It sort of has felt like a slow burn and now we are here. I really want to thank my constituents for their patience and understanding as we’ve dealt with these changes and these sort of minor inconveniences, and really, really excited that now the Norrie Avenue link road has now been completed which is making things a lot easier for locals. Now I will hand over to the Premier.

    PETER MALINAUSKAS [SA PREMIER]: Thanks so much Nadia, it’s great to be here with you and Jayne. Your consistent advocacy on behalf of your constituents is making the relative inconvenience of this project far easier to deal with so we can make sure we can get it done. It’s great to be here with Tom as always but I particularly want to thank Catherine King, the Federal Infrastructure Minister, and take this opportunity to in this forum congratulate you, Catherine, on the re-election of the Albanese Government and your retention of one the most important portfolios that we see in any government in the country.

    The partnership between my state government and the Albanese federal government really is on show here. I am very pleased that we are getting this project done. The non-stop South Road project has been talked about for decades and the hardest part is now finally underway because we are making it happen. We have not spared any expense to get it done properly the first time. A $15.4 billion infrastructure project that will literally change the way that traffic moves through our city for the next 100 years. The legacy of this project will be not just an infinite amount of convenience for tens of thousands of motorists, but it’ll actually be changing the economic dynamic of the way our city operates, which is exactly why this is worth it in the long run. I cannot possibly overstate the size and the complexity of this $15.4 billion project, but when it is completed, which is actually, in the scheme of things, not that far away, it’ll mean that up to 40 minutes in commute time is saved as a result of the removal of 21 sets of traffic lights for people during peak hour. Any time you remove 21 sets of traffic lights from any journey on our roads in a metropolitan environment, it saves a lot of time, but 40 minutes for a community to peak hour, that’s a big number. And when you add that up for every single working family, every single day of the week, it means hours and hours of people’s lives that are returned to a better standard of living or to a better economic outcome, which is exactly why this project requires urgency. And finally, we’ve got two governments getting together to get it done and get it done properly.

    There has been a lot of work, a lot of work that has led to us being able to be here today where major construction is now underway for where the tunnel boring machines on the southern end of the project will be lowered. Just behind where I’m standing right now, two 90 metre- long tunnel boring machines will be lowered 25 metres below the surface to start tunnelling out throughout the second half of 2026 right through to the project’s completion. This is one of the biggest engineering undertakings that’s not just occurred in the history of our state but indeed the nation. This is the biggest infrastructure project in Australia right now. There is none bigger than this, and it’s going to change the way our city operates forever in a way that will be a lot more convenient for everyone from working families to small businesses to big businesses who want to get things moving in and around metropolitan Adelaide.

    The non-stop South Road project has been talked about a lot and we’ve seen a lot been achieved over the course of the last 20 years. But this is the big part, this is the hard part and my government is getting it done. But we’re only able to do that because of the partnership, a 50/50 funding partnership between the state and federal government, $7.7 billion from the Commonwealth, $7.7 billion coming from the state government. Every step of the way, the relationship between the government, particularly between Minister Koutsantonis and Minister King has just been outstanding.

    I want to take this opportunity to really thank Minister King, not just for her stewardship but also for her advocacy on occasions. She appreciates just how dynamic and important this project is and has done a lot to help make it happen. So I’ll hand over to the Minister to say a few words and then Minister Koutsantonis, Minister King and myself will be able to answer your questions.

    CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Thanks Premier. Well, it’s great to be back here in the great state of South Australia, and you can see behind us here, this is a state that is delivering important infrastructure for communities here in Adelaide. Can I thank Nadia and Jayne for being here, they’ve been great advocates of this project, but can I particularly acknowledge both the premier and also Minister Koutsantonis. It is such a delight to work with the pair of them on these projects. I know both them coming to government and us coming to government, this project really was in a bit of a state and we had to make hard decisions about investing more money to get this project done. This $15 billion plus project is very much a 50/50 partnership between the Albanese Labor Government and the Malinauskas Labor Government, because Labor Government’s build peace.

    Infrastructure is absolutely my passion. I’m so delighted to have been returned as Infrastructure Minister because infrastructure changes lives. And what a great way of doing so. Twenty-one sets of traffic lights removed, 40 minutes off commute time. And that means for people, that’s 40 minutes more you can spend with your families. Actually spending time being able to do the things that matter most to all of us. Being able to spend that time with your kids, being able to spend that time with your families. It also is a great employment generator. Over 5,500 people will be employed on this site over the course of its life, and 600 of those are going to be trainees and apprentices, new workers coming into the construction industry. And I particularly want to give a shout out to the many women in construction that we’re seeing, heaps of them on site here today. It is a great career, and I’m so delighted that we see so many women entering this field. We have to have more women in construction, and this project with 600 new trainees and new apprentices working on site will deliver that.

    Delighted to partner with the Malinauskas Government on this project. We’re investing over $9 billion in infrastructure here in South Australia, but this is by far the biggest build of any of them. You can see behind us where the tunnel boring machines will be assembled and then dropped to actually start their work, and there’s going to be lots of opportunities for the media to see this construction project. It is the biggest road project in the state. There are lots of other projects that would claim to rival it, but I would have to say it’s the biggest project in state and the biggest project in the country in terms of the longest and three tunnel boring machines, the largest in the country, when they’re assembled on site.

    So, terrific to be here today. I want to thank and wish all the very best to the construction company. You can see this has started because it’s only Labor governments that actually deliver infrastructure, and only Labor governments that deliver the sort of infrastructure that South Australia needs.

    I’ll hand over to the Premier for questions and then we’ll work from there.

    JOURNALIST: [inaudible]

    PETER MALINAUSKAS: Yeah, I can talk about that, and maybe Tom can [indistinct]… as well. Look, you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs, and we’re a government that’s very conscious of the fact that during a project of this size and complexity, of course there’s going be a degree of disruption. But we want to get things done, and we’re not going to back away from making tough decisions that are required to set the state up for the long term. There’s a lot of economic opportunity before South Australia at the moment, and if we want people to be able to participate in it, they’ve got to be able to get to their places of work in a way that is efficient and productive, which means this project just has to be delivered. It just has to get done.

    Now, there has been a lot of engagement with local communities, and local MPs have certainly been powerful advocates – not just through the compulsory acquisition process, which is largely complete, but also with all the various movements and traffic that we’ll see over the coming years ahead. But at the end of it is the end game, which is a 40 minute saving for people in their commute during peak hour. Twenty-one sets of traffic lights removed. That’ll be worth it, right? It’s not just this project that we’ve got going on that causes a bit of inconvenience too. As a government, we’ve made tough decisions on this project. We’ve made tough decisions on the womens’ and kids’ project. But we do it because what we’re interested in is the long-term outcome. We’re not thinking about short-term politics. We’re thinking about long-term outcomes for the state, and none is more important than the $15.4 billion project that we deliver here.

    It’s true to say that if I was only thinking about the next election, we probably wouldn’t necessarily make the same decisions. But because we’re thinking about the long term, and we do want to get to that end point of having a 40 minute saving, we’re powering ahead and making the tough choices so we can get this project done, and done as quickly as we can.

    JOURNALIST: How confident are you that this is going to be delivered on time and on budget? [Indistinct] …

    PETER MALINAUSKAS: [Talks over] Well, so far, things have gone alright. So far, things are going well. Now, we’re not naive to the fact that there’s going to be challenges along the way, but so far, I mean, I’ve been honest about the womens’ and kids’, and I’ll be honest about this project. So far, things are going well. But we’re still at the front nine, we’re not on the back nine yet, and then it’s going to happen.

    JOURNALIST: There’s a lot of money that’s being spent on this, obviously federally and state. Is there a lot of wiggle room in the budget for other projects that are going to be coming up?

    PETER MALINAUSKAS: Well, you’ll have to wait and see in the budget. We’re not that far away. Look, we’ve been really pleated as a government in delivering budget surpluses. We haven’t just forecast them, we’ve delivered them. We haven’t delivered a deficit yet. We’re working hard to keep it that way, and that gives us the room to be able to invest in things that set the state up for the long term. But there’s always competing priorities. The biggest one for us remains health and education. That’s core business as far as we’re concerned, and it makes a difference to people’s lives, and we’re always looking for opportunities to invest in those things.

    But as far as major transport infrastructure, we focus on the non-stop South Road element, but there’s also a lot of east-west connectivity that we’re investing in as well. That’s already starting to move traffic a lot better to and from other parts of Adelaide. So the $15.4 billion project number is predominantly the non-stop South Road element, but a lot of east-west activity and connectivity has been invested in too, which will also help traffic flow more broadly.

    JOURNALIST: There’s a lot of construction going on around Adelaide [indistinct]. Do we have the local [indistinct]…?

    PETER MALINAUSKAS: That’s a good question. By and large, yes. I mean, look, If you’re in civil construction or other construction type jobs, South Australia is the place you want to be. There’s no doubt about it. We are grateful though that we are seeing some expertise come from other parts of the country. In fact, I was just chatting to someone calling Adelaide home, and hopefully, it stays that way because we are going to need the workforce in the future. Because understand this, we’ve got this project, we’ve got the womens’ and kids’, but then beyond that, all the work that is required down at Osborne, which is many billions of dollars worth of construction, there’ll be work there in the future as well. Our ambitions for what we hopefully want to see happen at Olympic Dam, what we want to see at Wyalla, it’s not just a pipeline of work over the course of the next four years. What we’re setting ourselves up for is a pipeline of work over the course of the decade ahead, because that’s what prudent planning demands.

    So, in terms of workforce, yes, of course, there’s a lot of demand for labour in the state at the moment. We’ve got the lowest unemployment rate levels we’d ever seen. I think we’ve got the seventh lowest unemployment rate in the nation. It’s below 4 per cent. That’s a good problem to have, in some respects. But we’ve also got to be investing into skills in the future, which is what our technical college is all about.

    JOURNALIST: [inaudible]

    PETER MALINAUSKAS: Yeah, in parts, yes. And if they end up calling Adelaide their home, that’s a good thing. It’s why we’ve got more houses being built in South Australia on an apples-for-apples basis than any other part of the country. The stats out just in the last fortnight show that housing dwelling starts, and also approvals are growing at the fastest rate in South Australia, anywhere in the country. In fact, the national average is going backwards but South Australia is growing. 

    JOURNALIST: Had another fatal crash, and you’re saying [indistinct] on our roads. What will need to be done to keep the roads safe now?

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: Well, I might invite Tom to have a few words about this. I mean, apart from just acknowledging the awful loss of life, it’s heartbreaking for a family. You know, we see the road toll and that’s a number but what sits behind that, of course, are real people and family will be devastated badly by those deaths and my thoughts are with them. But in terms of the truck traffic I might just leave it to Tom to say a few words. Is there any other questions for me before I [indistinct] to Tom? 

    JOURNALIST: Yeah. I was just wondering, in terms of the upper house, Sarah Game has obviously left One Nation. What does that look like for you guys now in terms of passing legislation? Do you have any concerns or confidence in that change with Tammy as well of course? 

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: Yeah. I haven’t had chance to speak about Tammy publicly yet, either, so maybe I’ll deal with both of those. Yeah look, in our rich, vibrant liberal democracy change happens, and we’ve got a quite a diverse mix of people in the upper house. And what I try to do is work with them, regardless of their political hue. Of course, there are things that we’ll disagree on ideologically and philosophically, that’s clear. But I also want to work with people from other political parties, because that’s the way you achieve results. 

    So, whether Tammy Franks is in the Greens or Sarah Nation[sic] is in One Nation, I’m going to sit down and I’m going to work with them, because I think that’s what leadership requires. I will, however, make this point, you know, out of all of the cross section of political hues in the parliament at the moment, of which there are a number, there’s only one political party that hasn’t lost any members or had anyone quit or leave, and what is the party? It’s us. So, despite us having more members than anybody else, we’re the most disciplined and united team. So- but in terms of Tammy and Sarah, they’ve made their own decisions, that’s for them and their political parties to resolve. But as the Premier of the state I want to work with them no matter what.

    JOURNALIST: Do you think it’s very fair for the voters who have helped vote in these people in to have party members. For example, Sarah wasn’t particularly known in her own right beforehand to have these people then going to sit as independent? Do you think that’s fair to them?

    PETER MALINAUSKUS:  This has been a feature of the Westminster system since it’s dawn. And what we do, though, in the Labor Party is- you know, in South Australia, we’ve got a particularly disciplined and united- you know, where we have points of difference we sit down and work with one another, rather than just storm out and quit. And that’s what allows us, as a government, to focus on what’s in the best interest of the state. The business of other political parties, I’ll leave that to them to [indistinct].

    JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] around the issues [indistinct] parties or anything which will change that way. 

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: I understand the argument, but I think it’s difficult. And it’s not a feature of many Westminster parliaments we see around- in the world. So, it’s not something I envisage having here anytime soon. 

    JOURNALIST: Back to the question?

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: Yeah, I’ll know that Tom’s got that.

    JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] There have been some talk about our industry, trucking industry and the rules surrounding the drivers and training that’s sort of sparked up that debate, and why we don’t know the circumstances surrounding this one we need to have another look at how we’re training truck drivers.

    TOM KOUTSANTONIS [SA MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT]: Yeah. So, we have here in South Australia. So, we’re the first state in the federation to change the way we’re training drivers, especially ones who are coming from abroad. We are no longer recognising accreditation in other jurisdictions internationally. We wanted them to be trained here in Australia, to understand Australian conditions. 

    Look, heavy vehicles are getting larger in Australia, they’re not getting smaller. We’re a big country and we are looking at growing our road trains even larger, and training is becoming even more important. What occurred on the weekend is a tragedy. It probably could have been avoided. No one needs to die on our roads with a heavy vehicle if everyone is trained appropriately and equipment is appropriately maintained. 

    We’ll let this go through the court process to understand exactly what occurred. I understand police have charged a person this morning so I’m not going to go into the details other than to say, if you come to this and you want to drive a heavy vehicle in South Australia, we expect you to be trained here in South Australia. I call on other jurisdictions to do the same thing because it’s important that Australian conditions are top of mind for when we train our drivers. 

    Now, I don’t know the circumstances here. I don’t know what occurred here, I’m getting a briefing later on today. But it’s important to note that heavy vehicles are dangerous. We have very, very strict heavy vehicle national regulations that govern the way people drive heavy vehicles, the way that they’re trained, and the way that these vehicles are assessed. There’s trainer responsibility here, right back to the owners of the company and directors of that company who could be personally liable for even criminal charges if something is going wrong. So, we want to get to the bottom of this, but it is way too early to form any judgment.

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: Thanks so much everyone. Cheers.

    JOURNALIST: Sorry. Just one more. 

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: So, we’ll take this last one [indistinct]…

    JOURNALIST: Sorry. In terms of the speed that [indistinct] today, you’re going to increase it to around [indistinct] saying another 25 kilometres per hour on our roads. Do you know much about that? Does council [indistinct]…

    TOM KOUTSANTONIS: I do. Yes, there are reforms. Yes, yes. So, what we’ve done is we’ve listened to the RAA, we’ve listened to tow truck drivers. When amber lights turn on because they’re working on a vehicle on the side of the road that’s either broken down or needs to be towed, there have been too many crashes and near misses that make it dangerous to bring aid to people who are stranded on the side of the road. So, when you see these amber lights it’s important that you slow down to 25 kilometres per hour, as safely and as quickly as possible for you to do so. If you do breach it, depending on the speed that you’re going over – the same penalties apply for emergency service vehicles, if you drive past a police car and ambulance with red lights flashing. 

    It’s very, very important to maintain the safety and security of these people providing assistance on the side of the road, and we make no apologies for that. I heard this morning tow truck drivers who are turning up to cars that have been broken down on the side of the road, while they’re connecting these vehicles seeing either individuals being clipped or vehicles being rammed into. It’s important now people, when they see flashing lights, to slow down. 

    PETER MALINAUSKUS: All right, thanks very much, everyone.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Raising curtain on concert hall refurbishment

    Source:

    The historic Perth Concert Hall is one step closer to its transformation, with preliminary works commencing last month on the $150.3 million refurbishment. 

    Construction broke ground marking the start of essential structural work to restore the heritage listed building, which was the first Australian concert hall built after World War II.

    The revitalisation includes a home for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra featuring office and rehearsal spaces, bar areas and events spaces, along with refurbishment of the auditorium entry, lifts and stairs to improve venue accessibility. 

    Updated seating, lighting and backstage facilities have been carefully considered to preserve the venue’s distinctive features and internationally-renowned acoustic features.

    The WA Government awarded the tender for forward works to Australian-owned and operated construction company ADCO, which has delivered similar large-scale, government and private projects. The main works tender is scheduled to be awarded in November 2025.

    A digital fly-through of the Perth Concert Hall project shows a new and improved entry experience, through a redesigned and landscaped forecourt to create a more connected and welcoming approach to the venue.

    The Perth Concert Hall Redevelopment is one of 14 projects under the $1.7 billion Perth City Deal partnership. The Australian Government is investing $532.7 million to projects including the ECU City Campus, WACA Upgrade, East Perth Common Ground, and the Boorloo (Causeway) Bridge.

    The $150.3 million investment includes $134.3 million in WA Government funding, $12 million from the Australian Government and $4 million from the City of Perth.

    Comments attributed to Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King: 

     “Refurbishing and expanding the Perth Concert Hall will capitalise on Perth’s historical and cultural strengths, and preserve the hall for future generations.

    “After 50 years of continuous operation, we’re investing in this cultural icon to be enjoyed by the community for at least 50 more. 

     “Expected to create 230 jobs, the Albanese Labor Government is delivering infrastructure that stimulates the economy, connects communities, and fosters vibrancy in our cities.”

    Comments attributed to Federal Member for Perth Patrick Gorman:

    “This investment helps secure Perth’s future as the cultural centre of Australia’s west coast. 

    “This will give local, national and international acts a venue worthy of their creative talents. 

    “The Albanese Labor Government is investing in Perth and the creative and tourism industries that employ thousands across our country.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Twice Convicted Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Cocaine

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PROVIDENCE – A Rhode Island man who was previously twice convicted and incarcerated for drug trafficking admitted to a federal judge today that, after completing his second term of incarceration and while on federal supervised release, he arranged multiple times to have packages containing cocaine shipped to Rhode Island from Columbia, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: AutoScheduler Participates in Supply Chain Now Livestream on The Agentic AI Supply Chain Framework

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AUSTIN, Texas, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AutoScheduler.AI, a leader in Agentic AI Warehouse Orchestration, announces its participation in a Supply Chain Now Livestream on The Agentic AI Supply Chain Framework on June 18, 2025, at 12:00 PM EDT. Attendees will discover a bold new vision of how generative AI and intelligent agents are reshaping the future of supply chain execution.

    “The Agentic AI Supply Chain isn’t a new layer of dashboards or a more advanced planning module – it’s a fundamental rethinking of how execution decisions are made, who makes them, and how quickly they can respond to real-world change,” says Keith Moore, CEO of AutoScheduler.AI. “Supply chain executives and technologists will be given a pragmatic perspective on what the next generation of supply chain operations will look like – and what it takes to get there.”

    The Livestream will discuss how AI agents are reshaping supply chain execution and what it means for a business. Hosted by Supply Chain Now’s Scott Luton and Jake Barr, Keith Moore, CEO of AutoScheduler.AI will unpack the key ideas from the Agentic AI Supply Chain framework, where every core function – planning, procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation – is managed by specialized AI agents that think, communicate, and act autonomously.

    Attendees will learn:

    • How the Agentic AI Supply Chain fundamentally differs from traditional execution models and how it works
    • The real-world impact- early pilots promising use cases, and the measurable benefits companies are already seeing
    • A realistic step-by-step roadmap for adoption, including common challenges and how to overcome them
    • And so much more!

    To register for the Livestream, visit: https://streamyard.com/watch/xzjfet5Fe6ue.        

    About AutoScheduler.AI

    AutoScheduler.AI empowers your supply chain with its Agentic AI-based warehouse orchestration platform that integrates with your existing WMS/LMS/YMS or any other solution to drive value across the supply chain by improving throughput, cutting labor costs, and ensuring customer service goals are met. AutoScheduler automates critical tasks for the warehouse like labor scheduling, task sequencing, and dock management, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Our Agentic AI-based platform makes better decisions to create an adaptive, living supply chain. For more information, visit: http://www.AutoScheduler.AI.

    Contact:
    Becky Boyd
    MediaFirst PR
    Becky@MediaFirst.Net
    Cell: (404) 421-8497

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Celebrating Pride in every LGBTQIA+ story

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Celebrating Pride in every LGBTQIA+ story

    Animated Story

    Nurturing Inner Peace

    When Ethan started at Microsoft, he prioritized money over his wellbeing. Twelve years later, the senior customer success manager and ERG storytelling host knows that the only way to truly take care of others is to first take care of yourself. Discover his story of gratitude and growth, illustrated by Camila Abdanur.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Are influencers villains, victims or champions of change? The reality is more complex

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Aya Aboelenien, Associate Professor of Marketing, HEC Montréal

    As the influencer ecosystem expands and its culture evolves, there is increasing pressure for the industry to prioritize ethics over profit. (Shutterstock)

    Social media influencers have become cultural powerhouses, setting trends, shaping lifestyles and even swaying political views. As their influence grows, so do ethical debates about them: are they villains exploiting their audiences, victims of an unregulated industry or champions driving positive change?

    In our chapter in the recently released book, Influencer Marketing, we synthesized existing literature to explore the ethical minefield of influencer culture and attention economy. We scrutinized the responsibilities of influencers, brands, platforms and consumers, and the broader impact of influencers on society at large.

    Influencers as villains

    Influencers are often cast as villains in the online world. They are frequently criticized for inauthentic behaviour, such as by failing to disclose partnership agreements, perpetuating unrealistic beauty or lifestyle standards or by lying to their audiences outright.

    Despite regulations, many influencers hide their paid partnerships.
    In 2023, for instance, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that 81 per cent of influencers failed to properly disclose paid partnerships.

    Influencers are incentivized to do this because advertising-heavy content can appear inauthentic and be off-putting to followers. These omissions mislead audiences into thinking products and brand reviews are based on genuine opinion, rather than part of a paid script.

    Multiple influencers have also been caught lying to their followers about their lifestyles. One notable example is Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who falsely claimed to have cured her terminal cancer through diet. She gained a massive following and profited from these claims before being exposed and fined US$410,000 for misleading and deceptive conduct.

    Netflix trailer for ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.’

    Despite the controversy, Gibson’s story was adapted by Netflix into a series called Apple Cider Vinegar, further fuelling the money-making machine.

    Another case is that of Yovana Mendoza, a raw vegan influencer who was filmed eating fish in a Bali restaurant. The video went viral after being leaked by fellow travellers. Despite later revealing that she had stopped being vegan because of health reasons, she still faced backlash and accusations of hypocrisy.

    Unrealistic beauty standards

    Influencers, and particularly virtual CGI influencers, are also villainized by the masses for perpetuating unrealistic standards and lifestyle choices.

    From posing as the “perfect family” or the “perfect wife” (such as trad wife influencer Hannah Neeleman, also known as Ballerina Farm), to flaunting ultra-thin or perfectly chiselled beauty ideals, influencer content fosters harmful social comparisons.



    Read more:
    Women can build positive body image by controlling what they view on social media

    These portrayals can contribute to anxiety and low self-esteem among social media audiences. Influencers prey on these insecurities to make profit and gain influence, which affects the well-being of these audiences.

    In the case of male Instagram followers of the hashtag #fitfam, one study found increased pressure to achieve the so-called “instabod” — a sculpted, idealized physique — was linked to symptoms of muscle dysmorphia.

    Influencers as champions

    Despite the controversies surrounding influencer culture, some content creators are leveraging their platforms to do good. Body positivity influencers, for instance, advocate for self-love and self-acceptance, which can improve body satisfaction and appreciation among young women.

    One of the best known figures in this space is Ashley Graham, who challenges beauty norms by sharing unedited photos of herself with her 21.4 million Instagram followers.

    There are also green influencers who champion sustainability. For example, Alessandro Vitale teaches urban farming, while Emma Dendler advocates for zero-waste living.

    A study found that many women fashion influencers over 50 engage in what researchers call “styleactivism.” They use their social media platforms to bring about important changes in the ageist and sexist fashion and beauty markets.

    There is also a growing movement known as “deinfluencing,” where influencers discourage mindless consumption by critiquing over-hyped products, like the viral Stanley Cup water bottle.

    Influencers as victims

    While some influencers might profit from the system, others are victims of business exploitation and malpractices. There are a growing number of cases of unpaid labour where influencer agencies, like Speakr, have been accused of withholding payments, leaving creators in financial limbo.

    Black and LGBTQ+ influencers have also reported facing pay discrimination. They often earn less than their white counterparts or are asked to work for free. Stephanie Yeboah, a Black plus-size influencer, told The Guardian she discovered she was paid less than white influencers while working on the same campaign.

    Many influencers operate without the backing of talent managers or influencer agencies, despite taking on multiple roles, including videographers, video editors, scriptwriters, lighting specialists, directors and on-screen talent. This leaves them especially vulnerable to exploitation.

    To top it all, influencers are also victims of online harassment and cyberbullying. As part of a 2021–22 United Kingdom parliamentary inquiry into influencer culture, blogger Em Sheldon told MPs she faced relentless abuse and threats from online trolls.

    As the influencer ecosystem expands and its culture evolves, there is increasing pressure for the industry to prioritize ethics over profit. Weeding out the unethical practices lurking in various corners of this lucrative industry will require collective efforts from policymakers, brands, as well as influencers and their followers.

    Aya Aboelenien receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

    Ai Ming Chow 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. Are influencers villains, victims or champions of change? The reality is more complex – https://theconversation.com/are-influencers-villains-victims-or-champions-of-change-the-reality-is-more-complex-257527

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pettersen, Van Hollen, Boozman, Hageman, Williams, Kim Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Homebuying Process for Veterans

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brittany Pettersen (Colorado 7th District)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) – alongside Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and John Boozman (R-AR) and Representatives Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Young Kim (CA-40) – introduced the Veterans Affairs Loan Informed Disclosure Act of 2025 (VALID Act). Despite potentially offering thousands of dollars in savings over the life of a loan, VA loans are underused – with only 10% to 15% of eligible veterans using the benefit, and some states as low as 6%. The bill introduced today provides a simple fix, ensuring veterans see VA loan options clearly laid out alongside conventional and FHA loans when applying for an FHA mortgage – making it easier to choose the best option for their needs.

    Specifically, this bipartisan legislation would update Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage disclosures to include VA Home Loans alongside FHA and conventional loan options. The bill would also ensure lenders are provided with important information regarding an applicant’s military service so they can provide information about VA loans early in the homebuying process.

    “Our veterans put everything on the line to defend us, but far too often come home without the support they need,” said Pettersen. “No veteran should miss out on a benefit they’ve earned simply because they didn’t know it was an option. At a time when finding an affordable home is harder than ever, ensuring veterans have clear access to every funding resource available is critical. This legislation helps make homeownership possible and builds long-term stability for the brave men and women who’ve served our country.”

    “We enjoy freedom in America due to the incredible sacrifices of our servicemen and women,” said Hageman. “Guaranteeing that our veterans receive the care and benefits they deserve is the least we can do. The VALID Act provides for this assurance by ensuring our veterans are informed of the advantageous home loan programs available to them as they chart their future.”

    “Our veterans have earned every benefit available to them — including the opportunity for affordable homeownership,” said Williams. “Unfortunately, too many miss out on VA loan options because they are unaware of them. I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the VALID Act that will ensure veterans can make fully informed decisions during the homebuying process. This legislation honors those who served and helps secure a better future for them and their families.”

    “Veterans put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and, at the very least, deserve to know the benefits available to them. Anything less is unacceptable,” said Kim. “The VALID Act fully discloses the VA loan options available for veterans to use when buying a home. I’m proud to help lead this commonsense, bipartisan bill that ensures we have the backs of our brave men and women who had ours against global threats.” 

    “While we can never fully repay the debt we owe to our veterans, we have a duty to support them when they return home,” said Van Hollen. “The VA Home Loan has been helping servicemembers buy homes for over 80 years, but this funding resource remains severely underutilized by far too many of our veterans. This bipartisan legislation will help change that, ensuring more veterans and their families take advantage of the benefits they have earned.”

    “We should make certain veterans are aware they qualify for help with purchasing a home or realizing more savings over the life of a mortgage,” said Boozman. “Since we know VA home loans are underutilized, there is a clear need to better identify this assistance earlier in the process. I am proud to join my colleagues in enhancing this earned benefit for our former servicemembers.”

    “Why does it make any sense, at all, to disallow a veteran, like my husband, from reviewing, in a side-by-side view, of the actual written financial differences between the VA Home Loan when compared to a FHA Home Loan or a Conventional Home Loan? Updating the ‘informed consumer choice disclosure notice’ will close that loop,” said Lynn Jabs, Tacoma VAREP Chapter board member and National Legislative Chair at VAREP.

    “VAREP wholeheartedly endorses the VA Loan Information Disclosure Act of 2025. This legislation will help correct an injustice of non-disclosure of all viable mortgage loan options to all home loan applicants who are eligible to take advantage of their earned VA Home Loan Guarantee Benefits,” said VAREP in a statement. “VAREP applauds Rep. Pettersen for taking action to require the original lender to include a third financial comparator, to the current disclosure law that requires only disclosure of the difference between an FHA and a Conventional loan. Adding the third comparison of the VA Home Loan to the FHA Home Loan and the Conventional Home Loan is an essential missing loan disclosure element.”

    Research has shown that 1 in 10 veterans have experienced homelessness, often years after completing service and returning home. At the same time, rising housing costs are making homeownership increasingly out of reach. Programs like the VA Home Loan are more important than ever, offering a path to homeownership that can save veterans thousands of dollars and help them build lasting financial security.

    The legislation is endorsed by the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP), the Broker Action Coalition, and the National Association of REALTORS®.

    Full text of the bill is available HERE. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman David Scott Files Legislation Transforming Abandoned Sites into U.S. Space-Industry Manufacturing Hubs

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David Scott (GA-13)

    WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), a senior member of the House Financial Services and House Agriculture Committees, filed legislation to stimulate the creation of jobs in the domestic U.S. space manufacturing sector. The Rural American Vitalization in Extraterrestrial Space (RAVES) Reporting Act, would promote the redevelopment of shuttered factories, abandoned plants, and decommissioned military installations into advanced manufacturing hubs supporting U.S. space exploration and commercialization across rural communities.

    “As global competition in space continues to intensify, we must ensure that America’s next-generation space infrastructure is built here at home—by American workers, in American communities,” said Congressman David Scott. “The RAVES Reporting Act will turn economic stagnation into innovation by revitalizing long-abandoned industrial and defense sites and transforming them into vital hubs of extraterrestrial manufacturing and research. China’s latest investment focus to “militarize space” partly through their Made in China 2025 initiative, shows just why the United States must remain the global leader in space investment. My bill will ensure the future of space is built by the same communities that once powered American steel, shipbuilding, and defense. All while strengthening U.S. national security interests.”

    The RAVES Reporting Act will instruct the Department of Defense to determine the ability, capacity, and recommendation for transforming abandoned sites into U.S. space-industry manufacturing hubs. Specifically, the bill:

    ·       Taps into the $1.8 trillion space industry for rural communities by identifying and certifying eligible abandoned or underutilized sites.

    ·       Examines best possible solutions for current space supply chain issues through commercial input from agencies like NASA.

    ·       Includes expanded pathways for increased streams in manufacturing jobs and revenue, STEM education, and infrastructure improvements like widespread broadband in rural communities.

    ·       Strengthens U.S. national security by countering Chinese space expansion.

    “The Rural Technology Fund appreciates the intent of the RAVES Reporting Act of 2025 and its focus on exploring opportunities for rural revitalization through space-related industries. The bill’s emphasis on workforce development, education, and collaboration with local institutions aligns with our mission to expand access to technology and technical careers in rural communities. We look forward to the insights this study may provide into how existing infrastructure can be part of that future.” Dr. Chris Sanders, Executive Director, Rural Technology Fund

    “Innovation focused industries are critical for economic renewal in rural America and aerospace has tremendous potential in these regions, as we have seen through the startups across the Rural Innovation Network. The recycling of existing infrastructure is also important to ensure we can create these companies and jobs without destroying what provides rural places an exceptional quality of life. We wholeheartedly endorse Congressman’s Scott’s Rural American Vitalization in Extraterrestrial Space Reporting Act.” Matt Dunne, Executive Director of the Center on Rural Innovation

    “Space is overhead of every American, and every American is vital to the productive utilization of space; not just the traditional centers or large cities, but in revitalizing, innovative rural areas as well. As we’ve been lucky enough to build our company on a rural coastline and now operate hardware on the space station, KMI supports the continued reinvestment to be identified by the RAVES Reporting Act of 2025. For more space solutions to more space challenges, this country needs to not only invest in major space efforts, but rebuild the bedrock that launched humanity from Earth to footsteps on the Moon by encouraging innovation once again across all America.” Troy M. Morris, Co-Founder & CEO, Kall Morris Inc (KMI)

    The text of the bill can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: BitMart Discovery Officially Launches, Pioneering a New Era in Quality Asset Discovery

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Singapore , June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BitMart, the premium global digital asset trading platform, today announced the official launch of its innovative asset spotlight zone, BM Discovery, designed to provide users a brand-new solution for on-chain asset discovery and trading.

    As the on-chain asset landscape continues to expand rapidly and innovation emerges at an unprecedented pace, the launch of BM Discovery represents not only a strategic deep dive into asset exploration and value discovery but also an active response to evolving user needs and industry trends. Focusing on early-stage, high-potential on-chain assets, BM Discovery integrates professional project screening, on-chain data monitoring, and dynamic risk control to create a secure, transparent, and efficient platform. This empowers users to uncover promising projects and seize emerging market opportunities ahead of the curve.

    A New Benchmark for On-Chain Asset Discovery

    The strength of BM Discovery lies not just in its speed, but in its professional screening and potential identification capabilities. By leveraging advanced technologies and a robust ecosystem strategy, BitMart has built a comprehensive value discovery mechanism. This system combines a professional research team with key on-chain indicators to continuously monitor project developments and identify promising emerging assets, offering users greater confidence in their investment choices.

    Several of the initial assets launched in the BM Discovery zone have perfromed well, drawing the attention of users and demonstrating BitMart’s keen market foresight and professional judgment.

    For users, BM Discovery not only offers an efficient participation channel that syncs with on-chain developments but also addresses operational complexities. For those unfamiliar with intricate on-chain interactions or concerned about high gas fees, BM Discovery provides a seamless, one-stop platform solution that lowers barriers and empowers users to access high-potential assets effortlessly, capturing market heat.

    Dynamic Risk Management Ensuring a Secure Trading Environment

    Beyond asset discovery, BM Discovery prioritizes risk management and trading security.

    To safeguard user interests, BitMart has established a dynamic risk control system covering the entire asset lifecycle. Through continuous monitoring of asset quality and market performance, combined with multi-dimensional evaluation mechanisms, the platform can proactively delist high-risk or non-compliant assets, mitigating potential risks and ensuring both user protection and ecosystem health. The platform also reminds users that assets in this zone are often at early stages and may exhibit high price volatility. Users are encouraged to assess their risk tolerance and participate rationally.

    BM Discovery is not merely an asset aggregator—it is a sustainable value discovery ecosystem underpinned by professional screening and intelligent risk management. With this robust security framework, BitMart aims to strike an optimal balance between innovation and prudence, reinforcing user trust and strengthening its leadership in the global digital asset industry.

    Exclusive Promotion: Zero-Fee Spot Trading in BM Discovery

    To celebrate the official launch of BM Discovery, BitMart is offering a limited-time zero-fee promotion for spot trading in the Discovery zone. From May 27, 2025, to June 16, 2025, users can enjoy 0% spot trading fees for all tokens listed in BM Discovery. This offer not only reduces trading costs but also enhances accessibility for those seeking to explore emerging on-chain assets and capture early investment opportunities. For more details: https://www.bitmart.com/activity/BMD1st/en-US.

    Driving Continuous Innovation and Industry Leadership

    The launch of BM Discovery represents a major milestone in BitMart’s asset strategy and highlights the platform’s visionary commitment to continuous innovation driven by user needs. By creating a seamless loop encompassing “asset discovery – trading participation – risk identification – dynamic optimization,” BitMart is building a global-leading platform for asset discovery, offering a professional, convenient, and trustworthy environment for users.

    As an innovator and builder in the blockchain industry, BitMart remains committed to using innovation as a driving force. Moving forward, the platform will deepen its focus on technology, services, and ecosystem development, continuously elevating industry standards for asset discovery and user experience. By pioneering quality asset discovery and value creation, BitMart aims to collaborate with global users to build a more prosperous and diverse crypto world.

    About BitMart

    BitMart is a premier global digital asset trading platform with more than 10 million users worldwide. Consistently ranked among the top crypto exchanges on CoinGecko, BitMart offers over 1,700 trading pairs with competitive fees. Committed to continuous innovation and financial inclusivity, BitMart empowers users globally to trade seamlessly. Learn more about BitMart at Website, follow their X (Twitter), or join their Telegram for updates, news, and promotions. Download BitMart App to trade anytime, anywhere.

    Disclaimer:

    The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any financial assets. All information is provided in good faith. However, we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability or completeness of such information.

    All crypto investments, including earnings, are highly speculative in nature and involve substantial risk of loss. Past, hypothetical, or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The value of digital currencies can go up or down and there can be a substantial risk in buying, selling, holding, or trading digital currencies. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital currencies is suitable for you based on your personal investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. BitMart does not provide any investment, legal or tax advice.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘That was rude’: why the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her was ripe for TikTok memes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Camp, Senior Lecturer, School of Music, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    A few snippets of musicalised dialogue from the cast album of the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her – with music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, and a book by Marco Pennette – have recently become trending sonic memes on TikTok.

    In all sorts of situations, users are lip synching to audio clips of Broadway star Jennifer Simard, in the character of Helen Sharp (played by Goldie Hawn in the 1992 cult film on which the musical is based), saying things like “That was rude. That was pretty fuckin’ rude” and “She stole my life. She made me cuckoo. She’s why I spent four years locked in that health spa.”

    Musical theatre fans love a good meme (scholar Trevor Boffone has written a whole book about the phenomenon) and Death Becomes Her is primed to create a lot of them: a show featuring two divas (played by Simard and Megan Hilty as Madeleine Ashton, Meryl Streep’s role in the movie) based on a cult film about divas begs to be shaped and reshaped by fan culture.

    Helen and Madeleine are longtime rivals who both take a magic potion that makes them immortal. This leads them to find increasingly extravagant ways to try and do away with each other, with the help of Helen’s put-upon husband Ernest (Christopher Sieber), a plastic surgeon who reluctantly falls into the role of restoring their bodies after each “accident”.

    Some of Hilty’s clips have also been TikTok-ified (notably Tell Me, Earnest) but Simard is winning the numbers game. Her “That was rude” clip alone has 321,000 videos and counting.

    Finding the patter

    There seem to be two main reasons for the attraction of these clips. First is Simard’s delivery of the words. Simard is a longstanding Broadway star and an expert at musical comedy timing.

    Second is the rhythmic quality of the dialogue. Not fully sung, these bits are spoken in mostly strict rhythm over orchestral accompaniment. That they have become such earworms demonstrates it is not only melody that burrows into the brain, but also rhythmic contour.

    There is a long history of this style of speak-singing in musical theatre, notably popularised in the late 1950s by Robert Preston in The Music Man and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady.

    Neither of those actors was a strong singer, but both had excellent timing and were able to deliver spoken lines above music with a strong sense of musicality.

    Simard is an excellent singer with a very wide range, but the comic role of Helen – ever the underdog to her rival famous actress Madeleine – lends itself to this style of heightened speech.

    Most effective rhythmically, and the most popular excerpt, is the “That was rude” meme, where Simard begins slowly without accompaniment; the bass comes in on “rude” and sets a groove for the rest of the short excerpt.

    This one has been used in every possible situation, from responses to nasty notes left on people’s cars to complaints about incorrect drink orders. Some of the TikTokers refer to Simard in on-screen text, but this one seems to have become popular outside any specific reference to the show, in a truly viral moment.

    Ripe for the lip-sync

    The lengthiest of the trending excerpts is the one that begins with “We talked about killing her before”, which sets off a monologue about Helen’s plan to do away with Madeline once and for all.

    This is a tour de force for Simard’s comic timing, as it begins in free rhythm and then gradually takes on a more consistent beat. TikTokers are tending to use this one primarily as a demonstration of their lip-syncing skills, as opposed to the other shorter clips that are applied in different ironic situations.

    This trend also shows the continuing importance of the cast album in musical theatre culture. The majority of TikTokers probably have not seen the show, currently only playing on Broadway with high ticket prices. Yet the cast album (easily available on all the main streaming sites) gives access.

    The fact these clips come from a cast album also more easily allows fans to create their own visuals around it. Unless they actually saw the show they only have production photographs and short publicity clips (and the occasional shaky bootleg or slime tutorial) to go on in terms of what it looks like.

    Audio from a source like the soundtrack of the Wicked movie has not led to so many lip-sync videos because the visual track is so readily accessible; as a film, Wicked’s visuals define its audio while a cast album can more easily work the other way round.

    Beyond Broadway

    I saw Death Becomes Her on Broadway in January and enjoyed it. It’s a fun show full of special effects and comic bits. The score is serviceable (it’s not Sondheim), but it is catchy – very important for its use in these TikTok trends – and well performed by Simard and the rest of the cast.

    This whole phenomenon demonstrates that the current cultural sphere of “Broadway” extends well beyond the street itself. This has been the case at least since the rise of the cast album in the 1950s (My Fair Lady’s was the best-selling LP of 1956), but now the reach is intensified by social media spaces like TikTok; you don’t have to have actually seen Death Becomes Her to experience it.

    Gregory Camp 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. ‘That was rude’: why the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her was ripe for TikTok memes – https://theconversation.com/that-was-rude-why-the-new-broadway-musical-death-becomes-her-was-ripe-for-tiktok-memes-257550

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: New beds improve care for people with complex mental-health disorders

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    New care beds at Alouette Homes will soon support more people requiring long-term involuntary care with a safe, home-like setting and specialized care that meets their unique needs.

    “Alouette Homes will provide people who have severe mental-health challenges, often coupled with substance-use challenges and brain injuries, with housing that is safe and dignified, while they receive care,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. “We want to ensure people are getting the right care, especially when they are unable to make that decision for themselves. These beds are a vital part of government’s work to build a continuum of care that works for everyone.”

    Alouette Homes is a designated mental-health facility with 18 new involuntary care beds designed to support people who meet the criteria under the Mental Health Act. These are people who have severe and persistent mental-health disorders, often combined with other challenges, such as addictions and brain injuries, which may impact their behaviour and ability to interact safely with others.

    “As a former police officer, I’ve seen first-hand the impacts on individuals and communities when people with complex mental-health and substance-use disorders don’t get the treatment they need,” said Terry Yung, Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services. “These new beds are about improving public safety by providing the right support at the right time because when people get the help they need, our communities are safer for everyone.”

    The homes are in Maple Ridge outside the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region; however, they will be operated in partnership with VCH and Connective Support Society. The initial six clients will be transferred to the homes in early June 2025 from VCH.

    “Alouette Homes is a first-of-its-kind service in B.C. that will provide patients with individualized care, psychosocial supports and housing in a home-like environment while being involuntary treated under the Mental Health Act,” said Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders. “Before these homes, there was no housing alternative for them, due to the extreme complexity of their mental and substance-use disorders, so they were stuck in high-security hospital units indeterminately.”

    The homes are adjacent to the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women. However, Alouette Homes is not for people in the correctional system. Referrals from outside VCH will be considered by way of Central Access Discharge for those already in long-term psychiatric care.

    “Vancouver Coastal Health is pleased to provide the necessary care and a suitable home for people experiencing persistent and severe mental-health disorders with long-term supported housing that is safe, secure and dignified,” said Bonnie Wilson, vice-president, Vancouver Community of Care, VCH.

    In addition to the beds at Alouette Homes, involuntary care beds opened at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre in April 2025 for individuals who are within the correctional system. Work continues to build or modernize more mental-health beds at new and expanded hospitals in B.C., all of which could provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act.

    The creation of new designated mental-health services under the act is a key recommendation from Vigo. Vigo was appointed B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders in June 2024.

    This is one part of the government’s work to improve access to mental-health and substance-use care, which includes a focus on expanding voluntary supports and services that work for everyone. The Province continues to add and expand care, including early intervention and prevention, treatment and recovery services, supportive and complex-care housing, overdose prevention services and more.

    Quotes:

    Amna Shah, parliamentary secretary for mental health and addictions –

    “All people deserve access to the right care and a safe and dignified place to live. Alouette Homes will help people with complex mental-health disorders receive long-term care that fits their unique needs in a home-like environment.”

    Lisa Beare, MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows –

    “When people are struggling with mental-health challenges, they may not be able to seek help for themselves. Alouette Homes will help people get the right care in a safe space. This work is about ensuring no one is left behind and keeping people, families and communities safe.”

    Liz Vick Sandha, chief operating officer, Connective Support Society –

    “We are enthusiastic to co-create a new model of care, together with our partners at VCH, that will provide residents with a stable home with enhanced support to promote recovery, resilience and meaningful engagement in life. We are confident that our decades of experience filling gaps in service delivery to people with complex needs will allow us to bring an innovative and person-centred approach to this important new program.”

    Learn More:

    To learn how government is working to keep people and communities safe, visit:
    https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/safer-communities/

    Learn about mental-health and substance-use supports in B.C.:
    https://helpstartshere.gov.bc.ca/

    A backgrounder follows.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Beneath the Surface: Why Bri Friedman Embraces Failure

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    An Engineer Looks Back on High School Science Fairs, African Drone Flights, and Marine Energy Innovations That Shape the Future

    Bri Friedman is looking forward to learning from failure.

    This National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) engineer is working with the laboratory’s marine energy team to develop a device called the small underwater research flap wave energy converter—or SURF-WEC, for short.

    SURF-WEC takes the form of a submerged flap that swings back and forth to capture energy from ocean waves to power an electric generator. In the coming months, SURF-WEC will undergo a design review, in which a team of experts and stakeholders will evaluate the device to determine whether it is ready for deployment. If the design review goes well, Friedman and her team, in partnership with the University of Hawaii, will send SURF-WEC on an experimental deployment off the Hawaiian coast for up to one year.

    “‘Up to’ are the key words—we expect the system to fail within the year,” Friedman quipped, “but we are eager to learn from those failures and share our lessons with our colleagues in marine energy.”

    Of course, Friedman and her team also want to understand what works well during the SURF-WEC deployment. However, as Friedman went on to explain, the success of the SURF-WEC deployment is not tied to the amount of energy the device can capture or the length of time the system can operate without issue. Instead, the goal is to collect data and learn which decisions contributed to setbacks and which led to success—and to share those lessons with the marine energy community to help reduce the risks and costs of future deployments. To that end, the team will make the deployment data, along with data collected during SURF-WEC’s laboratory testing and simulation stages, publicly available on the Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository.

    As any marine energy researcher or technology developer knows, harnessing energy from ocean waves is a big challenge. Many WECs fail in the harsh ocean environment due to the corrosive effects of briny seawater, constant wear and tear from crashing waves, impacts from floating debris, or even the accumulation of barnacles, algae, and other marine life. Designing WECs to withstand these challenges requires strong materials, backup systems for important parts, and regular maintenance. For Friedman, tackling these challenges feels surmountable—thanks to the NREL marine energy research team’s collaborative spirit.

    “I feel like we each have a pickax, or maybe a ladle, since we’re talking about the ocean,” Friedman said. “We’re each ladling out a little bit, doing our part to make marine energy a viable, usable resource.”  

    From Science Fairs to Drone Flights

    Friedman can trace her career path back to middle school, when she first decided she wanted to be an engineer when she grew up. The youngest of four children—two of whom went on to become mechanical engineers—Friedman grew up immersed in science, with a strong desire for discovery.

    “It wasn’t always a popular sentiment when I was young, but I genuinely enjoyed participating in science fairs,” Friedman said. “They gave me a chance to experiment, make predictions, and learn by doing, which would further spark my curiosity.”

    Friedman, center, poses with her sister and two brothers in front of the Boulder Flatirons in Colorado. Photo from Bri Friedman, NREL

    That love for hands-on learning led Friedman to get involved in robotics in high school, which became her main after-school activity and solidified her desire to pursue a career in engineering. At the same time, she felt a strong pull toward next-generation technologies and types of work that could protect people’s health and well-being.

    “I wanted to find a job that both scratched my scientist itch and aligned with my values,” Friedman said.

    Friedman followed her passion for scientific experimentation to Virginia Tech, where she pursued mechanical engineering for both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. As an undergrad, she interned at NREL through the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program, working with a research team to create a photoluminescence system for testing silicon solar cell processing methods. This was not only a valuable learning experience; it also supported Friedman’s commitment to making a positive impact on the world.

    “It was so exciting to learn how to harness energy from nearly boundless sources like the sun, wind, and water,” Friedman recalled. “Plus, everyone I encountered during my internship seemed happy to be at NREL, which made me even more excited about the work. The SULI program showed me a career path that I was really excited about.”

    As an undergrad, Friedman participated in the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program at NREL, which gave her the chance to work on a photoluminescence system for testing silicon solar cell processing methods. Photo from Joanne Wu, BAE Systems

    During her master’s program, Friedman worked as a graduate research assistant with the African Drone and Data Academy, a program that trains recent college graduates to design, build, and pilot drones for agriculture, medical equipment delivery, and other humanitarian efforts in Africa. Friedman taught the program’s first cohort, delivering lectures, supervising lab work, and providing one-on-one drone flight instruction. Near the end of the academy’s first course, Friedman visited a refugee camp and had an experience that would become the foundation for her master’s thesis.

    “My graduate research focused on using drone imagery to develop a flood model for a low-resource area,” Friedman recalled. “In developed countries, flood models are built using years of historical data, but in low-resource areas, that kind of data is rarely available. Our challenge was to generate a useful flood model without waiting for years of data collection.”

    To fill this data gap, Friedman’s team used drones to capture high-resolution aerial images of the camp. Friedman then used this imagery to create a flood model, validating its accuracy by comparing the model’s prediction to locations where homes had collapsed due to flooding.

    “The refugee camp was overpopulated, and many of the homes were built from clay wherever there was available space, so they collapsed easily due to heavy rains and few drainage paths,” Friedman explained. “The collapsed structures showed where flooding had actually occurred, which helped us confirm that the model had accurately predicted those high-risk areas.”

    From Drone Flights to Wave Power

    Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic cut short Friedman’s time in Malawi. She returned home in March 2020 after the first group of students graduated but continued to support her students through online instruction. In addition, her experience with drones set her up for her next move: After finishing her master’s program in 2021, Friedman landed a position as a postgraduate researcher with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL’s) water power engineering team, which was exploring ways to integrate drones into their projects.  

    Shortly after joining PNNL, Friedman began working on a project to support the development of a triboelectric nanogenerator—a small device that converted the motion of ocean waves into electricity using static charge buildup. Intended for deployment in the Arctic Ocean, the device would provide a low-maintenance power source for ocean monitoring equipment. Friedman also studied ways to use the temperature differences between surface water and deep water to generate energy for an underwater glider, a type of autonomous underwater vehicle that navigates the ocean by changing its buoyancy to move up and down through the water.

    After two years in Richland, Washington, where PNNL is located, Bri was ready for a change of scenery. She kept an eye out for opportunities at NREL and, in 2023, moved to Colorado to work as a full-time researcher on NREL’s marine energy team. The move brought Friedman full circle—in more ways than one.

    Back in 2017, when Friedman was working on the application for her internship at NREL, she read up on NREL’s work and learned about different types of WECs, including those that flap back and forth, similar to SURF-WEC.

    “Reading about these types of WECs, I thought, ‘Wow, it would be amazing to work in that field,’” Friedman recalled. “Eight years later, I do work in that field—on a project very similar to the ones I read about.”

    In addition to SURF-WEC, Friedman contributes to several other marine energy projects at NREL. Her work involves testing, characterization, and outreach, helping researchers and industry partners better understand and utilize emerging wave energy technologies. She has worked with the large-amplitude motion platform, or LAMP, a simulation tool that replicates a WEC’s response to different ocean wave conditions in a controlled environment. She also supports the Power at Sea Prize, which encourages innovative marine energy concepts by lowering barriers to entry for new developers.

    “We have a mix of participants—some from universities and some independent teams,” Friedman said. “It’s been great to see such a broad range of people engaging with marine energy innovation.”

    Time To Root Down

    Friedman lives in Boulder, Colorado, a short drive from her work at NREL’s Flatirons Campus. She misses her family, who still live on the East Coast, but relishes the time she gets to spend with her four young nieces.

    “I definitely aspire to be the fun aunt,” Friedman said.

    With a population of about 105,000, Boulder is the biggest city Friedman has lived in during her adult life, but it feels like the right fit.

    “Boulder is a bigger city than what I’m used to, but there’s plenty to do, which I appreciate,” Friedman said. “I especially enjoy the rock climbing and general outdoor adventuring shenanigans.”

    When she is not testing wave energy conversion devices, Friedman enjoys climbing rock walls like this granite multipitch in Colorado’s Platte Canyon. Photo from Kathryn Howe, Antech Diagnostics

    The move to Colorado has also given Friedman a chance to create a more long-term community for herself.

    “Before moving to Colorado, I spent over two months living in my car, climbing and exploring the outdoors,” Friedman recalled. “It was an amazing experience, but the communities I encountered during that time always felt temporary. Since moving here, I’ve been working on putting down stronger roots.”

    Friedman’s work at NREL feeds her desire for community as well. She appreciates the collaborative spirit on her team, in which everyone is working toward a common goal, even if they are focused on different projects. In addition, being on campus every day has helped Friedman build connections through casual conversations, strengthening her sense of belonging.

    “We share successes and failures, and I really value that sense of teamwork and collective learning,” Friedman said. “It’s a great feeling to know we’re all working together toward a shared purpose.”

    Learn more about how NREL’s experts are helping advance marine energy. And subscribe to the NREL water power newsletter, The Current, for the latest news on NREL’s water power research.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: LIS Technologies Inc. Bolsters its Technical Team with the addition of Prominent Researcher and Engineer Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., to Lead its Stable Isotope Laser Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Oak Ridge, Tennessee, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LIS Technologies Inc. (“LIST” or “the Company”), a proprietary developer of advanced laser technology and the only USA-origin and patented laser uranium enrichment company, today announced that it has engaged Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program.

    Dr. Lukasz Urbanski is a seasoned technologist, bringing 12 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in high-power CO2 laser systems for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. As a High-Power Laser Systems Architect at ASML Research, he led the development of next-generation drive lasers, critical components for laser-produced plasma in high-volume manufacturing EUV lithography systems. His work focused on scaling laser power and efficiency while reducing technology costs, resulting in multiple world records in power output, stability, repetition rate, and system architecture.

    “It is a joy to take on this role with LIS Technologies and spearhead the creation of its Stable Isotope Laser Program,” said Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., Stable Isotope Laser Program Director of LIS Technologies Inc. “There is a major opportunity in pursuing the development of stable isotopes, and later medical isotopes, that the Company has seen fit to explore and I am delighted to lend my expertise and help to expand the possibilities of what CRISLA can achieve.”

    Figure 1 – LIS Technologies Inc. Engages Dr. Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program.

    Prior to the architect role at ASML, Dr. Urbanski served as a Staff Systems Engineer, where he acted as a key interface between Research, Engineering, and Product Development teams. He coordinated cross-disciplinary efforts to translate early-stage innovations into manufacturable solutions, with a strong emphasis on system throughput and optical performance. His contributions spanned the entire product lifecycle, from concept and design through implementation, ensuring technical alignment and performance optimization across teams.

    Dr. Urbanski began his career in EUV research as a graduate student at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for EUV Science and Technology, where he advanced to a postdoctoral researcher role. During this time, he also contributed to research at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Before transitioning to academia and industry, he served as a Platoon Commander in the Polish Armed Forces after graduating from the Military University of Technology with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University with a focus on EUV Lasers, Nanopatterning, Nanofabrication, EUV Lithography.

    “Lukasz is a top scientist and engineer with the knowledge and expertise required to spearhead this whole new program for the Company,” said Christo Liebenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of LIS Technologies Inc. “The Stable Isotope Laser Program will open new market opportunities for LIST and deliver critical products, such as the isotopes required to enhance the performance of next-generation chips for AI and quantum computing, or potential medical isotopes that can drive healthcare breakthroughs. Lukasz’s track record of guiding projects from inception will be invaluable, and I’m pleased to welcome him to the Company.”

    “Dr. Urbanski sees our company’s potential and market growth, having come from a company with a market worth of about $300 billion. Following his addition, we are now preparing to enter the rapidly expanding stable‑isotope market, alongside further developing the only U.S.‑origin, patented laser‑uranium‑enrichment technology, which is uniquely positioned to support the growing fuel demands of large civil reactors as well as advanced SMRs and microreactors,” said Jay Yu, Executive Chairman and President of LIS Technologies Inc. “I feel humbled to have such a seasoned professional and technical expert to assist us in developing a potentially significant new revenue stream for the Company.”

    About LIS Technologies Inc.

    LIS Technologies Inc. (LIST) is a USA based, proprietary developer of a patented advanced laser technology, making use of infrared lasers to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes. The Laser Isotope Separation Technology (L.I.S.T) has a huge range of applications, including being the only USA-origin (and patented) laser uranium enrichment company, and several major advantages over traditional methods such as gas diffusion, centrifuges, and prior art laser enrichment. The LIST proprietary laser-based process is more energy-efficient and has the potential to be deployed with highly competitive capital and operational costs. L.I.S.T is optimized for LEU (Low Enriched Uranium) for existing civilian nuclear power plants, High-Assay LEU (HALEU) for the next generation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Microreactors, the production of stable isotopes for medical and scientific research, and applications in quantum computing manufacturing for semiconductor technologies. The Company employs a world class nuclear technical team working alongside leading nuclear entrepreneurs, former U.S. national leaders, and industry professionals, possessing strong relationships with government and private nuclear industries.

    In Dec 2024, LIS Technologies Inc. was selected as one of six domestic companies to participate in the Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Enrichment Acquisition Program. This initiative allocates up to $3.4 billion overall, with contracts lasting for up to 10 years. Each awardee is slated to receive a minimum contract of $2 million.

    For more information please visit: LaserIsTech.com

    For further information, please contact:
    Email: info@laseristech.com
    Telephone: 800-388-5492
    Follow us on X Platform
    Follow us on LinkedIn

    Forward Looking Statements

    This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For LIS Technologies Inc., particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following which are, and will be, exacerbated by any worsening of global business and economic environment: (i) risks related to the development of new or advanced technology, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, development of competitive technology, loss of key individuals and uncertainty of success of patent filing, (ii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations and (iii) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy a competitive laser enrichment technology, (iv) risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in this and our other filings with the SEC. Only after successful completion of our Phase 2 Pilot Plant demonstration will LIS Technologies be able to make realistic economic predictions for a Commercial Facility. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: VIDEO: Capito Opening Statement at Hearing to Review Education Budget Request

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    [embedded content]
    Click here or on the image above to watch Chairman Capito’s opening remarks from the hearing. 
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), chaired a hearing with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon to review sthe President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.  
    Below is the opening statement of Chairman Capito as prepared for delivery: 
    “Good morning. Secretary McMahon, thank you for being here today to discuss the president’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request and your priorities for the Department of Education. 
    “I am pleased to be joined this morning by my friend and ranking member Senator Baldwin, as well as our full committee chair, Senator Collins, and vice chair, Senator Murray. 
    “We are all committed to return the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process to regular order and these hearings are the first step in that process. 
    “All Americans should have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education from pre-school through postsecondary education. I know that education is a key to success and a vital part of maintaining strong communities across our nation. 
    “I’ve seen it firsthand in my home state of West Virginia, where I began my professional career as a college counselor and advisor working closely with many first-generation college students. Through this role, I was able to personally see how education provides students with life-changing opportunities.
    “Secretary McMahon, you have taken charge of the Department of Education at a critical time for our nation’s students. According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, students have still not recovered from pandemic-related school closures—national scores on math and reading are worse than pre-pandemic levels in all tested grades. And in reading, students’ scores continue to decline. A third of 8th graders are not even reading at a basic level. This is unacceptable.  
    “We know that throwing more money at the problem will not lead to a solution. These devastating declines in achievement are in spite of the almost $190 billion in COVID relief funding provided for elementary and secondary education during the pandemic. 
    “Federal education spending should, at a minimum, be focused on ensuring that America’s children can read and write at a basic level. This is critical not only for children to flourish, but also for America remain a competitive nation. 
    “That is why I strongly believe that federal education spending should support states and policies that afford kids the greatest opportunity to learn and achieve academically. Education decisions should be made by those closest to our students, those who know what they need to succeed— local schools, teachers, and, most importantly, parents.
    “Formula grant programs like Title I, IDEA, and Career and Technical Education provide the crucial flexibility that states and local communities need to best meet the needs of their students, and I look forward to continuing to support these key programs in fiscal year 2026.
    “Madam Secretary, I am pleased that your budget proposes to increase another important program, the Charter School Program. While West Virginia is fairly new to offering charter school education, we are already seeing promising results in expanded opportunities for public school students.
    “For example, the WIN Academy?at?BridgeValley Community and Technical College?is an?early college charter high school?designed to provide a free accelerated, dynamic degree program?for juniors and seniors in the?Kanawha Valley. The school was started to help local hospitals address the severe shortage in nurses and has been so successful that it has already expanded to include an advanced manufacturing track in partnership with Toyota. Students are enrolled in the college and graduate from high school ready to start their careers in high need, well-paying fields.
    “This school is meeting the intent of charter schools—using the flexibility they are granted to offer innovative learning opportunities to benefit students. With the additional funding for charter schools proposed in your budget, I know that many more students across the country would benefit from opportunities like the WIN Academy.
    “Secretary McMahon, this is also a pivotal time for our nation’s student loan borrowers. Borrowers have been forced to navigate an exceptionally confusing four years full of bad advice and unfair promises of illegal loan forgiveness from the prior administration. And as a result, one in four federal student loan borrowers are either in default or a late stage of delinquency on their loans, as of the beginning of May. And only 38% of borrowers are actually in repayment and current on their student loans. 
    “After years of confusion, the department must work to restore trust with borrowers by providing clear and consistent information about repayment. Student loan borrowers deserve that clarity in order to fulfil their obligations to repay their loans. I am grateful that under your leadership the department has begun the difficult task of getting borrowers back on the path to repayment and I look forward to continued updates on your progress. 
    “Secretary McMahon, the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process will be challenging, but I look forward to working with you to responsibly allocate our limited taxpayers’ resources to programs that help provide the best opportunity for a high-quality education for all students. 
    “Thank you again for being here today and I look forward to your testimony.
    “Now I will turn to Senator Baldwin for her opening statement.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy, Colleagues, Advocates Call Out Trump’s Corrupt Meme Coin Dinner, Demand The Release Of Attendees’ Names And What Favors They’re Getting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

    June 03, 2025

    [embedded content]
    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday led a press conference with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and End Citizens United to call out the blatant corruption behind President Trump’s meme coin dinner — a secretive, high-dollar event where anonymous crypto investors are buying direct access to Trump. The Members demanded full transparency: who’s attending, how much they paid, and what kind of influence they’re expecting in return for the millions of dollars they put in Trump’s meme coin. With no press, no disclosure, and crypto wallets tied to foreign actors, this dinner isn’t just unethical — it’s a national security risk. It’s pay-to-play politics on steroids, and Trump is cashing in. The dinner is scheduled for tonight at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
    “We’re here today to call on the President and the people who serve him to do something really simple: release the names of the people who are going to be there,” said Murphy. “Even if you release the names, it’s still corrupt. But at least let us see who’s going to be there. At least let the American people know who has bought access to the President. Release the names. If there’s nothing wrong, if you think that this is all above board, then what are you hiding?”
    “Americans sent us to Congress to unrig the economy — not to help the President turn the White House into a crypto cash machine with private dinners for his top meme coin buyers or legislation that supercharges his stablecoin profits,” said Banking Committee Ranking Member Warren. “The GENIUS Act should be written to prohibit the president and his family from profiting—period.”
    “President Trump has put a ‘for sale’ sign on the White House lawn with his cryptocurrency schemes,” said Merkley. “Congress needs to act fast to stop the massive corruption and national security threat that is Trump selling access and influence to the highest bidders. My End Crypto Corruption Act not only cracks down on this corruption but also prevents other federal officials, like Members of Congress, from betraying our ‘We The People’ government.”
    “Donald Trump is selling access. He is selling out America, he is selling it to a foreign power, and he is putting our national security at risk. Trump is becoming beholden to foreign powers—the Emirates that provided $2 billion to World Liberty Financial, the Qataris that have provided him with a plane, and the unknown foreign actors that have invested in his meme coin operation. It’s not just about corruption—it is about corruption that endangers our national security by putting the president in a compromised position in relation to foreign powers,” said Blumenthal. “My hope is that the Trump Administration will give us the list of individuals attending tonight’s dinner as the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation has asked them to provide.”
    “I was not invited to dine with Donald Trump today. I’m not disappointed.  But you know who should be disappointed? The 746,000 people (probably many of them Americans) who bought small amounts of that Trump coin – maybe some of them bought a little bit more – who didn’t get invited. When I introduced the MEME Act in the House it was because, to borrow from Richard Nixon, those 764,000 Americans needed to know that their president was a crook. And hopefully, we’re going to find some Republicans who have the courage and the spine to say this is corruption regardless of which party is committing it,” said Liccardo.
    “America should not be for sale. With tonight’s prize dinner, our President is using his private golf course to cater to some of the world’s richest people, instead of working on behalf of working families and our country. He claims to be ‘America first,’ but really, he’s ‘Donald Trump first.’ Between his outrageous meme coin grift, his Tesla car show on the White House lawn, the jumbo jet gift from Qatar and his numerous candlelit dinners for tech bros and foreign billionaires, this President is the definition of corruption and personal profit over regular people,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.
    “The President’s corrupt dinner is yet another alarming example of foreign interests opening their wallets to him. By turning the American presidency into a money-making venture, Trump is inviting an unprecedented level of corruption—and putting our national security at risk. End Citizens United proudly stands with Senator Murphy and the other lawmakers who spoke out today to demand transparency and accountability,” said Justin Unga, Vice President of Public Affairs, End Citizens United.
    Earlier this month, Murphy introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act, legislation to prevent corrupt federal officials from using their position to profit off digital assets such as meme coins. Rep. Liccardo introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ohio Based Nonprofit and Affiliated Nursing Homes Agree to Pay $3.61M to Resolve False Claims Act Liability

    Source: US State of California

    American Health Foundation (AHF), its affiliate AHF Management Corporation, and three affiliated nursing homes — Cheltenham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center (Cheltenham), The Sanctuary at Wilmington Place (Wilmington Place), and Samaritan Care Center and Villa (Samaritan) — have agreed to pay $3.61 million to resolve claims related to billing Medicare and Medicaid for grossly substandard skilled nursing services between 2016 and 2018. AHF is a nonprofit corporation that is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, and owns and controls nursing homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Cheltenham is a 255-bed nursing home located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wilmington Place is a 63-bed nursing home located in Dayton, Ohio; and Samaritan is a 56-bed nursing home located in Medina, Ohio.

    “Nursing homes are expected to provide their residents, which include some of our most vulnerable citizens, with quality care and to treat them with dignity and respect,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brenna Jenny of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department will not tolerate nursing homes — or their owners or managing entities — abdicating these responsibilities and seeking taxpayer funds to which they are not entitled.”  

    The United States’ complaint, filed in June 2022, alleged that the aforementioned three AHF nursing homes provided grossly substandard services that failed to meet required standards of care in various ways. For example, the United States alleged that each facility failed to follow appropriate infection control protocols and had problems maintaining adequate staffing levels. The United States also alleged that Cheltenham housed its residents in a dirty, pest-infested building; gave its residents unnecessary medications, including antibiotic, antipsychotic, antianxiety, and hypnotic drugs; deprived its residents of their dignity by subjecting them to verbal abuse, leaving them without meaningful activities or stimulation, and failing to safeguard their possessions, including money, clothing, and other personal items; and failed to provide needed psychiatric care. The United States similarly alleged that Wilmington Place had repeated failures relating to resident mediations, including the provision of unnecessary drugs, and persistently failed to create and maintain crucial resident care plans and assessments. Finally, the United States alleged that Samaritan had repeated failures related to resident care plans and assessments, and housed residents in a building and on grounds that often were not safe and sanitary.

    Contemporaneously with the settlement announced today, the AHF entities agreed to enter into a chain-wide, quality of care Corporate Integrity Agreement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, which will remain in effect for five years and address quality of care and resident safety within the AHF entities’ skilled nursing facilities.

    The case is captioned United States v. American Health Foundation Inc.; AHF Management Corporation; AHF Montgomery Inc. doing business as Cheltenham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; and AHF Ohio Inc. doing business as The Sanctuary at Wilmington Place and doing business as Samaritan Care Center and Villa, Case No. 2:22-cv-02344 (E.D. Pa.).  

    The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of an effort by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. This matter was handled by Fraud Section attorneys Ben Young and Susan Lynch.

    The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: DACA recipient and another sentenced for scheme involving firearms destined for Mexico

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    McALLEN, Texas – Two men residing in Edinburg have been sentenced for their roles in the straw purchasing of firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Mario Elier Leal, 22, and Rodolfo Benitez-Garza, 24, pleaded guilty in 2024.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now ordered Leal to serve a total of 97 months in federal prison, while Benitez-Garza received 18 months. Benitez-Garza must serve three years of supervised release following the completion of his sentence. Lacking status in the United States, Leal is expected to face removal proceedings after serving his prison term.

    At the hearings, the court heard additional evidence that described how Benitez-Garza and Jesus Cristo Lopez purchased the firearms on behalf of Leal. Leal would provide the money and advise which firearms he wanted. The court noted Leal was aware the firearms were to be transported into Mexico, that he played a significant role in recruiting others to purchase firearms on his behalf and could be described as a coordinator.

    On July 12, 2024, authorities discovered a suspected straw purchasing attempt involving Benitez-Garza and Lopez who attempted to obtain three AK-47 variant rifles. Leal was circling the parking lot at that time and had previously visited the same location with Lopez.

    The investigation revealed Leal provided the money for the purchases and offered Benitez-Garza and Lopez approximately $300 for their assistance. Both falsely claimed the rifles were for personal use when they were actually intended for Leal.

    Evidence revealed Leal had recruited Lopez and directed him to find another individual. Surveillance captured Leal at multiple stores with others suspected of purchasing firearms on his behalf.

    Authorities have identified 13 other firearms suspected of being purchased for Leal. As a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, Leal is prohibited from owning a firearm per federal law.

    Benitez-Garza was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future while Leal will remain in custody.

    Lopez, 21, is set for sentencing in August.

    Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation with the assistance of Mission Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Garcia prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –