quote:

Do we need an updated Australian foreign, trade and security policy for 2016 and beyond?

For the last 60 years we have been in lockstep with the US but has that meant we are now out of sync with the emerging geo-political environment of Asia? Is there room for Australia to remain loyal to the United States and at the same time align ourselves closer to our Asian neighbours?

open24hours posted:

I never quite understood why aligning ourselves with our Asian neighbours was desirable? What's the end game supposed to be?

Birdstrike posted:

Saw MT photo op with his grandkid and suddenly feel the historical precedent for him is Crassus making his way to Carrhae. 62-yo rich dude with maximum hubris about to be handed a shellacking by underestimated adversary.

quote:

The Government will pump an extra $1.2 billion into the nation's schools, giving the states funding certainty until 2020. The pledge partially reverses the 10-year, $30-billion cut to education funding contained in the Abbott government's 2014 budget but falls short of Labor's commitment to fully fund the Gonski plan, which expires in 2019.

quote:

The Asset Recycling Initiative provides funding for transport proposals, but only if the state and territory governments privatise assets to fund a share of the proposal. State-federal funding is likely to come from the privatisation of the NSW electricity network and the Port of Melbourne. Major Projects Minister Paul Fletcher said the projects would provide an economic boost. "Infrastructure is enormously important to our productivity , to our competitiveness, and to the liveability of our cities and our major centres," Mr Fletcher said. "The Turnbull Government in this budget is making a very substantial commitment to infrastructure spending."

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Negligent is an idiot.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

BCR posted:

I disagree on this point. China is being a regional bully and bullying the poo poo out of its neighbours with its magical 9 dash line in the south china sea that it refuses to clarify with so it can claim as much as possible. To the extent that the local powers want the US back in to balance the Chinese threat.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

How many of you are going to not preference Labor just to prove a point?

Doctor Spaceman posted:

https://twitter.com/wrongdorey/status/727113258243514368

quote:

Budget 2016: Tobacco excise hike confirmed as Scott Morrison prepares to deliver election budget AM By political reporters Naomi Woodley and Eliza Borrello Updated 19 minutes ago

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will hand down a budget tonight that will help to define this year's lengthy election campaign. The Government says it is a new, positive plan to create jobs and promote economic growth, but it is also adopting one of the Federal Opposition's biggest proposed tax increases. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann confirmed the budget would contain a 12.5 per cent annual increase in tobacco excise over the four years to 2020. But he said the budget would also reveal a $20 billion hole in Labor's plan. "We are implementing in the budget the same policy on tobacco excise as Labor has previously announced and what is very clear is that Labor's sums just don't add up," he said. Labor estimated its policy would raise almost $48 billion over 10 years, but a Treasury document seen by the ABC estimates the revenue at just over $28 billion. "This is just another example which demonstrates that Labor just doesn't know how to manage money, " Senator Cormann said.

But the Opposition has rejected the Government's attack.

"Labor's policy was costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office," Shadow Families Minister Jenny Macklin told AM. "Of course we have a significant number of savings that have been identified to help meet the cost of our very important promises, particularly our promises to properly fund schools. "We've got about $100 billion worth of savings that have been identified and all of those have been properly costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office." Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen accused the Government of leaking the figures to try to cover its embarrassment for adopting Labor's policy. But he said the Opposition would update its savings figures if the budget contained new modelling on smoking rates.

Scott Morrison to launch re-election bid

Tonight Mr Morrison will effectively launch the Coalition's bid to be re-elected when the country goes to a double dissolution election on July 2. Malcolm Turnbull has described the budget as a "new agenda" on which voters can judge the Coalition, but Labor is doing all it can to tie the Prime Minister to his predecessor, Tony Abbott. The Opposition said tonight's budget would retain cuts to family tax benefit payments that are yet to pass the Senate. "Millions of families will see themselves worse off as a result of the cuts to family tax benefits delivered by Mr Abbott and now confirmed by Mr Turnbull and they won't be receiving any of the benefits from tax cuts," Ms Macklin told AM. Labor is sharpening its efforts to brand the Coalition, and its policies, as fundamentally unfair, and it sees education as one of the key differences heading into the election. "How can you say that you're interested in jobs or growth if you're cutting $29 billion out of our schools, which of course is the place where children are getting the education of the future?" Ms Macklin said. The budget will include an additional $1.2 billion for schools over the next four years, but it falls short of Labor's promise of an extra $4.5 billion.

quote:

Budget 2016: What we know so far By political reporters Stephanie Anderson, Francis Keany and Dan Conifer Updated about an hour ago

Election year budgets are usually full of juicy promises, but this year's will have a different flavour just days from a double dissolution poll being officially called. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have gone to great lengths to warn they want the Government to "live within its means", but it also needs to be the launch pad for a marathon election campaign. That's likely to mean a distinct lack of expensive promises — with a few exceptions — with the Coalition keen to prove it can responsibly manage the economy. Expect the term "jobs and growth" to feature prominently.

So what's in?

Education

The Federal Government will pump an extra $1.2 billion into the nation's schools, giving the states funding certainty until 2020. The pledge partially reverses the 10-year, $30-billion cut to education (30/10 = 3 so this is actually a cut of 1.8 billion) funding contained in the Abbott government's 2014 budget, but falls short of Labor's commitment to fully fund the Gonski plan. Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the budget would contain an additional $1.2 billion for schools between 2018 and 2020 by increasing the rate of spending growth from 2.5 per cent to 3.56 per cent a year.

Superannuation

Treasurer Scott Morrison has confirmed wealthy Australians will pay more tax on their superannuation. The plan was first flagged last year, when Mr Morrison indicated interest in a proposal that would see contributions taxed at a rate 15 per cent below a person's income tax level. The plan is estimated to save the Government $6 billion next financial year. Labor has also announced its policy, which would see high income earners pay 30 per cent tax on contributions after their annual income (including super) passes $250,000.(This is good policy and how hard to go at it was always going to be a political decision).

Cigarettes

Smokers will be hit with another increase in the tobacco excise, which will increase 12.5 per cent over the next four years, with a packet of 25 cigarettes to cost more than $40 by 2020. The Coalition's proposal echoes Labor's plan with one major difference. While the Federal Opposition says its plan will raise about $48 billion over 10 years (costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office), the Government says the same plan will raise about $28 billion (according to Treasury officials). This leaves a $20 billion hole in Labor's costings.(If Labor were in government I'd be more inclined to give a poo poo about their numbers... This is mind boggling spin.)

Company tax rates

This is likely to be one of the big announcements in the budget. A couple of leaks so far indicate the Federal Government wants to change the definition of a small business. It would reclassify 74,000 medium-sized businesses so they qualify for additional assistance.(And it would be funded out of? ~thin air~ Going hard on an opposition while nicking their policies isn't a good plan when you announce policies that don't have a single feather to fly them, but this is obtuse technical financial matters and will get zero air play)

Transport

Commuters in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria have been the big winners so far, with the Prime Minister announcing funding for a variety of road projects in recent weeks. The Federal Government announced on Monday it would provide $2.5 billion for the Melbourne Metro and Sydney Metro rail projects. The only catch is that it will use the existing $5 billion Asset Recycling Initiative, which requires state governments to sell off public assets to pay for it. There will also be additional infrastructure for Victoria and Western Australia. (This is a net 'meh' all the new good public transport stuff is virtually negated by gutting state government's ability to fund themselves into the future. Expect to hear the word 'productivity' spouted a lot).

Infrastructure

Fifty million dollars will be allocated towards supporting new infrastructure projects for the nation's cities. The plan will see the Commonwealth help broker finance for state and private infrastructure projects, rather than providing direct grants. (50 million? Thats less than half what the government spends on advertising ($107.1 million) (Source - http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/def...ort-2014-15.pdf) either that's an egregious typo (Black hole?). If it isn't a typo (it isn't) then we have just found the self mocking infrastructure announcement. Every time a Liberal pollie spouts 'infrastructure!' someone need s to bellow 50 MILLION!)

Health

The Prime Minister offered the states an extra $2.9 billion in funding for hospitals until 2020 at the COAG meeting earlier this year. Whether there is anything new in the May budget remains to be seen. The Government has since confirmed $5 billion over four years on a subsidised public dental scheme. (Remember when it was shown this was actually a serious cut. Yeah well there's that.)

And what's out?

Negative gearing

Changes to negative gearing, along with the capital gains tax discount, have been ruled out by the Federal Government. Labor promised to restrict negative gearing to new houses and apartments (while grandfathering existing schemes), but the Government argues it will hurt investor confidence and house prices. ()

Goods and Services Tax

The Federal Government will not touch this with a barge pole, despite debate about the prospect of increasing or broadening the GST from 10 per cent to 15 per cent late last year.(How about scraping it?)

A recent ANU poll found people were in favour of cutting negative gearing ahead of upping GST rates. (:shock:)

The unknowns

Income tax

There has been some budget speculation about possible changes to income tax, although there is unlikely to be widespread relief. One suggestion has been to change the point at which the second-highest tax bracket kicks in, which is currently $80,000. The Treasurer had earlier downplayed the prospect of income tax cuts, telling a business summit in March the Government could not afford to provide cuts to both company and personal taxes in the budget.

Submarines and defence

It is unclear whether there will be any money in the forward estimates for the future submarines project, but there could be money to help establish the $50 billion scheme, which is set to start construction in Adelaide from 2020.(Watch this enormous waste of money go through on a nod. This is almost literally the fish bicycle. Maybe it's the typo and it's only 50 Million.)

quote:

Libs to play the imitation game in budget 2016 OPINION By Paula Matthewson Posted Mon at 8:38am

In matching or co-opting some of Labor's initiatives in the budget, the Government will hope to neutralise the Opposition's attack and clear the battlefield of all but the key points of differentiation before the election, writes Paula Matthewson.

When Treasurer Scott Morrison delivers his first budget tomorrow night, he will tell the people of Australia that the measures contained therein are all about jobs and growth. But as is often the case with politicians, the Treasurer will be telling only half the story. The Turnbull/Morrison budget will be focused not only on the economy but also on the election, and therefore will also be about neutralising Labor's most threatening policy initiatives. We won't know until election day whether Opposition leader Bill Shorten and the Labor Party were brilliant or foolish when they decided to release a small number of signature policies courageously early in the electoral cycle. The election result will determine our retrospective assessment of that strategy. Not since Liberal leader John Hewson released the longest political suicide note in history, the 600 page Fightback policy manifesto, has an opposition been prepared to risk showing its hand so far out from an election. Conventional thinking suggests the long lead-time simply gives the Government one of two free kicks - either an extended period in which to criticise any policies that have been announced early, or the option of stealing them altogether.

Nevertheless, Shorten and his strategy team decided to throw caution to the wind, releasing Labor's first post Rudd/Gillard policy 18 months before the next election was due. That was the policy to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations, which is now supported by the vast majority of voters. The following month, Labor broadened its scope from fat-cat corporates to cashed-up retirees, announcing plans to cut tax concessions for wealthy superannuants. This has also become a popular policy. Labor now has almost two dozen "positive policies" listed on its party website. Unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by education initiatives, given that policy area is a traditional strength for Labor. There also appears to be residual good will in the community, if not necessarily for the Gillard government's Gonski reforms, then at least to increase education funding.

Other budget measures proposed by Labor that appear to have captured the public's imagination include proposed changes to negative gearing, and increases to the taxation of tobacco products. Popular policies such as these pose an electoral risk for the Turnbull Government, a risk that must be neutralised either through co-option or by providing a credible alternative. One of the biggest points of differentiation has been, until now, on the funding of education. The Government sought to narrow that gap on the weekend by announcing an increase of $1.2 billion to education funding for the final two years of the Gonski package, was well as an additional year. This move stops Labor from saying the Government has abandoned Gonski, although the Opposition will still be able to point out that it is promising $4.5 billion in extra funding. It will be left to voters to judge which party is more likely to keep its word, and which commitment is more economically responsible.

Both questions will be on the minds of voters after the budget, as we commence the long walk to an election on July 2: "Can we afford this policy?" and "Who do I trust to run the economy?" Treasurer Morrison has done his best to establish that frame of thinking, saying on the weekend that now is not the time for "throwing money around". The PM has also done his bit, saying we must "live within our means". The Coalition's decision not to tamper with negative gearing clears the way for it to depict Labor's reforms as a tax increase rather than a housing affordability issue. ranted, neither admonition seems to have applied to the recent awarding of a $50 billion submarine contract to the French, but that will be of little concern to the voters in South Australia who have been concerned about their job prospects in that beleaguered state.

The Government also appears likely to steal a couple of Labor's initiatives, firstly the tobacco excise increase, and cuts to superannuation perks for wealthy retirees. Morrison confirmed on the weekend that the budget will include measures to "better target the concessions" in superannuation, while some leaks to the media have suggested the Government has decided to up the ante on this point, lowering the threshold even further than the Opposition to minimise those getting an enhanced tax benefit. It has also been recently suggested the Government will announce a crackdown on the tax minimisation/evasion tactics of multinational corporations, emulating the spirit of Labor's policy, if not the detail. In matching or co-opting some of Labor's initiatives in tomorrow's budget, the Government hopes to reduce the number of fronts on which it has to defend itself from Labor and clear the battlefield of all but the key points of differentiation.

One of those contrasts will be tax, which the Government plans to make a proxy for economic management. The Treasurer said on the weekend that the budget was configured to ensure the overall tax burden will not rise, and that the Government would save more than it spent over the forward estimates to reduce the deficit. Accordingly, Labor will be depicted as the spendthrift, irresponsibly ratcheting up taxes but still spending more than it earns. The Coalition's decision not to tamper with negative gearing clears the way for it to depict Labor's reforms as a tax increase rather than a housing affordability issue. This will be a compelling argument for voters still disposed to the view that Labor cannot be trusted with the keys to the Treasury coffers. The Ipsos poll found just a few weeks ago that only 25 per cent of voters said they believed Labor had the best policies for managing the economy, while 43 per cent nominated the Coalition.

We will likely see in Bill Shorten's budget reply later this week how Labor intends to deal with that perception deficiency.

And then voters will be off to the polls. When July 2 finally arrives, it will be time to cast judgement on Labor's go-early strategy, the Government's neutralisation tactics, and the policies being offered by both parties. Even so, the final decision could rest on which party voters distrust the least.

BCR posted:

Despite all the past actions of the Americans, China are being such shitheads, that America is seen as a necessary and positive player by Vietnam, Phillipines, etc
Despite all the past actions of the Japanese, China are being such shitheads that Japan is being seen positively by players in the south china sea dispute
Link
Link
Link
Link

Chinese fishermen destroying coral reefs, rare species

Basically google south china seas in the news section and have a read

Doctor Spaceman posted:

It's real. The reason it's not indexed is that politicians prefer to have the option of giving tax cuts every few years or of raising more money without it being obvious.

Hockey's original plan for paying off the deficit relied heavily on it.

quote:

Scientific surveys of Iraqi deaths resulting from the first four years of the Iraq War found that between 151,000 to over one million Iraqis died as a result of conflict during this time. A later study, published in 2011, found that approximately 500,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the conflict since the invasion.

starkebn posted:

Can we get Negligent on AirAsia?

EvilElmo posted:

Yet, nobody answers if they'd prefer the ALP to have Green policy and always in opposition or Liberal policy and in Government.

Lid posted:

Treasurer Scott Morrison has declared an end to class warfare in Australian politics during his post-budget sales pitch, saying voters were "over the us and them" approach to governing.

ITT a white man of privelege tells the oppressed being uppity no longer exists.

quote:

Budget 2016: Class warfare will ruin the country: Scott Morrison by Phillip Coorey

Treasurer Scott Morrison has called for an end to the class warfare and handout mentality that surrounds federal budgets, warning it will run the country into the ground.

As Labor slammed Tuesday's budget as unfair and vowed to oppose both the estimated $50 billion-plus in company tax cuts over 10 years, and the scheduled repeal next year of the temporary income tax deficit levy for those on the highest incomes, the Treasurer said enough was enough. "We have got to stop looking at the economy as if it's a whole bunch of individuals, and they are all looking for their little bit out of the government," Mr Morrison said. "If that's the sort of country we are going to run, we'll run it into the ground and we'll run each other into the ground. Australians are over this class warfare, they are over the us and them. They are over it(Becasue they know they lost?). They know the big economic challenges that are out there facing them and their future. What they want from us is a stronger economic plan that gets them to that other side."

LABOR RESPONSE

With Malcolm Turnbull to call the election this weekend for July 2, Labor leader Bill Shorten will use his Budget Address-in-Reply on Thursday night to say Labor will support the $6 billion cuts in superannuation concessions for the wealthy, the increase in tobacco tax and the "cup of coffee and a biscuit" tax cut to middle-income earners, delivered by raising the $80,0001 income threshold, over which the 37 per cent rate applies, to $87,001. "They're the people we want to see do well and we'll take any progress for them," Mr Shorten said on Wednesday. But he will confirm Labor's opposition to the company tax cuts, which budget economist Chris Richardson estimates in today's Australian Financial Review as costing $55 billion over the decade, and the June 30, 2017, expiration of the deficit levy – a three-year, 2 percentage point increase to the top marginal tax rate, which applies to incomes over $180,001. Mr Shorten "will paint the Turnbull government as fundamentally unfair and out of touch by highlighting the disparity between its tax cuts for high-income earners and big business and its embrace of Tony Abbott's cuts to welfare payments and support for working and middle-class families" a spokesman said. He will characterise Tuesday's budget as a document that "puts big business before battlers" while tripling the deficit and cutting health and education spending. "If you earn a million dollars, if you are an income earner who earns a million dollars, you are going to get nearly $17,000 in tax cuts. But if you earn less than $80,000 you will not get a cent," he will say.

The decision to oppose the company tax cuts ensures the centrepiece of Tuesday's budget will be a feature of the election campaign. The policy starts slowly by granting a 27.5 per cent rate to all incorporated businesses with a turnover under $10 million, but ratchets up until the rate for all companies is 25 per cent by 2026-27. Mr Morrison has stressed repeatedly that backing business, starting with small and medium enterprises, was the best chance to generate growth and employment. He said the opposition needed to drop the "class envy politics".(Class envy politics, is that some form of psyops warfare?)

DEFENDED FEWER HANDOUTS

Mr Turnbull, too, defended the budget not giving handouts to everyone. "Every Australian benefits from this budget. There are benefits for people right across the spectrum; every Australian benefits from a strong economy and strong growth," he said. Treasury modelling released on Wednesday said Australian workers would enjoy two-thirds of the likely improvement in wages, hiring and living standards more broadly from the company tax cuts. Labor believes the government is too scared to release the full 10-year costing for its company tax rate cut because it will turn off voters. Labor has Parliamentary Budget Office costings showing the final three years of the policy costing about $37 billion. The government is only releasing the $5.2 billion cost for the first four years. For several weeks, the Coalition has been attacking Labor for making 10-year policy promises on health, education, disabilities and negative gearing and attempting to cost them. It has called the long-term forecasts "fantasy" funding. Although Labor is likely to support all the superannuation measures, more so because they in part reflect the policies Labor has already announced, it still attacked Mr Morrison for reneging on an earlier pledge to not touch super in the retirement phase nor do anything retrospective.

Among the measures announced on Tuesday night, the government placed a $500,000 lifetime cap on non-concessional contributions, backdated to contributions made since 2007. It also capped at $1.6 million the amount of superannuation that can be transferred into a private pension. This applies to current superannuants and retirees.

'I DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS RETROSPECTIVE' ( 2007 wasn't just yesterday Scotty)

But Mr Morrison told the National Press Club on Wednesday: "I don't believe this is retrospective." In November last year, Mr Morrison said "what we want to make sure of with superannuation is that we need to respect the fact that people have been saving under particular rules over a long period of time, that there is nothing that punishes or penalises them retrospectively on any of these things. I mean, that is one of those iron-clad rules about when you look at these systems," he said. He also once promised not to touch retirement accounts, saying: "Australians who are saving over their lives have a right to understand that the rules in the retirement phase won't change, that they have a right to expect certainty." On Wednesday, Mr Morrison contended: "I have not changed the tax treatment of retirement accounts. "We are not taxing the earnings out of retirement phase accounts. Full stop. What we have done is we have set a limit on what can go into those retirement accounts. That's a different position. And it's one I'm very comfortable with."

Mr Turnbull also gaffed during a radio interview when he was tackled on negative gearing and housing affordability. When host John Faine said his kids were effectively locked out of the housing market, Mr Turnbull quipped: "Well you should shell out for them, you should support them, a wealthy man like you."

quote:

Top economist surprised by lack of future Tasmanian World Heritage Area funding By Richard Baines Updated about 2 hours ago

A prominent economist has joined environmentalists in condemning the lack of ongoing federal funding to manage Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).

Key points:

Funding for the TWWHA to be reduced to $1.8 million from $5.2 million next year
Saul Eslake says State Government could end up paying the difference
Environment Minister says 2014-2015 agreement not changed.
This financial year, $5.2 million was allocated to manage 1.6 million hectares of Tasmania's protected wilderness.

That funding will be reduced to $1.8 million next financial year, $1.7 million the year after. The funding expires in 2018-2019. Independent economist Saul Eslake said the lack of ongoing funding took him by surprise. "That is an eyebrow-raising issue," he said. "It is small change and you would think that there's a reasonable requirement for some more funding of Tasmania's wilderness areas in order to better manage the risk of fires. "We saw over the past season [it] can have a devastating impact." Bushfires over the summer burnt more than 20,000 hectares in the TWWHA, which is home to rare pencil and King Billy pines and cushion plants and can take thousands of years to grow. Mr Eslake said the fires were evidence of a need for more funding to manage the area. He said the State Government could end up picking up the tab for any fires in the future. "Unless subsequent fires qualify for Federal National Disaster Assistance the cost of preventing fires or cleaning up after them if they do break out again might well fall to the State Government," he said.

Funding plan unchanged, Environment Minister says

In State Parliament on Wednesday, Greens leader Cassy O'Connor was unimpressed. "It is simply staggering and disappointing to see a Federal Government make such a savage cut," she said. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the funding was part of an agreement made years earlier, which totalled $10.2 million. "At that time, the Australian Government committed to supporting Tasmania to strengthen its management of the Tasmanian Wilderness by providing an additional $10.2 million for its protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation," he said. Mr Hunt's state counterpart Matthew Groom threw his support behind the Federal Government's contribution. "There is a strong ongoing commitment to the World Heritage Area including funding from the Commonwealth Government, $8.7 million over the course of the forward estimates, and there is a significant upfront contribution from the Commonwealth to undertake important work," he said.

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Government urged to address 'epidemic' Indigenous suicide rates in remote Australia By the National Reporting Team's Natasha Robinson Posted about 3 hours ago

Aboriginal communities across the nation are calling on the Federal Government to urgently address what they describe as an "epidemic" of Indigenous suicides in remote Australia.

Key points:

Expert says suicide rates in the Kimberley doubled in the past five years
Says delay in spending funds earmarked for indigenous suicide prevention "unacceptable"
Conference in Alice Springs to brainstorm solutions to problem
The crisis is most acute in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, where a 10-year-old girl recently hung herself.

Indigenous leaders there say the Federal Government must act now to prevent further deaths. The call comes as the first-ever National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference begins tonight in Alice Springs. Aboriginal people and health workers will travel from across Australia to attend the conference in the wake of escalating Indigenous suicide rates, particularly over the past five years. The Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project, chaired by West Australian academic Pat Dudgeon and former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Tom Calma, has been mapping suicide rates. Mr Calma said suicide rates in remote Australia could be described as an epidemic (Poor lifestyle choices?). He said there had been a doubling of Indigenous suicide rates in the Kimberley during the past five years, and that the problem was larger than official statistics suggested because many deaths were never reported to the coroner. He said that although the Government was preparing to implement a national suicide prevention strategy after July, there had been an unacceptable three-year delay in spending $17.8 million in funds earmarked for Indigenous suicide prevention.(A massive saving over the three year period) "We can't continually have these significant health issues become political footballs," Mr Calma said. "It's disappointing. The whole of Indigenous affairs is continually challenged by a lack of consistent policy direction and funding. And that's due to ministers and bureaucrats procrastinating. "What we need in Indigenous affairs is good, bipartisan agreement on a way forward, and then we need to have a consistent policy approach and funding approach."

Immediate action needed in Kimberley: Morris

Wes Morris is the coordinator of the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre, which played an instrumental role in the establishment of a landmark coronial inquiry into a string of suicides in the Kimberley in 2007. But with suicide rates in the Kimberley now higher than they were in 2007, Mr Morris is calling for a national inquiry. "As bad as the suicide rate was back in 2007, it is twice as bad today," he said.

24-hour telephone counselling

Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 850

Later this year, a report by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project will be published following two years of policy work by Indigenous leaders. Mr Morris said while he was looking forward to the publication of the report, action needed to be taken immediately, particular in response to the death of a 10-year-old girl in the Kimberley community of Looma in March. Mr Morris said the Government had received a report which dealt specifically with the escalating crisis in the Kimberley last December. "Indigenous suicide is a national problem. We understand that," he said. "But the worst situation in the nation happens to be in the Kimberley and the Commonwealth has had the Kimberley report since about December last year. "We're asking the Government not to wait until June or July or some future point in time. We're asking them to act in relation to this chronic emergency in the Kimberley and to act now, not later."

Funds set aside for suicide prevention unspent

For more than three years, $17.8 million in funds earmarked for Indigenous suicide prevention has remained unspent by the Federal Government. The funding was tied to a national indigenous suicide prevention plan devised by Labor under the Gillard government, but never implemented. Incoming Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion quarantined the funds upon the change of government in 2013, and the funds are now attached to a national suicide prevention strategy to be rolled out from August. ( You can't make this poo poo up, including->) Senator Scullion's office referred questions on the issue to the Federal Government's Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash. A spokesman for the Minister said the Australian Government funded a number of suicide prevention and mental health programs to which Indigenous people had access. "The Australian Government's mental health reforms were only announced in November last year, and since this time, Primary Health Networks have been working hard to develop needs analysis, identify service gaps and overlaps and produce work plans in preparation for July 1," he said. "It is important that this methodical planning work is completed prior to the flow of funding."

Spate of deaths in Canada

International attention has focused on indigenous suicide in the wake of a spate of suicides in Canada. An international conference on Indigenous suicide prevention will be held in New Zealand later in the year. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference in Alice Springs that is opening tonight will hold workshops until the end of the week. The first-ever conference of its kind, it will gather together experts and members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to build knowledge and discuss how communities can be strengthened. There will be a special focus on at-risk groups, including young people, the LGBTI community, and those facing incarceration in prisons.

Frogmanv2 posted:

Now explain the difference between average and median, you imbecile.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

https://twitter.com/Adrian_Dodd/status/728025834804543488

thatbastardken posted:

kind of lazy

quote:

Malcolm Turnbull to announce $2.25b deal to host 14,000 Singaporean defence troops in Queensland By political reporter Eliza Borrello Updated about 3 hours ago

The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is preparing to announce a deal that will see Singapore sink over $2.25 billion into expanding defence bases in Queensland.

With a land mass of just over 700 square kilometres, Singapore does not have the space it needs for military exercises and uses bases in Australia for training and weapons testing. Mr Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo will today reveal the details of a 25-year agreement that will see Singapore increase the number of troops it has on rotation in Australia from 6,000 to 14,000. "There'll be opportunities obviously in the local community to be big beneficiaries, not only from people staying there and sometimes they'll bring family with them, but also from the money that's going to be spent to improve the bases themselves," Mr Ciobo told the ABC. The facilities Singapore will fund the expansion of are at Shoalwater Bay, north of Rockhampton and in Townsville. Both bases lie in seats the Coalition is desperate to hang on to: Capricornia, which Nationals MP Michelle Landry won back from Labor in 2013 and Herbert, held by the Liberal's Ewen Jones.(say it isn't so!) Mr Ciobo insisted strategic, not political interests were behind the agreement.(Thank You!)

"We are talking about two very established defence force bases and training facilities, that's what drove this, not the politics," he said. "I think most reasonable Australians would recognise that of course the focus is upon where we have defence bases. I don't think for a moment that Singapore was that concerned about which seats these bases happened to be in." [b]The ABC has been told the move is emblematic of Singapore's desire to forge closer defence ties with Australia and within the Asia-Pacific in the face of China's growing military might.[/b[ "I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that a small city-state like Singapore, for example, looks throughout the region to where they're able to mobilise forces, to where they're able to build experienced capacity and training," Mr Ciobo said. "Australia has had a long-term great relationship with Singapore, so it's a logical extension." The deal also improves visa conditions for Australians working in Singapore and makes it easier for their spouses to get jobs. The two countries have also committed to recognising the university qualifications of professionals, including engineers and accountants.

quote:

From South Sudanese refugee to Olympic sprinter Thursday 5 May 2016 9:15AMClaire Nichols

South Sudan's first ever Olympic team will compete in Rio later this year. Against all the odds, refugee and Perth resident Mangar Makur Chuot will represent his country. Claire Nichols caught up with the athlete at a recent training session. Mangar Makur Chuot was just four years old when his father was shot and killed. He and his family spent nine years in a refugee camp in Kenya before being granted asylum in Australia in 2005.

Chuot says he was a 'jungle kid', always running. But it wasn't until he arrived in Perth that he considered athletics as a career. In 2009, he showed up at an athletics program in a park in Balga, one of Perth's northern suburbs, and met the coach who would take him all the way to Rio. Lindsay Bunn runs the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and Indigenous Program for Athletics Western Australia. The aim of the program is to bring free, elite training to disadvantaged children around the state. 'We had a few cones and a rusty old set of starting blocks and a stopwatch,' he says. His first impression of the young refugee was less than glowing. After that first day of training, Bunn remembers phoning another coach and describing Chuot as a 'giraffe on amphetamines'. 'When Mangar first came down he was very gangly and uncoordinated, I suppose is the polite way of putting it,' Bunn says. 'But one thing about Mangar and why he has succeeded is that he's the hardest trainer and the most dedicated to perfecting technique that I've ever come across. That's what's given him what I consider to be an international technique.'


In 2014, Chuot won the Australian national 200 metre title.

'He's taken six years to reach a level that normally takes 10 years,' Bunn says. 'Considering everything he's been through, his ability to focus out on the track and learn new things and take himself to a much higher level is probably the most impressive thing I've ever seen in an athlete.' Those challenges were not limited to Chuot's time in Africa. Since arriving in Perth, the sprinter has been attacked at least three times, including one occasion when a group of Sudanese men broke into his home and bashed him. His 2012 Olympic bid was hampered by a hamstring injury, which his coach blames on the attack. Now, finally, his Olympic dream is set to come true. But first, Chuot and Bunn will travel to the Kimberley to run a series of athletics workshops with Aboriginal children in remote communities. It's a regular trip for the duo, and Bunn says he's been stunned by the connection between the refugee sprinter and the local children. 'When we go there now, we go to a place that knows us; Mangar's treated like a rock star.' Chuot speaks with equal enthusiasm about the remote community workshops. 'Outback kids are like me as a young kid so they're very easy to get along with,' he says. 'They're very tough kids. And that was me.'

It'll be an emotional moment for Chuot when he steps out as part of South Sudan's first-ever Olympic team in Rio later this year. The sprinter will be representing his slain father, Makur Chuot. 'It's a pride thing to do it for him. To just go and present his name,' Chuot says. 'My name is Mangar but when I go running I put his name first, Makur Chuot, because he inspired me in a way.' Bunn admits some disappointment that Chuot will not represent Australia when he steps onto the track in Rio. 'Mangar knows I would have liked for him to represent Australia,' Bunn says 'But by the same token, I fully understand the fact that his father died actually fighting to form the new country of South Sudan. He was a very important person there. Mangar wants to honour his father. 'He's still a West Australian and he still regards himself as one. He wants to wear the West Australian logo on his South Sudan shirt.'

As for how he thinks the sprinter will fare on the big day, Bunn is keeping his cards close to his chest. 'I describe Mangar like a lucky dip,' he says. 'You never know what you're going to get. I've seen him do things at various parts of races that are world class. He's got all the bits. It's quite possible that they could all come together at some point and he could do something sensational.' And with less than 100 days until Rio, Chuot is feeling good. 'It's my first time doing an international meet and I just can't wait,' he says. 'The talent is there, the speed is there. I have a positive feeling about it.'

quote:

Syria war: At least 28 dead in air strikes on Syrian refugee camp near Turkey: human rights monitor Updated about an hour ago

Air strikes on a camp for displaced Syrians near the Turkey border have killed at least 28 people, a monitoring group says, as fighting rages in northern Syria. The Observatory said 50 people were also injured in the attack.

quote:

Australia should do more to stamp out capital punishment April 24, 2016 EDITORIAL

The execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran stands as another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency.

The Bali nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran​ Sukumaran​ were executed by firing squad on the Indonesian island of Nusa​ Kambangan​ a year ago next Friday. Even a year on, it stands as yet another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency, lives cut short and the potential for good extinguished for no reason. The nine-year legal wrangle that surrounded their conviction and incarceration, further complicated by the murky behaviour of authorities, not least the Australian Federal Police, ended with the execution of the pair. Naturally, they had support from those against the death penalty, but their long residency on death row garnered such widespread sympathy and support from Australia and elsewhere that for a while it seemed some good could come from such a groundswell of opposition. The Bali nine pair faced execution along with criminals from the Philippines, France, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia and, potentially, a mentally ill Brazilian. The two Australians' lives were not worth more or less than the fellow condemned or the thousands executed in Indonesia and other countries each year. But when the pair were hurriedly taken to Nusa Kambangan, the barbarity of capital punishment was brutally underscored, hopes for reform were replaced by impotent outrage. Australia recalled its ambassador Paul Grigson in protest. It was unprecedented, but he was back in Jakarta by the following June.

Indonesia's justification for killing offenders in the name of deterrence was exposed as a fraud. To many in the West, the need to punish for punishment's sake remains an Old Testament throwback to an-eye-for-an-eye. It has no place in any modern, civilised, democratic nation. Indonesia's culpability in reviving executions for convicted drug criminals and denying the Australian pair clemency was no better or worse than the policies of China for killing political prisoners or indeed so many states in the US for killing murderers. It is simply wrong. Six Australians have been executed since 1986 and around the world today there are some dozen or so in jails, detained for serious offences or charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. They include Peter Gardiner, the dual Australia-New Zealand citizen caught with 30 kilograms of methamphetamine. This week he is awaiting a Chinese court decision on whether or not he is to face a firing squad.

Generally, Australia could make sure capital punishment is prominent in its broader discussions about human rights and justice issues with countries to our north, not least China. Nearly 90 per cent of the 1634 people Amnesty International estimates were executed around the world in 2015 occurred in just three countries: Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. However, these figures exclude China, where numbers are thought to top 1000 but remain a state secret. There will always be different opinions on the fundamentals of crime and punishment. Many people favour capital punishment, but we support the contention that having fewer world citizens exposed to the death penalty represents a giant step forward for the common good of humanity. Australia abolished the death penalty in 1973, accepting that the extinguishing of a human life by the state is repugnant. Clearly, judicial killing can never equal the score; it is the victory of revenge over redemption. The practical argument, too, is persuasive. Death is absolute. It leaves no room for error or doubt, and abuse by unaccountable authoritarian regimes. Information remains limited but Amnesty International claims 150 US prisoners sent to death row since 1973 have later been exonerated. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt. By pushing for the abolition of the death sentence everywhere, Australia will make itself a more credible advocate for Australians anywhere.

Zenithe posted:

knowing fully well that the government doesn't give a gently caress, isn't it straight up illegal to return asylum seekers to their place of alleged persecution without checking the eligibility?

Solemn Sloth posted:

She helped out the kerosene industry

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Conservationists welcome 49 new species being declared endangered By environment reporter Sara Phillips Posted about 4 hours ago

The Federal Government's list of plants and animals on the brink of extinction has been updated with 49 new additions — but far from being outraged, scientists and environmentalists say this is a potentially positive sign for those species.

Key points:

Species on list given extra protections under environmental laws but 'many neglected'
No funding to recover threatened species in budget
Expert says it is encouraging to see the list growing from a conservation perspective
It is the biggest single addition to the 15-year-old list since 2009 and represents a 20 per cent jump in the size of the list since this time last year.(Good numbers if they were for economic growth)

Threatened Species commissioner Gregory Andrews said Australia was in the midst of an "extinction crisis". "Australia has endured the worst rate of mammal extinctions in the world ... We've lost 29 mammals in Australia since Europeans arrived," he said. "Ninety per cent of the animals found here are found nowhere else on Earth. They define who we are as a nation. "The yellow-footed rock wallaby for example, is one of 16 wallabies at risk of extinction. We've already lost eight wallabies to extinction. They're gone forever. "I follow the Wallabies rugby team but we can't keep naming our sporting teams after our animals and plants if we lose them to extinction." 'So many of our species have been neglected' Once a species is added to the list, it is given extra protection under Australian environmental laws. If it is likely to be affected by a proposed development, the proposal must be vetted by the Federal Environment Minister(Who may actually read the report before rubber stamping a native animal shredding plant there).

Reports on the likely effect on the species must be prepared and potential ways to reduce the impact identified.

A species also should have a recovery plan written for it — but since 2001, few species have had their recovery plans written, and many of those that were written have expired and not been updated. "The department can't tell me how many have an up-to-date plan," Mr Andrews said. He said it was a situation he was working to reverse. "So many of our species have been neglected. So many of their statuses and recovery plans have sat on shelves," he said.(Can't cut green tape without shedding a few thousand jobs!) Jess Abrahams, a healthy ecosystems campaigner with the Australian Conservation Foundation, said new funding needed to be found to realise the commissioner's ambition. "To recover threatened species we need dedicated new funding for which there was none in the most recent budget, and we need a dramatic increase in funding to implement the recovery plans that already exist and are being drafted as we speak," he said.

Encouraging to see species listed from 'conservation perspective'

Professor Corey Bradshaw, Sir Hubert Wilkins chair of climate change at the University of Adelaide, said the dramatic increase in the size of the list reflected a better understanding of the threats facing Australia's plants and animals. "Much of the updated information in any sort of endangered species list is usually a function of refined information and better data collection as opposed to an actual, real change in the status," he said. "Because of the policy implications of a species being listed, it's actually a really good thing from a conservation perspective that we have more species there because it certainly does restrict open-slather development, which has been characteristic of a lot of Australian development over the last 50 years. In a lot of ways it's encouraging to see the list growing. The [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation] Act lists probably only a tiny fraction of the species that are truly in conservation peril simply because of a lack of information."

Mr Abrahams agreed, but added a note of concern.

"In part we're seeing more species added to the list as we understand more about the threats to our environment ... but we're also seeing new species added because the Government is failing to do the necessary action," he said. "Species like the swift parrot or the Leadbeater's possum have been upgraded on that list — they've moved from endangered to critically endangered — and that actually shows that the actions that we're taking are failing."

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Koala extinction imminent in parts of south-east Queensland, report warns Exclusive by Stephanie Smail Updated 33 minutes ago

Huge swathes of one of Australia's biggest and most important koala populations are "effectively extinct", a report has found. New figures obtained by the ABC show a catastrophic population crash in the past 20 years in south-east Queensland's Koala Coast and Pine Rivers regions. The landmark South East Queensland Koala Population Modelling Study review, which covered nearly 10,000 square kilometres, was handed to the State Government last August. "If there are populations we really cannot do anything about, we should ... focus on the populations where we can have success." UQ Associate Professor Jonathan Rhodes

More than 80 per cent of the koala population has disappeared on the Koala Coast, in and around Brisbane, since 1996, the report found. It also found more than 50 per cent had disappeared in the Pine Rivers region north of Brisbane during the same period. "There are already a number of areas in which koalas [on the Koala Coast] ... are at such low densities that they are effectively extinct," the report said. "It appears the loss of koalas from many sites there is imminent." Koala protection 'may need to be prioritised' The report's lead author, University of Queensland Associate Professor Jonathan Rhodes, said habitat loss, disease and dog attacks continued to threaten the population in and around built-up areas. "There may be some tough decisions we need to make about where we prioritise the protection of koalas," he said. Professor Rhodes suggested authorities might need to concentrate on saving animals that still have a chance, such as those in regional areas. "If there are populations we really cannot do anything about, we should acknowledge that and focus on the populations where we can have success," he said.

New action plan needed: Minister

The report has warned there was evidence the population was shrinking faster over time and the "declines may well be indicative of patterns of population decline more broadly" across the state's south-east. Nine months after receiving the report, State Environment Minister Steven Miles has flagged a plan to establish an expert panel to point policy in the right direction. "I think it's time for an honest conversation with policy makers but also the public about what we think it will take to protect koalas," he said. "The alternative is doing what other governments have done, proclaim a solution then realise it's not working. "We need to determine some new action and it's very much our intention to begin that in months not years."

World Wildlife Fund spokesman Martin Taylor said the figures were "horrifying".

"We've got the koala as a mascot for the Commonwealth Games but here it is, nearly extinct in south-east Queensland - that's a disgrace," he said. He said establishing an expert panel was a step in the right direction, but said urgent action was needed. "The koalas are disappearing as we speak. We need not just more analysis - we need stronger laws to stop the bulldozers."

Jumpingmanjim posted:

https://twitter.com/JuliaEmBee/status/728899267692089344

Snod. posted:

Do the Newstart internshits count as jobs when talking about jobs and growth?

quote:

nterns will receive workers cover under Youth Employment Package, Michaelia Cash says By political reporter Francis Keany Updated Fri at 4:17pm

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the new intern program for jobless youth unveiled in the budget will have accident cover — but it is yet to be arranged.

Budget Estimates has heard the Commonwealth's workers compensation scheme will not cover the Youth Employment Package, unveiled in the Federal Budget. But Senator Cash said while it was a decision for the Federal Government, she anticipated participants in the program would be protected by the time it starts in April 2017. "There are laws whether your party is in government or whether this party is in government in relation to health and safety. Whatever it is, whether it's state laws or not, those laws are what Commonwealth and states and employers have to abide by." Estimates heard they would not be eligible for workers compensation, because they were not technically employed, in a statement seized on by unions. Officials from the Department of Employment said there were also laws in most states that covered volunteers and work experience participants. A government spokesman said they anticipated there would be personal accident insurance and combined liability insurance by the time the scheme was up and running.

Program will be an alternative to Work for the Dole

Under the scheme, participants would undergo six weeks of training, compulsory after five months of receiving Newstart, and then be offered a place in a voluntary internshit program with a business. Interns would then be paid an extra $200 a fortnight on top of the Newstart Allowance, and would not be penalised if they refused to participate. They would work up to 25 hours a week. The voluntary internshit program will be an alternative to Work for the Dole, which will now be made compulsory after a year of receiving unemployment benefits.

Unions say the program amounts to paying interns $4 an hour.

Government officials said participants would not be paid an hourly rate, but instead provided $200 a fortnight, as a top-up to Newstart, regardless of how many hours a week they would work. Workers would also not be required to pay for safety gear, with the additional payment to be exempt from any income tests. Budget Estimates also heard employers would be monitored to ensure employers were not misusing the scheme, by firing interns after the program had finished and hiring new ones without offering new jobs. Department Secretary Renee Leon said while there would be no limit to the number of internshits, employers would also have to demonstrate a reasonable prospect of ongoing work to qualify for the PaTH program. A total of $751 million has been pledged over four years to pay for the internshit scheme.

BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:

Seems like this makes a Tory by the standards of this thread

Anidav posted:

Negligent is going to split and

quote:

Chris Rogers in favour of helmets being made compulsory NEWS LIMITED APRIL 30, 2016 12:00AM Peter Lalor Senior sports writer

The review into the death of ­Phillip Hughes will see Australian cricket follow England’s lead and make helmets compulsory for batsmen — a move backed by ­veteran Chris Rogers, who sustained two severe blows in recent seasons.

Cricket Australia last May commissioned an independent report into the circumstances surrounding Hughes’ death from Victorian QC David Curtain. It was delivered last year and is understood to recommend mandatory helmet use. At the ­moment it is not compulsory for batsmen to wear helmets but if they do, they must meet new British safety standards. The new helmets have a fixed grille and lower rim and are a response to a number of injuries from the ball forcing its way through the gap between visor and grille. It is not known if Curtain has recommended the stem guards which were introduced in response to Hughes’ death be mandatory. CA has had the report since late last year but not released its findings.

Batsmen have found the new helmets hard to adjust to as the grille is in their line of sight. ­England captain Alastair Cook led a silent protest by refusing to wear the new model at the start of the county season despite warnings from the board. Rogers believes the Masuri helmet, which meets the new standards, saved him from more serious injury when he was struck during the Lord’s Test in 2015. “It’s a tough one,” Rogers told AAP. “Some guys feel comfortable in a certain helmet but I think the need to get the protection right is paramount. If that means you have to wear a certain helmet then I’m a big believer that you have to.”

Michael Clarke and a number of other Australian Test players were slow to adapt to the new helmets before they were made mandatory.

The lower rim at the back is reportedly uncomfortable and the stem guards even more so. Brad Haddin had Shane Watson take them off his helmet during a BBL game because they were annoying him. “I know there’s a comfort level to it, but things like that if it’s available and it’s protecting that area, and obviously with what we’ve seen, it’s a very dangerous area,” Rogers said. “If it’s available, why not wear it?” CA had to adjust its regulations when it found that the new helmets were irritating wicket­keepers when they crouch behind the stumps as the bowler moves in to deliver the ball. Rogers was struck on the back of the helmet while fielding in close at Brisbane in 2014 one month after Hughes’ death and said later it made him contemplate retirement. He missed two Tests with concussion in the West Indies in June last season after being struck during a net session. The opening batsmen then had to retire hurt and was taken for scans after another blow caused him to have dizzy spells during the Lord’s Test.

There are rising concerns about the danger to fielders, bowlers, fielding coaches and umpires in the modern game with batsmen using massive bats, particularly in the T20 forms. Umpire Gerard Abood wore a helmet during the last BBL season and fielding coaches have taken to wearing them during training ­sessions. A number of former players came out in support of Cook’s protest. Geoffrey Boycott said it was “bureaucracy gone mad” and ­England all-rounder Ravi Bopara also expressed concerns. “I understand where Cookie’s coming from,” Bopara said. “But it is difficult for players to change helmets like that, because you (get) so used to wearing a certain helmet which you’re comfortable with — and you have your visor as wide as you want it. “But the problem with the new helmets is you can’t move the ­visors — you’ve just got to look at the hole that’s there. Sometimes, that bar that goes across can get in the way.”

Mithranderp posted:

Regardless of $6,000 toasters, I hate the perpetuation of the 'trickle-down economics' myth. Cutting company taxes doesn't necessarily lead to more jobs--companies don't hire people just because they've got extra money, they hire people if there is more demand for their products and services.

Giving welfare recipients or lower-income earners even a modest increase in income will result in more demand for products and services because, funnily enough, poor people need to buy things. E.g. if I had an extra $20/fortnight I might be able to go to the hairdresser more than once a year, and on a large scale this would increase demand for hairdressers, and would lead to more jobs in hairdressing!

If someone on a higher income received $20 extra a fortnight, they might invest the extra money in shares or put it towards their mortgage, but it'd have little difference to their spending habits in general. Tax cuts for the rich don't stimulate the economy to the same scale that they do for the poor.

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slamic preacher Musa Cerantonio among five arrested over alleged plan to join Islamic State Exclusive by the National Reporting Team's Dan Oakes and Sam Clark Updated 14 minutes ago

Notorious Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio is among five men arrested in Cairns over an alleged plan to take a small boat to Indonesia and join the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

Shayden Thorne, the brother of another hardline Islamist, Junaid Thorne, was also arrested. Police arrested the men yesterday as they were towing a boat towards Cape York, in far north Queensland. They are being held on suspicion of foreign incursion offences. An Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson confirmed five men had been arrested but gave few details. "The Australian Federal Police and Queensland Police can confirm they conducted operational activity in relation to an ongoing investigation in the north of Queensland [on Tuesday]," it said. "Five men have been arrested and are currently assisting police with enquiries. This activity is not related to a current or impending threat to the community. As this activity remains ongoing, further comment will be provided when it is appropriate to do so."

Preacher kept 'low profile' after deportation to Australia

Mr Cerantonio was born into an Italian family in Melbourne's western suburbs, but converted to Islam at the age of 17. A few years ago, he was one of the most popular and influential online preachers supporting the jihad in Iraq and Syria. In 2014 he was arrested on the Philippines island of Cebu after using Twitter to tell his followers that he had travelled to Syria. The Philippines authorities told the ABC at the time of his arrest that they had acted on information provided to them by the AFP. He was deported back to Australia after his passport was cancelled but never charged. Since then Mr Cerantonio has kept a relatively low profile online. Shayden Thorne was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2011 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for possessing terrorism-related materials on his laptop. He was granted clemency and deported to Australia in 2014.

quote:

Musa Cerantonio: Who is the online preacher inspiring foreign fighters to join IS? Posted 18 minutes ago

Described as an "inspiration" to jihadists worldwide, Musa Cerantonio has emerged as one of the most influential online preachers supporting foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict. Raised a Catholic in Melbourne, Mr Cerantonio converted to Islam at the age of 17. The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) described him as a "spiritual authority" for foreign fighters and an "outspoken cheerleader" for Islamic State (IS). The 2014 report said one in four foreign fighters followed his Twitter account and said he played an "important role in radicalising some individuals". It said Mr Cerantionio was "explicit" in his support for IS compared to his counterparts — a "set of spiritual authorities" influencing Westerners to become foreign fighters. He was named alongside US-based cleric Ahmad Musa Jibril as the two most popular authorities within foreign fighter networks. However, at the time there was no evidence to suggest either were physically involved in facilitating the flow of foreign fighters to Syria.

New links to IS emerge

On Tuesday Mr Cerantonio was among five men arrested in Cairns over an alleged plan to take a small boat to Indonesia and join IS.

Police arrested the men as they were towing a boat towards Cape York, in far north Queensland. Mr Cerantonio has been likened to Al Qaeda's most prolific online preacher, Anwar Al Awlaki, who was linked to attempted attacks in the US. Al Awlaki was killed in the 2011 drone strike in Yemen. In 2014, the preacher claimed he was travelling to Syria to join fighters of IS. He was later arrested on the Philippines island of Cebu after using Twitter to tell his followers he had travelled to Syria. Australian authorities previously said his social media postings were "offensive and disturbing". However, since his last arrest Mr Cerantonio has kept a relatively low profile online.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-91f3683c-5e3c-4a2e-92eb-7d7f6a024c02

For that person who wanted to know what happens to refugees on boats that drown and where they are buried, here is what happens in Europe.

SadisTech posted:

tithin posted:

loving

what

BloatedCorpse posted:

Like, I read the article, and I can't actually decipher what was actually done by this company.

open24hours posted:

Wish someone would bail out my business when demand dropped.

Brick Dust Otis posted:

hey i fixed your super reductive assessment of the situation

open24hours posted:

You want a competitive market you have to take the whole package.

open24hours posted:

Why do you think the price went down?

quote:

As consumers, we hold the power to help direct where the Australian dairy industry will go, and we hold it right in our hip pockets. By choosing to purchase dairy that has been produced organically, from sustainably-managed local-as-possible farms, we’re telling the industry how we want things done. We’re saying no to ethically and environmentally-questionable practices and yes to sustainable, ecological and ethically-minded farming. It all starts by making the right choices when it comes to purchasing dairy products.

At the same time, our governments need to implement policies that will serve to prevent the further exploitation of dairy cows in the face of growing overseas demand.

open24hours posted:

There has been a decrease relative to supply which is what matters. Dairy farmers in all countries are dealing with low prices.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-14/eu-countries-discuss-dairy-oversupply/7245558

open24hours posted:

Wish someone would bail out my business when demand dropped.

Solemn Sloth posted:

I too attempt to argue that the market isn't perfect with someone literally named open24hours Jesus loving Christ you dolts

Birdstrike posted:

what if amalgamations... are good?

quote:

(extract)However, some councillors have welcomed the introduction of new governance rules including a $2,500 cap on election donations.

Under the changes a council would not be allowed to consider any matter where a councillor or a councillor's relative has a financial interest. Instead those matters will go to a neighbouring council or another planning body. The NSW Government is also planning to introduce laws that would force any councillor who used their position for financial benefit to repay the money. Former Auburn councillor Irene Simms, who has been calling for a crackdown on developers on councils, said the reforms represented a step in the right direction. Her council was suspended in February, after a string of controversies involving deputy mayor Salim Mehajer and an inquiry was established to investigated allegations councillors had been misusing their positions. Cr Simms said she hoped the measures could be applied retrospectively and that "questionable" zoning decisions made by the council could be reversed if the inquiry made adverse findings about them. "We have a couple of councillors who are going to stand very well financially by re-zonings that were made and have already made some windfalls," she said.

The Opposition said the measures do not go far enough, arguing if the Premier was serious about eliminating the risk for corruption in the sector he would ban developers and real estate agents from councils. "I want to see what the legislation actually says," Mr Primrose said. "But the Government has consistently voted against a very simple law we have proposed – that is, if you are a property developer or a real estate agent you cannot be on a council," he said.
"Everyone identifies this as a problem and there's a simple solution which the government has so far failed to implement."

quote:

SA Government rules out covering federal cut to Headspace's Tonsley youth psychosis centre By Rebecca Opie Posted yesterday at 3:20pm

RELATED STORY: Youth mental health service Headspace 'facing funding crisis'
RELATED STORY: Health programs to be 'streamlined' to raise $1b

The South Australian Government will not cover the cost of federal funding cuts that will force the closure of a centre helping young psychosis patients that only opened six months ago.

Key points:

Headspace centre at Tonsley will have funding cut from mid-year
It provides mental health services to young psychosis patients
SA Government calls on Federal Government to reinstate funds
The Youth Early Psychosis Program, which is run by the national youth mental health organisation Headspace, will have its funding discontinued from July 1 following a review by the National Mental Health Commission.

"We understand funding will cease for the Headspace Adelaide site to take on new clients for this program on June 30," Headspace spokesman Michael Bennett said. The centre at Tonsley, which only opened six months ago, is one of six Early Psychosis Youth Service (EPYS) centres around the country impacted by the funding changes. The program is believed to have helped about 70 clients since January, offering community-based care to young people at risk of psychosis or experiencing it for the first time, as well as their families. South Australian Minister for Mental Health Leesa Vlahos has called on Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley to reconsider the decision. She said the cuts would be "disastrous on people's lives", but said the State Government could not afford to cover the costs of the program.

"We're continuing to look at how we can help some of the people, but we will not be able to provide the same level of care that we have currently because this federal money was helping us to do that," Ms Vlahos said. "We are imploring Sussan Ley and her colleagues to provide certainty to people providing mental health services in our state. "This is someone's son or grandson or granddaughter who won't be able to receive important mental health treatment when they need it."

No savings from cuts, Health Minister says

Under the Federal Government's plans, funding from EPYS centres will be redirected to Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to give early intervention support to a broader group of young people at risk of mental illness. A spokesman for Ms Ley said there would not be any savings from the change. "All funding from the EPYS services will be redistributed to PHNs as part of a mental health flexible funding allocation for services to youth and young people," he said. "PHNs that have EPYS centres will have the flexibility to develop a regional service model incorporating these centres, broadening entrance criteria and widening the geographical reach." The spokesman said all of the clients would be fully supported during the transition period. "The Department of Health is working with Headspace Limited, who operates the Adelaide service, to provide transition arrangements for the 40 clients currently in their care."

bambus posted:

Humans of Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Mosman

https://www.facebook.com/michaelravamcgrath/photos/a.1676082165945399.1073741828.1676014565952159/1742975675922714/?type=3&theater

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

quote:

Manus Island: Asylum seekers and refugees no longer in detention, PNG authorities say By Papua New Guinea correspondent Eric Tlozek Updated Thu at 6:24pm

A Manus Island MP says he fears the release of asylum seekers and refugees from the detention centre may lead to violence. Papua New Guinea immigration authorities said the 898 men in Australia's offshore processing centre on Manus Island are no longer in detention, because they can now visit the main town. This is to comply with a Supreme Court ruling last month that found their detention was illegal. The detainees on Manus Island say they now have the option to catch one of three buses into the main town each morning, but must sign agreements taking responsibility for their own safety. They are not allowed to walk out of the centre, because it is on a PNG naval base. They also say they may stay at an Immigration-run transit centre overnight.

But Manus MP Ronnie Knight said residents feared they would have to deal with unwanted behaviour, particularly from detainees harassing local women.

"There's been incidences already where we've had these people chasing young girls," he said. The detainees say many of them are afraid to leave the centre, because they fear being attacked by locals. Deputy Chief Migration Officer Esther Gaegaming said "no asylum seeker or refugee is in detention". "We are continuing to work towards fully implementing the orders of the Supreme Court."

PNG's Supreme Court ruled on April 26 that detaining the men on Manus Island had breached their constitutional rights to personal liberty in Papua New Guinea.

'They are still controlling us' Refugee Behrouz Boochani said the changes had not allowed true freedom of movement. "They are still controlling us," he said. "Even when we want to go from Oscar to Delta [internal compounds] we should give our ID cards to the officers. "It means we are not free to walk." Mr Boochani said the refugees and asylum seekers were still being separated inside the centre and refugees could not visit the compounds where men who were unsuccessful in their refugee applications were housed. The men are only allowed to leave Manus Island if they sign an agreement to be resettled in PNG, and the ABC understands only eight men have done that. Of those, three have returned to Manus Island, saying they had been robbed and threatened when they were resettled in Lae, and did not earn enough money to support themselves. Two of those refugees were arrested upon returning to Manus Island, one for trying to get back into the transit centre for refugees and another for repeatedly asking for a phone and credit to call his family. Another refugee remains in hospital in Lae after being violently robbed twice in two days. Only three men are still working, while a fourth is about to start his new job.

GorgeOnMySyphilis posted:

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/economy/2016/05/07/reagan-voodoo-economics-the-heart-scott-morrisons-budget/14625432003219

GorgeOnMySyphilis posted:

I read the whole article without issue, didn't realise it's paywalled?

Recoome posted:

Forgive me for my ignorance, and it could be because I'm poor/not an economist, but how exactly is the Coalition plan of trickle-down economics going to create Turnbull's vision of a Strong New Economy. Actually it looks like the same type of economy we've had for a while and all it's really done is widen the inequality gap so I'm not sure how this is going to help families.

open24hours posted:

Did you even read the first paragraph of that paper?