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Australia’s tailenders frustrate India on Day 4 of 4th Border-Gavaskar Test

By
JAI BHARADWAJ
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Boxing Day Test; Image Source- BCCI
Boxing Day Test; Image Source- BCCI

Australia’s lower order, led by Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, and skipper Pat Cummins, put up a valiant fight against India’s pace attack, taking the total lead to 333 runs at the end of Day Four of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Australia finished the day at 228/9, having recovered from a precarious 91/6 earlier in the innings.

Nathan Lyon (41*) and Scott Boland (10*) stitched together an unbroken 55-run partnership, defying India’s bowlers and keeping all three results possible as the match heads into the final day. The Australian pair added 21 runs in the last two overs of the day, frustrating the visitors and ensuring the lead crossed the 300-run mark.

Earlier, skipper Pat Cummins contributed a vital 41 runs before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja. Cummins’ knock, combined with Lyon’s defiance, highlighted the tailenders’ importance in a closely contested match on a seemingly flat wicket.

Jasprit Bumrah was the standout performer for India, claiming figures of 4/56. However, he missed out on a five-wicket haul after dismissing Lyon off a no-ball. Mohammed Siraj (2/63) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/41) also chipped in with crucial wickets. Despite their efforts, missed opportunities—including a dropped catch by Yashasvi Jaiswal and a missed “caught and bowled” chance by Siraj—allowed Australia to extend their lead.

Session-by-Session Recap

Morning Session: India resumed their first innings at 358/9, with Nitish Kumar Reddy (114) and Mohammed Siraj (2*) at the crease. Australia wrapped up the innings swiftly, dismissing India for 369 within 21 balls. Scott Boland (3/57) and Mitchell Starc ensured a slender lead of 105 runs for the hosts.

Australia’s openers Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja started cautiously but failed to establish a strong partnership. Konstas was dismissed by Bumrah for 8, while Siraj removed Khawaja for 21 in the 19th over.

Afternoon Session: The Australian middle order crumbled as India’s bowlers struck in quick succession. Bumrah became the fastest Indian bowler to claim 200 Test wickets, dismissing Travis Head (1) and Mitchell Marsh (0) in a fiery 34th over.

Marnus Labuschagne gave resistance a gritty 70 before falling to Siraj after tea. His dismissal left Australia at 156/8. Cummins then partnered with Lyon to add 44 valuable runs, giving Australia a lifeline.

Evening Session: In the final session, Lyon and Boland frustrated India with a disciplined batting effort. Lyon, who struck five boundaries, showcased his composure under pressure, while Boland held one end firmly. Their partnership ensured Australia ended the day in a position of relative strength.

India’s fielding was a mixed bag, with dropped catches proving costly. Jaiswal’s three dropped chances during the second session highlighted an area of concern for the visitors, who cannot afford such lapses heading into a crucial final day.

India will aim to wrap up the Australian innings early on Day 5 and then decide whether to chase the target or play for a draw. Australia’s tailenders, however, will look to extend the lead further and put the game out of India’s reach.

Marnus Labuschagne, reflecting on India’s historic chase at the Gabba in 2021, said conditions at the MCG are vastly different.

“The wicket at the Gabba was flat, but here it’s a different challenge,”

he noted.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 474 & 228/9 (Marnus Labuschagne 70, Nathan Lyon 41*; Jasprit Bumrah 4/56)
India: 369 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 114, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Scott Boland 3/57)

The final day promises to be a gripping contest, with both teams having a chance to dictate the outcome of this enthralling Test match.

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India’s ‘In the Belly of a Tiger’ roars to victory at Adelaide Film Festival

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Director Jatla Siddartha and Producer Esther Li’s In the Belly of a Tiger has claimed the Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival 2024 (Source: AFF - X)

Indian director Jatla Siddartha’s In the Belly of a Tiger has claimed the Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival, taking home the $10,000 prize sponsored by the Nunn Dimos Foundation.

Jatla Siddartha’s moving film, which offers a searing allegorical critique of capitalism, was unanimously selected by the AFF Competition Jury.

Director Jatla Siddartha and producer Esther Li were present in Adelaide to receive the award. Expressing his gratitude, Siddartha said,

“Winning the hearts of audience and jury at the Adelaide film festival only gives me more determination and courage to make more such films. Couldn’t have asked for more. Thankyou for being so kind.”

Set in rural India, the 91-minute arthouse feature tells the story of an elderly farmer, Bhagole, and his family as they return to their village after an unsuccessful stint in the city. There, they encounter a community ravaged by exploitative employers and haunted by a man-eating tiger—both protected by the government. With desperation mounting, Bhagole makes the ultimate sacrifice to secure his family’s future.

Image: Jatla Siddartha (Source: X)

Despite its sobering themes, In the Belly of a Tiger is peppered with moments of beauty and hope. Director Jatla Siddartha masterfully weaves mythological elements with a deeply human narrative, while his striking cinematography immerses viewers in the village’s struggle and resilience.

Image: In the Belly of a Tiger (Source: screenshot)

Siddartha, born to a director father and actress mother, grew up immersed in filmmaking. A cinematography graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), he also studied cinematography at the Asian Film Academy through a cultural exchange programme at the Busan Film Festival.

His debut short film, The Artist, premiered at Busan in 2012. Siddartha’s first feature, Love and Shukla (2017), premiered at Busan and later screened at over 35 international festivals, earning accolades like the NETPAC and Signis awards.

Siddartha’s second feature, In the Belly of a Tiger, supported by the Busan Script Development Fund and NFDC Film Lab, participated in the LIM | Less is More programme in 2019, further cementing his place in India’s arthouse film scene.

Image: Adelaide Film Festival (Source: X)

The AFF jury, led by Stephen A. Russell, praised the film, saying:

“This film deftly wove a very human story about family and the tenacity of workers in the face of great adversity with a mesmerising mythological framework that nevertheless sings of the human spirit. It transported us to a world both recognisable and incredible.”

The festival also gave a special mention to cinematographer Tyson Perkins for his work on Samuel Van Grinsven’s Went Up the Hill.

With In the Belly of a Tiger, India’s burgeoning arthouse movement continues to make a global impact, combining artistic storytelling with urgent social commentary.

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‘The Satanic Verses’ returns to India: 36 years on, creative freedom still battles cancel culture

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses

By Om Prakash Dwivedi

“Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature… but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself,” wrote John Milton in his famous book, Areopagitica (1644). Milton was right in so many aspects, but then reason and freedom have been invariably considered fanatical by all ideologies.

No one likes a reasoning mind, which is also tantamount to the fact that the presence of other ideas, other person, other religions, other cultures, other races, and other nations have been perennially licensed to be erased or decimated. Put simply, as a human race we have remarkably failed to accept alternative perspectives, inclined heavily towards homogenising everyone and everything around us. Such an inflated homogenising approach to life has rendered creativity and rationality a calamitous comeuppance. This also sums up the core problem of fundamentalism we are subjected to in our quotidian lives, wherein to think differently, write differently, and speak differently makes one eligible to be seen as a threat to xenophobic societies and controlling authorities.  

What a world we live in that even a book could be a source of perpetual fear and aversion. Are we so weak as a human race or is it a case that we suffer from intellectual impoverishment? Apparently, our moral fabric has become fragile and the religious sentiments intensely dogmatic, which is also demonstrated in the way we seek affirmation from and in others. It is like buying a second copy of the same daily newspaper just to enjoy the intoxication of sameness, reinforcing what George W. Bush bluntly pointed out in context to the US invasion of Iraq, “When we act, we create our own reality.”

The phlegmatic wisdom demonstrated by human civilization reeks of communal prejudices and eccentric nature, or how can one justify the banning and burning of books and subsequent condemnation of writers across civilizations. It is a pity that creative freedom has been a source of perennial rebuke and hatred in human history. From Socrates to Salman Rushdie, the world has failed to accept creative minds and their works, which leads one to claim that the cancel culture is a matter of how we organize the world keeping our own views and desires at the centre. 

History demonstrates an acute sense of brutalism towards writers. For example, in 213 BCE, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty in China, not only decided to burn books, but also killed several scholars. It is claimed that in 210 BCE, he was responsible for the premature burial of 460 Confucian scholars in order to continue the unchecked villainy of his regime. In 1497, Savonarola burned all of Ovid’s works in Florence after Ovid was exiled from Rome for his book, Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love). In 1614, King James I of England, banned Sir Walter Raleigh’s book, The History of the World, was banned for “being too saucy in censuring princes. During the Holocaust, the Nazis burned an estimated 100 million books. In yet another incident, the Jaffna Public Library of Sri Lanka —which had around 100,000 rare books on Tamil history and literature – was burnt by Sinhalese Buddhists since they felt offended by the Hinduism of Tamils, believing that religion was under threat even though they outnumbered the Tamils. Even Milan University in Italy cancelled an entire course on the famous Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, simply because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The juvenile lunacy also triggered the banning of Salman Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses. It is a strange paradox that the book was banned by a regime that robustly promotes liberalism and secularism, which should be enough to make us understand that ideologies act the same way as horse blinders work. It is another paradox, that the ban on The Satanic Verses was revoked by a regime that is dubbed as an authoritarian one. The novel, inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, generated a fierce global debate about freedom of speech. It was at this moment that then Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, placed a bounty on Salman Rushdie’s head due to its assumed blasphemy, resulting in its ban in India by Rajiv Gandhi’s government in 1988.

This revoking of ban on Rushdie’s novel is highly welcome news for readers. As Tabish Khair asserts, “Creative work, like creative writing, is not “for” anything. That “for” indicates an end towards which the work is dedicated, but it is in the nature of all creative labour that it is not directed towards an end. Its end is the activity itself.” Creativity has an issue with order and closure, and rightly so. As T.S. Eliot puts it, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” Imagination is an act of creation of creation after all. In the absence of creativity, we will be doomed to face the toxicity of homogeneity and authoritarians. One needs to remember that life is not a homogenous process. It can never be, for inhalation is always followed by exhalation, and it is the exercise of balance that creates new spaces for thinking and living.

Contributing Author: Dr Om Prakash Dwivedi is a literary critic and columnist.

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From Cleopatra to Wellington, leaders have always taxed beer. But Australia’s system has made beer extra pricey

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Beer (Source: CANVA)

By Anthea Gerrard

Beer has existed for thousands of years. It was the drink of choice in ancient Egypt, in northern Europe in the Middle Ages and, of course, remains popular around the world today.

And, since it was so widely consumed, it was the perfect target for taxation by governments throughout the centuries. There are even records of governments taxing beer 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia.

Some levels of taxation have been tolerated over the centuries because of beer’s known adverse impacts on health and behaviour.

But the truth is leaders taxing beer (and, therefore, beer-drinkers) have always been able to generate large and secure revenue streams.

Raising beer taxes wins wars

Cleopatra, who clashed with Rome after her lover Julius Caesar died and she took up with his friend Marc Antony, used beer taxes – likely to fund the war effort. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme/Wikipedia.

The Egyptian queen Cleopatra is widely believed to have used beer taxes to fund her wars with Rome (she claimed the taxes were to combat “drunkenness”).

Dutch leaders in 16th century Holland used beer taxes to fund a well-trained and permanent army, enabling them to defeat the enormous Spanish Empire during a conflict known as the Dutch Revolt (which lasted from 1566 to 1648).

While the Spanish relied on silver and gold from their colonies, this was no match for the beer taxes raised in Holland.

Leaders in the UK also relied on beer taxes to fund the wars that helped establish the British Empire and secure British power.

In the preamble to the first British law imposing taxes on beer in 1643, reference is made to the

speedy raising and levying of money […] for the maintenance of the forces raised for the defence of the king and parliament.

In all these cases, beer taxes specifically helped leaders and politicians fund and win wars.

Lowering beer taxes wins elections

If politicians raise beer taxes to finance war projects, the direct opposite can occur when the same politicians go to the polls.

In 1830, Britain’s Prime Minister Lord Wellington faced an election and was naturally concerned about winning.

In response to a growing campaign entitled “Beer is best for health, best for Britian” and the desire to win the election, parliament took the popular measure of abolishing taxes on beer to “reform the beer industry and free up the trade in beer”.

This was despite the measure costing the economy a whopping £3 million.

But the plan worked and Wellington won the election – only to lose power a few months later following the controversial emancipation of the Catholics (a process of lifting various restrictions on Catholics).

Beer taxes and the cost of living

In the lead up to Australia’s next federal election, some members of the Coalition have proposed reducing excise taxes on beer.

Lowering taxes, leading to reduced prices, would assist with the current cost of living crisis, they argue. Beer drinkers and brewers would no doubt approve, but how do beer taxes in Australia currently work?

The right to impose taxes on goods, such as beer, is the exclusive domain of the federal government. In other words, states can’t tax beer (or any goods).

Schedule 1 of Commonwealth Excise Tariff Act 1921 contains both a definition of beer and the various rates of tax on beer, depending on alcohol content and the way it is sold. The higher the alcohol content, the higher the tax rate.

Wine is not included. It is taxed separately and at a lower rate than beer.

Beer tax rates are also adjusted in June and December each year based on the CPI from the April and October quarters, respectively.

Wine taxes, on the other hand, are set by legislation and only updated from time to time.

The impact of this difference can be seen when comparing the increases in the price of beer in the last decade compared with the price of wine. Both have been subject to the same economic conditions, yet the price of beer has doubled, while the price of wine has increased by less than 20%.

These biannual increases in beer tax rates have resulted in huge increases in the price of beer.

In 2023 alone, the price of beer excises increased by 11%.

As the cost of living crisis takes its toll, the public (and brewers) are understandably aggrieved.

A change to beer tax in Australia?

Like their British forebears, some members of the Coalition are proposing a beer tax cut.

They are considering using a substitute rate (not CPI) to determine the taxes on beer, which is allowed under the law.

(Other senior Coalition members, however, have distanced themselves from the idea of changing the way beer is taxed).

Will any of this mean cheaper beer at the pub? That depends on whether pre-election ideas turn into actual policy – and whether brewers and pub owners pass on savings to customers.

Anthea Gerrard, Assistant Professor of Law, Bond University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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“Kohli’s a wanker”: Indian superstar faces backlash as Aussies seize control

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Source: 7News screenshots)

Australia took firm control on day two of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, capitalising on a calamitous mix-up between Indian stalwart Virat Kohli and rising star Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The costly run-out, coupled with a late flurry of wickets, saw the visitors crumble to 5-164 at stumps, trailing by a daunting 310 runs after Australia’s imposing first-innings total of 474.

Steve Smith was the star for Australia, crafting a sublime 140 – his 34th Test century and 11th against India, equalling records set by cricketing greats Brian Lara and Sunil Gavaskar.

Smith, at his idiosyncratic best, frustrated the Indian attack, sharing a crucial 112-run seventh-wicket partnership with captain Pat Cummins before eventually falling in bizarre fashion. After charging Akash Deep and edging onto his pads, Smith watched helplessly as the ball trickled back onto his stumps.

India’s chase began poorly as captain Rohit Sharma continued his dismal tour, departing for just three. Jaiswal and KL Rahul steadied the ship briefly with a 43-run stand before Rahul was undone by a brilliant delivery from Cummins that kissed the top of off stump. Kohli then joined Jaiswal in a determined 102-run partnership that threatened to shift momentum India’s way.

However, disaster struck late in the evening session when a fateful miscommunication between the pair led to Jaiswal’s dismissal. After stroking Scott Boland to mid-on, Jaiswal called for a quick single, only to find Kohli unmoved at the non-striker’s end, ball-watching. Stranded mid-pitch, Jaiswal was easily run out for 82, leaving the young prodigy devastated and the Australian fielders jubilant.

Kohli’s woes compounded shortly after as Boland, roared on by a packed MCG crowd, found his outside edge, sending him back for 36. India’s collapse continued with the dismissal of nightwatchman Akash Deep, caught at leg gully for a duck, leaving Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten overnight.

The day also saw drama off the pitch as a fan breached security to hug Kohli during the morning session. The incident followed a wave of controversy sparked by Kohli’s shoulder charge on teenage Australian debutant Sam Konstas on day one, which earned him a fine and a demerit point from the ICC.

Australian public sentiment towards Virat Kohli, once a cricketing hero, has evolved to sharp criticism during what is likely his final tour. From boos to chants of “Kohli’s a wanker” rang out from sections of the Australian crowd, underscoring the polarising figure he remains.

The controversy peaked with The West Australian publishing a viral back page depicting Kohli as a clown. Kohli’s fiery exchanges with fans, including a heated confrontation caught on video, further added to the drama.

Social media buzzed with divided opinions, from criticism of Kohli’s aggressive antics to the newspaper’s portrayal, with some defending Kohli as a “brand in Australia” while others lamented his perceived “downfall.”

Australia holds the advantage, aiming for a 2-1 series lead, while India’s hopes rest on Pant and Jadeja to narrow the deficit and keep the Border-Gavaskar series alive.

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Flash floods wreak havoc as heavy rain batters Fiji

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Nadi flood (Photo: Jesé Tuisinu / Source: Facebook - Higgins Storm Chasing)

Nadi town was inundated after the Qeleloa River burst its banks following heavy downpours, leaving emergency workers scrambling to assist those caught in the sudden flooding.

Floodwaters surged into houses along Koromakawa Road, prompting families in Lovu Seaside and Tore Settlement in Lautoka to evacuate to higher ground.

Image: Nadi flood (Photo: Chandar Prakash / Source: Facebook – Higgins Storm Chasing)

Ten residents were relocated by police, with more expected to move to Lovu Sangam Primary School for safety.

Some shops in Nadi suffered damage, though the full extent will only be known after assessments.

Nadi Town Council CEO Muni Reddy told FBC that floodwaters entered the Nadi Market, requiring extensive cleanup. While the town remains operational, several businesses remain closed as owners secure their properties.

Reddy also noted significant road damage, including potholes, and is working with police to ensure the safe evacuation of flood-prone areas.

The Nadi Weather Office recorded rainfall of 69mm to 185mm across the Western Division. An active trough of low pressure continues to hover over Fiji, bringing heavy rain expected to persist until Monday.

A Heavy Rain Warning is in effect for the entire Fiji, alongside a Flash Flood Warning for low-lying areas and small streams. Major rivers, including the Ba, Nasivi (Tavua), Nakauvadra (Rakiraki), and Nadi Rivers, remain under a Flood Warning.

The weather office warns of further disruptions, including major flooding during high tides, road closures, risks of landslides, and displacement of communities near rivers and streams.

Image: Nadi flood (Photo: Chandar Prakash / Source: Facebook – Higgins Storm Chasing)

Flooding in Nadi has become a recurring crisis, with 26 major floods recorded in the catchment since 1991. Severe floods in January 2009 caused 11 fatalities, displaced 12,000 residents, and inflicted damages totalling FJD113 million.

While floodwaters in Nadi Town have now receded, the Pacific Energy back road remains impassable. Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely, urging residents to remain vigilant and adhere to evacuation advisories.

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Beware of ticket scalping scams for Boxing Day Test on social media

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Representative image: Purchasing tickets online (Source: CANVA0

Social media groups with large number of Indian diaspora in Australia, particularly Melbourne, are being flooded with desperate messages from people trying to sell tickets at a loss: “I’ve got 4 tickets for sale!! Happy to negotiate price!! Don’t want them to go to waste!!”

Experts say these kinds of posts are becoming all too common, as bots and scamsters are now super-charging ticket scalping, buying large quantities of tickets to sell them at inflated prices.

Image: Sample message from a Facebook group.

Ticket scalping, the illegal practice of reselling tickets for a profit, has been around for years. However, thanks to advanced bots that can quickly purchase tickets faster than the average consumer, the problem is on the rise.

Additionally, the consumer advocacy groups warn that this technology is allowing bots to grab tickets in bulk, which are then resold at prices far higher than the original cost.

Image: Australian debutant Sam Konstas and a heated altercation involving Indian superstar Virat Kohli (Source: 7News screenshot)

In Australia, reselling tickets at a price more than 10% above the original cost is illegal in most states and territories. For instance, last year, the Victorian government declared Taylor Swift’s Melbourne tour a “major event,” meaning tickets could not be sold for more than a 10% mark-up.

However, if you can’t attend an event, you’re still allowed to resell your ticket — but the price cannot exceed the original amount by more than 10%. The law aims to prevent individuals from taking advantage of the public by overcharging for tickets.

Officially, ticket resellers must be authorised by the event organiser, with Ticketmaster and Ticketek being the primary platforms.

Despite these rules, the use of bots to snap up tickets continues to escalate, and some unauthorised resellers even sell the same ticket multiple times, leaving fans disappointed when they arrive at the event only to find their ticket has already been used.

Image: Sample message exchange from a Facebook group.

In Victoria, selling tickets for more than 10% above face value for major events can lead to fines ranging from $806 to $483,500. Additionally, advertisements for such resales must include key details, such as the ticket’s original price, the seating area, and the price being requested.

The Major Events Act 2009 protects fans from being exploited by scalpers, ensuring that tickets to major events are available for the general public. Anyone caught breaking the rules, including publishers like Viagogo, Ticketmaster Resale, and Facebook, faces penalties.

If you suspect someone is illegally reselling a ticket, or violating resale laws, you can report it to an Authorised Ticketing Officer who can investigate further.

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Children can be more vulnerable in the heat. Here’s how to protect them this summer

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Kid playing in the sun (Source: CANVA)

By Wen-Qiang He, James Smallcombe, Natasha Nassar, and Ollie Jay

Extreme heat is increasingly common in Australia and around the world and besides making us uncomfortable, it can harm our health. For example, exposure to extreme heat can exacerbate existing medical conditions, or cause problems such as heat stroke.

Due to a combination of physiology and behaviour, children are potentially more vulnerable to severe heat-related illness such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

But these are not the only heat-related health issues children might experience on a very hot day. In a new study, we looked at emergency department (ED) visits and unplanned hospital admissions among children in New South Wales on heatwave days.

We found a significant increase in children attending hospital compared to milder days – with a range of health issues.

Why are children more vulnerable in the heat?

Sweating is the main way we lose heat from our bodies and cool down.

Children have a greater skin surface area to body mass ratio, which can be an advantage for sweating – they can lose more heat through evaporation for a given body mass. But this also means children can lose fluids and electrolytes faster through sweating, theoretically making them more susceptible to dehydration.

Meanwhile, younger children, particularly babies, can’t sweat as much as older children and adults. This means they can’t cool down as effectively.

Children in general also tend to engage in more outdoor physical activity, which might see them more exposed to very hot temperatures.

Further, children may be less in-tune to the signals their body is giving them that they’re overheating, such as excessive sweating or red skin. So they might not stop and cool down when they need to. Young children especially may not recognise the early signs of heat stress or be able to express discomfort.

Our study

We wanted to examine children’s exposure to extreme heat stress and the associated risks to their health.

We measured extreme heat as “heatwave days”, at least two consecutive days with a daily maximum temperature above the 95th percentile for the relevant area on a universal thermal climate index. This ranged from 27°C to 45°C depending on the area.

We assessed health outcomes by looking at ED visits and unplanned hospital admissions among children aged 0–18 years from NSW between 2000 and 2020. This totalled around 8.2 million ED visits and 1.4 million hospital admissions.

We found hospital admissions for heat-related illness were 104% more likely on heatwave days compared to non-heatwave days, and ED visits were 78% more likely. Heat-related illness includes a spectrum of disorders from minor conditions such as dehydration to life-threatening conditions such as heat stroke.

But heat-related illness wasn’t the only condition that increased on heatwave days. There was also an increase in childhood infections, particularly infectious enteritis possibly related to food poisoning (up 6% for ED visits and 17% for hospital admissions), ear infections (up 30% for ED visits and 3% for hospital admissions), and skin and soft tissue infections (up 6% for ED visits and 4% for hospital admissions).

We know many infectious diseases are highly seasonal. Some, like the flu, peak in winter. But heat and humidity increase the risk of certain infections caused by bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens.

For example, warmer weather and higher humidity can increase the survival of bacteria, such as Salmonella, on foods, which increases the risk of food poisoning.

Hot weather can also increase the risk of ear infections. Children may be at greater risk during hot weather because they often swim or play at the beach or pool. Water can stay in the ear after swimming and a moist environment in the ear canal can cause growth of pathogens leading to ear infections.

Which children are most vulnerable?

During heatwaves, we found infants aged under one were at increased risk of ED visits and hospital admission for any reason compared to older children. This is not surprising, because babies can’t regulate their body temperature effectively and are reliant on their caregivers to keep them cool.

Our study also found children from the most disadvantaged areas were more vulnerable to heat-related illness on heatwave days. Although we don’t know exactly why, we hypothesised families from poorer areas might have limited access to air-conditioning and could be more likely to live in hotter neighbourhoods.

Keeping kids cool: tips for parents

The highest levels of heat exposure on hot days for young children is usually when they’re taken outside in prams and strollers. To protect their children from direct sunlight, parents often instinctively cover their stroller with a cloth such as a muslin.

However, a recent study from our group showed this actually increases temperatures inside a stroller to as much as 3–4˚C higher than outside.

But if the cloth is wet with water, and a small fan is used to circulate the air close to the child, stroller temperatures can be 4–5˚C lower than outside. Wetting the cloth every 15–20 minutes (for example, with a spray bottle) maintains the cooling effect.

When young children are not in a stroller, and for older children, there are a few things to consider to keep them cool and safe.

Remember temperatures reported on weather forecasts are measured in the shade, and temperatures in the sun can be up to 15˚C higher. So sticking to the shade as much as possible is important.

Exercise generates heat inside the body, so activities should be shortened, or rescheduled to cooler times of the day.

Sunscreen and hats are important when outdoors, but neither are especially effective for keeping cool. Spraying water on the child’s skin – not just the face but arms, legs and even the torso if possible – can help. Wetting their hats is another idea.

Proper hydration on hot days is also essential. Regular water breaks, including offering water before, during and after activity, is important. Offering foods with high water content such as watermelon and orange can help with hydration too.

Wen-Qiang He, Research Fellow in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney; James Smallcombe, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney; Natasha Nassar, Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology and Chair in Translational Childhood Medicine, University of Sydney, and Ollie Jay, Professor of Heat & Health; Director of Heat & Health Research Incubator; Director of Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Battin replaces Pesutto as Victorian Liberal leader amid party shakeup

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Bureau Report
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Image: Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin has emerged victorious as the new leader of the Victorian Liberals after a dramatic leadership spill ousted John Pesutto (Source: X)

Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin has emerged victorious as the new leader of the Victorian Liberals after a dramatic leadership spill ousted John Pesutto during a partyroom meeting on Friday morning.

Pesutto’s position had become untenable following exiled MP Moira Deeming’s legal triumph in a defamation case against him, which saw him ordered to pay $315,000 in damages. A partyroom motion to readmit Ms Deeming sparked the leadership spill, ultimately handing Battin the top job.

Image: Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin (Source: X)

Representing Berwick in Melbourne’s outer south-east, Battin will be joined by former tennis star and Nepean MP Sam Groth as deputy leader.

Speaking after his victory, Battin thanked his predecessor while pledging to focus on issues affecting Victorians.

“I want to thank John Pesutto for his service to our party. He’s a true believer in our values and a man of his word,” Mr Battin said.

“We now have an obligation to move forward united and address the challenges Victorians face.”

The new leader outlined priorities including tackling the cost-of-living crisis, strengthening law and order, repairing Victoria’s crumbling road network, and addressing the state’s ballooning budget deficit.

The leadership contest also saw Shadow Finance Minister Jess Wilson and Mornington MP Chris Crewther vying for the role. Crewther, who finished as runner-up, pledged his support for Battin while leaving the door open for a future leadership bid.

Image: John Pesutto MP (Source: X)

Pesutto, who led the Liberals since December 2022, vowed to support his successor, saying,

“I congratulate Brad Battin. I’ll do whatever I can to assist him and the party moving forward.”

Battin now faces the challenge of uniting the party and positioning it as a viable alternative to Premier Jacinta Allan’s government ahead of the next state election.

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262 Canadian colleges linked to alleged massive human trafficking network

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: USA-Canada border (Source: Canva)

In a shocking revelation, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has uncovered a vast human trafficking network involving 262 Canadian colleges and two Indian entities.

The ED’s investigation has linked these institutions to a well-organised conspiracy to illegally transport Indian nationals into the United States via Canada.

The probe, which began following the tragic deaths of a family of four from Dingucha village, Gujarat, at the Canada-US border in January 2022, has exposed the scale of the operation.

According to the ED, 112 Canadian colleges have entered agreements with one entity, while more than 150 colleges have collaborated with another. These entities, based in Mumbai and Nagpur, allegedly facilitated illegal immigration by luring individuals with promises of student visas.

The operation involved charging victims between ₹55 to ₹60 lakh per person (AUD 99,000 to AUD 108,000) for entry into Canada on student visas, with the intention of crossing the border into the US.

Once in Canada, the individuals would not attend the colleges they were admitted to, instead crossing into the US illegally. The Canadian colleges would refund the fees paid to them, which were then transferred back to the victims’ accounts.

During the ongoing investigation, the ED conducted search operations at eight locations across Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara, leading to the freezing of bank accounts with ₹19 lakh (AUD 34,200) and the seizure of incriminating documents, digital devices, and vehicles. The ED has identified over 1,700 agents in Gujarat and another 3,500 agents across India involved in the trafficking operation, with approximately 800 active participants.

The trafficking ring, according to the ED, is responsible for referring around 25,000 students annually to foreign colleges through the two entities. The investigation also revealed that these entities were securing admissions for students in Canadian universities on a commission basis, allowing them to apply for student visas while secretly planning their illegal entry into the United States.

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Yogesh Khattar spreads joy and kindness through impactful community initiatives

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Contributing Author
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Image: Yogesh Khattar with Air Force members at the BBQ event (Source: Supplied)

By Nikhar Budhadev 

Through Yogesh Khattar, the Blacktown and Ponds Lions Club, a significant impact has been made. They have engaged in a series of charitable initiatives, fundraising for a disability centre, providing meals to hospital staff, and supporting homeless individuals.

Khattar and team held a fundraising and donated a 12-seater bus to The Ponds School, for disability students. This project was a joint initiative with the Blacktown and Ponds Lions Club as well as the Australian Lions Foundation, which also contributed equally to the cause.

Image: BBQ event (Source: Supplied)

Local Airforce officers hosted a barbecue event that, in their way, added momentum to the campaign. It highlighted community collaboration, and the officers’ participation brought morale to the event. Khattar said.

“The Airforce officers showcased their commitment to fostering unity and goodwill.”

The event also embraced toy donations, inject further support for the school. This was accompanied by an acknowledgement of the challenges involved in the planning process though all credits went to the enthusiasm of the community that saw the project through.

Image: Chritsmas Day pizza initiative (Source: Supplied)

On Christmas Day, Khattar’s pizza store, which falls under the franchise network, supplied pizzas to the nurses and doctors working at Westmead Hospital, as well as to the police officers and firefighters on duty that day.

The gesture was meant to appreciate the frontline fighters for their devotion and sacrifices throughout the festive season. Khattar added:

“We wanted to honor those who serve the community tirelessly.”

Hospital staff appreciated the donation and saw it as a mere token of appreciation for their hard work.

Image: Pizza initiative (Source: Supplied)

Khattar, in another of his initiatives, organised a pizza serving to the homeless at Parramatta last month as part of the Diwali celebrations. The effort was directed toward bringing not only comfort but joy to those in need during the festival of lights.

He underscored that it is inspired by the values of Sanatan Dharma, where he believe in the concept of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” that is treating the world as one family. 

“Sanatan teachings guide us to care for others and serve humanity with humility.”

It was well received and proved the point that there is a genuine need to support vulnerable groups, with special emphasis on making such donations during festive occasions.

Image: Khattar family (Source: Supplied)

Khattar noted that his family fully participated in the planning and actualisation of these initiatives.

“Their involvement cements the message that change begins at home, guided by collective effort.”

Khattar also noted the overwhelming response of the community positively, many people offering their support and encouragement.

All of Khattar’s efforts are part and parcel of a larger service to the community-imparting values like being compassionate, working together, and selflessly offering help. He does this hoping that it will inspire more people to do their bit and make a change within their communities.

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Kohli fined for “inappropriate contact” in Boxing Day Test clash with Konstas

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Bureau Report
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Image: Australian debutant Sam Konstas and a heated altercation involving Indian superstar Virat Kohli (Source: 7News screenshot)

India’s cricketing icon, Virat Kohli, has been fined 20% of his match fee after an on-field clash with Australia’s 19-year-old debutant Sam Konstas during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

The incident occurred at the end of the 10th over on day one when Kohli appeared to shoulder-barge Konstas as the Australian opener walked down the pitch to confer with his partner, Usman Khawaja.

The exchange sparked tension, with both players trading words before umpire Michael Gough and Khawaja intervened to defuse the situation.

Match referee Andy Pycroft found Kohli guilty of breaching ICC guidelines on “inappropriate physical contact” and imposed the fine along with one demerit point. Kohli accepted the punishment, avoiding the need for a formal hearing, and remains eligible to play in the fifth Test in Sydney.

Replays suggested that Kohli changed direction to make contact, an action criticised by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. “He’s walked across the pitch to instigate the confrontation,” Ponting said on commentary for Channel 7.

Image: Australian debutant Sam Konstas and a heated altercation involving Indian superstar Virat Kohli (Source: 7News screenshot)

Konstas, who brushed off the incident as “just cricket, just the tension,” went on to score an impressive 60 off 65 balls on debut, including some audacious scoops and boundaries off India’s ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah. His innings helped Australia reach 311-6 at stumps.

This isn’t the first fiery moment in an India-Australia Test involving Kohli. The former Indian skipper has had notable clashes in previous series, including a heated exchange with Tim Paine in 2018-19 and a duel with Mitchell Johnson in 2014.

While former India coach Ravi Shastri admitted the altercation was “unnecessary,” he acknowledged that emotions can run high in such intense matches.

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Aussies lose $4 million to online shopping scams during festive season 2024

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: Online shopping (Source: CANVA)

The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JCP3) is urging Australians to stay alert this festive season, as online shopping scams have already cost consumers nearly $4 million in 2024.

As of October, ScamWatch had received over 13,500 reports of online shopping scams this year, with numbers expected to climb as cybercriminals target busy shoppers ahead of Boxing Day.

AFP Commander Graeme Marshall warned that cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

“The potential risk to those shopping online increases significantly during the holiday season as cybercriminals exploit time-poor consumers seeking bargains,” he said.

These scams typically involve fake online stores or profiles that look authentic, often advertising goods at heavily discounted prices. Scammers may also post fake reviews or ads on social media and marketplaces to lure victims. Once a purchase is made, customers either receive counterfeit products or nothing at all.

Commander Marshall outlined several red flags to watch for, such as unusually low prices, a lack of contact details, and requests for payment through bank transfers or cryptocurrency.

“We urge consumers to follow an online safety checklist to prevent a not-so-Merry festive season,” he added.

Stay safe with these tips:

  • Use secure payment platforms like PayPal or credit cards that offer buyer protection.
  • Avoid payments via bank transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
  • Go directly to the official website of the seller rather than relying on ads or top search results, which could lead to fake sites.
  • Check for ‘https’ and a padlock symbol in the website address when making payments.
  • Research the seller and look for independent reviews. Be cautious of websites with no reviews or overly positive, fake-looking feedback.
  • Avoid websites without terms and conditions, an ABN, or a privacy policy.
  • Be wary of emails or messages asking you to click on links to verify an order—legitimate companies won’t ask this.

With scams on the rise, JCP3 advises Australians to shop smart and stay vigilant to ensure their festive season remains merry and scam-free.

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Regular lessons have paused – but your kids should still practise their swimming this summer

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Contributing Author
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Representative image: Children swimming (Source: CANVA)

By Amy Peden

Many swimming schools have temporarily closed for the summer holidays. But this doesn’t mean you should take a break from helping your kids learn how to swim.

What can you do during this period to keep your children’s swimming skills up to scratch?

Summer dangers

Remember, summer is a peak time for drowning. Australia records its highest number of drowning deaths in the warmer months and tragically, 134 lives were lost last summer.

Risk is highest at this time, as people head to the water to seek relief from the heat. The school and public holidays also mean people go to areas they are not familiar with.

Children in particular are disproportionately impacted, with their risk of drowning doubling during school holidays, compared to term time.

How to stay safe

Adults need to actively supervise young children around water. This means being within arms’ reach in the water with children under five and older if your children are non or weak swimmers.

Supervision can relax as children grow and improve their swimming. But the safest place for parents is in the water having fun with the kids.

It’s also important to remember “active supervision” means focusing all your attention on your children (so no mobile phones or multi-tasking).

Along with pool fencing and adults learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), learning how to swim is a key strategy to reduce the risk of drowning.

This means children have the skills and knowledge to keep them safe in different water environments and scenarios.

Any swimming you do helps

Research shows any activity (even informal play) in any type of water can make a positive difference to swimming skills.

My 2016 Australian study with Royal Life Saving Society colleagues showed any time spent in the water – but ideally at least once a fortnight – is linked to higher swimming skills in children (5–12 years) already enrolled in swimming lessons.

Children with a home pool have also been found to be better swimmers than those without a pool.

Although we don’t exactly know why, this is likely due to the increased opportunity to informally practise their swimming skills. It may also be that parents are more conscientious about lessons.

Talk about water safety as well

To understand what children should be able to do by a particular age, check the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework.

This can give you ideas of things to practise and a reminder of a holistic approach to learning to swim, which includes personal survival and rescue skills. For example, by six, it is expected every Australian child should be able to enter and exit shallow water unassisted, float and recover to a standing or secure position and move continuously through the water for five metres.

Talking about water safety with your kids could include setting and reinforcing rules around the water, such as “no going near the water without an adult” or “no climbing on the pool fence”.

If you’re at the beach, always prioritise one that’s patrolled, and explain why we swim between the flags. If lifeguards can’t see you, no one can help you should you get into trouble.

Think about all types of water

With lifeguards and a controlled environment, local pools are statistically the safest places to swim.

But it is important for children to experience different swimming environments, including cold water and currents. For two decades, rivers have been the leading location for drowning in Australia.

This is why enjoying the water safely with your children this summer is a great opportunity to practise their swimming skills. Plenty of “Christmas swims” (as Bluey calls them) and water play will mean you’ll see a difference when kids head back to swimming lessons for Term 1 next year.

Amy Peden, NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Population Health & co-founder UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Dr. Manmohan Singh Dies at 92: Tributes Pour In for India’s Visionary Leader

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Bureau Report
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Former PM of India Dr Manmohan Singh: Image Source: GOI
Former PM of India Dr Manmohan Singh: Image Source: GOI

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, a distinguished economist and statesman, passed away on December 26, 2024, at the age of 92.

Born on September 26, 1932, in Gah, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Dr. Singh’s journey from a modest village to the highest echelons of Indian politics is a testament to his dedication and intellect.

Dr. Singh’s academic prowess was evident early on. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from Panjab University, followed by an Economics Tripos from the University of Cambridge in 1957. He later obtained a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Oxford in 1962. His scholarly achievements laid a strong foundation for his future roles in shaping India’s economic landscape.

In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, Dr Singh was appointed as the Union Finance Minister by then-Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. He introduced a series of economic reforms that liberalized the Indian economy, steering the country towards a path of rapid growth and globalization. His tenure as Finance Minister is often credited with transforming India’s economic framework and opening it up to the global market.

In 2004, Dr. Singh became the 13th Prime Minister of India, serving two consecutive terms until 2014. He was the first Sikh to hold the office and the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. During his premiership, India witnessed significant economic growth, the implementation of key legislations like the Right to Information Act, and the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal.

Beyond his political and economic contributions, Dr. Singh was known for his humility, integrity, and unwavering commitment to the nation’s progress. His calm demeanour and scholarly approach to governance earned him respect across the political spectrum.

Dr Singh’s passing marks the end of an era in Indian politics. His legacy as a reformer and visionary leader will continue to inspire future generations. The nation mourns the loss of a true statesman who dedicated his life to the service of India.

ManmohanSingh #DrManmohanSingh #RIPManmohanSingh

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Sashi Kiran appointed Fiji’s new Minister for Women amid Lynda Tabuya alleged video scandal

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announced the dismissal of Minister for Women Lynda Tabuya, appointing Sashi Kiran (Source: X)

In a dramatic cabinet reshuffle, Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announced the dismissal of Minister for Women Lynda Tabuya, appointing Sashi Kiran as her successor.

Image: Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (Source: X)

The move, which Rabuka stated was made “in the best interest of the people we serve,” comes amidst swirling controversy surrounding a private video allegedly involving Tabuya.

Rabuka took to social media to confirm the decision:

“Hon. Lynda Tabuya has been dismissed as Minister for Women, effective immediately. Hon. Sashi Kiran will be sworn in as the new Minister. This decision was made in the best interest of the people we serve.”

Kiran, elected to Fiji’s Parliament in December 2022 as a National Federation Party member, served as Assistant Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation in the PAP/NFP/SODELPA Coalition Government.

She is a respected figure in grassroots development, is the founder and CEO of FRIEND (Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development). Established in the wake of Fiji’s 2000 political crisis, FRIEND has championed economic empowerment for underserved communities, focusing on women, youth, and people with disabilities.

FRIEND’s initiatives, including its long-selling line of supermarket chutneys and other rural products, have transformed local livelihoods and earned recognition across the Pacific region.

Image: Sashi Kiran (Source: X)

Kiran’s expertise in fostering sustainable development and community resilience has positioned her as a prominent voice on regional and international platforms, including her contributions to the Commonwealth Foundation and other global NGOs.

The reshuffle follows allegations tied to a private video involving Tabuya, which was circulated online. PM Rabuka has requested an explanation from Minister Lynda Tabuya regarding a viral explicit video allegedly involving her.

Tabuya condemned the incident as a grave invasion of privacy and a form of cyber exploitation, reaffirming her commitment to addressing such issues. In a statement, she emphasised the need for stronger digital ethics and announced legal action against those responsible for distributing the video.

“There is nothing scandalous or immoral about sharing private content between consenting adults,” Tabuya stated, adding that the unauthorised circulation of such material is a crime. She vowed to continue advocating for the rights and well-being of Fiji’s women, children, and vulnerable groups.

Image: Former Minister for Women Lynda Tabuya (Source: X)

The reshuffle and the surrounding controversy have sparked widespread public discourse, with many calling for enhanced protections against online harassment and greater accountability in leadership. For now, all eyes are on Kiran as she steps into a challenging but pivotal role, bringing her wealth of experience to the national stage.

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Boxing Day Test drama as Aussie teen sensation Konstas stuns Kohli

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Australian debutant Sam Konstas and a heated altercation involving Indian superstar Virat Kohli (Source: 7News screenshot)

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is delicately poised at 1-1 after a draw at the Gabba, with India needing just one win from the remaining two matches to retain the coveted prize. However, the Boxing Day Test at the MCG has already delivered a whirlwind of action, courtesy of Australian debutant Sam Konstas and a heated altercation involving Indian superstar Virat Kohli.

Nineteen-year-old Konstas etched his name into Test cricket folklore with a blistering maiden half-century, tearing apart India’s world-class bowling attack.

Unfazed by the occasion, the teenager smashed a fearless 60 off just 52 deliveries, the third-fastest fifty by an Australian debutant, trailing only Adam Gilchrist and Ashton Agar. His audacious ramps, scoops, and slogs left India’s bowlers floundering, with even Jasprit Bumrah conceding his first six in over 4,400 Test deliveries.

The sold-out crowd at the MCG erupted in applause as Konstas walked off, dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, but the visitors’ woes didn’t end there. Australia closed the second session at 2-176, with Marnus Labuschagne (44*) and Steve Smith (10*) solidifying the hosts’ dominant start after opener Usman Khawaja contributed a composed 57.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is now under pressure to take action against Kohli, with commentators Mark Waugh and Ravi Shastri condemning his behaviour.

“I think there’ll be some sort of suspension or reprimand at least,” Waugh remarked on Fox League, while Shastri called Kohli’s actions “totally unnecessary.”

India will need a breakthrough – and fast – to wrestle back momentum in a match that could define the series.

Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep

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Teen dies in Christmas Day fireworks explosion

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Bureau Report
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Image: Teen dies in fireworks explosion (Source: 7News screenshot)

Kalkallo, situated approximately 31 kilometres north of Melbourne, became the scene of the devastating Christmas night tragedy, leaving the local community shaken.

A 19-year-old man died following in what is being reported at this stage as a tragic fireworks explosion on Christmas Day.

Victoria Police and the State Emergency Service (SES) were called to a property near Pittsburgh Road and Cloverton Boulevard around 9:10pm after reports of a fireworks incident.

Upon arrival, they discovered the Whittlesea man with critical injuries. Despite efforts, he died at the scene a short time later.

The exact circumstances surrounding the explosion remain under investigation, with authorities working to piece together how the fatal incident unfolded.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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University of Melbourne bestows highest honour on India’s Dr Kiran Martin

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Dr Kiran Martin, Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) (Source: University of Melbourne)

The University of Melbourne has recognised Dr Kiran Martin, a paediatrician turned social reformer, with an honorary Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) for her transformative work empowering nearly one million residents of New Delhi’s slum communities.

Image: Dr Kiran Martin being conferred with an an honorary Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) at the University of Melbourne (Source: UniMelb Website)

Dr Martin, founder and director of Asha, an organisation dedicated to improving health, education, and socio-economic conditions for India’s urban poor, was among five distinguished individuals to receive the university’s highest honour during recent graduation ceremonies.

Image: Dr Kiran Martin, founder and director of Asha India, early days (Source: Asha website)

From humble beginnings in 1988—when a cholera outbreak inspired her to set up a makeshift clinic under a tree in a South Delhi slum—Dr Martin has built Asha into a beacon of hope (asha in Hindi translates to “hope”).

The organisation’s comprehensive model addresses systemic inequalities, particularly around caste and gender, through initiatives in healthcare, education, sanitation, and financial inclusion.

Image: Dr Kiran Martin, founder and director of Asha India (Source: Asha website)

Notably, infant mortality rates in Asha-supported communities have plummeted to 11 per 1,000 live births, compared to India’s national average of 28.3. Asha’s educational initiatives have enabled over 5,000 slum youth to attend university, with some earning advanced degrees from institutions such as the University of Melbourne.

“Dr Martin’s lifetime of service has impacted millions of lives and created an outstanding model of community empowerment,” said Assistant Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim McCluskey AO.

“She is an inspiration for how universities and civil society can partner to uplift marginalised communities worldwide.”

Dr Martin’s impact extends beyond India. Her work has been recognised internationally, earning accolades such as India’s Padma Shri honour in 2002 and acknowledgment as a “best practice” model by the United Nations Habitat program.

Image: Dr Kiran Martin being honoured with India’s Padma Shri in 2002 by President K R Narayanan (Source: Asha website)

In her address at the University of Melbourne ceremony, Dr Martin dedicated the award to the resilient slum residents she serves.

“Their courage has changed me, and their dreams will continue to change the world.”

Image: University of Melbourne confers five honorary doctorates (Source: UniMelb Website)

The other notable recipients include Associate Professor Martha Macintyre, a distinguished anthropologist; The Hon Nicola Roxon, an advocate for public health and social justice; Uncle Paul Briggs AO, a Yorta Yorta leader dedicated to advancing Aboriginal affairs; and Professor André de Quadros, a pioneering music educator.

Image: University of Melbourne Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips (Source: UniMelb website)

Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips commended their achievements, highlighting their commitment to community service, global impact, and the advancement of human wellbeing.

Further, Prof. Phillips highlighted the broader significance of the awards:

“These remarkable individuals embody the University’s commitment to community service, global impact, and advancing human wellbeing.”

Image: Dr Kiran Martin awarded with Doctoral degree by University of Sydney (Source: ASha website)

Dr Martin’s work in Australia is supported by the Friends of Asha Australia society and AusAid. Her impactful initiatives have drawn notable Australian visitors to Asha project areas, including former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. In October 2023, the University of Sydney awarded Dr Martin an Honorary Doctor of Letters for her significant contributions to India’s welfare and leadership in civil society.

This recognition adds to Dr Martin’s growing legacy of using visionary leadership and innovation to challenge social hierarchies, empower women, and create lasting change in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

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Over 600 firefighters prepare to battle bushfires ahead of Boxing Day total fire ban

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Severe Weather Update (Source: BoM Australia - X)

Victorians are being warned to prepare for potentially catastrophic bushfire conditions as a statewide total fire ban comes into effect from 12:01 am on Boxing Day, lasting until 11:59 pm. Authorities are urging residents to avoid all non-essential travel in areas with an “extreme” fire danger rating.

Thursday’s forecast of scorching temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s, combined with gusty northerly winds, mirrors conditions seen during the devastating 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued warnings of a strong south-westerly wind change that could bring gusts of up to 100 km/h, exacerbating the fire risk.

The Grampians National Park is a significant concern, with an out-of-control blaze already consuming more than 44,000 hectares and threatening nearby communities. Halls Gap residents were evacuated over the weekend, while Moyston and Pomonal received emergency evacuation orders on Christmas Day.

Firefighters are battling additional out-of-control blazes in Bullengarook, west of Gisborne, and The Gurdies in South Gippsland, where sheds and outbuildings have been lost. Meanwhile, crews have contained a fire in Creswick but remain on high alert for flare-ups under the extreme conditions.

Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent has highlighted the immense challenge ahead, as the Grampians fire alone has a 300-kilometre perimeter and is expected to impact more communities over the coming days.

Across the border, residents in New South Wales are also bracing for extreme heat, with temperatures in Wagga Wagga predicted to reach 39°C.

Sydney is expected to endure a cooler Boxing Day at 29°C but will see highs of 37°C on Friday, with western suburbs such as Penrith forecast to hit 41°C. Canberra is set to reach 35°C, while Brisbane’s temperatures will peak at 37°C on Friday.

In Victoria, more than 600 firefighters, including reinforcements from NSW, Queensland, ACT, and Tasmania, are on the ground, supported by 18 firebombing aircraft. Authorities have warned that the battle to contain these fires is likely to continue into the new year.

Victorians are reminded that a total fire ban prohibits any fire from being lit or left alight in the open air. “These conditions are not to be underestimated,” said meteorologist Dean Narramore, emphasising that the winds could render fires “uncontrollable.”

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30-year-old man arrested in dramatic beach chase over alleged $34M meth operation

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Operation Duvel (Source: AFP)

A 30-year-old Greek national has been dramatically arrested in the surf at Birubi Beach, Anna Bay, for his alleged role in a major drug operation involving the importation of 34kg of methamphetamine into Sydney.

Image: Operation Duvel (Source: AFP)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) began investigating the organised crime syndicate in June 2024, suspecting it was importing drugs from the United Kingdom. Authorities allege the man stored a car containing 37kg of methamphetamine, intending to deliver the vehicle and its illicit cargo – valued at an estimated $34 million – to an unidentified recipient.

AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said the arrests underscore the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks.

“Let these arrests serve as a warning to criminal syndicates plotting attempts to bring illicit substances into our country – we are ready to act and disrupt your criminal activities, together with our law enforcement partners.”

Video: Operation Duvel (Source: AFP)

An arrest warrant was issued on 25 November 2024 for the man’s alleged involvement. After tracking him to Birubi Beach, about an hour north of Newcastle, AFP investigators and NSW Police moved in at around 5:20pm on Friday, 20 December.

When approached, the man allegedly fled into the ocean to evade capture. However, after treading water for a short time, he returned to shallow waters, where he was arrested.

The man has been charged with:

  • Possessing a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drugs, contrary to section 307.5 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth), carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
  • Breaching bail, under section 77(1)(e) of the Bail Act 2013 (NSW).

He appeared in Parramatta Local Court on 21 December 2024, where he was refused bail. The case will return to the same court on 20 February 2025.

The man is the fourth person arrested in connection with the methamphetamine operation.

Image: Operation Duvel (Source: AFP)

Two other Greek nationals, aged 43 and 41, were arrested earlier in the investigation. They are accused of retrieving the drugs from an air cargo consignment in Earlwood and concealing them in a vehicle. Both were charged and remain in custody, with their cases scheduled for Downing Centre Local Court on 19 February 2025.

A fourth suspect, a 45-year-old Greek national, was arrested on 20 November 2024 and faces similar charges for allegedly helping store and prepare the vehicle for delivery. He is due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on 15 January 2025.

This ongoing operation highlights the scale of collaboration between Australian law enforcement agencies in combating organised crime and protecting the community from the dangers of drug trafficking.

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An AI system has reached human level on a test for ‘general intelligence’. Here’s what that means

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Artificial General Intelligence (Source: CANVA)

By Michael Timothy Bennett and Elija Perrier

A new artificial intelligence (AI) model has just achieved human-level results on a test designed to measure “general intelligence”.

On December 20, OpenAI’s o3 system scored 85% on the ARC-AGI benchmark, well above the previous AI best score of 55% and on par with the average human score. It also scored well on a very difficult mathematics test.

Creating artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is the stated goal of all the major AI research labs. At first glance, OpenAI appears to have at least made a significant step towards this goal.

While scepticism remains, many AI researchers and developers feel something just changed. For many, the prospect of AGI now seems more real, urgent and closer than anticipated. Are they right?

Generalisation and intelligence

To understand what the o3 result means, you need to understand what the ARC-AGI test is all about. In technical terms, it’s a test of an AI system’s “sample efficiency” in adapting to something new – how many examples of a novel situation the system needs to see to figure out how it works.

An AI system like ChatGPT (GPT-4) is not very sample efficient. It was “trained” on millions of examples of human text, constructing probabilistic “rules” about which combinations of words are most likely.

The result is pretty good at common tasks. It is bad at uncommon tasks, because it has less data (fewer samples) about those tasks.

Until AI systems can learn from small numbers of examples and adapt with more sample efficiency, they will only be used for very repetitive jobs and ones where the occasional failure is tolerable.

The ability to accurately solve previously unknown or novel problems from limited samples of data is known as the capacity to generalise. It is widely considered a necessary, even fundamental, element of intelligence.

Grids and patterns

The ARC-AGI benchmark tests for sample efficient adaptation using little grid square problems like the one below. The AI needs to figure out the pattern that turns the grid on the left into the grid on the right.

Several patterns of coloured squares on a black grid background.
An example task from the ARC-AGI benchmark test. ARC Prize

Each question gives three examples to learn from. The AI system then needs to figure out the rules that “generalise” from the three examples to the fourth.

These are a lot like the IQ tests sometimes you might remember from school.

Weak rules and adaptation

We don’t know exactly how OpenAI has done it, but the results suggest the o3 model is highly adaptable. From just a few examples, it finds rules that can be generalised.

To figure out a pattern, we shouldn’t make any unnecessary assumptions, or be more specific than we really have to be. In theory, if you can identify the “weakest” rules that do what you want, then you have maximised your ability to adapt to new situations.

What do we mean by the weakest rules? The technical definition is complicated, but weaker rules are usually ones that can be described in simpler statements.

In the example above, a plain English expression of the rule might be something like: “Any shape with a protruding line will move to the end of that line and ‘cover up’ any other shapes it overlaps with.”

Searching chains of thought?

While we don’t know how OpenAI achieved this result just yet, it seems unlikely they deliberately optimised the o3 system to find weak rules. However, to succeed at the ARC-AGI tasks it must be finding them.

We do know that OpenAI started with a general-purpose version of the o3 model (which differs from most other models, because it can spend more time “thinking” about difficult questions) and then trained it specifically for the ARC-AGI test.

French AI researcher Francois Chollet, who designed the benchmark, believes o3 searches through different “chains of thought” describing steps to solve the task. It would then choose the “best” according to some loosely defined rule, or “heuristic”.

This would be “not dissimilar” to how Google’s AlphaGo system searched through different possible sequences of moves to beat the world Go champion.

You can think of these chains of thought like programs that fit the examples. Of course, if it is like the Go-playing AI, then it needs a heuristic, or loose rule, to decide which program is best.

There could be thousands of different seemingly equally valid programs generated. That heuristic could be “choose the weakest” or “choose the simplest”.

However, if it is like AlphaGo then they simply had an AI create a heuristic. This was the process for AlphaGo. Google trained a model to rate different sequences of moves as better or worse than others.

What we still don’t know

The question then is, is this really closer to AGI? If that is how o3 works, then the underlying model might not be much better than previous models.

The concepts the model learns from language might not be any more suitable for generalisation than before. Instead, we may just be seeing a more generalisable “chain of thought” found through the extra steps of training a heuristic specialised to this test. The proof, as always, will be in the pudding.

Almost everything about o3 remains unknown. OpenAI has limited disclosure to a few media presentations and early testing to a handful of researchers, laboratories and AI safety institutions.

Truly understanding the potential of o3 will require extensive work, including evaluations, an understanding of the distribution of its capacities, how often it fails and how often it succeeds.

When o3 is finally released, we’ll have a much better idea of whether it is approximately as adaptable as an average human.

If so, it could have a huge, revolutionary, economic impact, ushering in a new era of self-improving accelerated intelligence. We will require new benchmarks for AGI itself and serious consideration of how it ought to be governed.

If not, then this will still be an impressive result. However, everyday life will remain much the same.

Michael Timothy Bennett, PhD Student, School of Computing, Australian National University and Elija Perrier, Research Fellow, Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, Stanford University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Albanese and Dutton reflect on Cyclone Tracy’s legacy and the spirit of Christmas

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at the Kmart Wishing Tree (Source: Facebook)

Australia’s political leaders delivered heartfelt messages this Christmas, blending seasonal cheer with solemn reflections on resilience and community spirit.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended warm Christmas wishes, emphasising the season as a time for “generosity and kindness.”

In his address, he thanked the nation’s medical workers, emergency personnel, charity staff, hospitality workers, and Australian Defence Force members who “give up their Christmas to help others.”

Albanese’s message was poignant as he commemorated the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve in 1974. Speaking from the city, he described visiting the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, home to the Cyclone Tracy story.

“Walking amongst the exhibition today on Christmas Eve was a solemn reminder of the destruction wreaked on Darwin 50 years ago and a demonstration of the resilience and strength of this community.”

The Prime Minister also shared a personal story of a survivor, Antony, who as a 12-year-old endured the cyclone’s wrath, huddled under his house as winds exceeding 217 km/h tore through Darwin.

“Antony’s story of bravery and resilience is a reminder of the strength that so many in the Darwin community showed that night.”

Image: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at the Kmart Wishing Tree (Source: Facebook)

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton echoed Albanese’s sentiments, calling the story of Cyclone Tracy one of “ruin and resurrection.” He reflected on the devastation and the incredible resolve shown by the people of Darwin in rebuilding their city and lives.

“From the tragedy of Cyclone Tracy, many lessons were learnt, and improvements to building standards and disaster planning emerged.”

Dutton also paid tribute to the Australians who responded to the crisis with courage and compassion, describing the post-cyclone rescue and recovery efforts as “an operation rivalling Dunkirk.”

In his Christmas message, Dutton highlighted the financial struggles many Australians face, praising charity workers and food banks for their efforts.

“Even with hardships at home, we should reflect this Christmas on how lucky we are to live in the best country in the world.”

Both leaders concluded with messages of hope and unity, urging Australians to celebrate the spirit of the season while remembering those less fortunate.

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Christmas cheer meets harsh reality for Canberra’s homeless

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Homeless (Source: CANVA)

By Nikhar Budhadev 

As the festive season brings cheer to the streets of Canberra, it also highlights the challenges faced by those without a permanent home.

Scott, who some days lives in a backpacker hostel in Dickson, spends his days near Westfield Belconnen, relying on the generosity of strangers to meet his basic needs.

Dressed in a red torn T-shirt, loose blue trousers, and a black cap, Scott often sits near a rubbish bin outside the shopping center, hoping to collect at least $2 — the amount he needs to secure a bed for the night at the hostel.

Vikram Kulkarni, an Independent ACT candidate, observes that homelessness remains a critical challenge in the ACT, with demand for housing and support outpacing supply.

“More investment and faster delivery are essential to meet growing demand. Addressing homelessness requires both immediate relief and long-term solutions to ensure every Canberran has access to safe and stable housing.”

Remembering the old days, Scott says, “I really enjoyed Christmas in the past.”

“I came from a broken home… drank too much…now don’t have much to do with Christmas anymore.” 

One of Scott’s fondest childhood memories is receiving a soccer ball as a Christmas gift from his grandmother. He recalls playing soccer with her during the holidays and said a recent kickabout in the park reminded him of those moments.

This Christmas, Scott expects to spend the day on the streets but plans to attend a church dinner in the evening.

“We need as much money as we can get so we can buy food to keep this going over Christmas. I haven’t eaten anything since last two days.”

Scott’s reliance on charities highlights the critical role of churches and community sector organisations in addressing immediate food insecurity. Vikram adds,

“However, addressing food insecurity and homelessness requires a more systemic response, including permanent, government-supported meal programs, expanded affordable housing options, and accelerated public housing delivery.

Scott’s story mirrors a growing homelessness crisis in the Australian Capital Territory. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows an 11.3% rise in homelessness across the ACT, increasing from 1,596 people in 2016 to 1,777 in 2021. While the rate of homelessness per 10,000 people has seen a slight decrease — from 40.2 in 2016 to 39.1 in 2021 — significant challenges remain.

Further insights from Community Services ACT reveal that over 40% of individuals seeking homelessness support in the territory are long-term homeless, enduring housing instability for at least seven months over a two-year period.

As Canberra celebrates the festive season, stories like Scott’s stand as stark reminders of those still fighting for shelter and security.

“By strengthening partnerships, scaling programs, ensuring sustained funding, and recognising housing as a human right, we can create an inclusive and supportive community that truly leaves no one behind,” said Vikram.

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Organised crime syndicates caught red-handed as authorities thwart over 740 drug smuggling attempts

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Most creative drug import attempt (Source: AFP)

Organised crime syndicates made the naughty list in 2024, with more than 740 attempted drug imports intercepted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF).

Between 1 January and 1 December 2024, these consignments, smuggled via air and sea cargo, resulted in the seizure of more than 45 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.

Image: Most creative drug import attempt (Source: AFP)

The festive season brought a unique twist, with some illicit drugs hidden inside Christmas gifts and others creatively concealed in everyday items like paint brushes, sandals, bath products, herbal tea, wine, and even underpants.

AFP Commander Paula Hudson expressed astonishment at the lengths criminal syndicates would go to. “Australia is one of the most attractive markets for transnational serious organised criminal syndicates because of the high prices their drugs can command,” she said.

“The AFP remains alert to the fact that syndicates are relentless in their attempts to flood our shores, with the sole motivation of profit and greed. Our message is clear: your efforts will fail – we are and remain a step ahead.

“The AFP and our state and Commonwealth law enforcement partners are well aware of the lengths criminals will go to as they evolve their concealment methods. The AFP doesn’t take a holiday and will be keeping watch, ready to act.”

Image: Most creative drug import attempt (Source: AFP)

In one case, ABF officers at the Melbourne Cargo Examination Facility detected nearly 9kg of heroin hidden in paint brushes sent from Vietnam. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of a 26-year-old Nigerian man. Another attempt in March saw a Taiwanese national stopped at Sydney Airport with more than 20kg of methamphetamine disguised as wine, herbal tea, and bath salts.

Criminal groups also used industrial machinery and commercial-grade equipment to conceal drugs. A major bust in July uncovered almost 900kg of methamphetamine, worth $828 million, hidden inside industrial machinery shipped from the United States. A Winston Hills man was arrested for his alleged involvement.

Some traffickers took extreme measures, carrying drugs within their bodies. In February, a WA couple returning from an overseas holiday were found with internally concealed heroin worth $127,500. After excreting 13 pellets, they were sentenced to a combined 11 years in prison.

Image: Most creative drug import attempt (Source: AFP)

New legislation introduced in May prohibiting the import of 1,4 Butanediol – a substance linked to overdoses and sexual assaults – helped law enforcement seize over 4200 litres within weeks. The dangerous liquid, labelled as essential oils, led to the arrest of two individuals in NSW.

An Italian national who attempted to smuggle high-purity ketamine hidden in Christmas gifts in 2023 had his own holiday spirit dampened after being sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

ABF Commander Ranjeev Maharaj echoed these sentiments. “Criminals think they are being clever by coming up with new ways of concealing harmful drugs, but our well-trained officers use not only modern technology and intelligence to detect these consignments, but also good old-fashioned officer intuition.

“Make no mistake, regardless of the creative way illicit drugs are hidden, we will work with the AFP to investigate and prosecute those responsible, and this occurs 365 days of the year – including over the festive season.”

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How to manage kids’ ‘Christmas crankies’ over the holidays

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Cranky children (Source: CANVA)

By Catherine E. Wood

Christmas is coming, and with it many challenges for parents of young children.

You likely have one festive event after another, late nights, party food, way too much stimulation, tired kids and tired parents. All of which can culminate in what seems like an endless meltdown.

Yes, it’s the “Christmas crankies” – a far cry from the “festive friendlies” we are all conditioned to expect.

So, what can parents do to manage, or indeed prevent, the cranky times?

Routines are your friend

Routines are very important for children. They help them to know what to expect and what is expected of them while also helping them to feel safe.

Keeping to all your routines is almost impossible over the festive season (and it’s OK to be flexible to accommodate friends, family and celebrations).

But try and hold on to as many as you can. Try and stick to your bedtimes, or make sure you have the same breakfast and lunch if you are going out for a different dinner.

Even at a party, balance the festive food with healthier options. For example, have some carrot sticks next to the chip bowl and make sure the kids have some water (and not constant lemonade).

Prepare kids for what will happen

Given there are so many changes to the routine, it can also be helpful to prepare children for what is coming up.

You could have a schedule somewhere for the whole family to see. This can let children see what is happening, which can help to minimise any anxiety associated with uncertainty. The schedule can include activities such as social events, the date relatives are arriving, and what is happening on Christmas Day (aside from opening presents).

Some children might also feel anxious when meeting new people or relatives, or going to unfamiliar places during the festive season. Having a clear explanation and time limit for these events can also be helpful. For example, saying something such as,

tonight we are going to your aunty’s house, you haven’t seen this aunty for a year but her name is Mary. We will be there for an hour [demonstrate on the clock] and have some dessert. Then we’re coming home, and you’ll get to read your book and then off to bed.

It can also be helpful to space out some of the activities so there is some rest time in between.

Ok, but we still have a meltdown here

Despite your best efforts, it might be genuinely hard to avoid a meltdown. When a child is overwhelmed, stressed, and/or fatigued, the brain’s panic button (the amygdala) can be set off. This is what US clinical professor of psychiatry Dan Siegel refers to as “flipping the lid”.

As Siegel explains, the frontal lobe (responsible for self-control), loses control over the limbic system (which contains the amygdala, and is involved in the emotional control of behaviour).

The brain’s ability to control emotions is relatively immature in younger children, and can take at least until the early 20s to fully mature.

This means in times of fatigue, stress, new and/or over stimulating environments, “self-control” can be challenged or even lost.

What to do in a meltdown

Parents can act as the proxy frontal lobe, helping their child to restore balance between their thoughts, feelings, and the demands of a sometimes chaotic Christmas setting.

In these circumstances, the child needs their parent(s) to stay connected, and to use a calm voice to bring them to a more balanced (or regulated) state. Parents could say something such as,

I can see you are feeling upset right now. It’s OK – there is a lot going on at Christmas time. I am here. Do you need a cuddle?

Remember, a child’s behaviour is not random – it is a vehicle to communicate a need. Maybe they need sleep, a drink, comfort, and/or some downtime.

So be on the lookout for those cranky cues so that the festivities can be enjoyed by all.

Catherine E. Wood, Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Mold and high rent: Indian student highlights Melbourne’s housing crisis

By
Aarushi Sharma
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Representative image: Mold (Source: CANVA)

Sweta*, a 20-year-old international student, recently opened up about her housing crisis in an exclusive interview, shedding light on the horrible conditions her has endured in the past months.

Pursuing an undergraduate degree in Melbourne, Sweta has faced challenges with her housing due to mold growth and water damage in her apartment which she shares with her flatmate.

After contacting her agent about the situation when she and her flatmate returned from their home country, the solution provided was extremely slow.  

Cleaning the noxious puddle of water was just a temporary solution to the issue of mold that was spreading on multiple areas around the apartment.

“We pay a hefty amount of rent to have a decent living; even then, if the minimal maintenance is not taken care of and we have to spend so much of our time and energy on these issues rather than studies and our goals, … then what’s the use?”

Being a hardworking and dedicated student, she further talks about how frequently and rapidly the living conditions within these months affected her physical health and the mental turmoil it caused, which in turn disrupted her rigorous study routine.

“Imagine, it took them one day to fix an issue that they kept on delaying for four months.”

However, the mold problem is still not completely resolved. Concerns by her friends and acquaintances who have witnessed this situation and urge her to move out. Pointing to the fact that the smell, which she has got used to is unbearable; she adds

“Even now, when my friends come over to hang out, the first thing that they mention is the horrendous smell as soon as the walk in the apartment.”

A significant amount of money goes towards the rent, yet basic utilities such as water, gas, laundry and Wi-Fi are not included – which is causes the whole living costs to soar. The question that arises here is, whether the owners or the agents would have stayed in the same conditions as Sweta and her flatmate do. Lack of solutions, delays and postponing something that should have been fixed immediately was not just inadequate but negligent. 

“I’ve seen people who pay less than I do, but they are living in worse conditions – overcrowded rooms or dealing with bad flatmates.”

This housing crisis affecting Sweta is a part of a broader issue facing students in Melbourne, where many are struggling to find safe, affordable, and well maintained housing. Sweta’s housing problems highlight growing concerns about the responsibility of property owners and agents and Melbourne’s rental market.

The unfairness of this situation expands even more with issues regarding breaking the lease to find a better place and not getting the bond back, despite the obvious nature of this current circumstance.

Waiting for the lease to end and finding another place that does not burn the pocket, justifies the rent, has more responsive owners and agents is truly a hassle, all while managing the load of her bachelor’s degree. Now, as Sweta faces the dilemma of choosing between substandard living conditions or moving towards cheaper place that may bring it’s own set of problems; she claims  “the whole process is frustrating and exhausting”.

*Name changed to protect identity.

Contributing Author: Aarushi Sharma, a Master’s student in Communications at Deakin University, specialises in Digital Media, Journalism, and Public Relations. She is currently a trainee journalist with The Australia Today.

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Ten startups recognised for driving climate-smart farming in India and Australia

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Climate Smart Agritech cohort (Source: RISE)

Ten innovative agritech startups have been chosen for the India-Australia Rapid Innovation and Startup Expansion (RISE) Accelerator, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing global farming challenges through sustainable and scalable solutions.

This year’s Climate Smart Agritech round highlights the shared agricultural resilience challenges faced by India and Australia, bringing together cutting-edge technology and cross-border collaboration to pave the way for a more sustainable farming future.

The following Australian startups in the cohort bring diverse innovations to the table:

  • Rainstick, one of the standout Australian participants, combines ancient Indigenous knowledge with advanced Variable Electrical Field (VEF) technology to optimise crop yields and boost sustainability.
  • Farmo focuses on IoT devices that monitor water levels and usage, simplifying farm management and improving productivity through affordable and reliable solutions.
  • Gaia Project Australia is revolutionising indoor farming with its patented grow system, which doubles crop density, meeting the rising demand for pesticide-free, sustainable food.
  • Novolo addresses the issue of coffee bean shelf life, extending freshness from 10 days to over six months and reducing waste through advanced processing technology.
  • The Virtual Irrigation Academy (VIA) empowers farmers with simple soil and water management tools, including sensors that improve irrigation practices and foster sustainable farming.

The Indian cohort brings equally transformative ideas to the program:

  • Intello Labs uses AI and imaging technology to digitise fresh produce quality, enhancing transparency and efficiency in agricultural supply chains.
  • NatureDots combines Nature Intelligence and AI to monitor and secure water resources, helping farmers manage risks with 95% accuracy.
  • SUIND employs drones and smart sensing for precise crop management, reducing chemical use while increasing productivity.
  • Upaj integrates digital and physical services to optimise soil health and fertiliser use, while empowering rural women through entrepreneurship initiatives.
  • Urdhvam Environmental Technologies tackles water scarcity with its patented BoreCharger rainwater harvesting tool, reviving depleted borewells and improving groundwater sustainability.
Image: Darryl Lyons, Co-founder and Chief Rainmaker (Source: RISE)

Australian startup Rainstick harnesses Variable Electrical Field (VEF) technology inspired by the Maiawali people’s 40,000-year-old rainstick practices to enhance crop yields and sustainability. The system mimics natural phenomena like lightning to stimulate biological switches in plants, accelerating growth.

“Our goal in India is to partner with not-for-profits and corporates to pilot clean and green seed treatments, boosting productivity for smallholder farmers,” said Darryl Lyons, Co-founder.

Image:  Nick Seymour, Founder 9Source: LinkedIn)

Farmo offers IoT devices that monitor water usage and other critical farm data, enabling farmers to optimise operations with reliable and affordable solutions. Founder Nick Seymour stated,

“By expanding our reach, we can help more farmers access affordable, reliable solutions that boost productivity and sustainability, no matter where they are.”

Image: Nadun Hennayaka, Founder and CEO (Source: RISE)

With its patented grow system, Gaia Project Australia doubles crop density, making it a game-changer for vertical and greenhouse farming.

“With RISE, we aim to fast-track the deployment of our sustainable solutions and build strong partnerships that will drive our international success,” said Nadun Hennayaka, Founder and CEO.

Image: Chirag Desai and Hugh Nguyen, Co-founders of Novolo (Source: RISE)

Novolo addresses roasted coffee’s stability problem, extending its shelf life from 10 days to over six months, benefitting coffee farmers and reducing waste.

“The RISE Accelerator is the ideal platform for Novolo to introduce our Australian-developed coffee technology to India, the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer,” said Hugh Nguyen, Co-founder.

Image: Richard Stirzaker, Founder VIA (Source: RISE)

Virtual Irrigation Academy empowers farmers with Chameleon soil moisture sensors, helping them manage water resources effectively. CEO Simon Dyer highlighted,

“India has over 21 million hectares of irrigated land and faces ongoing water scarcity issues, with smallholder farmers playing a vital role in food security and income for a significant portion of the population. Expanding into this market has the potential to greatly enhance the impact and benefits of VIA’s innovations.”

Image: Milan Sharma, Co-founder and CEO (Source: Intello)

Indian startup Intello Labs uses AI and imaging to assess fresh produce quality in real time, improving transparency and efficiency.

“We applied to the RISE Accelerator to expand our global reach and amplify our impact as we believe our technology can revolutionise quality standardisation in fresh produce across borders, ensuring transparency and efficiency for farmers and businesses worldwide,” said Milan Sharma, Co-founder and CEO.

Image: Snehal Verma, CEO & Co-founder 9Source: RISE)

NatureDots’ AquaNurch Digital Twin® technology provides real-time ecological data, ensuring water quality and quantity with 95% accuracy.

“Australia presents a significant market for us, not just in terms of freshwater ecosystems but also coastal and marine applications, making it a strategic hub to serve multiple markets in the region,” said Snehal Verma, Co-founder and CEO.

Image: Suind co-founders Kunal Shrivastava and Kevin Kleber (Source: LinkedIn)

SUIND employs AI-driven drones for efficient spraying and crop analysis, reducing chemical use and improving yields.

“Agriculture today faces global challenges due to climate change and global warming. We need to address these challenges together, and SUIND is excited to participate in the RISE Accelerator program to bring our solutions to Australia,” said Kunal Shrivastava, Co-founder and CEO.

Image: Sourabh Bagla, Senior Vice President (Source: RISE)

Upaj’s Insoil device provides rapid, precise soil nutrient recommendations, while its Mitti Didi initiative empowers rural women entrepreneurs.

“Expanding our impact together with CSIRO and AIM, across borders, will allow us to empower farmers worldwide with cutting-edge solutions, driving sustainable practices that safeguard our planet’s future and ensure food security for generations to come,” said Sourabh Bagla, Senior Vice President.

Image: Rahul Bakare, Founder & CEO (Source: RISE)

Urdhvam’s BoreCharger rainwater harvesting tool rejuvenates borewells, addressing water scarcity. “Collaboration and shared expertise are essential for achieving a sustainable future,” said Rahul Bakare, Founder and CEO.

The RISE Accelerator is more than a platform for innovation—it is a bridge connecting the brightest minds in agritech across borders. By fostering collaboration between Indian and Australian startups, the program enables transformative solutions to address critical challenges in agriculture, ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

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Parents dive into surf safety after tragedy strikes school community

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Parents from Homebush West Public School learn about surf safety ahead of the summer holidays (Source: Suppplied)

When tragedy struck the close-knit community of Homebush West Public School, the ripple effects were profound. Last Christmas Eve, the father of a student tragically drowned while rescuing his niece and nephew from a rip on the NSW south coast.

“It shook us to our core,” recalled principal Estelle Southall.

“I was on a beach myself when I found out. My heart broke for the family involved, but I also thought, ‘We have to do everything we can so nothing like this happens again to our families.’”

Determined to turn grief into action, the school launched a surf safety program for parents, aiming to prevent such a loss from happening again. With 95% of its students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds—groups overrepresented in Australia’s drowning statistics—the initiative has already started making waves.

Southall added:

“In Australia, we grow up on the beaches. Beach culture is common, but our families at Homebush West generally don’t grow up around the water and many have a great fear of it.”

The program’s first practical session was held at Manly Beach, where parents swapped trepidation for newfound confidence in the surf.

Manash Sudhea, whose son is in Year 3, was among the participants. “In my country, Nepal, we have lots of rivers but no beaches, so I have no idea what to do. This will help me survive in the surf,” he said.

“I learned many things today. I’ve got ideas I can now share with my children to keep them safe. My sons love going to the beach, so this is a great thing to do.”

Joyce Kong, whose daughter just finished Year 6, echoed the sentiment. “I never went in the surf before coming to Australia, so I have a lot to learn,” she said.

“We learned how to look for rips, how to be safe in the water, how to stay on the board, how to float. With some more practice, I will feel much more confident going in the water this summer.”

For Southall, the smiles on the parents’ faces said it all. “They’re having the loveliest time, but they’re also doing something brave,” she said.

“We call them our change-makers, these parents, because next year we expect to have double the number of parents out here on the water.”

As the summer holidays approach, the surf safety program at Homebush West Public School is more than a response to a tragedy—it’s a lifesaving lesson in courage and community resilience.

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China lifts live lobster trade ban, boosting Australian exporters

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Foreign Minister Penny Wong with Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell (Source: X)

China has officially notified Australia that the full resumption of live rock lobster exports can commence immediately, marking a significant milestone in the bilateral trade relationship.

The announcement follows an October 2024 agreement between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to restore live lobster trade by the end of the year. The decision comes as a major win for Australia’s hard-hit lobster industry, which has weathered years of trade challenges.

The Australian Government has praised the lobster industry for its patience and resilience during the prolonged period of restricted market access.

Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement:

“This outcome reflects the value of our patient, calibrated, and deliberate approach to stabilising Australia’s relationship with China.”

The return of Australian live rock lobsters to Chinese markets is expected to bring substantial economic benefits and deliver job security for regional fishing communities.

Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell welcomed the move, emphasising its significance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations.

“Chinese consumers can now once again enjoy our world-class lobsters.”

The resumption of lobster exports also symbolises the removal of the last of the trade impediments that impacted approximately $20 billion worth of Australian exports, including wine, barley, coal, and red meat.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong highlighted that the Albanese Government’s approach to the China relationship was paying dividends.

“We committed to stabilising the relationship without compromising Australian values, and today’s outcome proves our strategy is delivering.”

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Julie Collins stressed the importance of the development for the fishing sector, adding,

“This outcome ensures greater returns for our hardworking fishers and primary producers.”

With bilateral trade back on track, the Albanese Government affirmed its commitment to maintaining a constructive relationship with China, balancing cooperation with Australia’s national interests.

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Japanese man charged over alleged attempt to smuggle $8M in meth into Perth

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Japanese man charged over alleged attempt to smuggle $8M in meth into Perth (Source: AFP)

A 32-year-old Japanese man has faced Perth Magistrates Court after allegedly attempting to import 9kg of methamphetamine, valued at over $8 million, into Australia.

AFP Detective Acting Inspector Tom Blakeley highlighted the determination of law enforcement to combat drug trafficking.

“Despite all the risks involved, we are still regularly arresting people who have attempted to bring illicit drugs into our country through our airports.”

Australian Border Force (ABF) officers reportedly detected the drugs on Saturday, 21 December, after selecting the man for a baggage examination upon his arrival at Perth Airport from New Zealand.

An x-ray of his suitcases revealed anomalies, and an ABF detector dog gave a positive reaction to the luggage. Further inspection allegedly uncovered white powder concealed within packages of powdered food products. Preliminary testing confirmed the substance was methamphetamine.

ABF Acting Superintendent John Sweet emphasised the relentless efforts of officers, especially during the holiday season.

“Our officers are working 24/7, including across the Christmas and New Year period, to detect and seize dangerous illegal imports,” Sweet said.

“We will use all available intelligence, skills, and technology to disrupt the efforts of greedy criminals whose only thought is lining their pockets.”

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested and charged the man with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, a crime under section 307.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The methamphetamine could have been sold as nearly 90,000 street deals, according to authorities.

Refused bail, the accused is scheduled to reappear at Perth Magistrates Court on 13 January, 2025.

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Looking for a summer or longer-term job? Here’s how to find one and avoid being exploited

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Job applicants (Source: CANVA)

By Grozdana Manalo

Getting casual work over summer, or a part-time job that you might continue once your tertiary course starts, can be a great way to get workplace experience and earn some extra money.

But it’s important to be cautious and to ensure you don’t get caught up with an unscrupulous employer who might take advantage of a young, inexperienced job-seeker.

The most common red flags to be aware of are unpaid or underpaid wages, unsafe working conditions or unfair treatment. But, before we get into that, where do you start?

How to find a casual or summer job

Recruitment agencies

Register with recruitment agencies that specialise in temporary or seasonal work – they can match you with employers looking for short-term staff, ideal for summer jobs.

It’s free to join, and all you need to do is submit your resume and contact details. A quick tip: a recruitment agent makes their income from matching prospective job seekers to roles, so make sure your resume is tailored to the industry you’re interested in.

Local papers and community boards

Despite the rise of social media, many summer jobs can be found in local newspapers or newsletters, or your community bulletin boards, especially for smaller companies and in regional areas.

Check your local libraries, supermarkets and shopping centres. Some businesses will also place a notice in their front window.

Social media

Follow your favourite organisations and brands on social media, as many will use their sites to advertise vacancies. Studies have shown more than 90% of employers have used, or are planning to use, social media to find candidates.

Online job portals

Employment websites such as SEEK, Indeed, GradConnection and Prosple allow you to filter roles by location, industry and job type. If you want to work for a particular company, go directly to its website and check the careers page.

Personal networks

Use your personal and professional networks. Let your friends, family and acquaintances know you are looking. People will often help or recommend you. Most job vacancies are filled via the hidden job market, without being advertised.

Now you’ve found a job…

Getting a job is the first step. Ensuring your wages, hours and other conditions are legal under the Fair Work Act is the next.

Carefully read job descriptions

If an advertisement is vague and offers a promise of earning a lot of money for very little effort, as in the case of some work-from-home or remote jobs, it’s probably too good to be true.

Legitimate job ads provide detailed information about the role, responsibilities, required qualifications and experience, working hours and application process. Most importantly, an advertisement should include an email or phone number you can contact to get further information.

Do your research

Before you apply for a job, take the time to research the organisation. Look for reviews on websites such as Glassdoor – where former employees share their experiences.

Take a look at the company’s website, if it has one, to get an idea of the culture and values. If you find negative information, be wary. Sometimes a simple Google search will produce articles on a businesses questionable behaviour.

Ask for an employment contract

A written contract is necessary to protect your rights. A contract must outline your pay, working hours, working conditions, work health and safety issues. Before starting a job, the contract should be signed by both parties.

Read the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Guide to starting a new job.

Once you start working, keep written records of your hours and tasks. Keep a notebook or spreadsheet and track your hours and tasks daily. Also, keep records of all your payslips in case there’s an issue with your pay.

Safety and wellbeing

Safety is very important, especially if you are doing physical labour. Look for signs that your workplace follows local regulations and provides a safe work environment.

As well as physical safety, it is also important to protect your mental health. Watch for signs of bullying, intimidation or other inappropriate behaviour by bosses or colleagues.

Trust your gut

If something doesn’t feel right throughout the process, it probably isn’t. If a potential employer can’t answer simple questions, or is reluctant to give you written documentation, those are red flags.

It’s better to walk away than risk being put in an uncomfortable situation. If in doubt, talk to someone you trust, such as family, friends or mentors.

If you don’t have anyone you can talk to, you can always contact the office of the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Grozdana Manalo, Career Services Manager (Education), University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Indian-origin candidates shape ACT politics’ future despite loss

By
Contributing Author
-
Image: Sandi Mitra, Mallika Raj, Amardeep Singh and Pradeep Sornaraj

By Nikhar Budhadev and Amit Sarwal

The ACT elections saw a notable shift in the political landscape, with Indian-origin candidates stepping forward to represent their communities and champion a more inclusive and diverse future.

Four candidates, Sandi Mitra, Mallika Raj, Pradeep Sornaraj, and Amardeep Singh, stood out for their fresh approaches to politics, prioritising social change, inclusivity, and community engagement. Their campaigns, filled with energy and determination, brought new conversations about representation and equality to the forefront, offering voters a chance to consider alternative perspectives in shaping Canberra’s future.

Image: Sandi Mitra (Source: YouTube screenshot)

Sandi Mitra’s candidacy for Brindabella with the Liberal Party was a story of resilience and passion for making a real difference in the community. As one of the few Indian-origin candidates in the ACT elections, he faced not only the typical challenges of campaigning but also racial discrimination and online abuse. Despite the adversities, Mitra’s resolve never wavered, and he remained focused on his goals.

“I’ve always believed that Canberra should be a city that empowers its residents, especially small businesses. The public transport system needs to be more reliable, and we need to create public spaces where everyone, no matter where they come from, feels like they belong,” Mitra shared.

“I’ve faced personal challenges, but I refuse to be distracted by negativity. I’m here for a better future, one where people of all backgrounds can thrive together.”

Mitra’s campaign was centred around fostering economic growth, supporting small businesses, and expanding opportunities for all residents. His message was particularly resonant with those who felt overlooked in the current political system. However, the journey was not without its difficulties. Despite his unwavering focus on positive change, Mitra encountered online hostility and racial slurs. He remained steadfast, though, believing that the challenges of his campaign were not just personal but reflective of the larger issues he sought to address.

“I don’t want the obstacles I face to discourage anyone else. We need to keep pushing for a more inclusive city where people’s contributions are valued regardless of their background,” he added.

Image: Mallika Raj (Source: ACT Labor)

Mallika Raj’s candidacy for the Labor Party in Yerrabi brought a fresh perspective on policy-making, as she campaigned with a focus on representing young people and underrepresented communities. With a deep passion for social justice, Raj emphasised the importance of creating spaces where everyone’s voice can be heard and acted upon.

“It’s not enough to talk about equity in theory. We need to make it a reality through policy,” Raj stated.

“For me, it’s about ensuring that our youth and marginalised groups have the resources, opportunities, and voice to thrive. I’m here to fight for those who are too often overlooked.”

Raj’s campaign was driven by her belief in systemic change. She highlighted the need for comprehensive education reforms, support for mental health initiatives, and better employment opportunities for young people in the ACT.

The issues she raised resonated particularly with younger voters who were seeking representation that reflected their priorities. Raj made it clear that her focus wasn’t just about policy but about meaningful change for individuals who face barriers to success.

“Real change comes from within communities,” Raj explained.

“We can only move forward if we tackle the issues at their root and create systems that allow people to succeed, no matter their background.”

Image: Pradeep Sornaraj (Source: ACT Labor)

Pradeep Sornaraj’s campaign, also in Yerrabi, was deeply rooted in his belief in social justice and equal opportunities for all. Running with the Labor Party, Sornaraj focused on his personal experience and commitment to breaking down barriers for disadvantaged communities.

“I’ve seen firsthand how access to education and employment can change lives,” Sornaraj shared.

“It’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve been fortunate to have had opportunities, but not everyone gets that chance. My job is to advocate for those who need a fair chance.”

Sornaraj, a strong proponent of expanding access to quality education, particularly for those in low-income and marginalised communities, centred his campaign on equal opportunities. He worked hard to build relationships with local organisations, speaking at community events and making sure his voice was heard among those who often feel disconnected from political processes.

Sornaraj’s approach was one that prioritised listening to people, understanding their concerns, and pushing for policies that reflected their needs. “My goal is simple,” he continued:

“I want every person in our community to have access to the tools that will help them succeed – whether it’s education, healthcare, or jobs. The playing field needs to be level for everyone.”

Image: Amardeep Singh (Source: Facebook)

Amardeep Singh, a Liberal candidate for Murrumbidgee, offered a unique perspective as a first-generation immigrant, bringing an emphasis on community building and creating spaces where people from all backgrounds can succeed.

Singh’s campaign was driven by his own experiences as an immigrant, and he brought to the table a profound understanding of what it means to navigate the complexities of settling into a new environment.

“Moving to Canberra was a transformative experience for me,” Singh reflected.

“I’ve seen how a supportive community can help people thrive, and I want to make sure every person, no matter where they come from, has that chance.”

Singh’s focus on education, employment, and equal representation resonated with many voters who saw him as someone who truly understood the challenges faced by those who are often overlooked. He advocated for policies that would improve access to resources for immigrants, as well as for greater recognition of cultural diversity in the workplace.

“Community is key to success,” Singh added. “I’ve always believed that when we work together, when we break down the barriers that separate us, we all benefit.”

“My mission is to make sure that every individual has the chance to thrive in this city, no matter where they are from.”

The campaigns of Mitra, Raj, Sornaraj, and Singh demonstrate a significant shift in the political landscape, reflecting a growing trend towards diversity and inclusivity in the ACT. These candidates have shown that Indian-origin Australians are not only making their voices heard but are becoming an integral part of the conversation on policy, social issues, and community engagement.

As the dust settles following the elections, it’s clear that the presence of Indian-origin candidates in Canberra’s political sphere is no longer just a novelty but an essential part of the future of ACT politics. They represent the changing face of the city and show that the political voice of the Indian diaspora is stronger than ever. Whether through advocating for better public services, pushing for systemic change in education, or ensuring equal opportunities for all, their campaigns have laid the groundwork for more inclusive and representative governance.

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Indian Panthers to boost basketball’s global reach in New Zealand

By
AMIT SARWAL
-
Image: Parveen Batish is CEO of the Indian Panthers and INBL Pro with New Zealand Basketball League Commissioner Justin Nelson (Source: X)

Indian basketball took a monumental step forward as the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) unveiled the Pro International Basketball League (INBL Pro), with its inaugural season set to commence on January 15. Featuring six franchises, the league will span venues across Punjab, Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, with the final rounds slated for Abu Dhabi in March.

Further, in an exciting partnership, the league announced the formation of the Indian Panthers, a team set to compete in New Zealand’s professional basketball leagues. Based in Auckland, the Panthers will train and play against top teams, representing a collaborative effort to elevate Indian basketball on the global stage.

Key figures present at the launch included Aadhav Arjuna (President, BFI), Kulvinder Singh Gill (Secretary General, BFI), T. Chengalraya Naidu (Treasurer, BFI), Rupinder Brar (Founder & Chairman, INBL Pro), Abhishek Yash Tyagi (Founder & Co-Chairman, INBL Pro), Dushyant Khanna (Founder & Director, INBL Pro), and Praveen Barish (CEO, INBL Pro).

A groundbreaking move, the INBL Pro is designed to showcase under-25 players from India and abroad, with each team including two experienced international players as mentors. Player selection will culminate in an auction on January 9, following the National Basketball Championship in Gujarat.

Image: [Left] Parveen Batish is CEO of the Indian Panthers and INBL Pro with New Zealand Basketball League Commissioner Justin Nelson (Source: X)

Parveen Batish, CEO of INBL Pro, emphasised the league’s transformative potential, stating, “Basketball is already part of the culture so we must give people something to watch out for.” Highlighting the infrastructure challenge, he added,

“The challenge is that basketball internationally is played on wood or indoors. Here, because of the lack of infrastructure, Indians play outside on concrete and so on.”

Image: New Zealand Basketball League Commissioner Justin Nelson (Source: X)

New Zealand Basketball League Commissioner Justin Nelson expressed his enthusiasm, tweeting, “it’s an innovative and groundbreaking move and one that will build strong links between India and New Zealand – on and off the court.” He added:

“New Zealand is a nation of five million people, yet we’re very good at basketball. To work with a country that has 1.4 billion people, half of which are under the age of 25, for us is very exciting.”

The collaboration opens new avenues for New Zealand’s businesses and sports initiatives in India. While India has seen limited NBA representation, the INBL Pro aims to change that narrative. By integrating global expertise and local talent, the league aspires to improve players’ skills, foster professional opportunities, and boost India’s international ranking.

The league’s format will feature daily matches, and to ensure active participation, a Rapid League with shorter quarters will be introduced. Depending on the men’s league’s success, plans for a women’s INBL league may follow.

Beyond India, the Indian Panthers will serve as a cultural and athletic bridge in New Zealand, home to the largest Indian migrant community in the Pacific. The team will operate out of Pulman Arena in South Auckland, integrating Indian players with local and international talents.

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How the Australian government’s policy changes are hurting international students

By
Contributing Author
-
Representative image: Student (Source: CANVA)

By Vertika

An interim report by the Australian Human Rights Commission reveals widespread racism faced by international students at Australian universities. The Respect At Uni study, commissioned by the government, uncovers patterns of exclusion, discrimination, and insufficient social support, with many students reluctant to report racism due to fears of visa repercussions. The report criticises institutions for treating international students as “cash cows” and failing to create inclusive campus environments.

For years, Australia has been a top destination for international students seeking quality education and better opportunities. Students from across the globe come to Australia, investing their hard-earned savings, dreams, and time in pursuit of a brighter future. However, in recent years, many international students have found themselves facing shifting immigration policies, which have left them uncertain and struggling to navigate their future in the country.

One of the most concerning aspects of this situation is the Australian government’s tendency to frequently change the rules governing international students, often with little or no regard for the personal and financial investments these students have made. These ongoing policy shifts not only disrupt students’ futures but also create an atmosphere of instability and frustration for those who have already invested years of their lives and substantial amounts of money in their education and stay in Australia.

Many students enrol in long-term programs, believing they’ll have ample time to complete their studies and gain work experience after graduation. However, the government has continually shifted the rules, changing eligibility for post-study work rights or pathways to permanent residency, leaving students vulnerable to sudden shifts in their plans. As these students work hard towards completing a course that could take two years or more, they are often forced to reassess their futures as new policies are introduced. One of the most painful rule changes in recent times has been the government’s decision to reduce the eligibility age for the Temporary Resident (TR) visa to 35 years. This decision has been a significant blow to many students older than 35, rendering them ineligible for post-study work rights, regardless of how much they’ve invested in their education.

The emotional toll on international students cannot be understated. Many have invested their life savings and borrowed money to fund their studies. Some have even sold property or taken loans to finance their education, believing that the post-graduation work rights would allow them to recover their investment, support their families, and build a future in Australia. For these students, studying in Australia was not just about education, but about securing a better future for themselves and their families. With the sudden changes in immigration rules, many students now face the painful reality of having to abandon these dreams. They are being forced to return home, empty-handed, after investing countless hours and substantial sums into their education and future.

What makes these policy shifts even more distressing is the lack of support for students who are already in Australia. There has been little to no clear transition or guidance for those who arrived under previous rules, only to be told midway through their studies that the goalposts have been moved again. The unpredictability of these changes has left international students vulnerable, without adequate time to adjust or seek alternative options. Many are in the middle of their courses, having committed years of their lives to studying and living in Australia.

The decision to tighten the TR visa eligibility requirements for students already in Australia means they have almost no opportunity to transition into a post-graduation work visa, significantly hindering their ability to secure employment. This not only impacts students but also their families, especially those with children who may have been hoping for a life in Australia after graduation. The tightening of the TR visa rules has left some students in a position where they are no longer eligible to stay in Australia, even though their children are part of the education system in the country. This uncertainty places an additional burden on students and their families, who now have no clear answers about their future in Australia.

The Australian government must take responsibility for the significant impact its policy changes have had on international students and their families. These students are not just numbers on a ledger; they are individuals with dreams, families, and futures that have been heavily invested in an Australian education. They have contributed significantly to the Australian economy, both financially through tuition fees and by adding to the cultural richness of the country. The constant shifting of immigration policies has not only created confusion but has also placed an unnecessary strain on the lives of those who have already made substantial investments.

It is time for the government to adopt a more fair and transparent approach, ensuring that students who have already invested in their education and life in Australia are not left stranded by sudden changes in rules. A fairer system would implement proper transition periods for those already in the country, giving students time to adjust and plan for their future. Policies should be designed with careful consideration of the human impact they will have on individuals who have trusted the system and made sacrifices to study in Australia.

If Australia truly wants to maintain its reputation as a top destination for international students, it must show more consistency, fairness, and respect for those who come to its shores in good faith. The current approach, with frequent rule changes and little regard for the sacrifices students make, not only harms individual students but risks damaging Australia’s standing as a global leader in education. A fair, consistent, and transparent policy framework is essential, not only for the future of international education in Australia but also for the moral obligation the nation owes to those who choose to invest their lives in this land of opportunity.

Contributing Author: Vertika, an MBA student, is currently pursuing her studies in Melbourne.

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Fiji Muslim League issues eviction notice to 300 families in settlement area to vacate homes

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: [Top] Minister Filimoni Vosarogo with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (Source: X); [Bottom] Minister Maciu Nalumisa (Source: Facebook); and [Side] Nabua Muslim League settlement (Source: Facebook)

300 families in the Fiji Muslim League squatter settlement in Nabua, Suva, have been served eviction notices with the demand that they vacate their homes by 28 December 2024.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has assured affected residents that plans for their relocation are being expedited.

Image: Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (Source: X)

Rabuka confirmed that the eviction notices, issued by the Fiji Muslim League, are in accordance with the law, as the land rightfully belongs to the League. “Government will just have to be ready to relocate them,” Mr Rabuka stated.

“I hope not too many people will be dislocated from native land, where the law will be applied.”

Image: Minister Maciu Nalumisa (Source: Facebook)

The Ministry of Housing and Community Development, led by Minister Maciu Nalumisa, is tasked with crafting a relocation plan. However, no definitive timeline for implementation has been provided.

For many residents, the short notice is overwhelming. Turaga ni koro (village headman) Karalo Naituki, who has lived in the settlement for 34 years, described the impending holiday season as tearful. He told The Fiji Times, “We have no place to move to. We’ll just stay here and see what happens.”

“We are worried because we don’t have money to dismantle and rebuild our homes.”

Asha, a resident of over 30 years, expressed frustration over the short notice of eviction, stating to told the Fiji Sun that more time should have been given for preparation. Anita Kumar, a 40-year resident, shared that the eviction notice has taken away their Christmas joy and appealed to the government through The Fiji Times for assistance in relocating to a safe place.

“I humbly request the Government to help us relocate to a safe place.”

Image: Minister Filimoni Vosarogo with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (Source: X)

As the families await a government decision on their relocation site, Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo, who is collaborating with the Housing Minister told fijivillage that this is not the first instance of eviction notices from the Muslim League.

Minister Nalumisa announced ongoing discussions with the Fiji Muslim League (FML) regarding relocation plans for Nabua squatter settlement residents. FML has reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to identify relocation options and sites for the affected families.

Image: Nabua Muslim League settlement (Source: Facebook)

In 2020, the Ministry of Housing warned homebuyers to be cautious about purchasing homes in squatter settlements, as illegal sales continue to occur.

According to the Fiji Sun, sellers were misleading buyers, claiming they will receive land titles once settlements are developed, but this is not guaranteed. Most homes in informal settlements are being sold for $5,000 to $20,000, often through social media. In some cases, transactions are made with no formal documentation, such as receipts.

The Ministry has stressed that only those who meet specific criteria, determined through socio-economic surveys, will receive titles when settlements are developed.

Image: Permanent Secretary for Housing, Mr Manasa Lesuma (Source: Facebook – Fiji Government)

Recently, a social survey by the Housing Ministry revealed that while some residents of informal settlements genuinely face financial constraints, many are well-off and capable of affording proper housing but choose to remain in these areas.

Permanent Secretary Manasa Lesuma highlighted ongoing government initiatives, including a pilot project to relocate Veidogo settlement residents and a partnership with Habitat for Humanity for broader relocation efforts.

“We got four of those informal settlement’s in construction phase, while there is another 19 that are currently in planning phase.”

The survey also identified some residents manipulating the system, such as those owning properties elsewhere but living in informal settlements. The ministry plans to relocate deserving families while addressing legal constraints for others.

Rural-to-urban migration continues to contribute to congestion, with nearly 300 informal settlements across Fiji. Formalisation remains a core focus for Rabuka government, involving upgraded roads and utilities for subdivided lots.

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Gangs smuggling cocaine in refrigerated containers bound for Australia

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) have uncovered a disturbing trend involving cocaine smuggling, resulting in the seizure of over one tonne of the illicit drug concealed within refrigerated shipping containers over the past two years.

The joint investigation has revealed criminal syndicates are using legitimate businesses importing goods via Sydney from or through Panama to smuggle cocaine. These syndicates then attempt to break into docks, container facilities, or storage areas to retrieve the drugs once the containers arrive in Australia.

Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

Since April 2023, authorities have noted a sharp increase in cocaine-related smuggling using refrigerated containers. This method poses significant risks to public safety and to workers at facilities targeted by these criminal organisations.

Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie-Lee Cressy said cocaine is often hidden in the engine compartments of refrigerated containers carrying goods like berries, with tracking devices used by syndicates to locate them in Australia.

“This practice is dangerous and puts lives at risk. Our message to these criminals is clear: we are actively targeting these containers and working to disrupt their operations.”

Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

In a recent breakthrough, four men pleaded guilty to accessing refrigerated containers concealing cocaine. They await sentencing in February 2025. The cocaine seized so far has a street value of $286 million, equivalent to 4.4 million individual street deals.

ABF Commander Trade Kari Ellis highlighted the importance of examining shipping containers as a whole, including panels, vents, and false floors.

“Criminals will exploit any vulnerability in border controls. We’re working with commercial partners to enhance security and tackle the trusted insider market.”

Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

Commander Ellis added that combating organised crime syndicates requires a global effort.

“Illicit drugs fund dangerous criminals, jeopardising public safety and undermining national security. Together with our partners, we are committed to disrupting their operations and protecting Australia’s borders.”

Image: Cocaine in refrigerated shipping containers (Source: AFP)

The AFP and ABF are urging anyone with information about refrigerated containers used for drug smuggling to come forward as investigations into the origins of these shipments continue.

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AI can’t do your Christmas shopping just yet – but next year might be different

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Shopping (Source: CANVA)

By Jon Whittle

I’m a computer scientist and a bad Christmas shopper. Over the weekend, I wondered whether AI systems might be able to help me out.

Could I just prompt ChatGPT to pick a personalised gift for my cousin Johnny and have it shipped in time to reach him? Alas, the cheerful chatbot couldn’t help, telling me it “can’t make purchases or handle shipping directly”.

In the two years since ChatGPT launched, we have seen wave after wave of AI products and features promising to save us from mundane tasks. Yet so far, gift shopping is beyond them – apart from the odd built-in chatbot on a shopping site or app.

However, things may be different by next Christmas. One thing many experts expect in 2025 is the rise of AI agents: bots that can take actions on your behalf in the real world.

Agents are already here

An AI agent can do more than just suggest where you can get a Santa suit. It can buy it for you and have it delivered to your door.

And the vision for “agentic AI” is that teams of AI agents will work together. You would give your team of agents a prompt:

I’m cooking Christmas dinner this year. Find my closest Facebook friends, send them invites, make sure one of them is a chef and tell them to bring the turkey.

The agents would sort it all, without you ever having to lift a finger. Crucially, AI agents should have the ability to coordinate across multiple websites.

In fact, limited AI agents are already here. A report by AI developer Langchain claims 51% of respondents to its survey already use AI agents in production.

In 2024, venture funds invested an estimated US$1.8 billion in AI agent projects. Deloitte’s latest Global Predictions Report argues 25% of companies that use generative AI will launch agentic AI projects in 2025.

Research firm Gartner predicts that by 2028, 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made by AI agents.

Agents for everybody?

We are also seeing agents for consumers beginning to emerge. These are systems that could potentially automate many browser-based tasks (including shopping).

In October, Anthropic – the company behind the popular Claude generative AI bot – released a “computer use” feature that allows the AI to take over a user’s mouse and keyboard to browse and take actions on any website.

Education expert Leon Furze created a demo using computer use to automatically browse to a learning management system, open the page for an assignment, create text for the assignment, and click the submit button. All done automatically from a single text prompt.

More recently, Google Deepmind released its own version, Project Mariner, which similarly allows an AI to autonomously navigate and carry out actions in the Chrome browser.

Both these systems are still early versions, with Project Mariner only available to a trusted set of testers. But they hint at what’s to come.

You can’t use either of these tools today to automate your Christmas shopping – at least, not easily. So what would be needed to make a truly useful Christmas shopping AI agent?

The technology exists

The technology side of a shopping agent is relatively straightforward. As a user, I might want to give a prompt such as

Send photo gifts to my family in England. Select some fun family photos from my phone, search for a website that does photo gifts, order appropriate gifts for each family member, and send using my address book.

Executing this would require multiple AI agents: one to find the photos, one to find the shopping sites, one to personalise the gifts, a credit card agent to buy them, and an address-finding agent.

Whether through computer use, Project Mariner, or some other AI agent platform, there is no technological reason why this can’t be done today.

The trust problem

However, there are two significant barriers to making AI agents useful.

First, and most obvious, is trust. Would you trust an AI agent with your credit card details?

Despite two years of advances in AI since ChatGPT, hallucinations – where the AI doesn’t know an answer and so simply makes something up – are still a problem.

A recent study showed that even in AI programming – one of the most popular and valuable uses of AI – 52% of AI-generated answers to coding questions contained errors.

It only takes one error from the AI to send Aunty Molly’s gift to Uncle Joe. And let’s just hope it’s a harmless error such as poor gift matching, not leaking your bank account details.

What agents need to know

The second and less obvious barrier is that for AI agents to be useful, they need to understand context. Even with something relatively simple like buying gifts, context is everything.

I have years of knowledge about what my mother likes. I won’t always get it right, but I’ll do a lot better than a generic AI response. This knowledge is usually tacit and there’s simply no way ChatGPT can have access to the rich history of human interactions that lead to that perfect gift.

Having said that, AI bots are already recording information about their users. To prove this, just ask ChatGPT, “What do you know about me?” Depending on your settings, you might be surprised by the answer.

Perhaps at some point the AI systems we use regularly will know enough about us and our family that Christmas shopping can be fully automated.

But this year, I will still have to attend to it myself. Bah humbug!

Jon Whittle, Director, Data61

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Eight convicted over Samuel Paty’s beheading after online hate campaign in France

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Samuel Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in Conflans-Saint-Honorine on 16 October 2020.

France’s anti-terrorism court has convicted eight individuals for their roles in the 2020 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, a case that shook the entire world.

The sentences, ranging from three to 16 years, were handed down in a tense courtroom in Paris, packed with onlookers and heavily secured by over 50 police officers.

Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in Conflans-Saint-Honorine on 16 October 2020 by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old radicalised Chechen, after showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on free expression. Anzorov, armed with a knife, was shot dead by police shortly after the attack.

The trial revealed how a web of lies, social media posts, and radical propaganda escalated into the brutal murder.

Brahim Chnina, father of a student who falsely claimed to have been excluded from the class, led an online campaign against Paty. Chnina shared misinformation about the teacher and enlisted the help of Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a radical extremist, to amplify the calls for action.

The court also convicted two friends of Anzorov, who assisted him in purchasing weapons, and several others linked to online hate campaigns. Prosecutors argued that their actions incited the attack, even if they did not have direct knowledge of Anzorov’s intentions.

The verdict has left Paty’s family deeply unsatisfied. “It feels like we are fighting for nothing,” his sister Mickaëlle lamented, criticising the downgrading of some charges during the trial.

Defence lawyers claimed their clients were unaware of Anzorov’s plan, but the court ruled their actions contributed to the climate that enabled the crime.

In 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the Cheikh Yassine Collective, a pro-Hamas group, following its alleged role in the murder of teacher Samuel Paty. The group, which supports the Palestinian cause and is named after the founder of Hamas, was linked to Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a radical Islamist activist.

According to France24, Sefrioui had posted videos accusing Paty of insulting Islam, which contributed to the incitement of the teacher’s killing. Macron vowed to intensify actions against Islamist extremism, stating that further measures would be taken to ensure public safety and security.

Paty’s death continues to resonate in France, symbolising the nation’s commitment to secularism and freedom of expression.

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Australian media denied chance to question Indian team before Boxing Day Test

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Ravindra Jadeja, the star all-rounder, answered all questions in Hindi (Source: BCCI - X)

Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, the Indian team management was seen allegedly at odds with Australian reporters following a media conference on Saturday.

India’s Ravindra Jadeja, the star all-rounder, answered all questions in Hindi, making Australian journalists feel being denied of the opportunity to ask him a single question.

This came just two days after Virat Kohli had an misunderstanding with a female reporter of Channel Nine at Melbourne Airport. Kohli alleged accused her of invading his privacy, despite the public nature of the setting and no footage of his children being taken.

At the MCG on Saturday, Jadeja faced the media after a nearly 30-minute delay but only responded to questions posed in Hindi by select Indian reporters.

The conference lasted just nine minutes before being abruptly cut short by Indian media manager Moulin Parikh, who stated the team needed to catch their bus.

Australian reporters, who had been invited to attend the press conference, were denied the opportunity to ask questions in English.

Jadeja, who speaks fluent English, has previously conducted press conferences in the language, but no English-language questions were entertained on this occasion.

Despite these alleged off-field dramas, India remains in contention to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a win in Melbourne, following a drawn third Test in Brisbane that left the series level at 1-1.

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United Nations marks historic first World Meditation Day with India’s Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as keynote speaker

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: World Meditation Day with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as keynote speaker (Source: X)

The United Nations marked the inaugural World Meditation Day on Saturday, 21 December, with a special session at its New York headquarters.

The event, themed “Meditation for Global Peace & Harmony,” was organised by the Permanent Mission of India and featured Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as the keynote speaker.

Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, praised the initiative, stating, “World Meditation Day highlighted the benefits of this ancient practice and its value in our daily lives.”

Addressing a distinguished audience of diplomats, UN officials, and dignitaries, Gurudev emphasised the transformative power of meditation.

“This recognition by the UN was a welcome step, as meditation transcends religion and offered solutions to modern challenges. It fostered health, harmony, and positivity, helping humanity overcome depression, aggression, and stress.”

Meditation, an ancient practice rooted in diverse traditions, has evolved into a universal tool for mental and physical well-being. Research has underscored its benefits, from reducing stress and improving focus to enhancing emotional balance and sleep quality. As Gurudev noted,

“Mindfulness is a byproduct of meditation. Focus comes to you naturally. You will feel good from inside. There will be a lot of enthusiasm and positivity that will come up. The mental challenges we face can all be handled through meditation.”

The day reflected the UN’s commitment to promoting health and well-being, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3: “Good Health and Well-Being.” Meditation’s ability to cultivate peace and unity was highlighted as a powerful tool in addressing global challenges, from conflict to climate crises.

World Meditation Day served as a reminder of the role individuals could play in fostering collective harmony. As Gurudev urged,

“Let us meditate together for at least 20 minutes and create more positivity, productivity, and happiness worldwide.”

India, along with Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mexico, and Andorra, played a key role in the unanimous adoption of the United Nations General Assembly resolution declaring 21 December as World Meditation Day.

This initiative highlights the transformative power of meditation in addressing contemporary challenges like mental health issues, stress, and global tensions. Rooted in ancient practices, meditation is celebrated for its ability to foster inner peace, emotional balance, and holistic well-being, offering a vital refuge in today’s high-stress, conflict-ridden world.

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Bengalis celebrate cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival in Perth

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with "Cikka Bijoya Mela" at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

The Bengali Association of Western Australia (BAWA) marked an exciting milestone at its ongoing Spring Festival on November 9th with the “BAWA Cikka Bijoya Mela.”

This free event was held to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, a significant occasion in the Bengali calendar, and welcomed members, their families, and friends from the broader Western Australia community.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

The event showcased a wide range of cultural activities and featured a vibrant mix of ethnic trade kiosks.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

The event featured a range of exciting activities for attendees of all ages. A Bengali food workshop allowed participants to watch the preparation of traditional snacks like phuchka, egg rolls, rosogolla, and vegetable chop, with free tastings available.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

For younger visitors, a dedicated Children’s Zone provided an opportunity to explore Bengali art and cultural activities. Kids were also entertained with face painting, magic shows, and other fun-filled activities throughout the day.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

Food stalls offered a picnic atmosphere where families and friends could enjoy delicious Bengali cuisine, while the Cultural Showcase presented a captivating 3-hour program at the open amphitheatre, featuring a vibrant mix of Bengali and multicultural music, dance, singing, skits, and more.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

The event was graced by distinguished guests, including Yaz Mubarakai MLA, Jags Krishna MLA, Consul General of India in Perth Amarjeet Singh Takhi, Councillor Keyur Kamdar from the City of Armadale, and representatives from the Office of Multicultural Interests, Said Pasha and Rita Afsar.

Image: Members of BAWA celebrates cultural heritage with “Cikka Bijoya Mela” at Spring Festival (Source: Facebook)

Since its humble beginnings with just a few migrant families four decades ago, BAWA has grown into a dynamic and welcoming community. It has become a vital socio-cultural organization, dedicated to preserving Bengali heritage while contributing to Western Australia’s rich multicultural fabric.

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An unusual program enabling Pacific agricultural transformation

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Participants at a climate resilience workshop in Fiji (Photo: Richard Markham)

By Richard Markham

One of the challenges associated with tackling the slowly evolving and interlinked crises associated with climate change is that there are few visible milestones to mark their dismal progress and attract the necessary attention of the development community, let alone the broader public.

In October 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Pacific Office provided, without the fanfare it surely deserved, one such milestone in the form of a report entitled An overview of food security and nutrition in the Pacific 2022. Behind the humdrum title lies a remarkable effort to pull together the perspectives of agencies that work across the spectrum of sustainable development – in agriculture but also in food and nutrition, health and education. The title sets this baseline assessment in 2022 but the two-year delay in bringing this evaluation to light underlines the challenge of achieving consensus in this complex field.

A corresponding challenge of marking slow-but-positive progress faces those trying to build solutions to these “wicked problems” – in the form of more climate-resilient agrifood systems. At December 2024, another small but important milestone on the solution-building side also seems to be passing under the radar. The Pacific Agricultural Scholarship, Support and Climate Resilience program (PASS-CR) is winding up, bringing to a close 16 years of targeted research capacity building, with some 140 postgraduate scholars having passed through or currently completing the program.

At the 2024 Australasian AID Conference, three of us who have been involved in the program for most of its lifetime presented a paper seeking to capture the key lessons learned. Based on our own experience and the gathered testimony of alumni of the program, we propose that this program offered a uniquely effective way to address the crisis in Pacific agri-food systems, and that this model deserves to be built on and expanded, not buried in the archives of development history.

PASS-CR was a program of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). ACIAR’s research-for-development agenda is based on a partnership model that links researchers in Australia with fellow researchers and development practitioners in developing countries, to tackle problems – in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries – that are identified as priorities in dialogue with national governments and organisations.

Like many other agencies, ACIAR has offered, for much of its 40-year history, postgraduate scholarships to help build the capacity of the national research organisations it partners with. In 2008-2009, ACIAR and the University of the South Pacific (USP) launched a scholarship program with various novel characteristics that explicitly extended ACIAR’s project partnership model to capacity building. It focused on a Master of Science (MSc) by research (though with some postgraduate diploma and PhD scholarships); rather than travelling to Australia for their studies, students were registered at USP (or, from 2019 onwards, with Fiji National University (FNU)); and the students carried out their thesis research linked to an ACIAR project, with an external co-supervisor provided by the project.

Results from these early years showed that the model was remarkably successful in generating capacity and enthusiasm for applied, problem-solving research, and that many alumni were then successful in building their careers within their national agricultural research systems. However, it also became apparent that students needed a lot more than just a grant if the program was to achieve lasting positive outcomes. Hence, a much more sophisticated level of support and a more strategic approach to capacity building in the region was provided from 2019-2020 onwards, during the third phase of the scholarship program. At this point, ACIAR co-invested in a contract with the University of the Sunshine Coast, to partner with USP and FNU to provide a range of support for students, supervisors and management.

The program’s Theory of Change shows how co-building individual capacity, institutional capacity and networks enables the functional elements of an agricultural innovation system for the Pacific, closely networked with the highly effective innovation system of Australia.

A key proposition here is that Pacific island states individually do not have the “critical mass” of research disciplines and other resources to generate the kind of cross-sectoral innovation needed to generate transformative change and tackle the challenges of improving the climate resilience of food systems; but working together, and effectively networked with partners in Australia and internationally, it becomes feasible to generate this quality of innovation in the Pacific.

Our preliminary evaluation of outcomes, based on individual interviews and a small survey of alumni, suggests that the program has been remarkably successful in strengthening capacity and supporting innovation in key areas.

To take just one example, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that collapsing soil fertility on a degrading natural resource base is at the root of falling productivity across cropping systems and countries in the Pacific. Two Fiji Ministry of Agriculture staff, an analytical chemist and an extension officer, started their journey working on an ACIAR project designed to tackle a crisis related to collapsing soil fertility in Fiji’s multi-million dollar taro export industry. Both started with an ACIAR MSc scholarship at USP and went on to PhD studies under other programs. Both returned to higher-level leadership positions. Through their growing network of research projects and partners, they introduced innovations: for instance, “soil health report cards” now support the soil management decisions of individual farmers in Fiji; and the adoption of Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy as a rapid, cost-effective approach to soil analysis at the government’s soils laboratory has not only enhanced the value of this facility to Fiji but promises to make it a valuable hub for neighbouring Pacific countries as well. Meanwhile, the former extension officer has become the head of the soils program at the regional research organisation, The Pacific Community, helping to make the Pacific Soils Portal and other resources available to the entire Pacific.

Finally, in a modest but innovative and ambitious experiment, the “CR” (climate resilience) component of the PASS-CR program sought to mainstream an understanding of climate science and its implications into the existing research (in agriculture, forestry and fisheries) of the ACIAR-supported scholars, via a competitive small grants scheme dubbed the Future Thinkers initiative. The initiative was terminated (through an administrative decision on the part of the donor), after only two years and before it had had a chance to properly prove its value, but the initial outcomes appear very promising – such as the opportunity for a young Rotuman islander to take the results of his taro research to COP27 in Egypt. We believe this initiative deserves to be extended, with more resources, and its outcomes properly evaluated before a decision is made on whether or not to invest further.

This brief and relatively informal study, conducted by participant-observers currently or previously involved in the program, has generated evidence of the effectiveness of the ACIAR model in enabling and promoting innovation for more climate-resilient agri-food systems in the Pacific. A larger and more rigorous independent evaluation of outcomes is now needed, in line with ACIAR’s normal external review process for research programs, to provide a sound base for good decision making on investments going forward in Pacific agricultural research capacity for greater resilience.

Disclosure: The Pacific Agriculture Scholarships, Support & Climate Resilience Program is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

This article was first published in the Australian National University’s DevpolicyBlog and has been republished here with the kind permission of the editor(s). The Blog is run out of the Development Policy Centre housed in the Crawford School of Public Policy in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University.

Contributing Author(s): Richard Markham is a cocoa farmer in Fiji, and an Adjunct Associate Professor (Sustainable Development) at the Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research, University of the Sunshine Coast. He is a former Research Program Manager at the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

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Parents urged to act as youth radicalisation risk grows through online extremist content

By
Bureau Report
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Representative image: Online extremist content (Source: CANVA)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is sounding the alarm over the rising threat of youth radicalisation driven by online access to violent extremist material. With Christmas approaching and many young people set to receive new tech devices, the AFP is urging parents to be vigilant about their children’s online activities.

From January 2020 to December 18, 2024, the AFP, in collaboration with Joint Counter Terrorism Teams (JCTTs), has investigated 37 minors aged 17 and under, including a 12-year-old. More than half of these individuals have been charged with offences under Commonwealth or state law.

The JCTTs, which include the AFP, ASIO, state and territory police, and the NSW Crime Commission, are observing a concerning trend of extremist propaganda being shared across platforms like Discord, Telegram, and TikTok. Investigators have noted a rise in disturbing content, including hate speech, misinformation, and violent imagery intended to incite emotional reactions, group action, and even terrorism.

Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt from the AFP’s Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations unit said the increasing volume of extremist material being accessed by children could have dire consequences.

“We’re seeing more children accessing extremist material, and this increases the risk of them being radicalised or drawn into terrorist organisations.”

He emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach to combatting youth radicalisation, calling on families, educators, health professionals, and the wider community to help protect vulnerable young people.

“Extremist groups are targeting vulnerable individuals online, preying on them in ways similar to child sex offenders.”

Since January 2024, accessing or sharing violent extremist material online has been a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison. Possessing materials linked to terrorism can result in up to 25 years’ imprisonment. The AFP is prioritising efforts to limit access to such content and educate those in protective roles—particularly parents—on recognising signs of radicalisation.

Warning signs include a child distancing themselves from family, displaying extremist views, or becoming fixated on conspiracy theories. Increased time spent in fringe forums and extreme reactions to news or politics are also red flags.

The AFP is calling on parents to be proactive, encouraging conversations about online safety and watching for any indications of radicalisation. In cases of immediate danger, families are urged to contact Triple Zero (000), while suspicions of online radicalisation can be reported to the National Security Hotline at 1800 123 400.

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A push to cool Australian cities may inadvertently increase our skin cancer risk, unless we act

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Painting exterior of home (Source: CANVA)

By Hugh Stanford and Joe Hurley

Picture this: you’re working from home and it’s sweltering outside. You venture out for a coffee and move between patches of shade as you go. Good thing you wore your sunglasses, because the glare of the new footpath almost blinds you. You order your coffee – make it iced – before hurrying back to your air-conditioned paradise.

If you live in an urban area in Australia, chances are this scenario resonates. Our cities are becoming ever hotter – due to both the way they’re built, as well as climate change and the extreme heat events it brings.

But the design and management of our cities is changing. In particular, reflective materials – such as light-coloured footpaths and roofs – are increasingly used to bounce solar radiation (and heat) back into the atmosphere, to reduce temperatures on the ground.

Efforts to cool our cities are welcome. Heatwaves are Australia’s most deadly type of natural disaster, and severely affect our quality of life. However, these measures may have unintended consequences. Light-coloured materials reflect not only heat, but ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This type of radiation is the dominant cause of skin cancers.

Our new research shows UV exposure is rarely considered in urban planning policies. Unless the problem is addressed, efforts to cool our cities may exacerbate a serious public health problem.

Some local governments are resurfacing roads to make them more reflective.

Understanding UV radiation

Darker surfaces reflect very little solar radiation – instead, they mostly absorb it. That’s why bitumen roads, for example, can get so hot in summer. Surfaces such as glass or metal facades, however, are far more reflective and bounce the sun’s rays – including both heat and UV radiation – back into the urban environment.

Studies have shown this reflection significantly increases people’s exposure to UV radiation. One study, for example, found reflective walls can increase UV exposure by up to 300% compared to walls with non-reflective materials.

UV radiation can cause melanoma and other skin cancers as well as sunburn, skin ageing and eye damage.

Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world; more than two in three of us will be diagnosed with skin cancer in our lifetime. In 2019, more than 15,600 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in Australia and the figure is growing each year.

So to what extent does urban planning policy in Australia take account of the risk of UV radiation when trying to cool our cities? Our latest research examined this question.

What we found

The research involved RMIT experts and Sun Smart, a Victorian skin cancer prevention program jointly funded by Cancer Council Victoria and the Victorian government.

The first step was to audit relevant health-policy documents for all 79 local government areas in Victoria, looking for mentions of skin cancer, skin cancer prevention, and UV and sun protection. We found where sun protection was mentioned, it was mostly in relation to reducing urban heat rather than UV exposure.

Second, researchers analysed a sample of seven relevant planning policies across both local and state government. Collectively, they included 102 specific policy items that required or recommended shade or surface material changes to improve health and comfort in urban outdoor environments.

Of these, 21 related to surface materials – mostly changing paving colour to reduce urban heat. The City of Melbourne also considered roof and façade materials.

For example, one requirement found in several planning schemes required new apartment developments to:

shade outdoor areas exposed to summer sun […] and use paving and surface materials that lower surface temperatures and reduce heat absorption.

However, there was no mention in these policies of UV radiation, skin cancer or related terms. That means decision-making in local government is unlikely to consider UV radiation and the public health risk.

We also conducted a workshop with 14 urban planners from government and industry. It highlighted a need to support planners in their decision-making, by providing guidance on matters such as:

  • how to encourage people to be active while not increasing their exposure to health risks such as UV radiation
  • which populations are most vulnerable to UV exposure
  • which locations present the greatest UV risk
  • the best policy and design responses.

Where to now?

Clearly, urban cooling policies should aim to reduce both UV radiation and heat.

Planners and designers should consider the location and type of reflective materials being proposed. For example, highly reflective materials may be best located away from the street level – such as on roofs – so they can reflect heat without exacerbating UV exposure.

Local governments are increasingly planting trees to provide shade. This both cools urban areas and provides UV protection. Establishing more trees in cities – particularly trees with large canopies – should become a planning priority.

Evidence-based guidance should be provided to local planners to ensure people are not unnecessarily exposed to UV radiation. And more research is needed to understand, for example, how urban design can best reduce UV exposure.

Climate change is set to worsen, and city planners will be looking for more ways to keep people cool. These measures must better balance the need to cool the city while addressing the risk of UV radiation, to keep people both comfortable and safe.

Hugh Stanford, Researcher Associate, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University and Joe Hurley, Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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50-year-old Saudi doctor arrested after Christmas market attack in Germany, killing two and injuring dozens

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Christmas market terror attack in in the eastern German city of Magdeburg (Source: SkyNews screenshot)

A devastating attack at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening has left at least two people dead, including a small child, and injured at least 68 others.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has offered condolences to victims:

“Horrific news from the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany. My thoughts, and those of all Australians, are with the victims and their loved ones.”

According to media reports, the incident occurred around 7pm local time when a black BMW, driven at high speed, ploughed through a crowded market, travelling for 400 metres towards the town hall, witnesses reported.

Emergency services rushed to the scene, treating victims in the chaos, with videos on social media showing people fleeing in panic and some knocked to the ground.

The suspect, as per SBS, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, was arrested shortly after the attack. Authorities confirmed that the man, who has lived in Germany since 2006 and was granted refugee status in 2016, acted alone.

Magdeburg’s mayor and Saxony-Anhalt’s officials quickly labelled the incident as a terror attack, with over 15 of the injured in critical condition.

Many victims were families, with reports stating that the attacker deliberately targeted an area decorated with fairytale scenes where children were gathered.

Leaders across Europe expressed their horror at the attack, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron offering condolences.

Authorities are continuing their investigation, but they have stated that there is no further threat to the city. Security experts have raised concerns over how the car was able to breach security barriers designed to protect crowded markets.

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Stitt and Dimopoulos celebrate the cultural legacy of Melbourne’s Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana temple

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos' visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Facebook - Steve Dimopoulos)

In a visit that celebrated both community spirit and cultural heritage, Victoria’s Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos marked a significant moment in the journey of Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana, a temple that has become a beacon of support and service for Indian community.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Facebook – Steve Dimopoulos)

Located in Murrumbeena, the Hindu temple’s impact extends far beyond its walls, touching the lives of many in the local community and around the world.

The visit of the two ministers underscored the shared values of support and perseverance, which are central to both the Indian and Greek communities, and a cornerstone of Australian philosophy.

These values, passed down through generations, continue to shape the temple’s mission. Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana, under the guidance of HH Sri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji, has grown from a modest priest house in Hampton Park in 2015 to a global institution with 14 international branches.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)

The temple’s journey is a testament to unity and dedication, with its milestone achievements including the acquisition of its own premises in 2019 and an ongoing expansion of its services.

The core principles of Anna Dana (offering food) and Vidya Dhana (offering education) have been central to its work, with the temple providing free meals to all visitors as a demonstration of its commitment to service.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Facebook – Steve Dimopoulos)

During times of crisis, including the bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, the temple’s role in supporting the community was pivotal. It delivered free meals to public housing residents, supported temporary residents and overseas students, and even developed an online portal to coordinate food deliveries. These efforts extended to areas such as Warrandyte, ensuring that aid reached those most in need. The temple’s work aligns with government programs and welfare initiatives, underscoring its unwavering commitment to community welfare.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)

The strength of the temple lies in its diverse and growing community, which continues to thrive despite challenges. The transformation of its facilities, including the conversion of a small kitchen into a commercial one and ongoing security upgrades, reflects the temple’s commitment to expanding its capacity to serve the community.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)

Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana is planning to further enhance its community impact. These include a small party hall for social gatherings, a community centre that will serve as an emergency relief hub, and improved facilities to better serve its growing congregation. The temple’s vision emphasises collaboration over competition, with a focus on uplifting the entire community.

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)
Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)

The support of the Victorian Government has been instrumental in the temple’s progress, allowing it to continue expanding its services and reach.

In a statement on Facebook, Steve Dimopoulos remarked, “This is such an important part of our community. We’re backing them to make it even better. Just in the last few years, we’ve provided significant funding for upgrades at Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana Melbourne in Murrumbeena – because it matters to so many.”

“This is not just a place of worship – it’s a meeting place and a place for people to connect. And more, it’s a place where so much work is done for local people – food, advice, support – quietly and without the need for recognition.”

Image: Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit to Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana (Source: Supplied)

Ingrid Stitt and Steve Dimopoulos’ visit was a celebration of the temple’s remarkable journey, its achievements, and its ongoing commitment to serving the local community and preserving Indian cultural values for future generations.

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“You can go back to India”: Canadian politician calls international students “invaders”

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Maxime Bernier, Leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), interacting with an Indian international student in Brampton (Source: X)

Maxime Bernier, Leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), has stirred controversy with his recent post on X, where he criticised Indian international students, especially the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, protesting against new Canadian immigration policies.

“I visited another camp in Brampton last weekend where foreign invaders are protesting to be allowed to stay in Canada. They need to go back!”

The protests, led primarily by Indian international students, have erupted across several Canadian provinces, including Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island.

The students are challenging the Canadian government’s recent immigration changes, which aim to reduce permanent residency nominations by 25% and limit study permits.

More than 70,000 student graduates now face the threat of deportation as work permits expire and opportunities for permanent residency dwindle.

Bernier, a former Conservative MP who founded the PPC in 2018 after resigning from the Conservative Party over ideological differences, is known for his outspoken views on immigration. He has long advocated for stricter immigration controls, arguing that the influx of foreign students and workers has led to increased pressure on Canada’s housing and healthcare systems.

“Their dreams are broken, but for us, they’re a nightmare,” Bernier wrote earlier this year, on Facebook mocking the plight of international students facing deportation. He has also expressed concerns about the growing number of foreign students in Canada, calling it an “immigration scam” that exacerbates the country’s housing crisis.

In January, Trudeau government introduced a two-year cap on international student permit applications to alleviate pressure on housing, healthcare, and other services. The policy aims to reduce student intake by 35% in 2024 compared to 2023, with a further 10% reduction planned for 2025.

The student visa has long been a pathway for international students to settle in Canada, with graduates eligible for open work permits allowing employment across sectors, regardless of their field of study. Spouses could also obtain work visas. This system spurred the growth of numerous educational institutions, including private career colleges partnering with public colleges, offering courses of varying quality.

As Canada faces mounting pressure to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers and students, these protests highlight the growing frustration among those who came to Canada seeking a better life but are now facing the prospect of deportation.

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Sri Lankan man charged over alleged indecency on flight to Melbourne

By
Bureau Report
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Representative image: Court (Source: CANVA)

A 41-year-old Sri Lankan man appeared in Broadmeadows Magistrates Court on 19 December 2024 charged with allegedly committing an act of indecency aboard an international flight.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man committed the offence against a female passenger during a flight from Sri Lanka to Melbourne on Wednesday, 18 December 2024. The passenger alerted airline staff, who promptly notified the AFP.

Upon the plane’s arrival at Melbourne Airport, AFP officers conducted interviews with passengers and crew members. The man was subsequently charged with one count of an act of indecency, under section 60 (1) of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), as applied through section 15 (1) of the Crimes (Aviation) Act 1991 (Cth). This charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

AFP Detective Superintendent Stephen Cook reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to ensuring traveller safety, stating,

“All travellers have the right to feel safe, and the AFP has zero tolerance for any form of inappropriate or offensive behaviour, including on board an aircraft.”

“When travelling through the airport and when on a plane, people are bound by Australian law. Where there is evidence that someone has committed a criminal offence, the AFP will take action,” Det-Supt Cook said.

He added that the AFP remains dedicated to supporting airport staff and aviation partners, while upholding zero tolerance for inappropriate conduct in the aviation sector.

The accused was granted bail and is scheduled to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 9 January 2025.

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“Family with connected futures”: Australia and Solomon Islands strengthen ties with major police support package

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AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele (Source: X)

Australia and the Solomon Islands have taken a significant step in their bilateral relationship, announcing a comprehensive support package to enhance the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).

The announcement, made jointly by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, reflects a shared commitment to regional security and development.

Prime Minister Albanese stated, “Under my Government, Australia will be the partner for Solomon Islands we always should have been.” He further emphasised,

“My Government has worked tirelessly to rebuild Australia’s relationships in the Pacific.”

The package, crafted in response to a request from Solomon Islands, is designed to bolster the RSIPF’s size and capabilities. It will include funding, training, and infrastructure development, with a focus on establishing a sovereign Police Training Centre in Honiara. This initiative aims to support Solomon Islands’ long-term goal of building an independent security capability, reducing reliance on external assistance.

“This partnership is an investment in the Solomon Islands’ future,” the leaders said.

“It’s about unlocking prosperity for more Solomon Islanders and laying the foundation for a deeper, mutually beneficial relationship.”

The move underscores Australia’s role as Solomon Islands’ security partner of choice and builds on decades of cooperation in areas such as policing, defence, and disaster relief. Past collaborations include the Solomons International Assistance Force (2021–2024) and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (2003–2017).

Guided by Solomon Islands’ security framework, the partnership prioritises a strengthened RSIPF, support from Melanesian countries, and contributions from Pacific Islands Forum members. The leaders reaffirmed their shared vision for a partnership rooted in trust, respect, and open dialogue.

“As family with connected futures, we are stronger together,” the Prime Ministers noted.

“This collaboration will not only enhance Solomon Islands’ domestic security but also contribute to stability across the region.”

Implementation of the package is expected to begin soon, reflecting both nations’ commitment to advancing regional security and shared prosperity.

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Heading on an overseas holiday? The Australian dollar tumbles – but it’s not all bad news

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Travel (Source: CANVA)

By Mark Crosby

This week, the value of the Australian dollar fell to 62 US cents, its lowest level since October 2022.

The acute cause? A revelation by the United States Federal Reserve that it expected interest rates to bottom out at higher-than-expected levels in two years time, due to fewer rate cuts in 2025.

Typically, higher interest rates in the US mean a stronger US dollar. The Australian dollar plummeted despite the fact that the Federal Reserve has recently cut rates three times.

Many – not least those Australians about to travel overseas – will be asking an obvious question: where will the dollar go next?

Unfortunately, short run movements in the exchange rate are nearly impossible to predict. For Australia, however, the bigger picture is what’s happening in China’s economy.

Ongoing economic weakness there has weighed on the Australian dollar, as has speculation about a new trade war, with the looming return of US President Donald Trump. All eyes are on what might happen next.

A proxy for the rest of the world

While the current level of the Australian dollar is a little low, historically, it isn’t highly unusual.

It has visited the 60 US cent range several times over the past couple of decades. In the early 2000s, it even dipped below 50 US cents.

In the short term, movements in the Australian dollar tend to be driven by market expectations of how well the global economy – and in particular China’s economy – is travelling.

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/u3Jkk

This is because our economy is heavily dependent on commodity exports, such as iron ore. Road, rail and buildings are all very iron ore intensive.

When there’s strong growth in China or the rest of the world, commodities prices also go up, pushing up the value of the Australian dollar.

Why? because it creates greater demand for our currency. To buy Australian commodities, you typically first have to convert your own currency into Australian dollars.

On the flip side, pessimism about global – and in particular Chinese – economic growth prospects are likely to see commodity prices fall and weaken the Australian dollar.

This link between the Australian dollar and China’s economy was very evident shortly after the global financial crisis in 2008.

A Chinese infrastructure-led stimulus package led to a booming Chinese economy and demand for commodities, which over following years pushed the Aussie dollar up from the 60 US cents range to the US$1 mark.

Conveyor belt moving iron ore
Australia’s economy is heavily exposed to the global iron ore price. Aussie Family Living/Shutterstock

China remains unsteady

Knowing this relationship between Chinese growth and the exchange rates helps us to unpack the Australian dollar’s recent weakness.

There’s been serious uncertainty surrounding China’s economy and the extent to which it can continue to grow strongly.

The Chinese government’s plans to stimulate its economy remain tentative. There also seems to be a willingness to allow the commodity-intensive construction sector to remain weak.

The broader outlook for global commodities remains cloudy, and the Australian economy does not have other drivers to support stronger economic growth. Hence, our weak dollar.

What about interest rates?

The other key factor impacting foreign exchange rates is interest rates. Normally, higher interest rates will cause money to flow to an economy and strengthen its exchange rate.

On this basis, the current movements might seem unusual at first glance. The US is already cutting rates, but our own Reserve Bank of Australia is holding steady and not expected to move them for a while yet.

So why did the Australian dollar fall against the US dollar? It’s all about changing expectations.

Markets had already priced in expectations about the pace of US rate cuts over the coming year, which is now expected to be slower.

How markets think interest rates will change in the future matters just as much for cross-border money flows as what they are right now.

However, China’s economic weakness over the past few years has overwhelmed interest rate impacts as far as the Australian dollar is concerned.

Winners and losers

A weaker exchange rate might seem like a bad thing. Australians about to head overseas will be bracing to spend more. On top of this, many of the products we import – such as cars, electronics and fuels – will become more expensive for Australians.

But a weak Australian dollar isn’t a problem for everyone. For some groups, it’s highly beneficial.

Australian exporters may benefit from becoming more internationally competitive because their goods become relatively cheaper. It can also make it cheaper both to visit Australia as a tourist, or pay international student fees to study here.

Overall, the long-term effect of a weak dollar on the Australian economy is often positive, with more jobs and spending in export sectors giving the economy a major boost.

Mark Crosby, Professor of Economics, Monash University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Proposed Australia show of controversial Indian comedian Munawar Faruqui cancelled

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AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Munawar Faruqui (Source: Instagram)

Indian stand-up comedian and rapper Munawar Faruqui’s proposed Melbourne show has been cancelled following public complaints over alleged disrespect towards religious sentiments.

Image: Munawar Faruqui (Source: Instagram)

The cancellation of this proposed show was confirmed in a Facebook post by a group member who wrote:

“Just for clarification, the event of Munawar Faruqui has been cancelled as discussed with the organiser. They requested me to remove the post, so I have done so.”

The group member added, “We all know we should respect all religions, cultures, and live in harmony and peace. As Hindus and Sanatanis, we accept other ideologies, which is the beauty of Sanatan Dharma. However, if any person spreads hatred by mocking or joking about our religious characters, it is unacceptable.”

“We support organisers bringing artists and performers but expect respect for all religions and a positive message for society.”

The event organisers also addressed the controversy in the group and on telephone with The Australia Today, saying:

“In our defence, we were unaware of the entire situation. Thanks … for bringing this to our attention. We are in talks to cancel the event. If anyone has any issues, please feel free to contact us directly. Apologies if we have unknowingly hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

Faruqui gained fame on social media but has faced controversies for his remarks on religious topics, particularly Hindu gods.

In 2021, he spent over three weeks in jail after being accused of allegedly insulting Hindu gods during a stand-up routine, though there was no evidence he performed the act. The same year, several of his shows were cancelled after protests from right-wing groups, prompting him to briefly announce his retirement from comedy.

In 2022, Faruqui won the reality TV show Lock Upp and the 17th season of Bigg Boss. These victories reignited his career, leading to his latest stand-up tour, Dhando, announced in June 2024.

The event organisers clarified to The Australia Today that while they have decided to not go ahead with the proposed Melbourne show, it is possible that another organiser or Munawar Faruqui himself may arrange the event elsewhere in Australia.

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How Justin Trudeau is allegedly using Canada’s public broadcaster to silence his critics

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Daniel Bordman on Kushal Mehra's podcast (Source: x)

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is under fire for what critics are calling an allegedly deliberate narrative targeting dissenters of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies favouring the pro-Khalistan movement.

Accusations have mounted that the public broadcaster is being allegedly used to silence voices ranging from Indian diplomats and Indo-Canadian social media influencers to local Canadian politicians and journalists.

The latest figure in this alleged media hit-job is Daniel Bordman, a Toronto-based journalist with The National Telegraph.

Bordman claims CBC conducted a targeted investigation into his tweets, questioned his associations, and confronted him in a contentious interview, all culminating in an article suggesting bot engagement with his content.

Bordman himself denounced the CBC article, tweeting:

“For the @CBCNews Khalistani propaganda hit piece “article” on me they interviewed me and confronted me on two of my tweets for potential misinformation. However, neither of those tweets made into the article. Likely because of the explanations I gave. Anyone want to guess what topics the CBC was too scared to attack me on?”

Earlier, well-known Indo-Canadian journalist Rupa Subramanya too has alleged on X that the Canadian government’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), designed to monitor foreign interference, is being used to target critics of Trudeau.

Subramanya revealed that her articles for National Post and those by other prominent Canadian columnists were flagged by the RRM for their high engagement. She noted that this information was likely included in a brief submitted to the Foreign Interference Commission in Canada, questioning whether high-performing pieces are being labelled as “disinformation.”

Hindu American Foundation (HAF) weighed in, calling the CBC report “disinformation.” In a post on X, HAF criticised the article for:

  • Ignoring a landmark study by Rutgers University-affiliated Network Contagion Research Institute, which exposed pro-Khalistani online networks amplifying temple vandalism videos in Canada and the US.
  • Misrepresenting opposition to the Khalistan movement as a “Hindu nationalist” agenda instead of a national security concern.
  • Mischaracterising accounts posting over 72 times daily as bots, potentially maligning legitimate voices.

Fair journalism, HAF asserted, is critical in navigating the present climate of threats.

Kushal Mehra, another prominent social media influencer who had earlier interviewed Bordman, lambasted CBC for labelling dissenters as “foreign agents,” stating on X:

“The Canadian definition of a foreign agent: Anyone who criticises the Trudeau government and is not a left-winger or someone who loves Canada and opposes extremism funded by the CCP or Pakistani ISI.”

Suhag Shukla of the Hindu American Foundation also criticised CBC, stating:

“CBC’s Jon Montpetit wouldn’t define ‘Hindu nationalism’ for Bordman during the interview. Now he equates it with opposition to the Khalistan movement. Forget that Indians of all ideologies oppose the separatist agenda, which led to the worst terror attack in Canadian history.”

Last year, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the CBC of engaging in partisan attacks, stating to local media, “The CBC needs to focus on its public-service mandate.” Not much has changed, as the broadcaster recently criticised Poilievre again, accusing him of “veering towards fiction” over claims that Mark Carney was offered Chrystia Freeland’s position. Turned out every word Poilievre said was right!

Canada’s Broadcasting Act mandates that the CBC “should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens, and entertains.” However, while the Conservatives, “the harshest critics of CBC News,” emphasise accountability and unbiased reporting from the national public broadcaster, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals invested $675 million in funding to revitalize the CBC. Unsurprisingly, allegations of the broadcaster aligning with its benefactors to secure its position have sparked growing concerns about attacks on dissenting voices.

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Indian Tigers roar to historic semi-final; Japan crowned champions at AFL Asia Cup

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Team India at AFL Asia Cup 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Indian Tigers delivered a landmark performance at the inaugural AFL Asia Cup in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, securing their first-ever semi-final appearance in an international Australian Rules Football competition.

India’s journey began with a historic win against hosts Vietnam, ending a 13-year drought with an 8-13-61 to 3-4-22 victory. Veteran Asheet Kujur led the charge with three goals, supported by Soyeb Ali and Midlaj A, who scored two each. The momentum carried into their clash with arch-rivals China, where India shattered records with a stunning 17-8-110 to 0-3-3 win — the largest margin of victory at the tournament.

Image: Team India at AFL Asia Cup 2024 (Source: Supplied)

India’s aggressive strategy, crafted by head coach Sudhasil Mitra and former national players Harris Jamal and Jasim Akhtar, proved decisive. Captain Mahesh Tirkey and Midlaj A led the scoring, each contributing four goals in the monumental victory.

On Day 2, the Tigers faced narrow defeats against Hong Kong and Indonesia but displayed resilience and grit. A last-quarter push against Hong Kong ended 6-11-47 to 9-4-58, with Asheet Kujur again shining with three goals. A valiant effort against Indonesia saw India narrowly fall 7-11-53 to 9-7-61, with Soyeb Ali and Sk Rakesh contributing two goals each.

Despite these setbacks, India finished second in Pool A, marking a historic leap in their international performance.

Image: Team India at AFL Asia Cup 2024 (Source: Supplied)

In the semi-finals, the Tigers faced tournament favourites Japan. A strong start saw India leading 4-0-24 in the first quarter, but the experienced Japanese side rallied in the latter stages to secure a 12-10-82 to 7-3-45 victory. Soyeb Ali and Sk Rakesh scored two goals each, while Rohan Hindalekar, Dicosta David, and Oman Manki added to the tally.

India’s stellar run was capped with two players, Soyeb Ali and Prakash Nayak, being named in the prestigious All-Asia Team, a testament to their skill and impact throughout the tournament.

Men’s All-Asia Team:

  • Japan: No.2 Rinto Kijima, No.8 Yuki Tabuchi, No.27 Hayata Ono
  • Cambodia: No.1 Veasna Leak, No.4 Chivorn Barn
  • Indonesia: No.1 Michael Latuperrissa, No.9 Gilang Saputro
  • India: No.8 Soyeb Ali, No.11 Prakash Nayak
  • Hong Kong: No.2 Brian Cheung
  • Pakistan: No.8 Rashid Ali
  • Thailand: #11 Mani Narairt Saunders
  • China: #6 Lin Dianyu
  • Laos: #5 Chaleunesouk Anousith, #22 Chi Bach William Francis
  • Coach: Brett Qualtrough
Image: Team India at AFL Asia Cup 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Tigers’ success is the result of AFL India’s ongoing efforts to revive the sport after a three-year hiatus. With nearly 9,000 active players across 11 states and a national championship scheduled for January 2025, the sport is witnessing a resurgence.

AFL India expressed gratitude to their supporters and sponsors, including Centurion University, Thamarrurr Youth Indigenous Corporation, and Richmond Football Club, for helping make the journey possible.

Image: Team India at AFL Asia Cup 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The final standings of the inaugural AFL Asia Cup saw Japan emerge as champions, followed by Cambodia in second place and Indonesia securing third. India achieved a commendable fourth place, ahead of Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Thailand. The remaining spots were filled by China, Laos, and the hosts, Vietnam, rounding out a competitive and historic tournament.

The Indian Tigers’ remarkable performance at the AFL Asia Cup has set the stage for a bright future in international Australian Rules Football.

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Australia deploys rapid response teams to aid Vanuatu; rescues 148 citizens after devastating earthquakes

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: 148 Australian citizens returned home on the two RAAF aircraft that delivered vital assistance to Vanuatu. (Source: X)

Australia has swiftly mobilised to assist Vanuatu following two powerful earthquakes that struck near the capital, Port Vila, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.

The first quake, a 7.3 magnitude tremor, hit on Tuesday afternoon, leaving 14 dead and hundreds injured, though the toll has since been revised to nine. A second, 6.0 magnitude earthquake followed early Wednesday, exacerbating the crisis. The tremors damaged infrastructure, including the airport, and left Port Vila without electricity and water.

In response to requests from the Vanuatu Government, Australia announced a $2 million humanitarian support package. This includes a 64-person Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) comprising paramedics, firefighters, engineers, and search dogs. An Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) and nine Australian Federal Police officers have also been deployed to assist with search and rescue operations, medical care, and disaster victim identification.

Australian Defence Force aircraft, including C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Hercules, have transported personnel and equipment to the region. Meanwhile, commercial flights into Port Vila have been suspended due to damage to the airport. Jetstar and Qantas are monitoring the situation and adjusting schedules accordingly.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed solidarity with Vanuatu, saying,

“Australia is here to help. This immediate package of support will ensure those in urgent need receive lifesaving assistance.”

She added that Australian search and rescue teams are working with local authorities to recover survivors trapped in collapsed buildings.

Amid ongoing aftershocks, rescuers continue to search for survivors, with landslides and damaged infrastructure posing additional risks.

Australia’s efforts are being coordinated with France and New Zealand under the FRANZ Arrangement, a regional partnership for disaster response.

Australians caught in the disaster have begun returning home on Royal Australian Air Force flights. So far, 148 evacuees have been safely transported, with additional missions on standby.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles reaffirmed Australia’s commitment, stating,

“Australia stands ready to assist the Vanuatu Government as required in this critical time.”

The Australian Government continues to monitor the situation, prepared to provide further support as needed.

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Dinush Kurera jailed 37 years for brutal murder of wife Nelomie Perera

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Dinush Kurera and Nelomie Perera (Source: Facebook)

Dinush Kurera, 47, has been sentenced to 37 years in prison for the “harrowing” murder of his estranged wife, Nelomie Perera, and the attack on their teenage son in December 2022.

ABC reports that Justice Mandy Fox delivered the sentence in Melbourne’s Supreme Court on Thursday, rejecting Kurera’s claim of self-defence as “hopeless.”

Image: Nelomie Perera (Source: Facebook)

The court heard that Ms Perera had taken out an intervention order against Kurera, barring him from their Sandhurst home. ABC reports that furious upon his return from an overseas affair and learning his wife intended to leave him permanently, Kurera plotted a violent ambush. Dressed in black and armed with a hatchet, knife, and fuel, he broke into the property late at night and launched a sustained attack.

In a chilling recording captured by Ms Perera’s personal safety watch, her final moments were heard, including her heartbreaking last words to her daughter:

“I’m dead.”

Justice Fox, as per ABC, described the recording as “harrowing,” emphasising that Ms Perera was “unarmed and utterly defenceless.”

Image: CCTV captured Dinush Kurera at a hardware store in the hours before the murder (Source: Supplied to ABC – Supreme Court of Victoria)

The couple’s teenage son and daughter attempted to intervene during the 14-minute attack but were unable to save their mother. Kurera also struck his son with the hatchet, causing injuries to his head, shoulder, and knee, before fleeing to a bathroom where he later confessed to police:

“I kill my wife. She’s dead over there.”

Prosecutors detailed Ms Perera’s 35 injuries and argued for a life sentence, describing the murder as “sustained, brutal, and vicious.” However, Justice Fox ruled the crime, though severe, did not meet the threshold for life imprisonment.

Image: Dinush Kurera (Source: Facebook)

During the trial, ABC reports, Kurera forced his children to testify, claiming memory loss and insisting he acted in self-defence, a defence Justice Fox dismissed as “ridiculous.” The court was told of a decade-long history of domestic violence, with Justice Fox stating,

“You were motivated by anger and entitlement. Nelomie had every right to leave you.”

Dinush Kurera will be eligible for parole after 30 years.

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From garlic to parsley, new research reveals the herbs and spices Australians love most

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Herbs and spices (Source: CANVA)

By Evangeline Mantzioris, Anthony Villani, and Nina Wilson

Herbs and spices have been used in cooking for centuries.

They add flavour, aroma and colour to foods and have long been used for health and to preserve food, and in the case of garlic, even to ward off vampires.

Both fresh and dried herbs and spices provide us with a wide range of nutrients including vitamins and minerals. But it is the high level of antioxidants which provide the most health benefits.

Antioxidants work by reducing the oxidative stress in the body.

Oxidative stress causes damage to our DNA, cell membranes and tissues, which can lead to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

A large systematic review of studies has shown eating herbs and spices daily can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.

Herbs and spices have even been shown to provide important health benefits such as managing weight and preventing inflammation.

With all these health benefits, it is not surprising they are promoted as part of a healthy diet.

In Australia, they are recommended as a way of adding flavour to meals instead of people adding salt.

Given this, we were keen to explore which herbs and spices Australians enjoyed most.

Researching Australians’ favourites

We asked Australians to complete a short online survey asking which herbs and spices they ate, how often, and which meals they ate them in.

We were also interested in why people choose to include them in their meals.

Four hundred people responded to our survey. They were mostly female and were aged between 25–64. The majority reported they were born in Australia.

Basil was crowned most popular, but not by much

Basil was the most popular herb, consumed by 97.8% of people during the past year.

Pepper came a very close second (97.5%), followed by garlic (96.8%).

Chilli, oregano and ginger were not far behind while paprika, cinnamon, parsley, and rosemary rounded out the top ten.

The most frequently used herb or spice on a daily basis was pepper, followed by garlic and then chilli.

Most people (93%) reported consuming these herbs and spices as part of their lunch and dinner meals.

Interestingly, only a tiny percentage of people (1.5%) used herbs and spices in sweet foods.

Why did people use them?

Taste, flavour, aroma and adding visual appeal to meals were the main reasons why 97% of people added them to their meals.

Health benefits was noted as the second most frequent reason.

Others simply used herbs and spices when recipes called for them. And of course people’s cultural backgrounds was another reason for using herbs and spices.

How do our favourites compare?

The types of herbs and spices consumed in Australia has changed a little over time.

More than a decade ago, a study reported Australians frequently used pepper, basil, oregano, and chilli. They also found ginger, paprika, and cinnamon were often used, but not as frequently as in our study.

However, the current use of herbs and spices at home is not well known across other parts of the world. In the United States, one study showed pepper, garlic and cinnamon were the most used spices each day.

Chilli, coriander and ginger were next in line but were not used as often.

Is there a difference in nutrient levels between fresh and dried herbs?

There can be a difference in nutrient levels between dried and fresh herbs, and this will depend on which nutrients and which herbs we look at. One study found there were higher iron levels in dried compared to fresh basil and mint, but lower vitamin c levels once dried.

The way the herb is dried can also affect nutrient levels, and although fresh and dried herbs can often taste different, the flavour of dried herbs is still found by many to be acceptable.

At the end of the day, use whatever works for you – in most cases you may only have access to dried ones. But make sure to keep your dried herbs in a cool, dry spot to minimise losses over time.

Here are some ways to include more herbs and spices in meals:

  • Adding fresh herbs (such as parsley) as a main addition or lettuce replacement to salads and sandwiches
  • Adding herbs to salads (think parsley, oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil)
  • Soups, casseroles, stews and pasta are perfect for adding herbs and spices to
  • Making herb/spice-based condiments to add to meals like pesto, chimichurri (an Argentinian condiment made with fresh parsley, dried oregano, garlic and chilli), raita yoghurt (traditionally an Indian side made with fresh coriander, mint, and cumin), and herbed mayonnaise
  • Including spices such as cinnamon, cardamon or nutmeg in breakfast meals like your morning cereal or yoghurt
  • Adding turmeric when preparing your rice
  • Seasoning meat or vegetables in herb-heavy marinades or dry spice rubs – garlic is also great for this
  • Including herbs and spices in beverages such as fresh mint or basil in a water jug/bottle or adding them into smoothies
  • Add spices (turmeric, cinnamon, cardamon) into teas and herbal teas to add extra flavour
  • Don’t forget to add spices to cakes, biscuits and muffins – cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon and ginger.

Grow your own

One great way to use herbs more regularly in your cooking is to grow them at home. In our study, 70.8% of Australians grew their own herbs, including parsley, basil, mint and sage.

Growing your own can save you money too, as fresh herbs can be expensive.

Growing your own can also be more sustainable. Like fruit and vegetables, herbs are easily perishable and can contribute to household food waste, which accounts for nearly one-third of total food waste in Australia.

So whether it be to add flavour to your cooking, to save money, or for health reasons, don’t be afraid to scatter a few herbs and spices on your next meal.

Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia; Anthony Villani, Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator Nutrition and Dietetics, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Nina Wilson, Lecturer in Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of South Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Albanese government introduces new visa rule for international students

By
Bureau Report
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Representtaive image: Visa approval (Source: CANVA)

The Albanese Labor Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the integrity and sustainability of Australia’s international education sector with a significant shift in policy.

In response to the Liberal Party’s decision to oppose caps on international student numbers, the government is set to introduce a new Ministerial Direction aimed at better managing student visa applications.

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke criticised the Liberals’ stance on migration, stating,

“Peter Dutton wants to talk tough on migration but has voted to let it rip when it comes to international students. This is a counterbalance to his recklessness.”

The new approach will replace Ministerial Direction 107, prioritising visa applications for international students in a more balanced way, particularly supporting regional and outer metropolitan universities, as well as TAFEs that were overlooked by the previous government.

This move comes after consultations with the international education sector throughout 2024, with input from the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Minister for Education Jason Clare echoed the sentiment, saying,

“Improving the current approach will strengthen our ability to manage the flow of international students, and better support regional education providers.”

Clare also noted the importance of ensuring that smaller and regional institutions benefit from the international education boom, alongside major inner-city universities.

Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles highlighted the need for a balanced system, stating,

“It’s critical that we strike the right balance between the benefits provided by our international education sector, and ensuring that our VET system is sustainable in the long term.”

The new Ministerial Direction, which takes effect today, is designed to ensure that Australia’s international education system remains strong, fair, and sustainable.

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Tragedy off Mumbai coast as Navy speedboat collides with ferry, 13 dead

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Screenshots of collision between an Indian Navy speedboat and a passenger ferry near Mumbai, India.

A devastating collision between an Indian Navy speedboat and a passenger ferry near Mumbai, India, on Wednesday claimed 13 lives, including a naval officer and two personnel from the boat’s manufacturer.

The accident occurred at 4 pm off Karanja, Mumbai, during engine trials of the naval craft, which lost control and struck the ferry, Neel Kamal.

The ferry, carrying 110 passengers en route from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island, capsized shortly after the crash. Among the dead were ten ferry passengers and three individuals aboard the navy craft. The remaining 102 passengers, including two survivors from the speedboat, were rescued by a joint operation involving the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Police, and local fishermen.

Footage of the collision, captured from the ferry, surfaced online, showing the speedboat circling uncontrollably before crashing. Survivors recounted harrowing moments as water poured into the ferry and it tilted dangerously. “The driver told us to wear lifejackets. I swam for 15 minutes before being rescued,” one passenger shared with local media.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences, describing the incident as “saddening,” and announced ₹2 lakh (AUD 3,600) compensation for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 (AUD 900) for the injured.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also expressed their sorrow, with Fadnavis pledging ₹5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for victims’ families.

The rescue operation deployed 11 Navy boats, a Coast Guard vessel, and four helicopters. Police and local authorities are investigating the incident, with an FIR expected soon.

The ferry, Neel Kamal, was headed to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Elephanta Caves, a popular tourist destination. Despite its tragic end, the accident highlighted the bravery of the rescue teams and passengers, who worked tirelessly to save lives in the aftermath of the collision.

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International students feel unwelcome, unheard, and exploited as ‘cash cows’: report reveals

By
AMIT SARWAL
-
Representtaive image: International students (Source: CANVA)

A damning interim report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has exposed the pervasive racism faced by international students at Australian universities. The findings reveal a troubling pattern of exclusion, discrimination, and a lack of social support, with many international students fearing that speaking out could jeopardise their visas.

The Respect At Uni study, commissioned by the Australian Government in May, aims to examine and address racism in the tertiary education sector.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman noted that racism remains entrenched across universities, impacting students and staff in both overt and systemic ways.

The report highlights how international students, often viewed as “cash cows” by institutions, struggle to feel welcome on campuses.

Experiences of exclusion and limited access to adequate guidance or support were commonly reported. Many students expressed reluctance to report incidents of racism or discrimination, worried it could lead to visa complications or deportation.

The interim findings also describe how other groups, including Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian, Arab, African, Asian, and First Nations students, face unique and significant challenges. These range from antisemitism and Islamophobia to structural racism that undermines academic and professional achievements.

The AHRC acknowledged the dissatisfaction among students and staff with current university complaints systems and policies, noting a significant gap between institutional commitments to diversity and the lived experiences of those on campus.

The next phase of the study, set to begin in January 2025, will include national surveys and focus groups to expand on these findings. Advocates are calling for universities to address the concerns of international students urgently, ensuring they feel safe, supported, and valued within Australia’s higher education system.

The final report, with recommendations for reform, is expected in June 2025. For now, the interim findings serve as a stark reminder of the need for systemic change to combat racism and foster respect across Australian universities.

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Construction company director Munesh Kumar penalised for bid-rigging

By
Bureau Report
-
Representative image: Court (Source: CANVA)

Auckland-based construction company MaxBuild and its director, Munesh Kumar, have made history as the first to face criminal sentencing under New Zealand’s cartel conduct laws.

Kumar was sentenced to six months of community detention and 200 hours of community service, while MaxBuild was fined $500,000 for alleged bid-rigging on publicly funded projects.

Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith described the actions as “cheating the system,” adding that they undermined public trust in fair competition. While Kumar avoided imprisonment, the court emphasised deterrence in sentencing.

“This was a huge error of judgement on your par … The underlying motivations came from a good place, but the way you chose to deal with it was wrong and I think you now know that.”

The case, NZ Herald reports, brought to light by an errant email attachment, revealed alleged collusion between MaxBuild and another company to manipulate bids for two major projects—the Northern Corridor Improvement and Middlemore Railway Bridge repairs—between January and May 2022. This misconduct secured MaxBuild contracts worth $161,775 in profit.

Kumar expressed remorse, claiming the decision stemmed from intense financial pressure during Covid-19 lockdowns. He admitted his actions were “foolish” and has offered to educate others on avoiding similar mistakes.

In a statement to the media released immediately after court’s sentence was announced, Kumar said:

“I have never even considered anything like this before – it’s just not who I am. It doesn’t reflect the values or conduct of either myself or the business prior to this.”

Kumar’s lawyer Gary Hughes added:

“This is not a man who has a history of dodgy business practice in fact it is the opposite… this was a one off at a time of vulnerability and not part of the normal business practice here.”

Commerce Commission Chair Dr John Small praised the sentencing as a strong message against anti-competitive behaviour, stressing that cartel conduct harms taxpayers and the economy.

The other company involved, which remains unnamed due to court orders, has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

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Pioneering women of colour honoured at STEM Awards 2024

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 shone a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of women of colour making waves in the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Image: Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Dr Ruwangi Fernando, the founder of STEM Sisters and the Women of Colour in STEM Awards, observed:

“It was an evening filled with inspiration, empowerment, and recognition of the incredible contributions women of colour make to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries.”

Image: Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Hosted by StemSisters, the event celebrated the diverse contributions of trailblazers across 11 categories, each honouree exemplifying the power of innovation and the vital role diversity plays in shaping the future of STEM.

Image: Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Among the winners was Fariba Dehgani, recognised for her leadership as Professor and Director of Bioengineering at The University of Sydney, while Chamindie Punyadeera, Principal Research Group Leader at Griffith University, received the Innovator award for her groundbreaking work in developing novel technologies.

Image: Winners of Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

In the field of scientific research, Vivian Tam, Distinguished Professor at Western Sydney University, was honoured, while emerging stars Harini Hapuarachchi (RMIT University) and Catriona Vi Nguyen-Robertson (The University of Melbourne) were jointly awarded the Rising Star title.

Image: Winners of Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Healthcare Innovator award went to Maria Alejandra Pinero de Plaza from Flinders University, while Teresa Cochrane, Lecturer and Researcher at Charles Sturt University, received the Environmental Impact award for her work in sustainability.

Image: Winners of Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Other notable honourees included Indu Bala, Associate Lecturer at the University of Adelaide, who was named Data Science Pioneer; Shama Islam, Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at Deakin University, who received the Technology Trailblazer award; and Brenda Denbesten, Founder of Brenda Denbesten Coaching, who was recognised for Engineering Excellence.

Image: Winners of Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Mathematics Mastery award went to Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO, while Rashina Hoda, Professor of Software Engineering and Associate Dean (EDI) at Monash University, was acknowledged for her exceptional mentorship in STEM.

Image: Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Women of Colour in STEM Awards 2024 not only celebrated these remarkable women but also provided an invaluable platform for networking, collaboration, and the sharing of insights within the STEM community.

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Air India introduces special discounted fares and benefits for international students

By
Bureau Report
-
Image Source: CANVA and Air India
Image Source: CANVA and Air India

India’s leading global airline, Air India has unveiled a new initiative aimed at students, offering discounted fares and a range of additional benefits across its domestic and international network.

With this move, the airline seeks to provide a more affordable, convenient, and rewarding flying experience for young travellers pursuing their educational and personal aspirations.

Key Benefits of Air India’s Student Fare

Students can now avail themselves of exclusive discounts and privileges, including:

  • Discounted Fares: Up to 10% off on base fares for all flights.
  • Extra Baggage Allowance: An additional 10kg baggage allowance across all destinations.
  • Flexibility: A one-time free date change for bookings made through Air India’s direct channels, including the airline’s website and mobile app.

These special student fares are available for bookings in Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class, ensuring options to suit a variety of travel preferences and budgets.

Commitment to Students

“With these new student fare benefits, we are making it easier and more affordable for young travellers to explore the world, connect with different cultures, and broaden their horizons,” said Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer of Air India. “At Air India, we are committed to supporting students on their educational journeys and making full-service flying more accessible and rewarding for them.”

Enhanced Global Connectivity

Air India offers non-stop flights between India and 42 international destinations, including key countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Domestically, the airline serves 49 cities, ensuring comprehensive connectivity. Students travelling between these destinations can now enjoy greater ease and flexibility.

Additional Savings for Students

Air India’s special fares also come with additional cost-saving opportunities:

  • No Convenience Fee: Mobile app bookings are exempt from convenience fees, saving INR 399 on domestic and up to INR 999 on international flights.
  • Bank Offers: Students can enjoy further discounts when paying via UPI, net banking, or credit/debit cards issued by Air India’s partner banks.
  • Combined Discounts: When combined, these savings can offer students up to 25% off on total costs.

In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity

All Air India flights now feature complimentary inflight entertainment, available in-seat or via personal devices using Vista Stream, the airline’s wireless entertainment streaming service. On select international flights, passengers can also access inflight WiFi connectivity, with plans for a broader rollout underway.

Loyalty Program: Maharaja Club

Students are encouraged to join Air India’s revamped loyalty program, the ‘Maharaja Club.’ Members earn reward points on every trip, which can be redeemed for complimentary tickets, upgrades, and more. Direct bookings on Air India’s website or app yield up to 33% additional reward points, offering even greater value.

Eligibility Criteria

To avail themselves of these special student fares, travellers must:

  • Be at least 12 years old on the day of travel for domestic flights.
  • Be aged between 12-30 years on the day of travel for international flights.
  • Be enrolled in a full-time course for at least one academic year.
  • Attend an educational institution recognized, aided, or affiliated with a central/state government, educational board, or accredited university/school.
  • Present a valid student ID card, an acceptance letter from their institution, or a valid student visa.

Booking Details

Student fare bookings are exclusively available through Air India’s direct channels, including:

  • Website: airindia.com
  • Mobile App: Air India app
  • Customer Contact Centre
  • Airport and City Ticketing Offices

With this initiative, Air India aims to make air travel more accessible for students. By combining discounted fares, enhanced benefits, and global connectivity, the airline is poised to become a preferred choice for young travellers seeking a seamless and affordable flying experience.

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Former Fiji police chief Rusiate Tudravu returns to lead force again

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Rusiate Tudravu (Source: FACEBOOK - Fiji Government)

Rusiate Tudravu, a seasoned veteran with nearly four decades in the Fiji Police Force, has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police. His return comes three years after his abrupt resignation in 2021, citing personal reasons.

The appointment was confirmed on Wednesday by the Constitutional Offices Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Rabuka described the selection as the result of a “rigorous process,” adding that Tudravu will officially take up his post on 3 February 2025.

Tudravu, who previously served as Deputy Commissioner, held the acting Commissioner role during former Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho’s study leave in the UK. Qiliho, now imprisoned, resigned earlier this year, paving the way for Tudravu’s reinstatement.

Prime Minister Rabuka highlighted Tudravu’s deep familiarity with the force, noting his 39 years of service. “Due process was followed in appointing the new commissioner,” Rabuka said.

“It took time, but constitutional provisions and procedures were upheld.”

Adding international expertise to the mix, former New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush will serve as Tudravu’s mentor, embedded at police headquarters in Suva.

Minister for Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua also congratulated Tudravu, expressing optimism for the success of the “Police Reset” strategy. “All the best to Mr Tudravu in this critical role,” he said.

Before assuming office, Tudravu will step down as chairman of the Tailevu Provincial Council. His appointment has been endorsed by Fiji’s President and unanimously supported by the Constitutional Offices Commission Panel.

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Labor and Albanese end 2024 in worst poll position this term

By
Contributing Author
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Image: PM Anthony Albanese (Source: X)

By Adrian Beaumont

A national Essential poll , conducted December 11–15 from a sample of 1,151, gave the Coalition a 48–47 lead including undecided, unchanged from the late November Essential poll. Primary votes were 35% Coalition (steady), 30% Labor (down two), 13% Greens (up two), 6% One Nation (down two), 1% UAP (steady), 11% for all Others (up two) and 5% undecided (steady).

Essential uses respondent preferences. By 2022 election preference flows, Labor would lead by about 52–48 from these primary votes.

Analyst Kevin Bonham’s aggregate of national polls has the Coalition leading by 50.3–49.7 by 2022 preference flows, the worst for Labor this term. Respondent preference polls from Essential and Morgan have been worse for Labor than the 2022 method, and Bonham is adjusting for a likely pro-Coalition shift of One Nation preferences.

By the assumption of greater One Nation preference flows to the Coalition, the Coalition leads by 50.8–49.2. With the next election due by May 2025, Labor’s position is recoverable, but currently poor.

Anthony Albanese’s net approval slumped six points in Essential since November to -11, with 50% disapproving and 39% approving. This is his worst net approval in this poll, beating a -10 net approval in August. Peter Dutton’s net approval improved two points to +3.

A simple average of the four December polls that have asked for leaders’ ratings has Albanese at -17 net approval while Dutton is at -3.5. These polls include last week’s Newspoll and Resolve and this week’s Essential and Freshwater. The Poll Bludger’s BludgerTrack graphs show the continued drop in Albanese’s net approval.

I believe the bad polls for Labor are partly due to the very negative media commentary on the September quarter GDP figures, which were released December 4. Morgan’s consumer confidence index has dropped 4.5 points in the last two weeks to 83.9, the lowest it has been since early October.

More on Essential

By 51–31, voters thought Australia was on the wrong track (48–35 in November). By 40–25, voters said they were worse off than three years ago, rather than better off. This is better than the 59–13 for worse off in Resolve, but Resolve asked for a comparison to the last election, not three years ago.

By 68–32, respondents said who would make them better off in three years was more important to their vote than whether they were better off in the last three years.

2024 was seen as a better year than 2023 on most measures considered, with “you and your family” at net zero on whether 2024 was a good or bad year, up 12 points on 2023. But the Australian economy was at net -36, up five points.

Respondents were optimistic about 2025, with 37% expecting it to be better for Australia than 2024, 21% worse and 25% saying there would be no difference.

Freshwater poll: Coalition retains narrow lead

A national Freshwater poll for The Financial Review, conducted December 13–15 from a sample of 1,051, had the Coalition ahead by 51–49, unchanged from the November Freshwater poll. Primary votes were also unchanged, with the Coalition on 40%, Labor 30%, the Greens 14% and all Others 16%.

After the previous Freshwater poll, I said rounding probably contributed to the Coalition’s lead, and this still holds in the current poll.

Albanese’s net approval was steady at -17 with 51% unfavourable and 34% favourable. Dutton’s net approval was up one point to -3. Albanese led Dutton as preferred PM by 46–43 (43–42 in November).

There was an improvement for Labor in perceptions of which party would be best to handle various issues. The Coalition led Labor by ten points on the cost of living, down from 12 points in November. On managing the economy, the Coalition led by 13 poins, down from 17.

Morgan poll Labor’s worst this term

A national Morgan poll, conducted December 9–15 from a sample of 1,672, gave the Coalition a 52–48 lead, unchanged since the December 2–8 Morgan poll.

Primary votes were 41% Coalition (up three), 27.5% Labor (down 0.5), 12.5% Greens (down 0.5), 5% One Nation (down 1.5), 10.5% independents (steady) and 3.5% others (down 0.5).

The headline figure uses respondent preferences. By 2022 election preference flows, the Coalition led by 51.5–48.5, a 1.5-point gain for the Coalition. By this measure, this poll is Labor’s worst this term. Better preference flows for Labor this week disguised ugly primary vote figures that gave the Coalition their two-party gain by 2022 flows.

The previous Morgan poll gave the Coalition a 52–48 lead, a one-point gain for the Coalition since the late November Morgan poll. This was the Coalition’s largest lead in five months.

Primary votes were 38% Coalition (down 0.5), 28% Labor (down two), 13% Greens (up 0.5), 6.5% One Nation (steady), 10.5% independents (up two) and 4% others (steady). By 2022 election preference flows, there was an unchanged 50–50 tie.

Additional Resolve questions

The national December Resolve poll for Nine newspapers was Labor’s worst from Resolve this term. In additional questions, respondents strongly favoured four immigration law changes, with the weakest support for immigration detainees being sent to a third country if they would be endangered by returning to their source country (44–23 support).

On nuclear power, 34% supported it (up two since June), 28% were opposed (steady), 24% said they didn’t have a strong view but were open to the government investigating its use (down six) and 14% were undecided (up four).

On taxpayer subsidies for power sources, 45% supported subsidising rooftop solar, 33% renewables in general, 21% nuclear-powered electricity, 20% natural gas-powered electricity and 13% coal-fired electricity.

By 58–18, respondents supported the under-16 social media ban, but by 67–25 they were not confident the ban would work. By 45–42, respondents said it was unlikely they would provide their ID to the platforms they use.

Unemployment rate drops to 3.9%

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said last Thursday that the unemployment rate was 3.9% in November, down 0.2% since October and the lowest unemployment rate since March. The employment population ratio (the share of eligible Australians that are employed) was up 0.1% to 64.4%, an equal record high.

The ABC’s report indicated that the strong jobs data decreased the probability of the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates in early 2025.

NSW Resolve poll and upcoming Victorian byelection

A New South Wales state Resolve poll for The Sydney Morning Herald, conducted with the federal November and December Resolve polls from a sample of over 1,000, gave the Coalition 37% of the primary vote (steady since October), Labor 33% (up one), the Greens 11% (steady), independents 13% (down one) and others 7% (up one).

Resolve doesn’t usually give a two-party estimate, but Labor would retain their slight lead from October. Labor incumbent Chris Minns led the Liberals’ Mark Speakman as preferred premier by 35–17 (37–14 in October).

A byelection will be needed in the Victorian Labor-held state seat of Werribee after Treasurer Tim Pallas resigned on Monday. At the 2022 state election, Pallas defeated the Liberals in Werribee by a 60.9–39.1 margin.

Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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India’s Spin Maestro Ravichandran Ashwin Announces Retirement After Brisbane Test Ends in Draw

By
Bureau Report
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R Ashwin: Image Source: BCCI
R Ashwin: Image Source: BCCI

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, one of cricket’s most decorated and revered players, has announced his retirement from international cricket following the dramatic conclusion of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

The match, played at The Gabba, ended in a rain-affected draw, leaving the series evenly poised at 1-1. Ashwin’s retirement marks the end of a storied career spanning over two decades, during which he left an indelible mark on Indian cricket.

An Emotional Farewell

Ashwin announced during the post-match press conference alongside India’s captain, Rohit Sharma. The veteran spinner was visibly emotional as he broke the news, saying,

“I don’t want to make it about myself. This is my last day as an international cricketer. I’ve had a lot of fun and made countless memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my teammates.”

The anticipation of Ashwin’s decision had been building throughout the day. Cameras captured a poignant moment when Virat Kohli embraced him on the field, a gesture that spoke volumes about their camaraderie and shared history. Moments later, Rohit Sharma rose from his seat during the press conference to embrace Ashwin, further underlining the team’s deep respect and affection for him.

Ashwin’s announcement was brief but heartfelt. He expressed gratitude to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), his teammates, and the coaches who had supported him throughout his illustrious career.

“I want to name a few of them: Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, and the others who’ve taken catches around the bat and helped me claim the wickets I’ve managed over the years,”

he said.

A Career of Remarkable Achievements

Ashwin’s cricketing journey is one of unparalleled success and consistency. In 106 Tests, he claimed 537 wickets, including an astounding 37 five-wicket hauls, and scored 3,503 runs. He stands as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and the second-highest for India, behind Anil Kumble’s record of 619 scalps.

Ashwin’s mastery extended beyond the longest format. In ODIs, he took 156 wickets in 116 matches, with best figures of 4/25, and scored 707 runs. In T20Is, he claimed 72 wickets in 65 matches and scored 184 runs. Across all formats, Ashwin is India’s second-highest wicket-taker with 765 dismissals, next only to Kumble’s 953.

His contributions were not limited to the ball. Ashwin’s batting prowess made him a reliable lower-order batsman, capable of crucial runs under pressure. His all-round abilities were pivotal in India’s victories in the 2011 ICC World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

A Legacy Beyond Numbers

Ashwin’s impact on Indian cricket transcends statistics. Known for his tactical brilliance and innovation, he redefined the art of off-spin by adding his unique variations to established techniques. His ability to adapt and excel across formats made him an invaluable asset to the Indian team.

Between 2014 and 2019, Ashwin spearheaded India’s bowling attack, playing a key role in the team’s rise to the top of the ICC Test rankings. His dominance in home conditions was unparalleled, as he routinely outfoxed opposition batsmen with his guile and precision.

Tributes from Teammates and Fans

Ashwin’s announcement was met with an outpouring of tributes from teammates, fans, and cricketing legends. Virat Kohli, who has shared the field with Ashwin for 14 years, penned an emotional note on social media:

“Your skill and match-winning contributions to Indian cricket are second to none. You will always be remembered as a legend of Indian cricket. Thanks for everything, buddy.”

Rohit Sharma hailed Ashwin as “a true match-winner,” emphasising the spinner’s critical role in India’s success over the years. The team’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, also praised Ashwin for his leadership and influence on younger players.

Brisbane Test Ends in Draw

The third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was overshadowed by persistent rain, which disrupted play and ultimately forced a draw. Australia had declared their second innings at 89/7, setting India a target of 275. However, only 24 deliveries were bowled on the final day due to adverse weather conditions.

India’s efforts to save the match were led by Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep, whose spirited lower-order partnership in the first innings helped India avoid a follow-on. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal looked solid in India’s second innings before rain curtailed proceedings.

The series now heads into its final match, with both teams tied at 1-1. While the focus will shift to the decider, Ashwin’s retirement has left an emotional void in the Indian camp.

The Road Ahead

As Ashwin steps away from international cricket, he leaves behind a legacy of excellence and a towering challenge for future generations to match his achievements. His influence on the game, both in India and globally, will be remembered for years to come. For fans and teammates alike, Ashwin’s retirement marks the end of an era—one defined by skill, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of greatness.

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India battle to avoid defeat as Aussies push for victory in dramatic Test

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep (Source: BCCI - X)

India face a tense final day in the rain-hit third Test against Australia, with hopes of a draw pinned on both resilient batting and the weather. After an eventful Day 4, Australia remain in control but time and persistent rain delays could deny them a victory.

The day 4 belonged to India’s lower order, as Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep staged a gutsy 10th-wicket stand to help the visitors avoid the follow-on. Coming together with India precariously placed at 219/9, trailing by 33 runs, the pair defied the Australian attack for a crucial 39-run partnership. Akash Deep’s unbeaten 27, including a six off Pat Cummins, and Bumrah’s dogged 10* guided India to 252/9 before bad light halted play.

Australia, despite dominating large parts of the game, were left frustrated. Captain Pat Cummins, who bowled a fiery spell to claim 4-80, was relentless throughout the day. Mitchell Starc (3-83) provided strong support, but the absence of Josh Hazlewood due to a calf injury allowed India’s tailenders to claw their way back into the contest.

India began the day at 51/4 and looked in trouble when skipper Rohit Sharma fell early for 10, nicking Cummins after a short-ball setup. Rohit’s struggles continued, with just 19 runs in three innings this series, adding to scrutiny over his form.

KL Rahul (84) offered resistance, benefiting from an early reprieve when Steve Smith dropped him at slip. However, Rahul fell to a stunning catch by Smith later, ending a determined knock. Ravindra Jadeja (77) then stepped up, stitching a valuable 53-run partnership with Nitish Reddy (16) before Cummins broke through again.

Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, India’s tail held firm. The spirited resistance from Bumrah and Deep brought relief to the Indian camp, where celebrations erupted as Akash Deep’s boundary off Cummins ensured they avoided the follow-on. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli were seen applauding the effort, a rare positive in an otherwise tough Test.

Australia will likely bat for an hour on Day 5 to set an improbable target for India, but with rain in the forecast, time could be their biggest opponent. For India, survival will be key as they aim to salvage a draw from a match dominated by the hosts.

With Australia still 193 runs ahead and conditions uncertain, Day 5 promises a gripping conclusion to this rain-marred Test.

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Celebrating youth energy, creativity, and culture at Yuwa Diwas 2025

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

The Vivekanand Society of Australia is organising Yuwa Diwas 2025, a spectacular celebration of creativity, talent, and achievements by Australia’s multicultural youth.

This event will take place on 12th January 2025, at 6:00 PM, at the Performing Arts Centre, Glenroy College, Melbourne.

This annual youth festival aims to showcase the energy and creativity of young Australians while celebrating their cultural heritage.

2025 event promises an exciting mix of cultural performances, competitions, and awards, making it a must-attend for families and community members.

Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

One of the event highlights is the Youth of the Year 2024 Award, which honours young achievers aged 10–25 who have made a remarkable impact in their community, school, or field of interest.

Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

For younger participants, there are plenty of opportunities to shine. The Under 15 Competition, with the theme “Balancing traditional values with Aussie lifestyle,” invites creative entries in the form of dance, music, skits, speeches, or other performances. Entries must be submitted by 29th December 2024. Meanwhile, the Under 10 Fancy Dress Competition offers a delightful platform for the youngest talents to bring their favourite characters to life.

Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Older teens and young adults, aged 15+, can take part in the Youth Survey, which seeks innovative ideas for strengthening the multicultural community.

Parents are also encouraged to contribute their perspectives in a parallel survey designed to bridge generational gaps.

Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

On the big day, the top three performers from the Under 15 category will present live on stage, and the winners of the Youth of the Year 2024 Award will be announced.

Guests will also enjoy vibrant cultural programs and a festive dinner in the company of dignitaries and community leaders.

Image: Yuwa Diwas 2024 (Source: Supplied)

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our youth and inspire the next generation!

For more information, please visit Vivekanand Society of Australia’s Facebook page.

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Meet Anmol, India’s $4.3 million buffalo with a royal daily diet

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Anmol (Source: Screenshot)

Anmol, a buffalo in the Indian state of Haryana valued at a staggering ₹23 crore (AUD 4.3 million), has become a sensation at agricultural fairs and on social media.

Weighing an impressive 1,500 kilograms, Anmol has been showcased at renowned events like the Pushkar Mela (Rajasthan) and the All-India Farmers’ Fair in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh).

Celebrated for its size, pedigree, and breeding potential, the Murrah buffalo is redefining the standards of animal husbandry in India.

Gill spares no expense to maintain the buffalo’s health and stature. The daily diet costs approximately ₹1,500 (AUD 28) and includes 250 grams of almonds, 30 bananas, 4 kilograms of pomegranates, 5 kilograms of milk, 20 eggs, along with oil cake, green fodder, ghee, soybeans, and corn. This high-calorie, nutrient-rich regimen ensures Anmol remains fit for exhibitions and breeding.

Beyond its diet, Anmol receives luxurious grooming, including twice-daily baths and massages with almond and mustard oil, which keep its coat shiny and healthy. Maintaining this lavish lifestyle has led Gill to sell Anmol’s mother and sister in the past, though he insists he will never part with Anmol itself.

Anmol’s true value lies in its role in cattle breeding. The buffalo’s semen, collected twice weekly, is highly sought after and valued at ₹250 (AUD 5) per extraction. Each collection can produce hundreds of calves, generating ₹4-5 lakh (AUD 8,300-10,400) in monthly income. These sales help offset the substantial expenses of Anmol’s upkeep.

Anmol’s owner, Gill, has reportedly turned down multiple offers to sell the buffalo, valuing Anmol not only for its financial returns but also as a beloved family member.

Meanwhile, in Australia, elite bulls like NCC Justified are setting records, with some bulls fetching prices as high as $325,000.

These Brahman bulls are prized for their adaptability, genetic traits, and value in improving herd quality. The sale of semen, now enhanced by embryo technology, is also driving revenue, with some straws selling for up to $2,400 each.

These practices highlight the growing global appreciation for livestock with superior genetics, with both India and Australia leading the charge in high-value breeding.

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Parents warned to stay vigilant as predators target kids online this Christmas

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: Online grooming (Source: CANVA)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is urging parents to prioritise online safety as they buy internet-enabled devices for their children this Christmas, warning that offenders often prey on kids during holiday periods.

AFP Commander Helen Schneider said the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) has seen a significant increase in reports of online child abuse during festive breaks.

“The latest gadgets are usually at the top of Santa’s wish list, and, unfortunately, anything popular with children can also attract the attention of people who want to harm or exploit them.”

Commander Schneider encouraged parents to utilise in-built safety features, external apps, and online resources to protect children.

“No amount of technology will ever replace the protection provided by starting an open and honest dialogue with your child about online safety,” she stressed, pointing to the AFP-led ThinkUKnow program for tips and practical advice.

Among the resources offered is Jack Changes the Game, a free e-book about a boy who is groomed online but, with support, learns to protect himself and others. The story serves as a tool to teach kids and parents how to recognise and address online threats.

The ACCCE recorded over 58,000 reports of child abuse and exploitation in the 2023-24 financial year, a staggering 45 per cent increase from the previous year.

The AFP advises parents to check chat and privacy settings on apps and games, regularly monitor who their children interact with, and encourage critical thinking about online interactions. “Not everyone online is who they say they are,” Commander Schneider warned.

If you suspect a child is at risk, contact police immediately on 000. Reports of online abuse can also be made to Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000 or the ACCCE. Support is available for those impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation.

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Albanese government is spending millions on news, but crucial community media remains underfunded

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Community radio (Source: CANVA)

By Bridget Backhaus

The Australian government has launched its News Media Assistance Program, throwing a lifeline to public interest journalism and local news.

The latest push for a more diverse and sustainable news landscape also saw community broadcasters receive a modest but much-needed boost to their funding.

The announcement, worth $180 million overall, is a welcome pre-Christmas gift for struggling media outlets.

But it largely overlooks the importance of community broadcasting in providing accessible, community-engaged news. The program falls short of meaningfully helping the chronically underfunded part of the media landscape.

Millions on the table

On paper (or in government media releases at least), the plan looks promising.

It includes $99.1 million in grants, $33 million for the Australian Associated Press and a commitment of $3 million per year for government advertising in regional newspapers. There’s also $10.5 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority to implement its Media Diversity Measurement Framework.

This builds on the recently launched News Media Relief Program, which offers $15 million in grants to media outlets to offset journalists’ salaries.

Alongside these announcements was an extra $27 million for the community broadcasting sector. Of this, $15 million is allocated to the Community Broadcasting Program and $12 million to the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Program.

All up, a substantial investment: $180.5 million to support local news and community broadcasting. But is it enough of a life raft for Australia’s flailing news industry?

Dire times

Australian journalism has been in trouble for years, with a range of factors contributing to the reduced availability and quality of local news.

Australia remains among the worst countries in the world for concentration of media ownership. https://www.youtube.com/embed/tsbaVvYQ2n8?wmode=transparent&start=0

There has also been a swathe of regional news outlet closures over the past few years, contributing to vast news deserts.

Further, shrinking newsrooms and the relentless demands of producing ever more multi-platform content is placing immense workload pressures on journalists.

That’s not to mention the role of social media and tech companies in directing online traffic away from news websites.

Against this backdrop, it’s unsurprising the government feels the need to step in.

Local news as a lifeline

Yet Australians, especially those who live in regional areas, value accessible local news.

This is something the community broadcasting sector knows well. In fact, the main reason listeners tune in to their favourite community radio station is to hear local news and information.

Community broadcasting is Australia’s third tier of broadcasting. It’s separate from state-run and commercial models. Community radio and television are not-for-profit and run for and by the community.

It’s the quiet achiever of the Australian media. Our largest independent media sector, one in four Australians tune in every week to the more than 500 services across the country.

Community broadcasters provide diverse and accessible news and current affairs. In doing so, they enhance Australia’s news media landscape.

Community broadcasters serve audiences that are overlooked, ignored and silenced in the mainstream media.

Take Water Watch, for example. This program on Broken Hill’s 2DRY FM explores issues affecting local waterways every week. It won a Community Broadcasting Association of Australia award for their reporting on the Menindee fish kills.

The Multilingual News Service broadcasts on multicultural community radio stations across New South Wales and Victoria. The service was set up to address health information gaps during the pandemic and still provides an essential news service to communities in their own languages.

Then there’s the work of Ngaarda Media in the Pilbara. Through in-depth reporting in the community, it broke the story of the First Nations man wrongfully accused by the mainstream media of kidnapping Cleo Smith.

While much of this work flies under the radar of the mainstream news media, it gives voice to a range of Australians. This is especially true for marginalised people, like those with disability, LGBTQIA+ Australians and First Nations communities.

If the government’s plan is to support diverse and accessible public interest journalism, the community broadcasting sector must be meaningfully included.

The next journalistic generation

As well as providing diverse and accessible community news in its own right, community broadcasting is an important training ground for journalists and media workers.

Our research uncovered a range of stories from those who got their foot in the door of the media industry at their local community radio station. The practical and soft skills that these volunteers learn, alongside the extensive professional networks, were instrumental in their career trajectories.

Supporting community radio to further develop this training will safeguard the largely voluntary workforce of the sector. It will also help to future-proof the next generation of media workers.

Community broadcasting adds enormous yet underappreciated value to the broader news media landscape. And it does so on a shoestring budget.

The Community Broadcasting Foundation is the independent administrator of government funding for the sector. It faces annual funding shortfalls averaging $9.5 million, rising to $11 million this financial year.

Hence the prospect of $15 million over an unspecified time period is little cause for celebration.

So despite the nominal funding announcement, there remains a missed opportunity for the government to make a meaningful investment in community broadcasting.

While the news plan may offer a general sense of direction, charting the course towards a more diverse and sustainable media landscape means recognising and adequately funding community broadcasting.

Bridget Backhaus, Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Media Studies, Griffith University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Australia ready to help as Vanuatu rocked by second earthquake

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Buildings collapse and landslides after 7.3 magnitude Vanuatu earthquake (Source: ABC News screenshot)

Vanuatu has been rocked by a second earthquake this morning as rescuers raced against time to reach survivors trapped under rubble, following a devastating magnitude 7.3 quake yesterday that caused widespread destruction.

Australia has pledged immediate aid, including urban search and rescue teams and emergency medical support. “Australians are thinking of our friends and neighbours in Vanuatu,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed DFAT is assisting Australians in the region and urged those in need to contact consular services.

Geosciences Australia confirmed a 6.0-magnitude aftershock struck at 5.17am AEDT today at a depth of 72km, compounding the crisis for the Pacific island nation. The Red Cross, citing government sources, reported early this morning that the death toll had risen to 14, with hundreds injured.

The first quake, which struck off Efate Island at 12.47pm on Tuesday, was felt violently for up to 30 seconds. It caused severe damage, including to the La Casa D’Andrea E Luciano building that houses multiple embassies, where part of the structure collapsed.

Drone footage revealed significant landslides near Vanuatu’s international shipping terminal, with eyewitnesses predicting further casualties. “There are buildings down here so I’m expecting the casualty figure to rise,” Vanuatu-based journalist Dan McGarry told AAP.

Port Vila hospital has been overwhelmed by casualties, with tents erected outside to accommodate the influx of wounded patients. “We understand that Port Vila hospital is quite full … they are struggling to cope,” said World Vision Vanuatu’s Clement Chipokolo.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirmed that immediate response efforts are underway despite widespread communication outages. Images shared by public broadcaster VBTC showed injured residents being transported in flatbed trucks and treated on makeshift stretchers.

A seven-day state of emergency, including a nightly curfew, has been declared by caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, who described the situation as “a sad and devastating time” for Vanuatu.

The people of Vanuatu now face a long road to recovery, with urgent needs including clean water, medical aid, and shelter.

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Victoria cracks down on extremist protests with new laws

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Bureau Report
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Image: Premier Jacinta Allan engaging with Jewish community leaders at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea (Source: X)

Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a sweeping crackdown on protest activity in Victoria, unveiling new laws aimed at combating extremist and divisive demonstrations.

“Because it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu – every Victorian deserves the right to simply be who they are. Victoria’s multicultural communities have asked for this. Victoria Police have asked for this. And now, we’re making it the law.”

The proposed legislation will ban protests outside places of worship and outlaw the public display of flags and symbols linked to listed terrorist organisations, such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Masks and balaclavas, commonly used by protesters to conceal their identities, will also be prohibited.

“Face masks aren’t a free pass to break the law. There should be no place to hide in this state if you’re a racist stirring up hate on the streets.”

The measures come in response to increasing community concern following a firebombing at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea earlier this month. Ms Allan criticised recent protests that targeted religious sites, calling such actions “menacing behaviour” that must be stopped.

“Protests that harm others cannot be tolerated. We will legislate to ensure Victorians can gather and pray without fear, harassment, or intimidation,” she said.

The crackdown also includes a ban on dangerous protest tools such as glue, ropes, and chains, which are often used to disrupt public order. The government aims to give police stronger powers to tackle “extreme, dangerous, and radical” conduct at demonstrations.

Multicultural groups seeking government grants will now be required to sign a social cohesion pledge, with penalties for breaches.

The changes have drawn mixed reactions, with Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton criticising the state government for being slow to act.

“Jewish Australians have faced deplorable treatment, and the Allan government should have addressed this months ago.”

Premier Allan affirmed that the measures reflect Victoria’s commitment to protecting its multicultural communities from hate and intimidation, promising strong action to “fight hate and help Victorians heal.”

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“Justin Trudeau has lost control”: Freeland’s resignation plunges government into crisis

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Bureau Report
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Image: Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Sean Fraser (Source: X)

A political storm has erupted in Canada as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s sudden resignation sent shockwaves through Ottawa on Monday, igniting calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down.

Freeland announced her resignation in a letter addressed to Trudeau, which she posted on social media. She revealed the Prime Minister had informed her of plans to reassign her to a different cabinet role, a move she could not support.

“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet.”

The resignation caught many off guard, including Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who appeared visibly stunned during a press conference. “This is news to me,” said Fraser, who previously served as Freeland’s parliamentary secretary.

Transport Minister Anita Anand expressed her dismay, calling Freeland “a good friend” and a valued colleague. “This news has hit me really hard,” she said before heading into a cabinet meeting.

Freeland’s departure comes at a precarious moment for Trudeau’s minority government, which faces mounting challenges, including rising inflation, an anticipated economic crisis, and threats of punitive tariffs from Donald Trump if he regains the U.S. presidency.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre seized on the turmoil, holding a press conference to call for Trudeau’s resignation and urging the NDP to support a vote of no-confidence. “Justin Trudeau has lost control,” Poilievre declared.

“The finance minister has resigned in the middle of an economic crisis, and one-fifth of his caucus no longer supports him. Everything is spiralling out of control.”

Former cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould echoed the sentiment in a scathing social media post:

“Justin Trudeau—#itstime, long past time to go.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also criticised the government, though he stopped short of calling for an election or withdrawing his party’s support for the Liberals. “The withering resignation of Trudeau’s right-hand minister shows just how deeply this Liberal government’s members are obsessed with infighting,” Singh said.

“While the Liberals fight among themselves, Canadians are struggling with the cost of living and job losses.”

Freeland’s resignation has also disrupted the release of the government’s long-awaited fall economic statement, which was delayed by several hours on Monday. The statement, expected to address Canada’s fiscal health and propose measures for economic recovery, has been overshadowed by the political drama.

Freeland’s exit is the latest in a string of resignations and internal dissent within Trudeau’s government, raising questions about the Prime Minister’s ability to lead amid growing discontent and economic uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Chad Collins has reiterated his call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down, referencing an October letter signed by 23 MPs urging a leadership change to guide Canada in a new direction.

As calls for his resignation grow louder, Trudeau’s political future hangs in the balance, with Canada’s opposition parties eyeing an opportunity to force change in leadership.

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HSBC faces landmark lawsuit as ASIC alleges “systemic failures” in $23m spoofing scam

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: Spoofing scam (Source: CANVA)

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched a groundbreaking legal case against banking giant HSBC, accusing its Australian arm of failing to protect 950 customers from a sophisticated “spoofing” scam that siphoned $23 million over nearly five years.

ASIC filed the lawsuit in the Federal Court, claiming HSBC’s “widespread and systemic” failings enabled scammers to target customers between January 2020 and August 2024. The scam escalated sharply, netting almost $16 million between October 2023 and March 2024, with some victims losing more than $90,000 each.

The “spoofing” scam involved fraudsters using software to mimic HSBC phone numbers and embed fake texts into legitimate message chains. Customers, believing they were responding to the bank, were tricked into calling fake fraud teams. Scammers used this ruse to extract personal details and seize control of accounts.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court labelled the bank’s fraud prevention measures inadequate.

“We allege HSBC Australia was aware of significant risks from at least January 2023 but failed to close gaps in their fraud controls.”

Court also highlighted HSBC’s slow response times, alleging the bank took an average of 145 days to investigate unauthorised transaction reports — far exceeding the required 21-day timeframe. One customer waited 542 days to regain access to their account.

“This is the first case of its kind globally where a financial institution is being held accountable for widespread failures to protect customers from scams.”

ASIC’s case is set to test the banking sector’s responsibility in combating scams. While there are no specific laws dictating banks’ actions in scam-related incidents, they are legally required to safeguard customers’ personal information and adhere to industry codes.

HSBC responded, stating it has made “significant investments” in fraud prevention, including blocking payments to high-risk platforms like cryptocurrency exchanges, enhancing SMS warnings, and using telecom measures to curb phone number spoofing.

The corporate regulator has indicated it will seek significant penalties if the court finds HSBC liable. “This case isn’t just about penalties,” Court said.

“It’s about sending a clear message to the banking sector to take their obligations seriously.”

The case will be closely watched, marking a pivotal moment in how Australian financial institutions address the growing threat of scams.

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World court’s historic climate hearings, potential turning point for global action

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Members of OSIS presented their pleadings in the ICJ advisory proceedings on climate change (Source: X)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently concluded historic hearings aimed at addressing States’ legal obligations regarding climate change and the consequences of failing to meet them. Held from 2 to 13 December 2024 in The Hague, Netherlands, the proceedings sought to clarify international law and set a precedent for global climate action.

Image: Satendra Prasad, Fiji’s former ambassador to the United Nations (Source: X)

Satendra Prasad, Fiji’s former ambassador to the United Nations, called the case a landmark moment for global climate justice. In a post on LinkedIn he observed:

“The outcome will shape the future of global climate action.”

The case originated in 2021 when Vanuatu, supported by the youth group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, launched an initiative to seek an ICJ advisory opinion.

The Pacific island nation, along with a coalition of small island developing States, pushed for the opinion to address the urgent climate crisis threatening their existence. The United Nations General Assembly referred the matter to the ICJ in March 2023, with backing from 132 countries.

The hearings represented the largest proceedings in the ICJ’s history, with 97 countries and 11 international organisations participating. A record 91 written submissions and 62 comments had been filed with the court before the hearings.

Nations and organisations used the hearings to expand on their written arguments, with small island States emphasising their unique vulnerability to rising sea levels and extreme weather events.

Image: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres 9Source: X)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also underlined the significance of the case, stating that the ICJ’s advisory opinion could “help the General Assembly, the United Nations and Member States take the bolder and stronger climate action that our world so desperately needs.”

Guterres emphasised that the opinion could guide not only the actions of States in their relations with one another but also their responsibilities to their own citizens.

“It could also guide the actions and conduct of States in their relations with each other, as well as towards their own citizens. This is essential.” 

Although the ICJ’s advisory opinions are not legally binding, they carry considerable moral and legal authority. Such opinions have the potential to clarify international law, influence future judicial proceedings, and shape global climate negotiations. The court’s decision is expected to be referenced in climate lawsuits worldwide, potentially holding nations accountable for failing to address the climate crisis.

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Tough new laws with increased penalties to tackle knife crime in NSW

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: Police check (Source: CANVA)

New laws aimed at curbing knife crime and enhancing community safety come into effect in New South Wales today.

The legislation, modelled on Queensland’s Jack’s Law, gives police the power to use handheld scanners or electronic metal-detecting ‘wands’ to stop and scan individuals without a warrant in designated areas.

Premier Chris Minns said in a statement that the new laws, though inconvenient, were necessary for public safety. “These laws are about ensuring the public feels safe and changing the culture,” he said.

“We want to send a clear message to young people: if you’re going out at night, don’t take a knife with you.”

Senior police officers, including those at the rank of Assistant Commissioner or higher, can activate wanding powers in areas such as public transport stations, shopping precincts, certain sporting venues, and places linked to the night-time economy. These powers can be applied for up to 12 hours, with an option to extend if specific criteria are met.

Minister for Police and Counter-Terrorism, Yasmin Catley, highlighted the importance of the reforms in tackling knife crime. “These new powers give police the ability to detect concealed knives quickly, preventing potential harm,” she said.

“The government is committed to providing NSW Police with the tools they need to combat violent crime.”

Wanding powers can be used in areas where knife crime or possession offences have occurred within the last year. This includes incidents involving a weapon or serious violence, or multiple knife possession offences.

The new laws are part of a wider package of reforms aimed at reducing knife-related crime across NSW. These include:

  • Doubling the maximum fine for selling a knife to a child under 16 to $11,000, with up to 12 months in prison.
  • Introducing a new offence for selling knives to children aged 16 or 17 without a legitimate reason.
  • Increasing penalties for various knife-related crimes.
  • Supporting high-impact police operations, such as Operation Foil, which focuses on knife crime and anti-social behaviour. In its latest phase, police seized 51 knives and weapons and charged 145 individuals with weapon-related offences. Nearly 4,000 knives were confiscated over the past year.

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Fiji drug bust highlights AFP’s global success in seizing 39 tonnes of illicit substances

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Bureau Report
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Representtaive image: Police officers with seized drugs (Source: AFP)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has helped prevent over 39 tonnes of illicit drugs from being trafficked globally, including more than 4.2 tonnes in Pacific Island nations like Fiji, during the 2023-24 financial year.

Joint operations between the AFP and its international law enforcement partners have led to the seizure of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs worth billions of dollars. More than 24 tonnes of these substances were directly linked to Australian crime groups or destined for Australian shores.

Acting Commander of International Engagement Kel Mansfield stressed the significance of disrupting drug syndicates before they could inflict harm. He highlighted the devastating impact of drugs on Australian communities, citing over 12,200 hospitalisations in 2021-22 related to amphetamines, cocaine, and other stimulants, equivalent to more than 30 hospitalisations daily.

“These tonnes of drugs seized by the AFP’s international partners had the potential to cause untold harm to the Australian community,” Acting Commander Mansfield said. “The AFP and our partners are relentless and will continue to dismantle these enterprises and put offenders before the courts.”

One of the year’s standout operations involved a massive drug bust in Fiji. In December 2023, the AFP and Fiji Police Force launched Operation Nautilus, targeting trans-Pacific drug trafficking. By January 2024, authorities seized 4.27 tonnes of methamphetamine in Fiji, valued between $640 million and $1.2 billion on the Australian market. Thirteen individuals, including key Fijian organisers and facilitators of the drug landings, were arrested. Investigations into proceeds of crime from this operation are ongoing.

The AFP’s international network, comprising more than 189 personnel across 35 countries, played a crucial role in intercepting shipments before they reached Australia. In Colombia, a joint operation in July 2023 disrupted a transnational syndicate, leading to multiple arrests and over $1 million in asset seizures. In Mexico, 787kg of methamphetamine destined for Australia was seized from cargo at the Port of Manzanillo in August 2023.

In October 2023, five men were arrested in Sydney for importing 100kg of cocaine via a passenger plane from South Africa. Follow-up intelligence led to additional arrests in Johannesburg, marking the first such operation in South Africa.

The top contributors to drug seizures bound for Australia in the past financial year were Myanmar with 20,561kg, Fiji with 4,270kg, Colombia with 4,071kg, and Mexico with 3,957kg.

These efforts highlight the AFP’s commitment to international collaboration, preventing drugs from causing further harm to Australian communities.

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Will we have a COVID wave, spike or blip this Christmas? It depends where you live

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: Covid Christmas (Source: CANVA)

By James Wood and Alexandra Hogan

As the holiday season approaches, COVID cases are rising again in Australia, particularly in Victoria and Tasmania.

This is now the fourth year running with a summer rise of COVID, and the second year with a roughly six-month gap between waves.

Will we see a wave every six months from now on?

And what can we expect from COVID this Christmas?

Cases are rising

Nationally, we’re seeing more indicators of increasing COVID infection, such as rises in the number of reported cases and the percentage of PCR tests that come back positive. We’re also seeing more outbreaks in aged care.

But the extent to which this is a wave varies markedly around the nation.

For instance, in Victoria notified cases are almost as high now as during the winter peak.

It’s a similar story in Tasmania, where notified cases in late November were as high as its winter peak.

However in Western Australia, notified cases, hospitalisations and detection of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) in wastewater only show small rises so far.

New South Wales and Queensland have seen a slow rise in COVID indicators since the beginning of October, with similar behaviour in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. We don’t have clear figures for the Northern Territory.

So in summary, all jurisdictions for which we have data have seen a rise in COVID activity but only Tasmania and Victoria have seen a clear surge or wave.

Which variants are circulating?

Spread of the COVID variant XEC seems to be causing the recent rise in cases. Estimates suggest XEC has risen from 10% to 60% of circulating SARS-CoV-2 in the past two months.

XEC is a recombinant variant, meaning it’s a hybrid of two existing variants. In this case it’s derived from two distinct descendants (KP.3.3 and KS.1.1) of the JN.1 variant that spread worldwide last Christmas.

Recent preliminary laboratory evidence suggests XEC is better at evading our antibody responses than the KP.3 variants that predominated until recently.

XEC is better at spreading than other current variants, but it’s not so fast spreading as JN.1 last summer.

So can XEC cause a wave? Yes, but that depends on a number of factors other than just out-competing other variants. This includes the scale of previous COVID waves and resulting short-term increases in population immunity.

For example, the United Kingdom saw a significant COVID wave this northern hemisphere autumn. Despite the growing proportion of XEC infections, cases have continued to decline.

Will we get waves every 6 months from now on?

This leads us to back to how often we should expect COVID waves in the future.

Australia entered its Omicron period from 2022, and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to circulate to this day. In 2022 we had four waves (except for WA, which avoided the first one), in 2023 we had two waves and in 2024 at least in jurisdictions such as Victoria, there have been two clear waves.

Epidemic theory predicts that the spacing of waves depends on the inherent transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, how quickly immunity is lost, as well as seasonal changes in transmission.

Respiratory viruses usually spread more easily in winter in temperate climates, perhaps because we spend more time indoors. This seasonality in transmission usually leads to a single winter peak for viruses like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV).

However, we haven’t seen that yet for COVID. Instead, we see influential viral mutations crop up every few months. These can lead to sudden increases in transmission, enough to start new waves in summer and winter.

This suggests the potential for two waves a year continues. However, as seasonal factors tend to increase transmission of respiratory viruses in winter, we can generally expect winter waves to be larger than summer ones.

How about Christmas 2024?

Australia-wide we can expect a moderate level of COVID circulation over the holiday period. Activity is currently highest in Victoria and Tasmania but recent Victorian surveillance data indicates the wave may have peaked.

In other jurisdictions, activity is lower but appears to be slowly increasing. For instance Queensland has seen a slow steady rise since the beginning of October.

Overall, though, there probably won’t be as much COVID around at Christmas as either of the past two years.

How do I protect myself and others?

Although cases are expected to be lower this Christmas than in recent years, you can still protect yourself and others.

For instance, if you’re catching up with elderly relatives or people with weak immune systems, be cautious if you have respiratory symptoms. Good quality masks and using RAT tests are still an option. And regardless of your symptoms, gathering in a well ventilated room (or outside) will reduce your chance of infection and infecting others.

Updated COVID boosters matched to the JN.1 variant should now be available, and you can check if you’re eligible. Boosters protect against severe disease for about six months but provide more limited protection against infection and onward transmission.

James Wood, Professor, epidemiological modelling of infectious diseases, UNSW Sydney and Alexandra Hogan, Mathematical epidemiologist, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Swati Dave makes history as first Indian-origin member of Reserve Bank of Australia Board

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Swati Dave (Source: CAIR)

Swati Dave has become the first Indian-Australian to be appointed to the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), marking a historic milestone in the institution’s 64-year history.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers praised her wealth of experience and strategic leadership, saying,

“Swati Dave’s expertise in banking, governance, and international finance will be invaluable as we modernise the RBA to meet Australia’s economic challenges.”

Dave, a trailblazer in finance and governance, will join the RBA’s newly established Governance Board in March 2025.

The board is part of a significant restructure aimed at modernising the RBA, with the Governance Board overseeing administrative and operational functions, while a separate Monetary Policy Board focuses on setting interest rates.

Currently the Chair of the Centre for Australia-India Relations, Dave brings over three decades of leadership experience across the public and private sectors.

She was most recently Managing Director and CEO of Export Finance Australia, where she spearheaded a transformation to make the organisation more impactful and inclusive. Her career spans senior roles at major financial institutions, including NAB, Deutsche Bank, and Westpac.

“I’m deeply honoured to contribute to the Reserve Bank during this transformative time,” Dave said, reflecting on her historic appointment.

Dave’s appointment also highlights Australia’s growing recognition of multicultural leadership. Her leadership at the Centre for Australia-India Relations has been instrumental in strengthening bilateral ties, and her unique perspective will bring fresh insights to the RBA’s governance.

As part of the board’s inaugural team, Dave will serve alongside esteemed figures including Jennifer Westacott AO and David Thodey AO. Her term extends until August 2029, a tenure expected to shape the RBA’s future direction.

Dave’s historic achievement not only elevates representation at Australia’s central bank but also underscores her role as a key figure in shaping the country’s economic landscape.

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Victoria’s longest-serving Treasurer Tim Pallas quits politics

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Bureau Report
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Image: Tim Pallas – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth and Member for Werribee (Source: X)

Tim Pallas, Victoria’s longest-serving standalone Treasurer, has announced his resignation from politics, marking the end of a 40-year career dedicated to public service.

The 14-year minister and 18-year Member for Werribee confirmed his decision to step down, citing a need for “new perspectives” in government.

Premier Jacinta Allan, a close friend and colleague of Pallas for 25 years, praised his contributions, calling him a driving force behind Victoria’s economic transformation.

“Tim and I first met in 1999 when I was a fresh-faced, newly-elected MP, and he was Chief of Staff to the Premier. Over the years, we worked together as MPs, collaborators, and mates, bonded by our shared passion for building infrastructure and steadfast belief that Labor Governments change lives.”.

Pallas has been pivotal in shaping Victoria’s economy, overseeing record business investment and jobs growth.

Under his tenure, the state achieved milestones such as removing 50 dangerous level crossings, implementing nation-leading wage theft laws, and driving pandemic economic recovery. He also played a key role in securing Moderna and BioNTech facilities in Victoria, making it a global hub for mRNA technology.

Reflecting on his career, Pallas said,

“It has been a great honour and privilege to serve. After 10 years as Treasurer, the time has come for renewal. The economy is solid, the fiscal position is improving, and we’ve laid the groundwork for a prosperous future.”

Premier Allan highlighted Pallas’ steady leadership during the pandemic, saying,

“He ensured our economy weathered an unprecedented challenge, keeping businesses afloat and Victorians employed.”

Pallas, who handed down his 10th and final budget earlier this year, acknowledged some missteps during his tenure but expressed pride in the lasting impact of his work. His resignation will trigger a by-election for the seat of Werribee, a highly contested electorate in recent elections.

As Victoria awaits the announcement of a new Treasurer, Pallas leaves behind a legacy of resilience, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to working people. “Tim has given far more than he’s received,” Allan concluded.

“I wish him, Karen, Jack and Grace all the best for the next chapter in their lives – including plenty of Werribee Tiger wins, and even more karaoke.”

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Zakir Hussain, iconic Indian tabla maestro and global music pioneer, dies at 73

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Bureau Report
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Image: Zakir Hussain (Source: Instagram)

Renowned Indin tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, celebrated as one of the finest percussionists in the world, has passed away at 73.

The musician died in a San Francisco hospital due to complications from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease, his family confirmed.

Hussain, whose career spanned over five decades, was instrumental in transforming the tabla into a globally celebrated solo instrument.

Born in Mumbai in 1951, he was introduced to the world of music by his father, Ustad Alla Rakha, himself a tabla legend. By the age of seven, Hussain was already performing concerts, showcasing the dexterity and innovation that would later define his legacy.

The musician’s groundbreaking collaborations bridged cultures and genres, from forming the Indian jazz fusion band Shakti with guitarist John McLaughlin to working with artists like George Harrison, Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead, and jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd.

Hussain’s efforts made Indian classical music accessible to global audiences, solidifying his role as a cultural ambassador.

Hussain’s accolades include four Grammy Awards, including a historic trio of wins in 2024, and India’s Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second-highest civilian honour. He was also celebrated for his teaching and mentoring, leaving an indelible mark on generations of musicians.

Zakir Hussain is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, and daughters, Anisa and Isabella Qureshi. His passing is an immeasurable loss to the world of music, but his pioneering spirit and enduring rhythms will continue to inspire.

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Australia remembers the Lindt Café siege that shocked a nation

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Bureau Report
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Image: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pays tribute to the victims of the Lindt Café siege at a memorial service. (Source: X)

December 15, 2024, marks the tenth anniversary of the tragic siege at Sydney’s Lindt Café, where two hostages lost their lives and the scars of that harrowing day still affect survivors and first responders.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reflected on the anniversary in a statement, saying,

“We particularly hold on to the memory of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, who never went home again. This morning in Martin Place, we laid down hydrangeas and sunflowers – their favourite flowers.”

Albanese continued,

“Our thoughts are with their families, some of whom joined us today, and with all those whose lives were touched by this horrendous ordeal. We ache for all who loved them and, as we mark this saddest of anniversaries, we hold them all in our hearts.”

The attack, carried out by self-styled Islamic State supporter Man Haron Monis, saw 18 people taken hostage at the café.

After a tense 16-and-a-half-hour standoff, Monis killed café manager Tori Johnson, 34, and barrister Katrina Dawson, 38, who was struck by fragments of police bullets. Their deaths remain a painful reminder of the event.

Ben Besant, a Tactical Operations Unit officer who stormed the café and killed Monis, has since been advocating for a national trauma inquiry for first responders. He believes the inquiry would provide better support for those dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a challenge he knows all too well.

“It has been very important to me to get my name back,” Besant said in a recent interview.

“I want to share my story, not only what happened on the day, and the brave actions of every TAU officer, but also to share my journey with PTSD and my method of going about fighting it. I want to get out there to help as many other PTSD sufferers as I can.”

Reflecting on the impact of the siege, former NSW deputy premier Troy Grant, who was on the ground during the event, told ABC:

“The siege profoundly changed the city’s innocence in a way, but the outpouring of love and grief and the sea of flowers that appeared in Martin Place in the days after proved that people would not be intimidated by would-be terrorists.”

The 2014 siege, which was broadcast live to the world, marked a turning point for Australian counterterrorism strategy. NSW Police adopted a more aggressive “shoot-now” approach following the siege, replacing the previous “contain and negotiate” strategy.

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Bali Five return to Australia after 19 years in Indonesian prison

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Bureau Report
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Image: Bali Five (Source: Bali Discovery)

The last five members of the Bali Nine – Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj – have returned to Australia after serving more than 19 years in an Indonesian prison for their roles in a 2005 heroin smuggling operation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced their arrival on Sunday, thanking Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for his “compassion” in facilitating their repatriation.

“These Australians committed serious offences, but it was time for them to come home,” Albanese said in a statement. He expressed gratitude to the Indonesian government, highlighting the strong bilateral relationship that made the release possible.

The five men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, arrived on a commercial flight and have been provided temporary accommodation as they begin reintegration into Australian society. Despite initial suggestions they might serve further prison time in Australia, no legal framework allows for such an arrangement.

The Bali Nine case drew international attention after the group was caught attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Bali following a tip-off from Australian Federal Police.

Two ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad in 2015, sparking diplomatic tensions between Australia and Indonesia.

The remaining members were handed life sentences, except for Renae Lawrence, whose 20-year term was commuted in 2018, and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, who died of cancer the same year.

Albanese, alongside Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, reiterated Australia’s commitment to combatting transnational crime and narcotics trafficking. They also called for media and public respect for the privacy of the men and their families.

While the men have returned to freedom, their release underscores the challenges and complexities of drug law enforcement and international relations. “This outcome reflects the very strong relationship that exists between Indonesia and Australia,” albanese stated, urging ongoing collaboration between the nations on humanitarian and security issues.

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Smith’s 33rd Test ton put Australia in control against India

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Bureau Report
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Image: Steve Smith (Source: X - @FoxCricket)

Australia seized control on day two of the third Test at the Gabba, with centuries from Steve Smith and Travis Head propelling the hosts to a formidable 7-405 at stumps.

Smith (101) marked a triumphant return to form, securing his first Test century since the Ashes last year, while Head dazzled with a blistering 152 off 157 balls, lifting his series tally to a remarkable 392 runs in just four innings.

The pair rescued Australia from a shaky 3-75, building a partnership that turned the tide. A late cameo from Alex Carey (45 off 47) further solidified Australia’s dominance, leaving India with an uphill battle.

The day began with promise for India, as Jasprit Bumrah struck twice in quick succession, dismissing openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney. Nitish Kumar Reddy then removed Marnus Labuschagne to leave Australia in trouble at 3-75.

However, Smith and Head had other plans. While Smith started cautiously, Head raced to his half-century off just 71 balls. Smith eventually found his rhythm, grinding to his fifty off 128 deliveries before reaching his century after tea. Head, meanwhile, continued to attack, smashing boundaries with ease.

Their partnership ended after tea, with Smith falling shortly after reaching his hundred and Head departing as Bumrah’s fifth victim. Carey’s aggressive knock ensured Australia maintained momentum heading into day three.

With day one almost entirely washed out by rain, Australia’s strong position on day two leave India with limited chances to turn the match around.

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Australians hospitalised after suspected alcohol poisoning in Fiji

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Bureau Report
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Representative image: Fiji (Source: CANVA)

Several Australians are in a critical condition in hospital after a suspected alcohol poisoning incident at a resort on Fiji’s Coral Coast.

According to ABC, seven guests fell seriously ill on Saturday night after consuming alcoholic drinks at the Warwick Resort.

The victims, aged between 18 and 56, were rushed to Sigatoka Hospital with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and neurological complications.

Due to the severity of their conditions, two were later transferred to Lautoka Hospital for specialised treatment. Four of the seven affected individuals are believed to be Australians.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed on Sunday evening that it is providing consular assistance to two Australian families involved in the incident but declined to offer further details, citing privacy obligations.

In response to the event, DFAT updated its travel advice for Fiji, warning travellers of the risks associated with drink spiking and methanol poisoning. “Be alert to the potential risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks,” the Smart Traveller advisory now states.

“Get urgent medical help if you suspect drink spiking.”

Local media reports that Fijian authorities, including police and health inspectors, are investigating the source of the suspected poisoning, which has raised concerns about the safety of alcoholic beverages served in resorts.

The incident comes just weeks after a similar tragedy in Laos, where two Australian teenagers, Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, were among six people who died from methanol poisoning after consuming tainted alcohol.

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Canadian man charged after 11kg cocaine bust at Sydney Airport

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Bureau Report
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Image: Canadian national charged after more than 10kg of cocaine found in luggage (Source: AFP)

A Canadian national has been charged with importing more than 11 kilograms of cocaine after being caught at Sydney Airport.

AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Dom Stephenson said the seizure demonstrated the commitment of law enforcement agencies to stop illicit drugs from harming Australian communities.

“This was a brazen attempt to smuggle a substantial quantity of cocaine into Australia, which could have resulted in untold damage had it reached our community.”

Australian Border Force (ABF) officers discovered the drugs on Thursday, 12 December 2024, during a routine baggage examination after the 38-year-old arrived on a flight from the United States.

Image: Canadian national charged after more than 10kg of cocaine found in luggage (Source: AFP)

Officers found 10 vacuum-sealed packages of a white substance in his luggage, which initial testing confirmed to be cocaine with an estimated weight of 11.6kg.

ABF Superintendent Elke West highlighted the ongoing vigilance of officers, particularly as passenger numbers rise during the festive season.

“Our message is that we see you, and we will work to stamp out the scourge of illicit drugs coming into our country.”

The man appeared before Sutherland Local Court on Friday, 13 December, and was charged by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug under section 307.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. He has been remanded in custody and will reappear at Downing Centre Local Court on 12 February 2025.

Image: Canadian national charged after more than 10kg of cocaine found in luggage (Source: AFP)

Both agencies warned that criminal syndicates often exploit vulnerable travellers to bypass border controls but stressed that stringent measures are in place to detect and prosecute such attempts.

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Don’t understand your child’s report? Ask their teacher these questions instead

By
Contributing Author
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Representative image: School (Source: CANVA)

By Jonathan Heard

As school wraps up, families around Australia will be receiving their children’s school reports for the second half of 2024.

This is the key way schools communicate with parents about how students are going. But parents can find them difficult to understand.

Why is this? And what are some questions you could ask your child’s teacher before the end of the year to understand how they are really going?

Why are reports important?

School reports are important because they help parents stay engaged in their child’s schooling.

They help parents to set and maintain high expectations, talk to their child about school and support and encourage their learning. All of these strategies have been shown to help students do better academically.

So the quality and accessibility of information in reports is very important for students’ education.

School reports in Australia

In Australia, education experts have argued school reports are difficult for parents to understand. In 2019 research, colleagues and I also found parents are confused by grades and rating scales in reports that do not clearly explain the “standard” or reference that underpins them.

They can also find teacher comments in reports vague and difficult to meaningfully interpret. Meanwhile, the use of grades in reports as the main indicator of a child’s performance can make it hard to tell if there has been any growth in learning.

So parents can be left with an inaccurate or unreliable account of how their child is performing, and inadequate information with which to take action if their child is struggling.

We can do better

The Australian Council for Educational Research has designed a prototype “digital student report” to communicate students’ learning in more satisfying ways for parents (without adding to teacher’s workloads).

It assumes a lot of content could be auto-populated from assessment data already collected and stored on a school’s learning management system. This would enable parents to access information at varying levels of detail (according to their need or interest) and monitor learning growth over time.

We have run focus-groups on the prototype with 47 parents, students, teachers and school leaders across three schools. The results of this small-scale research project will be published early next year.

How can you follow up with school?

In the meantime, if parents have read the explanatory detail in their child’s report and still have questions, they should feel confident to talk to their child’s teacher before the end of the year.

A sideview of students in uniform writing at desks.
Teachers can help explain what key terms and results in reports mean. Juice Verve/ Shutterstock

Here are some questions you could ask, based on what kind of report you school might use.

If grades are used

  • how are grades arrived at? Are they an average of performance across a set of tasks? If so, which tasks are used in this calculation, and how were they weighted?
  • are grades based on how well children meet curriculum outcomes (these are also called “criterion-referenced”) or how they compare to their peers (“norm-referenced”)
  • should grades be interpreted as indicating whether your child is working at, above or below the curriculum-expected standard? In most states, grades reflect overall performance on learning tasks aligned with the curriculum standard for the child’s age group. This assumes – perhaps incorrectly – all children are working at the year-level standard to varying levels of proficiency, represented by letter grades A to E.

If performance labels are used

  • ask what constitutes “developing” or “above expectations” or “satisfactory” or whichever terms are used, (if the school has not defined these terms already in the report)
  • can worded performance descriptors be “translated back” into the A to E scale, and if not, why not? While legislation requires schools use a five-point scale such as the A to E scale “or equivalent” to report student achievement up to Year 10, not all performance labels used in reports are intended to meet this purpose.

If descriptive comments are used

  • what does it mean if your child “has” done this or “can” demonstrate that – does this mean they are operating at, above or below the curriculum-expected level?
  • how well have they done these things? What haven’t they demonstrated, and is this because they were unable to, or was it because those skills and knowledge were not assessed during the reporting period?
  • do the comments that indicate areas for improvement constitute general advice, or are they specifically targeted to reflect your child’s next steps for learning?

Ask about progress

Regardless of how well your child is performing, ask the teacher if – in their view – your child is making an expected or acceptable level of progress, and what evidence tells them this.

Progress is different to performance – it indicates the growth your child is making in their learning over time, regardless of their starting point and regardless of their grades. It is the difference in knowledge, skill, sophistication or proficiency a child could previously demonstrate versus what they can demonstrate now.

While performance has traditionally been the focus of student reports, it is important to understand if your child is making progress in their learning. This ensures they are developing in their skills and knowledge and being appropriately challenged to meet their potential.

Jonathan Heard, Research Fellow, Educational Monitoring and Research Division, Australian Council for Educational Research

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Victoria braces for scorching heatwave with extreme fire danger warnings

By
Bureau Report
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Representative image: Heatwave (Source: CANVA)

Victoria is on high alert as a severe heatwave grips the state, with temperatures forecast to soar to their highest levels in years, prompting fire crews and authorities to prepare for a challenging day ahead.

Melbourne is set to sizzle with a predicted top of 41°C, marking its hottest day of the year and the hottest December day since 2019. In the state’s north-west, Mildura is expected to reach a blistering 46°C, while Shepparton and Swan Hill brace for highs of 45°C.

On Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) issued extreme fire danger warnings for multiple regions, including the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, Central, North Central, and South West. A total fire ban has been declared for these areas.

The BoM has also issued a severe heatwave warning, with temperatures forecast to peak in the low- to mid-40s across Victoria on Monday. The heat is expected to ease later in the evening with a cool change.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas urged residents to stay indoors and check on vulnerable community members.

“This is a dangerous heatwave. Please take precautions to protect yourselves and those at risk.”

The extreme weather has also disrupted transport. V/Line trains will operate on reduced speed limits for safety, as steel tracks expand under the heat. Some services will be replaced by air-conditioned coaches, with commuters warned to expect delays.

In a statement, V/Line advised,

“Journey times may be extended by a few minutes. Passenger comfort and safety remain our top priority.”

Fire authorities and emergency services remain on high alert as Victorians prepare for a sweltering start to the week.

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India-born leg-spinner Hasrat Gill joins Australia’s T20 World Cup squad

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: Hasrat Gill (Source: Facebook)

India-born Hasrat Gill has been revealed as one of the key players in Australia’s 15-player squad for the 2025 ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, set to take place in Malaysia from January 18 to February 2.

The squad, which includes a mix of seasoned domestic players and exciting up-and-comers, will aim to go one step further than last year’s semi-final finish.

Victoria’s Hasrat Gill, a talented leg-spinner with T20 Spring Challenge experience, was born in Amritsar, Punjab, and moved to Australia at the age of three.

Earlier, Gill, who plays for Melbourne Cricket Club, was selected as one of the 15 players for the Australian women’s U19 squad. The team toured Sri Lanka for a tri-nation tournament, following the Lanning versus Perry Series and the Under-19 National Championships the previous year.

Image: Hasrat Gill (Source: Facebook)

Sonya Thompson, Cricket Australia’s Head of National Development, expressed her enthusiasm about the squad’s depth and potential, highlighting the valuable experience the players bring from senior competitions.

“We’re thrilled with the talent in this squad, and the Under-19 World Cup provides a fantastic opportunity for these players to showcase their skills on the global stage.”

Among the key selections is 15-year-old Caoimhe Bray, whose outstanding performances in the tri-series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka earlier this year earned her a spot in the squad. Bray, the youngest player in the group, dazzled with both bat and ball, scoring 84 runs and taking 4-20 in a memorable victory over New Zealand.

Veteran players returning for their second ICC U19 World Cup include Chloe Ainsworth, Maggie Clark, Lucy Hamilton, Eleanor Larosa, and Kate Pelle. Clark, who claimed the most wickets in the inaugural edition, will be aiming to make an even bigger impact this time around.

The squad is brimming with senior domestic experience, with 14 of the players having competed in top-tier competitions like the Weber WBBL, Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL), and T20 Spring Challenge. Notable names include fast bowlers Chloe Ainsworth and Lucy Hamilton, who have both had stellar campaigns in the WBBL.

The Australian side will compete in Group D alongside Bangladesh, Scotland, and Nepal, with all group stage matches taking place at UKM YSD Oval, located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Group Stage Matches:

  • January 18: Australia vs. Scotland
  • January 20: Australia vs. Bangladesh
  • January 22: Australia vs. Nepal

Kristen Beams, former Australia leg-spinner and current National Development Lead, will coach the squad, with the captain to be announced shortly.

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India unveils $1 billion worth of projects ahead of world’s largest Hindu gathering

By
AMIT SARWAL
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Image: India's Prime Minister inaugurated various works to boost infrastructure and preparedness for the Mahakumbh 2025 (Source: X)

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated projects worth ₹5,500 crore ($1 Billion) in Prayagraj, declaring that the upcoming Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 would elevate India’s spiritual and cultural heritage to global prominence.

PM Modi described the event as a “maha yagya of unity,” uniting people across languages, castes, and beliefs.

“In the coming days, Prayagraj will draw pilgrims and tourists from all over, for the Maha Kumbh. This iconic gathering is of great importance in our culture. In Prayagraj today, various works were inaugurated which will boost infrastructure and preparedness for the Kumbh.”

The Maha Kumbh, the world’s largest Hindu gathering, will take place in Prayagraj from 13 January to 26 February 2025.

Maha Kumbh attracts millions of Hindu pilgrims, saints, and spiritual seekers, offering a confluence of faith, devotion, and cultural practices.

Unveiling cutting-edge initiatives, PM Modi launched a multilingual AI-based chatbot, ‘Kumbh Sahayak,’ to assist devotees with real-time updates. Infrastructure projects, including flyovers, riverfront roads, permanent ghats, and temple corridors, were also inaugurated to enhance accessibility and spiritual tourism.

PM Modi highlighted the event’s economic significance, noting its boost to local livelihoods through expanded trade and tourism. He praised the efforts of sanitation workers and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to maintaining cleanliness under the Namami Gange initiative.

Reflecting on the Maha Kumbh’s historical significance, PM Modi called it a platform for unity and collective introspection, blending tradition with modernity.

“This gathering exemplifies Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat, where every distinction dissolves in the divine confluence.”

The Centre and Uttar Pradesh governments are jointly working to ensure seamless arrangements for the grand event, which PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath anticipate will set new benchmarks in cultural and spiritual celebrations.

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Melbourne man charged for displaying Hizballah flag during protest

By
Bureau Report
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Image: People marching with yellow flags in Melbourne in defiance of the Australian Government's ban on Hezbollah flags (Source: Tehran Times - X)

A 36-year-old Ferntree Gully man has been charged by Australian Federal Police (AFP) for allegedly displaying a Hizballah (Hezbollah) flag during protests in Melbourne’s CBD on 29 September 2024.

The man is set to appear in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on 6 March 2025. The charge, under section 80.2HA of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth), relates to the public display of a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol and carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.

Image: Hizballah flag (Source: YouTube screenshot)

Hizballah was designated a terrorist organisation by the Commonwealth in December 2021. The Australian Government previously listed Hizballah’s External Security Organisation as a proscribed terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code in June 2003.

Legislation introduced in January 2024 prohibits the display of symbols linked to terrorist organisations, including the Hizballah flag.

The charge follows an extensive investigation by AFP-led Operation Advarna, launched after protesters in September were reported to have displayed prohibited symbols. The operation, which involves over 1100 hours of investigative work, reviewed CCTV and police body camera footage, leading to multiple searches and seizures.

AFP Counter Terrorism Commander Nick Read emphasised the importance of combating activities that incite violence or hatred. “The AFP has been relentlessly pursuing evidence to ensure offenders are brought to justice,” he said.

Currently, 13 individuals remain under investigation, with further charges expected as the AFP continues its crackdown on the illegal display of terrorist organisation symbols.

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Decorating your Christmas tree? Try these crafts inspired by Aussie plants and animals

By
Contributing Author
-
Representative image: Christmas tree (Source: CANVA)

By Caitlyn Forster, Euan Ritchie, and Laura Nicole Driessen

While we’re busy preparing for Christmas, many Australian native plants and animals are also busy – growing, flowering and raising their young. What better time to celebrate this explosion of life?

Let’s set aside the holly, snowmen and reindeer this Christmas and decorate our homes with some of Australia’s most remarkable species instead.

Drawing on themes from our research on wildlife, ecology and astronomy, we’ve prepared this handy guide to an Aussie festive season.

It’s not too late to get crafty and deck the halls with Christmas beetle baubles and paper parrots for a Christmas with a difference.

Laura Driessen

Christmas beetle baubles

As their name suggests, Christmas beetles would have to be our most notable Christmassy insect. These little beauties give our eucalyptus trees their own little baubles. The trees provide food for the beetles, which become most abundant at this time of year.

Use our Christmas beetle stencils and some spray paint to give your baubles a fresh new look.

Have you heard about the Christmas Beetle Count? This project is tracking Christmas beetle populations across Australia through the power of citizen science. People have recorded nearly 15,000 observations of beetles, including some not seen in decades.

By gaining more knowledge of which species of beetles are around, we can learn how they are doing in the face of a changing climate and urbanisation. It can also help us understand what needs to be preserved in order for Christmas beetles to thrive in future ecosystems.

Put some spines among pines (or gum leaves)

The echidna is one of only two egg-laying mammals in Australia. The other is the egg-laying and venomous playtpus.

Fun fact: relative to body size, the short-beaked echidna is the mammal with the world’s largest prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is crucial for decision-making. Perhaps these humble, bumbling balls of spikes make better choices than we humans do?

Clay models of this marvellous monotreme make wonderful additions to any table or tree. Make your own with some clay for the body, some sticks for the spines and a couple of small gumnuts for eyes.

Closeup of a clay model echidna with sticks for spikes and gumnuts for eyes, resting on a light coloured table
Making a Christmas echidna will be a delightful way to introduce a bit of sensory play into your home. Shannon Drayton-Taylor

Swap the reindeer for tree kangaroos

For a local substitution for flying reindeer, why not consider kangaroos in the treetops?

In the far north, two species of tree kangaroos bound and crash through the treetops of our tropical rainforests.

The powerful Lumholtz and Bennett’s tree kangaroos are built for climbing. They can also jump up to 15 metres from the treetops to the ground, unharmed.

Create your own by cutting little kangaroo-shaped silhouettes out of cardboard, and draw on a face and put it on your Christmas tree.

A female tree kangaroo is best, because then you can tuck special treats like chocolates into their pouch. It’s the ultimate wildlife advent calendar.

Just don’t despair if these guys leap off the tree, as this is quite normal behaviour.

Elegant Yuletide Eclectus parrots

Better than matching knitted jumpers, Eclectus parrots make the ultimate Christmas couples. These parrots from Cape York come in vivid green (male) and stunning two-tone blue and red (female).

Males seek to impress females with their plumage and vocal repertoire. If successful, they’ll engage in acrobatic aerial displays by showing off their colourful feathers, prior to mating. Several males will bring food to a single female while she incubates eggs in a deep tree hollow. https://www.youtube.com/embed/WZA0hxo0os0?wmode=transparent&start=0 The colours of eclectus parrots are festive. Males are green, females blue and red.

Make your own origami bird decorations using coloured paper. Once the bird is folded, add some ribbon so they can be placed on your tree. Consider creating a whole family of adults and chicks, just as they would in the wild.

You can even use recycled paper and colour it to suit other Christmas-coloured birds such as king parrots, rosellas or lorikeets.

If you’re into backyard or street cricket, you could even take advantage of time spent waiting around when you’re fielding to do a bird count using the citizen science app eBird. Download the app, count the birds you see and contribute to citizen science.

Close up of a bright green parrot and a folded paper parrot in front of a Christmas tree
Making origami eclectus parrots can be a simple way to add some native birds to your Christmas tree. Shannon Drayton-Taylor

Look up to the sky for inspiration

The “Great Celestial Emu” is a beautiful feature of the night sky in the southern hemisphere.

Indigenous Australian stories about the Emu in the Sky come from all over the country.

Compared to constellations named by Babylonian and Ancient Greek astronomers, the emu is unique. In this case the name is not given to a group of stars forming a recognisable pattern. Instead, the emu shape is a silhouette made up of dark patches of gas and dust blocking light from the Milky Way. This is the Dark Emu in the title of Bruce Pascoe’s bestselling book.

The head is the dark Coalsack Nebula next to the Southern Cross and the neck extends through the middle of the “pointer stars” (Alpha and Beta Centauri). In December, the head of the emu is visible in the early morning before dawn.

We added the Great Celestial Emu to our Christmas tree by sprucing up a silver bauble with glitter.

An image of the Milky Way with an outline of the Emu, highlighting the shape of the Emu in the Sky dark patches in the Milky Way galaxy. On the right is a siler bauble hanging from an indoor plant (polka dot bogonia). The bauble has black glitter in the s
The ‘Great Celestial Emu’ or ‘Emu in the Sky’. Left: an image of the night sky captured at the Elvina engraving site in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, near Sydney, annotated with an outline of the emu shape. Right: an the Emu in the Sky bauble made out of an old silver bauble, some glue, and some glitter. Barnaby Norris & Ray Norris (Emu in the Sky, left), Dr Laura Driessen (bauble, right)

Finish with some gardening and foraging

We can bring the outside in, or we can head out to enjoy nature in all its glory.

Being in nature has many benefits for health and wellbeing.

Many Australian plants will be flowering over summer, and they can be collected, dried, and placed in clear baubles to create simple, beautiful decorations for your tree.

Or you can get planting and grow your own Christmas tree, such as a cypress pine local to your area or even a Christmas bush.

Four items laid out on a table, an empty fillable clear plastic bauble, a banksia seed pod and two flowers.
To make a festive Australian bauble, you need some clear fillable baubles, and then collect whatever pieces of nature you like. Caitlyn Forster
A clear plastic bauble filled with natural flowers and seed pods.
A foraged Christmas bauble is the ultimate way to sustainably change the look of your Christmas tree every year. Caitlyn Forster

Caitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney; Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, and Laura Nicole Driessen, Postdoctoral researcher in radio astronomy, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Australia mourns passing of former Liberal minister Kevin Andrews

By
Bureau Report
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Image: Former Liberal minister Kevin Andrews (Source: Defence Ministers website)

Kevin Andrews, a long-serving Liberal MP and former defence minister, has died aged 69 following a year-long battle with cancer.

Andrews passed away on Saturday, surrounded by his wife Margie and family, according to a statement shared by former prime minister Tony Abbott.

“We are deeply proud of his service to our country, our local community, and his party, although shattered by his death.”

Abbott lauded Andrews as a “fine Australian” and highlighted his ongoing projects, including memoirs planned for posthumous publication.

Andrews represented Melbourne’s Menzies electorate for 31 years, serving in the cabinets of John Howard and Tony Abbott. A senior figure in the Liberal Party’s right wing, he held key portfolios including defence, social services, immigration, and workplace relations.

Known for his staunch conservative values, Andrews made headlines in 1996 with the Andrews Bill, which restricted the ACT and Northern Territory from legislating on euthanasia—a law that stood for 25 years. He also championed WorkChoices, a controversial industrial relations policy, and introduced Australia’s citizenship test.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described him as a man of “integrity and devotion,” adding,

“Kevin’s Liberal colleagues and his Labor opponents would agree he was a man of conviction.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton paid tribute to Andrews’ faith and intellect, calling him “a stalwart of the Liberal Party and adornment to the Parliament.”

Colleagues from across the political spectrum honoured his dedication to public service, his faith, and his commitment to family. Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto acknowledged his advocacy for defence, social services, and his local community.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd paid tribute to Kevin Andrews, describing him as “a formidable but principled adversary” and “a committed man of faith.”

The Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, remembered Andrews as a man of “faith, family, and service.” Former Labor leader Bill Shorten also acknowledged Andrews’ conviction, stating,

“While we were opposed on many political fronts, I respected that he always fought for his values.”

During his parliamentary career, Andrews also chaired significant committees on the family law system and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Outside politics, he authored books on topics such as marriage and Australian history.

Andrews retired in 2022 after losing a preselection battle for Menzies, ending a record tenure as the longest-serving federal MP at the time.

Funeral details are yet to be announced. Andrews is survived by his wife Margie and their five children.

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India on the brink of historic electoral overhaul as Cabinet approves ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bills

By
Bureau Report
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Representative image: India election (Source: CANVA)

In a landmark decision, India’s Union Cabinet approved two Bills aimed at implementing simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The proposal, long championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeks to align India’s electoral cycles, potentially reshaping the nation’s political and governance landscape.

The two Bills—a Constitutional amendment and an ordinary Bill—are expected to be introduced in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

The Indian Express reports that the introduction will be followed swiftly by the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to deliberate further.

The move is based on recommendations from a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committee proposed a phased implementation: first, aligning Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, and later synchronising local body polls. Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, however, focused exclusively on national and state elections, leaving municipal and panchayat polls for future deliberations.

The government has highlighted several benefits of simultaneous polls, including reduced administrative disruptions, policy continuity, and cost efficiency. According to economists consulted, ONOE could boost GDP by up to 1.5%. The BJP argues that the initiative will minimise voter fatigue and streamline governance, echoing India’s electoral system in its early years before 1971.

The Congress, AAP, and other major parties have also opposed the move, calling it an authoritarian imposition.

Regional parties worry that simultaneous elections might overshadow local issues, with resources and attention diverted to larger national campaigns. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from several Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, who have labelled it “anti-democratic” and “anti-federal.”

BJP’s Chief Whip Sanjay Jaiswal defended the initiative, stating that it would restore a system envisioned by India’s constitutional framers.

As India stands on the brink of a historic electoral shift, the success of the ONOE initiative will hinge on achieving political consensus and addressing logistical challenges. The government plans an extensive awareness campaign to build consensus for ONOE. The initiative will face rigorous scrutiny in Parliament, where it must navigate diverse political opinions to secure approval.

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Pacific Labour Mobility summit draws 350 delegates, highlights resilience and regional partnerships

By
Contributing Author
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Image: Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, Brisbane, November 2024 (Source: Facebook/PACERPlus)

By Charlotte Bedford and Huiyuan (Sharon) Liu

This year’s Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting (PLMAM), held under the banner “Collectively Building Resilience”, took place in Brisbane from 11 to 14 November 2024. Organised by the PACER Plus Implementation Unit (PPIU), the event, which has become the pre-eminent regional meeting on labour mobility, attracted more than 350 delegates from around the region, including government, employer, worker and union representatives, among others.

As in previous years, the conference adhered to a well-structured and tightly organised agenda. The first day featured closed-door meetings for the Pacific Islands Forum Island Country Caucus and the PLMAM Employer Forum. The Caucus — for Pacific PACER Plus signatories only (so excluding Fiji, PNG and Timor-Leste) — enables sending countries to deliberate on key issues ahead of the wider PLMAM meeting. The Employer Forum, now in its second year, was attended by around 100 Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) and New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme employers to discuss how best to strengthen partnerships with sending countries and support their development priorities.

Days 2 and Day 3 were devoted to presentations and discussions on sending-country priority areas, namely enhancing support for Pacific worker wellbeing, strengthening skills development in the labour mobility cycle, and improving access to social protection and superannuation.

Day 2 was dedicated to consultation on a set of Guiding Principles and Guidelines for Pacific Labour Mobility Worker Wellbeing, drafted by the PPIU. The principles, which are designed to build on existing PALM and RSE policy settings, seek to provide a holistic definition of Pacific worker wellbeing, and identify how best to support the wellbeing of Pacific workers throughout the labour mobility “journey”. Ten labour mobility-specific principles were presented at the conference, with examples of how each principle can be implemented in practice.

Image: Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, Brisbane, November 2024 (Source: Facebook/PACERPlus)

The principles were well received by worker, union and government representatives. PALM and RSE employer representatives expressed some reservations about potential tensions between the new guidelines and existing PALM and RSE obligations, and the risk of added regulatory burden. Employers requested opportunities for further review of and consultation on the guidelines ahead of implementation.

PALM participants shared examples of recent initiatives to strengthen worker wellbeing. New Zealand is implementing the RSE Ola Manuia Framework — a holistic health and wellbeing framework on which the PPIU’s draft guidelines are based. Vanuatu’s Labour Mobility Policy and Action Plan 2024 has two policy pillars on wellbeing measures for migrant workers and their families. Australia’s Family Accompaniment pilot facilitates family reunification for long-term PALM workers. Additionally, Australia has launched an $8 million partnership with the International Organization for Migration to provide family-centred assistance. This three-year regional pilot will offer various support measures to migrants and their families.

Feedback from the day of consultations is to be incorporated into the next iteration of the draft guidelines which are to align with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariats’ Pacific Regional Labour Mobility Principles (in development). The guidelines will be put forward for endorsement by PACER Plus signatories in 2025.

Day 3 focused on the potential development impacts of labour mobility participation with special emphasis on two topics: skills development and transfer, and access to social protection and superannuation.

Image: Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, Brisbane, November 2024 (Source: Facebook/PACERPlus)

Pacific countries have repeatedly identified skill shortages as a development constraint. At a regional skills development workshop in July 2024, Pacific countries highlighted several challenges: misalignment between skills training and skill needs in the Pacific, difficulties with Pacific qualifications and skills recognition and transferability to Australia and New Zealand, and brain drain concerns as skilled people from Pacific nations migrate temporarily and permanently offshore.

On day 3 the PPIU introduced a Pacific Skills Partnership Pilot designed to help address some of these challenges. The proposed pilot will focus on the tourism and hospitality industry — identified as a priority growth sector for the Pacific — and will be designed as a rotational arrangement under which existing tourism and hospitality workers in the Pacific can gain additional skills and experience through PALM employment, before returning home and transferring those skills back to their domestic tourism sectors.

The proposed pilot was welcomed by PLMAM participants. However, some concerns were raised about potential overlap with skills development efforts led by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority through the Pacific Qualifications Recognition Project. Participants requested that more work be done by PPIU to map existing initiatives and ensure there is minimal duplication of effort.

Image: Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, Brisbane, November 2024 (Source: Facebook/PACERPlus)

Day 3 concluded with presentations on superannuation in Australia and New Zealand. Access for PALM scheme workers to their employers’ mandated superannuation contributions remains a fraught issue. Many stakeholders, including PALM employers, voiced significant frustration about the complexities of the process and the high tax rate (35%) facing PALM workers when their contributions are released from the Australia superannuation system.

The Australian Government has committed $3.37 million to increase support for PALM workers to access their superannuation accounts, with activities to assist workers to prepare claims before they leave Australia and make it easier to lodge a claim once they return home. However, the tightly regulated nature of Australia’s superannuation system means these new “worker-facing improvements” must fall within existing legislative settings; any significant changes to superannuation settings for PALM workers are unlikely in the short-term.

New Zealand takes a different approach. RSE workers are not eligible for New Zealand superannuation which means they do not benefit from mandated employer contributions. A voluntary superannuation scheme — the Seasonal Worker Superannuation Administration System (SWSAS) — was established in 2020 to enable RSE workers to make voluntary contributions to their home country National Provident Fund (NPF). More than 4,430 RSE workers are registered with the SWSAS and contributed over NZD$7 million in superannuation payments over the 12 months to 30 October 2024. The SWSAS platform is now also available for use in Australia. At the request of the NPFs in Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu, PALM workers from these three countries can now make voluntary contributions to it, with other countries to follow in future. However, PALM scheme workers who use the SWSAS still face the same barriers in accessing their Australian employer-mandated contributions.

Image: Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, Brisbane, November 2024 (Source: Facebook/PACERPlus)

The final day of PLMAM concludes with an official plenary meeting in which all participating countries deliberate, and reach consensus on, strategic labour mobility priorities as required under the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility (ALM). A PLMAM Outcome Statement is produced which sets the PPIU’s work programme for the next financial year.

As argued in earlier years, the need for all countries to reach consensus is one of the barriers to the utility of PLMAM as a mechanism through which country-specific problems can be addressed. Bilateral or trilateral consultations, with Australia and/or New Zealand on the one hand and the sending country on the other, would be a more effective tool for problem solving. RSE employer representatives reiterated this idea at PLMAM, suggesting that smaller, employer-led, country-specific forums could be held annually to deal with the specific priorities of individual governments.

As a mechanism for promoting regional cooperation on labour mobility, PLMAM’s value lies in the fact that it brings all key stakeholders together in one place to engage in dialogue and share experiences. The meeting runs the risk, however, of becoming a PALM-centric conference, due in part to the large scale of the PALM scheme (with almost 31,000 workers in Australia in October 2024) and the inherent complexities of a labour mobility scheme that offers short and long-term employment pathways and operates across multiple sectors, states and territories.

It would be prudent for Australia to consider an annual PALM conference, similar to the annual RSE conference, for PALM stakeholders to address domestic-facing issues. This would enable all sending countries to formally participate. It would also reduce the breadth of the agenda relative to the PLMAM agenda and focus it on core cross-cutting issues relating to regional labour mobility.

Disclosure: This research was supported by the Pacific Research Program, with funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The views are of the authors only.

This article was first published in the Australian National University’s DevpolicyBlog and has been republished here with the kind permission of the editor(s). The Blog is run out of the Development Policy Centre housed in the Crawford School of Public Policy in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University.

Contributing Author(s): Charlotte Bedford is a research fellow with the Development Policy Centre and is based in New Zealand. Huiyuan (Sharon) Liu is a research officer at the Development Policy Centre, working in the area of economic development.

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Melbourne money mule sentenced for laundering over $200k stolen from businesses

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Melbourne-based money mule sentenced (Source: AFP)

A 24-year-old Melbourne man has been sentenced for laundering more than $208,000 stolen from Australian and overseas businesses targeted by cybercriminals.

The Melbourne County Court handed down the sentence today (13 December 2024) after the man pleaded guilty to three offences last month. He received an 18-month prison term but was immediately released on a Recognizance Release Order to serve in the community, provided he maintains good behaviour.

The case, investigated by the AFP Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3), began in August 2022 when an Australian bank flagged suspicious financial transactions. Investigators found that between June 2021 and May 2022, $208,822 in criminal proceeds from business email compromise (BEC) frauds had been deposited into the man’s bank accounts. The funds were then moved to several accounts before being transferred to another individual.

Among the frauds, more than $17,000 was traced to a BEC scam targeting an Australian construction company. The company was deceived into paying funds into the man’s account after receiving a fake email claiming the supplier’s bank details had changed.

The AFP charged the man in July 2023. He pleaded guilty on 28 November 2024 to:

  • Dealing with the proceeds of crime worth $100,000 or more.
  • Possessing cocaine.
  • Possessing cannabis.

AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Nuckhley Succar said the man’s actions actively facilitated the cybercriminals’ access to stolen funds.

“Deceitful activities that support cybercrime will not be tolerated by the AFP,” Det. A/Supt. Succar stated.

He urged businesses and individuals to double-check emails and banking details to avoid falling victim to BEC scams, noting these frauds were among the most reported cybercrimes in Australia during the 2023-2024 financial year.

The AFP continues to work closely with financial institutions and other agencies to target those enabling cybercriminal activities.

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How is the Big Bash League faring after 14 years of ups and downs – and what’s next?

By
Contributing Author
-
Image: BBL13 champions - The Brisbane Heat (Source: BBL - Facebook)

By Tim Harcourt

The 14th season of Australia’s major domestic men’s Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL), starts on Sunday.

Its rise is probably the biggest change in Australian cricket since Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket revolution in 1977–79.

But unlike Packer’s breakaway competition, this latest revolution began overseas, with the emergence of T20 cricket in England and the Indian Premier League (IPL) – competitions that shook up world cricket both in terms of the sport itself and the economics.

The BBL’s early years

The BBL began in 2011–12, partly in response to developments beyond our shores.

But it was also a response to local conditions in Australian cricket.

Before the BBL, fans’ focus was the Australian team and the Sheffield Shield – high quality cricket that often didn’t draw huge crowds. They didn’t have the legions of fans following them like in the mega domestic Australian winter sports, the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL).

The BBL started with states, like the Sheffield Shield and 50-over competitions. But domestic cricket needed professional clubs and rivalries, so the Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades, Sydney Sixers, Sydney Thunder, Adelaide 36ers, Perth Scorchers, Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat were born.

The BBL started with a bang.

It was fresh, it was exciting and attracted huge stars like the late great Shane Warne and imports like West Indian big hitter Chris Gayle and South African-born Englishman Kevin Pietersen.

The early matches steered away from the genteel nature of longer-format cricket, featuring match-day entertainment, music, eye-catching uniforms and other gimmicks. Importantly, the cricket was attacking, entertaining and high quality – the formula applied successfully by Packer a generation before.

There were initial fears that its popularity could wipe out Test cricket, but these concerns were exaggerated.

TV broadcasters, unsure at first, jumped on board. In 2013, Network 10 paid $A100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel’s first foray in elite cricket coverage.

Network 10’s BBL coverage became a regular feature of Australian summers, attracting an average audience of more than 943,000 people nationally in 2014–15, including a peak of 1.9 million viewers for the final between the Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers.

Ten was pretty happy the following season when the BBL attracted an average audience of 1.13 million for each match in Australia, an 18% increase. The final peaked at 2.24 million viewers – the first time ratings for a BBL match crossed the two million mark.

In 2018, BBL coverage was taken over by the Seven Network on free to air in conjunction with Fox Cricket.

The six-year deal was extended in 2024, with Foxtel and Seven West Media paying $1.5 billion, as part of a package that included Test cricket, women’s international matches as well as BBL and Women’s BBL (WBBL).

Crowd-wise, the average attendance started at 17,749 spectators per game in 2011–12, peaked at 30,122 in the amazing season of 2016–17, slumped to a COVID-affected 7,371 in 2021–22 before bouncing back to a healthy 21,505 in 2023–24.

The biggest crowd for a BBL game was 80,883 at the MCG on January 2, 2016 for the Melbourne derby between the Stars and Renegades.

A mid-inning slump

After a strong first decade, the BBL hit a slump.

It was partly COVID-related, which affected all professional sports, but there were signs even before then.

There were complaints about too many games saturating the summer as the number of regular season matches grew from 28 in the first BBL to 61 in 2019-20.

The Big Bash has become a staple of the Australian summer, but it’s not without issues.

The timing of the schedule meant star players were not available for finals, often due to international duties. There was a lack of marquee international stars (partly due to travel-related COVID restrictions) and also a view that players were just transactional rather than loyal to a club or state.

This was partly due to cricketers’ ability to play in T20 tournaments globally – in India, England, the Caribbean, South Africa and the UAE.

But it was also a domestic matter, as players switched teams regularly. For instance, Dan Christian played for four BBL teams: the Sydney Sixers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades, as well as playing overseas.

Accordingly, Cricket Australia looked to revive and recharge the BBL, by reducing the number of games which allowed more flexibility for Australian Test players to be available for finals.

Ahead of BBL 13, the season was shortened from 61 games to 43 at the time Foxtel and Seven extended the TV rights deal to 2031 (worth around $1.5 billion).

They also started playing WBBL matches before men’s games to maximise exposure for the women’s game. And they took the game to regional venues like Geelong and Coffs Harbour.

What might the future hold?

What’s next? As with the AFL and NRL, expansion may be on the horizon.

There’s talk of possible expansion to Canberra, the Gold Coast and even New Zealand to make the BBL a Trans-Tasman competition.

There’s also likely to be further tweaks with new rules to keep the game fresh and exciting and continued efforts to attract star overseas players while still nurturing local talent.

The changes to the BBL are likely to be more evolutionary than revolutionary though.

Its biggest challenge may be trying to preserve its place in an increasingly hectic international cricket calendar.

Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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“Historic and exemplary”: Indian chess prodigy Gukesh becomes youngest World Champion

By
Bureau Report
-
Image: Gukesh Dommaraju with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Source: X)

Gukesh Dommaraju, an 18-year-old grandmaster from Chennai, has made history as the youngest-ever classical chess world champion after defeating defending champion Ding Liren in a dramatic Game 14 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate the teenager, calling his victory “historic and exemplary” and a testament to Gukesh’s “unparalleled talent, hard work, and determination.”

“This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination. His triumph has not only etched his name in the annals of chess history but has also inspired millions of young minds to dream big and pursue excellence.”

The final match, held at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, lasted 58 moves and over four hours. The best-of-14 series was tied 6.5-6.5 heading into the final game, but Gukesh capitalised on a catastrophic blunder by Ding, clinching a 7.5-6.5 victory. The decisive moment came on move 55, when Ding’s rook move (Rf2) led to an inescapable trap, prompting the 32-year-old Chinese grandmaster to resign moments later.

Gukesh, visibly emotional, described the triumph as “probably the best moment of my life,” realising a childhood dream. His victory shattered Garry Kasparov’s long-standing record as the youngest world champion. Kasparov was 22 when he claimed the title in 1985. Gukesh also becomes only the second Indian world champion after Viswanathan Anand, who held the title from 2007 to 2013.

Mentored by Viswanathan Anand, Gukesh’s victory is a watershed moment for Indian chess. “It’s a proud moment for chess, a proud moment for India,” Anand said. Gukesh’s win also cements his place as a global ambassador for the sport, inspiring a new generation of players.

Born to a doctor father and microbiologist mother, Gukesh began playing chess at age seven. He became India’s youngest grandmaster at 12 years and seven months and rose to prominence after winning the Candidates Tournament in April, earning his place in the championship.

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CBA and ICICI partner to enhance Australia-India business and migrant banking services

By
AMIT SARWAL
-
Image: CBA announces MoU with ICICI Bank (Source: Website)

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s leading private sector bank, ICICI Bank, aiming to strengthen trade, investment, and banking ties along the Australia-India corridor.

Signed by Mike Vacy-Lyle, Group Executive of Business Banking at CBA, and Rakesh Jha, Executive Director of ICICI Bank, the MoU focuses on initiatives to:

  • Facilitate connections for businesses expanding across the two countries.
  • Support cross-border trade and investment with banking services and expert guidance.
  • Assist migrants with seamless banking solutions in both nations.
  • Enhance cross-border payments with innovative, customer-centric solutions.
Image: Mike Vacy-Lyle, Group Executive of Business Banking at CBA (Source: CBA website)

Vacy-Lyle remarked,

“We are excited to partner with ICICI Bank to facilitate trade and prosperity across both countries. This partnership ensures businesses have access to a reliable banking partner to navigate opportunities and challenges in cross-border trade.”

The agreement underscores CBA’s commitment to fostering economic collaboration with India, following its strategic partnership with the Australia India Business Council (AIBC).

This collaboration supports businesses navigating the dynamic trade corridor between the two nations by offering tailored financial solutions, industry insights, and collaborative initiatives across key sectors such as education, health, and technology.

The partnership aligns with the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which has already eliminated tariffs on 85% of Australian goods exported to India and 96% of imports from India. Negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) are also underway, promising to deepen economic ties further.

Image: Rakesh Jha, Executive Director of ICICI Bank (Source: ICICI Foundation)

Echoing this sentiment, Jha added,

“India has become a prime destination for foreign investments, and our collaboration with CBA harnesses opportunities in our shared ecosystems to serve businesses holistically.”

To promote understanding and growth, CBA is hosting workshops in Sydney and Brisbane this week, with ICICI Bank participating to provide further insights for customers exploring opportunities in the Australia-India corridor.

This MoU marks another milestone in the flourishing economic relationship between Australia and India, with both nations continuing to unlock potential for businesses, trade, and investment.

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