Jeez … it’s only 10.45 pm here. Looks like I’ll have to go to bed!

So reading this free State Rail “advert”, courtesy of “our” ABC, for the soon-to-be Metro line which doesn’t go anywhere where I, usually, go I’m considering myself very “lucky” .. !
Cos, apparently, it ain’t been designed with OAPS in mind .. very little seating and strap hanging at 100kpm just ain’t on my 76years old agenda … LOL! https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-19/sydney-metro-city-line-opening-explainer/104166354

Further to the above, you have to wonder what sort of “radar” or instincts monty is instilling in his daughter (I’m remembering he said he has one), if not the principle will still apply to other comrades.
Is the child being taught to be very wary and get out asap if a bloke dressed as a woman comes into her toilet or change room?
Or is she being taught that if she thinks this way she is no different to the mob who slaughtered 6 million Jews and millions of others not that long ago?

If it’s the latter I fear the outcomes for the daughters of monty and his (educated) craft beer drinking comrades.

Tanya Plibersek’s gold mine veto will lead to sovereign risk and ‘hijack’ of Aboriginal Heritage Act, miners warn

Simon Benson The Australian 18August, 2024

Miners have warned of a new and unprecedented sovereign risk to resources investment in Australia after the Albanese government’s decision to effectively kill a $1bn goldmining project in NSW on contested Indigenous heritage grounds that have been challenged by a local Aboriginal land council.

The decision by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Friday to override her own federal department and NSW planning approval for the Regis McPhillamy’s gold mine near Blayney has rocked the resources sector, which claims section 10s of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander Heritage Protection Act is now being hijacked by green groups to block projects that have otherwise met all necessary state and federal development ­approvals.

The industry claims this section of the act, enacted by Labor in 1984 during the lands rights movement, is being weaponised by green activists.

Senior government sources have also revealed they have witnessed an increasing use of section 10s to try to stop projects after all other avenues have been exhausted. But this project marks the first time Ms Plibersek has used the power.

The minister’s decision ignores the concerns of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, which has legislative authority to speak for country. It claimed that there were not any concerns that could not be managed, and questioned the authenticity of those who were opposing the site on Indigenous heritage grounds.

“It is a matter of concern to OLALC that a range of claims have been made on this issue, by people and organisations lacking the experience, expertise and authority to hold themselves out as authorities on Aboriginal Cultural Heritage,” the land council submission said. “We question the motives of people and organisations who participate in pro­moting unsubstantiated claims and seek to hijack Aboriginal ­Cultural Heritage in order to push other agendas.”

Ms Plibersek said she was relying on the evidence from the ­Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, who her office said also had legislative authority to speak to country in that local region.

The Regis McPhillamy project, which has been effectively denied based on a submission from a group of 17 people, is one of several major resource projects under challenge through this section of the Indigenous Heritage Act.

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies has warned that the decision marks a dangerous precedent for projects in Australia, despite Ms Plibersek’s protests that her ruling was not a decision to stop the mine and was in line with concerns raised by other local Indigenous representatives.

Last week another project, the Bellevue gold mine in Western Australia, was subject to a section 10 objection lodged by a single complainant, a move that AMEC claimed had direct implications for already-approved mining projects across the country.

AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce said: “This is an incredibly disappointing decision that sets a truly terrible precedent for investment risk in Australia. This is the definition of sovereign risk.

“If any project, no matter how thoroughly consulted, negotiated, supported and assessed, can be knocked over by the objections of only a few people right at the end of the process, then how can any company or investor have confidence to invest in Australia.

“Section 10s (objections) have an exceptionally low bar to make an objection, and often cause significant delay.”

Mr Pearce said the Regis McPhillamy decision would likely encourage more activists seeking to weaponise the act against project developers. “It’s scarcely believable, that the federal minister could uphold this objection, when a comprehensive state inquiry found that there were no unacceptable impacts on cultural heritage,” he said.

The Regis gold mine had passed all the necessary development approvals under federal and NSW law including the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act. The company claims it has ­already invested $340m in the project.

For the NSW government – which approved the tailings dam for the mine, the key issue in dispute – the federal decision represents the potential loss of $200m in royalties.

Ms Plibersek said on Friday her decision to make a declaration under the ATSIHP Act did not kill the project as the company had claimed it had alternative sites.

“I have decided to make a partial declaration under section 10 of the ATSIHP Act to protect a significant Aboriginal heritage site near Blayney, in central west NSW, from being destroyed to build a tailings dam for a gold mine,” Ms Plibersek stated in her decision.

“The Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, who traditionally lived around the Bathurst area, have significant spiritual and cultural connections to the headwaters of the Belubula River.

“The headwaters are of particular significance to Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people and are linked to ongoing cultural practices of the area. They have featured in many traditions practised for generations including by Aboriginal people transitioning from youth to young adulthood.

“Some of these traditions have been disclosed to me privately and must remain confidential due to their cultural sensitivity. If this site were to be desecrated, it would be an threat to the continuance of Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri culture.

“Because I accept that the headwaters of the Belubula River are of particular significance to the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people in accordance with their tradition, I have decided to protect them.

“Crucially, my decision is not to stop the mine.”

This is disputed by the company which in June warned Ms Plibersek via the Environment Department that a section 10s application would prevent development of the mine.

In a submission to the NSW Independent Planning Commission last year, the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council disputed the application by other groups and claimed it didn’t object to the mine. The OLALC said it had been misrepresented in the section 10s application and that it had never opposed the mine.

“As stated previously, we are not against approval for the mine, but we’re not for it either. I suppose you’d say we are neutral,” the group said.

OLALC in its submission said that the development would not impact “any known sites or artefacts of high significance”.

It said of the currently identified items of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage that would be impacted, they could be properly managed and protected as long as conditions were placed on the project.

Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable said the organisation had long warned about the “unclear, duplicative, and uncertain processes not only hurt the mining sector but also create barriers to much needed investment”.

“For Australia to remain an attractive investment destination, our regulatory processes must be transparent and based on clear, consistent evidence,” Ms Constable said.

“When transparency is compromised through shifting ­requirements, it not only undermines trust but also slows down vital projects integral to creating investment certainty, supporting regional jobs, businesses and the communities that benefit from minerals development.”

Ms Plibersek said both Liberal and Labor governments had previously made decisions under section 10s and rejected the warning of sovereign risk.

“Building a waste dump on that particular site would have destroyed the headwaters of the Belubula River – a place of particular significance for local Aboriginal people going back thousands of years,” said a spokesman for Ms Plibersek.

“The company is free to find another site for their waste dump. It’s understood there were more than four sites investigated with 30 options in the mix.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, when she served as environment minister, issued a section 10 decision involving the same traditional owner group (Wiradyuri traditional owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation) close to the Blayney gold mine site Ms Ley protected the site under section 10 for cultural significance to the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, including “local Aboriginal narratives, songlines, ceremonies and cultural heritage”.

Opposition resources spokesman Susan McDonald said Ms Plibersek’s decision was a “blow to investor confidence by stealth”.

“It makes it impossible for investor boards to make decisions in to invest in Australia,” Senator McDonald said.

“The uncertainty is crippling for decision makers.”

My usual response to “climate change” garbage is that if a volcano hiccups it put our more CO2 than humanity can in a year. I knew it was rubbish decades ago when they started measuring our measly 3% of CO2 emissions and totally ignoring the 97% natural output – even leaving aside the fact the carbon dioxide is an essential trace gas without which there would be no life on earth.

@robinmonotti

HUNGA TONGA-HUNGA UNDERWATER VOLCANO ERUPTION: MORE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION THAN ALL HUMANS PUT TOGETHER: BUT WHERE ARE THE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS?

“The largest and highest injection of water into the stratosphere since satellites began taking measurements:

160,900 tons (146,000 metric tons) of additional water vapor had entered the stratosphere since the volcano erupted, reaching a maximum altitude of 33 miles (53 km), which is in the mesosphere, the layer of the atmosphere that extends from the top of the stratosphere to an altitude of 53 miles (85 km).”

Bought a bottle of Tea Tree Oil .. no mention of diluting in the instructions could someone post the least painful “safe” way to apply it to my facial disaster ..? Thanx …

Nightmare neighbours: Public housing tenants terrorise Perth suburbBy Rebecca Peppiatt
August 19, 2024

Listen to this article
6 min
Welcome to the town where 10-year-olds are threatening people with knives, people are attacked with hammers at the local supermarket and the only way to go out after dark is if you’re carrying pepper spray and a cattle prod.
Not London, Mexico or the Middle East but Maddington, a small suburb in Perth’s south-east.

It took this homeowner two years to get these Department of Communities residents evicted after constant abuse, violence and drug taking.
And its residents have had enough.
Last week a community meeting attracted more than 150 people who claim they have repeatedly reported antisocial behaviour, violence, death threats, vandalism, theft and drug use from public housing tenants to the Department of Communities with zero outcome.
They shared their stories in what they say will be the first of many public forums as they call on action from the government and WA Police to step in and do something about what they have labelled an escalating “crime crisis”.

Horror stories
Katrina bought her Maddington home 15 years ago. Two years ago she took out a violence restraining order against her neighbours after repeatedly being verbally abused and threatened with violence, but it wasn’t until she hired a lawyer and threatened the Department of Communities with legal action that they were evicted.
She calls those two years, in which she made 47 official complaints, “complete and utter hell”.
Another local said her three children slept with baseball bats in their bedrooms because they had been broken into five times since December.
“What are we supposed to do?” she asked at the meeting.
“We’ve been to the police. We’ve given them our footage but every time their faces are covered, so they can’t do anything.
“They’re taking fingerprints but they’re always wearing gloves. So that’s my question; what are we supposed to do? We’ve had a gutful, and I’ll be honest, I put spikes around the inside of my fence because my kids are scared. They won’t go out after five o’clock. They don’t go anywhere anymore. They stay home with us.”
Locals told the meeting they believed it was a small section of Department of Housing tenants responsible for an increase in general crime in the suburb.

One attendee alleged he was attacked with a hammer at the local IGA two weeks ago.
He had been intervening in a dispute, trying to protect the store’s young staff when he allegedly got assaulted.
A street away, 62-year-old Esther Montgomery lives in an over-55s complex on Sheoak Road. She says the elderly residents there have been terrorised by groups of youths.
“I was robbed, my car was smashed. The kids who did it, one was 10 and the other was 15,” she said.
“They were caught and charged. The 15-year-old, two days later, went to Maddington Central and held a knife to a woman holding a baby.
“The very next day, he went to the shopping centre again, there was a man holding his baby sitting at the cafe, and he had a knife held to his throat too. It was the police who told me that.”

Another woman told WAtoday a group of youths defecated in her neighbour’s front yard then smeared it all over her fence.

Why aren’t they being evicted?Melanie Samuels, deputy director general of WA’s Department of Communities, attended the meeting with the Housing Minister’s parliamentary secretary David Scaife and Steve Martin, deputy leader of the Liberal Party, as well as numerous City of Gosnells councillors.
“What are you going to do to protect us?” one woman asked.
“What are you going to do to protect us from the people that you won’t deal with, that you won’t hold accountable?
“What are you doing for us? Because our lives are being ruined.”
Samuels, the deputy DG, told the audience the department did its “very best” to ensure tenants fulfilled their tenancy obligations.

She said a magistrate was the only person who could evict a public housing tenant, but locals retorted that the department’s too-narrow complaints procedure and an outdated Residential Tenancies Act needed to change.
“Communities does investigate all disruptive behaviour complaints in accordance with its obligations under the RTA,” Samuels responded.

Plibbercrap has canned one gold mine and now has to deal with another sec10 drama.

from behind the worst ozzie’s paywall

 Bellevue Gold says it is “fully committed” to the protection of Aboriginal heritage at Lake Miranda north of Leinster through its agreement with the local native title holders.
One of those native title holders, Colleen Berry, has applied to Federal environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek seeking protection of the lake, claiming its cultural heritage is “under threat” from Bellevue’s activities.
According to an advertisement in Thursday’s editions of the Kalgoorlie Miner and The West Australian newspapers, Ms Berry has made the application under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.
In a statement to Kalgoorlie Miner, Bellevue said the protection of Aboriginal heritage at Lake Miranda was a key pillar of the legally binding native title agreement signed in 2022 between Bellevue and Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation.
The corporation is the prescribed body representing the 11 families — which has about 350 members, including Ms Berry — who the Federal Court has recognised as the native title holders of the area which hosts Bellevue’s $252 million namesake project.
Bellevue said its native title agreement included an extremely detailed and comprehensive cultural heritage management plan.

“Under the plan, the cultural heritage of the area under Lake Miranda was assessed by Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation and it was agreed that subsurface exploration and mining would not affect cultural heritage,” the company said.
“The plan includes specific, highly detailed management measures for activities on, around and under Lake Miranda, including access prohibitions, activity planning and ongoing environmental impact management.
“Bellevue is complying, and will continue to comply with, all requirements of the plan.
“No surface disturbance of the lake area is allowed under the native title agreement and plan, and Bellevue has not disturbed, and will not disturb, the surface of the lake.
“There is provision in the plan for mining under the lake.”
Bellevue said it had agreed at Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation’s request to undertake the clean?up, at Bellevue’s cost, of historic tailings that were deposited on the surface of Lake Miranda during operations by a company — not Bellevue — in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Bellevue is confident there are strong grounds to support a refusal by the minister of the application for a number of reasons,” it said.
Those included the native title agreement with Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation and the “extensive process” to put the agreement and heritage management plans in place.
The company said there were “significant protections provided to Lake Miranda” and the deal was unanimous.
Corporation chief executive Greg Ryan-Gadsden said the agreement with Bellevue provided comfort to the native title holders regarding protection to Lake Miranda from mining activities.
Mr Ryan-Gadsden said the cultural heritage management plan also provided clear and strong procedures for ongoing protection of heritage, including Lake Miranda.
“Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation recognises the mutual benefit that they and Bellevue both derive from their agreement and co-operation,” he said.
Ms Berry said she was passionate about protecting the country were she grew up and was worried the cultural site — the lake — would be damaged.
“My family had a long association with that country,” Ms Berry told the Kalgoorlie Miner.
“We’re custodians . . . we look after the lake.”
The newspaper advertisement said Ms Berry claimed drilling underneath Lake Miranda would “interrupt the Dreaming pathway of the snakes and destroy the Tjukurpa”.
“The applicant states that this will break the Tjiwarl people’s spiritual connection with Lake Miranda, and the traditions which relate to the lake will die out,” the advertisement said.
The Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has authorised the advertisement, and in it Newcastle-based Alison Stone said she had been appointed to prepare a report to Ms Plibersek on Ms Berry’s application.
The ad said Section 10 of the Act gave Ms Plibersek the power to make a declaration “to preserve and protect an area where the minister is satisfied that it is a ‘significant Aboriginal area’ under threat of injury or desecration”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it would not be appropriate to comment on an active application.
But the spokesperson confirmed there were no provisions for orders to stop work under the Act.
It is understood the laws have no time frame for a response to be finalised.

This is not her first rodeo, so to speak.

The chair of the TAC has a contracting business that works on all the mine in the area, as well as being the Pastoral Lease Holder of three stations in the greater area. He will be annoyed so the question has to be asked as to who got in her ear and what did they promise?

Sacred lakes.

Sacred mountains.

Sacred estuaries.

Sacred seas.

What’s next…claims over the sky?

As we discussed Eyrie. More on the gold mine decision in the Daily Telegraph:

Ms Plibersek scuppered plans for the new gold mine on Indigenous heritage grounds, despite the local land council saying there was no ­sacred site at the location.

The move, after lobbying from a rival Indigenous group, also raises concerns other major projects could be axed.

Ms Plibersek’s decision, released on Friday, came despite the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council (OLALC) last year saying it was “not against approval for the mine”, and their research found it would not “impact any known sites or artefacts of high significance”.

Planning documents seen by The Telegraph state the ­proposed mine, which was ­approved by the NSW government last year, would have ­produced 520 construction jobs and 290 permanent roles, as well as $200m in taxes and royalties to NSW.

Ms Plibersek backed lobbying from the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, who said “sacred songlines” ran through the site.

Ms Plibersek released her decision to block the move using section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, the first time she has used it.

So we have the Orange co-op on board with this mine but the other mob, based in Bathurst have seen it in their, er, wisdom to torpedo it. FMD

“Seriously, they want you to shop, pack, ring up the price, and do everything yourself.”

And this is different to the “standard” self-chekout how, exactly?
That’s been around for a while, and they are slowly reducing the number of “manned” check-out lanes.

Same path the banks went down with teller machines – first there’s a “bonus” to do it, then it’s required, then they charge you for it.

A notorious policing failure in the UK leads to more powers for police:

Extreme misogyny will be treated as terrorism for the first time under Government plans to combat the radicalisation of young men online.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has ordered a review of Britain’s counter-extremism strategy to urgently address gaps in the Government’s stance, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

It will look at tackling violence against women and girls in the same way as Islamist and far-Right extremism, amid fears that current Home Office guidance is too narrow.

This could mean teachers will be legally required to refer pupils they suspect of extreme misogyny to Prevent, the Government’s counter-terror programme.

It comes after warnings that misogynistic influencers are radicalising teenage boys online.

The move comes after Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said that violence against women and girls should be treated as a national security threat.

Speaking in the wake of a damning report into the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Scotland Yard officer, he warned that hundreds of thousands of sex abusers and paedophiles were at large and tackling them would require more resources from future governments.

The Sunday Telegraph (UK) 17 August 2024

This Rowley chap is the same fellow who thinks he can extradite US citizens who made online comments about the Southport murders that he deems inflammatory.

And he gets a tad testy when asked about two-tier policing.

Did someone mention Muslim grooming gangs?

Brittany Higgins’ rape claim threatened to DESTROY senator Linda Reynolds’ political career, trial told
Daily Mail.

38m agoAugust 19, 2024Highlight

Higgins won’t give evidence at Reynolds’ defamation trial
Brittany Higgins’ lawyer says the former political staffer will no longer be called to give evidence in the defamation action brought against her by Senator Linda Reynolds.

Rachael Young SC made the bombshell revelation on Monday afternoon, citing Ms Higgins’ medical conditions and their expectation that they do not believe they need to call Ms Higgins to mount a successful defence.

Ms Higgins had been scheduled to spend a week giving testimony from Monday onwards, and was due to fly to Perth from her home in France.

Don Harwin news from the Daily Telegraph:

Leaked text messages have added weight to allegations that Don Harwin was personally responsible for the Liberal council debacle, which resulted in the Party failing to register 140 candidates for the upcoming local government elections.

Several group WhatsApp messages of the Liberal Party State Executive show Mr Harwin providing updates as the deadline with the NSW Electoral Commission approached.

“A reminder our last local government elections ballot came out around 11:30pm last night, returnable at noon” Mr Harwin wrote on Tuesday August 13.

“No more replacements will be considered. All efforts will now be directed to finalising lodgement. Don H.”

When the Liberals then missed the cut off on Wednesday August 14, Mr Harwin sent a message at “suffice it to say after 3-4 days a week for the last three months working with the staff to get the endorsements done, I am beyond devastated at today’s disaster relating to nominations.”

The new text messages support claims made by former Liberal Director Richard Shields, who said Don Harwin had “volunteered to run the local government nomination process.”

Mr Shields was removed over the candidate blunder last Thursday.

However, Mr Harwin has not accepted any responsibility over the matter, and has blamed the failure entirely on Mr Shields.

The Daily Telegraph can also reveal Mr Harwin did not consult the State Executive before issuing a statement to Liberal members where he threatened legal action against the NSW Electoral Commission.

Mr Harwin’s message to Liberal members on Sunday read: “I assure you, the State Executive, and the Secretariat staff, are fully committed to pursuing every single option, including legal action, to rectify this situation.”

Separate text messages seen by this masthead show the State Executive quizzing Mr Harwin over the claim, with many members claiming they had not seen any legal advice and were not across the decision.

“These desperate attempts by Don Harwin to save himself by unleashing an embarrassing attack on the NSW Electoral Commission, without the approval or consultation of the State Executive, are distractions from his untenable position” said one senior Liberal.

Go Mr Harwin and go now.
The article comes with screenshots of aforementioned messages.