The Census religion question that distorts Australia

A flawed Census question has shaped decades of misleading data and funding decisions.

independentaustralia.net

Trump's Saudi deal highlights insanity of the situation in the Middle East

It's not just that some of the strongmen don't seem so strong anymore. It's that there is a new conflation of factors proving to be just as important, if not more so, in driving world events in increa...

abc.net.au

"I Know It When I See It”: Prof. Omer Bartov Says Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza

We speak with leading Israeli American historian Omer Bartov about his latest essay for The New York Times, headlined “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.” Bartov cites the United…

democracynow.org

The Pentagon is the biggest polluter on the planet - ABC listen

Journalist Abby Martin and her husband Mike Prysner – a US war veteran -  have spent years drawing attention to the wrongdoings of the US military. But when they had kids they turned their attention t...

abc.net.au

Three decades unpaid. 82% of musicians have never seen a cent of their super - Michael West

Musicians have been entitled to superannuation since 1992. Almost none of them ever got it.

michaelwest.com.au

Albanese rolls out a rule book and a red carpet for AI companies

If Australia is truly going to coax major AI companies to choose us rather than the other suitor nations with similar ambitions, some tough decisions need to be made soon.

abc.net.au

The Zionist McCarthyite Court Pursuit of Kostakidis Is Looking Increasingly Vexatious

A pretrial hearing of the Zionist Federation’s antisemitism claim against the renowned journalist suggests the proceedings are a meritless attempt to silence her criticism of Israel.

sydneycriminallawyers.com.au

Five times AI hallucinations embarrassed governments

From the Trump administration’s “formatting errors” to South Africa’s historic policy withdrawal, AI confabulation is infiltrating official documents.

restofworld.org

Racist commentary called out in World Cup coverage

Leading experts say racial stereotypes in World Cup coverage can be damaging for athletes' leadership aspirations and have an impact on Black communities more broadly.

abc.net.au

Letter to Department of Transport concerning camera detected seatbelt offences — Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

It is clear that the rules violate a fundamental protection for the right to a fair hearing: the legislation in question gives the product of this system a privileged status as evidence before the…

qccl.org.au

Creatives sound alarm on copyright as Pocock calls $50bn datacentre proposal ‘ultimate dirty deal’

Proposal has been put to cabinet to allow AI companies to mine content, in exchange for investment and $350m fund to compensate artists, sources say

theguardian.com

'I was feeling threatened': Men removed from Labor conference demand answers

As Premier Chris Minns walked into the Sydney Town Hall, greeting delegates ahead of his speech, two men unfurled a Palestinian flag from the second-floor balcony before being escorted from the event ...

abc.net.au

Friday essay: how the Murdoch media’s loyalty to Israel births hypocrisy, attacks and ‘failed journalism’

News Corporation’s decades-long support for Israel is reflected in its coverage of Israel–Palestine, reducing its complexities to a black and white issue.

theconversation.com

Conroy's 'dead cat' reminds us Labor has tough calls ahead

After guiding the country through a tumultuous six months, the Albanese government faces tough fiscal and political decisions.

abc.net.au

New BioShocking attack manipulates AI browser into data theft

A new prompt injection attack dubbed "BioShocking" could trick AI-powered browsers into treating real-world risky actions as part of a fictional scenario, causing them to ignore any safety guardrails. [...]

bleepingcomputer.com

I was surveilled for defending Victoria’s forests. There’s been no apology, and still no accountability

**_Sarah Rees has spent more than 20 years defending the Central Highlands’ Mountain Ash forests. She’s seen the water change, the trucks roll through, and a private investigator on her family. Here’s why she says Victoria’s $1.5 billion ‘transition’ demands a Royal Commission._** When ABC’s _Four Corners_ aired ‘Timber Turmoil’, a story about the native logging industry, many Australians were shocked by what they saw: billions in public subsidies, murky financial arrangements, environmental destruction, and an industry kept alive long after its economic case had collapsed. But for a small few of us, there was no shock. Only a familiar ache. I have spent more than two decades fighting for Victoria’s native forests, particularly the Central Highlands’ Mountain Ash forests – one of the most carbon-dense forest systems on Earth and the treed catchments that supply Melbourne’s drinking water. These forests are critical civic infrastructure; the source of Melbourne’s drinking water, climate resilience, biodiversity, public health and economic opportunity. Photo: Chris Taylor My interest in this fight began somewhere far less sophisticated than a campaign office or policy meeting. Over a decade ago, I was volunteering at my children’s kindergarten, when one day, I noticed the drinking water had changed. Marysville’s water, which had once tasted mountain-fresh and alive, suddenly reeked of chlorine. Something upstream must have changed, I thought. That moment changed my life. There’s a saying: the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. I couldn’t pour that water for the children when I would not drink it myself. Walking through the catchments of Marysville, logging coupes opened where standing forest had been. B-double trucks loaded with trees rolled through our sleepy town, engine brakes shaking sculptures in the little gallery I ran. The truth came into focus: this was why the water was changing. As the forest was torn open, exposed soil bled into the streams that fed our town. The more I studied water catchment hydrology, ecosystem health and native forest logging, the clearer it became that what happens in our forests ends up in our homes, our bodies and our children. And the economics just didn’t add up. Living ecosystems that had stood for over a century, storing water and carbon, were being turned into Reflex copy paper with a shelf life of merely months. Photo: Chris Taylor ## **Targeting, ridicule and unlawful surveillance.** Taking up the fight through blockades, national media and town hall meetings – in a timber town built on the opposite ambition – was not without danger. I learned about political systems, conservation policy and forestry law between family life and running my creative business. The more I learned, the less confidence I had in the government’s stewardship of this extraordinary ecological infrastructure. As a country woman challenging deeply entrenched interests, I quickly learned that disagreement rarely stays at surface level. It becomes personal – targeting, ridicule, intimidation, the slow erosion of confidence. The pressure is relentless, designed not so much to defeat your argument but to exhaust you into silence. Unlawful surveillance of my family and I occurred. Private investigators were hired by the government’s forestry agency, VicForests, to monitor advocates challenging powerful interests. A former military operative was engaged to track my movements between events, my office and my home. Despite official confirmation this occurred, there has been no apology from either the Andrews or Allan governments. I was advised by IBAC that the matter would be treated as a public disclosure complaint, granting me protection from costs should I pursue it further. ## **The economics tell the truth.** For decades, we have been sold a false choice: jobs or forests. It is nonsense. The economics tell a story politicians have ignored for too long. Ecosystem accounting for Victoria’s Central Highlands found that water supply, tourism and carbon storage generated far greater economic value than native forest logging ever did. Tourism alone supported around 3,500 jobs in my region, compared with just 430 to 660 jobs linked to native forest logging, many of them insecure. More than 87%of timber taken from these forests was chipped for pulp and paper, not used in high-value building products. The science was clear: protecting forests created more value than cutting them down. Photo: Chris Taylor Over time, a groundswell emerged. Communities mobilised. Traditional Owners, scientists, economists and families pushed back. Even global brands such as Patagonia helped carry the message, applying commercial pressure where politics had stalled. Eventually, the Andrews government ended native forest logging in Victoria. Or so we were told. ## **A Royal Commission is needed now.** Victoria has now spent approximately $1.5 billion transitioning out of native forest logging, including substantial public payments to mills. Yet Four Corners revealed native logs are still being imported from Tasmania into Victorian processing facilities, aided by freight subsidies and opaque commercial arrangements. Taxpayers have effectively paid to stop logging here while subsidising destruction elsewhere. That isn’t transition – it’s displacement. The absurdity is that Australia already has plantation resources capable of supplying most of our wood and fibre needs, yet much of that output is exported rather than directed towards domestic transition. This is both a policy and market failure. The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office has made clear that the government cannot reliably demonstrate whether its forestry transition spending achieved what it intended. Australians deserve to know where their billions went. Did it genuinely support transition, or become a public slush fund that allowed some processors to maintain dependence on native forests in other states? That is why we need a Royal Commission – not another narrow review, but a genuine inquiry with the power to follow every dollar through government agencies, processors, freight subsidies and political influence. _Four Corners_ pulled back the curtain. What it revealed was not simply industry failure, but a failure of governance and imagination. Australia now has a choice: keep subsidising decline, or invest in something better. Photo: Chris Taylor ## **What does better look like?** The Great Forest Bond is one example. Linked to the proposed Great Forest National Park, it is a world-first sustainability bond to the tune of $230 million. Developed with one of the country’s senior bond designers, it channels investment into forest repair, biodiversity recovery, tourism infrastructure, water security and fire resilience, while creating durable jobs in restoration, park management, science, education, and nature-based tourism. Noteably, these are industries with far greater participation from women and young people (with women making up only around 15% of the native forestry workforce). And, investment in restoration, tourism, education and park management can create up to two jobs for every one displaced. The real question is this: what kind of economy do we want? One built on extracting and degrading public assets, or one built on restoration, care and long-term prosperity? Forests remember what governments try to forget. The question is whether we are finally prepared to listen. Share this climateconservationNative forests by Sarah Rees 20 hours ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Email * Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ ## Latest news ### Historic $1 million gift to turbocharge Pink Elephants’ miscarriage support ### It’s been a wild 15 years of paid parental leave. We must protect what’s been achieved ### Australia just hit the six-month paid parental leave milestone. We’re not going back ### I’m a mother, a paediatrician, an Australian. Don’t tell me I don’t belong. ### IBA hits a new milestone with three new women on the board ### How an International Court judge thinks about hope

womensagenda.com.au

Hanson spawned the silliest semantic beard-stroking in 20 years

We've come a long way since it was Pauline Hanson who didn't know the meaning of big words.

abc.net.au

What is Actually Happening in Crimea

Russian authorities prioritize protecting Putin's private residences over defending the heavily targeted peninsula

open.substack.com