As the lady brilliantly acted on Mad as Hell said: "I can afford cat food... and I don't have a cat..."

 

Note: Altough this is published on the 13 August 2019, the date at the top (August 26, 2019) for THE SENIOR magazine is not to frighten the old folks that they missed taking their pills for a week, but to give them hope to live another day, till pension day... The article next to this lovely cartoon is "Be alert to slick scammers", warning the oldies about being fleeced by thugs — not specially those in government, but we could not let this one pass.... 

 

Or was it : "I can't afford cat food..... and I don't have a cat..."

 

 

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From orchestra pits and on-site baristas to ripped carpets and leaking roofs, this is the “infrastructure arms race” between Australia’s schools.

These 8,500 schools are ranked from highest to lowest on the income ladder, according to their average yearly income between 2013 and 2017. 

Circles are sized by total spend on new facilities and renovations in that period.

• Skip ahead to see how your school rates in the funding stakes

Read more:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/rich-school-poor-school-australia...

Journalists who publish stories based on leaked Government documents are being treated as though they have received "stolen goods", an inquiry into press freedom has heard.

Key points:

• The parliamentary inquiry into press freedom follows raids on a News Corp journalist and ABC offices
• Media bosses are calling for public interest protections for journalists to do their jobs without fear
• The inquiry is to report by October on the impact on law enforcement and intelligence powers on the media

 

ABC managing director David Anderson told a parliamentary inquiry the world's attention was on Australian media following the AFP's raid on the national broadcaster's headquarters in June.

He said the warrant on the ABC was issued with a "patchwork of laws" which relied on the criminal offence of "receipt of stolen goods".

"Immediate and tangible reforms to legislation that inhibits the ABC's ability to do its job are required," he said.

"There must be a robust public interest protection for journalists in the criminal code."

Mr Anderson was one of several heads of Australian media organisations who appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into press freedom which is reviewing the impact national security laws have on journalists.

He said Australia lags "far behind" its overseas counterparts in facilitating whistleblowers to shine a light on maladministration and corruption.

"The chilling effect is people might not come forward when they otherwise would have," he said.

"And without whistleblowers we would not have the searing Four Corners exposes which directly led to the aged care and banking royal commissions."

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/press-freedom-inquiry/11407624

 

 

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Former defence minister Christopher Pyne discussed taking a consultancy job three days before the election was called, while still a member of Cabinet, business firm EY has confirmed.

Key points:

• Christopher Pyne has been criticised for accepting a defence industry consulting role so soon after leaving the ministry
• EY revealed it approached him about the job three days before the election was called
• Mr Pyne and EY deny the former minister is in breach of the Statement of Ministerial Standards

 

The South Australian has been criticised for taking a defence industry role with advisory firm EY so soon after leaving the ministry.

The Statement of Ministerial Standards bans former ministers from taking jobs in their areas of ministerial expertise for 18 months after leaving office.

Mr Pyne and former foreign minister Julie Bishop, who accepted a position on the board of aid development company Palladium, are now subject to a Senate inquiry.

"On 8 April 2019, I met with Mr Pyne to discuss his retirement from politics," EY partner Mark Stewart said in a submission.

"At this meeting, we discussed Mr Pyne's post-retirement plans, and his interest in utilising his experience as a politician and Minister to assist a professional services firm grow their private sector defence industry business.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/christopher-pyne-discussed-post-p...

 

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Frustration is growing within the Defence workforce as crippling computer outages continue to hamper the organisation's highly secure internal network.

Key points:

The network has experienced problems for several days and caused disruptions for about 80,000 staff.

Defence is undertaking a major ICT infrastructure transformation program

Staff are going home early because they're unable to do their work without IT access

Staff are going home early because the IT failures are preventing them from being able to do their jobs.

The ABC has learnt the "Defence PROTECTED Network", which is currently being upgraded, has experienced problems for several days and caused disruptions for about 80,000 staff.

Defence employees have told the ABC the IT problems are the worst the department has experienced in more than a decade.

"Staff are being sent home early because they can't do any meaningful work with the system as it is," one person with knowledge of the situation said.

"The system issues are also delaying export licences and other regulatory responsibilities of the department," the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Another department insider said the "crippling" problems meant frustration was growing among Defence staff.

"Productivity has been significantly affected, and it's not like our work stops," the insider told the ABC, also under the condition of anonymity.

 

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/defence-departments-secure-intern...

 

 

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Australia has stymied efforts by small island states to get Pacific-wide consensus on their declaration for stronger action on climate change. 

Key points:

• Australia expressed reservations about emissions reduction, coal use and the Green Climate Fund
• Scott Morrison said he understood sensitivities in the Pacific region but ultimately he was "accountable to the Australian people"
• Tuvalu's Prime Minister was disappointed with the outcome, saying leaders "should have done more work for our people"

 

Regional leaders, including Australia and New Zealand, held 12-hour talks in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu for this year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), eventually reaching an agreement on a statement on climate change and a communique early this morning.

They could not reach agreement on the Tuvalu Declaration made by smaller Pacific countries, instead drafting a separate Kainaki II Declaration, with different terms on coal use and emissions reduction.

The finished communique comes with a qualification that means the leaders do not support all of the declaration from the smaller nations.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/no-endorsements-come-out-of-tuval...

 

 

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Scummo is more of nasty idiot that we thougt... but we knew this all along...

A Newstart recipient in her 50s had her payments suspended by her employment services provider after she appeared at a Senate inquiry to argue for an increase to the payment.

At a hearing in Sydney on Friday, life on Australia’s unemployment benefit was described as “a state of fear”, “constant worry” and “stress and despair” by recipients.

Government senators were forced to confront the experiences of Newstart recipients, who told how they skipped meals, experienced homelessness and were unable to afford clothes and Christmas presents for their children due to the low rate of the payment.

“We do not want your pity but we do need your empathy,” said Nigel, who felt he was being punished for not having a job.

Leslie, who is in her 50s and has been on Newstart for 10 years, said she was breaching her mutual obligations by appearing before the inquiry. Leslie told her employment consultant about the hearing; she said they scheduled an appointment anyway, saying it was a requirement of her jobs plan.

About an hour after she finished giving evidence, Leslie told Guardian Australia she got a text. “Your payment has been suspended for not attending your provider appointment,” it read.

Leslie had been paid for the fortnight on Friday morning. But she will now have to ask her job agency to have her income support switched back on, a process welfare recipients say is not always easy.

“Why am I being punished for doing things that help my community?” she said.

Mark is a former journalist and writer who said he had won awards for his work. But twice in the past five years he had been forced on to unemployment benefits, currently about $280 a week for a single person, he told the inquiry.

“Once you get caught up in a system like Centrelink and Newstart … you’re reminded how much your own background and professional history mean nothing,” he said. “And that you are, because of the way you are treated, nothing.”

 

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/11/newstart-recipien...

 

 

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Australia’s biggest defence projects have suffered another $1.2bn budget blowout in 2018-19, with the cost of the 26 projects rising by a total of $24bn compared with what was originally announced, the auditor general has found.

The auditor general’s office released its 2018-19 report into the nation’s major defence projects on Monday afternoon, having found the cost of the initiatives, including the joint strike fighters, had increased to $64.1bn.

The F35 project was the biggest increase, at nearly $14bn, after another 58 aircraft were added. But another 26 projects needed contingency top-ups in the last budget, although only the MRH90 helicopter project was considered “of concern”. It had first been flagged in 2011 for a “contractor issue”.

 

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/16/australias-major-...

 

 

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In the game of "Total Annihilation", refinements of defence are bloody useless. 

 

 

 

Meanwhile:

 

A "fearless" Australian commando who went public three years ago about his involvement in an alleged war crime in Afghanistan has died.

Key points:

• In 2016 Sergeant Frost told the ABC he had helped to cover up the alleged murder of an Afghan prisoner
• He has been remembered by friends as a "fearless", "proud" and "witty" man
• Since 2001 more than 400 former and serving Australian Defence personnel have taken their own lives.

 

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace on 1800 650 890

 

Sergeant Kevin Frost is among hundreds of former and serving Defence Force personnel who have taken their own lives in the past two decades. 

Last week the 45-year-old went missing near his Busselton home, and over the weekend his family confirmed he had been found but had "tragically passed away".

Friends have paid tribute online to their mate "Frosty", who they say was a "fearless", "proud" and "witty" man.

His death comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his Government will consider calling a royal commission next year into veterans' suicides.

In 2016 Sergeant Frost told the ABC he had helped to cover up the alleged murder of an Afghan prisoner. 

"The particular incident that I was involved in resulted in the POW that I had captured actually being executed, murdered," the commando recalled in a television interview.

"I can't remember if he cut the cuffs off first or if he cut the cuffs off after he shot him. That's the one point I can't remember there, cause I wasn't looking.

"I didn't want to look. I turned around and the guy was dead. He'd been shot through the forehead."

 

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/australian-kevin-frost-who-raised...

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Friday that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base in Tindal, Australia, will receive a major upgrade over the next several years in an effort to provide both Canberra and Washington a leg-up in the region. 

Previous reports that Australia’s strategic Northern Territory air base would be undergoing an extensive upgrade were confirmed on Friday as the prime minister spoke with reporters in Katherine, Australia, some 15 kilometers from the base.

“It will be integral to our alliance with the United States, and [will] increase the reach of Air Force capabilities in the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said, as reported by Australian Aviation. The outlet noted that RAAF Base Tindal is expected to be the home of 72 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, as well as long-range bomber jets.

“As part of these upgrades, RAAF Base Tindal will be able to deliver enhanced air-to-air refueling and air support capabilities, ensuring we can support critical ADF [Australian Defense Force] operations — everything from air combat missions through to responding to natural disasters both at home and throughout our region,” the prime minister asserted on February 21.

This upgrade, slated for completion by 2027, would be RAAF Base Tindal’s first since 1984.

It was previously noted in an October 2019 news release by Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds that the Pentagon had pledged to invest billions of dollars in efforts to make significant upgrades to the facilities in the Northern Territory.

“Around $8 billion will be invested over the next decade in new and upgraded facilities in the Northern Territory,” Northern Territory Senator Sam McMahon said in the release, noting that the “local economy” would also benefit from the defense expansion. According to Australian Aviation, 25% of Katherine’s 10,000-person population is employed by the facilities.

Reuters reported that Morrison rejected suggestions that the upgrade in the Northern Territory, Australia’s closest region to China, is being made with Beijing in mind.

At the same time, Australia has recently stepped up its military ties with the US. Just last year, some 34,000 troops from the US Air Force, US Marine Corps, Australian Army and RAAF came together for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019. Additionally, Australia has expressed interest in acquiring surveillance drones from General Atomics - on top of the six Northrop Grumman MQ-4 Triton drones it already obtained for the purpose of surveillance in the South China Sea.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/asia/202002211078374520-australia-confirms-726-m...

 

 

Read from top. As we all know (we all should) Airforce, guns and defence is a Christian tradition...