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The Great Barrier Reef is one of the great natural wonders of the world. Thirty years ago, Australia willingly made the Reef a World Heritage Area. That listing was intended to protect the Reef. Any changes to its management, or developments that might affect it, should be notified in advance to the World Heritage Committee.

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Four Corners and reporter Marian Wilkinson take you inside the agency that approved one of the most contentious environmental decisions this year. In January, the body tasked with protecting the Great Barrier Reef approved a plan to dump three million cubic metres of dredge spoil inside the marine park to expand the Abbot Point coal port.

The decision by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has shocked and angered the scientific community. Internal documents obtained by Four Corners reveal deep divisions between the scientists and bureaucrats behind the decision. They show that the dumping was approved despite previous recommendations from senior scientists that it be rejected.

"That decision has to be a political decision. It is not supported by science at all, and I was absolutely flabbergasted when I heard." - Dr Charlie Veron, marine scientist

But the Chairman of the Marine Park Authority denies the decision was political and the Federal Environment Minister insists it will take place under the strictest environmental conditions.

Four Corners speaks to a senior director who recently left the Authority. He says bluntly that the dumping should not go ahead.

The dumping approval also comes as scientists are confirming a link between port dredging and deadly coral disease for the first time.

This week the Marine Park Authority released a report showing the Great Barrier Reef has significantly declined in just the last five years. It confirms climate change and ocean acidification are threatening the very survival of the reef.

It all comes at a critical moment in the reef's history. In June, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee criticised the dumping decision. Next year it will decide whether to place the Great Barrier Reef on the World Heritage "In Danger" list.

"We're dealing with a World Heritage area, the most important World Heritage area on the planet... Our own legislative mandate says 'the long-term protection and conservation of the values', and we're not doing that." - former director, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

BATTLE FOR THE REEF, reported by Marian Wilkinson and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 18th August at 8.30pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 19th August at 11.00am and 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview.

Abbott government moves to ban offshore dumping in Great Barrier Reef marine park | The Sydney Morning Herald | 16 March, 2015

Abbot Point dredging: Spoil to be dumped on land, not in Great Barrier Reef waters - The Queensland Government has endorsed a new plan to dump dredge spoil from the Abbot Point port expansion near Bowen on land, rather than inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. | ABC News | 8 September, 2014

Transcript
The Battle for the Barrier Reef, 18 August 2014
KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: How much do we really care about our most iconic national treasure? Welcome to Four Corners.

As a child, one of the first memorable things I learned about Australia's geography was that we could boast of having one of the seven great natural wonders of the world.

Not only could we be proud of having the most extensive and most spectacular reefs, but it was also a great little earner.

Perhaps the fact that it had been created without any pain or effort to the nation made it easier for us to take it for granted. But the bottom line is that, for nearly half a century as a journalist, I've been reporting, reading, watching and now presenting stories on its decline.

First it was the crown-of-thorns starfish and our rather tepid response to the risk. But bar cyclones, every threat ever since has come from human hand.

Now, just last week, another major report to Government with another dire warning that the Barrier Reef is in poor condition, has worsened since the last review five years ago and is expected to decline further.

Yet the same authority that released the latest alarming report on the reef, the authority that's charged with protecting the reef, has at the same time approved the dumping of dredged waste near the reef despite big problems the last time that happened - and even its own scientists are up in arms.

Marian Wilkinson's report includes disturbing new revelations.

MARIAN WILKINSON, REPORTER: Once a year, after a full moon, the Great Barrier Reef puts on nature's most spectacular orgy.

The mass spawning of millions of corals: the vital renewal of the world's largest reef system.

JOHN "CHARLIE" VERON, FORMER CHIEF SCIENTIST, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: Just massive amounts of the spawn goes absolutely everywhere. And then the ocean surface turns pink. It's amazing. Nothing like it in any part of the world, really.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But marine scientist Dr Charlie Veron is increasingly seeing the corals' fantastic life cycle under threat.

CHARLIE VERON: Well, the coral spawning is drastically reduced if something is wrong with the water quality.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Veron is Australia's godfather of coral reefs. His epic 'Corals of the World' is still a bible for marine scientists.

CHARLIE VERON: I have described and catalogued all the corals of the world and mapped them, photographed them.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But these days, the retired chief scientist for the Australian Institute of Marine Science is also documenting the collapse of the Great Barrier Reef.

CHARLIE VERON: Well, the inshore Great Barrier Reef has changed beyond recognition in my time. So I would go to places now that used to be flourishing corals and are now just pretty much dead. Um, that's the inshore Great Barrier that's been really badly damaged.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Dr Veron, like many Australian marine scientists, believes the Great Barrier Reef is under severe stress.

So he was alarmed by the Government's decision to allow the mass dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to build a bigger coal port.

CHARLIE VERON: That decision has to be a political decision. It is not supported by science at all. Um, and I was absolutely flabbergasted when I, when I heard of that decision. To dump it in the middle of the Marine Park, adding further stress to the environment of the Great Barrier Reef, is utterly reprehensible.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Last month the Federal Environment Minister signed the final approval for largest coal project in Australia's history.

Coal from the planned Carmichael mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin will be shipped through the port of Abbot Point, inshore from the Great Barrier Reef.

The coal project is controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. A second Indian billionaire, G.V.K. Reddy, also has a huge mine planned in the Galilee with Gina Rinehart, and so does Clive Palmer.

MICHAEL ROCHE, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL: These are some of the biggest mines we'll ever see i-in Australia. And we, we don't have coal projects of this order and they are being designed at a scale, ah, that, again, that will develop very good cost structures.

MARIAN WILKINSON: To export all this coal, the port at Abbot Point wants to treble in size.

That's why the Federal Government has allowed the dredging of three million cubic metres from the seabed here, which will be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

GREG HUNT, FEDERAL ENVIROMENT MINISTER: I did a very careful and deep review and what was clear is that, ah, we could tighten and strengthen the conditions, confine what was being done to 1/180,000 of the area of the Marine Park - an area the size of Italy - and take clean, sand-based material a short distance to other clean, sand-based material.

And so the unequivocal advice that, er, we received was: this can be done safely.

JON BRODIE, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY: It will have impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, basically: on sea grass, on dugong, on turtles and possibly even on coral reefs and other things. How much impact's hard to say, true, but dumping three million cubic metres, five million tonnes of sediment, even well offshore in deep water will have impacts.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The proposed dump site off Abbot Point is just four kilometres from the nearest coral reef and it's only three kilometres from the site of an historic Catalina plane wreck from World War II.

The remains of the victims were never recovered. The community outrage was so great, the port developer is now looking for an alternative site.

RICHARD LECK, WWF: I mean, it is quite extraordinary. Approval has been given to one particular site that even the proponent admits is unacceptable, um, yet there's no clear, ah, alternate site, um, for where that dump spoil should be, ah, should be dumped.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The dumping approval has made Abbot Point ground zero in the battle over the future of the Great Barrier Reef.

It's been by criticised UNESCO, by environmentalists and by scientists inside and outside the Government.

TERRY HUGHES, PROF., ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES: My reaction was disappointment because the scientific evidence is, is very clear. Dumping dredge spoil is, is a dangerous thing to do to the Marine Park. The Marine Park is in declining condition and the last thing it needs is yet another stressor.

JON DAY, FORMER DIRECTOR, GREAT BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK AUTHORITY (GBRMPA): I believe there were alternatives that weren't properly considered when that decision was made. If we did a proper evaluation of the all the alternatives, that decision would not have been made.

JON BRODIE: In the end they wanted the cheapest, quickest, dirtiest option at Abbot Point and that's what they got.

MARIAN WILKINSON: What stunned many scientists is that the guardian of the reef, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, approved the dumping of the dredge spoil despite the concerns of its own experts.

Its decision is now being challenged in court and its chairman, Russell Reichelt, is under attack.

CHARLIE VERON: I regard Russ as a good friend and he's always had a very sharp eye for science. And so I am completely mystified by that decision. I would be most interested to see how it came about because it is certainly not based on science.

And I wonder about the independence of the Marine Park Authority. I don't know the politics of it but there must have been something going on because it's completely out of kilter with Russ' normal way of operating.

RUSSELL REICHELT, CHAIRMAN, GBRMPA: I would agree with the concerns of the scientists. I disagree with their conclusion that Abbot Point will harm the Great Barrier Reef. The risks around Abbot are low and, and approvals were given on that basis: they, they are manageable.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But a lot of your scientists in your Authority disagreed with you, didn't they?

RUSSELL REICHELT: No. The scien- the- what the scientists did was spend nearly a year helping me and colleagues understand the risks that could occur if they weren't mitigated.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But tonight a former senior director with the Marine Park Authority speaks out publicly for the first time against the Abbot Point dumping.

JON DAY: It's flagged to become the biggest coal port in the country, if not in the world.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Jon Day resigned from the Authority last month after two decades of dedicated service.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Should we be dumping spoil in the marine park?

JON DAY: I don't believe we should. Um, it's having adverse impacts. We've seen that elsewhere and there are alternatives. Sure, they may cost more, but again we're dealing with a World Heritage area, the most important World Heritage area on the planet, uh, a magnificent marine protected area that the world wants us to protect.

Our own legislative mandate says "the long-term protection and conservation of the values" and we're not doing that.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Four Corners can reveal the Abbot Point decision was bitterly fought inside the Marine Park Authority right up until January this year.

For months the Authority's key experts in Townsville advised their superiors and the Federal Environment Department that the dumping was unacceptable.

JON DAY: Well, I certainly think the advice was well based. I know the people who were involved in developing it, ah, and they're experts in their, in their field, so I know the advice was very well based.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The advice of the Marine Park Authority experts is contained here in hundreds of internal documents. Released under Freedom of Information to environmentalists, they include candid emails revealed tonight for the first time.

In June 2013, the Authority's director of environmental assessment, Adam Smith, drew up advice for a draft recommendation for the Authority to reject the Abbot Point dumping plan. It stated bluntly:

EMAIL FROM ADAM SMITH (voiceover): The likely impact of the dredging and disposal in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area currently proposed would be environmentally and socially unacceptable.

RUSSELL REICHELT: I encouraged those staff to air those views and the ch- the project changed considerably over the life to, to something that, at the end, a decision was made taking all of that into account that that disposal could occur safely.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But internal documents reveal the Authority only made the decision to approve the dumping after Reichelt put a new manager over the experts who had originally advised against it.

That manager, Bruce Elliot, was questioned last month at a Senate hearing about his expertise in marine science.

LARISSA WATERS, GREENS SENATOR: What are your qualifications?

BRUCE ELLIOT, GENERAL MANAGER, GBRMPA: Um, I don't have a background in marine science at all. Uh, my background is, uh, primarily in working for the Federal Government for pretty much all of my career: ah, defence, tax and now the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

RICHARD LECK: Something obviously happened where the expertise, you know, the very strong on-ground expertise that was generated from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in Townsville was, was changed.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Soon after Elliot's appointment he emailed director Adam Smith, challenging the advice to reject the dumping.

EMAIL FROM BRUCE ELLIOT (voiceover): The draft proposal recommends a refusal, yet my own assessment is that it should be an approval (potentially with further conditions).

MARIAN WILKINSON: But the Authority's ports manager, Rean Gilbert, backed Smith and the recommendation to refuse the dumping, emailing him:

EMAIL FROM REAN GILBERT (voiceover): Most (if not all) of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority scientists would agree with the refusal recommendation.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But Bruce Elliot criticised the refusal recommendation on the dumping, claiming it was "skewed by a flawed risk assessment".

Gilbert objected.

EMAIL FROM REAN GILBERT (voiceover): The flawed risk assessment that Bruce refers to has been contributed to by all the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority scientists.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Those in the Authority against the dumping wanted the owners of Abbot Point, North Queensland Bulk Ports, to look at alternatives. This included extending the length of the loading trestles at the port.

This could cost more than ten times as much as dumping. It was opposed by the coal industry as unsafe.

MICHAEL ROCHE: Essentially what we've got there is, is a safety issue. Ah, th-th- that's a very exposed, ah, situation. Ah, it was a shipping safety issue. It wasn't really a cost issue but again: environmentally, did you really want to have a long trestle being built out into the Marine Park?

MARIAN WILKINSON: WWF's Richard Leck has scrutinised scores of the Authority's internal warnings on Abbot Point. They show a high risk of impacts on water quality and the local marine environment.

But last year the Gillard government rejected the advice to oppose it. Instead, it put off making a decision.

RICHARD LECK: The previous Federal Labor government had two opportunities to take that advice from the Marine Park Authority and they squibbed that decision both times.

MARIAN WILKINSON: When Greg Hunt became the new Environment Minister after the election, he approved the dredging and dumping at Abbot Point with what he called "the toughest environmental conditions". On advice from his department, he in turn formally advised the Authority to approve the dumping.

But Hunt insists the Abbot Point approval will be the last dumping of dredge spoil in the Marine Park.

GREG HUNT: I made the decision that this would be the last time that we were changing the practice. And since then we have stopped four inherited proposals from proceeding, which would have seen material deposited into the Marine Park. So five down to one. That was actually included in this decision. I remember the very words were: "This is a line in the sand".

MARIAN WILKINSON: The Marine Park Authority chairman defends the Abbot Point dumping and insists it is low-risk because of new conditions they imposed.

(To Russell Reichelt) The approval that you've given is risk-free or low-risk?

RUSSELL REICHELT: Will do no harm to the Barrier Reef. Um, the, the, the changes locally for a short time would be noticeable but would not be harming the corals, the dugong, the turtle, the seagrasses.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Well, how do you feel then that nearly every leading marine scientist in the country is opposed to this decision?

RUSSELL REICHELT: Look, I respect the, my scientific colleagues. Um, the... the... their view of the decision is couched on a very narrow view of the state of the system and this proposal. Um, I would agree with them that, overall, dredging should come down.

MARIAN WILKINSON: At a gathering of coral reef scientists in Canberra last month, the ructions over the Abbot Point decision were on public display.

JON BRODIE: We know now that the management arrangements, governance, at Abbot Point, um, were - how can I put it kindly? - less than optimal.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Jon Brodie was once director of water quality at the Marine Park Authority. He's now a vocal critic of the dumping in the Marine Park.

JON BRODIE: And even then, once it's out there, this extra fine material: it can be resuspended, ah, by the wind; um, if it's in deeper water, by cyclones, regularly and easily. And that will cause sediment plumes that will have impacts on, um, things like sea grass and coral that surround the dump site.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Abbot Point has brought to the surface a much bigger debate about port dredging and coral reefs.

In pristine waters off Lizard Island in far north Queensland, marine scientist Joe Pollock sees the Great Barrier Reef at its best.

But Pollock is here studying coral disease.

JOE POLLOCK, MARINE SCIENTIST, JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY: Well, disease in, in any system can be a natural phenomenon. So when we're at Lizard Island we see disease but we don't see super, super high levels of it.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Pollock and his colleagues last month released the first ever study linking coral disease with port dredging.

The study wasn't done on the Great Barrier Reef but in Western Australia, on the coral reefs off Barrow Island, the site of the country's largest single LNG project.

Seven million cubic metres of sediments were dredged here for the port in 2011.

JOE POLLOCK: Essentially what we found is that near the dredge impact sites, we had two times as much coral disease than we had at our, our nearby control sites.

MARIAN WILKINSON: And why do you think that happened?

JOE POLLOCK: Corals are composed of... they're basically part-animal and part-plant. So the plant part needs light to do photosynthesis and the, the animal part needs food to eat. So when you get dredging you stir up all this sediment. That sediment makes the water cloudy - that's called turbidity - and that reduces the amount of light that's available for the plant part to do photosynthesis. And as that sediment falls out of the water column onto the coral surface, it can clog up its ability to feed.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Pollock found the corals were seriously impacted 10 to 20 kilometres away from the dredge site. Many showed symptoms of a deadly disease called White Syndrome.

JOE POLLOCK: White Syndrome is basically like: you can think of it as if the skin started falling away from your hand, moving down, just leaving behind your bone. That lesion continues to move down your arm until basically all that's left of you is dead white skeleton.

So once that disease lesion has moved over that bit of coral, it can never recover.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Pollock's research has fed into the fraught debate over Abbot Point because it comes as all sides agree the Great Barrier Reef is under mounting stress.

A Marine Park Authority report, released last week, shows a serious decline over two thirds of the reef in the last five years.

RUSSELL REICHELT: I think the reef is under extreme pressure and I would agree with the bulk of scientific comment about the state of the reef. Coral cover is down. Uh, dugongs were, are down and, and, ah, very low along the probably 1,000 kilometres plus of the coastline affected by the floods.

The, um, seagrasses is of major concern because that's the food for dugong. It- seagrass also acts to clean up water quality by trapping fine sediment and it's at a significant low point now. In fact, Cairns area: it's as low as ever been recorded. So they're the big things that have changed.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Agricultural run-off from Queensland's rivers has been the big cause of the drop in water quality on the inshore reef.

Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish have been linked to the run-off. Recent floods and cyclones have spread out the sediments in the run-off.

RUSSELL REICHELT: Most of the reduction in coral cover coincided exactly with the influx of the major storms. With turbid water, full of nutrients and algae, you find that the corals aren't able to recruit as easily. So when scientists say there's lost resilience, it means the corals are not growing back as quickly.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Jon Brodie has worked for years with government to clean up agricultural run-off impacting the reef. But he argues big port dredging and dumping in Queensland is undermining those efforts and adding more stress to the reef.

JON BRODIE: The real problem is that while agricultural pollution has been managed to some extent under the Reef Plan - not to the extent that the Government claims that it is, but it is being managed to some extent - port pollution and port governance is in disarray.

TERRY HUGHES: You can clearly see a sediment plume...

MARIAN WILKINSON: Until recently port dredging and dumping inshore from the Great Barrier Reef was regarded as having limited local impacts.

But the director of Coral Reef Studies at Townsville's James Cook University argues dredging is far more damaging to the reef than officially acknowledged.

TERRY HUGHES: We're now starting to see evidence that the dredge spoil goes across the whole br- breadth of the Great Barrier Reef. A portion of the dredge spoil is very fine sediment: tiny little particles that are suspended in the water column and they're dispersed by winds, by currents and by waves. And over a period of just a few months they can travel 100 kilometres or more. That evidence is now very clear.

There are other ways of getting ships to the coal.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Professor Hughes is calling for a complete ban on dumping dredge spoil, not only in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park but all the waters surrounding the reef.

TERRY HUGHES: The main danger for corals is sediment run-off from land. So we can try and improve the amount of sediment that's coming out of rivers and the Government is now spending hundreds of millions of dollars doing that - and it is working to a small extent. It's very expensive and we need to do more of that.

But what you don't do to turn that trajectory around is allow millions and millions of tonnes of dredge spoil to be dumped on the Great Barrier Reef.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The Queensland and Federal Governments have released plans to reduce dredging and dumping inshore from the Great Barrier Reef.

Both the Federal Minister and the Marine Park Authority say it's being done.

RUSSELL REICHELT: Ports are one of those things: they do need to be managed. Their footprint needs to be contained. We need to implement the port strategy, use master planning to bring down the total amounts of, ah, both capital and, in the long run, maintenance dredging. I believe that's doable.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But while the Government is now drawing the line in the sand, the Abbot Point dumping for now is going ahead.

And the backlash over that decision is coming not just from environmentalists and scientists but from Queensland's powerful tourism industry.

For decades Queensland's coal industry and its tourism industry lived side by side along the Great Barrier Reef. But now the demands of the coal companies and the tourism operators are colliding - and you can see it most clearly here at the gateway to the beautiful Whitsunday Islands.

Tourists flock to the Whitsundays from around the world. It makes up a big part of the $6.5 billion tourism industry on the Great Barrier Reef.

But the reef here lies offshore from Queensland's two big coal ports, Abbot Point and Hay Point, that saw a huge dredging operation in 2006.

TONY BROWN, PRESIDENT, WHITSUNDAY CHARTER BOAT INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: We've had, um, quite a serious decrease in our water quality here in the Whitsundays. There's all sorts of evidence showing that.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Tony Brown is President of the Whitsunday Charter Boat Industry Association. He's demanding to know if the Abbot Point dumping will impact his business.

Visibility at diving sites here is a big issue. It's dropped dramatically in recent years as sediments in the water have shot up.

TONY BROWN: There's been an alarming jump in sediment. Um, It happened in 2010 and it went from basically one or two per cent to 23 per cent, so that's a very big concern. Where did this sediment come from? And this is part of the questions we've been asking for whether there's any relationship with sea dumping or whether it's something else.

MARIAN WILKINSON: For many tourists, seeing the reef is still a magical experience.

(To tourists) What did you see?

TOURIST 1: A lot of fishes.

TOURIST 2: Yeah, and also very big fishes and they come so close to us. It was amazing, yeah (laughs).

MARIAN WILKINSON: But tour operators know murky waters will affect visitor numbers and Brown is worried the dumping of three million cubic metres of spoil off Abbot Point will make visibility worse.

TONY BROWN: Um, look, our industry is disappointed because we felt that they should have made every effort to understand whether there is true impacts to our region because of sea dumping in the past.

Um, there has been an incredible rise in sediment in our area. Let's understand where this is coming from, what is, what is causing it and then make those kind of decisions. So, of course, it was a disappointing decision from our perspective.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The storms and flooding rivers in Queensland over the last five years are largely blamed for the sharp fall in water quality affecting visibility on the reef there.

RUSSELL REICHELT: Tony and-and his colleagues are accurately describing the low state of water quality. Um, the issue for me is not just the Whitsundays. That pattern is repeated along the southern two thirds of the Barrier Reef. Ah, the signals that we're getting from the AIMS satellite analyses is that it's primarily driven by rivers.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But tourism operators are now questioning whether the huge expansion of the coal port at Hay Point back in 2006 also played some part.

TONY BROWN: There's a lot of information out there showing that we have had a degradation in our water quality. Um, obviously we don't know whether it's Hay Point. It could be a whole host of other reasons but we certainly are concerned because it was a massive 8.6 million cubic metre, ah, sea disposal.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The fraught debate over dredging and dumping inshore from the Great Barrier Reef erupted at Gladstone three years ago.

The Ports Corporation here undertook a massive 46 million cubic metre dredge plan for an LNG project.

It was an environmental fiasco.

RICHARD LECK: You know, Gladstone is ground zero of poor management. And what that, um, what that says to us is that when you approve something like Abbot Point, which the safety net for the approval is a vast array of highly complicated conditions, our faith in those conditions actually being able to deliver is, is taken away because we just look at what happened only a few years ago, um, at Gladstone.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Most of the dredge spoil was to be contained behind this giant bund wall in Gladstone Harbour, the rest dumped at a site just 400 metres from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

In 2011 the State and Federal Labor governments insisted tough environmental regulations were in place.

TONY BURKE, FORMER ENVIRONMENT MINISTER (Four Corners, 2011): We had a taskforce working with different sections of my own agency, the marine division, the approvals division, and the Marine Park Authority were part of that as well.

FISHERMAN (Four Corners, 2011): Wait until you have a good look, Ted.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But Four Corners went to Gladstone that year to investigate the outbreak of a mysterious fish disease in the harbour.

TED WHITTINGHAM, OWNER, GLADSTONE FISH MARKETS (Four Corners, 2011): The red fins?

FISHERMAN (Four Corners, 2011): The red fins, that's the start of it. This fellow here's got the bad red eye bulged out, ready to what we call, we've been calling it "exploding."

MARIAN WILKINSON: Fish wholesaler Ted Whittingham told us then he believed the fish disease was linked to the dredging.

TED WHITTINGHAM, OWNER, GLADSTONE FISH MARKETS (Four Corners, 2011): The disease comes from stress. The stress is being caused by the development on the harbour. The stress is being caused from the run-off of acid sulphate soils. The stress is coming from the turbidity in the water.

MARIAN WILKINSON: State and Federal governments denied any link between the dredging and the fish disease. The ports said there was no significant drop in the water quality in the harbour.

But this year the new Federal Environment Minister released a damning report, revealing the bund wall design was flawed and it had leaked spoil sediments into the harbour.

TED WHITTINGHAM: We're told years down the track that the bund wall was leaking silt at the rate of 4,000 tonnes, ah, per day into the harbour, continually, ah, for over 12 months.

GREG HUNT: The reviewer, Andrew Johnson from CSIRO, made some, ah, pretty powerful findings. He said that the conditions were not good enough. The monitoring wasn't good enough. The assessment wasn't good enough. And he was right.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Ted Whittingham now lives in Brisbane.

TED WHITTINGHAM: Both my sons had left town and the business had totally collapsed. So there was just too much pain there.

MARIAN WILKINSON: He's deeply disappointed the independent inquiry was not allowed to investigate any links to the fish disease, despite a key study showing high levels of heavy metals in local turtles.

TED WHITTINGHAM: The, the Gladstone development destroyed a business that I spent 30 years building with my family and my sons. Um, and it's been totally destroyed. Um, of course I'm angry personally.

I'm also angry that from an environmental perspective, um, that the Government has, has been charged with, ah, managing one of the seven wonders of the world and they're quite happy to put this under threat for the sake of, er, very short economical development.

GREG HUNT: We have already reformed the processes quite dramatically and we have taken on board the lessons of a previous age, a previous government, a previous era.

Ah, we have not just done that: we have tripled, tripled the total personnel in the monitoring and compliance section of the department. We have put in place toughest - er, tougher conditions, in fact the toughest conditions in Australian history.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But the systemic failures in Gladstone have left environmental groups deeply sceptical about assurances over Abbot Point.

RICHARD LECK: There was a, a systematic massive failure with the bund wall that's meant to keep toxic and contaminated dredge spoil out of the harbour. Now, that does nothing to increase your faith in the ability of governments to implement and, and monitor their own approval conditions.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Since the approval of Abbott Point in January, the Queensland Resources Council has been at the forefront of defending the decision.

Head Michael Roche argues the objections are driven by green groups, opposed to the giant Galilee Basin coal mines that will use the port.

MICHAEL ROCHE: It's called 'Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom' and it was a document prepared and led by Greenpeace but with the support of a whole range of other, ah, NGOs. It sets out a whole range of strategies around litigation, around creating fear around the Great Barrier Reef, about creating investor uncertainty.

MARIAN WILKINSON: In part he is right.

But the industry also knows coal from the mines will emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases that will impact the reef.

Last week's Marine Park Authority Report concluded that climate change and ocean acidification caused by greenhouse gas emissions are the most serious long-term threats to the reef.

RUSSELL REICHELT: Um, the scientists are disputing how, how it how it might play out. No one is disputing that it will have a dramatic effect on coral growth.

MARIAN WILKINSON: As the oceans are forced to absorb more and more greenhouse gases, scientists predict the reef waters will become more acidic and hostile to marine life, triggering extinctions.

And one senior coral scientist is now arguing the Galilee mines should not go ahead.

TERRY HUGHES: Well, if these new coal mines go ahead - and there's a big question over the whole economics of that - they will, um, put out a huge amount of CO2 emissions. That CO2 goes into the ocean. It causes ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is a big issue for the future of the Great Barrier Reef.

So instead of contributing to CO2 emission by developing these mines, Australia should be leading the charge in transitioning to renewable energy.

MICHAEL ROCHE: Oh, there's no doubt that the science suggests that over the long term, climate change can be a big problem and that's why there's so much work that's going in - a lot of it funded by industry and others - around adaptation. And that's a big focus of the work done by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But fundamentally they're saying that what your members produce will ultimately kill the Reef. Is that, do you think that's what they're saying?

MICHAEL ROCHE: Well, Marian I, I don't accept that Australia should take upon itself responsibility for keeping our coal in the ground if it's still going to be demanded by places like China, India and South East Asia.

If our coal is not supplied, all we do is deny ourselves the jobs, the investment, the tax revenues to fund services but the coal will be supplied.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Whether the huge Galilee coal mines will go ahead is still an open question because the price of coal is falling.

But the Environment Minister does not believe the mines should be stopped because their emissions will threaten the reef.

GREG HUNT: Our task now is to ensure that the breakthroughs in technology and the reduction in emissions, which can be done through better technology, occurs. But if you're asking us to stop 100 million people in India having for the first time electrification or having significantly extended electricity - the great goal of bringing humanity out of deep, grinding poverty - we're not A) able to stop that as a country and B) we shouldn't be condemning people to poverty.

CHARLIE VERON: You now, it's a bandied-about phrase but the canary and the coal mine.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Since his retirement from Australia's Institute of Marine Science, Charlie Veron has no hesitation speaking out about the threat to the reef from greenhouse emissions.

CHARLIE VERON: It's incredibly serious. What we are doing now is pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate which has never happened remotely before. Now, this will acidify the oceans and that's... that'll be the end of it for corals. It's very, very serious. That won't happen until well on through this century but it will happen.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Thirty-three years after the World Heritage Committee listed the Great Barrier Reef as one of the wonders of the natural world, it is officially in poor shape and expected to decline.

This year the Committee sharply criticised Australia over the Abbot Point decision. Next year it will decide whether to put the reef on its "In Danger" list.

TERRY HUGHES: It would be a travesty if that happened. It would be incredibly damaging to the tourism industry. It would be damaging to Australia's reputation.

GREG HUNT: Well, it was put on the watch list under somebody else's time, but I am absolutely determined that it comes off the watch list under my time.

JON DAY: It's impossible to know whether the Committee will take that action. But I think, um, it's... the way the Committee was reacting this year, er, they were not happy. And unless, as I said, a lot happens between now and then, then it's entirely possible it could be listed.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Four Corners has learned it is now possible the Abbot Point dumping approval could be re-opened before the Committee meets next year.

Protecting the reef's extraordinary life and beauty has always been a trade-off with human activity but those who know the reef best say now, more than ever, we risk losing our most precious natural icon.

TERRY HUGHES: Scientists, believe it or not, are interested in more than just writing the obituary of the Great Barrier Reef. We want to be offering solutions for how to turn these bad trajectories downwards.

We have a lot of information about the Great Barrier Reef. It's probably the best studied coral reef in the world, so it's undeniable that, that it's in trouble. The question is: do we have the political will and the, the will of the public of Australia to turn this around?

CHARLIE VERON: No one will ever see the coral reefs of the world like I have. Because even if they have the opportunity, they're not there anymore like they were for me, and boy, how sad can that get?

I just wish this happened some other time but not in my lifetime. Mm. I should have, would rather be dead before this time, yep.

KERRY O'BRIEN: So, do we really care enough? That's the fundamental question.

You can see extended interviews with the Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, and a former director of the Marine Park Authority, Jon Day, on our website.

Next on Four Corners: the highly paid surgeon with a sex and cocaine addiction who was rejected by the public hospital system but continued to operate in the private.

That's the program for tonight. Until next Monday, good night.

Background Information
Reports and Inquiries
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Outlook Report, 2014

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Strategic Assessment Report

UNESCO Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Listing

UNESCO decision on Status of Australia's Great Barrier Reef deferred until 2015

Senate Inquiry On 25 March 2014, the Federal Senate referred the Great Barrier Reef to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report

Transcript of Dr Russell Reichelt, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority speaking at the Great Barrier Reef Environment and Communications References Committee on 23 July 2014
Relevant Media
Great Barrier Reef Still Facing Significant Threats ABC News 12th August 2014

The Abbot Point Gamble, Background Briefing, 9th March, 2014
Previous Four Corners Programs
Great Barrier Grief, November 2011

Beautiful One Day, April 2001

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Four Corners and reporter Marian Wilkinson take you inside the agency that approved one of the most contentious environmental decisions this year. In January, the body tasked with protecting the Great Barrier Reef approved a plan to dump three million cubic metres of dredge spoil inside the marine park to expand the Abbot Point coal port.

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Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef

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This TED-Ed Flip was created by the English Ninjas of 8C - can you defeat their fiendish questions and increase your knowledge?

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Our top 10 environmental problems – Features – ABC Environment (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Our top 10 environmental problems – Features – ABC Environment (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Stay up to date with the top Australian environment news, industry information, and breaking news

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Posted March 23, 2017 07:08:20

There are aspects of Australian rules football that never fail to puzzle the uninitiated.

The game has its straight up and down plays - the long-kicking and high-marking that seem to give the contest a sense of order and clarity of purpose.

But then there are the moments of pure anarchy, as the ball falls to the ground, players knock it forward or sideways, and a quick handball or a short, driving kick produces an unexpected result.

Other rules of the engagement are baffling to the untrained eye.

There are no referees with a send-off power, merely umpires; there is no offside rule; the pitch dimensions vary from one ground to another; and the language of the commentators and the fans (the "barrackers") is unusually martial.

Formed in the 1850s frontier contact zone, Australian football owes more to the experience of warfare between British settlers and Indigenous Australians than is usually recognised.

These rules were written on a wet Tuesday afternoon in Bryant's Hotel in May 1859 by four young British men delegated with that task by the new Melbourne Football Club.

The city of Melbourne, destined to become a leading hub of the British Empire, was still young, but already a series of straight lines intersecting at right angles etched across what had been open Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung land only a generation before.

Australian football would become the product of this frontier contact zone.

The four founders of the game spent most of their lives within these overlapping and shifting domains, seeking to negotiate their troubled subjectivities in the frontier.

Tommy Wills, who grew up in western Victoria, was the son of a settler implicated in ethnic cleansing against Indigenous Australians who would later lose his life in a conflict with the Gayiri people in central Queensland.

James Boyne Thompson left Melbourne for country Victoria, slipped down the social ladder, did time in gaol, and died young.

William Hammersley abandoned a wife and four children in England, married again in Melbourne, and died young without seeing his estranged family again.

Thomas Henry Smith is remembered for his peppery temper, but fell from view soon after helping write the rules.

In short, the quartet who drafted the rules of this new "most manly and amusing game" were misfits from British society who were seeking new lives, or a refuge away from the dictates of convention, on the frontier

If we re-assess the historical sources, many features of the "Game of Our Own" reflect the all too familiar story of European colonisation.

There were certain consistent themes in the appropriation of native lands and resources by the British, French and other colonising powers in modern imperialism.

One is the collision between ways of delineating - or striating - newly conquered land with straight property lines against Indigenous land uses that understood property in more open and communal - or "smooth" - terms.

The new football code similarly involved delineations across the "smooth" spaces of Melbourne's parks and gardens.

Incorporated in the city's plan as parks and gardens, these spaces were intended as a safety valve for the constricted inhabitants of Melbourne's new housing estates, as well as affording an opportunity for a new style of running freely with a ball.

The colonisers made attempts to embody Indigenous "qualities" of physical prowess to increase and justify their power and dominance over the colonised.

Australia's imperial newcomers often sought to "go native", to appropriate what they saw as the Indigenous faculty for becoming spiritual or animalistic, which was their way of interpellating the Aboriginal "Other".

For instance, in swimming they adopted what became known as the Australian Crawl. In running they borrowed the idea of the crouch start.

Elements of the Indigenous ball game usually called Marngrook - such as high marking - made their way into Australian rules football.

Indigenous chalkings and native decoration

European settlers observed Indigenous warriors chalking themselves in vivid colours and stripes for battle and copied this in their guernseys.

We argue that the predominantly European colonial football teams adopted totemic plants (such as Mayblooms, Fuschias) and animals (such as swans) in their nomenclature as manifestations of this prowess.

Football players were bedizened in costumes that spoke either of Empire (the white) or native decoration (hooped guernseys).

When we look at paintings such as John Heaviside Clark's Warriors of New South Wales, 1813, we can easily imagine a group of men ready to take to the football field.

They are showing their spirit in their gestures; they are banded together for a common purpose.

Not surprisingly, Indigenous men took up Australian football on the Victorian reservations where they were exiled from 1869 onwards, and as early as 1872 a Framlingham resident, Pompey Austin, was selected to play for Geelong.

These martial features of Australian football should not surprise us. After all, a bloody war between the colonisers and the Indigenous was in the living memory of the players and their barrackers.

That war is now distant to us, and has earned the sobriquet the Frontier Wars. Between the 1830s and the 1850s hundreds of Indigenous warriors and dozens of British settlers were killed across south-east Australia.

Echoes of that conflict recur in the national code of football.

For Aboriginal Australians, even in parts of the continent dominated by rugby league, this is their code of preference.

They feel such a strong connection to the game that an explanation such as the one we have provided is demanded.

And then there is the ongoing puzzle of the 2015 season - the booing of Adam Goodes, a champion of the game and an Australian of the Year.

Goodes wanted to remind the game's devotees that it contained at its heart an Indigenous element. 95 per cent of the commentariat agreed with him; 75 per cent of the instant experts on social media did not.

Those who booed said they were not "racist". Historians of the game would beg to differ.
Dr Robert Pascoe is the author, co-author or editor of three dozen books and technical reports in Australian history, Italian migration, world history, and university education. Dr Gerardo Papalia is an honorary research fellow in Italian studies at La Trobe University. Originally published in The Conversation
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, community-and-society, history, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

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Did Indigenous warriors influence the development of Australian rules football?

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Posted March 23, 2017 07:08:20 There are aspects of Australian rules football that never fail to puzzle the uninitiated. The game has its straight up and down plays - the long-kicking and high-marking that seem to give the contest a sense of order and clarity of purpose.

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Updated March 21, 2017 18:35:36

Female cockroaches can reproduce healthily for years without ever meeting a member of the opposite sex, a Japanese study has found.

Researchers from Hokkaido University isolated 15 virgin female cockroaches in 2013. Within three years, the female-only colony had bred five generations and only showed small signs of slowing down.

While this phenomenon is not unheard of in the insect world, entomology expert David Merritt from the University of Queensland's Faculty of Science said the fact the cockroaches could breed for so long was unusual.

"Many insects can reproduce parthenogenetically, meaning females don't need to mate to produce offspring, but usually they go extinct," Dr Merritt told the ABC.

"But [this study] kept the cockroaches for many generations.

"So not only are they reproducing parthenogenetically, but they seem to be quite fit. They're not as sickened as colonies seem to have been shown in the past to be."

The study, published in journal Zoological Letters, only covered the American cockroach species, but don't let its name fool you: it is one of the most common cockroaches found in Australia.

They tend to hang out around sewers, and can spread disease-causing bacteria onto food.

"The fact that isolated populations can be maintained just by females reproducing asexually is a bit of a concern because it means that you've got to kill the whole population to kill them all," Dr Merritt said.

Parthenogenetic reproduction - that is, reproducing asexually - tends to occur as a last resort when there are no males present.

In this study, the grouped females picked up a signal from each other that started the male-free breeding process.

"They recognise the fact that there's a whole bunch of females around, there's no males around, so they'll go into this different reproductive pathway where they produce young without being mated," Dr Merritt said.

"It's like a sisterhood."

The Hokkaido University study said the sisterhood-like behaviour could also indicate an early stage of "social cooperation" among the cockroaches, usually found in more advanced insects like termites.

Topics: animal-science, invertebrates---insects-and-arachnids, biology, japan

First posted March 21, 2017 14:03:25

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Cockroaches can breed for generations without males, study finds

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Updated March 21, 2017 18:35:36 Female cockroaches can reproduce healthily for years without ever meeting a member of the opposite sex, a Japanese study has found. Researchers from Hokkaido University isolated 15 virgin female cockroaches in 2013. Within three years, the female-only colony had bred five generations and only showed small signs of slowing down.

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Juan Enriquez: What will humans look like in 100 years?

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We can evolve bacteria, plants and animals -- futurist Juan Enriquez asks: Is it ethical to evolve the human body? In a visionary talk that ranges from medieval prosthetics to present day neuroengineering and genetics, Enriquez sorts out the ethics associated with evolving humans and imagines the ways we'll have to transform our own bodies if we hope to explore and live in places other than Earth.

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43 Million Americans Live in Poverty, Worry About Future

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Many Americans voted for Donald Trump because of concerns over the economy. But with Republican lawmakers proposing repealing the Affordable Care Act, privatizing Medicare, and cutting funding for food assistance, some of the 43 million people who live below the poverty line are anxious about what's next, as VOA correspondent Aru Pande reports.

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Four Corners: One in four Aust children say they worry about the future constantly

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The horrors of terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris over the weekend, are weighing heavily on the minds of some young Australians. One in four Australian children say they worry about the future constantly. On tonight's Four Corners program, some of them share their worries about the world, how they cope with peer pressure and their struggles with social media.

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MICHAEL VINCENT, REPORTER: In Australia, the experience of an enforced four-day working week is usually only offered to workers in struggling businesses.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER 1: Incat is Tasmania's largest private employer with more than 900 on the payroll. They're now fighting for their jobs with today's ultimatum to reduce hours or face redundancy.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Workers at Incat, the catamaran manufacturer, were told they'd have to choose between a four-day week or loss of 200 jobs. These examples go back decades.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER 2: Johnson's Tannery here at Mount Barker is among the three biggest leather manufacturers in Australia. But the current economic downturn which is hitting industry generally has forced the company to go on to a four-day week.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Now, the Greens are proposing that Australian workers have the right to tell their employers they will only work a four-day working week. If you believe the research, about a quarter of Australian workers actually want to work less. That's right. According to figures taken from the quaintly named HILDA, the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, about 23 per cent of Australian workers want to cut their hours.

BARBARA POCOCK, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA EMERITUS PROFESSOR: We have been moving in the wrong direction in recent decades, with a growing proportion of Australians working very long hours, and a lot of workers, especially women, or people with responsibilities for care of others, looking for shorter hours and flexibility.

MICHAEL VINCENT: In more recent times, the US state of Utah has been trialling a four-day working week for public servants. Those public servants have tried to cram their hours into those four days. But there was a public backlash because government services weren't open on Fridays. Since the turn of the century, France has also gone with a four-day working week for some of its workers, as a way of boosting employment.

SAUL ESLAKE, ECONOMIST: The French are good at many things, but economic management isn't one of them. Their economy has grown at barely more than 1 per cent per annum over the past seven years. That's less than Japan, for example. Their unemployment rate hasn't been below seven per cent since 1983. There isn't anything I can think of the French have done in the economic sphere that I would want to see emulated here in Australia.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Saul Eslake rejects any feel-good factor associated with working less.

SAUL ESLAKE: Well, it may make some feel good, but those who have lower incomes than they would like because they're working fewer hours than they would like, those businesses who are less profitable because of measures like this, and therefore employ fewer people, I don't think they would be happy as a result of a change along these lines. And there's no evidence to suggest that the French people think their economy is better managed.

MICHAEL VINCENT: But flexibility of employment is something that is gaining traction in Australia.

BARBARA POCOCK: I think many workers in Australia now are working quite extended hours, especially men. And we have a growing body of evidence which suggests it's not good for their mental or their physical health. And so I think a lot of workers intuitively know that. They want to spend more time looking after themselves, with their families and communities.

Reductions in working time are timely. We haven't had a serious reduction in working time in Australia for a very long time. We've got very flat wage growth, and people may well want to substitute having more time for the fact that they're not getting a pay rise.

SAUL ESLAKE: One of the growing concerns of people in employment is their inability to work as many hours as they are willing and available to work, which is, in turn, adversely affecting their incomes. What's been proposed here would just make that problem worse, and perhaps make it worse for more people.

MICHAEL VINCENT: The Greens have also called for a universal basic income. Everyone receives an unconditional sum of money, regardless of their circumstances.

CASSANDRA GOLDIE, ACOSS CEO: For us, we say this is a great debate for us to have. Our top priority, though, must be to lift the level of the basic income for people who really need it yesterday.

MICHAEL VINCENT: The Greens haven't costed it, but ACOSS estimates a raise in just jobless payments by $50 a week per week per person would cost the taxpayer about $2 billion a year.

CASSANDRA GOLDIE: But it would be the single most important measure to reduce the level of poverty in Australia. And, of course, I think we all agree that inequality is an increasing challenge for us. It's unacceptable that we've got people who are locked out of paid work, who cannot afford to eat, to cover the very basic costs, so I really welcome this debate. I think it helps for people across the community to think about how do we provide the security for people that for circumstances completely outside your control, you cannot get a job.

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Experts consider the future of the four day work week

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MICHAEL VINCENT, REPORTER: In Australia, the experience of an enforced four-day working week is usually only offered to workers in struggling businesses. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER 1: Incat is Tasmania's largest private employer with more than 900 on the payroll. They're now fighting for their jobs with today's ultimatum to reduce hours or face redundancy.

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How long do you expect to live for? 100 years? 200? Even 300? Well scientists say that despite our rapidly improving medical technology, humans still may not be able to live past 115 on average.

Playing lawn bowls, hanging with the grandkids or just whizzing around in the ol' gopher. While it might be a long while off, have you ever thought about what you'd be like as a senior citizen?

GIRL 1: When I'm older, I think I'm gonna be known as the cool grandma!

BOY 1: I'm probably going to be like frail and scrunched down and sitting in a wheelchair, wheeling around and stuff.

BOY 2: Probably like wrinkly and have grandkids and slow and not very active!

GIRL 2: I'm gonna dye my hair red and I wanna ride a hoverboard to work!

While scientists might not be able to predict if you'll be a super cool grandparent or if you'll dye your hair they DO reckon they've worked out the maximum age you'll get to. They say people now are generally living longer than any other time in history. For example, ten thousand years ago people only lived to about 30 years old.

100 years ago it was around 50 years old. And if you were born in the past few decades in a developed country like Australia your life expectancy is now around 80.

The age when people tend to, ah, kick the bucket, has changed over the years because of things like medicine better hygiene and nutrition. Also, we probably don't spend as much time around dangerous animals.

But while life expectancy is on the up and more people are living to a ripe old age, researchers say there's a limit to how long you can hope to live for. They've been studying supercentenarians around the world. That's people over 110 like Bessie who's 112!

And they've found the longest most humans will probably live for is 115 years. They say that's because our bodies eventually wear out no matter how healthy we are.

People have lived beyond 115 before. Jeanne Calment from France was 122 when she died in the 90s holding the record for the oldest person to have ever lived! But researchers say the chance of getting to that age is very small - around one in ten thousand. And while future medical research could help people beat serious diseases and extend their lives, once you hit 110 most people's bodies just pack up shop.

Scientists are still trying to discover a way to stop the body's natural ageing process. But until they find the secret to everlasting youth Bessie has some advice on living a long life. Just be a nice person!

BESSIE CAMM, OLDEST UK CITIZEN: I never had a quarrel with a soul in my life.

While you guys have other ideas:

BOY 1: I think the key to living a longer life would be getting rich and doing everything you want!

BOY 2: Don't smoke, don't drink too much and be active!

GIRL 1: Go on a holiday with your family and your friends and have a good time.

BOY 1: Always think positive and don't be scared to do things cause you only live once!

BOY 3: I think the key to living a long life is freezing yourself so you can survive longer!

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How long do you expect to live for? 100 years? 200? Even 300? Well scientists say that despite our rapidly improving medical technology, humans still may not be able to live past 115 on average. Playing lawn bowls, hanging with the grandkids or just whizzing around in the ol' gopher.

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JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: When Mojgan first came to Yeronga State High School, she was highly traumatised. She had been through some really horrific experiences in Iran; As deputy principal, I had a lot to do with Mojgan and I saw her just blossom and one of the most beautiful things that I got to see was, I got to see Mojgan fall in love.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Mojgan and Milad have done so much already, in terms of forming a life together, in Australia, calling this their home. The strength of their love and commitment for each other, in the middle of all this pain and suffering, is extraordinary.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: We had a feeling about each other, and we cannot find that in any other person. We were so happy before all these things happened.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: When Mojgan was taken back into immigration detention, we were shocked. So when she was released, that was just the most incredible day for us. However, there is still the shadow of uncertainty that hangs over Mojgan and Milad. She's still not truly free. The unknown is not a nice thing to live with.

(Radio interview voiceover)
MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: My name is Mojgan Shamsalipoor. I came to Australia in 2012 and I left from Iran to save my life. If I'm sent back, my government will kill me and they will arrest me and torture me and finally they will kill me.
(Voiceover ends)

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Mojgan's story, before she came to Australia, it is horrendous ah, what happened to her.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: Mojgan told me she was beaten by the stepfather and she was physically getting tortured by the stepfather. In the age of 15 Mojgan got raped by her stepfather.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: She said, when things got really bad, Mojgan went to a friend's house to seek help but the older brother of her friend was home. Mojgan said he attacked her and he raped her. That man, who raped her told the community that Mojgan had slept with him and it was consensual.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Mojgan told me she was accused by one of the family members, who had links to the Iranian government, of being immoral, which is a crime over there.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: So the step father went right... your name is mud ... we need to get you married. I've got a friend of mine who can marry you and that was a man in his late fifties and if you don't marry this man, you'll be cast out. Mojgan's mother actually said to her, 'Go! Just get out of the country!' She went to anybody and everybody that she could to get money to secure Mojgan's escape from Iran.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Mojgan and her brother then made this arduous trip from Iran to Indonesia and then by boat to Australia. Mojgan was seventeen at the time. She was detained in Christmas Island, then in Darwin, then in community detention in Brisbane, and then finally released on a bridging visa while her case for a protection visa was being processed by the department. Milad came by boat with his family under very difficult circumstances, from Iran, as well.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: I was a teenager when we left Iran and my dad was an anti-politic activist.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: He was involved in activities that were adverse to the Iranian authorities.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: It was a really tough and really dangerous and horrible journey I would say. Six days later, Australian Customs got us on-board and we did respect the law and we did stay in detention.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: He has been recognised after going through the visa protection assessment process as a refugee

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: We are working hard to make our little family business into a bigger kind of business so we can hire some people.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Although you can look at Mojgan and Milad and say, they're both people fled Iran, they fall into kind of very different categories when you talk about the reasons for why they left. Milad was a political asylum seeker whereas Mojgan's story is very personal.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Milad and Mojgan, met each other at a youth camp.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: And from that moment, I saw her eyes, I went, this is it. I couldn't talk. I was like 'Wow' this is like too much for me. At that time, I was doing my Grade 10.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Milad came to see me and said, Miss, I've got this friend, can she come to our high school? And when I met Mojgan, I felt that she'd be a really good fit for our school. I could see that she was very committed to education. That while she was clearly under stress and distressed, that she had a lot to give. It was a good year before Mojgan felt that she was able to come to school every day and have more good days than bad days. For Mojgan and Milad, over time, their love for each other became very much a stabilising effect, on them both. It grew in intensity and grew in strength. Mojgan started to grow in confidence. She performed at our multicultural day festival, she started to dance.

AMBER MOKO: She was like a whole new person, she was very positive, she was very bright. That's where you could see it that she developed the most, from crying every day to just being able to come to school with a smile on her face.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Milad and Mojgan had been together for about two years when they decided to get married.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: We were truly happy together. It was the best days of our life. My family, I would say, love Mojgan more than myself, even. They call her as their daughter which they never had.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: It was late 2014, when all of Mojgan's protection visa processes finished

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: The refugee tribunal decided that her case for asylum was not legitimate and that she could not be um, be settled in Australia as a person seeking asylum.

PROFESSOR ANDREAS SCHLOENHARD: The whole system of refugee protection is based on the fact that it is the State, it's the Government, official entities, that are persecuting individuals from whom they flee. So they flee from a war, they flee from discrimination, they flee from ah eh political suppression. Individualised violence by family members as in this case is one that was not envisaged when this protection system was created.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: At immigration department, she did not talk about her rape by the family member. The only person who knew at that time, it was myself.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: When you come from a culture where women don't ever speak about rape or sexual assault, it's not surprising that Mojgan didn't say, here's the nitty gritty details of what occurred with me.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: It was very clear when I read the decision that not being able to talk about her sexual abuse and rape did severely impact on her ability to satisfy a stranger, um, that um, she was owed protection by Australia.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: Later on, when we say that to immigration, they wanted some evidence. Well you cannot find an evidence where a family member rape you. There is no videotapes or anything of this.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: They told Mojgan that she needed to go back into detention in Brisbane and she was incarcerated in Brisbane immigration Transit Accommodation.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: It was the worst week of my life. I don't know how Mojgan could survive that moment, it was so hard for me to believe that this is actually happening.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: And it was just before the year twelve year started, so we had to campaign, as a school community and ask them if Mojgan could have permission to continue her education. Each day, in year twelve she was brought to school with a guard, on a bus, and sometimes she was searched when she came into school.

AMBER MOKO, FRIEND: I was shocked, I was like, how does this girl come to school every day with a smile on her face, and yet still face that situation at the end of the day. So I thought that was, that was remarkable.
E
DEN BOYD, SCHOOL FRIEND: it was really shocking to see her being watched all the time, you know, like she was an animal or something, you know, it's really strange.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: They kept her in Brisbane detention for eight months.

(ABC Radio interview)
ERIC TLOZEK, REPORTER: Mojgan Shamsalipoor had been living with her husband before being put back in detention.
MOGJAN SHAMSALIPOOR: It's very upsetting and hurtful because we're just young and we love each other and all our dream was for living together and make our life and be happy. I will kill myself before to go Iran. Dying peacefully is better than die with torture.
(Interview ends)

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: One day she called me ... she was very distressed, and she was saying, 'Miss, I don't know what's happening. The guards have said, there's no school today, we're not allowed to go to school today, and I'm really worried... I think something's going to happen'. The word got around that people were going to be transferred. Mojgan lodged an official complaint about the way she was treated.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Mojgan was dragged onto a vehicle, taken to the airport and flown to Darwin to Wickham Point Detention Centre.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: I particularly felt that I hadn't done enough, like, how could she be taken? Like how could...I couldn't stop it, so that was really distressing for our school community, and for me in particular because I, I felt so close to Mojgan, and I'd reassured her that she was safe here.

AMBER MOKO, FRIEND: It's very shocking, because she wasn't that far away from graduating, and we all thought that she was going to be part of it, and then when the news came, it was kind of hard to comprehend.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: We rallied our community; our P&C; our teachers, in support of Mojgan. We became very galvanised.
AMBER MOKO, FRIEND: it really opened my eyes to how a community can come together. So being able to experience that was very exciting for me. Very sad but it felt very empowering.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: At Wickham Point, people are given the option of either voluntarily going back to Iran or staying in indefinite detention. It was very clear when I visited her, that although she was putting on a brave face, she was constantly scared, scared of what might happen to her, scared of if she'll ever be together with Milad again.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: I tried to go and see her once a month, or two months. We went in, there is the guard in the corner, sitting, watching us the first thing they said, you cannot hug inside that facility, you cannot touch each other that much, you cannot kiss. And I hugged her and the guard was saying, you know, that's it, you know, that's it, and I couldn't stop hugging her.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: So she can't live with her husband, she can't start a family. Even in prison, people have conjugal visits that they can apply for. A person in immigration detention cannot.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: Where an Australian permanent resident is married to an overseas, national, they're allowed to sponsor them to remain in Australia as their family unit. Now you'd expect Milad to have the same rights, except there are provisions in the migration act which say that if anyone arrived by boat, then the only way in which they can apply for any visa in Australia, is by the minister's intervention. If the Minister does not intervene, the only possible way for her to lodge a valid partner visa would be to leave Australia and apply for a partner visa offshore. Mojgan was very clear through all this though, that she is never going back to Iran. Iran does not accept forced deportees from Australia.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Our Queensland Teachers Union paid for us teachers to fly to Darwin and to investigate how we can get her schooling complete.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: The conditions in Wickham in Darwin, she was just drained. The light had gone out of her face. She had dark circles under her eyes. She was very down and just, you know, felt like she had no hope I think. The conditions in Wickham Point are not pleasant. Mojgan has chronic kidney infections. It's really hard to leave her there, that you, that you, get to see her and spend time with her but you leave her there and that's always hard driving away.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: We then went about formulating a submission, explaining to the minister what a compelling and compassionate case this was.

PROFESSOR ANDREAS SCHLOENHARD: The Minister has the discretion and the power to grant visas on compassionate grounds. This is one of those cases where he could do that.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: Mojgan started to study again and she didn't care where she is. It didn't affect her studies, she still had A, Bs, you know, all those good marks and she just kept doing the hard work because she believed in her dreams. So, she finished high school. I got the graduation certificate and I actually framed it in my room so when she comes out, she can put it somewhere.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: So for the next around six months, we were in the dark, we had no idea what was happening with Mojgan's case. There were people on all sides of politics willing to speak up for Mojgan, and they did.

(Vision from Federal Parliament)
GRAHAM PERRETT: I rise to speak about a Yeronga High School Student who is not celebrating schoolies down at the Gold Coast. Instead she's in a detention facility in Darwin.
(ends)

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: In February, 2016, we got correspondence from the department of immigration to the effect that the minister's office had refused to intervene in Mojgan's case.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: That means more time in detention. I didn't tell to Mojgan and I was like, I couldn't say anything, and I just hanged up the phone.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: The way she was transferred back to Brisbane, is another escapade altogether. She was surrounded by guards the whole time. While she was disembarking the airplane, of course there was Milad waiting for her with a bunch of roses, ready to welcome her.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND (AT AIRPORT): Just feeling very excited.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: As she came through the gate, Milad stood up and the guards would not allow her to stop. Milad could see that they were going to walk past, so he stepped in front of her and hugged her.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: They took her away from me, from my hug, and they didn't allow her to have the flowers

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: We have complained to the Human Rights Commission on the basis that Mojgan's detention is arbitrary and indefinite. The Department has initiated a submission to the Minister's office for what we call a residency determination. And unfortunately it seems that the Minister has again refused and declined to intervene and make a residency determination.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: It is nothing to do with the policies, it is nothing to do with ah the government, it is just to do with two people who love each other so much and they want to live together.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Our school community certainly will not give up the fight for Mojgan to be free. We've been involved in actively campaigning for over a year now and we won't be stopping. We've heard that Mojgan is going to be released with a bridging visa, and then we've just heard, about 45 minutes ago, that she's signed the paperwork and she's going to be released today, and Milad and I are going to go and collect her.
As we were driving towards the detention centre, we were getting increasingly excited, excited, excited.

(Milad and Jessica talking in car)
MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: Cinemas, kissing, hugging and having more than two hours visit!
JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: And no guards watching!
(Conversation ends)

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: I could see outside, I could see people waiting for me, but they couldn't see me. I got goose bumps still, just.. it was unbelievable. When they opened the door and they said, you're free to go, I couldn't walk out. I was looking to my friends and the place and couldn't believe this. We walked out, I saw Milad. It was like a miracle, for two years I was waiting for that moment. Seeing Miss Walker and my teachers ... everything was different, the sky was different, the land was different, everything was different on that time for me. It was a great feeling.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: And that was beautiful - just being able to witness that.

(Conversation in car)
MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Where are we going?
MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: We are going to my home.
MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Your home? My home!
(Conversation ends)

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Milad's mum and dad, they're like my own parents ... they don't have a daughter, so they feel the same. They feel that I'm their daughter so, when I step out from the car, Milad called, 'Dad, Mojgan is here'.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: We were going, where's Milad's mother? And Mojgan just ran down to meet her.

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Seeing Milad's mum like that really brought me, seeing that she's broken, she was really broken.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Milad's mother couldn't believe that Mojgan was free. It's really hard to know what influenced the minister's decision. It's really hard to know why he has chosen now to exercise his ministerial powers and allow her to be free.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: We're going to cheer up to love between the family between the husband and the wife and also, last thing is "to freedom".

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Mojgan - look!

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: That's Kevin! Oh my God! I didn't know he's coming, but in the beach I saw him.

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: He's a really good human being. He really helped us, and he done a great job, and he's still working for us.

KEVIN KADIRGAMAR, LAWYER: The minister for immigration and border protection has finally exercised his discretionary non-compellable powers to grant Mojgan a bridging visa. Now a bridging visa entitles her to come outside of re-detention, thankfully reunite with her husband, get her life back together. While we welcome the decision, we do question however, that the minister has not gone far enough to grant her certainty over her future in Australia. Mojgan is still effectively in limbo.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Today is the first public event that Mojgan has been able to come to and speak out at. Some people have advised her not to go into the limelight and just live her life quietly and not draw any attention to herself, but Mojgan has always said that she wanted her story to be shared because there are so many who are in similar situations who don't have a voice and don't have community support.
(Mojgan at rally): Hello everyone, I am so grateful and pleased to be here.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: The crowd were overwhelmed. Here's this girl that and really felt should be back with us in our community, and here she is, here she is in our community again.

(Mojgan at rally): I also want to thank. You guys for this outstanding and amazing effort for all the refugees. Thank you very much and Milad.
JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: They've always been a very romantic couple. When you see them together, you can see that their love is just as strong, if not stronger than ever before. Education has always been incredibly important to Mojgan, and she was determined to complete her Year 12 studies.
MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Yeronga is not only a school for me, it's like a home for me because for one year that I was in detention, the only place that I attend from detention, and it gave me peace and I was so happy to be there.
JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: At our awards night, it was so awful that she couldn't be there and receive her graduation certificate and receive her award and so when she was released, immediately we were like, right, the time has come, she needs to be able to walk across that stage now and we need to be able to celebrate that with our school community, and she needs to have that experience.

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Today is the graduation night so I'm really happy and excited that I'm going and I'm going to attend the ceremony, it's really exciting, and I'm so happy.

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR (ON STAGE): So proud that I can be here and take my certificate. This was impossible for me, it was like a dream to stand here, but now it's possible, with Miss Walker and all the teachers and principal, thank you very much everyone.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: With Mojgan being released, she has a bridging visa - they only last for three months, so she's on her second bridging visa now, and when the next date comes up, we don't know if she'll get another bridging visa or not. They're living in the now and taking pleasure in every day that they have together.

MILAD JAFARI, HUSBAND: Everything is really enjoyable for us, at the moment. We are really planning on our future. I just dream of live freely and peacefully together, that's all I dream of. That's all.

MOJGAN SHAMSALIPOOR: Sometimes I forgot where I am, what happened to me, but when it's come back to me, I close my eyes for a second and I say, hopefully it's not a dream.

JESSICA WALKER, YERONGA SHS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: It's not the end of the journey because she's not free, you know, she's still not free, she's living in our community, but it's on borrowed time.

End captions

Caption 1
Mojgan Shamsalipoor's temporary bridging visa expires next week.

Caption 2
The Office of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's office has confirmed that because she has not been accepted as a refugee and will not have access to a permanent stay visa.

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Mojgan Shamsalipoor came to Australia in 2012, aged 17, after fleeing terrible abuse and trauma in her home country, Iran. A lot has changed since then. Mojgan has been released back into Brisbane's community on a bridging visa, but it will expire this month and her future remains uncertain.

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Peter Dutton: I was violated, beaten & tortured - please let me be free!

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Google Glass is a brand of smart glasses-an optical head-mounted display designed in the shape of a pair of eyeglasses. It was developed by X (previously Google X) with the mission of producing a ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displayed information in a smartphone-like, hands-free format. Wearers communicated with the Internet via natural language voice commands.

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How To Skip the Small Talk and Connect With Anyone | Kalina Silverman | TEDxWestminsterCollege

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An episode of beyond 2000 from 1987 taken from betamax. Commercials from this episode are in Volume 42 of my 80s commercial uploads.

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Beyond 2000 1993 full episode part 3 of 3

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I found this on one of my Dad's old VHS tapes. The parts I found interesting were the Kodak Photo CD & the early in car navigation

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Beyond 2000 1993 full episode part 1 of 3

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I found this on one of my Dad's old VHS tapes. The parts I found interesting were the Kodak Photo CD & the early in car navigation system. I have upploaded these videos for Educational/Historical purpuses, if the origonal owners want me to remove these videos, please let me know and I will remove them.

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Beyond 2000 1993 full episode part 2 of 3

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I found this on one of my Dad's old VHS tapes. The parts I found interesting were the Kodak Photo CD & the early in car navigation

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With the joint appearance (love-in/laugh-in) of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on CBS' "60 Minutes", we thought a little look-back would be in order. A look-back/mashup featuring the last time Mrs. Clinton was on the once-venerable news program...with another powerful politician - her husband. The year was 1992.

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Monday
Lesson 1 I-Lab, Padlet and E-Spins
Lesson 2 Textbook: Communication lesson

Tuesday
Lesson 1 - Textbook, new topic 'Then and Now
Lesson 2  - Authentic materials
Farewell to Graduating students (from Eve) and class photo.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday with David

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Self-guided excursion - Great opportunity this Wednesday evening

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Self-guided excursion - Great opportunity this Wednesday evening

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Topic: What has religion to do with Art?

A panel discussion on the role that religion plays in the making and understanding of art. This will be followed by the launch of Thomas Crow’s new book, No Idols: The Missing Theology of Art, published by the University of Sydney's Power Institute.

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Sydney Ideas is the University of Sydney's public events program, opening up our teaching and research to the whole community. Most of our events are free and we have something for everyone.

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On April 15, 1947-71 years ago-Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line and became the first African American to play on a major sports team. Here are 42 facts to celebrate the legendary athlete.

1. Jack "Jackie" Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. Shortly after his birth, his family moved and settled in Pasadena, California.

2. President Theodore Roosevelt, who died 25 days before Robinson was born, was the inspiration for his middle name.

3. He was the youngest of five children-Edgar, Frank, Matthew "Mack," and Willa Mae-and grew up in relative poverty in a well-off community in Pasadena.

4. Robinson attended John Muir High School, where he was placed on the Pomona Annual Baseball Tournament All-Star Team with fellow future Baseball Hall of Famers Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox and Bob Lemon of the Cleveland Indians.

5. He was also an accomplished tennis player, winning the junior boys singles championship in the Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament.

6. Jackie's brother Mack was an adept athlete and a splendid sprinter. He won a Silver Medal in the 200 meters behind Jesse Owens during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

7. In 1942, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to a segregated Army Cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas.

8. While in the Army, Robinson became friends with boxing champion Joe Louis when the heavyweight, who was stationed at Fort Riley at the time, used his celebrity to protest the delayed entry of black soldiers in an Office Candidate School (OCS). As a result, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1943.

9. After an incident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, military police arrested Robinson at the request of a duty officer, who later requested Robinson be court-martialed. At the time of the proceedings, Robinson was prohibited from being deployed overseas to the World War II battlefronts. He never saw combat during the war.

10. Robinson was acquitted and then assigned to Camp Breckinridge in Kentucky, where he worked as an Army athletics coach until he was given an honorable discharge in 1944. During his time at the camp, Robinson was encouraged to tryout for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro National League.

11. In 1945, Robinson signed a contract to play for the Kansas City Monarchs. He was paid $400 a month (about $5100 today) to play shortstop and eventually was placed in the Negro League All-Star Game that year.

12. Robinson married Rachel Islum-who he had met in 1941 during his senior year at UCLA-in 1946. They had their first son, Jackie Robinson Jr., that November. The Robinsons had two more children: a daughter, Sharon, and another son, David.

13. Robinson played Minor League Baseball for the Montreal Royals in 1946, until he was called up to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Major Leagues in 1947.

14. He made his Major League Baseball debut on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. He became the first African-American baseball player in Major League history.

15. He also won Rookie of the Year in 1947 with a batting average of .297, 175 hits, 12 home runs, and 48 runs batted in.

16. Jackie Robinson had a close friendship with Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians, who was the first African-American baseball player in the American League. The two men broke the color barrier in baseball in the same year and would talk to each other on the telephone to share their experiences with racism during the season.

17. Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese defended Robinson against violent and nasty racial slurs during his rookie season. Reese famously put his arm around him and said, "You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them," as a response to fans shouting racial slurs at Robinson.

18. On August 29, 1948, in a 12-7 win against the St. Louis Cardinals, Robinson "hit for the cycle" with a home run, a triple, a double, and then a single in the same game.

19. Robinson was the National League Batting and Stolen Bases Champion with a batting average of .342 and 37 stolen bases in 1949.

20. He was also a six time All-Star between the years 1949 to 1954.

21. In 1949, Robinson was called to testify before the United States House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He was subpoenaed because of comments made about him by prominent African-American actor Paul Robson. At first, Robinson was hesitant to testify, but then was ultimately compelled to do so because he feared not doing so would hurt his baseball career.

22. The National League's Most Valuable Player Award went to Robinson in 1949, after his first appearance in the MLB All-Star Game. Robinson later took his team to the World Series, but would lose against the New York Yankees.

23. Jackie Robinson played himself in The Jackie Robinson Story, a biopic about his life released in 1950. Academy Award-nominated female actor Ruby Dee played Robinson's wife Rachel "Rae" Isum Robinson.

24. During the off-season, Robinson went on a vaudeville and speaking tour of the South, where he would answer pre-set questions about his life. He actually made more money on these tours than he did on his contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

25. Robinson played in six World Series, but only won one in 1955 against the New York Yankees in a seven game series. Robinson didn't play in 49 games that season and missed Game 7; Don Hoak played third base in Robinson's place.

26. At 37, Robinson retired from Major League Baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 due to the visible effects of diabetes. Unbeknownst to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson took a position with the American coffee company Chock Full O' Nuts and agreed to quit baseball.

27. From 1957 to 1964, Jackie Robinson served as the vice president of personnel for Chock Full O' Nuts coffee. He was the first African-American vice president of a major American corporation.

28. Robinson was a political independent, but had very conservative views on the Vietnam War. He also supported Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election against John F. Kennedy, although Robinson admired Kennedy's stance on civil rights once he was elected. He was later dismayed with Republicans for not supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and soon after became a Democrat.

29. In 1962, Jackie Robinson was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility. He was the first African American inducted at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame and Museum.

30. Jackie Robinson was always seen as a large figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said Robinson was "a legend and symbol in his own time" who "challenged the dark skies of intolerance and frustration."

31. In 1964, Robinson co-founded the Freedom National Bank-a black owned and operated bank in Harlem, New York-with businessman Dunbar McLaurin. Robinson was the commercial bank's first Chairman of the Board. His wife later served as Chairman until 1990 when the bank closed.

32. Robinson was also the first African-American TV sports analyst. He broadcasted for ABC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts in 1965. Robinson later worked as a part-time commentator for the Montreal Expos in 1972.

33. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired Jackie Robinson's uniform number 42, as well as Sandy Koufax's number 32 and Roy Campanella's number 39.

34. Robinson died of a heart attack on October 24, 1972 in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

35. In 1973, Robinson's widow, Rachel, started the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a non-profit organization that gives college scholarships to minorities. The Foundation also preserves the legacy of Jackie Robinson as a baseball player and a civil rights pioneer.

36. The house in Brooklyn, New York, where Jackie Robinson lived while he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1976.

37. On March 1, 1981, American astronomer Schelte John "Bobby" Bus discovered an asteroid at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. Bus named the asteroid "4319 Jackierobinson," after his favorite baseball player.

38. President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Jackie Robinson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom-the highest award given to a civilian for their contributions to world peace, cultural, or other significant public or private endeavors-on March 26, 1984.

39. You won't see any baseball players wearing the number 42: In 1997, Robinson's number was retired throughout Major League Baseball. This was the first and only time a jersey number had been retired throughout an entire professional sports league.

40. In 1999, Robinson was added to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team along with Cal Ripken Jr., Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Ty Cobb. Fans chose the final selections from a list compiled of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century.

41. April 15, 2004, became Jackie Robinson Day and all uniformed players in Major League Baseball were required to wear number 42 on their jerseys to honor Robinson's memory and legacy to the sport.

42. More than 20 years after he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President George W. Bush also posthumously awarded Jackie Robinson with the Congressional Gold Medal-the highest honor the legislative branch can bestow on a civilian and must be co-sponsored by two-thirds of members in the House and the Senate-for his contributions to American history. He became the second baseball player to receive this accolade after Pittsburgh Pirates Right-Fielder Roberto Clemente in 1973.
An earlier version of this article appeared in 2013.

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7 Tips for Keeping Your Man (from the 1950s)

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On April 15, 1947-71 years ago-Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line and became the first African American to play on a major sports team. Here are 42 facts to celebrate the legendary athlete. 1. Jack "Jackie" Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia.

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Angel is a writer on the Original Content team at LittleThings. Check out her articles about crucial tips on female and doggie health. She loves to take long walks, volunteer with kids, try new food, browse through burger recipes, and code in her spare time. Feel free to let her know what you'd like to see her write up next.

It's so fascinating to learn about how people used to live - especially when we discover that not much has really changed.

However, sometimes you come across some old traditions that you simply can't believe people ever followed - like these odd dating rituals throughout history.

But what women in the 1950s were expected to do for their husbands? Well, those traditions have certainly flown right out the window!

In May of 1955, Housekeeping Monthly published an article entitled, "The Good Wife's Guide," detailing all the ways that a wife should act and how best she can be a partner to her husband and a mother to her children.

It may feel a little strange to accept these rules today, but it remains so interesting to see how society once behaved.

Scroll further to see what rules mothers and housewives once had to follow, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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This 1955 'Good House Wife's Guide' Explains How Wives Should Treat Their Husbands

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It's so fascinating to learn about how people used to live - especially when we discover that not much has really changed. However, sometimes you come across some old traditions that you simply can't believe people ever followed - like these odd dating rituals throughout history.

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Growing up in the mid-1980s and early '90s, one of my favourite TV shows was Beyond 2000. Back then, 2000 seemed so far away - a magical and futuristic time when technology would realise the stuff of sci-fi.

One 1992 episode really stuck out for me, which featured wearable tech. In the video, we see models showing off wearable CD-ROMS, giant keyboards and massive, awkward-looking arm plates.

Viewed on my thin and lightweight iPhone, this video is now hilarious.

Of course, the visionary behind these threads had the right idea - wearable tech is happening, but not quite as predicted. Unlike the huge, clunky devices shown in the Beyond 2000 episode, the 'tech' part of wearable tech now aims to remain hidden.

The first real applications of wearable tech were in the fashion industry. In 2009, Sony Ericson held a contest to design digital clothing. The winner was a dress that used Bluetooth technology to light up when the wearer received a call.

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More recently, Katy Perry wore costumes on-stage that used LED lights to change colour during her performance. In 2012, CuteCircuit, the company behind Katy's costumes, created the world's first dress to feature Tweets.

In 2016, the fashion side of wearable tech continues to flourish. You may remember the scarf that fends of paparazzi shots that we featured recently. And this month, a company called Aerochromics released a shirt that changes colour according to the amount of pollution in the air.

Aside from fashion, wearable tech is also exploring the way we see the world.

In 2012, Google announced Google Glass, the company's attempt to seamlessly integrate your smartphone with your eyes. Glass never really took off though, with many people dubbing users 'Glassholes', and others raising privacy concerns.

In early 2015, the tech giant stopped selling the device to the public, instead deciding to focus on its industry applications.

Today, two areas of wearable tech that are really thriving are smartwatches and activity trackers. Since 2013, companies such as Pebble, Motorola, Samsung and most recently Apple, have all entered the smartwatch market. And while Apple has been a little cagey about the Apple Watch's sales numbers, it seems that this part of the wearable industry will continue to expand.

Activity trackers monitor and record your fitness. In 2006, Nike and Apple created Nike+Pod, a device placed inside your shoe that tracked details such as distance run and calories burned. Since then, companies such as Fitbit, Garmin and Jawbone have all joined the party, creating an increasingly competitive market.

So where will wearable tech go from here? Having seen that Beyond 2000 clip, I think it's best I keep my predictions to myself, lest my future self look back and mock present-day me.

In the words of the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr: "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."

Hey there! This article was submitted by a Techly reader, just like you. If you'd like to see your work on the site, we'd love to read it.
If you've got any burning questions,you can shoot us a message.

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Hilarious 'Beyond 2000' clip reminds us about the difficulty of predicting the future

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Growing up in the mid-1980s and early '90s, one of my favourite TV shows was Beyond 2000. Back then, 2000 seemed so far away - a magical and futuristic time when technology would realise the stuff of sci-fi. One 1992 episode really stuck out for me, which featured wearable tech.

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An Introduction to the Art Gallery of NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

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An Introduction to the Art Gallery of NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

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Excursion option #1: Change class to evening

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Excursion option #1: Change class to evening

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This is at Darlinghurst Gallery 5.30pm-8.30pm

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Monday
Lesson 1 I-Lab, Padlet and E-Spins
Lesson 2 Pecha Kucha presentation

Tuesday
Lesson 1 - Textbook, new topic Art
Pecha Kucha presentation
Lesson 2  - Australian Story - Set in Stone
ABC Radio Listening

Homework: Finish vocabulary.
Optional reading: Set in Stone article.

Wednesday
Meet at Redfern at 8.20am Platform #5
Excursion #1 Art Gallery of NSW Aboriginal Art Exhibition
Guided Tour at 10.30am*
Would require students to leave by 11am to return to the school by 11.30am for Spin or to miss Spin class (I need to check with Denise regarding attendance)

Aboriginal art guided tour, 1 hour
An introduction to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection.

Gallery opens at 10am

Thursday and Friday with David.

Be ready for a quiz on the new vocabulary from 'Set in Stone' (on Tuesday)

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Australian Story is an acclaimed documentary series - 8pm Mondays on ABC.

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Week 3 - Art: Listening                                                              World Heritage Listing for major Aboriginal Art sites. Unique rock art. Western Australia

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Week 3 - Art: Listening                                                              World Heritage Listing for major Aboriginal Art sites. Unique rock art. Western Australia

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Barnett promises Burrup rock art will be nominated for World Heritage listing if he's re-elected

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The West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has promised the Aboriginal rock art carvings on the Burrup Peninsula would be nominated for World Heritage listing if he's re-elected. He says it will boost tourism and see the area better protected.

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Week 3 - Art Reading                                                                  Percy Trezise: One man's passion for Quinkan Rock Art helps preserve Aboriginal cultural history - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Week 3 - Art Reading                                                                  Percy Trezise: One man's passion for Quinkan Rock Art helps preserve Aboriginal cultural history - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Gun Control Debate Against Gun Control Pro Gun Control 2nd Amendment Gun Control Gun Control 2016 William Shatner Gun Control Gun Control Documentary Gun Control 2017 Gun vs Gun Gun Control Idiots Australia Gun Control Comedian NRA Gun Control Gun Control Arguments Gun Control Fox News Gun Control Pros and Cons Us Bills On Gun Control Hearings

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This is the official, best, most awesome site for all Hamish and Andy stuff. Google wouldn\'t lie.

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Art Month Sydney 2018 | Contemporary Art Festival

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Each March Art Month celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary art in Sydney by throwing open the gallery doors and presenting over 200 exhibitions and events.

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Art Month Sydney 2017 | Culture Scouts Walking Tours : Surry Hills Art Month Tour

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Art Month Sydney 2017 | Culture Scouts Walking Tours : Surry Hills Art Month Tour

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Art Month Sydney 2018 | Contemporary Art Festival

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Each March Art Month celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary art in Sydney by throwing open the gallery doors and presenting over 200 exhibitions and events.

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Art Month Sydney 2017 | Contemporary Art Festival

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Art Month Sydney 2017 | Contemporary Art Festival

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Art Month Sydney 2018 | Contemporary Art Festival

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Each March Art Month celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary art in Sydney by throwing open the gallery doors and presenting over 200 exhibitions and events.

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We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

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Welcome to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney | MCA Australia

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Located on Sydney Harbour, the MCA is Australia's home for contemporary art. Our cafe offers unrivalled harbour views. Free entry.

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Discover revered art in Sydney's leading art galleries. Check out the Art Gallery of NSW, the Museum of Contemporary Art & more for upcoming exhibitions and events.

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Commercial art galleries are run for profit rather than public interest, but some of Sydney's best seem made for art lovers, with thoughtfully curated exhibitions that are free, in gallery spaces that are conducive to leisurely browsing. Like what you see? Bonus: you can probably buy it.

Key commercial galleries in Sydney

Like your art public?

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Commercial art galleries are run for profit rather than public interest, but some of Sydney's best seem made for art lovers, with thoughtfully curated exhibitions that are free, in gallery spaces that are conducive to leisurely browsing. Like what you see? Bonus: you can probably buy it.

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TED Explained - Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? - English Editing Blog

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TED Explained - Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? - English Editing Blog

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As we grow up, do we lose our imagination and creativity? Why? Does the education system strip us of our originality and individuality? Does this society condemn mistakes? Does our education put us under the pressure to reach a certain ideal? In this TED talk, Sir Ken Robinson discusses how human creativity is being suffocated by education systems and societal expectations. He explains that because our society stigmatizes mistakes, we become less willing and less able to produce original content, in fear of failure and nonacceptance. To view the transcript of Sir Ken Robinson's talk, please click here.
TED Explained:

'Good morning. How are you? It's been great, hasn't it? I've been blown away by the whole thing. In fact, I'm leaving.'

1. "Blown away" is an idiom, which means it is not to be interpreted in the literal sense. (i.e. someone literally being blown away by the wind!) Rather, it means "To cause someone great pleasure or surprise; To greatly impress someone". It is always used positively. For example: I was blown away by the performance! It was so interesting and funny, I really loved it.

"The second is, that it's put us in a place where we have no idea what's going to happen, in terms of the future, no idea how this may play out."

2. "Play Out" is a phrase. This phrase is used on processes and how they develop, turnout, unfold, take place etc. For example: I wonder how this business meeting will play out... I'm not sure if they'll agree with our proposal.

'But if you are, and you say to somebody, you know, they say, "What do you do," and you say you work in education, you can see the blood run from their face. They're like, "Oh my god," you know, "why me?"'

3. "To see the blood run from someone's face"is an idiom. This idiom is used to convey negative feelings, eg. fear, embarrassment, shock, or dislike etc. As you can imagine, when a person feels the above emotions, the blood runs from their face, and their face turns pale. For example: When Peter was told he had been fired, the blood ran from his face. He was shocked.

(Other variations of this idiom include: the colour drained from his face/ the blood drained from his face.)

'All kids have tremendous talents and we squander them (talents), pretty ruthlessly.'

4. "Squander" is a verb. It means to waste something foolishly (usually money). For example: He squandered all of his money on beer and gambling. OR You should never squander your money. Instead, save it up and spend it carefully and wisely.

'And we run our companies like this, by the way, we stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.'

5. This verb comes from the noun "stigma", which is defined as "a social disgrace". In other words, something that society considers to be bad or have a bad reputation, or leaves a bad mark. It goes without saying that this word is used negatively. For example: Ex-prisoners always feel stigmatized when trying to return to normal society.

-
Give me more! TED Explained - Jay Walker: The World's English Learning Mania TED Explained - Appollo Robbins: The Art of Misdirection TED Explained - Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

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TED Explained - Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? - English Editing Blog

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As we grow up, do we lose our imagination and creativity? Why? Does the education system strip us of our originality and individuality? Does this society condemn mistakes? Does our education put us under the pressure to reach a certain ideal?

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Listening task. Choose a TED talk, take detailed notes while listening.
Check your notes against the transcript.

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We need to teach children about the importance of connection, heart and compassionate listening and put these things at the center of all our relationships, says author, educator and consultant Lael Stone.

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We need to teach children about the importance of connection, heart and compassionate listening and put these things at the center of all our relationships, says author, educator and consultant Lael Stone.

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Media Release 'Under the Sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker'

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Media Release 'Under the Sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker'

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Watch your favourite TV shows from Channel TEN, ELEVEN and ONE on demand, plus much more on tenplay!

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Includes 60 minutes documentary and
'House Husbands' Australian Drama

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Catch Up on Channel 9 and watch all TV shows and episodes online. Recent popular programs include Married at First Sight, The Voice Australia, The Big Bang Theory, Travel Guides and Britain's Got Talent.

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Includes Serious documentaries: Australian Story; 60 minutes; Four Corners

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Catch up with all your favourite ABC TV programs on ABC iview for free. Watch the best of ABC TV shows, documentaries, exclusive programs & more on iview.

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Each month, Jordan Know Moore, the filmmaker for The Minimalists, selects a topic from our podcast and "unpacks" it in our new YouTube series, Unpacking Minimalism. In the series's third episode, "The Joy," we challenge the common conceptions of happiness and joy with YouTuber Sorelle Amore and others.

You can also visit our YouTube Channel to watch the second episode of Unpacking Minimalism, " The Car," where we explored America's obsession with car culture.

Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

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Each month, Jordan Know Moore, the filmmaker for The Minimalists, selects a topic from our podcast and "unpacks" it in our new YouTube series, Unpacking Minimalism . In the series's third episode, "The Joy," we challenge the common conceptions of happiness and joy with YouTuber Sorelle Amore and others.

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Under the sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker | State Library of NSW

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Under the sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker | State Library of NSW

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Under the sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker

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This exhibition showcases new works by 15 of Australia's most stimulating artists. Using a variety of artistic mediums, these artists will intrigue audiences with diverse perceptions of Australian culture today. Under the sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker explores an iconic image, with artists responding to the question: is there something new under the sun?

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Optional reading - how much would a stay-at-home mum's services cost to the family if they were outsourced?

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Optional reading - how much would a stay-at-home mum's services cost to the family if they were outsourced?

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We know the stay at home parent also becomes chief cook and cleaner, so what would it actually cost to outsource all that they do?

We've all seen the memes and the 'job' advertisement illustrating if the position of stay at home parent was advertised as is, including the lack of pay, no one would apply. But should something happen to the stay at home parent and all their jobs had to outsourced, just how much is that likely to cost? We asked a mum at home on maternity leave to record what she does over a week and then calculated how much it would cost to pay someone to do all that she does.
LISTEN: Raising children is challenging and isolating (to say the least!) and can be a massive adjustment. We chat to psychologist, Belinda Williams about her approach to helping new mums adjust to mum life, and why admitting that you're not coping can be So. Hard. To. Do. Article continues after audio.
Meet Linda

Linda is Mum to three boys - the youngest being six-month-old Jaxon, then there is Harry in the middle, who goes to day care twice a week for half a day at three years of age. Her eldest, Sam, has just started pre-primary school, five days a week. Her husband, Tom, is the hands on type, but long works hours often mean he's home just in time for dinner (his that is: the boys eat early!) so he lends a hand on the weekends and with bed and bath time.

Monday

'Work' starts with a 5:30am start and breakky shift for the older boys. Lunches are premade and popped in the freezer with a piece of fruit added by Sam before school each day. Mondays are walk to school day, as Harry doesn't have day-care and there is plenty of extra time.

Back at the ranch, clean up time begins - there is the vacuuming, the mysteriously large pile of laundry that springs up between Saturday morning's final load and today. Breakfast is cleared away and dinner popped in the slow cooker. Hanging out the first load is followed by putting the boys down for a nap, then the mop comes out so the floor has time to dry while the boys are tucked up in bed, and the bathroom is given the full-scale cleaning treatment.

The afternoon involves making and cleaning up from lunch, walking to school via the park for an afternoon play and helping the boys tidy up their toys before dinner. Tom takes care of bath and bed time stories while the dishes are done and put away.
The tally:

Cleaning: 1.5 hours

Cooking: .5 hours

Day-care: 2 full days

Tuesday

Tuesday starts much as Monday does, with one difference - Harry is off to day-care today, so we do drop off in the car. After Jaxon's morning nap, it's back into the car and off to do the food shopping. After lunch, Jaxon is back down for a nap, and I make a few big pots of pasta sauces, stews and mashed potatoes to be eaten during the week. Then it's off to day-care and school pickup - tonight brings more after-dinner dishes.
The tally:

Shopping: 1 hour

Cooking: 2 hours

Cleaning: .5 hours

Day-care: one full day at childcare facility.

Image: iStock
Wednesday

Today's an easier run, but the washing is starting to pile up again, so the day is dotted with changing over loads, hanging it on the line and bringing it in to fold and put away. Cleaning wise, it's dusting day, and as the bins go out tonight, all the inside bins get an empty and a wash. Freezer meals take care of dinner, and Tom is home earlier than usual, so he does the dishes.
The tally:

Cleaning and washing: 2.5 hours.

Day-care: 2 full days at childcare facility.

Thursday

Another day-care day today, after breakfast, the school run and cleaning duties (the bathroom's grotty again and there's a load to put away), it's time to put Jaxon down and get the accounts done. The bills are paid and filed, and the statements are checked to make sure everything is as it should be. The next 'shift' is school pick up and prepping dinner, then dishes before heading off to bed.
The tally

Cleaning and washing: 1 hour.

Personal assistant/ accounts duties: 0.5 hours.

Cooking: .5 hours.

Day-care: one full day at childcare facility.

Friday

Fridays are easy days - after the school run, there's a trip to the supermarket for weekend supplies, and a picnic in the park with a few loads of washing and a dust before school pick up. Hubby is home early, so we have a BBQ dinner, meaning a few dishes before chilling out with a family movie.
The tally

Shopping: 1 hour

Cleaning: 1 hour

Day-care: 2 full days at childcare facility.

The weekend

Making the most of having a 'colleague', the chores and keeping the boys entertained is split between two. The lawns are mowed, and the house gets a once over. Approximately 5,000 snacks, sandwiches and meals are produced. Which may or may not be an exaggeration!
The tally

Gardening: 1.5 hours

Cleaning: 1.5 hours

Cooking: 2 hours.

Day care: 5 hours required while other jobs are done, this would have to be a nanny as day care is closed.

The cost to cover the bare basics?

Based on average costs, we've tallied up what it would cost just to cover the above - and this would fail to factor in the working parent's loss of income should the kids fall sick when all their paid leave is used up, or school holiday cover - or just the reality of how much busier life can be from time to time.

Cleaning: 8 hours - $264 per week.

Cooking: approx. 5 hours: per week.

Day-care: 8 full days at childcare facility (this does not include time the boys already attend): per week.

Gardening (based on mowing being required three weekly.): 1.5 hours:

Weekend supervision while chores, shopping and personal assistant/ accounts duties are completed: 2.5 hours (based on hiring a babysitter to get these and other small jobs done): $180 per week.

Total cost per week: $1855.50
It can literally pay to keep atay at home parents covered

When you look at the above, you realise if anything happens to you, you'll need to find a lot of extra cash.

Life and Trauma or Critical Illness Policies usually pay a lump sum, and how you use the funds from a Critical Illness insurance claim is entirely up to you. Creator of personal finance community, Women with Cents and mum of two, Natasha Janssens says in theory, the money from this insurance is there to help you with paying out of pocket costs of medical treatment.

"It is also there to help you cover costs such as getting help around the home - depending on your circumstances this may come in the form of having to hire a housekeeper or a nanny, or it may mean that your spouse has to take extended time off work to tend to you and does not have sufficient paid leave," she says, adding that because they are not the ones who are sick they would not qualify for an income protection claim.

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What is a stay at home parent really worth?

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We know the stay at home parent also becomes chief cook and cleaner, so what would it actually cost to outsource all that they do? We've all seen the memes and the 'job' advertisement illustrating if the position of stay at home parent was advertised as is, including the lack of pay, no one would apply.

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'You can leave when you die': Witness details death threats in Ron Medich murder trial

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'You can leave when you die': Witness details death threats in Ron Medich murder trial

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Details about the Trial, King St Court 3 today. Thank you Ulrick

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THE property tycoon Ron Medich has had criminal charges against him upgraded to murder.

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Reading - creative workplace conditions to attract staff

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Reading - creative workplace conditions to attract staff

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A gaming company in New Zealand is luring employees from around the world by offering unlimited paid annual leave, a share in the company's profits and no set work hours.

Dean Hall became famous in international gaming circles for being the lead designer on the popular zombie apocalypse video game DayZ.

After searching the world for a location for his new gaming studio, Rocketwerkz, New Zealander Hall settled on the small university town of Dunedin on the south island's east coast, where property is cheap and creative start-ups have become a core part of the city's identity.

Rocketwerkz's flexible work culture - which includes unlimited leave, a share in the company's profits and Hall's salary capped at 10% above his highest-paid employee - is now drawing talent from around the globe, with Hall receiving 300 Facebook messages of inquiry since a local newspaper wrote about his unorthodox office last week.

Last year, when the company was still in its infancy, kittens would also make a regular appearance in the office as a form of combating stress, and Friday afternoons are generally reserved for sports and games to end the week on a playful note.

"The first time I heard about the idea of unlimited paid leave in places like Silicon Valley it was about the problems it caused, that a culture had sprung up where employees took no leave," said Hall, a former air force officer for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

"So to address that our staff are issued the standard New Zealand annual leave of four weeks, but they can also take unlimited leave in addition to that. My time in the army actually influenced my ideas around this, where people are your greatest asset."

Hall's company, whose headquarters are situated in the industrial wharf area of Otago Harbour, wedged between a brewery and salt-stained fishing trawlers, currently employs 40 staff, though Hall projects his team will grow to 100 by the year's end, with the ambition to make New Zealand's nascent gaming industry as big as its now flourishing film industry.

The youthful CEO argues that despite his work culture sounding like a quick route to missed deadlines and empty desks, it is designed to give employees the autonomy they need to manage their personal lives, whether that entails going to the bank or health appointments during work hours, or staying home to mend a rocky relationship or grieve for a dead pet.

"By giving our staff unlimited time to sort out any issues with their homes or personal lives, it means when they do come to work their mind is unburdened and they're ready to focus," says Hall.

"And by having the freedom to deal with the life stuff, which can frankly be complicated, they begin to associate work as an enjoyable place to be, where they perform at their best and have the freedom to be completely creative."

Emily Lampitt, from Britain, is a 3D junior artist who has been with the company for a year and half.

She says the flexible work culture was a huge factor in her decision to move to the bottom of New Zealand, and she has used it to visit family at short notice, or take long weekends by leaving early on Friday's.

"The flexibility here has made me feel much more relaxed, and it really has made my life easier," she says.

"That internal-stress I used to feel in a traditional hierarchical work environment has gone, so when I am at work now it is because I want to be, because I am passionate, not because I am afraid of my boss or watching the clock."

This month opposition leader Andrew Little visited Dunedin and said if Labour was elected to government in the September elections it would invest $10m in the Dunedin gaming industry, with the goal of eventually making it a $1bn industry.

Topics

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New Zealand startup offers unlimited holiday and profit share to attract workers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A gaming company in New Zealand is luring employees from around the world by offering unlimited paid annual leave, a share in the company's profits and no set work hours. Dean Hall became famous in international gaming circles for being the lead designer on the popular zombie apocalypse video game DayZ.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A gaming company in New Zealand is luring employees from around the world by offering unlimited paid annual leave, a share in the company's profits and no set work hours.

Dean Hall became famous in international gaming circles for being the lead designer on the popular zombie apocalypse video game DayZ.

After searching the world for a location for his new gaming studio, Rocketwerkz, New Zealander Hall settled on the small university town of Dunedin on the south island's east coast, where property is cheap and creative start-ups have become a core part of the city's identity.

Rocketwerkz's flexible work culture - which includes unlimited leave, a share in the company's profits and Hall's salary capped at 10% above his highest-paid employee - is now drawing talent from around the globe, with Hall receiving 300 Facebook messages of inquiry since a local newspaper wrote about his unorthodox office last week.

Last year, when the company was still in its infancy, kittens would also make a regular appearance in the office as a form of combating stress, and Friday afternoons are generally reserved for sports and games to end the week on a playful note.

"The first time I heard about the idea of unlimited paid leave in places like Silicon Valley it was about the problems it caused, that a culture had sprung up where employees took no leave," said Hall, a former air force officer for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

"So to address that our staff are issued the standard New Zealand annual leave of four weeks, but they can also take unlimited leave in addition to that. My time in the army actually influenced my ideas around this, where people are your greatest asset."

Hall's company, whose headquarters are situated in the industrial wharf area of Otago Harbour, wedged between a brewery and salt-stained fishing trawlers, currently employs 40 staff, though Hall projects his team will grow to 100 by the year's end, with the ambition to make New Zealand's nascent gaming industry as big as its now flourishing film industry.

The youthful CEO argues that despite his work culture sounding like a quick route to missed deadlines and empty desks, it is designed to give employees the autonomy they need to manage their personal lives, whether that entails going to the bank or health appointments during work hours, or staying home to mend a rocky relationship or grieve for a dead pet.

"By giving our staff unlimited time to sort out any issues with their homes or personal lives, it means when they do come to work their mind is unburdened and they're ready to focus," says Hall.

"And by having the freedom to deal with the life stuff, which can frankly be complicated, they begin to associate work as an enjoyable place to be, where they perform at their best and have the freedom to be completely creative."

Emily Lampitt, from Britain, is a 3D junior artist who has been with the company for a year and half.

She says the flexible work culture was a huge factor in her decision to move to the bottom of New Zealand, and she has used it to visit family at short notice, or take long weekends by leaving early on Friday's.

"The flexibility here has made me feel much more relaxed, and it really has made my life easier," she says.

"That internal-stress I used to feel in a traditional hierarchical work environment has gone, so when I am at work now it is because I want to be, because I am passionate, not because I am afraid of my boss or watching the clock."

This month opposition leader Andrew Little visited Dunedin and said if Labour was elected to government in the September elections it would invest $10m in the Dunedin gaming industry, with the goal of eventually making it a $1bn industry.

Topics

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New Zealand startup offers unlimited holiday and profit share to attract workers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A gaming company in New Zealand is luring employees from around the world by offering unlimited paid annual leave, a share in the company's profits and no set work hours. Dean Hall became famous in international gaming circles for being the lead designer on the popular zombie apocalypse video game DayZ.

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Photo Supplied: Pexels/Ruslan Burlaka

Do you get to work early, stay back late, or put in extra hours at home?

The cost of overtime:

The average full-time worker loses $10,000 a year in lost income

The average part-time worker loses $7,500 a year in lost income

Experts say too much work risks health, mental health and family life

The news ATO employees lashed out over a request they work an extra nine minutes a day has reignited the discussion about unpaid overtime.

Jim Stanford from the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute said he was confident the typical ATO staffer worked a lot more than just nine minutes of overtime a day.

"If workers started tallying up every single minute, I think the onus would be on the other side," he told the ABC.

The ATO workers doing unpaid overtime are not alone.

"Across the economy, we found about $116 billion worth of labour time each year is uncompensated," Dr Stanford said.

Every year, the institute's Centre for Future Work surveys Australian workers to find out how much unpaid extra work they are doing.

It's a familiar scene in many workplaces: taking a lunch break no longer means leaving your desk.

The 2016 survey found that full-time workers were on average performing more than five hours a week in unpaid overtime, including staying back late, working through breaks, taking work home and answering email out of hours.

The financial consequences of this are significant. Dr Stanford said the average full-time worker loses $10,000 a year in lost income, while the average part-time worker loses $7,500.

The Fair Work Act sets full-time work at 38 hours a week, plus reasonable extra hours, but "the problem is, there are not many people working 38 hours per week," according to Andrew Stewart from the University of Adelaide.

Workplace culture drives up unpaid overtime

It is part of a long-working-hours culture in Australia, Professor Stewart said, adding "Australians are among the world's hardest workers".

The irony is Australia led the way in restricting working hours, with Victoria introducing the first limit - set at 48 hours - in the 1850s.

The problem is not always caused by businesses pressuring workers to do too much - it can be about overinvested workers, Professor Stewart said, pointing to academics such as himself as a prime example.

However, many employees "do a little bit extra to keep the boss happy, and then hopefully secure your employment situation," Dr Stanford said.

He described the employment market as "brutally competitive" and desperate, with employers knowing they had the upper hand.

"Employers now expect unpaid overtime. It has become part of the landscape of work in Australia," he said.

"Younger workers internalise the idea that working for free is just part of it. That mindset is very disempowering and very dangerous."

The danger is to health, mental health and family life, both experts said.

"This becomes a problem for the economy and for productivity," Professor Stanford added.

Photo Australia has a long-working-hour culture that can be driven by overinvested workers, Professor Stewart said.
Supplied: Pexels

Some are overworked, others are underemployed

Dr Stanford said the situation was worsened by a lopsided workforce.

"The irony is, you've got a polarisation of working hours - permanent full-time workers who work too much and would prefer to work less, and another group of part-time and casual workers who are desperate for more hours," Dr Stanford said.

"You would think the obvious way to connect those dots would be to put a minimum on excess work."

Professor Stewart agreed, saying it would be one simple solution to Australia's underemployment situation.

Know your rights

Photo Experts say working for free is a danger to health, mental health and family life.
Supplied: Pexels/Time Gouw

Legally, the situation is complicated by the difference between salaried workers, who are paid a set amount for a set number of hours, and waged workers who are paid per hour.

"One is a social problem, the other is a legal problem," Professor Stewart said.

"If you are on a wage and you are not being paid for the hours you work, then you are being ripped off.

"That is a simple matter of enforcement of employment law."

But if a salaried worker is being encouraged to work extra then "there are laws, but they have rarely been tested out," Professor Stewart said.

He said enforcement was helped by media scrutiny, workers sharing information on social media, and a properly funded enforcement agency.

Dr Stanford said there had to be cultural change in the way Australians looked at work and leisure.

"I would like to hope that employers will adopt a more enlightened position, instead of seeing labour as just a resource to be drained as cheaply as possible," he said.

"Employers need to recognise that workers have lives, that workers have families that depend on them.

"We have to show that leisure time is not free."

Dr Stanford said it was in an employer's interest to make sure their employees were not overworked because well-rested people were ultimately more productive.

A spokesperson from the Fair Work Ombudsman said it was important that both employers and employees were aware of their obligations, rights and entitlements when it came to overtime work.
Any worker who has concerns about their rights and entitlements in relation to overtime work can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.

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Workplace culture driving unpaid rampant overtime in Australia, experts say

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Do you get to work early, stay back late, or put in extra hours at home? The average full-time worker loses $10,000 a year in lost income The average part-time worker loses $7,500 a year in lost income Experts say too much work risks health, mental health and family life The news ATO employees lashed out over a request they work an extra nine minutes a day has reignited the discussion about unpaid overtime.

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1. Who’s Who in court?
Homework prior to excursion

1. What does a bench clerk do?

2. What does the magistrate do?

3. What does the registrar of the court do?

4. Who is on the jury?

5. Explain the following terms:

6. a hearing
directions
trial
subpoena

Case notes

1. Name the case/s:_______________________________

Time:_________________  Court:________________________________

2. Is it a hearing/ directions / trial / subpoena?

3. Before seeing the case what do you think the case is about?

4. Were you able to find any information in the media about the case?

5. Who is the plaintiff?

6. Who is the defendant?

7. Is the lawyer a solicitor or a barrister?

8. Who is the judge?

9. What do you notice about the clothing of the people in the court?

10. Write a brief (300-500 word) report about the case to share with your classmates.

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Information about subpoenas for early production.

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Who's who in court in a criminal trial by jury

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The 'Upstairs Downstairs' of legal dramas follows Josephine Newton as she juggles the high-powered barrister's world of Knox Chambers & the haphazard legal tangles of her former solicitor's office. CAST: Claudia Karvan

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1. Open the Internet Browser

2. Click Tools (or "gear" icon at top right hand corner) > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced

3. Check Override automatic cookie handling

4. For First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies click Accept

5. Click OK and OK

Enabling Cookies in Internet Explorer 10, 11

1. Open the Internet Browser

2. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.

3. Click the Privacy tab, and then, under Settings, move the slider to the bottom to allow all cookies, and then click OK.

Enabling Cookies in Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome browser

2. Click Tools icon Or type in Go to chrome://settings/ to the URL window, hit enter

3. Click 'Advanced settings' > Select Privacy > Content settings

4. Check 'Allow local data to be set (recommended)'

5. Click 'Done'

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Open the Internet Browser Click Tools (or "gear" icon at top right hand corner) > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced Check Override automatic cookie handling For First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies click Accept Click OK and OK Enabling Cookies in Internet Explorer 10, 11 Open the Internet Browser Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.

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Jamila Rizvi has been married to her husband for two years, and together for four. But she doesn't know his phone number.
This article originally appeared on News.com.au and has been republished here with permission. Picture: Stocksy
I don't know my husband's phone number.

We've been married for two years and together for four. We sleep in the same bed every night, we have joint bank accounts, we have a child together for goodness sake and I don't know his phone number.

I'm embarrassed to admit that out loud but I don't actually intend to do anything about it. I'm not going to waste precious memory space by storing away 10 digits that I don't need to. I've got a smart phone for that.

As far as millenials go, I'm a pretty old one. I only make the generational cut by a couple of years. I didn't grow up with touchscreens and I remember the prehistoric lives we all led before the invention of Google. But still, I've never had a romantic relationship where both parties weren't in possession of a mobile phone.

We tend to think about smart phones as devices for communication. The truth is that they're primarily an extension of our memories. My phone stores a ton of information. From my bank account details, to the maps, which help me to get where I'm going, to photographic records of my favourite people. And since I'm never without my phone, why would I need to remember all that stuff in my head?

An extension of self

At brunch with girlfriends, my phone sits on the table rather than in my handbag. It is face down and set on silent; it's a pathetic attempt to be 'polite'. When I get up from the living room floor where I've been playing with my son, I take the phone with me to the kitchen.

Why exactly, I'm not quite sure. I might need it, I reason to myself.
I've been trying to sleep with the phone charging in the bathroom rather than beside my bed. I can still hear it ping during the night though and I can't stand it. Can't stand to lie in bed knowing there is some stimulation, some new information, some interaction there that I haven't accessed yet.

I can't wait because I'm addicted.

I probably pay more attention to my phone than I do to my husband most days. Don't feel too sorry for him though because he pays more attention to his phone than he does me. Such is the stuff of love in 2017.

How we're doping on phones

Author, Simon Sinek says our obsessive reliance on smartphones is because they provide a dopamine hit for the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. Its release is closely connected to the motivation-reward parts of the brain, as well as the stimulation of pleasure and pain responses.

Dopamine is triggered when we get a nice text message or clear another line on Candy Crush or receive another like on our Instagram photo. This makes us feel good about ourselves. We're excited by the arrival of good news. We're proud that somebody loves and has validated our existence. We feel a sense of achievement and we want more.

Our smart phones provide infinite possible dopamine triggering actions. So much so that the mere electronic pinging of a phone creates a happy buzz of anticipation. The very possibility of what that smart phone noise represents is enough to trigger that dopamine hit. No wonder I can't go to the kitchen without it.

I like to tell myself that phone addiction isn't so bad. After all, the only reason I want it near me all the time is because it's my connection to the world, to the people in my world.

Except that's not really true. My phone inhibits relationships far more than it enables them. It creates a reality where my mind is always on the people not present, rather than the ones who are.

A pull from the present

I am at dinner with my husband - a rare baby-free night out just the two of us - and my mind wanders. I receive a text from sister, an email from a client and a Whats App message from my mother's group. Each communication draws my attention away from the man sitting opposite me, shifting it elsewhere.

There's a reason we all love 'getting away' during the holidays. Yes, it's nice to visit beautiful places and enjoy a change of scenery. But far more importantly, a holiday lifts us from our ordinary environment and forces us to refocus on what is immediately in front of us.

On holiday we leave behind the hassles of work and groceries and childcare pick-ups and did you remember to put the recycle bin out? It's what allows us to genuinely relax, thinking only about the people and places and purposes right in front of our eyes.

Smartphones are killing our annual holidays but also our micro-holidays. The breaks we should be taking each day, to connect with the people we've chosen to share our lives with, are being hijacked.

We don't switch off. We don't recharge. We don't shut-out the world and escape anymore.

Is there another way?

My dad is a baby boomer and he uses a smart phone but has a more sensible relationship with it than me. On Christmas Day, his phone decided to end its life. I was horrified, knowing several public holidays lay ahead and that dad would have to go at least 24 hours without it.

One week later, I noticed that dad still hadn't bothered to get a replacement phone. There was too much fun going on with holidays and family and delicious food. He didn't want to miss out on the best parts of life by wasting time in a queue for a shitty piece of technology. This is his favourite time of year.

Why would he need a new phone so urgently anyway? He and my mum have been married for almost thirty years ... He knows her number by heart.
Jamila Rizvi is a writer, presenter and news.com.au columnist. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Is your mobile phone obsession ruining your relationship?

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Jamila Rizvi has been married to her husband for two years, and together for four. But she doesn't know his phone number. This article originally appeared on News.com.au and has been republished here with permission. Picture: Stocksy I don't know my husband's phone number. We've been married for two years and together for four.

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EF Sydney, Sydney, Australia. 11,967 likes · 29 talking about this. Welcome to the official Facebook Page of EF Sydney!EF Sydney is situated in the heart of the city boasting breathtaking views of...

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Monday night: Travel Talk EF Student Lounge
or Trivia Night at The Chippo Hotel
or
Free Public Lectures at The University of Sydney

Tuesday night: Contrabando Taco night $3 for the best Tacos in town.
Remember to book a table online as this night gets very busy!

Wednesday night: Art Gallery of NSW
Free curator talks
or
EF Sunset at Mrs Macquarie's Chair

Thursday :
Sealife Aquarium
or
The Ivy. EF Free entry and drink on arrival
*See activities desk

Friday: Beach Volly Ball
Weekends
Saturday - Kangaroo Day
Sunday - Shelly Beach Sunset - Manly

Other ideas
Explore Sydney
Taronga Zoo
Cronulla Beach

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Top 10 Restaurants near Redfern New South Wales 2016 - Yelp

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Top Restaurants in Redfern New South Wales 2016 - Three Williams, Suzuya, Hale & Hearty, Kepos & Co, Dove & Olive, Doraji, Hunter & Barrel, Farmhouse Kings Cross, The Eathouse Diner, ChiMac Chicken, Dead Ringer, Single O Surry Hills, Nomad, Olive & Bean, Kepos Street Kitchen, Spice Alley, Ester Restaurant and Bar, Kindred, Concrete Jungle, Mexican Burrito Cantina, Wu-Gu 五穀 Wu Gu, 4Fourteen, Petaling Street, Automata, Jap's Table, Mamak, Twenty 8 Acres, Bombay Street Kitchen, Bodega, Brainwave

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Redfern is a big suburb. A stroll starting at the Bat & Ball Hotel on the corner of South Dowling and Cleveland and finishing at the Glengarry Castle on the Darlington border takes a solid 30 minutes. Longer if you want to Instagram some street art, window shop for Parker sideboards on Regent Street, or face Redfern Oval and give thanks to all 36 Burgess brothers.

The South Sydney heartland has undergone a culinary transformation of late and has a wealth of top joints for a bevvy, or dinner, or both. Here are some of our favourites.

Bars

Small bars have been breeding like rabbits over the past 12 months in the 'Fern and the watering-hole warren is a 100-metre radius around the corner of Regent and Redfern streets. The newest bar on the block is The Bearded Tit. Into knitted phalluses, taxidermy animals draped in flowers, unisex bathrooms and Bloody Marys so spicy they threaten to inflict stigmata? The Tit is your ticket if so.

Nearby neighbours Arcadia Liquors is every bit as muted-brown and take-a-load-off as the The Bearded Tit is rainbow-bright and elbow-room-only. Fairy lights are aplenty, as is mulled wine in winter and fancy toasties all year round (Arcadia is also set to grow a European kitchen around the corner in the coming months).

A few doors up is Your Ex Lovers, which is a wine bar serving gruyere fondue (and not a couple of your high-school flings comparing notes). It's a cute spot for a vino and the cheese plate is value at $10 a head. Across the road, The Dock is a place to anchor yourself for a couple of well-made negronis (bonus points to the bartender who mixed ours while nursing a broken arm). It's a super-small room and feels even smaller thanks to walls full of tightly Tetrised booze advertising from the '50s.

There's a nautical theme at The Dock, but nothing like the seafaring levels of The Angry Pirate where staff are uniformed in blue-and-white-striped T-shirts and everything that doesn't move is decorated with an anchor or ship's wheel motif. The Pirate's cocktail list is a good one (unsurprisingly heavy on rum) and if an evening of small-bar-hopping in Redfern demands sustenance, the galley pumps out simple and satisfying pizzas. We're big fans of the "Hispaniola" number with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella and spicy Pamplona-style chorizo.

Way down the other end of Redfern, Black Penny is serious about quality drinks and decent prices (hello, two-for-one cocktails during happy hour Wednesday). The vibe is high-fiving with a mix tape of soul, hip-hop, and reggae that goes well with the twice-cooked pork crackling on the menu. There's also a design-your-own breakfast bagel available seven mornings a week.
The Bearded Tit, 183 Regent Street, 8283 4082 Arcadia Liquors, 7 Cope Street, 8068 4470 The Dock, 182 Redfern Street, 0405 757 458 Your Ex Lovers, 139 Redfern Street The Angry Pirate, 125 Redfern Street 9698 9140 Black Penny, 648 Bourke Street, 9319 5061 Cheap Eats
Portion sizes in Redfern seem at odds with the state average. The Greek-tinged Metaxi Mas sells killer burgers, sandwiches and take-home dips, but the generous open-plate of herby grilled chicken breast, Greek salad, haloumi, tzatziki and crisp potatoes is a standout.

The Norfolk Hotel has one of the best $10 lunch menus around (weekdays only) with afternoon-nap-inducing items such as a triple-decker sandwich of smoked chicken, ham and cheese, and stuffed capsicums with lentil and eggplant mole, salsa rojo and queso. Upstairs at The Norfolk, House of Crabs boils all manner of crustaceans in 500-gram lots with a choice of lemon pepper, Mexican, oriental and Cajun sauce. It also has a plate of fries covered in lobster gravy, bacon and corn that's as delicious as it is stodgy.

Closer to the train station, The Milk Bar by Cafe Ish is a platform for burgers with minimal funny business and maximum free-range beef. The Ish karaage-crab omelette is a tad legendary around these parts, as is the "PBJ" milkshake with salted peanut-butter ice cream, crunchy peanut butter, and raspberry and blueberry jelly. Then there's Milk Bar Pizza by Ish around the corner with traditional (margherita) and not-so-traditional (curry) pizza-pies plus gluten-free bases at no extra charge. If you're in need of a cleanse after all this, the Nourishing Quarter serves vego, whole-food goodness laden with quinoa, amaranth, chia seeds, and tofu.

Tany's Japanese has Redfern's best gyoza and sushi but if it is barbecue duck you want and not yakitori chicken then Wah Fung HK BBQ Restaurant has a window full of glistening birds and shiny pork to sticky your lips and fingers (Arcadia Liquors is across the road and totally cool with you getting Wah Fung delivered there, too).
Metaxi Mas, 668 Bourke Street, 9319 4286 The Norfolk Hotel, 305 Cleveland Street, 9699 3177 House of Crabs, Norfolk Hotel (upstairs), 305 Cleveland Street, 9699 3177 Milk Bar by Cafe Ish, 105 Regent Street, 9699 8828 Milk Bar Pizza, 152 Redfern St, 9699 3366 Nourishing Quarter, 315 Cleveland Street, 8399 0888 Tany's Japanese, 92 Redfern Street, 9699 4382 Wah Fung HK BBQ Restaurant, 9698 2898
Cafes

There are as many places to grab a decent coffee in Redfern as there are faded South Sydney jumpers hanging in windows. Hole-in-the-wall Chapter Five Espresso supplies jaffles and caffeine to morning train commuters while on the other side of the tracks the button-cute Scout's Honour assembles healthy sandwiches and a colour-filled lunch box of potato salad, dill pickle, cheddar, relish and a choice of bone ham or corned beef.

Pitt St Diner is good for weekend brunch as is Three Williams over on Elizabeth. The Williams' poached eggs with crisp polenta, nduja (spreadable sausage), croutons and oregano dressing is something special and pairing it with a green smoothie of kale, apricot, apple, ginger and other fun things is a hell of a way to start the day.

If you want a cafe latte with your cut, the bearded and tattooed staff at Cleveland's Salon and Cafe will brew you some Little Marionette beans while your locks are looked after.

Elsewhere in cafe-add-on stakes, the 107 Projects creative space has its own cafe serving Golden Cobra coffee and nanna-esque baked goods while plant-trading Garden Life has the tranquil (and licensed) Twig Cafe hidden out the back with Single Origin coffee and fresh, seasonal salads.
Chapter Five Espresso, 2/115 Lawson Street Scout's Honour, 118 George Street, 0421 203 382 Pitt St Diner, 96 Pitt Street, 8668 5936 Three Williams, 613A Elizabeth Street, 9698 1111 107 Projects, 107 Redfern Street Cleveland's Salon & Cafe, 311 Cleveland Street, 9698 8449 Twig Cafe, 357 Cleveland Street, 8021 6406
Restaurants

With a minimalist interior, natural-leaning wine list, and dishes such as dotorimuk (acorn jelly) with mushrooms, tofu, brussels sprouts and fresh truffles, Moon Park is not your average Korean diner and it's worth a visit for the fried chicken alone.

Moon Park has a chef's hat in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2015, as does Kepos Street Kitchen a couple of blocks over on the Waterloo border. At Kepos, chef Michael Rantissi creates modern, zippy dishes grounded in the cuisine of the Mediterranean and Middle East. If you're a fan of celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi, eating at Kepos Street Kitchen is a must.

Similarly, if you're a fan of mid-century Americana worth your while is a visit to Eathouse Diner where you can sit at one of the red formica tables and polish of a porchetta sandwich at lunch or southern-style fried spatchcock at dinner.
Moon Park, 34 Redfern Street, 9690 0111 Kepos Street Kitchen, 96 Kepos Street, 9319 3919 Eathouse Diner, 306 Chalmers Street, 8084 9479

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Redfern is a big suburb. A stroll starting at the Bat & Ball Hotel on the corner of South Dowling and Cleveland and finishing at the Glengarry Castle on the Darlington border takes a solid 30 minutes.

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Sydney Ideas is the University of Sydney's public events program, opening up our teaching and research to the whole community. Most of our events are free and we have something for everyone.

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Australian Small Business - The Lemon Tree Restaurant

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Australian Small Business - The Lemon Tree Restaurant

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Albero di Lemone - New website coming soon

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Only women would sign up for this much crap.

Okay first, allow me to check my privilege so you don't have to: I am a white woman with a college education. I am married. I live in a beautiful little town in the mountains. I have a career I genuinely like. I am one lucky bitch.

And yet. Here's what "having it all" really looks like, in my experience:

The other day I was walking down the street to get my mail, feeling pretty pleased with myself. I have a 3.5-year-old, and I had a baby exactly one month ago. In that month, I have worked almost constantly and it has paid off: I have made enough money to pay all my family's bills and keep my husband's business afloat. I have produced quality work that I'm proud of. And not once have I mentioned to anyone that I just had a baby.

Right about the time I was congratulating myself on these "accomplishments," a not unsubstantial amount of pee just came pouring out of me. I was wearing light-grey sweatpants, so it was pretty obvious. Kind of embarrassing when my neighbor walked by and waved. By the time I got home, it was time to dial into a conference call, so I had to sit in those pee pants for quite a while.

Thankfully, the baby stayed asleep and quiet during that call but woke up screaming to be fed as soon as it ended, so another half hour in the pee pants. Burped the baby. Got throw-up in my hair, but no time to do anything about it so just threw it back in a clip. Boom. Quickly changed pee pants. Ready for more work. Throw it at me world, I am a strong woman and I have it all and I have got this.

At 5, my other kid comes charging into the room, asking if I've made the brownies I promised him earlier. I have not. Then my husband asks what the plan is for dinner. So, I throw the baby into a sling, go downstairs, sort out dinner and brownies.

"Shit."

"Uh oh, what?"

"I think I popped a stitch."

"What? How do you know? Isn't that bad?"

"Well it definitely feels not right down there, and yeah it probably is bad, but realistically what am I going to do about it?"

Back upstairs. Shower, finally. The wound formerly known as my vagina is definitely stinging (seriously, at my postpartum checkup, here is what my doctor said "the stitches are almost dissolved but your wound is still healing." Gross.) Then back in bed, icepack on crotch, baby on boob, laptop on lap.

I have not left this room except to grab food from the kitchen in a month. I took precisely one day off to have a baby. Let that sink in for a minute. Lucky for me, this room has a full bathroom attached.

Here's the stack of laundry I'm staring at. (Look at my disgusting feet too, btw. That nail polish is at least two months old.)

That's a bag of poopy diapers sitting two feet away from me. Right next to the other giant stack of laundry. It really smells like diarrhea in here.

I'm not a single mom. In fact, my husband helps out way more than the average husband or father. I'm not working minimum wage jobs, I'm not really disadvantaged in any way except that I am a working mother in the United States.

Here's what I think is going on: this whole "having it all" business has been grossly misinterpreted by our society at large. The purpose of all that bra burning back in the '60s was to give women choices.

You wanna have sex without getting pregnant? Cool, hit that.

You're pregnant but in no position to raise a baby (or were sexually assaulted and impregnated, or are pregnant with a severely ill or deformed baby, or any number of other scenarios)? No problem, you can choose not to have that baby.

You want to go to work? Do it!

You want to stay at home and raise kids? Great.

You want to do a little bit of both? Groovy.

You want to be stylish and wear makeup? Or frumpy and never wash? Hey, you do you.

Doing all of it at the same time was never the idea. By that definition, single working moms have been "having it all" for ages and yet society does not hold the single working mom up as the goal for women everywhere. No, no, that's just what happens when you're poor and have no choice. Except actually, that's what happens to all but the very very rich when you encourage women to work and have children but don't change any other part of the world they live in.

No woman (or man, for that matter) ever said, hey, you know what would be great? If I could get up at 5 a.m., make breakfast for everyone, then get dressed (with heels, natch), drop my kids off at daycare, go to work for 10 hours, pick the kids up, come home, cook dinner, clean up, put the kids to bed, work in bed 'til midnight so I don't get behind at work, then do it all again tomorrow on 5 hours sleep.

"This whole 'having it all' business has been grossly misinterpreted by our society at large. ... Doing all of it at the same time was never the idea."

It's like we all said hey, let's change the narrative for women, but not change anything else. And then expected women to be so grateful that we're allowed to have casual sex and work now that we wouldn't notice that we're being pushed toward an ever less attainable and less desirable goal.

Here's what we tell women today: You not only can, but should have a career and children -- because if you don't, you're basically a) lazy, b) weak, c) not a real woman. But also, you should do it without any support. Without government-paid maternity leave (what are you, a socialist?). Without too much childcare (because then you're a shitty mom) or falling behind on the job (because then you're a shitty employee  --  typical woman!). Without too much help from your husband (because then he's a pussy).

We applaud companies for paying for female employees to freeze their eggs, but don't push them to give women the space to have children during their actual child-bearing years and come back to work without losing their place in line. Instead of changing the systems, we tell women to lean in. Because of course, it's our fault for not taking initiative. Fuck you. I'm leaning so far in I'm falling flat on my face.

And yes, I know, men are parents too and paternal leave is also important. But there is a very real physical component to recovering from child birth and to dealing with a new baby (especially if you're breast feeding and are thus the only one that can handle night feedings) that we like to pretend doesn't exist in this country. It's okay to say that women may need more time off than men.

For the record (tune in here, men's rights advocates), this is not a rant against men, it's a call for society in general to do better. I have routinely had women pass me over for work because I'm pregnant, or complain that I can't make an evening meeting because I have kids.

In fact, I've had more women penalize me for having kids than men. And it's only been other women who have called my parenting into question because I work. Sexism tends to play out in different ways with men, usually in the form of assumptions about my intelligence or grasp of a subject because I'm a woman, not because of any particular reproductive choice.

Nor do I think that the world owes me an easy life, or that I should get to make choices with no trade-offs, or have all these things without working really damn hard for all of them.

"We tell women to lean in. Because of course, it's our fault for not taking initiative. Fuck you. I'm leaning so far in I'm falling flat on my face."

I do think, though, that we should cut it out with the fairy tales already. Stop telling women they can have everything without sacrificing anything. Here's the truth: You want to have a career and kids? You totally can, but both will suffer. You will never feel like you are devoting enough time to either. You will never feel like you are good enough at either. You will never get time off (at least for the first several years). You will always be choosing between things that need your attention, and you will almost never choose yourself. You will be judged for nearly every move you make and you will never measure up to anyone else's expectations.

If we're going to embrace a new narrative for women, we need to change some social norms, too. We need to make it truly okay for women to opt out of having kids. We pretend it's okay today, but if it were, all my child-less friends wouldn't get asked about it all the damn time and I don't really think I'd be reading so many essays defending the choice to -- gasp! -- be a woman and not have children. Seriously. There are so. many. essays.

And don't even get me started on the legions of women dealing with fertility issues and feeling like the choice has been taken from them completely, but still having to field questions about if and when they're having kids. How about we just stop asking women about their personal reproductive choices, period? If they want you to know, you'll know.

We need to make it truly okay for women to opt out of working, too. Not sort of okay, but behind your back everyone thinks you're wasting your potential, so then you feel like you have to parent the shit out of your kids and run yourself ragged taking them to activities and teaching them things. But, like, really okay where you can have your friends over for mimosas in the afternoon and lock those little animals in the backyard for an hour if you feel like it, because Jesus Christ spending all day with a small child is exhausting and infuriating and any sane human would need an hour off.

Then we need to make it truly okay for women to opt in, too. Not in the way it is today, where you're supposed to basically (and in my case, literally) pretend you haven't had a kid and just take on all the baby duties without letting any other thing slip. But really, truly okay. Like, everyone knows you're pregnant but doesn't freak out and assume you're not going to ever do any work again or that you won't want to take on anything ambitious.

Okay, like you don't have to freeze your eggs and wait until you're 45 to have a kid -- unless you want to, in which case, freeze away -- because otherwise your career will get derailed at 28 and never get back on course. Okay, like you don't feel compelled to drop your newborn off at daycare so you can rush back to work, and then regret the decision for the rest of your life.

"Here's the truth: You want to have a career and kids? You totally can, but both will suffer."

And we need to provide that support for all women, irrespective of color or income level. The VP at a tech company is no more entitled to maternity leave, job security, and adequate childcare than the waitress at a restaurant. It's the price of not just allowing, but requiring, mothers to work. Which is what we do today. Working is not a luxury or a choice for the vast majority of mothers and we need to stop acting like it is.

I'm not talking about crazy special treatment here. I don't think we need to get all Oprah about it and coo on and on about how being a mom is the toughest job in the world. Nor am I saying, as one men's rights advocate put it to me recently on Twitter: "Give me money and special treatment. Because, vagina."

I'm saying let's make it okay for women to admit they're pregnant, or take a little bit of time off to recuperate from having a baby without having to worry about tanking their careers.

Let's redefine "having it all," or better yet let each woman define for herself what the best version of her life might look like. Because when you think about it, reflecting back on the first month of my son's life and reveling in what a good job I'd done at covering up the fact that he exists is pretty fucking sad.
This post originally appeared on Medium. Amy Westervelt is a print and radio reporter. She's the co-host of Range podcast.
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