Black Market Tobacco Floods Australian Market | Investigations | SBS The Feed | Reupload

Mar 3, 2016 | As cigarette prices have risen, illegal tobacco or chop-chop is being imported into the country in increasing amounts. The Feed went undercover with Customs to see how hard it was to buy.

Australia Passes World-first Law Banning Under-16s from Social Media despite Safety Concerns

THE GUARDIAN: Bill passes amid warning that process has been rushed and that a ban could push teenagers towards the dark web or into isolation

Australia’s parliament has passed a law that will aim to do what no other government has, and many parents have tried to: stop children from using social media. The new law was drafted in response to what the Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says is a “clear, causal link between the rise of social media and the harm [to] the mental health of young Australians.”

On Thursday, parliament’s upper house, the Senate, passed a bill by 34 votes to 19 banning children under 16 from social media platforms.

But academics, politicians and advocacy groups have warned that the ban – as envisioned by the government – could backfire, driving teenagers to the dark web, or making them feel more isolated. There are questions about how it will work in practice. Many worry that the process has been too rushed, and that, if users are asked to prove their age, it could lead to social media companies being handed valuable personal data. Even Elon Musk has weighed in. » | Helen Sullivan in Sydney | Thursday, November 28, 2024

Does Australia Need a Monarchy? King Charles Commences First Royal Tour

Oct 19, 2024 | King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be in Australia this week — their first visit here since taking the throne. Given the king's ongoing cancer treatment, and recent drastic changes to the British Royal Family, the trip won't be as busy as previous royal tours.

So, this will be a slimmed-down tour - but is Australia's fever for the Monarchy still as passionate? Three experts from The Australian discuss whether King Charles has a bright future - or whether we'll be heading toward another shot at the Republic.

Italian Deputy Minister Questions Giorgia Meloni Being Labelled a Fascist

Oct 4, 2024 | Italy's Deputy Minister for Enterprises Valentino Valentini has critiqued mainstream media for labelling Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a far-right fascist, claiming Ms Meloni has “proved” the term “does not apply”.

“That was the corner where most of the mainstream media tried to place Meloni,” Mr Valentini told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio.

“Firstly, because she was an unknown figure and secondly because she comes from the right.

“Meloni has proved the term fascist does not apply.”

Black Market Tobacco Floods Australian Market | Investigations | SBS The Feed

Mar 3, 2016 | As cigarette prices have risen, illegal tobacco or chop-chop is being imported into the country in increasing amounts. The Feed went undercover with Customs to see how hard it was to buy.

I’ll say nothing. I think you will know what I think of this sh**! – © Mark Alexander

Tucker Carlson Responds to Julian Assange’s Release during Australia Speech

Jun 26, 2024 | Tucker Carlson speaks Down Under from Canberra and assesses Julian Assange's release. We also answer questions from an adversarial press corps.

SBS News: Anthony Albanese Details Speaking to Julian Assange as He Arrives in Australia

Jun 26, 2024 | Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he returns to Australia a free man, 14 years after he published classified military documents.

The saga that started with Assange holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, before leading him to solitary confinement in Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom, has come to an end in a Pacific tropical paradise.

Assange arrived alongside his support team and Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd at the US District Court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, just before 8am.

One in Four Cigarettes in Australia Are Illegally Purchased | ABC News

May 30, 2024 | Recent data has shown one in four cigarettes purchased in Australia are of black market origins. Illegal tobacco has robbed taxpayers billions of dollars and sparked a gang war to seize control of the trade.

Politicians across the world are not always the brightest of people! The more they push up the price of cigarettes, the more illegal cigarettes will be smoked as citizens try to circumvent the punitive taxes placed on cigarettes and tobacco products. They will also create greater health issues for citizens, because the authorities cannot control the quality of the cigarettes or tobacco products being sold on the black market. Meddlesome politicians have a lot to learn! – © Mark Alexander

‘Yes but I Hate You!’ Trump and Turnbull’s Explosive Phone Call | Nemesis

Feb 5, 2024 | Malcolm Turnbull describes his infamous call with Donald Trump over Australia's refugee swap deal as 'tough'

Growing Up Gay in the Country I The Feed | Reupload

Oct 6, 2014 | Ivan hasn’t been back to his rural hometown of Tumut NSW in 21 years. He left as a teenager after a childhood of bullying about his sexuality, and never looked back. Until now.

A Gay Farmer on Love, Isolation, and Disrupting the Meat Industry in Australia | The New Yorker | Reupload

Jun 9, 2021 | In “Alone Out Here,” by Philip Busfield and Luke Cornish, an Australian rancher who is openly gay in a conservative industry fights to reduce carbon emissions through his cattle farming.

Royal Countdown Begins as Princess Mary Is Crowned Queen of Denmark | 7 News Australia

Jan 14, 2024 | In just a few hours, the woman once known as Mary Donaldson, will become Queen of Denmark. Huge crowds are expected to gather in Copenhagen to watch the Hobart-born Crown Princess, and her Prince, take the throne. 7NEWS at 6pm. More local news: 7news.com.au/news/sydney

Australians Gather in Copenhagen to Assist Danes in Welcoming Denmark's New Monarchs

Jan 12, 2024 | Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the streets of Copenhagen to welcome Denmark’s new King and Queen as Australian-born Princess Mary will ascend to the throne alongside her husband Prince Frederik.

Amalienborg Castle, which is the royal residence, will see people from both Denmark and Australia brave the cold to catch a first glimpse of the new monarchs. The coronation party will then travel to Christiansborg Palace where they will ascend to the throne.

Australia’s Ambassador to Denmark Ms Kerin Ayyalaraju is preparing a gift for the royal couple as an acknowledgement to Princess Mary’s Tasmanian roots and is encouraging messages of support from Down Under.

The event will begin just after 11:30pm AEDT [Australian Eastern Standard Time] and 1:30pm in Copenhagen, capital city of Denmark

From a Sydney Pub to Denmark’s Royal Throne: Crown Princess Mary – A life in Pictures

Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, visits the set of Danish TV Series The Killing in Copenhagen in 2012. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
A casual drink with friends heralded the beginning of a fairytale journey after Tasmanian real estate manager Mary Donaldson met Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik. Here is a look at how her life was transformed after her marriage to Frederik, and on the eve of becoming Queen Mary
Click here for the picture gallery.

Australian Royal Crown Princess Mary to Be Queen

Jan 1, 2023 | More than 20 years after a chance meeting in a Sydney bar, Mary Donaldson will complete her journey from Tasmanian law student to queen of Denmark. Queen Margrethe II, unexpectedly announced that she would abdicate on January 14, at the age of 83.

How Australia’s Mary Donaldson went from commoner to Danish Queen: An unconventional journey from Australia’s middle class to European royalty began in an unremarkable bar in Sydney in 2000 »

King and Queen Plan to Visit Australia in 2024

THE TELEGRAPH: Public reaction to the visit could indicate the level of support for the monarchy in the country, where calls for republicanism are growing

The King and Queen are expected to travel to Australia and New Zealand in October CREDIT: Shutterstock
The King is planning to visit Australia next year in what is likely be a key test of his popularity as monarch, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

His Majesty, accompanied by the Queen, is expected to travel to Australia just before or after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, which is being held in late October.

“King Charles is planning to visit Australia and New Zealand in October,” the newspaper reported, quoting an anonymous diplomatic source, who had contact with the monarch. » | Roger Maynard in Sydney | Tuesday, December 5, 2023

When I saw this photograph, I was reminded of my childhood: I was reminded of the nursery rhyme, Old King Cole was a merry old soul. And a merry old soul was he. …

As much as I respect our monarchy and our king and queen, I must say that that photo looks rather anachronistic in 2023.

Still, having a respected monarch is a whole lot safer and better than having a republic. Were we to have a republic, we could end up with a president like Trump! Just imagine that! Perish the thought! – © Mark Alexander

Australian PM Called Thatcher a ‘F------ B----’ in Angry Phone Call

THE TELEGRAPH: The two leaders were at loggerheads over British and Irish Lions tour to apartheid South Africa until Mrs Thatcher withdrew the team

Margaret Thatcher and Bob Hawke were said to have a 'love-hate relationship' CREDIT: Getty Images
A former Australian prime minister called Margaret Thatcher a “f------ b----” during an angry phone call about the British and Irish Lions tour in 1986, a new memoir claims.

Bob Hawke, the Labour prime minister from 1983 to 1991, contacted his British counterpart to persuade her to call off the rugby tour in South Africa in protest against apartheid.

John Brown, the former Australian sports minister, has said in his new memoir that the conversation proceeded on diplomatic lines for about 10 minutes when “suddenly the mood changed”.

“Thatcher had popularised the expression ‘the lady is not for turning’ and she was obviously determined to maintain her stance supporting South Africa,” he recalled.

“I could see Bob, as I had seen him many times before, becoming agitated and angry. Eventually he reached the limit of his patience,” Mr Brown wrote. » | Roger Maynard | Friday, December 8, 2023

Antisemitic and Islamophobic Incidents Surge in Australia

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tensions between religious groups in Australia have risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Posters plastered across Sydney portraying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as Adolf Hitler in disguise. A record increase in reports of Islamophobia, including threats to Muslim community organizations. Antisemitic chants at a pro-Palestinian rally and charges that Nazi salutes were performed outside a Jewish museum.

Australia has experienced a flurry of incidents targeting Muslims and Jews, making it one of many countries reporting a rise in such cases since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Reports to the Islamophobia Register Australia, an independent organization that tracks anti-Muslim sentiment, have increased tenfold since the start of the war, Sharara Attai, the executive director of the group, told an Australian news service, adding that many more incidents have likely gone unreported.

Interfaith relations have become strained, with at least two Australian rabbis resigning last month from the Jewish Muslim Christian Association, a group that works to promote religious harmony, after some faith leaders failed to condemn the Hamas attacks, which killed some 1,400 people in Israel. Members of the country’s roughly 100,000-strong Jewish community have been left feeling isolated, representatives said, over a perceived absence of sympathy for the suffering caused by the attacks. » | Natasha Frost | Monday, November 6, 2023

L'ANTISÉMITISME EN FRANCE :

Refuser la banalisation de l’antisémitisme : Depuis le 7 octobre, les juifs français sont confrontés à une multiplication des agressions et des actes de haine. Mais ce phénomène n’est pas uniquement lié à une nouvelle explosion du conflit au Proche-Orient : en réalité, l’antisémitisme, sous ses différents visages, s’est installé dans notre société. »

Victorian Neo-Nazis under Police Investigation over Alleged Salute for TV Cameras

GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA: Investigation into Thomas Sewell and Jacob Hersant comes a week after new laws took effect in Victoria outlawing the Nazi salute

Victorian police are investigating a man who allegedly made a Nazi salute on the steps of the county court on Friday, just a week after the gesture was made illegal in the state.

Neo-Nazi group leaders Thomas Sewell and Jacob Hersant were convicted on Friday after pleading guilty to a violent affray in the Cathedral Range state park in May 2021.

The pair were being interviewed by reporters outside court, when footage shows Sewell saying “heil Hitler” and Hersant raising his arm in an alleged Nazi salute before stopping and saying “Nearly did it … it’s illegal now isn’t it?”. He then smiles as the pair walk off.

A spokesperson for Victoria Police said on Friday the incident was now under investigation. » | Josh Taylor | Saturday, October 28, 2023

Australia Rejects Proposal to Recognise Aboriginal People in Constitution

THE OBSERVER: Voice to parliament referendum fails in defeat that Indigenous advocates will see as a blow to progress towards reconciliation

Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in the country’s constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

To succeed, the yes campaign – advocating for the voice – needed to secure a double majority, meaning it needed both a majority of the national vote, as well as majorities in four of Australia’s six states.

The defeat will be seen by Indigenous advocates as a blow to what has been a hard fought struggle to progress reconciliation and recognition in modern Australia, with First Nations people continuing to suffer discrimination, poorer health and economic outcomes.

More than 17 million Australians were enrolled for the compulsory vote, with many expats visiting embassies around the world in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s poll.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called for Australians to show “kindness” to each other after the referendum. (+ video) » | Elias Visontay | Saturday, October 4, 2023

Albanese wanted to end two centuries of silence, but we said no – and failed our First Nations people: The prime minister thought that with the voice he could bend the country towards progress without breaking it. Peter Dutton made sure he couldn’t »

Australian voice referendum live results »