Child workers in DRC exploited by smartphone industry
Child workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are facing abuse while mining for Coltan, a crucial component in smartphone production, an ABC report finds.
Children and teenagers mining for the mineral must work long hours in physically demanding tasks and many face sexual abuse and coercion by their bosses.
Amnesty International is calling for big tech companies to clean up the Coltan supply by turning to ethical suppliers of the mineral.
Study finds climate denialism in bushfire reporting has decreased
Climate denialism in reporting on bushfires has decreased since 2009, an analysis from Monash University’s Climate Change Communication Research Hub finds.
Researchers determined just five percent of articles covering the bushfires include climate denialism.
This is a reduction compared to coverage of the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires, in which 21 percent of reports denied climate change.
New payroll tax deferral package for small businesses
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Minister for Employment and Small Business Shannon Fentiman have announced a new payroll tax deferral package for small and medium Queensland businesses impacted by coronavirus.
In a press conference held this morning, the Ministers stated that small and medium Queensland businesses in all sectors will be able to defer payroll tax payments for six months.
“The most immediate impact of coronavirus has been on the tourism, export and education sectors,” Ms Fentiman said.
Professor says drownings have decreased everywhere but Oceania
James Cook University researcher Associate Professor Richard Franklin says drownings globally have dropped by half over the last 30 years, with rates reducing in all regions except Oceania.
Dr Franklin is the lead author of a world first study, which found the age standardised mortality rates from unintentional drowning have decreased by fifty seven percent between 1990 and 2017.
Dr Franklin has said the decrease was not uniform across countries. The revised global estimate is now approximately 300,000 drowning deaths per year.
Greens Lord Mayoral Candidate pledges to clean up BCC Planning and Development
Greens Lord Mayoral candidate Kath Angus has pledged to clean up Brisbane City Council’s planning and development system.
Dressed as a cleaner at City Hall this morning, Ms Angus declared that the City Plan’s flexibility towards height limits, property boundary setbacks and green space requirements allowed some developers to do dirty deals with council and created fertile ground for corruption .
Review: Speed The Movie, The Play as part of Brisbane Comedy Festival
From the geniuses that brought you Titanic The Movie, The Play and Die Hard The Movie, The Play - ACT/REACT are back with another satirical attack on cinema. Speed The Movie, The Play is now happening at Brisbane Powerhouse.
Soccer Mommy: Color Theory
<span><span>- Synthesia is the sensory-crossing condition which in some forms, allows those who experience it to see words, emotions and sounds as inherently linked to specific colours. Pop musicians are periodically drawn into the surrounding conversation: <strong>Pharrell </strong>says he doesn’t know where he’d be without synthesia and <strong>Lorde</strong> credits it for the vivid intensity of her album <em>Melodrama.</em></span></span>
Alyrah: Twin Flame Portal
- After listening to Alyrah’s new EP I’m not quite sure how to take her swirling, enveloping religious mysticism.
Anna Cordell: Nobody Knows Us
<p><span><span>- After more than ten years away, Melbourne singer-songwriter Anna Cordell returns, almost from beyond the grave. The cold grasp of death is ever present on album opener <em>After Tomorrow</em>: an uncharacteristically piano-driven memento mori that wraps up life and death into one tight bundle of tension.
Arrom x KAIAR: Truce
- Arrom and KAIAR are two artists on the roster of experimental label Provenance and they have a lot in common: ethereal voices, dark beats, a seductive approach to their music-making, but one that doesn’t shy away from emotional issues and something more real than the tissue-paper-thin sentiments of pop.