Cultural diversity lacks in Australian TV

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Tue, 18/08/2020 - 09:07

In a new report, it was found Australian TV news lacks cultural diversity. 

A survey conducted of the cultural diversity in Australia’s TV news and current affairs programs shows majority of the on-screen appearances are Anglo-Celtic background. 

In a study that analysed 81 news programs over two weeks in June 2019, it was revealed that only six percent of reporters, presenters, and commentators held an Indigenous or non-European background.

Blood donors required nation-wide

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Tue, 18/08/2020 - 09:05

There is urgent requirement for blood donors needed across Australia as plasma and blood donation supply is low. 

There is potential of Australia facing a shortage of blood and plasma in only a few weeks if 10,000 additional donors are not received. 

Reports have shown that in the last three months, the donations to Red Cross’ Lifeblood service has drastically decreased. 

Purple wheely bins for a cause

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Tue, 18/08/2020 - 09:00

A Gold Coast community has created an organisation using flashing purple wheely bins to collect recyclables in a bid to raise money for the fight against domestic violence. 

The directors of this Hearts of Purple organisation, Michelle Beatie and Georgia Stripp, said they developed the idea of these ‘party bins’ to create conversations around domestic violence, and to use the money raised from recyclables to donate to the charity.

Queensland borders to remain closed

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Tue, 18/08/2020 - 08:52

Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk is keeping Queensland’s border closed until there are zero community transmissions of COVID 19 in NSW or Victoria. 

Palaszczuk is adamant in maintaining harsh border restrictions, and has advised it will remain in place until local infections in NSW and Victoria cease. 

Naretha Williams - 'Blak Mass'

Submitted by charlottec on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 13:16
Naretha Williams (pronounced Nar-eth-ah) is a First Nations experimental interdisciplinary artist with a primary focus on music and audio arts practice. A Wiradjuri woman of mixed lineage, born and based in Melbourne on the Sovereign Land of the Kulin Nation, Victoria, Australia, Naretha's process-based work intersects installation and contemporary music, exploring themes around identity, place and the unseen. Ritual and esoteric practice underpins both process and presentation of her work. Naretha's diverse musical interests span from narrative score through to contemporary electronic music. Blak Mass is Naretha Williams' debut album, and was commissioned by The City Of Melbourne for a live performance in 2019. Blak Mass sees Naretha combine the gargantuan Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ with live electronics to realise her complex progressive compositions. Blak Mass reflects on the city’s jarring civic history and the impact of colonisation on its First Peoples and Land, through an experimental, site specific musical performance developed for the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ. Blak Mass considers the Grand Organ as a significant symbol of European domination and reaches deep in to the psyche of the instrument to create a haunting, avant-garde sound work. Naretha Williams was awarded 'Best Experimental or Avant-Garde Act' at the 2019 Music Victoria Awards for the live performance of Blak Mass. Writing for The Age, Aleksandra Bliszczyk describes Blak Mass as "reclaiming an organ of colonial domination". Its title may indeed conjure pearl-clutching anxieties about the summoning of ‘dark’ forces and the opening of portals between forbidden realms. These concepts are central to Naretha William’s stunning Grand Organ commission which is a direct confrontation with ideas of established power, conservative gatekeeping and cultural dominance in Australian society Blak Mass is the second iteration of Naretha Williams’ CRYPTEX composition project. CRYPTEX – Bio Templates & Ceremonial Frameworks for Contemporary Composition utilises the source code of the body by analysing DNA sequences to create mathematical templates to work with in a musical context. "My identity, bloodline and place are a continual point of enquiry given the vast complexity of my own experience and how this relates to being a Wiradjuri First Nations woman on our continent. Through my extensive artistic explorations as well as technical, cultural, social, esoteric and scientific interests, I have come to intensely challenge the notions of being and belonging. Over years of trying to integrate my own personal lineage and cultural point of reference, I am led to the very core of our genetic make-up, our DNA. Combined with an effort to resolve my displacement of Country, I search for parallels and bridges in our Songlines. Cryptex presents opportunities to explore these concepts in depth by focusing on core codes, experimentation and methodology within defined parameters." - Naretha Williams.

Leaking oil carrier to be sunk off Mauritius

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 09:35

An oil carrier which ran aground off Mauritius last month has split into two. The ship, which has already leaked more than one thousand tonnes of oil will be pulled out to sea to sink. Mauritius declared an environmental emergency following the spill last month, which threatened a protected marine park boasting mangrove forests and endangered species.

Unrest in Belarus following President's re-election

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 09:34

Tens of thousands of people have gathered to protest the re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the capital, Minsk. The 65-year-old President has been in power for 26 years and was re-elected for a sixth term with around 80% of the popular vote, according to official results. Many countries such as Germany, Sweden, and the United States have condemned the election’s outcome, calling it "undemocratic".

International students struggling through COVID-19 outbreak

Submitted by Zedlines Contributor on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 09:34

A nationwide survey has found that thirty-nine percent of international students did not have enough money to cover basic living expenses following the COVID-19 outbreak. The study, conducted by Unions New South Wales between March and May also found that a worrying 43 percent were forced to skip meals regularly. The Secretary for Unions New South Wales, Mark Morey, said that without support, international students are being driven into not only poverty but exploitation.

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