Former Queensland under treasurer concerned
Sir Leo Hielscher who served as Queensland’s under treasurer to 15 treasurers said Queensland’s $83.09 billion debt was a “worry” and that there was no current plan to pay it off.
Sir Leo likened Queensland’s spendings to the household budget: “If you do not have the cash, you should not spend it” he said.
When queried about the state of asset sales, Sir Leo said schools, hospitals and police stations which are necessary for the social good should not be sold.
Missing Commonwealth Games athlete speaks out
One of the missing, yet unnamed elite athletes from the Commonwealth Games has spoken to SBS News about his decision to stay in Australia.
SBS News revealed the athlete was days away from competing on the Gold Coast when he heard his home had been raided.
When he heard the police were waiting for him in his home country, he was faced with the difficult choice: die at home or seek asylum in Australia.
Extremist New Zealand pastor deported
Ipswich based pastor Logan Robertson who allegedly disrupted Islamic worship at two Brisbane mosques has been deported back to New Zealand.
Queensland police charged Robertson with public nuisance after he entered the Kuraby and Darra Mosque’s with three other men. He was later detained by the Australian Border Force, with his visa cancelled and taken into immigrant detention.
University sexual assault guidelines released
Universities Australia has unveiled new guidelines which are part of a 10-point of plan to better respond to sexual assault complaints with compassion and support.
The plans were drafted after a survey found that one in four students were sexually harassed on campus at least once.
Chief executive of Universities Australia Catriona Jackson said the guidelines had student safety and wellbeing at the centre of universities’ responses.
Yasmine Hosseini: flâner
- This one caught me a bit off guard. Yasmine Hosseini is out of Perth and she’s seventeen-years-old. Generally when I get emails from seventeen-year-olds saying they have been “exploring the realm of folk music” it’s a very short journey from there to the recycle bin. I am cynical from long experience, but I feel guilty enough to try and explain: really, the music will be awful or instead I’ll suddenly be a producer for The Voice, gobbing lines like “You won’t believe what this seventeen-year-old did to make these judges cry”, or probably both.
Liars: 1/1
- 1/1 marks a change of pace for Liars. Not only are these recordings the group’s first foray into the world of soundtracks, they also represent the last collaboration between members Angus Andrew and Aaron Hemphill, after the latter’s departure last year. The band have been steadily outgrowing their experimental rock origins for over a decade now, recently expanding into punk-like electronic explorations with their LPs.
Deafheaven: Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
- Deafheaven are a band that attract controversy, though you wouldn’t know it from the outpouring of enthusiasm for their new LP, Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. The controversy is actually pretty simple, easy to understand and I’d like to get it out of the way before dealing with the record, on its own terms.
Hot Swedish Arctic fires rage and more zedlines from 11
Photo by DCSL, used under creative commons
Bee Line for stings
A woman has survived being stung at least 200 times by thousands of bees outside a home in California, according to United States fire authorities.
The woman in her 50s, known only as Maria, was reportedly the housekeeper and was going to get a mop out of her car at the home in Lake Forest, east of Los Angeles.
Orange County Fire Authority captain Tony Bommarito said rescuers had to grab a fire extinguisher to get rid of the Africanised honey bees, also known locally as "killer bees"
Hot Swedish Arctic fires rage
Forest fires raging across Sweden as far north as the Arctic Circle have prompted authorities to ask for international assistance.
On Wednesday afternoon, 44 fires were burning from Lapland in the far north to the southern island of Gotland.
Hot weather and persistent drought are the main causes, and the national weather service has issued fire warnings for almost the entire country.