Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Australia’s climate in 2024: 2nd warmest and 8th wettest year on record

Karl Stefanovic, Host: Well, back to work for the Labor Government this week after partying like it was 1983. Well, we all like a party, don’t we? Or is it just me? Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong joins us now live from Adelaide to discuss. Penny, good morning to you. How was it?

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning, Karl. Look, it’s you know we feel humbled, and grateful, and really conscious of the responsibility and privilege Australians have given us, and we will work every day to repay that trust.

Stefanovic: Was there a specific moment on the night when you knew you’d won, when you turned to someone and said, this is ours.

Foreign Minister: Well, I think I was with the Prime Minister and obviously we were looking at a lot of the results and frankly, the result became much clearer, much quicker than I thought it would. Because what we saw, really, is that the Liberal Party is not the party of middle Australia. The cities and the suburbs of Australia looked at Peter Dutton, looked at the Liberal Party, and said, look, you’re not in touch with the life I’m living. You’re not in touch with the things that are hard for me, the things that I want. You’re not in touch with my values. And very comprehensively across the country, we saw, particularly our cities and our suburbs, the Liberals hold such a small fraction of the seats within metropolitan Australia. They just don’t represent middle Australia.

Stefanovic: What did you say to each other when you knew you’d won?

Foreign Minister: I think I gave him a hug.

Stefanovic: Pretty emotional?

Foreign Minister: It’s always emotional. It’s a big thing isn’t it? I mean, it’s a big thing to form government. It’s a big thing to be given that responsibility and the honour of forming government by the Australian people. It’s a humbling moment, and we carry that with us. And as the Prime Minister said, we’re back to work and we will work every day to repay this trust.

Stefanovic: Okay, let’s get on with it. A couple of quick-fire election questions for you. Is Tanya still on the front bench after that air kiss?

Foreign Minister: Tanya, as the PM has said, will be a senior cabinet minister, he’s made that clear.

Stefanovic: Does Chris Bowen need some time off the bench?

Foreign Minister: I think Chris is, remember, Chris when we first came to government, had to deal with a gas crisis, an energy crisis, where as a result of where we’d been, we had real reliability and supply problems. He’s doing, and has done, an excellent job. What happens to people’s portfolios is at the privilege of the Prime Minister. He’s made some indication about a number of us in the leadership group and in senior portfolios, who will continue in our current jobs but the rest is up to him.

Stefanovic: Will you stay a full term?

Foreign Minister: Yes, I will. And in fact, the size of this victory and the prospect of a third-term Labor Government, it looks pretty good.

Stefanovic: You’ll stay in that portfolio?

Foreign Minister: I want to. And the Prime Minister’s indicated that me, Richard, Don Farrell, Katy and Jim will stay where we are. And we’re really appreciative, all of us, of the opportunity and the trust he’s shown in us.

Stefanovic: Will the PM stay a full term?

Foreign Minister: He’s said so. And I think –

Stefanovic: And then some?

Foreign Minister: It’s a pretty funny thing to ask. Yeah exactly, and then some. I think it’s a pretty funny thing to ask given what we saw on Saturday.

Stefanovic: I mean, everyone’s happy with that? Jim’s alright with that?

Foreign Minister: I think Jim’s answered this very clearly. He’s made the point, what an honour it is for all of us to serve as senior ministers in a Labor Government. And the Prime Minister leads this Government, and this opportunity that we all have is as much down to him as it is to the Australian people.

Stefanovic: Alright, more importantly, Trump’s tariffs loom pretty large, as you would know. Will you help sandbag the Australian film industry? If so, what might that look like? Because there’s a great deal of understandable nervousness inside that industry.

Foreign Minister: Absolutely. And I think that there’s also the reality, isn’t there, which is we do a lot of work with the American film industry. And there’s a lot of films, Australian actors in American films, Australian crews working on US films, films filmed here in Australia, which are collaborations between American studios and Australian companies. So, these tariffs really don’t reflect the reality of the cooperation and collaboration between our countries. So, we’ll obviously be putting that view to the US administration. I did hear as I was driving in this morning, President Trump on the radio saying that he was going to have a discussion with the studios, and we think that’s a good thing.

Stefanovic: Okay, meantime, the Greens here say they’re still carrying a stick in the Senate. You’ll still need to listen to them. It’s more like a toothpick with a cocktail onion now, don’t you think?

Foreign Minister: I wonder if I can use that line. Do you think I can use that line in the Senate with them? Karl, what do you reckon?

Stefanovic: You can quote me anytime you want.

Foreign Minister: ‘As Karl said’. See how that goes down? It might work, might not. Look, one of the things about Saturday, Karl, is I think Australians rejected the politics of conflict and the politics of grievance. And, unfortunately, Adam Bandt in some ways is quite like Peter Dutton. It’s the same conflict, it’s the same, frankly, sometimes quite aggressive, and the same politics of protest and grievance. And I think Australians have comprehensively rejected that. And my suggestion to Adam Bandt is perhaps he should consider what message Australians sent to all of us in the Parliament.

Stefanovic: He may not be there. Look, you mentioned the Voice during the campaign as well, Penny. I listened to it and you clearly weren’t saying you were going to go back to it, but it was seized upon, as you know. Did you worry at any point that you’d made a mistake to the party?

Foreign Minister: You know me, Karl, I’m always hard on myself, aren’t I? And, of course, you always worry about giving your opponent the opportunity to have a go. But can I say, I think what it demonstrated was what I said at the start – Peter Dutton’s reflexes, the Liberal Party’s desire to get into the culture wars, is part of them not being where middle Australia is at. People were concerned about Medicare, people were concerned about cost of living, people were concerned about tax cuts. People were concerned about schools and hospitals and bulk billing, fee-free TAFE. People were concerned about making sure, in an uncertain world, where we see a lot of change globally, that steady leadership would be required. That’s what Australians wanted to see. They weren’t interested in the Peter Dutton Liberal Party culture wars.

Stefanovic: That’s definitely a no, then? You’re not going to be pursuing that?

Foreign Minister: We’ve made that clear, the Australian people have made that clear, the Voice is gone.

Stefanovic: Okay, I suppose you don’t care about the Liberal leadership, why would you? But Gina Rinehart is saying the country needs to move to the right, more Trump-like. How do you respond?

Foreign Minister: Ms Rinehart has been very public about those views for some time but I think Australians spoke on Saturday.

Stefanovic: Penny, always good to talk to you. Thank you so much, and best of luck with the job ahead.

Foreign Minister: Great to speak with you. I’ll try the cocktail line.

Source: New South Wales Government 2

6 May 2025

Who does this notice affect?

Stakeholders in the import and shipping industries—including vessel masters, freight forwarders, offshore treatment providers, Biosecurity Industry Participants, importers, customs brokers, principal agents and master consolidators.

What has changed?

Following the identification of biosecurity concerns, we have listed SGS Canada Inc (AEI: CA4003SB) as ‘under review’ on the…

Source: Australian Capital Territory Policing

Victorians are being reminded to be vigilant, with poisonous mushrooms becoming present in the community during autumn as the weather becomes wetter and cooler.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Christian McGrath is encouraging Victorians to be on the lookout for wild mushrooms growing in home gardens and publicly accessible areas.

Poisonous mushrooms including death cap mushrooms and yellow-staining mushrooms become more evident in Victoria at this time of year, and initial symptoms of poisoning can include stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Dr McGrath said it was important to remove any wild mushrooms growing in home gardens to avoid young children and pets coming into any contact with them.

“Adults and children should not touch wild mushrooms with their bare hands, let alone eat them, and animals should be kept well away from them,” Dr McGrath said.

“Anyone who collects and consumes wild mushrooms of unknown species is putting themselves at risk of potential poisoning and serious illness. Consuming a death cap mushroom can be fatal.”

With no home test available to distinguish safe and edible mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms, it is recommended to only eat mushrooms bought from the supermarket, greengrocer or another reputable source.

“Unless you are an expert, do not pick and eat wild mushrooms.” Dr Christian McGrath said.

Wild mushrooms growing in home gardens should only be removed by wearing gloves, carefully placing them in a bag and disposing of them in a closed general waste (landfill) rubbish bin.

If you or anyone in your care may have eaten a poisonous mushroom, do not wait for symptoms to occur. Call the Victorian Poisons Information Centre immediately on 13 11 26 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) for appropriate advice.

If a person has trouble breathing, collapsed, is having a fit or is suffering an anaphylactic reaction, immediately call 000 for an ambulance. Do not call the Victorian Poisons Information Centre in an emergency.

If your pet has ingested a wild mushroom, contact the Animal Poisons Helpline on 1300 869 738 for advice.

More information on poisonous mushrooms is available on Better Health Channel.

Source: FairTrading New South Wales

What is the issue?

Death cap mushrooms

Death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) are extremely poisonous. Consuming just one mushroom can kill an adult. Symptoms usually commence 6 to 24 hours after ingestion with stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. These symptoms can then settle, giving a false sense of recovery, however the toxin will have entered the body’s circulation and started causing serious harm, particularly to the liver. Typically, 2 – 4 days after ingestion those severely poisoned will develop irreversible liver failure, often associated with kidney failure, that may ultimately result in death.

These mushrooms usually grow under oak trees and the caps are 40-160mm in diameter. The cap ranges in colour from pale yellow to green and olive brown and the ridges on the underside of the cap (gills) are white. The base of the stem has a membrane ‘cup’.

Yellow-staining mushrooms

The yellow-staining mushroom (Agaricus xanthodermus) is the cause of most poisonings due to ingestion of wild fungi in Victoria. Symptoms of yellow-staining mushroom poisoning include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. The severity of symptoms varies with the amount eaten.

This mushroom looks very similar to regular purchased mushrooms or ‘cultivated mushrooms’ (Agaricus bisporus) and to edible wild mushrooms such as the field mushroom (Agaricus campestris). In urban areas the yellow-staining mushroom is unfortunately much more common than edible mushrooms. It can grow in large troops in lawns and gardens, and when damaged, the cap and stem stain yellow, later fading to a brownish colour. The mushroom can also emit a chemical-like smell.

Who is at risk?

Anyone who collects and consumes wild mushrooms of unknown species is putting themselves at risk of potential poisoning and serious illness. Consuming a death cap mushroom may result in death.

Children should not touch wild mushrooms with their bare hands and animals should be kept away from them.

Pets can develop a range of illness from eating wild mushrooms including gastroenteritis-type syndrome to severe life-threatening disease and death. Dogs are more likely than cats to ingest mushrooms.

Recommendations

Unless you are an expert, do not pick and eat wild mushrooms in Victoria.

If you suspect you or anyone in your care may have eaten a poisonous mushroom, do not wait for symptoms to occur before seeking medical attention.

Contact the Victorian Poisons Information Centre immediately on 13 11 26 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Australia wide) for appropriate advice. This may include seeking treatment at a hospital emergency department. Keep a sample and a photograph of the mushroom that was consumed to share with the Victorian Poisons Information Centre for expert identification of the mushroom.

If you or anyone in your care has trouble breathing, collapsed, is having a fit or is suffering an anaphylactic reaction, immediately call 000 for an ambulance. Do not call the Victorian Poisons Information Centre in an emergency.

Pet owners should take particular care in areas where mushrooms may grow and where possible, remove any mushrooms from your garden before pets have a chance to eat them.

Remove any mushrooms growing in the home garden by wearing gloves, carefully placing them in a bag, and disposing of them in a closed general waste (landfill) rubbish bin.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Our CBR is the ACT Government’s key channel to connect with Canberrans and keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in the city. Our CBR includes a monthly print edition, email newsletter and website.

You can easily opt in or out of the newsletter subscription at any time.

Source: Australia’s climate in 2024: 2nd warmest and 8th wettest year on record

Bridget Brennan, Host: We’re joined now by the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, who’s in Adelaide. Good morning to you, Penny Wong, and congratulations.

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning, good to be with you and thank you. And I want to start by thanking your viewers for the opportunity and responsibility that’s been entrusted to us and we’re really conscious of what a privilege that is and we will work every day to repay the trust that Australians have shown in us.

Brennan: Seeing you up on the stage on Saturday night, there seemed to be an even more jubilant mood than 2022. Did the election result take you by surprise and what was the mood on Saturday night?

Foreign Minister: Well, it was pretty electric in the room and my family was there, which was lovely, and my daughters did say how loud it was. So, I don’t know whether you got a sense of that on the camera, but it was pretty loud when I got up on stage. It’s been a long time since, you know, a Prime Minister was re-elected. And it’s certainly been a long time, you know, since we’ve seen that kind of, that kind of emphatic decision. And it really showed, I think, that the Liberal Party doesn’t represent middle Australia. That’s really the clear message of the election result.

Brennan: Were you expecting seats into the 80s in the lower house?

Foreign Minister: Can I just say it’s at the upper end of my expectations, but I think if you look at the metropolitan electorates around the country, overwhelmingly, Australians who live in cities and suburbs looked at the Liberal Party and said, ‘you don’t represent my aspirations, you don’t reflect the things I’m worried about, you don’t reflect where I want to go.’ And you know that is the clear message from the election. As I said, we’re really humbled by and grateful for the opportunity and we understand what it means.

Brennan: Why do you think it appears Chinese-Australian voters swung towards the Labor Party again at this election? And what impact do you think your messaging had on WeChat, for example, in seats like Menzies?

Foreign Minister: I’ll leave others to the commentary about me, but I was out expressing the same thing I’ve been saying for a long time, which is that the Liberal Party’s approach to a whole range of issues are of concern to the Australian-Chinese community. I thought Jane Hume saying, asserting that Labor volunteers, Chinese volunteers were spies was an extraordinary thing to say. And it continued a pattern of comments and behaviour by the Liberal Party that Chinese Australians were rightly concerned by. And we did see in many seats in Bennelong, in Chisholm, in Menzies, in Reid and beyond, Chinese Australians being really clear about their views about the Liberal Party.

Brennan: You made the step of acknowledging country as you stepped onto the stage on Saturday night, which I’ve heard meant a lot to Aboriginal Australians after what had happened in the previous week. This is not a gotcha question about your comments on the Voice at all. I just would ask you to reflect on the media’s response to those comments where you had looked at a social issue that may take many decades to progress on reconciliation and acknowledgement of Aboriginal people and yet it was sort of used as a sort of gotcha moment in those final days of the campaign. Did that disappoint you?

Foreign Minister: Of course, look, it was an inaccurate beat up. But I think more importantly, what it did show Australians is that the reflex for the Liberal Party was to have a culture war and get very aggro, let’s be frank. Whereas most Australians weren’t there, most Australians wanted to talk about Medicare and schools and cost of living and tax cuts and fee-free TAFE and childcare and 20 per cent off their HECS debt. That’s where most Australians were. But the Coalition, yet again, their reflex is to have a culture war, which is often very hurtful to First Nations Australians, but more generally to people who care about reconciliation. So, I think it was a demonstration of why the Liberal Party has done so badly in Australia’s cities and suburbs.

Brennan: Overnight we’ve heard of tariffs on incoming films made outside of the United States into America. This could have a damaging effect on our industry here in Australia. What will be your message to the Trump administration on this decision?

Foreign Minister: Well, our message is we make great films together. We collaborate together. We’ve got Australian actors who work on American films. We have films, American films, which are filmed here in Australia. We have collaboration between our artists in the creative industries. The collaboration is a good thing. So, let’s not get in the way of that.

Brennan: And will you serve another term as Foreign Minister, Penny Wong?

Foreign Minister: I absolutely will. And I’m really looking forward to not only doing good things this term, but working in a government that has the capacity to be a really long-term Labor Government and change this country for the better.

Brennan: Alright, thanks for your time this morning.

Foreign Minister: Great to speak with you.

Source: Australia’s climate in 2024: 2nd warmest and 8th wettest year on record

Natalie Barr, Host: For more, we’re joined by Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Adelaide. Good morning to you.

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning, Nat. Great to be with you.

Barr: Let’s talk about these tariffs on the film industry. 100 per cent on films produced outside the US, that would be huge for films made in Australia. What can you do about it?

Foreign Minister: Look, I heard President Trump made some comments overnight about talking to the industry about the effect of it. We all know how many films we see made in Australia, made between Australian and American filmmakers. We know how many Australian actors are beloved by American audiences. So, we obviously will be pressing our view about this to the US Administration. But I do welcome the fact that the President has indicated he’s going to engage with the studios about it. You know, we want to be able to see films where you get both Aussie actors and American studios working together.

Barr: Yeah, because this is a $5 billion industry in Australia. We’ve seen pictures just yesterday of Owen Wilson, the Hollywood star, in Brisbane shooting a movie. It injects millions into this country and the flow on effect is huge. Thousands of jobs are tied to it. But he seemed pretty set on 100 per cent. That would wipe out films being made here.

Foreign Minister: And I think the issue is audiences in the US as well as in Australia like to see Australian actors. We know American films are also filmed here in Australia. You know, the Fall Guy, the Elvis film. So, the reality is that the industry is set up where we do cooperate together. So, we certainly will be engaging not just for the economic opportunity, which you point out it’s a big, it’s a big earner for Australia, but also because it’s a good thing for us to be working together on films, and on entertainment.

Barr: Okay, well, look, keep us posted and let us know how you go with Donald Trump.

Foreign Minister: I’ll do that, I’ll do that.

Barr: Thank you, Penny.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Source:

If a picture paints a thousand words, Buninyong – Mount Helen Fire Brigade’s new mural paints the whole story.

To kick off the brigade’s community open day late last year, there was an official handover of the Merryweather room, including a mural depicting the story of the brigade’s original historic late 19th century English-built Merryweather fire engine.

The Merryweather stands proudly in its own dedicated space facing one of the main thoroughfares in town in the brigade’s new purpose-built station in Buninyong. Thanks to financial support from Community Bank Buninyong and inspiration from the Buninyong Historical Society, the mural is displayed behind the Merryweather and ensures that the story of this majestic piece of firefighting equipment lives on.

The idea for the mural came from a montage of a Buninyong streetscape in the local Community House. After much thought, the brigade decided that this would be a beautiful way to ensure that the story of the Merryweather was brought to life for future generations to enjoy.

The Merryweather was operated by 26 people. With only 12 brigade members at the time, firefighters often relied on the help of bystanders to assist pumping. The fold-out arms moved in a see-saw motion, manually pumped by a group of people – four on each side in three rotations – to get water running through the hose.

The Merryweather, which was used from 1882 to the mid-1930s, attended fires pulled by a horse or by firefighters if the horse was unavailable or uncooperative.

With no hydrants or town water, water supply in Buninyong at the time was not plentiful so keeping the water supply up was a challenge. The brigade relied on wells and dams scattered around the township.

Sovereign Hill staff contributed to the restoration of this beautiful old fire engine in the 1990s by hand crafting wheel parts.

Submitted by	Irene Keating

Source: