From Out The Dark
Well then, it had to begin again, he had to go back to the source. The country had returned to some sort of normality after the Covid years, although crushed, disengaged, and going quietly, or not so quietly, about their own lives, there was little to recommend what was happening here. The politics were putrid. Albo, the "Liar in the Lodge" as the Liberals were trying to brand him, wearing a pink hat in the seat of Dunkley for another event for women's cancer, was drifting further and further into disrepute. Although, despite their best efforts, he did not appear to have suffered in the polls for his deceit over the Stage Three Tax Cuts.
Petrol had just soared over $2 a litre.
Nobody had much money. But still we forged on. A million extra people in under two years, that was the stat that got to him.
And hiding in the undergrowth, staring out from hidden wells, basking in sunlight, making efforts to return to the real world, in this realm, another realm, a place where we could bask and be happy, a journey barely begun, a place to lie and cry, a place to not be formidable, to simply hide in the shade and amongst the leaf litter, a place to be born again, a struggle into the atmosphere, a warning sign, a place where he wanted to grow into a new person, and everywhere, this peculiar chaos. Talk of World War Three, WWIII, was everywhere; but also far away, or far from here.
He hadn't always been happy here. He hadn't wanted to be here; away from stumbling from one crisis to another, away from high conflict, away from the massive excitements and pressure of city life, from the internal despair and the walkways through ruined buildings.
While Stephen, who he had known since the 1970s, faced death in his own quiet alcove. The cancer was next to his heart and in his liver.
And we have the nerve to complain. It was over. He had attracted unwanted attention from some of the darkest and most corrupt elements of the day; and they, their vicious tongues, their amorality, their brutish force, their own hatred would catch them round the other side. And karma, simple old fashioned karma, would do them in before their assigned death date, their coffins lowered into the ground, their lack of thought and morals curling into their own demise. Goodbye. Good riddance. Leave me alone. Let only the good and true enter here.
AUSTRALIAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA
THE SPECTATOR
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has come under fire after the New York Times broke the story that twelve UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October massacre in which Hamas terrorists murdered around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli and some foreign civilians.
The revelations are based on detailed intelligence reports that tracked the employees’ cell phones to sites where Israeli civilians were killed as well as documents recovered from Hamas terrorists, both living and dead.
The NYT’s scoop was followed up by the Wall Street Journal which reported that 10 per cent of UNRWA staff (1,200 employees) are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad or have ties to those organisations, and about half the employees have a close relative who is a member of one of the two groups, both of which are designated terrorist organisations.
According to intelligence reports on which the newspaper reports are based, almost a quarter of UNRWA’s male employees have ties to Hamas. This is a higher percentage than in the general population where about 15 per cent of adult males are linked to Hamas. This might explain why UNRWA says at least 152 of its employees have been killed in the conflict – were they Hamas fighters rather than civilians fleeing the battle?
THE NEW DAILY
Anthony Albanese’s decision to redistribute the stage-three tax cuts in favour of lower-income earners has done little to harm Labor’s lead over the Coalition in the latest Newspoll.
The survey of 1245 voters conducted between January 31 and February 3 for The Australian newspaper found that almost two in three voters (62 per cent) believe the PM had done the right thing despite only 38 per cent believing they would be better off.
Only 29 per cent objected to the amendments, which are expected to be introduced on July 1 after legislation is approved.
Published on Sunday night shortly before Parliament returns for the first time in 2024, the survey revealed that Labor retains a 52-48 lead over the Peter Dutton-led Coalition on a two-party-preferred basis.
ABC
In short: A group of up to 50 people confronted police members participating in the Midsumma Pride March in St Kilda. Police said paint was thrown at their members who were also threatened.
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said he didn't know what the group was protesting. But protesters said police shouldn't be allowed to participate in the event given why people began protesting in the 1970s.
What's next? A 34 year-old man has been arrested in relation to an assault that police allege took place near the marching police contingent.
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has labelled the actions of a group of protesters who confronted police at the annual Midsumma Pride march as "abhorrent".
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, who participated in the march, called the group of up to 50 people "an ugly rabble". He said there was a premeditated decision to throw paint at police participating in the event in St Kilda.
"We were subjected as we went along to threats, calling us killers. There was paint thrown at police, there were paint bombs thrown at police – which landed on police officers," Chief Commissioner Patton said.
THE GUARDIAN
Homeless Australians are dying at 44 on average in hidden crisis
Exclusive: Guardian Australia investigation lifts the veil on shocking life expectancy gap and the system failures fuelling deaths
Christopher Knaus Chief investigations correspondent
Sun 4 Feb 2024 16.00 CET
Hundreds of Australians experiencing homelessness are dying more than 30 years prematurely in a nationwide crisis fuelled by despair, critical housing shortages, a breakdown in health provision, violence on the streets and failures of the justice system.
A 12-month Guardian Australia investigation identifying and examining more than 600 cases has found people experiencing homelessness are dying at an average age of 44, a shocking life expectancy gap that experts say is worse than any other disadvantaged group in the country.