Australia

Workers who leave the head office to buy a cup of coffee are costing an Australian mining firm too much money, according to its boss.

Managing director of Mineral Resources Chris Ellison said during a financial results presentation on Wednesday he wants to "hold staff captive all day long".

"I don't want them leaving the building," he said.

The head office in Perth has a restaurant, nine staff psychologists, a gym, and other facilities designed to encourage staff to stay in the office. "We have a lot of different benefits that we have brought on," said Mr Ellison, whose company has a strict "no work from home policy". "Why have I done that? Because when I get them first thing in the morning, I want to hold them captive all day long. I don't want them leaving the building.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2310833

Australia said Pacific Island leaders meeting at a summit in Tonga endorsed a contentious regional policing plan Wednesday, a move seen as trying to limit China's security role in the region.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders had agreed to establish up to four regional police training centres and a multinational crisis reaction force.

Under the plan, a corps of about 200 officers drawn from different Pacific Island nations could be dispatched to regional hot spots and disaster zones when needed and invited.

"This demonstrates how Pacific leaders are working together to shape the future that we want to see," said Albanese, hailing the agreement.

He was flanked by leaders of Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Tonga -- a symbolic show of unity in a region riven by competition between China and the United States.

[...]

China's regional allies -- most notably Vanuatu and Solomon Islands -- had voiced concern that the policing plan represented a "geo-strategic denial security doctrine", designed to box out Beijing.

[...]

Australia and New Zealand have historically been the region's go-to security partners, leading peacekeeping missions in Solomon Islands and training in Nauru, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Policing, however, has increasingly become a cornerstone of Beijing's efforts to build Pacific influence.

China tried and failed to ink a region-wide security pact in 2022, but has since been plying some under-resourced Pacific police forces with martial arts training and fleets of Chinese-made vehicles.

Australia and longtime ally the United States were caught napping in 2022 when China secretly signed a security pact with Solomon Islands -- the details of which have not been made public.

China now maintains a small but conspicuous police presence in Solomon Islands, sending a revolving cadre of officers to train locals in shooting and riot tactics.

The new theme seems deadset on replacing content with whitespace, driving my father in particular mad (he's having more luck finding Australian news on DW than the ABC right now; and he is sore that he has to hunt for the "Science" news category now in menus).

Not sure how long they'll keep the ?future=x flag available, but for now it gives you about double the number of articles per page.

Up! Up! Coles' annual profits are up to $1.1 billion.

And to think the Reserve Bank still acts as though inflation and the cost of living crisis is due to wages (below the rate of inflation) or consumer spending, rather than corporate profiteering.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/27/coles-reports-8-surge-in-annual-profit-to-11bn-amid-cost-of-living-crisis

@australia #news #politics #finance #business #auspol #coles #woolworths #capitalism #auspol

We were dismayed to see no Australians on the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century – so, with the help of 50 experts, we created our own, all-Australian list. You can have your say, too!

Former staff members at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have accused the rights group of mistreating them over their pro-Palestine views.

"In one instance, I was informally cautioned by a senior official for using the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ on my personal social media," said Badge's letter.

"Similarly, I was informally reprimanded for summarising a UN press release on the situation of women and girls in Gaza."

Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October there has been a public outcry from pro-Palestine campaigners over what they say is "censorship" across Australia's institutions.

On Sunday August 23rd 1851 a hard fought riot broke out in Sydney. Whilst such disturbances were common place at the time this particular riot is interesting in that it was sparked by the arrest of a sailor for wearing women's clothing, was led by military men and involved attacks on a number of police watch-houses. Despite police and newspaper reports of the incidents being confused and often contradictory the riot tells us much about attitudes of Sydney's population towards cross dressing, police and the law.

Now why they ask people like Gina Rinehart to present a 'defence and economic blueprint' is anyone's guess.

Until late last month, beekeepers who sold the rare native honey, which retails for up to $500 per kilogram, were operating in a grey area and did not have the law on their side.

On July 22, it finally gained Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) approval.

"Originally our honey didn't meet the current standard that was written for honey bee honey. It was more watery, the pH was different," committee chair Dean Haley said.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2131571

Australian Senators said UN Resolution 2758 does not establish the People's Republic of China's sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the UN.

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Canberra has heaped praise on Australia after the Senate passed a bipartisan motion criticising China's attempts to use a 50-year-old UN resolution to claim Taiwan as part of its territory.

China's government has consistently tried to use UN Resolution 2758 — which recognises the People's Republic of China as the "only legitimate representative of China to the UN" — to advance its claim that it has sovereignty over the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

It has also repeatedly claimed that Australia accepts that Taiwan is merely a province of China, an argument which Australia rejects.

Under the agreement signed by both countries when they established diplomatic ties Australia recognised the PRC as the sole government of China but only "acknowledged" China's claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/24046152

Today, the 22nd of August 2024, marks 100 days since army lawyer David McBride was imprisoned in Canberra for exposing war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan.

David stood up for truth and integrity, yet now he endures death threats and solitary confinement, while those responsible remain free.

This is not how we should treat our whistleblowers in Australia! ⚖️

Demand justice! 📢 Take Action:

• Contact Mark Dreyfus or your local MP today to express your support for David.

• Create and share a social media post or a short video using the hashtag #SpeakUp4McBride to spread the word.

• Donate to support David’s legal appeal to help get him out of jail: https://chuffed.org/project/davidmcbride

• Hang the provided poster in a high-visibility location, take a photo, and share it online to encourage others to join the movement.

• 👍 Like, 💬 comment, and ↪️ share this message!

#FreeMcBride. #Justice4Afghanistan.