Michael Smith

ACT top prosecutor says they might have to start turning away cases The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions says her office does not have enough funding to deal with an increasing annual caseload of more than 23,000 charges.

The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions says her office does not have enough funding to deal with an increasing annual caseload of more than 23,000 charges.

War torn Portland.
I am

Bid to boost $200k NDIS package rejected after AI use found The National Disability Insurance Agency warned about cut-and-paste medical reports. Throw artificial intelligence in and the results are even worse.

For all the students at the social work uni intensive who told me they now use AI at work to write up case reports:

NDIS participant’s bid for more support failed in part because two physiotherapists used AI to write letters used to back her claim to top up her package

www.afr.com/politics/bid...

Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale Funding is a silver lining in a tumultuous year for the Lebanese-Australian artist from western Sydney Creative Australia has awarded a $100,000 grant to artist Khaled Sabsabi, months after he was controversially dumped and then reinstated by the federal arts body as Australia’s representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale. The grant – one of 16 made under Creative Australia’s Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework – will fund the creation of a new body of work for a solo exhibition opening in March 2027 at Adelaide’s Samstag Museum of Art, which will also include Sabsabi’s Venice Biennale work. Continue reading...

Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale

Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale Funding is a silver lining in a tumultuous year for the Lebanese-Australian artist from western Sydney

Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

"People in the crowds repeatedly asked the freed captives if they had seen their loved ones, still missing in detention. Families often had no idea if their relatives had been detained..."

Thanks to @dropsitenews.com news for doing what western media rarely does:
treat Palestinians with humanity.

#ABC Middle East correspondent Matt Doran says Israel has been throwing tear gas at crowds gathering to greet freed Palestinian hostages in Gaza & demanded “they weren't to congregate, they weren't to celebrate the moment those Palestinians were released from Israeli jails”

Listening to @abcnews radio news on the release of "Israeli hostages" and "Palestinian prisoners" and the "end of the war" and I'm really sick to death of this whitewashed pro-Israel biased shit that is genocide denial and dehumanizes Palestinians. #auspol #GazaHolocaust

this is an incredibly ominous beginning to a future with a largely carved out federal emergency response system

So is ABC or any media going to show us or spk to any Palestinians who are miraculously still alive after 2yrs of daily bombings by Israel? Seems pretty one sided at the moment. Palestinians wrongly held captive by Israel are also being released today, barely a mention.

Israel has committed genocide. There is no more serious crime under international law. Culpability does not fade simply because there is now a ceasefire agreement, in the same way that a serial killer wouldn't be pardoned if they simply stop killing. There must be consequences.

Evidence the oral stories of Australia’s First Nations might be 10,000 years old Stories from Australia's First Nations tell of a time when the islands and reefs that dot the coastline were connected to the mainland. By analysing ancient sea levels, Professor Patrick Nunn believes...

geologist Patrick Nunn and linguist Nick Reid on Aboriginal oral histories verified by white science.

www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-...

This could have been Australia, but thanks to John Howard, Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison, the Minerals Council and the BCA, we wasted nearly 20 years subsidising gas and coal instead. What a waste.

queensland's coal extensions

Wow, way worse than I expected. Way, way worse. All these extra years of coal-fired power generation in QLD will directly cause a massive number of avoidable deaths and harm to people, and destroy huge swathes of nature.

Why isn't there more anger?

www.treasury.qld.gov.au/files/Queens...

Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC)Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC) 8,856 followers8,856 followers 2h • Edited • 2 hours ago • Edited • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn Congratulations to Treasurer and Minister for Energy David Janetzki on today’s release of the Queensland Energy Roadmap - a pragmatic and significant milestone balancing energy reliability with the need to unlock private capital to accelerate large-scale renewable investment. At its core, the message is clear - Queensland needs more new energy investment. Key steps include: - A QIC Investor Gateway to provide a clear front door for new energy investment. - A $400m Queensland Energy Investment Fund - A coal closure decision matrix to guide transition planning - Clarity on CopperString’s Eastern Link, returning to the original 330kV specification and setting the foundation for significant renewable investment for decades. - A $200m North West Energy Fund to connect renewables to resources around Mt Isa and Cloncurry, a partnership approach to deliver flexible, firming solutions and place downward pressure on regional energy prices - Certainty for Gladstone, with transmission support ensuring the 2029 Power Station closure is underpinned by new renewable capacity - A shift from Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) to Regional Energy Hubs (REH) while keeping focus on cost-efficient shared transmission It was great to hear the Treasurer recognise the critical leadership of regional councils, including Western Downs Regional Council and Flinders Shire Council - a strong signal that Queensland’s energy transformation will be built with our regions, not just in them. View QREC media release: https://lnkd.in/gtcdsZBd View Queensland Government’s media statement: https://lnkd.in/gJ7QSmhA View the Queensland Energy Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gigRbXNX

indescribably bad. The renewable energy lobby actively celebrating a plan that'll massively extend coal-fired power output by decades.

WHAT A COOL TIME WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW

David McBride loses last-ditch effort to overturn conviction The former military lawyer was sentenced to five years and eight months in jail after sharing classified material with journalists in a case that has raised debate about whistleblower laws.

The former military lawyer was sentenced to five years and eight months in jail after sharing classified material with journalists in a case that has raised debate about whistleblower laws.

Australia must ‘have the guts’ to stand up to Japanese companies reselling gas for profit, Husic says Labor backbencher is calling for drastic intervention to secure supplies for the east coast

Pity he didn’t have the guts to say this when he was Industry Minister. #auspol

NEW: Palestinians moving back towards Gaza City are being fired upon.

Israeli forces say the ceasefire does not exist until the government votes for it.

At least 8 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since dawn.

(🎥 Al Jazeera)

When normal people get a ceasefire agreement they think "Good, this means we can finally stop fighting and killing." Whenever Israelis get a ceasefire agreement they go, "This means we have to hurry up and kill as many people as possible before it takes effect."

Labor of course do not need one single vote of the LNP to pass any laws, so they are choosing to make the laws weaker.

We're meant to have these things called the Australian Federal Police and also the National Anti-Corruption Commission who are both certainly authorised to act in the scenario where a government department is recovering >$3.5m a year in fraud without even really actively looking.

As an instructor, I'd rather see your fever dream, No Doze-fueled 4AM essays written at an IHOP rather than anything generated by an LLM.

Hope this helps

they look ready for elevensies

I'm sorry but it's just plain hilarious that we're still expected to hate Hamas after spending two years being shown exactly what it is that Hamas has been fighting.

The NPC has absolutely shamed itself.

I rang DFAT, seeking information about Dr Bianca Webb-Pullman, the doctor we interviewed a few weeks ago on The Shot from the Sumud Flotilla. Here's how that call went.

www.instagram.com/reel/DPfWiYg...

2025 Sydney Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Lecture 2025 Sydney Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Lecture

@sydneypeace.bsky.social The 2025 Sydney Peace Prize honours Judge Navi Pillay, former UN Human Rights Chief, at Sydney Town Hall on 6 Nov.
Chris Sidoti, Rawan Arraf, Mohamed Duar, host Nour Haydar & the NSW Public Schools Aboriginal Dance Company.
#SydneyPeacePrize #PeaceWithJustice #HumanRights

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

#RealHeroes.

De Brouwer made the exact same argument two years ago after the Robodebt Royal Commission report was delivered. This is how I treated it in Mean Streak: "Grow up."