Australia

Apparently it’s legal to film peoples genitals without consent and share it online.

As usual, 26 January has been marked by protests, denunciations of those protests, and further iterations. Even apart from the fact that it marks an invasion, the foundation of a colony that later became one of Australia’s states isn’t much of a basis for a national day.

A worthy recipient of Australian of the year and a great warrior in the fight against the beast that is MND ( also known as ALS)

Speed kills. It’s the message that we’ve had driven home for decades by law enforcement and the government. But it’s time to have a serious discussion about speed limits in Australia without the hysterics and put some cold, hard facts into the debate.

In short:

Police are investigating a vandalism attack on 20 bronze statues of Australian prime ministers in Ballarat.

The heads from the busts of former Labor leaders Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating were severed and stolen.

What's next?

The sculptor who created the busts says plaster moulds are available to recreate the statues.

I thought this article was interesting, in that I am immediately suspicious of the motives of some of people quoted. The conclusion runs counter to what I want to be true, and I'm curious what other people make of it.

Also men: Do you actually feel attacked? I'm not sure I've ever seen someone criticised for like being strong and capable, or a good carpenter, or a protective dad or whatever. Is this a real thing? or just something that is used as cover like the traditional values vs violent misogyny terminology.

P.S. Thinking there are hordes of ravenous cancellers waiting in the wings is extremely funny to me. Not exactly beating the allegations that listening to Jo Rogan damages your perception of reality.

"A provocative act by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has stolen the limelight – again – at a morning tea with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for recipients of the 2025 awards.

The 2021 winner wore a “F*** Murdoch” T-shirt when she was greeted by Mr Albanese and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, at The Lodge in Canberra on Saturday.

The PM and Ms Haydon smiled and greeted Ms Tame, but there was no visible reaction to the incendiary statement on her shirt." https://michaelwest.com.au/from-side-eye-to-show-stopper-as-tame-stuns-pm/

I thought this bit made an excellent point

non archived link

It was around this time in 2020 that the US was helping Australian firefighters with a catastrophic surge of blazes during what became known as their Black Summer. If the same thing happens this year, both governments will be in an impossible situation.

Maybe not this year but one year soon this WILL happen. We voters aren't taking any of this seriously, so neither are our politicians... be prepared.

After literally going through Black Summer (fire all around us), we moved to a place of zero bushfire risk in rural Tasmania. Even smoke triggers my partner who fought in those fires for 4 months, no pay. Hard to pay the bills

I guess what we need is nuclear submarines /s

What is going on in Sydney??

A childcare centre in Sydney was set alight early morning on Tuesday and antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on the wall, authorities said, the latest in a spate of attacks in Australia targeting the Jewish community.

The childcare centre, located near a Jewish school and synagogue in the city's east, suffered extensive damage but there were no reports of injuries in the attack which occurred around 1 a.m. (1400 GMT, Monday), police said.

It was the second antisemitic attack on property in four days in Sydney, and comes amid a spate of similar crimes targeting the Jewish community in Australia's most-populous city.

Perhaps a bit off topic, but I just learnt that apparently Australia Post accepts requests from landlords/body corporates to have parcel lockers installed (and they can be restricted to just people that live in the building)!

It's also free of charge to the building owner(s)/body corporates, and maintenance/installation/site surveying is all handled and managed by Australia Post.

Obviously, having one of these installed in a private building for residents/workers would be contingent on your landlord and/or owners corporation/body corporates giving a shit, having space, and being willing to install one, but if anybody here has such sway, I'd strongly suggest seeing if you can make it happen.

Parcel lockers are very convenient, and if you aren't home for deliveries that require signatures or can't be left, they'll also often put them inside a parcel locker instead of taking them to a post office

(Yeah, I realise the percentage of people on aussie.zone who own an entire apartment building is probably quite low, but I'd hazard a guess that a few people either own apartments (so can badger the owners corporation), or rent (so can badger the landlord), assuming the LL/OC would care. But since it doesn't require any installation or maintenance costs, and can be restricted to just building residents, so wouldn't raise a security concern, I don't see why anybody would be vehemently opposed to it)

In short:

Regional and rural Australians say their ability to make phone calls has dramatically reduced since the 3G network was switched off in October.

Telstra and Optus shut down 3G to boost the 4G and 5G networks, claiming customer coverage would benefit as a result.

What's next:

The federal government says there may be a need for regulatory intervention if the situation does not improve.

whereas in America it's really bad.

Good evening, #mastoart #mastophoto

This is #ThrowbackThursday #travelphotography #fotografie #photography

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@Roentare
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You can find the original here

https://roentare.zenfolio.com/p484774275/e1088862f

A rare Sun-skirting comet will be visible from the southern hemisphere this week as it flies past Earth for the first time in around 100,000 years.

Post some pics Lemmy Aus users as they come in!

A $10 billion cyclone and flood reinsurance pool was set up in 2022, in a bid to bring down home and business insurance premiums in northern Australia

The big question that really needs answering is: How do we move people away from areas that are disaster prone?"

The former shows why the latter is impossible. Quite the opposite of encouraging people to move away, it allows people and local authorities to be lackadaisical about climate enhanced risk.

This segues to another recent article

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-14/queensland-severe-heatwave-weather-storms/104813982

The air conditioner is going 24/7," she said. . "The last two years it's been a hell of a lot hotter," she said.

Yes, once again the former making it worse. Those that can't afford AC (6-7 billion or so around the workd?) can just die ?

It's seems that's all we do, make it worse.