When Alison Taylor’s father lost the ability to walk she had no idea an over-the-counter vitamin was to blame.
Ms Taylor told ABC Radio Melbourne her father was diagnosed with vitamin B6 toxicity — a condition that can cause peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage — after he was unknowingly consuming about 70 times the recommended daily intake for a man his age.
The 86-year-old was active and living independently until last year when Ms Taylor noticed the strength in her legs declining.
He was eventually admitted to hospital after losing the ability to walk.
“We took him to all sorts of different specialists. He’s had a number of consulting neurologists, he’s had MRIs, he’s had CT scans, everything you could think of to investigate why he was losing his mobility,” Ms Taylor said.
After a nine-week stint in hospital, Ms Taylor said one final test was carried out.
“They checked his B6 levels and to quote the doctor, ‘they were off the charts’,” she said.
double dose
Ms Taylor said about four years ago her father went to his GP where routine blood tests revealed he was deficient in B vitamins.
“[The GP] suggested he takes a mega-B supplement, so dad kept taking that,” Ms Taylor said.
“In his mega-B there were 50mg [of B6] and in his multivitamin there was also 50mg.”
Her father was also taking a magnesium supplement, which contained B6.
“Two of the breakfast cereals that Dad was eating everyday were fortified with B6,” she said.
The recommended daily intake of B6 is 1.7mg for men aged over 51.(ABC Health: Tegan Osborne)
Ms Taylor said it had been difficult watching her father decline.
“Twelve months ago he was driving. He’s now in aged care and in a wheelchair,” she said.
Her father has been in care for about six weeks to receive additional support and intensive physiotherapy to help rebuild his strength.
Ms Taylor said she was hopeful her father would start to regain his mobility in about six months’ time as his B6 levels returned to normal.
“There’s no suggestion he’ll start to walk as independently as he was before but potentially he won’t have to be in the wheelchair,” she said.
Condition rare but dangerous
RMIT University nutritional scientist and dietician Jessica Danaher said vitamin B6 toxicity was rare as excess B vitamins were generally flushed out by the body in the form of urine.
“However a toxic level could occur from taking too much B6 from supplements over the long-term,” Dr Danaher said.
“In rare cases, having a reduced kidney function as well as taking too much vitamin B6 may contribute to it gradually building up in the body.”
Dr Danaher said people generally received enough B6 through a “healthy and varied diet”.
“[It’s] found in a wide range of foods including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and lentils, seeds and nuts, whole grains, vegetables — especially green and leafy types — and fruits,” she said.
Those who consumed high levels of alcohol, had an overactive thyroid, or were taking contraindicated medications could be more likely to develop a deficiency.
A good diet should provide adequate B6 requirements.(Flickr: Jeremy Keith)
“If you are concerned about the levels of nutrients in your blood speak with your GP,” Dr Danaher said.
The Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) said it was aware of reports in Australia and overseas indicating peripheral neuropathy due to high levels of B6 consumption.
Products that contain more than 50mg are required to display a warning.
In 2020, the TGA said they were reviewing the problem, and the outcome might result in changes to the requirements for medication that contain B6.
DeSantis also accused Warren of not prosecuting criminals to the fullest extent of his powers as the state attorney of Hillsborough County.
“To take a position that you have veto powers over the laws of the state is untenable,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa surrounded by law enforcement.
The move by DeSantis, a Republican, to remove a Democrat twice elected by Hillsborough voters drew an immediate and sharp rebuke from Democratic state lawmakers and officials. Minority Leader Sen. Lauren Book said DeSantis was “behaving more like a dictator than ‘America’s governor.'” And Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, called Warren’s suspension “a politically motivated attack on a universally respected state attorney democratically elected to exercise prosecutorial discretion .”
“Ron DeSantis is a pathetic bully,” Fried said.
Warren called DeSantis’ action an “an illegal overreach that continues a dangerous pattern by Ron DeSantis of using his office to further his own political ambition.” DeSantis is running for reelection in November and is considering whether to run for president in 2024.
“In our community, crime is low, our Constitutional rights — including the right to privacy — are being upheld, and the people have the right to elect their own leaders — not have them dictated by an aspiring presidential candidate who has shown time and again he feels accountable to no one,” Warren said in a statement.
Warren is scheduled to hold a press conference at 4 pm ET to discuss a development in a 40-year-old cold case.
DeSantis said the decision to suspend Warren came after he directed staff to review whether any state attorneys in Florida had taken it “upon themselves to determine which laws they like and will enforce,” after watching prosecutors in other states decline to press charges for certain crimes. . That review led them to Warren, who has become a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform and overturning wrongful convictions.
“The governor should not have had to come to Hillsborough County and clean up our mess,” former Tampa police chief Brian Dugan said during the press conference. “That’s really what it comes down to.”
Under Florida law, a governor can remove “any county officer” for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony. The Florida Senate has the power to reinstate a suspended official or remove that person from office.
DeSantis appointed Susan Lopez to serve as state attorney during Warren’s suspension. I have previously appointed Lopez to circuit court judge in Hillsborough County. DeSantis told reporters that he did not speak to Warren ahead of the announcement.
Warren was first elected to state attorney in 2016, defeating a longtime Republican incumbent in a narrow race that predicted the bellwether Florida county’s leftward turn. He was reelected in 2020, winning a higher percentage of the vote in Hillsborough County than President Joe Biden.
During his first years in office, Warren kept a relatively low profile as he quietly modernized the office and adopted criminal justice reforms. In 2018, I have endorsed the reelection campaign of the county’s elected Republican sheriff, Chad Chronister, and often held press conferences with law enforcement. In turn, Chronister praised Warren in the months leading up to the Democrat’s campaign for a second term.
But Chronister hosted Thursday’s press conference at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and delivered a biting critique of Warren while standing next to DeSantis. (Chronister’s wife, Nicole DeBartolo, and father-in-law, Edward DeBartolo, a former NFL owner granted a presidential pardon by Donald Trump, have donated a combined $472,000 to DeSantis’ reelection campaign.)
Warren grew increasingly critical of DeSantis during the pandemic. Early in the coronavirus outbreak, he publicly bashed the governor’s decision to allow megachurches to operate in Florida just days after the arrest of a Tampa pastor who defiantly held in-person service. Later that summer, Warren announced he wouldn’t prosecute 67 people arrested in a protest following the death of George Floyd.
But it was Warren’s foray into the country’s political divide over transgender and abortion care that sparked Thursday’s action from DeSantis. Warren last year joined dozens of local and state prosecutors who signed onto a letter authored by the progressive organization Fair and Just Prosecution denouncing laws that criminalize doctors that provide gender affirming care for transgender people. After the US Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate constitutional protections for abortion, Warren signed another letter from Fair and Justice promising to use discretion not to use “limited criminal legal system resources” to prosecute those who seek, provide or support abortions.
The position on abortion put Warren at odds with a new state law that bans abortion in Florida after 15 weeks. DeSantis, who last year signed a ban on transgender girls and women participating in scholastic sports as a female, has also taken steps to ban gender affirming care for children, which he called on Thursday “literally chopping off the private parts of young kids.”
“Those are really, I think, egregious and again, it’s beyond just exercising discretion,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis has used his power to remove certain elected officials more than his predecessors. In one of his first actions by him as governor, DeSantis suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who oversaw the police response to the deadly mass shooting at a Parkland high school.
But past suspensions were a result of actions already taken by elected officials. Warren’s suspension is in part for actions yet to be taken. Notably, the state’s new abortion law is facing a legal challenge and one judge said it violated the state’s constitutional, though a higher court said otherwise.
“It spits in the face of the voters of Hillsborough County who have twice elected me to serve them, not Ron DeSantis,” Warren said.
While it’s not the most powerful console out there, the smaller and more affordable Xbox Series S has been a big hit for Xbox. But reportedly, some devs have felt the strain of getting bigger, more advanced games to work on the console and in response, Microsoft is freeing up some memory to help improve the tiny console’s performance.
As spotted by TheVerge, Microsoft is hoping to make the Xbox Series S a bit more powerful by freeing up some memory and letting developers access that extra memory if needed. In a video explaining this new developer-focused update, Microsoft says that it is unlocking “hundreds of additional megabytes of memory” and that this will, in theory, give studies more control over how to use the console’s limited memory. Microsoft says this “can improve graphics performance in memory-constrained conditions.”
To be clear, this isn’t like Microsoft quadrupling the power of the Series S. Nor is this Microsoft flipping some secret switch to let the console start running games at 8K and 240hz or anything wild like that. Instead, the amount of memory dedicated to non-gaming functions in the $US300 ($416) Series S is being tweaked.
While the more powerful Xbox Series X console has 16GB of RAM the cheaper Xbox Series S has only 10GB. But before this update, devs only had access to 8GB of that memory as Microsoft reserved around 2GB for the console’s OS. Now devs will have a few hundred extra megabytes of memory, which could help some games run a bit better moving forward.
The Xbox Series S has always been positioned by Microsoft as a cheaper, less-powerful, but still capable next-gen console option. And it’s proven to be a very popular piece of hardware since releasing alongside the beefier Xbox Series X in 2020. Hell, I already had an Xbox Series X and I ended up buying one. It’s become the main way we play games in our living room, perfect for Fall Guys and Fortnite. But for more intense games it can struggle, requiring cutting down on framerate or resolution. This has reportedly led to some issues and frustration from devs trying to get certain games running on the lesser machine.
A recent example of a game performing differently on Series S is the Evil Dead game, which launched without a 60fps performance mode on the cheaper machine. Resident Evil Village also limits the game to only 45fps at 1440p and 30fps if you turn ray tracing on.
Hopefully, a few extra bits and bobs of memory can help devs working on Xbox ports not feel as hamstrung by the weaker Xbox Series S.
Both writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and actor/producer Tom Cruise are hard at work filming “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two” right now. That hasn’t stopped them from making future plans though.
Speaking on the newest episode of the Light the Fuse podcast (via The Wrap), McQuarrie confirmed he is far from done working with Cruise with the pair already planning a post-‘Mission’ film together:
“It’s kind of under wraps. It has neither a fuse nor a fuselage. Oh that’s not true. It does have some fuselages. It’s something we’ve talked about for a really long time.
It’s way outside of what you’re used to seeing Tom do. It’s the kind of stuff I really love. It’s a little bit more in my wheelhouse. And yet it takes everything we’ve learned on this journey, which is making movies more and more about emotion and real emotional experiences.
That’s what you’re feeling when you’re watching ‘Top Gun’ – it’s me and Tom squeezing your adrenals for every emotion. Now we’re applying that to something that is gnarlier.”
McQuarrie and Cruise have been working colleagues for years now, the pair working in some capacity together on four “Mission Impossible” films, “Jack Reacher,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Mummy,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” and “Valkyrie”.
The pair will be seen again on screens in 2023 and 2024 with the release of the two “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” films.
England’s Commonwealth Games hockey match against Canada was marred by a wild fight — and one player was sent off after “choking” a rival during a fit of rage.
The hosts were leading the match in Birmingham 4-1 when the fight broke out, The Sun reports.
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An England player appeared to tackle a Canadian rival with his hockey stick before receiving a yellow card.
But a melee swiftly ensued between England’s Chris Griffiths and Canada’s Balraj Panesar in the aftermath.
Griffiths appeared to pull on Panesar’s stick, sending his opponent into a blind rage. Panesar lashed out by grabbing Griffiths’ shirt as the two men’s butted heads.
However, Panesar took things up a notch when he then took hold of Griffiths’ neck, appearing to choke the England ace momentarily.
Griffiths responded as such, grabbing Panesar’s shirt while shoving him away.
Players from both sides then stepped in to defuse the situation.
Griffiths picked up a yellow card for his troubles but Panesar did not get off as lightly. He was shown a straight red card for his actions on the pitch.
England took advantage of the extra man as they went 5-1 up almost instantly.
They then ended the game on a high, winning 11-2. The result means England will play Australia in the semi-finals.
This story first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Many a friendship has begun at the pub over a sherbet or two.
But for mates Andrew Morgan and Dave Wise, a chance meeting at the university bar led not only to a long friendship, but also the creation of Australia’s first drowned timber company.
It’s logging but with a big twist.
The pair extract dying logs from under the surface of Lake Pieman, which was dammed for hydropower in 1986, flooding Tasmania’s remote north-west forests.
Sometimes the logs are more than 20 meters deep
Andrew Morgan and David Wise had to invent an underwater harvester to extract the logs.(ABC Movin’ to the Country: Tim Noonan)
.
A time-consuming process
If you are scratching your head thinking, “If this is so genius, why hasn’t it already been done?”
It turns out extracting logs in tannin-stained, pitch-black water in freezing conditions in a remote part of the wilderness is a bit tricky.
For the Hydrowood lads it meant making up a lot of the processes themselves.
They invented a complex and robust underwater harvester, and had to find workers with unique skills, as well as maneuvering through a lot of red tape.
“We’ve definitely had some challenges,” Mr Morgan said.
“We had to do the feasibility study, design the equipment, build it, find our fantastic staff that run the operation, work out how to drive the timber, how to market it and keep it going into the market.”
It took three years from creating the concept to pulling up the first tree.
“I think one of the biggest learnings I’ve had, is business takes time,” Mr Morgan said.
“I think the media is to blame somewhat, in that those success stories that someone’s come up with an idea and sold it for x-gazillion dollars in a week. That’s not the real world.”
A chance flight
Like many great moments of ingenuity, necessity was the mother of invention.
The pair were forced to come up with a new business during the global financial crisis, when the major plantation companies they had been working for collapsed.
Up until that point, managing plantations on behalf of big companies had been the bulk of their bread and butter.
Mr Morgan said they lost all of their clients when those companies closed.
“We really needed to seek new sources of revenue and new clients,” he said.
They needed a new idea and as luck would have it, Mr Wise, a pilot, spotted it when he was flying out of the north-west one day.
Logging waste timber is expensive, and the final product costs up to 30 per cent more than a standard piece of timber.(ABC Movin’ to the Country: Tim Noonan)
“I saw the trees sticking out of the water and thought ‘Is that a potential resource?'” Mr Wise said.
“[We] had a look at what they were doing in Canada with the same use of drowned timbering, fundamentally in hydro lakes. Then we started looking at the feasibility of doing it in Tasmania, and nearly 10 years later, here we are.”
Taking on the controversy
Tasmania has a long history in the forest industry and was one of the pioneers in hardwood plantation development.
But harvesting native forests is controversial.
Mr Wise and Mr Morgan said that it was their point of difference: they use a product that would otherwise go to waste.
“It is deteriorating slowly underwater,” Mr Morgan said.
“This product’s been sitting here for 30 years, everyone else has looked at it and decided it had no value until we came along and had a crazy idea that we could actually salvage it.
“So yeah, it’s a waste product.”
Lake Pieman is located near the coast in Tasmania’s rugged north-west.(Supplied: Adam Gibson)
It is that story which has attracted a niche and lucrative market.
Companies are drawn to the sustainability as well as the beauty of the timber, which is getting harder to source.
It’s also why they charge a pretty penny.
“The timber that we’re pulling out is obviously more expensive than your standard terrestrial logs,” Mr Morgan said.
“It’s not a cheap process to pull them out. In general… it’s 20 to 30 per cent more expensive than a standard piece of timber of the same species.”
Demand for a ‘waste story’
Furniture designer Simon Ancher embraces using salvaged underwater timber in his designs.(ABC Movin’ to the Country)
Furniture designer Simon Ancher was one of their first clients and said his customers were increasingly asking questions about where timber was sourced and how.
“I think it’s really important,” he said.
“In this current climate change discussion and growing awareness around our consumption of resources and so forth, we really need to pride ourselves for the planet as much as for ourselves and be knowledgeable about where things come from and why.
“To make use of this lost resource in a really positive way — without cutting down old growth forests but actually just extracting it from this frozen state — is a fantastic story and really positive one in making the most of available resources.”
A table made from hydrowood has found itself at the heart of politics at Tasmania Parliament Square. (Supplied: Adam Gibson)
Mr Morgan said he sometimes marvels at how far his mate’s crazy idea has taken them.
“One minute I can be talking to a contractor, talking about harvesting a forest, the next minute I’m talking to a world-renowned designer,” he said.
To learn more about Hydrowood and other regional innovators, watch Movin’ to the Country on ABC TV, Fridays at 7.30pm or any time on ABC iview.
Four people were found dead on Thursday at two homes that were on fire in Laurel, Neb., a small city about 100 miles northwest of Omaha, the authorities said.
Just after 3 am Thursday, the authorities in the city of about 1,000 people received a call about an explosion in the 200 block of Elm Street, Col. John A. Bolduc, the superintendent of the Nebraska Highway Patrol, said at a news conference.
When the authorities arrived, they found a person dead inside the home, Colonel Bolduc said. As they were investigating, they received another call about another fire at a home three blocks away and found three people dead inside it, Colonel Bolduc said.
The names or ages of the victims were not released. The authorities were searching for a suspect and believed the deaths were the result of foul play, Colonel Bolduc said. He said he believed the two episodes were related.
“We have two fires with deceased people three blocks apart,” he said. “It would be a stretch to say there’s no connection, but it’s very early in the investigation.”
Larry Koranda, the Cedar County sheriff, did not immediately return phone and email messages. At the news conference, he called Laurel a tight-knit community where “everybody knows everybody.”
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla dataminers recently discovered files of an Iron Man skin that shoots a Unibeam from the chest. The skin is currently not available in Ubisoft’s digital store, but fans are hoping that it gets released sometime in the future.
The armor was found by an Assassin’s Creed dataminer named Pedder, who previously mined DLC information from the game files that later proved to be accurate. The YouTube videos show a red-and-yellow armor set that shoots a laser beam from the chest and a similar looking white variant. The Unibeam can be activated with the “Battlecry” ability in Valhalla. The pack also includes a mechanical raven, a mount, and two swords.
This isn’t the first time that Marvel-related Assassin’s Creed cosmetics have surfaced. Previously, Andy showed off a video of a Thanos skin called “Master of Elements.” This unreleased skin includes colorful gem-studded gloves that activate a different ability every few seconds. Some fans are a little disappointed Ubisoft hasn’t actually released any of these skins — or even confirmed their existence. Kotaku reached out to Ubisoft about whether or not these skins will be released, but was not able to obtain a comment at the time of publication.
A Marvel collab wouldn’t even be the most unusual crossover to appear in the Assassin’s Creed series. back when Origins was still getting updates, players could stumble upon a final-fantasy Easter egg in ancient Egypt. Iron Man’s robot mount may be a little out there for medieval England, but I’d say that the Chocobo mount was far more jarring to ride into the desert sands. Assassin’s Creed‘s Fortnite-ification continues.
Despite Ubisoft’s troubles with delays and cancellations, Valhalla has enjoyed a relatively robust release schedule. This spring, the publisher launched the major dawn of ragnarok expansion, which added a ton of Norse mythology quests to the already-massive open world RPG. Ubisoft has released a Valhalla expansion every year since the game’s initial release, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. So I’m not too bothered if the developers spend a little more time tweaking the skins that absolutely no one was even expecting from a viking game.
Marvel Studios has put a renewed focus on providing more representation in its projects across theaters and on Disney+. Studio president Kevin Feige has publicly confirmed on numerous occasions that the MCU intends to expand in this area, and the franchise is taking small steps forward in that regard for the Multiverse saga.
Phase 4’s final movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, will reportedly put Danai Gurira’s General Okoye into a same-sex relationship as the Wakandans find their own place in the world. Additionally, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez gave her long-awaited MCU debut, fully telling her story even though it got the movie banned in some countries around the world.
Rumors have even pointed to Marvel looking to cast its first non-binary character in next year’s iron heart, more representation of previously under-represented groups of people. Now, that news has been made official thanks to news surrounding the latest addition to the cast of this highly-anticipated Disney+ show.
Ironheart Casts MCU’s First Non-Binary Actor
Shea Coulee
Deadline revealed that Shea Couleé will join the cast of Marvel Studios’ iron heartwhich is set to release in Fall 2023.
The star’s addition to the Disney+ series makes them the first non-binary actor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe under Marvel Studios.
Couleé was a recent winner on RuPaul’s Drag Race, although their role in the series is currently being kept under wraps. They responded to the news on Twittersharing how excited they are “to be part of this amazing project” with Marvel Studios:
“BEYOND excited to be strutting out of the Werkroom right into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Words cannot express how excited I am to be a part of this amazing project! Acting was my first love, and I’m thrilled to be doing it again in such a big way!”
Couleé also took to Instagram to celebrate the announcement, noting how much they wanted to act is something they’ve always to do even before getting into the world of Drag:
“I’m trying to find the words to express the deep excitement I feel about this project. Acting was my first love long before Drag. So it only seems fitting to end my Drag Race journey and begin my acting career in the biggest way I could imagine. Stepping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been like stepping into OZ. ‘Ironheart’ is top to bottom going to be an absolutely STUNNING experience for the viewers, and I’m so humbled everyday that I get to work on set with some of the best and most dedicated artists in the industry. Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my journey, and I look forward to sharing the exciting new chapter with you all”
Marvel Making Progress with Representation
With only a couple of acting credits to their name thus far, iron heart will unquestionably be Shea Couleé’s breakout project after making a name for themselves on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The big question now is what specific role they will play, especially alongside such an impressive cast of co-stars backing up Dominique Thorne’s leading heroine.
Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s Alden Ehrenreich will take on his first MCU project after working with Lucasfilm, and In The Heights‘Anthony Ramos is set to reportedly make the first of numerous Marvel appearances in iron heart as well. With Couleé now bringing their own talents to the equation, iron heart should bring that same level of quality in its cast that fans have come to expect from the MCU over the years.
Filming for iron heart will continue over the next few months before its Fall 2023 release date, which falls directly between the marvels in July and Blade in November. While there may not be much more information about Couleé’s role or any other details about the cast before the end of the year, anticipation is building to see this MCU’s newest young heroine fully evolve into a power player.
iron heart is set to debut on Disney+ in Fall 2023.
Aabout 2,000 people live on Norfolk Island, an Australian external territory 1,400km off the coast of New South Wales. Remarkably, 10 of them – fully half a percent of the entire population – are currently in Birmingham representing the island at the Commonwealth Games. All 10 are participating in the one sport in Birmingham: lawn bowls.
A 35 square kilometer dot of land amid the vast Pacific Ocean, between New Zealand and New Caledonia, Norfolk Island was initially settled as a prison colony in the early 1800s. It was subsequently abandoned and remained uninhabited until 1856, when the community of descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers – having outgrown the Pitcairn Islands, another British territory in the Pacific – relocated to Norfolk. Many Norfolk Islanders today are descendants of these settlers.
Norfolk was governed from New South Wales for decades, and formally incorporated into Australia in 1913. In 1979 the islanders were granted limited self-government by federal authorities, with an elected assembly responsible for governance of Norfolk. This unusual status allows it to compete in the Commonwealth Games – which, unlike the Olympics, permit participation from certain non-state territories. Hence Norfolk Island joined the likes of the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man and Niue during the opening ceremony in Birmingham last week.
“Norfolk Island has participated in the Commonwealth Games since 1986,” explains the team’s chef de mission Sheryl Yelavich, an administrator at the local hospital. The island has competed at every Games since and won two bronze medals; the appearance in Birmingham is the island’s 10th Games. “We’re part of the 72 Commonwealth nations,” she says. “We’ve been in the Games before as an external territory of Australia – nothing has changed, it has remained the same.”
Norfolk Island bowling team member Carmen Anderson at a monument to mark the Women’s World Lawn Bowls Championships. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Nothing might have changed on the sporting front, but politically much has changed in recent years – making Commonwealth Games participation even more symbolically important for Norfolk Islanders. In 2015, self-government was abolished by the federal government, “to address issues of sustainability”, including financial difficulties, that had arisen. Since 2016, Australian laws have applied to the island and travel between Australia and Norfolk is considered domestic. The island is federally represented through the Australian Capital Territory; new-elected representative senator David Pocock visited recently.
The end of self-government remains a sore point. Some locals have advocated for Norfolk Island to break away from Australia and join New Zealand, which might allow greater autonomy (as it does with Niue and the Cook Islands). Norfolk residents have even petitioned the United Nations, represented by eminent barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC, seeking to be added to the body’s list of non-self governing territories, which have rights to self-determination under international law.
In a recent column, former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope criticized the reforms for returning the island to “what is, in effect, colonial status”. I have asked: “How long [does] the Commonwealth intend to deny the people of Norfolk Island a say in the governance of their community and the same democratic rights enjoyed by the residents of, let’s say, Canberra?”
Susie Hale, a school teacher on Norfolk and mother of Ellie Dixon, the youngest bowler on the team in Birmingham, says that the Games are an important opportunity to be represented as Norfolk Islanders. “To march under our flag and sing our anthem, when all other rights and liberties have been stripped from the Norfolk Island people, it’s one of very few opportunities when we get to publicly represent under our flag,” she says.
That’s particularly the case for descendants of the original Pitcairn settlers, who are represented in the team. “They’re very proud people and very proud to represent their club, their sport and their nation,” says Yelavich.
One Norfolk Islander to march under the flag in Birmingham was Shae Wilson, who bowled her way through to the semi-finals. Wilson, 23, is competing in her second Ella Games – she is considered a rising star in the Norfolk lawn bowls community. Back home Wilson works as an early childhood teacher. “I just do a few hours at the local bowling club in between,” she says.
The Norfolk Islanders march at the opening ceremony. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Wilson came up against an Australian opponent, Ellen Ryan, in the semi-final. In the Australia vs. Norfolk grudge match, Ryan stormed out to lead 9-0, before Wilson came back to level the score at 17-all. But a “loose end” from Wilson (bowls is scored first to 21) saw the Australian win through. While Wilson was not able to add a third medal to Norfolk’s all-time record, after losing to Malaysia’s Sita Zalina Abmad in the bronze medal decider, she reflected positively on the Games.
“I couldn’t quite finish it off, but I nearly got there,” she says. “It’s such a great opportunity to compete with people from around the world. And it puts our island on the map. Obviously we’re tiny, in the middle of the ocean, and a lot of people don’t know we exist. It’s amazing to represent our home.”
Back in Norfolk, locals have been delighted by the success of Wilson and strong performances from other bowlers. “It’s an absolute buzz,” says Phil Jones, who won bronze at the 2018 Games in the men’s triples but is not competing this time around. “The whole island is behind this team. Everyone is watching, listening, talking. It’s all about the Commonwealth Games here at the moment.”
Even in Birmingham (or, more accurately, Leamington Spa, where the lawn bowls are being held), the support from home is being felt. “Obviously we know everyone, so everyone is very excited for us,” says Wilson. “Everyone is so supportive back home.”
Jones, an elder statesman of the sport in Norfolk, attributes the island’s bowling prowess to the opportunities presented by the Games – in addition to the world championships and regional tournaments, like the Pacific Games, which also welcome the territory. “Everyone wants that opportunity to test themselves,” he says. “All of our players want to be in the [Commonwealth Games] team – they see what’s ahead of themselves, they put in the extra practice.” It helps them enjoy it, too. “There’s just a love of the game,” adds Yelavich.
Carmen Anderson in action in the women’s fours third round in Leamington Spa. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
The lawn bowls competition at these Games concludes on Saturday, but the Norfolk Island team are already looking ahead to the 2026 Games in Victoria. Norfolk Islanders have previously competed in shooting at the Commonwealth Games, but the sport was dropped from the roster for Birmingham. Efforts are underway to push for shooting to be reinstated in four years’ time, which would be a boost for the islanders. “We’ll just have to wait and see what the scheduled sports will be for those future Games,” says Yelavich.
While Norfolk’s political status hangs in the balance – Senator Pocock has said he will advocate for the islanders, and might use his power in the Senate to push for reform – the territory’s relative sporting success looks set to continue. Whatever happens politically, the lawn bowlers of Norfolk Island will be back at the next Commonwealth Games.
