Month: August 2022

Categories
Sports

Caroline Wilson blasts Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s apology after local footy outburst

Caroline Wilson blasts Richmond coach Damien Hardwick's apology after local footy outburst

AFL journalist Caroline Wilson has taken aim at Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s apology after his outburst at a local footy game two weekends ago.

Hardwick was watching the Tigers VFL side dominate Williamstown in a 10.14 (74) to 2.7 (19) thrashing but took umbrage at an on-field incident between the Seagulls’ Darby Henderson and Richmond’s AFL-listed player Rhyan Mansell.

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Hardwick allegedly called Williamstown players “weak f***ing pricks” during the contest at Punt Road Oval but was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Hardwick fronted up and apologized for the incident.

“I understand in my position I’ve got to be better than that,” Hardwick said last Thursday, speaking for the first time about the incident.

“I’ve got to be probably judged to a higher standard, and I understand that. What I will ask is that (people remember) I am human.

“I’m going to make mistakes and there’s no doubt that I overstepped the mark.”

Hardwick added: “I probably didn’t need to lean over the fence and yell but that’s me.

“What makes me good makes me bad.”

He also said he had not been sanctioned by Richmond or the AFL but had received a scalding from his mum Pam.

“It’s funny how you’re still scared of your mother at the age of 49,” he joked.

But the apology got Wilson’s nose out of joint and she took aim on Footy Classified on Monday night.

“Damien Hardwick is not the first AFL coach to behave badly at the footy and then make a half-hearted apology,” she said.

“But that doesn’t excuse the Richmond coach’s disappointing effort five days ago.

“Damien’s abusive tirade issued at Williamstowns’s Darby Henderson did have a touch of Alastair Clarkson about it. And like Clarko and Mick Malthouse and Luke Beveridge also demonstrated a similar unwillingness to take full responsibility.

“’What makes me good makes me bad’, he said, ‘I need to be better’. And again to soften the blow he invoked the spirit of a woman in the family, mother Pam seems to be the new Mrs Hardwick.”

Wilson was referring to Hardwick’s penchant for mentioning his ex-wife “Mrs Hardwick” in press conferences, before the pair split up.

She added: “But Damien, as a national sporting leader, a renowned and championed statesman of the game, we do hold you to a higher standard and you do need to be better.

“No one expects perfection, but on this occasion an unmitigated apology would have been a lot better.”

The comments sparked some discussion on the panel, as Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes defended Hardwick.

“It’s a harsh one. I think you’re being a bit hard on him. What more did you need from his apology for him there? Cornes asked.

Wilson: “’I absolutely did the wrong thing, nobody should abuse players and swear at players at the football. As a premiership coach I, of all people, shouldn’t do that’.”

Corners: “Didn’t he say that? He said ‘I need to be held to a higher account than the other people’.”

Wilson: “’But my mum got mad at me and I’m still scared of my mum’? Who is he? Scott Morrison? Seriously, that was not good enough.”

Corners: “I think you are being a bit harsh. I think that is not a serious offence.”

Wilson: “He is a champion coach, just off the back of a brilliant performance, people need to properly apologise. He has been told he had to apologise, he should have either refused or not apologised.”

Corners: “I took that as a heartfelt apology.”

Another narrative has emerged over the future of the three-time premiership coach. Hardwick has been at the helm of Richmond since 2010 and questions have been asked about whether 13 years is enough.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd asked if Wilson would “move on from him” if she had the choice.

“I separate Damien Hardwick the coach and some of the other stuff,” Wilson said.

“I think like Alastair (Clarkson), and he also, as we know, he is also a champion coach, he did some terrible things in bad behavior off the field, junior footy game with a Port Adelaide supporter, punching a wall, swearing at journalists and Luke Beveridge as well.

“It’s not good enough. Apologies make the world go round and set examples to young people about how they should behave.”

Read related topics:Scott Morrison

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Categories
Australia

‘Confusing’ roundabout tops list of worst intersections in regional Western Australia

Roundabout

It has been dubbed Western Australia’s worst roundabout and authorities say traffic lights will not fix it.

A survey of WA drivers by peak motoring body RAC WA found the intersection of Albany Highway and Chester Pass Road in the south coast city of Albany was the riskiest in regional WA.

The “big roundabout” topped the poll of more than 10,000 drivers for the worst junction for the second time.

Respondents said a confusing layout made the busy roundabout, which joins five roads, difficult to negotiate.

Main Roads Great Southern manager Andrew Duffield on South Coast Highway.
Main Roads Great Southern manager Andrew Duffield.(ABC Great Southern: John Dobson)

The RAC recommends traffic lights for the roundabout, which would be the first installed in Albany.

Main Roads Great Southern regional manager Andrew Duffield said over five years there had been 180 crashes at the roundabout, with 91 per cent property damage only.

“The roundabout is one of the busiest intersections in the state, carrying 50,000 vehicles per day,” he said.

“If you do have a crash, that’s typically a property-damage-only crash.”

Mr Duffield said it would be difficult to install traffic lights at the intersection and Main Roads had no plans to do so.

“Traffic signals are not a suitable solution at this instruction due to the limited stacking distance available within this roundabout,” he said.

Tourist highway named worst

South Western Highway between Bunbury and Walpole was listed as the worst section of road due to narrow roads, lanes and bridges, lack of overtaking lanes, and tight curves and blind bends.

Three of the top 10 worst intersections were listed on the busy Forrest Highway, which links Perth with the South West region.

RAC WA spokesperson Will Golsby said the survey would help amplify calls for improved safety on regional roads.

“Someone is killed or seriously injured on our roads every five hours,” he said.

“More than 60 per cent of the state’s road fatalities occur in regional WA, despite it being home to just 20 per cent of the population.”

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Categories
US

Democrats Seek Testimony on Secret Service Texts, Alleging Cover-Up

Democrats Seek Testimony on Secret Service Texts, Alleging Cover-Up

WASHINGTON — Two influential House Democrats called on Monday for two officials at the Department of Homeland Security’s independent watchdog to testify to Congress about the agency’s handling of missing Secret Service text messages from the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, accusing their office of engaging in a cover-up.

In a letter sent Monday to Joseph V. Cuffari, the agency’s inspector general, the heads of two congressional committees said they had developed “serious new concerns about your lack of transparency and independence, which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office.”

The letter from Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, and Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, renewed a demand the pair made last week that Mr. Cuffari step aside from the investigation. It also called for two of his office’s top employees to testify this month.

The inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was the latest turn in a drama over what became of text messages sent and received by Secret Service agents around the time of the Capitol riot.

Mr. Cuffari last month informed the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that the messages had been erased, suggesting that it occurred as part of a device replacement program, and that the department had ceased looking into what became of them because they were the subject of a criminal investigation. He has said those whose messages were missing included agents who were part of former President Donald J. Trump’s security detail.

In the letter on Monday, Ms. Maloney and Mr. Thompson, who also leads the Jan. 6 panel, wrote that their committees had obtained “new evidence” that Mr. Cuffari’s office had “secretly abandoned efforts to collect text messages from the Secret Service more than a year ago.” They added that his office “may have taken steps to cover up the extent of missing records, raising further concerns about your ability to independently and effectively perform your duties as inspector general.”

The lawmakers’ letter cited reporting from CNN that the inspector general learned in May 2021 — seven months earlier than previously revealed — that the Secret Service was missing critical text messages.

The letter also stated that the committees had learned that Mr. Cuffari’s office was notified in February that text messages from Chad Wolf and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the top two political officials at the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 6, 2021, could not be accessed. They added that the inspector general was also aware that Mr. Cuccinelli was using his personal phone from him and also failed to collect messages from that device.

Mr. Wolf wrote on Twitter that he “complied with all data retention laws and returned all my equipment fully loaded to the Department. full stop. DHS has all my texts, emails, phone logs, schedules, etc. Any issues with missing data needs to be addressed to DHS.”

Since then, the lawmakers have raised questions about not just the missing text messages but why Mr. Cuffari did not alert Congress sooner or take steps to retrieve them earlier.

The committees obtained a July 27, 2021, email from Thomas Kait, a deputy inspector general, stating that “we no longer request phone records and text messages from the USSS relating to the events on January 6th.” I have used the abbreviation for the United States Secret Service.

The lawmakers also said their panels had gathered evidence that it was not until four months later, on Dec. 3, 2021, that the inspector general finally submitted a new request to the department for certain text messages.

Mr. Kait, they said, removed key language from a February 2022 memo that highlighted the importance of the text messages and criticized the department for failing to comply with the Dec. 3, 2021, request.

Ms. Maloney and Mr. Thompson called on Mr. Kait and Kristen Fredricks, the office’s chief of staff, to sit for transcribed interviews by Aug. 15.

Mr. Cuffari prompted a firestorm on Capitol Hill last month when he reported that the text messages had been erased, even after he had requested them as part of an inquiry into the events of Jan. 6.

The Secret Service disputed parts of the inspector general’s findings, saying that it “lost” data on “some phones” as part of a preplanned three-month “system migration” in January 2021, but insisting that no texts pertinent to the inquiry “had been lost in the migration.” The agency said that the project was underway before it received notice from the inspector general to preserve its data, and that it did not “maliciously” delete text messages.

In response, the Jan. 6 committee issued a subpoena to the Secret Service seeking text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, that were said to have been erased, as well as any after-action reports.

The Secret Service said it might not be able to recover a batch of erased text messages from phones used by its agents around the time of the attack on the Capitol last year, but had delivered “thousands of pages of documents” and other records related to decisions made on Jan. 6.

Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said it appeared that the inspector general “was extremely late in reporting this egregious situation for a long time.”

“It’s getting to the point where inspectors general need inspectors general,” he said. “It just seems like a scandalous dereliction of duty on his part.”

Categories
Business

How one of Startmate’s worst start-ups Sitemate won over investors

How one of Startmate's worst start-ups Sitemate won over investors

It was in the same group as Morse Micro, Black.ai and Mentorloop, and Mr Pike said the cracks in his business quickly became apparent.

“Nick and I formed a pretty close bond, but it was a weird relationship because while Nick had a lot of belief in me personally, he had some major concerns about the business,” Mr Pike said.

‘existential concerns’

“Sitemate was the company he was most concerned about from the cohort. We were probably the worst company in nearly every measurable and immeasurable metric. We had a founder break-up and the product barely worked, but now we’ve been stable for a few years.

“We rebuilt the culture internally, restructured the founding team, and we started chipping away.”

Despite the “existential concerns”, Mr Pike said he kept building the business because the early traction from the company’s first 20 customers was strong.

“There is blind hope, and then there is logical hope. There is a fine line between those things,” he said.

“Looking at it from an outsider’s point of view, things looked pretty bad. But, we looked at it qualitatively – were people using our product? Yes, they were requesting more features, using it more every day and using it to its limits. We knew we may as well see it through.

“But there’s a lot of zombie start-ups out there who have spent money building things no one is using, and that’s a different situation.”

After graduating from Startmate, Mr Pike emailed Mr Crocker monthly updates on how Sitemate was tracking for four years.

Shortly before COVID-19 struck the business found its groove. And then the pandemic propelled the adoption of digital tools among its customers including Lendlease, Downer, Fulton Hogan and Arcadis, which use Sitemate across a variety of projects.

The company now has almost 1000 customers, has expanded to Britain and is in the process of setting up an office in North America.

On the back of its newfound success, in December last year the company kicked off conversations about a capital raise with Blackbird.

“Blackbird principal Tom Humphrey has joined the board, but it was the relationship with Nick that laid the foundation and this feels like coming full circle,” Mr Pike said.

New investors

Blackbird’s cornerstone contribution to the $5.2 million round was locked in three months ago. Since then, the company has also secured funding from existing investor Shearwater Capital and angels including local tech founders Tim Doyle, from Eucalyptus, and Propeller’s Rory San Miguel.

“It is a product-led company bringing real-time collaboration and a seamless product experience to the hundreds of millions of workers who wear hardhats and steel capped work boots – just like Atlassian did for software developers and software companies,” Mr Humphrey said.

Mr Pike would not reveal the company’s valuation, but said it was about five times higher than its previous seed round, which closed shortly before COVID-19 hit.

Having had a rocky start to life, Mr Pike said no investors wanted to fund the business in its early days, so the company was forced to operate profitably and run on a lean budget.

He intends to return the business to break even quickly. But, he said he would consider raising another round at a later date.

“Even though we’ve done this round, it hasn’t changed our DNA,” Mr Pike said.

“The plan is to deploy the funds rapidly – ​​setting up our go-to-market offices and doubling our product and engineering teams – but we’ll be back to break even within 12 months and in a position to decide what we want to do next. We will not be reliant on future funding.

“That was the plan even before the crash. We think you get better results [when you’re capital efficient] and you’re less lazy.”

Categories
Technology

Nintendo Platinum Points Reward Xenoblade 3 Icons in August 2022

Nintendo Platinum Points Reward Xenoblade 3 Icons in August 2022

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in the US can obtain new user icons designed after Xenoblade Chronicles 3 characters by redeeming their My Nintendo Platinum Points throughout August 2022. Users can gather the points by completing Missions in the Nintendo Switch Online app. They will then be able to use their points to purchase rewards such as user icons.

The icons will be available for a limited time. Nintendo will split the distributions into five waves on a weekly basis. The schedule for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Platinum Points Rewards is as follows:

  • Wave 1 starring Noah and Mio: July 28 – August 4, 2022
  • Wave 2 starring Eunie and Taion: August 4 – 11, 2022
  • Wave 3 starring Lanz and Sena: August 11-18, 2022
  • Wave 4 starring Chibi Mio and Chibi Eunie: August 18-25, 2022
  • Wave 5 starring the Queens of Agnus and Keves: August 25 – September 1, 2022

Each wave will feature more than just the main characters mentioned above. the first wave also includes icons of several supporting characters like Riku, Valdi, and Juniper. Nintendo will end the ongoing wave every Thursday at 5:59 PM PT (8:59 ET).

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is available worldwide on Nintendo Switch. A Japanese and English dual audio option is available as part of the base game. Nintendo has also revealed a DLC Expansion Pass that will add more content like new hero characters and quests periodically until the end of 2023.

Categories
Entertainment

Beyonce fans react to Diane Warren seemingly shading the singer for using 24 songwriters

Defending: While Beyonce's legions of fans have been enjoying her new album Renaissance - her first album since 2016's Lemonade - some have been defending her from some supposed shade thrown her way by Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren

While Beyonce’s legions of fans have been enjoying her new album Renaissance – her first album since 2016’s Lemonade – some have been defending her from some supposed shade thrown her way by Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren.

The 65-year-old Warren took to Twitter on Monday, asking, ‘How can there be 24 writers on a song?’ with a rolling eyes emoji.

The tweet – seemingly in reference to Beyonce’s song Alien Superstar – was not met well by the BeyHive, with fans bashing her for everything from her age to not knowing how samples work.

Defending: While Beyonce's legions of fans have been enjoying her new album Renaissance - her first album since 2016's Lemonade - some have been defending her from some supposed shade thrown her way by Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren

Defending: While Beyonce’s legions of fans have been enjoying her new album Renaissance – her first album since 2016’s Lemonade – some have been defending her from some supposed shade thrown her way by Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren

How: The 65-year-old Warren took to Twitter on Monday, asking, 'How can there be 24 writers on a song?' with a rolling eyes emoji

How: The 65-year-old Warren took to Twitter on Monday, asking, ‘How can there be 24 writers on a song?’ with a rolling eyes emoji

Her tweet – sent early Monday morning – seemingly blew up instantly, angering fans who thought she was sending some shade Beyonce’s way.

Warren tried to alleviate that notion by tweeting out 15 minutes later, ‘This isn’t meant as shade, I’m just curious.’

Another 20 minutes or so later she seemed to have figured it out, tweeting out, ‘Ok, it’s prob samples that add up the ammount of writers.’

Shade: Her tweet - sent early Monday morning - seemingly blew up instantly, angering fans who thought she was sending some shade Beyonce's way

Shade: Her tweet – sent early Monday morning – seemingly blew up instantly, angering fans who thought she was sending some shade Beyonce’s way

No shade: Warren tried to alleviate that notion by tweeting out 15 minutes later, 'This isn't meant as shade, I'm just curious'

No shade: Warren tried to alleviate that notion by tweeting out 15 minutes later, ‘This isn’t meant as shade, I’m just curious’

Samples: Another 20 minutes or so later she seemed to have figured it out, tweeting out, 'Ok, it's prob samples that add up the ammount of writerrs'

Samples: Another 20 minutes or so later she seemed to have figured it out, tweeting out, ‘Ok, it’s prob samples that add up the ammount of writerrs’

That still didn’t stop a number of fans from chiming in, including Twitter user Lisa McGuire, who said, ‘samples and multiple interpolations! I’m a music supervisor and have the clear them sometimes.’

Another Twitter user named Dylan asked, ‘How you’ve been in the game for 80 years and don’t know how samples work?’ Warren responded, ‘Coz I don’t use them.’

Twitter user TaylorBold added, ‘Same way you have 13 nominations and no wins,’ along with a photo of her 13 Oscar nominations.

Samples: That still didn't stop a number of fans from chiming in, including Twitter user Lisa McGuire, who said, 'samples and multiple interpolations! I'm a music supervisor and have the clear them sometimes'

Samples: That still didn’t stop a number of fans from chiming in, including Twitter user Lisa McGuire, who said, ‘samples and multiple interpolations! I’m a music supervisor and have the clear them sometimes’

Don't: Another Twitter user named Dylan asked, 'How you've been in the game for 80 years and don't know how samples work?' Warren responded, 'Coz I don't use them'

Don’t: Another Twitter user named Dylan asked, ‘How you’ve been in the game for 80 years and don’t know how samples work?’ Warren responded, ‘Coz I don’t use them’

Same: Twitter user TaylorBold added, 'Same way you have 13 nominations and no wins,' along with a photo of her 13 Oscar nominations

Same: Twitter user TaylorBold added, ‘Same way you have 13 nominations and no wins,’ along with a photo of her 13 Oscar nominations

That started a brief exchange, where Warren joked, ‘But I have 13 more nominations than U’ while another fan, J, added, ‘Exactly, nominations. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.’

Warren asked, ‘How many U got?’ as J responded, ‘Same wins as you, xoxo.’

Another recording artist, The-Dream, explained, ‘You mean how’s does our (Black) culture have so many writers, well it started because we couldn’t afford certain things starting out, So we started sampling and it became an Artform, a major part of the Black Culture (hip-hop) in America. Had that was not happen who knows. u good?’

Nominations: That started a brief exchange, where Warren joked, 'But I have 13 more nominations than U' while another fan, J, added, 'Exactly, nominations. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride'

Nominations: That started a brief exchange, where Warren joked, ‘But I have 13 more nominations than U’ while another fan, J, added, ‘Exactly, nominations. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride’

Wins: Warren asked, 'How many U got?' as J responded, 'Same wins as you, xoxo'

Wins: Warren asked, ‘How many U got?’ as J responded, ‘Same wins as you, xoxo’

Explain: Another recording artist, The-Dream, explained, 'You mean how's does our (Black) culture have so many writers, well it started because we couldn't afford certain things starting out, So we started sampling and it became an Artform , a major part of the Black Culture (hip hop) in America. Had that was not happen who knows. u good?'

Explain: Another recording artist, The-Dream, explained, ‘You mean how’s does our (Black) culture have so many writers, well it started because we couldn’t afford certain things starting out, So we started sampling and it became an Artform , a major part of the Black Culture (hip hop) in America. Had that was not happen who knows. u good?’

Warren responded, ‘I didn’t mean that as an attack or as disrespect. I didn’t know this, thank you for making me aware of it. I don’t need to be mean about it.’

She also sent out a number of other tweets including one where she called a Twitter user ac**t for calling her a ‘grandma’ and another where she sent a middle finger emoji to someone who said she’s 65, adding, ‘Cool U can count. How many fingers am I holding up’

Warren seemingly conceded her argument hours later, tweeting out, ‘Ok, I meant no disrespect to @beyonce, who I’ve worked with and admire. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.’

Beyonce herself has yet to respond publicly to any of the tweets as of now.

No attack: Warren responded, 'I didn't mean that as an attack or as disrespect. I didn't know this, thank you for making me aware of it. I don't need to be mean about it'

No attack: Warren responded, ‘I didn’t mean that as an attack or as disrespect. I didn’t know this, thank you for making me aware of it. I don’t need to be mean about it’

Count: She also sent out a number of other tweets including one where she called a Twitter user ac**t for calling her a 'grandma' and another where she sent a middle finger emoji to someone who said she's 65, adding, 'Cool U can count. How many fingers am I holding up'

Count: She also sent out a number of other tweets including one where she called a Twitter user ac**t for calling her a ‘grandma’ and another where she sent a middle finger emoji to someone who said she’s 65, adding, ‘Cool U can count. How many fingers am I holding up’

Sorry: Warren seemingly conceded her argument hours later, tweeting out, 'Ok, I meant no disrespect to @beyonce, who I've worked with and admire. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding'

Sorry: Warren seemingly conceded her argument hours later, tweeting out, ‘Ok, I meant no disrespect to @beyonce, who I’ve worked with and admire. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding’

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Categories
Sports

Deshaun Watson banned for six NFL games after 24 allegations of sexual misconduct

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson prepares to throw a football at NFL training.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been suspended for six games after being accused by two dozen women in Texas of sexual misconduct during massage treatments.

The punishment was handed out by the game’s disciplinary officer, former federal judge Sue L Robinson, who said Watson’s behavior was “more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.”

But the ban fell well short of what the NFL reportedly asked for: an open-ended suspension of at least a year for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

Watson, who played for four seasons with the Houston Texans before being traded to Cleveland in March, recently settled 23 of 24 lawsuits filed by women alleging sexual harassment and assault during the treatments in 2020 and 2021.

The NFL has three days to appeal the decision.

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Categories
Australia

Gold Coast, Beenleigh rail users face major changes as Brisbane’s Cross River Rail network is revealed

Gold Coast, Beenleigh rail users face major changes as Brisbane's Cross River Rail network is revealed

Rail commuters in Queensland’s south-east face the most significant shake-up in decades after the state government outlined several route changes to integrate the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail network launch in 2025.

State Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the planned changes amounted to a “brand new network”.

“This network will be a change for Queenslanders, but it will open the door for future investment and time-saving timetable changes to help Queenslanders get home sooner and safer,” he said.

Under the plan, south-east Queensland trains will operate in three sections, all connecting at the existing or new underground Roma Street stations.

Existing rail lines will be shifted to reconnect at new or upgraded stations — significantly altering how residents on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast access Brisbane.

A map of the Queensland train lines
A map for the new network that is expected to be operational from 2025.(Supplied: Queensland government)

Sector One will connect the Gold and Sunshine Coasts directly, operating trains from Varsity Lakes and Beenleigh through to Redcliffe Peninsula, Nambour and Gympie.

Sector Two will link the Rosewood and Springfield lines through Central to the domestic airport and Shorncliffe.

Sector Three will run Ferny Grove trains through Central and Southbank to Cleveland.

Suburban services to shift

The new rail plan will shift multiple suburban services, splitting the Ferny Grove line from the Beenleigh line, placing the airport spur along the Ipswich line, and extending the Doomben line from Roma Street to Indooroopilly.

In a major shift, commuters on the Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines will need to change at Boggo Road or Roma Street to access South Brisbane stations and Central station in the CBD.

The Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines will instead travel through the city via Albert Street, Woolloongabba and Boggo Road.

scaffolding and cranes fill a construction site
The underground station at Boggo Road is taking shape.(Supplied: Cross River Rail)

Another line will run between Boggo Road and the newly upgraded Exhibition station at Bowen Hills.

Travelers from Ipswich and Rosewood will also need to switch trains in the city to connect to northbound Sunshine Coast services.

future and legacy

The 10.2km underground Cross River Rail project will run from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, with nearly 6 kilometers of tunnels cut under Brisbane River and new underground stations at Roma Street, Albert Street, Woolloongabba and Boggo Road.

“More than 80,000 people migrated to Queensland in the past two years, and this investment shows we are at full throttle, planning, building and delivering a world-class rail network for the state,” Mr Bailey said.

“The new network we build now will be the network Queensland kids and Olympic-goers will remember.”

Concept drawing for new Cross River Rail station
An artistic impression of the Cross River Rail design for Roma Street Station.(Supplied: Queensland government)

The planned network will be in place several years before the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, and was kickstarted in 2019 by south-east Queensland mayors who called for better-connected rail and public transport infrastructure across the region.

Mr Bailey said the government’s rail investment also included a $6 million planning study for the Direct Sunshine Coast line, a $2.5 million corridor study for a line connecting the booming city of Springfield to Ipswich, and a $20 million Salisbury to Beaudesert business case.

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Categories
US

Senate GOP backtracks after veterans bill firestorm

Senate GOP backtracks after veterans bill firestorm

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to respond to a question Monday about why the legislation was held up.

“It will pass this week,” he said.

Other Republicans in Senate leadership struck a similar tone. Sen. John Barraso (R-Wyo.) told POLITICO he would “expect it to pass” and Sen. John Thune (RS.D.), McConnell’s No. 2, echoed that at “some point this is going to pass and it will pass big.”

Republicans say they blocked the bill because of concerns spearheaded by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) over what the retiring senator called a “budgetary gimmick” — language that he argued could allow certain funds to be used for programs unrelated to veterans’ health care. That language was in the bill when it initially passed the Senate in an 84-14 vote, before a technical snag forced the chamber to vote on it again.

“This stuff got drug out, but remember why it got drug out. When they passed it over here the first time, they did it wrong,” Thune said, adding it was Democrats who “screwed up the first time.”

Schumer is expected to force another vote on the veterans bill this week, vowing Monday that he would bring it up “in the coming days.”

“We’re going to give Senate Republicans another chance to do the right thing,” he said.

The New York Democrat will likely give Republicans an off-ramp by granting Toomey a vote on his proposed amendment, which the Pennsylvania Republican and many of his colleagues say he’s been requesting for months.

“The ball is in the court of the leader and I’ve not heard what he’s decided to do… we have not been told that we have an amendment vote scheduled. Hopefully, that will be forthcoming,” Toomey said Monday.

The amendment explanation has done little to curb Democratic charges that the GOP turned a non-controversial plan to help veterans exposed to Agent Orange and toxic burn pits into a political football. Democrats have questioned the turnabout sharply given that 25 Republicans voted to block the bill over the budgetary issue only on its second trip to the floor, not its first.

“I’m doing everything I can do,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “I don’t know [if] people really understand what they were voting on, to be honest with you. There’s no slush fund in this.”

Importantly, even if Toomey gets a vote, his amendment isn’t expected to have enough support to ultimately get included — leaving Republicans with the same veterans bill most of them voted to block last week. And some are still saying they’re not willing to kill the legislation over the amendment push.

“If I get a chance to vote for an amendment I might vote for the amendment, but I want to make sure the bill doesn’t get killed,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who added he generally agreed with Toomey’s concern. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) similarly said he broadly supported the amendment.

Still, Toomey has tried to rally his colleagues behind holding up the veterans bill in private conference meetings; Republicans argue that Democrats promised an amendment vote on his concerns from him back in June, only to renege.

Those disputes largely flew under the radar until last week, when the bill crashed on the floor. Veterans advocates groups had flown into Washington expecting to celebrate final passage — instead, it became a press conference to rail against the GOP senators who held it up.

“As someone who has worked on this bill for years, I’m just disappointed that some of my Republican colleagues, whether out of personal pique or some misguided political motive… wanted to flip-flop. But as long as it comes to the right result, that’s what’s important for the country and for veterans,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

The criticism hasn’t let up this week.

Comedian Jon Stewart — rallying alongside veterans who’ve been camped outside the Senate for days — on Monday slammed Republicans for slowing the bill’s passage.

“I’m not scared of you and I don’t care, because these are the people I owe a debt of gratitude to,” Stewart said. “Don’t leave here tonight until you do the right thing by these folks. Simple as that: Don’t make this harder than it is.”

Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

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5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday 1 August 2022

5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday 1 August 2022

Smiling man with phone in wheelchair watching stocks and trends on computer

Image Source: Getty Images

On Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) started the week in fine form. The benchmark index rose 0.7% to 6,993 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Tuesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to fail

The Australian share market is expected to open the day lower on Tuesday following a poor start to the week on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 19 points or 0.3% lower. On Wall Street the Dow Jones fell 0.15%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.3%, and the NASDAQ was down 0.2%.

RBA meeting

The Reserve Bank of Australia is meeting again today to decide on the cash rate. According to the latest cash rate futures, the market sees a 67% probability of the central bank raising the cash rate by 0.65% to 2%. Though, another 0.5% rise to 1.85% appears to be the most likely outcome at this afternoon’s meeting according to the Westpac Banking Corp. (ASX: WBC) economic team.

Oil price sink

It could be a difficult day for energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) after oil prices sank deep into the red on Monday night. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 5% to US$93.66 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 4.1% to US$99.72 a barrel. Traders were selling oil following concerns about weak Chinese factory data.

Credit Corp results

the Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price will be on watch on Tuesday when the debt collector kicks off earnings season. According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts are expecting the company to report a full year net profit after tax of $96.2 million. This will be the top end of Credit Corp’s guidance range from $92 million to $97 million. Looking ahead, the broker is expecting management to guide to a net profit of $94 million to $104 million for FY 2023.

Gold price higher

gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd. (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a decent day after the gold price pushed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.35% to US$1,788 an ounce. A softer US dollar and weak Chinese economic data increased demand for the precious metal.