“This model is not ‘performance pay’, this is about expanding the career options for teachers and keeping our best in the classroom,” she said.
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The NSW Teachers Federation is locked in a long-running pay dispute with the state government and its members have walked off the job three times in just over six months. Negotiations over an enterprise agreement are at a stalemate, with the federation calling for a pay rise of 5 per cent a year with an extra 2.5 per cent to recognize extra experience, as well as two more hours of planning time a week.
In a discussion paper to be debated at Friday’s meeting, the Commonwealth has described teacher shortages as unprecedented with demand for high school teachers set to outstrip graduates by about 4,100 in the next three years.
Earlier this month, federal Education Minister Jason Clare said chronic shortages of maths and science teachers were most acute in high schools.
The national Quality Initial Teacher Education Review report released earlier this year found that lifting top teacher pay by $30,000 would help attract high-achieving students who are avoiding a career in teaching because of its low status. About three per cent of high achievers choose teaching for their undergraduate studies, but the report found lifting pay would make students 13 percentage points more likely to choose to be a teacher.
Despite the NSW HALT program running for years, only 280 teachers have been accredited and many have avoided applying due to a complicated and expensive application processes.
Initial recommendations into the state’s higher paid teaching jobs are expected later this year in a NSW Department of Education policy paper.
Hattie, who led one of the world’s biggest studies into the factors which improve student learning, will give independent advice.
“The rewarding of excellence and expertise is the right topic to realize high standards and maximize positive impacts on students,” Professor Hattie said. “It is exciting to be part of these NSW discussions and I look forward to hearing the views of the profession.”
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Education program director at the Grattan Institute Jordana Hunter said research shows higher pay rates for expert teachers could be a powerful incentive for high-achieving school-leavers to choose teaching.
“High-achieving school-leavers are worried about the maximum pay rates at the pinnacle of their careers. If the government wants to attract the strongest applicants into teaching it will be important that pay rates keep pace with other professions,” Hunter said.
The Grattan Institute has previously recommended that two new expert teacher positions be created – instructional specialists and master teachers – with much higher salaries.
Hunter said the roles would be designed for expert teachers who can demonstrate exceptional subject-specific knowledge, skills and could mentor others. The jobs could pay between $40,000-$80,000 more than the highest pay rate for regular classroom teachers in NSW, she said.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tapped into his inner “Dirty Harry” on Wednesday and publicly dared Mayor Eric Adams to “make my day” by carrying through on his threat to send New Yorkers to campaign against his re-election bid.
Abbott also vowed to keep sending busloads of asylum-seekers to New York City, saying Adams was merely “getting a taste” of what beleaguered border communities have been dealing with in the Lone Star State since President Biden took office.
Abbott’s comments on Fox News came amid his ongoing feud with Adams over migrant relocations and just hours after three charter buses hired by Abbott dropped off nearly 100 migrants outside the Port Authority terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
The transports added to almost 70 who arrived on Friday and Sunday.
In response to Adams’ threat Tuesday that he was “deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good, old-fashioned door-knocking” against Abbott, the Republican governor said, “You know, I kind of feels like Clint Eastwood.”
“Go ahead, Major. Make my day,” he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Mayor Eric Adams to “make my day” in response to Adams’ threats to send New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against him.foxnews
The taunt echoed Eastwood’s iconic line from the 1983 movie “Sudden Impact,” in which his San Francisco detective character “Dirty Harry” faced off against a robber who was holding a coffee shop waitress at gunpoint.
Then-President Ronald Reagan also famously invoked Eastwood’s words in 1985 when he threatened to veto “any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up.”
“And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead. Make my day,” he added.
Abbott said the buses of migrants is giving Adams “a taste” of what border towns go through in Texas.Matthew McDermott
Abbott said there “could hardly be anything better” for him than for Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke to be “aided by a bunch of New Yorkers.”
“That will not be viewed very positively by the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott also accused Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, of “rank hypocrisy” for attacking his motives for him in responding to what he calls President Biden’s “open border policies.”
“Listen, New York is a sanctuary city,” Abbott said.
A bus carrying migrants from Texas arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on August 10, 2022.AFP Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images Getty Images
“Mayor Adams said that they welcome illegal immigrants. And now once they have to deal with the reality of it, they’re suddenly flummoxed and they cannot handle it.”
Abbott added: “They are now getting a taste of what we’re having to deal with… the challenges that Texas is dealing with every day.”
“Only when they see that will the Biden ministration begin to have to realize the Biden administration is gonna have to finally start enforcing the laws passed by Congress that secure the border,” he said.
Migrants getting off the bus in Manhattan after being driven from Texas.Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images
Adams responded during an unrelated afternoon news conference in Queens, saying of Abbott, “I know he thinks he’s Clint Eastwood, but he’s not.” “He is an anti-American governor that is really going against everything we stand for,” Adams blasted in response to a question from The Post. “And I am going to do everything feasible to make sure Texans, the people of Texas, realize how harmful he is to us globally.” Adams then called Abbott a “global embarrassment.” “Because this is not what we do as Americans,” the mayor said. “All of us — and I’m sure if he goes into his lineage, he came from somewhere. And if his ancestors of him were treated the way he’s treating these asylum seekers and migrants, then he would not be where he is right now. The mayor said that “without the proper coordination,” the city was “unable to receive people at one location and give them the support they deserve…but often they end up at our intake centers.” Adams also called on New Yorkers to assist the migrants, saying that “if anyone in the city sees someone that they believe needs the assistance, we’re asking them to point them and direct them to the intake centers.
A man could be seen handing money to the migrants as they got off the bus Wednesday.Georgette Roberts
The Biden administration quietly ended the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy Monday — clearing the way for potentially tens of thousands more migrants to enter the US and stay here while their applications for asylum are processed.
The Department of Homeland Security announced it would no longer enroll asylum-seekers in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program – which forced about 70,000 people back south of the border over the past three years to await their immigration hearings.
Abbott, who began sending migrants to Washington in April, said that “our goal is to, for one, help our local communities and in doing so send even more buses to New York, to DC and maybe even to other communities to alleviate the challenge we dealing with.”
In addition, Abbott said he wanted “to continue to expose this national catastrophe caused by President Biden.”
Melbourne Airport’s ambitious plan to link Terminals 3 and 4 has finally come to fruition, although a removal of security screening at T3 – home to Virgin Australia – now sees passengers forced to walk to T4 for checks before heading back for their flight.
It’s the sting in the tail of the hub’s $30 million transformation, which the airport described as ‘an elevation to the traveler experience’. The project’s centrepiece is an indoor walkway linking the landside departures levels of Terminals 3 and 4.
Among the upsides though are greater connectivity between the terminals, in addition to smart security technology, also seen at the Gold Coast and Sydney T3. This time-saving tech allows travelers to keep laptops, tablets and liquids in their bags.
Two extra security lanes have also opened to meet increased demand.
Melbourne Airport says its T4 scanners halve the time it takes to go through security.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus says the upgrade work – which also includes new amenities at T4 – was much needed, with the terminal receiving no significant works in over 20 years.
“One of the biggest pinch points for Virgin guests has been the security check points, and we expect this change will help improve the experience for passengers as they pass through screening,” Argus explains.
“A lack of space means expanding existing checkpoints to accommodate modern technology was not an option, but we think consolidating the screening operation results in a better outcome for passengers.
As part of the linkway, the Virgin Australia lounge is now located in the secure airside zone, meaning premium travelers will be able to enjoy the facilities right up until boarding.
Here is a map of the new Departures process…
…and also the Arrivals.
Paradoxically, Melbourne Airport says that “under the (T3) reconfiguration, domestic travelers will have more time to relax inside restaurants and retailers before boarding their flights.”
We’d suspect they’ll have less time if they have to walk from the T3 check in desks through to T4 for security screening and then walk back to T3 again – especially if their Virgin Australia flights are departing from the higher-numbered gates 7 through 10 at the top of the T3 pier.
One Melbourne-based frequent flyer told Executive Traveler that he expects that even with the T4-T3 walkway located behind security, that could come close to a 10-minute walk.
The new parents’ room at T3.
That said, there are several upgrades to love, including:
a more streamlined exit point in arrivals to “intuitively guide guests to outdoor transport options”
upgraded bathrooms at T3, which include all gender areas, adult change rooms, and assistance animal relief spaces
a parent’s room featuring “interactive full-length walls so children can play and stay entertained while their guardians tend to other needs.”
In addition to the new T3-T4 indoor walkway located before security, the current walkway between T3 and T4 past the Virgin Australia lounges will be opened up, with its own security checkpoint removed, to serve as the post-security or ‘airside’ connector.
As previously advised to executive traveler by a Melbourne Airport spokesperson, Virgin passengers with only cabin bags should check in online or via the Virgin app and head straight to T4, while also pointing out that some Virgin flights depart from T4.
What about Virgin’s promised T3 Premium Entry?
Interestingly, many of these changes – including the inter-terminal walkway and the relocation of T3 security to T4 – were first announced in December 2017 in partnership with Virgin Australia, with work scheduled to begin in 2018 for completion by 2020.
However, those plans included a “kerbside Premium Entry for Virgin Australia’s Business Class guests and Platinum and Gold Velocity frequent flyers, including dedicated check-in, bag drop and security screening features and direct access to the Virgin Australia Lounge.”
The original plan for T3 included private security screening and direct lounge access for Virgin Australia’s premium passengers.
This would replicate the kerbside Premium Entry facilities at Virgin’s Sydney and Brisbane domestic terminals, although both of those remain closed at the time of writing.
Contacted for comment, a Virgin Australia Group spokesman told executive traveler “Our plans to deliver a Premium Entry at Melbourne Airport remain under review amid the global pandemic.”
“We are committed to working with airports to deliver the world-class Virgin Australia guest experience and we welcome Melbourne Airport’s investment in the Terminal 3 transformation.”
Additional reporting by Chris Ashton.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveler and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Yes, Netflix has some excellent games, but no one’s playing them. According to a recent report, less than 1 per cent of people who subscribe to the streaming service actually avail themselves of its free games. That stat surely isn’t helped by the process you’ve gotta go through to play, which, while not totally byzantine, is more complicated than it needs to be.
ReadMore: Netflix Has Some Great Games But Nobody’s Playing Them
Netflix signaled its foray into games early last year, when it kickstarted a talent hunt for execs from the gaming industry. By November, the streamer added five games to its mobile app, though the initial offerings were disappointing, to say the least. (Who really needs more phoned-in games based on stranger things?)
Now, the library — which is playable at no extra cost to subscribers — contains some true diamonds in the rough, like the tactical game Into the Breachthe physics platformer poinpyroguelike lite Moonlighterand the narrative gut-punch Before Your Eyes.
How do you play games on Netflix?
For now, you can’t play Netflix games on a smart TV or, ironically, a gaming console’s Netflix app. You’ll need either an Android device (updated to at least the Android 8.0 software) or an Apple mobile device (running iOS 15 or later). From there, follow these steps:
Open the Netflix app, then scroll down until you see the Games row. There’s no separate tab that collects all the games together.
Click on the game you want to play. That’ll take you to the storefront for your device — App Store for Apple phones and tablets, Google Play for Android ones — at which point you’ll be prompted to download the game onto your phone. It’ll show up as an unrelated app, though you’ll see the Netflix logo in the upper left hand corner of its icon.
When you boot up the game, it’ll ask you which Netflix account you’re using. (Once you sign into one game, it seems to keep you logged in for other games, too.)
Sure, it’d be nice to just…play these games inside the Netflix app — y’know, the same way you watch any of the service’s movies or TV shows. Still, the process isn’t terrible. This morning, I tried Into the Breach, which recently received an expansion so large it may as well be a sequel, and found it just as fun on mobile as it is anywhere else. I also messed around with poinpy and had to tear myself away after the tutorial or else it would’ve legitimately derailed my day. Man, what an instantly compelling little game…
There are some quirks, however: I couldn’t get the audio for either game to work unless I plugged in headphones. (Subway riders of the world should rejoice knowing that Netflix’s wave of free games won’t contribute to the cacophonous noise pollution that already plagues America’s transit systems.) And the service isn’t quite on the scale to compete with some of the biggest mobile -gaming subscription services, like, say, Xbox Game Pass or Apple Arcade. But as an avenue for a handful of easy-access games, I’m impressed.
What games does Netflix have?
Currently, Netflix supports the following games, though notes that not all games are available on all devices:
Arcanium: Rise of Akhan
Asphalt Xtreme
Before Your Eyes
bowling ballers
Card Blast
Domino’s Cafe
dungeon dwarves
Dragon Up
Exploding Kittens
Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story
Into the Breach
Into the Dead 2: Unleashed
knittens
Krispee Street
Mahjong Solitaire
Moonlighter
poinpy
Relic Hunters: Rebels
Shatter Remastered
Shooting Hoops
Stranger Things: 1984
Stranger Things 3: The Game
Teether (Up)
This is a True Story
Townsmen – A Kingdom Rebuilt
Wonderputt Forever
Netflix plans to bring that number to 50 before April of next year, per Washington Post‘s reporting. That tally will eventually include games developed in-house, too. Last year, it acquired Night School, the studio behind hit adventure game Oxenfree. (Night School showcased the sequel, Oxenfree II: Lost Signalsat this year’s Tribeca Festival.)
It’s unclear if there are any plans to make games available natively within the primary Netflix app, or to spin off the game library into a supplemental application. When reached for comment, a Netflix spokesperson directed Kotaku to a company blog post published last November.
“We launched games on our service less than a year ago,” the spokesperson said. “It’s still early days and we recognize that we have much more work to do to deliver a great Netflix mobile games experience.”
With a Long Lap penalty from Assen for world champion and title leader Fabio Quartararo, the British MotoGP was always going to be unpredictable – and didn’t disappoint.
Four different riders took turns in the lead, with a continuous stream of overtakes throughout the field and the podium places ultimately covered by just 0.6s at the checkered flag.
But the thrilling race was witnessed by just 41,002 trackside fans, down from 67,000 last year and a fraction of the sell-out 142,000 spectators for last month’s Silverstone F1 race.
So why the drop?
“I know Silverstone, they’ve got great road infrastructure and it’s really well organised. But to drive straight in at 8am on a Sunday seemed odd to start with,” said former British champion and Grand Prix rider Huewen.
“41,000 is half of what it should have been, considering the package that was being put forward. We had three fantastic races. OK, we’re not to know that in advance, but we also had the best weather consistently through the week I’ve seen for a British Grand Prix. Everybody knew it was going to be beautiful weather.
“Now there are some things that you could argue… £90.00 for a ticket on Sunday. 30 odd quid for a car park on top of that. It is expensive. But you’re talking about seeing the world’s best in Britain for MotoGP.
“It was free on television, the first time ITV had got it as free to air. Obviously, BT were airing it as well, so their figures will have been down. Maybe trackside figures are down again because of ITV.
“But most people that follow bikes – and there are more than 41,000 of them – know that being trackside is the best atmosphere. To see a motorcycle on a track. You can’t replicate that on TV.
“You can have as many bounding presenters and well-known people walking through the camera as you like. But you’re never going to better, in my case, making the short walk to the end of the paddock and just standing on the inside of Copse corner to watch every class.
“It was just fantastic. I’m sitting here and the hair on my arms is going up thinking about it.
“I think Silverstone did a fantastic job. I really do and they really seem to care. In the past I was screaming from the rooftops that they don’t care. It’s all about Formula One. Nobody in the BRDC gives a flying wotsit about motorbikes.
“It was genuinely that way but it isn’t anymore. The BRDC suite is full of famous car race names and bike people from the past and they really care about what’s going on…
“[The attendance was] very disappointing. Especially off the back of a fantastic Formula One Grand Prix. And off the back of the pandemic. This is the first time [since then] that it’s really been a fully open do-what-you-like MotoGP in Britain.
“I can’t imagine why people didn’t go, but I’ve got a few ideas about how we can make it better.”
Before giving those ideas, Podcast host Harry Benjamin, also working on site at Silverstone this weekend, asked crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren if factors such as the absence of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, the cost-of-living crisis and being so close to the F1 event could have been to blame.
“It could be all of those things Harry and also, did people go to Donington Park for the World Superbike round instead? Costs are lower, there’s great racing between the top three in WorldSBK and a lot of British riders at the front, so did fans make a call on WorldSBK over MotoGP this year?
“We’ve had this same discussion about attendance at some other rounds, especially Mugello, and ticket prices – plus in this case parking prices – always seem to be a major factor.
“But it was still a surprise when the official figure came out on Sunday. It was 33,000 on Saturday so to rise by only 8,000 for race day was unusual. Last year it went up from 44,000 to 67,000.”
‘Formula One is propping us up’
Returning to Huewen, Benjamin asked: “So how do we solve this problem? What’s the plan?
“You can’t just solve it overnight,” Huewen replied. “If I’d have been Silverstone, I think one of the things that they missed – and I don’t recall seeing anything like this – would have been an exit survey of the people on site.
“The entertainment package after the races, including the Stereo MC’s and Ella Eyre, was pretty spectacular. But when did the fans first hear about the entertainment package? And does that kind of entertainment actually bring in more people?
“I’d want to know whether pricing in Ella Eyre and one or two others was actually good value for money, or whether you’d prefer a fiver off a ticket or whatever?
“Then it comes down to things like the parking costs, but I don’t think you can get over that issue.
“Bear in mind this is a 500-acre motorsport venue that has no government or local authority subsidy at all, whereas many other tracks around the world get some input from other places.
“Silverstone is a stand-alone operation. They have made mistakes in the past that have cost them dear and they are only really recovering from that… If it hadn’t been a good Formula One this year, I would suggest they’d be in trouble again.
“Formula One is propping us up [at Silverstone]! And I hate to say that, but that’s a fact at the moment.”
‘MotoGP needs to be cool again’
“I think we’re missing a fairly major part of the demographic,” Huewen added. “MotoGP needs to be cool again. We need to be that cool sport that everybody wants to be seen at and be part of.
“A bit like Formula One has become since they’ve opened up to social media and so on and so forth, since Liberty took it over.
“We all rail against the idea of having those ‘influencers’ in pitlane. Martin Brundle [F1 driver turned TV pundit] is one of my favorites and whenever he bumps into someone who says they are an influencer, he’s a bit dismissive as I would be in his position as well. Coming across someone you’ve never heard of, got no interest in and are never likely to bump into again.
“But that bloke that you don’t recognize has probably got two million followers, and he’s probably considered to be absolutely cool.
“I met the Gas Monkey guy Richard Rawlings when I was over at the TT. I had no clue who Richard Rollins was, this rather loud American guy, slapping hands with everyone around the TT paddock. But he had a bigger following out there than Peter Hickman.
“We’re missing a trick when we’ve not got people like that trackside.
“But what we really need to be doing is catering just a little bit more to bring in those 14-15-16 year old kids, who force their parents to come to a racetrack – maybe not to watch the racing initially, it’s more to see Ella Eyre or whoever it might be that’s performing on stage.
“But then all of a sudden, the side product becomes the main product, which is motorbike racing.
“Which is cool, which is brilliant and we have got some great young men like Quartararo and Dixon, that all the kids are going to think ‘wow look at those two up on stage, what great personalities they are’.”
‘41,000 people trackside is making a statement’
“There are so many things that I think we can do, but we need to do it in advance. I know how hard all of the guys at Silverstone work, but it seems like the biggest two-wheel event went under the radar this year and I don’t understand that.
“It also really falls at the feet of Dorna. They’ve done a fantastic job of getting the rules right. They’ve made our sport the best it can be. It really is something special. But maybe the emphasis has been so much on the sport that it’s not been on the wider situation.”
“I’ve always said that paddocks should be designed to have big glass areas or fencing or whatever, so fans can see what’s going on inside without physically putting them in the paddock.
“And get rid of those advertising boardings that were blocking some of the views from trackside. That’ll be down to the commercial departments, but with so much CGI now you don’t need to physically put advertising everywhere to have it appear on TV, which is where it really matters.
“41,000 people at trackside is making a statement. It should have been 80,000 minimum. People stayed away for more than one reason and we need to work it out.”
Benjamin concludes by inviting listeners to leave their feedback in the YouTube comments sectiondescribing their experiences this weekend or why they didn’t go to Silverstone.
The trio then move on to the track action itself, which saw Francesco Bagnaia claim his second victory in a row from a charging Maverick Vinales to recover a massive 42-points from Fabio Quartararo’s title lead in just two rounds.
Jack Miller completed the podium on a day when Ducati riders filled four of the top five places, the kind of form that could soon see Bagnaia breathing down the neck of Quartararo and Espargaro.
The Frenchman lost less than 1.5s during his Long Lap penalty but was unable to fight his way forwards and even came under a late attack from Espargaro, bravely riding with foot injuries from a massive Saturday highside.
Moto2 saw victory for Augusto Fernandez, with rookie Alonso Lopez on the podium for Boscoscuro, while Jake Dixon delighted the home fans with third and Rory Skinner made his grand prix debut.
Both of Aspar’s title leaders crashed out of a dramatic Moto3 race, with Dennis Foggia keeping his championship hopes alive by returning to the top spot from Jaume Masia and Deniz Oncu, while John McPhee and Scott Ogden scored solid points.
Rebekah Maslen has been working hard to prepare herself for a new career.
Key points:
The transition to Workforce Australia has been described as “appalling”
Some students say they have been told by job agencies to complete extra mutual obligations, despite rules stating they do not need to
Job providers and the government concede there have been challenges but they remain committed to the system
The Ocean Grove-based student is completing a diploma of early childhood education and care, which includes 24 hours per week on placement, plus about 15 hours of study and two days of classes.
She is also one of many Australians struggling to come to grips with the biggest overhaul of unemployment services in decades.
“I would say the transition has been appalling,” she said.
“The way I’ve been treated … and the lack of information around how to use the system in detail [has] not been a very good experience.”
At the start of July, more than 800,000 jobseekers transferred to Workforce Australia, which has been pitched as a more flexible alternative to the much-maligned jobactive system.
The changes were passed under the Morrison government with Labor’s support prior to the May election. Contracts with job service providers — private companies paid by the government to get people into work — worth $7 billion were also signed.
To continue receiving the JobSeeker payment, most people need to perform mutual obligations — tasks set by the government aimed at enhancing employability.
Under jobactive, mutual obligations most commonly revolved around job applications, and jobseekers needed to submit 20 a month. That requirement could be waived if a jobseeker was completing a Certificate III course or above, which includes diplomas.
Now, those required to complete mutual obligations have transitioned to a system where they earn points for completing a wider range of activities, such as short courses, getting a drivers license or attending a job fair.
If they do not receive a certain number of points each month, their payments can be suspended.
Rebekah Maslen has had trouble getting her placement hours recognized.(ABC NewsNorman Hermant)
Ms Maslen said she was told by her job provider that to comply with the new system she must apply for at least four other jobs every month on top of her diploma and placement.
She also said she had consistent difficulty finding a way to get points credit for her placement hours through the online portal.
“The things you’re asked to do for getting points, things like getting a forklift license … I don’t find very helpful as someone who’s studying,” she said.
‘It’s really demoralizing’
The government made a series of tweaks to the design of Workforce Australia days before it launched.
Employment Minister Tony Burke said at the time that the changes would ensure someone participating in full-time study or training that improved their long-term job prospects “would not be putting their qualifications at risk”.
However Ms Maslen said that was what she felt Workforce Australia was doing to her.
“I feel penalized for choosing to study and to do a placement,” she said.
Rebekah Maslen says her experience with Workforce Australia has been poor.(ABC NewsNorman Hermant)
Ms Maslen said she had also been frustrated by experiences with her job provider.
“I often come back from my interviews feeling very frustrated and often in tears because I don’t understand how to use the system,” she said.
“I kind of feel like I’m being made to do all these things just so someone in an office can tick a box. I don’t really feel like that’s fair and it’s really quite demoralizing.”
Asked about mutual obligations requirements for students, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) said people undertaking approved full-time courses shorter than 12 months, such as Ms Maslen, should not have job-search requirements.
“Providers have been instructed to reduce the minimum job search requirement to zero for these participants. The department’s Digital Services Contact Center can also remove the job search requirement for those participants,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
‘Designed to punish people’
The overall transition to Workforce Australia has been heavily criticized, with jobseekers and advocates voicing confusion and concern ahead of the launch.
Outside those affecting students, a raft of other issues has surfaced since the scheme launched. The ABC has heard reports of jobseekers:
Being recommended jobs based in states they do not live in and requiring qualifications they do not have
Traveling hundreds of kilometers for short face-to-face appointments with providers which they said could have been done remotely
Entering information on the Workforce Australia app or website which was not later accessible to providers
Having to complete skills seminars on things they already know and complete questionnaires assessing whether “zest” was a character strength of theirs
Jay Coonan, a spokesperson from the Antipoverty Centre, said jobseekers were not being treated as individuals and had been left to “figure out the system themselves”.
“It’s much the same [as jobactive]. It was never about making it more flexible for people, even though that’s what they marketed it as,” he said.
Jay Coonan says the rollout of Workforce Australia has been “a mess”.(ABC NewsNorman Hermant)
Mr Coonan said many of the issues to arise were foreseeable and things overall were “a mess”.
“There are people out there who are pretty much working full time … but are still forced to do mutual obligations simply because the system is designed to punish people who need help from the government.”
The DEWR spokesperson said the app and website were continuously reviewed to ensure they “meet the needs of users”, and jobseekers concerned by how their appointments were being managed could contact it via the National Customer Service line.
‘Everyone needs to be aligned’
Mr Burke last week flagged concern with the rollout and granted user experience had varied “wildly”.
A parliamentary committee has been set up to scrutinize the program, but will not report back until September 2023.
Sally Sinclair, CEO of the National Employment Services Association, the peak body for the contracted employment services sector, said she thought the rollout was going “relatively well” given the scale of the transition.
“Everybody is working very hard to make this the most positive experience possible for both the participants and employers … but it’s going to take a bit of time to build,” she said.
Ms Sinclair was pleased the parliamentary committee would look at the “bumps in the road”, but said she remained supportive of the system.
“The realities are that this is a large-scale government investment with a lot of contractual requirements … but we need to make sure that everybody is aligned.”
The government has indicated it may make further changes before the inquiry reports.
For Ms Maslen and other anxious jobseekers, that cannot come soon enough.
“It doesn’t make it easy for anyone studying to be able to meet their points,” she said.
Two men in Washington DC were attacked in a potential hate crime by assailants who allegedly used an anti-gay slur and referenced “monkeypox,” authorities said.
Metropolitan Police Department said the pair of hateful suspects approached the victims and made derogatory comments “based on their sexual orientation” around 7 pm Sunday.
The suspects called the couple “monkeypox f—–s” and punched them several times, according to an ABC story, which cited an incident report.
The victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, police said.
Police on Tuesday announced it was “investigating this offense as potentially being motivated by hate or bias.”
One of the victims told NBC Washington that he didn’t immediately realize the extent of what happened.
“One of them comes up to me and punches me in the jaw, giving me a gash right here that needed about three stitches,” Antonio, who requested anonymity, told the outlet.
“I started noticing that I’m covered in blood. I didn’t realize how bad my lip was until other people saw it. I thought it was just, you know, a cut on my face,” the victim added to the outlet.
Two suspects are accused of assaulting and hurling homophobic slurs at two men in Washington, DC.MPDWashington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced police is investigating the alleged hate crime.WUSAOne of the victim’s shirts was full of blood after being punched multiple times.WUSA
“The first moment, I was just angry and I was just like, ‘What kind of ignorance is this?’” Antonio recalled. But he told the outlet he was “not shocked” by the apparent motivation for the assault.
“I think it’s been a buildup over the last couple of months and years of conversations we’ve had about LGBTQ people,” I explained. “It can happen here.”
DC Major Muriel Bowser, in a statement posted on Twittersaid she was “extremely disturbed” by the possible hate crime.
Washington DC authorities have declared the assaults a hate crime.WUSAA victim named Antonio was punched in the jaw.WUSA
“I want to send my support to the victims,” Bowser said Tuesday. “Whenever a hate crime happens in our city, it is our collective responsibility to understand the role we each play in building a safer community for every person who lives in and visits DC”
The city’s police department’s LGBT Liaison Unit is “part of” the probe, according to the mayor.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we got to $5 to $6 billion per annum in net rental incomes, but it won’t go back to previous highs,” he said, adding that it would peak when the average variable rate hits 6 per cent and flow through in the 2023-24 financial year.
He said the cost of negative gearing dropped to a low in 2019-20 due to declining variable mortgage rates and a slowdown in investor lending after macroprudential measures.
But with rates on the rise again that rental income losses is tipped to climb again, experts say.Credit:Rhett Wyman
While the current strength of the rental market would help partly offset negative gearing claims, an increasing number of investors piled into the market during the pandemic property boom at significantly higher levels of debt too, Oliver said.
“A 10 per cent rise in rents will partly offset the increased loss of the property of higher rates but if interest rates double it doesn’t nearly offset that increase in interest costs,” he said.
“It’s the same question as ‘will rising wages offset the cost of rising cost for owner occupiers?’ Partly but not much. The rents and wages are going up but when you see a doubling in interest rate costs they’re not going to keep up with that.”
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Independent economist Saul Eslake said the combination of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount would cost taxpayers significantly in coming years as the tax settings encourage property investors to defer and permanently reduce tax.
“With interest rates rising the probability is more landlords will start reporting losses again and those who do will report bigger ones,” Eslake said.
He said defenders of negative gearing fail to highlight that it is overwhelmingly used by the wealthy to reduce their tax.
“Someone in the top tax bracket is more than three times as likely to be a negatively geared landlord as someone who has taxable income of less than $90,000,” he said.
“It is primarily used by people in the top tax bracket either to get them out or to reduce the amount they pay at the top rate.”
The federal government has ruled out changing negative gearing tax concessions.Credit:Peter Rae
Eslake said while it would be in bad faith for the federal government to break their election promise this term, it should be revisited in the next as it would be a fair and equitable budget repair measure in the long term and a policy decision that already lags international standards as the conservative Reagan administration in the US and David Cameron’s government in the UK had already abolished it in the 1980s and 2015, respectively.
“The irony is this is portrayed as a left-wing thing to do. Scaling back tax privileges enjoyed by property investors is not the exclusive preserve of left-wing governments.”
Grattan Institute economic policy program director Brendan Coates said it was inevitable negative gearing would increase.
“It will cost the federal government substantially as interest rates rise. They’ve been going down over time as rates over time have decreased,” Coates said.
Abolishing negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts are some of the easiest measures for budget repair, Coates said.
“The interaction of those two distorted investment decisions, those tax breaks which largely benefit the wealthy, are substantial budgetary costs,” he said.
“One less renter is one more first home buyer which is policy objective in its own right.”
BitSummit, Japan’s leading indie games event, was held over the weekend in Kyoto, and among the games showcased was one called Tokyo Stories that you have really got my attention.
Developed by Drecom, who are normally in the business of making phone games, it’s a moody adventure game set in Tokyo where, cryptically, “The city continues to tell her story, even after her disappearance.”
The game’s trailer looks fantasticwith an art style that builds its world in 3D, then gives everything a gritty pixel art effect, before smothering it all in some incredibly moody lighting:
Tokyo Stories [1st Promotion]
Looks amazing, right? By now though, you might also be wondering how the game actually plays, since that trailer was almost entirely made up of cinematic sequences. IGN Japan were at BitSummit, and after a hands-on demo with Tokyo Stories say that it’s built very much like a traditional PS1 game, with a fixed camera perspective that your 3D character walks around in, with most of your time spent simply wandering the city’s streets (you’re locked to a walking speed), exploring and learning about the world around you.
This might be a long shot for older heads here, but if anyone remembers the 2013 PS3 exclusive Rain, you might see some similarities here, and with good reason. Lead development on Tokyo Stories is Yuki Ikeda, who was also director on Rainand having been working on various projects at Drecom, this is his first all-new game in a decade.
Tokyo Stories is currently slated for PC and “consoles,” with a release date planned for sometime in 2023. If you want to see more on the game, its official Instagram account has some smaller clipsincluding one that shows how the game’s unique look is achieved:
Sokolski thrilled with Dettori coup for Verry Elleegant
Verry Elleegant is edging closer to her European debut. Picture: Reg Ryan-Racing Photos via Getty Images
“Frankie finally gets to ride a Melbourne Cup winner!”
This was the quip from Brae Sokolski, part-owner of Verry Elleegant, as he confirmed Frankie Dettori will ride his champion mare in her European debut later this month.
Verry Elleegant, winner of the 2021 Melbourne Cup and Australia’s reigning Horse of the Year, is due to have her first run for new trainer Francis-Henri Graffard in the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet (2000m) at Deauville on August 21.
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Dettori, the most famous jockey in world racing, has had a celebrated career in the saddle but the Melbourne Cup has proven frustratingly elusive.
He has ridden in the Flemington two-miler 17 times with seconds on Central Park (1999) and Max Dynamite (2016) his best results.
But Sokolski said it was a coup to secure Dettori to ride Verry Elleegant.
“We have the King (Dettori) and Queen (Verry Elleegant) combining – there is a real ‘romantic’ aspect to it,” Sokolski said.
“Frankie is getting towards the end of his career as our mare is, too.”
Brae Sokolski visiting Verry Elleegant at trainer Francis-Henri Graffard’s training base at Chantilly. Picture: Supplied
Sokolski said Dettori won’t get an opportunity to ride Verry Elleegant before the Deauville race.
“Ideally, we would have him aboard her for her final serious gallop but it is not going to happen,” Sokolski said.
“But Frankie has the experience and Verry Elleegant is a much more mature mare now.
“As a young horse, she was difficult to handle but she is quite relaxed now so it should be an issue.”
Sokolski recently spent time at Graffard’s training base at Chantilly and reported Verry Elleegant has quickly adapted to her new training environment.
But Sokolski conceded a lot hinges on Verry Elleegant racing at her best in the Prix Jean Romanet.
“It is somewhat sobering because she has to perform now,” Sokolski said.
“Verry Elleegant is up to a middle distance and we know how good she is over this trip, she never runs a poor race.
“So, if she doesn’t perform then we are going to be confronted with a pretty stark decision very quickly – but this mare has always produced when it mattered.”
Verry Elleegant, winner of 11 Group 1 races and nearly $15m prizemoney, is now a seven-year-old mare and is in the twilight of her race career.
Frankie Dettori will ride Verry Elleegant. Picture: Alan Crowhurst-Getty Images
But Sokolski said the feedback from Graffard in recent days was very positive after plans to run Verry Elleegant first-up at 1600m earlier this month were aborted.
“Francis wasn’t sufficiently pleased enough with Verry Elleegant to run her before now, even last week he was a little bit reserved about how she was going,” Sokolski said.
“But I spoke with him yesterday (Tuesday) and he is absolutely thrilled with the mare. He believes he has got her on song for this first-up assignment. If she runs well, we are very much on track.”
Sokolski’s long-term aim is to run Verry Elleegant in Europe’s most prestigious race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) at Longchamp in early October.
