Reserve Bank of Australia says year-long trial will explore “innovative use cases and business models” for currency.
Australia’s central bank has unveiled plans to examine the potential economic benefits of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said in a statement on Tuesday it would carry out a year-long pilot project to explore “innovative use cases and business models” for a CBDC and gain a better understanding of technological, legal and regulatory considerations.
The RBA will partner with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center (DFCRC), a government-backed industry group, for the project, which will invite industry players to develop “specific use cases” that demonstrate how a CBDC could provide innovative payment and settlement services to households and businesses.
The result of the pilot will inform ongoing research into the desirability and feasibility of a CBDC in Australia, the RBA said.
“This project is an important next step in our research on CBDC,” RBA Deputy Governor Michele Bullock said in a statement. “We are looking forward to engaging with a wide range of industry participants to better understand the potential benefits a CBDC could bring to Australia.”
About 100 countries are considering rolling out CBDCs, according to the International Monetary Fund, with a number of jurisdictions including China and the Bahamas already distributing their digital currencies among the public.
CBDC proponents say the nascent technology will allow for faster and cheaper transactions, promote financial inclusion, and give central banks greater flexibility in monetary policy.
While sharing some similarities with cryptocurrencies, CBDCs differ from digital tokens like Bitcoin as they are controlled by a central authority.
Cryptocurrencies operate on peer-to-peer networks known as blockchains, which are decentralized so that no single person or group exerts control.
Telling people feels… hard. Because you have to watch their excitement, and then what if you have to break their heart in a few weeks???
We told our parents around week eight, after seeing the heartbeat in the dating scan.
I told a few friends early on, but I waited until I was in my second trimester to tell work and my wider social circles. It felt right for me, but I hated it.
I hate secrets. I suck at them. Thankfully, I could easily hide my sickness, but having to turn up to work and pretend like something huge wasn’t happening to me, it was really, really, really hard. I am the kind of person who deals with things by speaking about them so for me, it’s probably been the hardest part.
Reflecting on it, I keep thinking about the age-old saying: “You never know what someone is going through. Be kind. Always.”
I needed that default kindness from others more than ever during my first trimester.
4. Your uterus will start doing some very weird things.
My Google history is whack.
I feel like everyone is familiar with what bloating feels like, and there’s a lot of that during pregnancy.
But not long after I found out I was pregnant, around week four to five, I started to feel this odd ‘tugging’ feeling in my tummy.
It wasn’t painful; it was just noticeable. Like a tiny little man was standing in my uterus and pulling at the walls.
Apparently it’s just normal growing uterus stuff, but I was definitely not prepared for that.
Towards the end of my first trimester, I started to get round ligament pain which for me feels like growing pain, up and down the sides of my abdomen. There’s been a few days where I’ve had to take painkillers because it’s been so intense.
Once again, weird. I was not expecting that.
5. Every woman’s body is different and grows at different rates. Stop comparing.
I am a tall gal – 173cm tall to be exact.
I was also very lean and fit when I fell pregnant.
By the time I had reached 12 to 13 weeks, I barely looked pregnant. But I was obsessed with ‘looking’ pregnant, because women on the internet did.
I lost myself in TikTok hashtags like #8weekspregnant and #12weekspregnant and found myself getting worried because lots of those women had proper obvious bumps already.
But as my doctor explained, I have a long torso and a baby therefore has a lot more room in my uterus before I have to start growing outwards.
Winning the Australian Open is as important as claiming another major for the showpiece event’s newest recruit, Hannah Green.
Now the race is on to have her colleagues thinking the same way as organizers tackle the remaining roadblocks in getting more big-names to sign on.
This year’s Australian Open — held on December 1-4 at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath — promises to be one of the biggest in recent memory with the men’s and women’s fields now combined, and playing for $1.7 million AUD in prize money each.
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Meanwhile, the pandemic has left some of Australia’s biggest players, such as Cameron Smith, homeick and eyeing extended stays down under this summer.
That plays into the hands of the Australian Open, which, after a three-year hiatus, could see a strong local contingent play, including the returning Smith and Marc Leishman.
And yet, organizers are still faced with a number of challenges in confirming more stars alongside Green, and world No.49 Lucas Herbert.
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Herbert is the biggest star from the men’s side to officially commit, while Green is the only confirmed player in the women’s field, although Karrie Webb is expected to make her appearance official in the coming weeks.
Green told reporters on Tuesday that she’s trying to give players a nudge to make the trip to Australia, but noted late-year sponsor events, the lack of a LPGA co-sanction, and Thanksgiving in America, as potential roadblocks.
Green said she is yet to speak to world No.2 Minjee Lee about joining her in Victoria, but anticipated that sponsor events elsewhere could leave the two-time major winner’s hands tied.
Meanwhile, Green flagged that Thanksgiving on November 24 could present a challenge for American players, such as 2019 champion and world No.3, Nelly Korda.
“It’d be great if Nelly could come back down,” Green said. “It is a hard time of year because of Thanksgiving a week prior to the Open but some girls might want to go on a holiday and make a trip out of it.
“It’s a long season. You can make some good money out of it (the Australian Open) and celebrate. So it’d be nice if Nelly and her sister Ella Jess could come down.
She added: “It would obviously be great if Minjee could attend. But I think it’s just important to have all the Australian players come back.
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“It sounds like Cam (Smith) wants to come back, and hopefully Scotty (Adam Scott) and Leish (Marc Leishman) and all the boys want to come back too, so I think just getting as many Australian players in the field as possible is important.”
Green said that freshly crowned Women’s Open winner Ash Buhai “really wants to come play” and is waiting for confirmation.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old is eyeing a real piece of history, looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in Australia having taken out the mixed gender TPS Murray River, and the Victorian Open, on her last visit.
Should the 2019 PGA Championship winner be successful, she said the victory would be as important to her as claiming another major.
“I still think getting my hand on that trophy would be very important to me,” she said.
“It definitely depends on the field and I think it would make a difference if we still had LPGA players to come, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to work just as hard to try and win that trophy depending on who comes at the end of this year.”
The Women’s Australian Open has historically been held in February but will now shift to December to align with the men’s competition.
As such, the women’s field now faces the challenge of having a number of stars eyeing time off after a long season.
That’s a familiar issue for the men’s competition, which has traditionally been held in November and December, and has had varied success in attracting a star-studded field.
Whether top international players will commit this year remains to be seen, but some of Australia’s biggest names are expected to be involved regardless.
Open Championship winner Smith told Fox Sports Last month he will have an extended stay in Australia this summer, which could include playing both the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship.
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Leishman also told foxsports.com.au before The Open that he was looking forward to returning to play in Australia, although no confirmation has yet been given for either player, who has been heavily linked to LIV Golf.
Nonetheless, Green is confident both will commit for the historic tournament, which will be the first national Open worldwide to combine both men’s and women’s fields.
“We need to elevate both championships so I hope that combining them at the same venue at the same time is going to do that,” she said. “We’ve obviously seen success with the Vic Open with the same format that we’re going to try this year.
“It’s going to be hard for us females to not have maybe as strong a field as we’ve had in previous Aus Opens, but hopefully the attraction of the event, people will want to come back to Australia and play.
“It’s a great week. The Australian Open is definitely one of my favorites to attend so it’s just really nice that after the last few years of not having one to be able to get back and play.”
China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait are “manufactured” and “completely unnecessary,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said Monday during a press briefing at the Pentagon.
Kahl said the US has not changed its support of the One China policy, nor do US officials believe China will take Taiwan over militarily in the next few years.
“We don’t support China using its military actions against Taiwan. We don’t support Taiwan moving towards independence. Our policy has not changed its support for the status quo. China’s policy is what’s changed,” Kahl said, adding that China is trying to “salami-slice their way into a new status quo.”
China is “trying to coerce” both Taiwan and the international community, Kahl said.
“All I’ll say is, we’re not going to take the bait, and it’s not going to work,” he said. “It’s a manufactured crisis. That doesn’t mean we have to play into that. I think it would only play to Beijing’s advantage.”
Kahl was asked about the developing situation between China and Taiwan several times during the Monday briefing. He reiterated the Defense Department’s support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, which prompted China’s last several days of military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
China “clearly” was not “happy” with Pelosi’s visit, Kahl said, but “nothing about the visit changed one iota of the US government’s policy toward Taiwan or toward China.”
Kahl said China’s reaction to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit was not surprising. Pelosi “had every right” to go to Taiwan, Kahl said, adding that the Department of Defense was committed to providing Pelosi with “the support required” once she confirmed that the trip was happening.
After Pelosi traveled to Taiwan, Kahl said China carried out missile exercises and other live fire demonstrations. China also boosted its air and naval military activities in the Strait, he said.
Kahl declined to say whether Chinese aircraft or missiles have flown over Taiwan, saying those answers depended on the lock and trajectory of each object and that he did not “have the physics of it” in front of him in that moment.
Symon Brewis-Weston, the former CEO of Flexigroup and a director at ASX-listed Money3 Corporation, has assumed the chief executive role.
In a statement on Tuesday, Charlotte Petris said: “I am proud of what the team has achieved, especially over the last 12 months… I look forward to seeing the team grow Timelio to the next level as I take my next step as an entrepreneur in the financial services industry.”
Earlier this year, Timelio acquired the invoice financing book of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which it says has “transitioned well and continues to perform”.
In October, Timelio made headlines after it secured $270 million of financing from Goldman Sachs via a warehouse facility.
The small business financing fintech raised $5 million in 2016 and has raised around $19.3 million in equity financing, according to regulatory filings.
Its raising comes amid a tough time for fintechs and other growth companies seeking capital to fund their existing operations, and growth. The tough raising environment saw neobank Volt Bank shut down in late June, while the Australian tech sector is littered with examples of companies cutting jobs and winding back spending to preserve capital.
Actor Sean Bean has hit out at the presence of intimacy coordinators on movie and TV productions.
the game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings star, 63, said in a profile interview with The Times UK intimacy coordinators “spoil the spontaneity” of sex scenes.
“It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things. Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hands there, while you touch his thing… I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise,” Bean said.
But acting is generally considered a technical exercise in which an actor is directed by somebody who tells them what to say and do.
Intimacy coordinators are increasingly common on sets to ensure that actors are comfortable with the physical movements required in a sex scene. The inclusion of intimacy coordinators has been supercharged in the wake of the MeToo movement.
Intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien explained to news.com.au in 2020 what her job entailed. She said: “We have an understanding of physicality, body movements and anatomy, and of an actor’s process and how they can serve the script.
“We want to know what’s not suitable for you as a person, and we can work creatively with an actor with your agreement and consent and help the production. When we work from a clear ‘yes’ from the actors, it’ll be a way better sex scene.
“Then once you get in front of the camera, your actors can be free because they know they can trust where they’re going to be touched and where they’re touching their fellow actor.”
Bean made the comments in the context of Lady Chatterleya 1993 TV movie with him and Joely Richardson.
He said of his experience: “Lady Chatterley was spontaneous. It was joy. We had a good chemistry between us and we knew what we were doing was unusual because she was married, I was married.
“But we were following the story. We were trying to portray the truth of what DH Lawrence wrote.”
Bean also told The Times UK of a scene from his current series Snowpiercer which featured him and another actor – later revealed to be co-star Lena Hall – in the nude and involving a mango.
“I think they cut a bit out actually,” he said. “Often the best work you do – where you’re trying to push the boundaries and the very nature of it is experimental – gets censored when TV companies or advertisers say it’s too much. It’s a nice scene, quite surreal, dream-like and abstract. And mango-esque.”
when The Times UK reporter pointed out to Bean that intimacy coordinators are often there to protect actors, Bean responded by saying it depended on the actor and that Hall “had a musical cabaret background so she was up for anything”.
Hall later responded on Twitter by saying that she felt completely comfortable with Bean in that scene but she still saw the value of intimacy coordinators.
She wrote: “If I feel comfortable with my scene partner and with others in the room then I won’t need an intimacy coordinator. But if there is any part of me that is feeling weird, gross, over-exposed etc, I will either challenge the necessity of the scene or I’ll want an (intimacy coordinator).
“I do feel intimacy coordinators are a welcome addition to the set and think they could also help with the trauma experienced in other scenes. Sometimes you need them and sometimes you don’t but every single person and scene and experience is different.”
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Hall also clarified that her professional background is in theater and not cabaret, although she occasionally performs cabaret, but that “does not mean that I am up for anything”.
Other actors have also come out in defense of intimacy coordinators, including West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler.
She wrote on Twitter: “Intimacy coordinators establish an environment of safety for actors. I was extremely grateful for the one we had on (West Side Story) – they showed grace to a newcomer like myself + educated those around me who’ve had years of experience. Spontaneity in intimate scenes can be unsafe. Wake up.”
An infamous incident of an unsafe set environment is the experience of actor Maria Schneider, who as a 19-year-old filmed a rape scene in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 film Last Tango in Paris.
She said the scene, which involved penetration with a stick of butter, wasn’t in the original shooting script and she was only told of it in the moments before filming. Bertolucci has said that he had n’t told her about the scene because he wanted her performance by her to be real and rageful.
Later recalling the order, Schneider said: “I was so angry. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, by both Marlon (Brando) and by Bertolucci.”
Former Sports Minister John Sidoti has been barred from the New South Wales parliament after the state’s corruption watchdog found the MP engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
Sidoti’s former colleagues passed a motion in the Legislative Assembly to suspend him from parliament after he refused to resign.
Sidoti denies any wrongdoing.
ICAC found John Sidoti had engaged in serious corrupt conduct. (Nick Moore)
Sidoti plans to appeal the corruption watchdog’s finding at the Supreme Court.
“I’m going to fight this. I’m going to fight this all the way. I’m not going anywhere,” Sidoti said during a sit-down interview with 9News reporter Chris O’Keefe.
ICAC is seeking the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on whether any criminal prosecution should be pursued.
In his final words before the suspension ruling, Sidoti took aim at ICAC.
“This Frankenstein monster is out of control and nobody is safe,” Sidoti said.
“Reform the beat before it takes a bite out of you too.
“You don’t have to look far to read the long line of people who have entered the ICAC process and come out beaten up and stained by the c-word.
“Many of these people were later cleared by actual courts where presumption of innocence, standards of proof, and rules of evidence actually apply.”
Sidoti addresses the Legislative Assembly prior to the motion passing for his suspension. (9News)
Sidoti is the second former government minister to be barred from parliament, following the suspension of Gareth Ward last month.
Sidoti stood aside as a minister in Gladys Berejiklian’s government in the wake of the corruption investigation in March 2021.
Family on Monday identified the man who was shot to death in an Otsego neighborhood over the weekend by deputies who the Sheriff’s Office said were threatened by him with a knife.
Jordyn J. Hansen, 21, was fatally wounded about 1 am Sunday in the 12300 block of NE. 72nd Court, said his aunt Sara Wroblewski, who lives where deputies responded.
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office said deputies shot Hansen during a confrontation and that he was armed with a knife.
However, Hansen’s aunt contended in a detailed written account released to the Star Tribune late Monday morning that law enforcement was lax while in her home, missed opportunities to detain him and allowed him to get a hold of a knife.
Multiple messages were left with the Sheriff’s Office seeking a response to Wroblewski’s allegations.
In a statement Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said that “reports indicated a man was having mental health challenges and had threatened physical harm to his family and himself.”
Deputies spoke to Hansen upon arriving at the scene, and he agreed to go to the hospital for an evaluation. However, the statement continued, he “ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife” before an ambulance could arrive.
“I have fled the home and ran into the neighborhood,” the statement read. “Squads set up a perimeter and requested additional support from the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter.”
The statement said Hansen confronted deputies a short time later in a neighboring backyard, where two deputies attempted to stun him with a Taser as he threatened them with the knife. The two deputies then shot the man.
Hansen was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Justine Love, in a brief interview Monday with the Star Tribune, said the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office told her family that her brother was hit by six gunshots from law enforcement.
Court records in Rice County show that Hansen has a history of mental health difficulties dating back nearly four years to when he lived in Faribault and include attempts of suicide, delusions that his life was being threatened, hearing voices, belief that his mind was being read , and extreme alcohol and illicit drug abuse.
Courts twice ordered him civilly committed for treatment of social anxiety disorder and depression, with his most recent commitment being extended in March for six months and active at the time of his death.
Wroblewski said in her statement to the Star Tribune that Hansen moved into her Otsego home a few months ago after completing treatment.
“He was still under formal treatment commitment until September but was released [by the Rice County District Court] into our care,” she added.
She said the family believed a new place to live “was his best chance at a full recovery away from his previous lifestyle, which triggered mental health crisis.”
Rice County Attorney John Fossum said that the court’s decisions leading up to Hansen moving in with his aunt “would be based on medical evaluations and recommendations from the professionals responsible for the individual’s care.”
Fossum added that “any explanation of those decisions not found in the public portions of the court file is private data and cannot be disclosed by this office.”
Wroblewski said the family contacted law enforcement early Sunday because Hansen “was having a mental health episode, and we needed him to be removed from our home to get some help.”
The aunt said Hansen “had communicated threats to family outside our home, but didn’t make any threats to us. But there were signs of volatility when we were with Jordyn prior to [law enforcement] and we made officers aware of this.
“We believe there were multiple opportunities inside our home for officers to peacefully restrain and contain Jordyn knowing that this was a mental health call, and the situation was unpredictable and could change in a moment’s notice.”
Instead, she continued, “the officers allowed Jordyn to be escorted through our home unrestrained, which is how he obtained a weapon.”
Wroblewski said her husband warned the officers on that scene that Hansen was heading toward the kitchen unrestrained.
“We believe the outcome would have been different if officers had handled this differently inside our home,” she said. “We have many questions for law enforcement that we are still waiting on.”
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is now heading the investigation and has yet to release any information. The deputies have been placed on standard administrative leave.
Tributes are flowing for Carlo Bonomi, the actor behind the voice of children’s claymation character Pingu, after he died on the weekend at the age of 85.
Remembered for his “noot noot” phrase, the Italian vocal actor passed away in Milan on August 6 with the cause of his death unknown, publication AF News reports.
Australians knew Bonomi for his “Penguinese”, the language spoken in stop-motion series Pingu which aired six seasons between 1986 to 2006.
Bonomi was the unscripted voice behind all the show’s characters for four seasons, before he was replaced by vocal actors David Sant and Marcello Magni when the show was renewed for seasons five and six.
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Pingu is about a young penguin who sometimes gets up to mischief on his family’s polar ice cap in Antarctica.
Fans have praised the late actor for his service as a children’s entertainer by sharing pictures and videos of Bonomi online.
“RIP Carlo Bonomi, thank you for your service in children’s entertainment and for giving my childhood some light to shine in the dark,” one fan posted to Twitter.
“May the Noot Noots never fade from our memories.”
Meanwhile American cartoonist Travis Bickerstaff said Bonomi’s legacy will live on through others.
“If you’re wondering if this will be the end of Pinguit’s not,” Bickerstaff wrote.
“Other voice actors in the Pingu franchise had carried on Bonomi’s legacy, since he established the ‘Penguinese’ language for the series.”
Bonomi was also well-known in Italy as the voice behind the announcements played at Central Station and Florence Santa Maria Novella Station, which were used up until 2008.
He also played a part in a number of Italian shorts, including line animation The Line, The Line.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has been hit with a week’s suspension and a $25,000 fine by the NRL after calling Panthers five-eighth Jaeman Salmon a “weak-gutted dog.”
Key points:
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has been suspended for one week and personally fined $25,000 by the NRL for calling Panthers five-eighth Jaeman Salmon a “weak-gutted dog”
Stuart will be prohibited from having any involvement with the Raiders for seven days and will not coach them on Sunday against the Dragons
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo called Stuart’s comments “totally unacceptable”
The league has served Stuart with a breach notice, which he has accepted, with his seven-day suspension to take impact from 4pm on Tuesday.
It has also mandated that Stuart, not the Raiders, must pay the fine personally.
The decision marks the first time in NRL history that a coach has been suspended for comments at a press conference.
“The period of suspension prohibits Stuart from performing any duties as head coach of the Raiders, including attendance at team or individual training or coaching sessions or the Raiders’ facilities,” the NRL said in a statement.
“Furthermore, he cannot provide instruction or direction to the team, individual players or Club Officials during the period of suspension including before, during or after any matches within this period.”
This means Stuart will miss Canberra’s match against the Dragons on Sunday and will not return to the Raiders until next Tuesday.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo slammed Stuart’s comments, which are believed to have stemmed from an incident between Salmon and Stuart’s son when they were Under-12s teammates in 2010.
“Leaders need to set the standard in the game. The comments are completely unacceptable from any individual, let alone an official of such experience and standing,” Abdo said.
“This is a highly unusual case, and we have taken the significant step of proposing a suspension from his duties for one week.
“This will be a full suspension, precluding Ricky from having any involvement with any club activity, either in person or remotely.
“Furthermore, the fine must not be paid by the club but by Ricky himself.”
Earlier, Raiders chief executive Don Furner accepted that Stuart had done the wrong thing, and said it was important the club supported their long-time coach.
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“It’s just like waiting for a suspension of a player … we’ve said publicly that we’ll accept what punishment and what decision they hand down and then move on from there,” he told reporters.
“It’s a very public job and it’s a hard job. He’s obviously very disappointed and he’s embarrassed, and he’s just going to have to put it behind him and move on and we’ll all support him.”
Furner said he hadn’t discussed which assistant coach would step into the main role for Sunday’s game, but the former Raiders prop is tipped to take the role.
Canberra skipper Elliott Whitehead also went into bat for Stuart.
“We’ve got his back. He had his reasons,” Whitehead told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to go into them, but we’re all supportive of Ricky and he knows he probably shouldn’t have said it on that platform.
“He’s upset he let his emotions get the better of him.”
