‘Proactive policing’ in place after double homicide
Detectives say “proactive policing” is underway to prevent retaliation attacks after a double murder in Sydney’s south-west.
Two women, aged 48 and 39, were killed when their car was sprayed with bullets in Revesby on Saturday night.
Yesterday, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the case had been allocated with significant resources, including officers from gangs squad, Strike Force Raptor.
“And it’s always concerning: What’s the repercussions of all this? But we’re going to be doing our best to try [to] suppress that,” he said.
Police say the older woman was known to them and believe she was targeted because of her “past relationships with other known identities.”
A 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, who were also in the car during the attack, were uninjured and are cooperating with police.
Detectives are working to determine if several burnt-out cars found nearby are linked and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
NSW Labor leader did not investigate bullying allegations
The Opposition Leader says Labor has an independent complaints-handling system.(Facebook: Chris Minns)
Opposition Leader Chris Minns did not investigate allegations of workplace bullying by his frontbencher, Walt Secord, saying that’s in line with the Labor Party’s complaints-handling policy.
On Friday, Mr Secord “unreservedly apologized” for his conduct and stated that he could be “too blunt and too direct”, after an ABC investigation revealed several of his current and former colleagues alleged he had engaged in bullying behaviour.
The Opposition Leader says the Labor Party has an independent complaints-handling system.
“It is critical that the process remains independent and, therefore, above the review of any parliamentary or party official,” Mr Minns said.
“Any grievances pursued outside this risks supplanting the independent process and the objectives for which it was designed: to protect complainants and to handle their complaints with care, respect and without prejudice.”
The allegations leveled at Mr Secord coincided with the release of the Broderick Review, which found bullying is systemic in the New South Wales parliament.
Barilaro internal review into appointment due today
John Barilaro was due to front the inquiry again on Friday but was unable due to sickness. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
An internal review into John Barilaro’s controversial appointment to a lucrative trade role in New York is expected to be released today.
That review — by New South Wales Public Service Commissioner Graeme Head — was announced by the Premier, Dominic Perrottet, in late June and is separate to the parliamentary inquiry into the appointment.
The Head review has already led to the resignation of Stuart Ayres from cabinet and as leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party after it “raised concerns” about his conduct around Mr Barilaro’s appointment.
Calls for more visas for Afghans
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.(Reuters: Ali Khara)
A Sydney human rights lawyer is calling on the federal government to provide 20,000 emergency humanitarian visas for people trapped in Afghanistan.
Today marks one year since the capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban.
In that time, scores of civilians have been killed or injured, women’s rights have been scaled back and food insecurity has risen, according to a recent Amnesty International report.
Refugee Advice and Casework Service’s Arif Hussein said that increased protections needed to be prioritized.
“Allowing people, refugees from Afghanistan currently in Australia living on temporary visas, to remain here permanently, and allowing for family reunification visas to be processed quicker,” he said.
City2Surf a boost for businesses
About 60,000 people took part in this year’s City2Surf, which returned to Sydney’s streets after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus.(ABC News: Helena Burke)
The greater Waverley in Sydney’s east is hopeful this year’s City2Surf has given the local economy a boost.
About 60,000 people took part in the 14-kilometre fun run, which has been held virtually for the past two years.
People traveled from around Australia to take part in the event.
Mayor Paula Masselos said Bondi businesses were bouncing back.
“The cafes, the shops were absolutely packed. It really was fabulous to see the vibe that was there,” she said.
“It was happy. It was positive. COVID has had a significant impact. The City2Surf and other events like this are really important in helping the local economy.”
Natalie, from Tweed Heads in northern New South Wales, has cut her electricity usage to the bare minimum.
“I don’t run a heater, I rug up … I don’t have a telly and I’m very careful about closing all the curtains,” she said.
“I’m doing pretty much as much as I can to reduce my electricity.”
Natalie is on a disability pension, so money is tight.
Natalie wears two jumpers instead of turning on her heater(ABC News: Steve Keen)
Like many people, she recently received notice that her electricity bill will be going up.
The usage component of her bill is only going up to a few cents, but the fixed rate part — the daily supply charge — is going up to 43 per cent.
“I understand everyone is getting a price increase,” she said, “but it just feels a little bit unfair that they’ve put so much on the daily rate.
“I can’t reduce my electricity consumption to reduce the daily rate.”
The New South Wales Energy and Water Ombudsman, Janine Young, said every customer would be seeing price increases.
“Some energy retailers are saying [it will be] as much as 20-30 per cent more,” she observed.
NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman Janine Young says all customers will be in for a price hike.(ABC News: John Gunn)
Wholesale prices are at record highs, tripling in the three months to June, compared to the same time last year.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it was because of high commodity prices, coal-fired power outages and a cold east coast winter.
However, Ms Young argued, those increases should flow through to the usage charge — the cents-per-kilowatt on a customer’s bill — instead of the fixed daily supply charge.
“Retailers can charge an additional amount in that fixed part of your bill. And that’s not price-capped [in NSW],” Ms Young explained.
“It could be that some retailers are increasing that element to offset the wholesale price increases that they’re wearing.”
Different states and territories regulate energy prices differently, observed the Australia Institute’s climate and energy director, Richie Merzian.
Coal-fired power still makes up a large portion of Australia’s total electricity generation.(ABC News: Freya Michie)
“The regulated daily supply charges are in Western Australia, Northern Territory and regional Queensland. For Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, that price can float and can continue to go up,” Mr Merzian said.
Energy market ‘struggling with its own resilience’
The peak body representing power companies, the Australian Energy Council (AEC), has defended the price hikes.
“We’re seeing a lot of reforms happening in the energy market, a lot of pressure on retailers and they need to recover their costs through bills,” AEC chief executive Sarah McNamara said.
For much of the east coast, the energy regulator sets a default market offer (DMO), which acts like a fall-back plan for customers who have not actively chosen a retailer.
Retailers are required to list this price on a customer’s bill.
The DMO usually acts like a price ceiling and retailers compete for customers by offering deals cheaper than that.
However, now, some electricity retailers are offering plans that are more expensive than the default market offer.
“We are seeing competition,” Ms McNamara said.
“But it is a market that is struggling with its own resilience in an environment of rising costs and shrinking margins as well.”
In a remarkable move, a number of small electricity companies have told their customers to go elsewhere, or face a huge hike in their power bills.
Sign up for the Your Money Explained newsletter
It is not profitable for some to continue to service customers and four small companies have already collapsed.
“What we’re seeing already is that there is further concentration in the market,” Mr Merzian said.
“That means there’s less opportunity to shop around and find cheaper electricity prices.”
The competition watchdog is monitoring retailer pricing and will provide an update to energy ministers later this month.
All narrative-focused video games live and die on their cast of characters, and nowhere is this more true than in RPGs. Just as it’s easy to get swept up into an interesting world by the party members and supporting cast you meet along the way, it’s just as viable to realize the characters in the game are a burden or worse, deeply uninteresting. Fortunately, the teens who make up the party of Monolith Soft’s recently released JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are great.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set in the world of Aionios as the kingdoms of Agnus and Keves have been locked in a years-long war. On both sides, soldiers are vat-grown and given a ten-year lifespan, during which they train and before going right into battle. Soldiers killed on the battlefield have their essence absorbed into the other faction’s giant mecha, who are powered by a device called a Flame Clock. If a Flame Clock runs out or gets destroyed, then the soldiers associated with it will instantly die, and that subsequent energy goes into the other faction’s mech. From there, the game opens on a trio of Kevesi soldiers: Noah, who plays his flute to help fallen soldiers move on to the next life, medic Eunnie, and defender Lanz.
Regardless of genre, it can be very easy for video games to get teenage or young adult characters wrong. Making teen characters feel authentic is something the medium — much like Hollywood or television — can struggle with, even with the best of intentions. That’s not the case in Xenoblade 3. The game opens with Noah’s group, and they’re compelling right from the start. Before the game has its occasionally overly long flashback cutscenes, you can tell that the trio’s time together has been just as full of loss as it has been ensuring one another survives their battles. They bicker and listen to one another like they’ve known each other for years, and the game succeeds in making you feel like you’re there with them.
Within an hour or two, the game’s plot kicks in when Noah, Lanz, and Eunnie cross paths with Agnus specialists Mio, Sena, and Taion. After fighting each other and then teaming up to fight a mech monster, the teens find that specific pairings of their group can fuse to become different mechs, and all six of them are freed from their respective Flame Clocks. Now removed from the literal biological clocks that help dictate their lives, the teens find themselves forced to stick together.
Through the power of friendship, let’s beat this dude’s ass! (Screenshot: Nintendo/Monolith Soft)
More than the combat or the bigness of the world, the banter between the party is what’s made Xenoblade Chronicles 3 so enjoyable across my current 16 hour, three-chapter playtime. The teens are just fun in the way that anime typically excels at. For every moment that they’re cool in player-controller combat or a cutscene, there’s another moment where you’re reminded of how young they literally and figuratively are. Combined with the curiosity they share about their new lease on life and the larger world around them, they become endearing pretty quickly. Noah and Mio are clearly billed as the game’s protagonists, and I do like them, but it’s Sena, Taion, Lanz, and Eunnie that have my heart.
Unity and “friendship is magic” are well worn tropes at this point, especially in anime, but I will damned if that doesn’t still work on me. The cutscenes where the teens first fuse into their mech forms — Noah and Mio get it early on, followed a chapter later by Lanz and Sena in one form and Eunnie in Taion in the other — feel earned, and in gameplay, it can be incredibly satisfying to watch AI-controlled party members fuse of their own volition. When an AI-controlled “Hero” character bestows their class to a particular party member after a specific side mission, it can be fun trying to figure out who’s going to be The One, and it’s satisfying when it’s eventually revealed who that special someone is .
One of my favorite games of 2021 was Bandai Namco’s scarlet nexus, an anime action-RPG that also featured a cast of soldiers forced to band together in the midst of a war. Both it and Xenoblade 3 place an emphasis on making the characters connect to each other both on a narrative and gameplay level, with nexus relying on gift giving and visual novel-style sequences where the cast would hang out or fight together. Xenoblade 3’s approach to bonds is a little more literal, and doesn’t allow you to cheat its systems like nexus did At campsites, you can watch the cast sit together and eat, or have them train to get stronger. When finding the bodies of fallen soldiers in the open world, Noah or Mio can play their flutes to send those soldiers off to the next life, and occasionally, they’ll play their respective melodies together.
Image: Nintendo/Monolith Soft
At all times, it feels like the teens are on the path to becoming friends, if they already aren’t already. So strong are the vibes that even the recycled dialogue lines in combat and the open world continue to have a certain charm to them. (That’s right, Sena, you are the girl with the gall.) The game isn’t subtle about its ambitions, but considering the pretty messed up world these teens live in, it’s nice that the game reinforces how hopeful they are and want to be about their situation .
Given how long Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is said to be, I know that I’ll feel that length at some point or another. So it’s a good thing I’m spending it all with such a great cast of characters who are worth being around.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is available now for the Nintendo Switch.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latestMarvel and starwars releases, what’s next for theDC Universe on film and TVand everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the US, but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.
Jesse Bromwich is the highest paid prop in the game with the front-rower leading a clear attitude shift over how much props should be paid.
In a game-changer for the code, the front-row position is now the highest-paid position in the NRL.
The second highest-paid prop is Roosters recruit Matt Lodge on $900,000. A portion of his current salary is being paid by former clubs, the Warriors and Broncos.
From the Rich 100, 26 of the top-earners are front-rowers.
The next best grossing position across the NRL is back rowers (15) and locks (14).
Halfbacks (10) are ranked fourth overall for position in the 2022 Rich 100, a possible insight into the death of quality halves currently in the NRL.
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Bromwich’s $1.05 million salary with the Melbourne Storm will shock league fans, who routinely rate Penrith’s James Fisher-Harris, Eels prop Junior Paulo, Broncos spearhead Payne Haas or Roosters powerhouse Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as the best go-forward merchant in the NRL.
Climbing from a 53rd ranking on the Rich 100 last year to be 13th overall this year, Bromwich has hit pay dirt in his final year in Melbourne on the back of a stellar career at the Storm which has included three premierships and three Player of the Year awards.
The Kiwi International and Storm captain is edging closer to 300 first grade games in what is his final season in Victoria before moving north to become an inaugural franchise player with The Dolphins.
The 33-year-old will take a major pay cut to join the NRL’s newest baby, but could still figure inside the top-50 highest-paid players next year.
The stunning increase in salaries for props is in direct contrast from a long-held view of supercoach Wayne Bennett, who historically refused to spend big-money in his pack.
Lodge has landed at the Roosters for the remainder of this season on a cut-price deal, although his full salary continues to be supplemented by payouts from both the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, the latter of whom have paid him out in full for next season.
Lodge is hoping to earn an extension with the Roosters.
A mainstay of the Rich 100, the next highest-paid prop is Andrew Fifita, who will farewell the list at the end of this season.
The off-contract Sharks prop is in the final year of a five-year contract that is valued at $850,000 a season.
His current overall ranking of 19 on the Rich 100, is shared with fellow front-rower Addin Fonua-Blake.
The Warriors scored a coup when they managed to get Fonua-Blake from Manly for the 2021 season.
He was already one of the game’s premier props when he arrived at the Warriors and he continues to lead from the front for a side that has faced plenty of recent adversity.
Locked in until the end of 2026, Fonua-Blake’s challenge will be delivered upon his worth at the back-end of his contract.
Knights prop David Klemmer is the next highest-paid prop. He is ranked 28th overall on the Rich 100 on a salary of $850,000.
Tower of Fantasy is intended to be played on Android or iOS devices, but players can get their hands on a PC port of the mobile version. The open-world gacha adventure is taking the gaming world by storm, rivaling the extremely popular Genshin Impact. This has players trying to access it by any means necessary.
Those who want to give the mobile version to go on a PC have to download an APK file. This file will include the game and all of its assets, allowing Windows and macOS users to enjoy the experience on their computers rather than their phones.
How to install APK file for Tower of Fantasy
APK is short for Android Package Kit. It is a file format used by Android systems to install games and apps. APKs are often used to bypass the need to use the Google Play store to download applications for the purpose of running them on a PC.
When it comes to Tower of Fantasy, there are quite a few APK files already available. There are several sites that allow users to download files of this type. A trustworthy name in this regard is APKCombo, which can be accessed through a PC browser or a web browser on a mobile device. The download size for the game is around 950 MB and will include everything it has to offer.
This is what the APKCombo site when you’re about to download Tower of Fantasy APK (Image via APKCombo)
Here is how to download the APK file and install it on PC:
Head to the APKCombo page to get the game’s APK file.
Install an Android emulator on the PC (the APKCombo page recommends LDPlayer and has a download link available).
Download the APK file on the PC.
Follow the instructions given in the chosen emulator to drag and drop the APK file into it.
Wait for it to be installed into the emulator.
The steps for installing an APK file on an Android-based mobile device are very similar:
Go to the APKCombo page and tap on the file to begin downloading it.
Tap on the file if it appears in the notification drop-down menu or navigate to the device’s download folder.
Accept the installation of the APK file and then follow the on-screen prompts for the specific device to complete a full installation.
After following the steps and getting the APK file for Tower of Fantasy installed, players can dive right in. They just need to open the file on mobile devices or select it through the emulator on PC.
This method of downloading and installation works well for many different mobile games. Moreover, gamers who want to pre-download a title that may not be available in their region yet can do it using the steps mentioned above.
If for whatever reason the APK file does not work, try and search for another trustworthy source to download it to use with the emulator. If that still doesn’t do the trick, the problem could be the emulator itself, so download a different one and try again.
Six-year-old Ava Renwood is an aspiring athlete with big dreams of a career in sport.
Key points:
Special Olympics Queensland says many athletes with autism struggle to be accepted into sporting groups
Brisbane mum Ashleigh Brook says Australia risks potential future athletes “falling through the cracks”
Multi-class events are enabling children with disability to compete in more high level sporting events
But her mum Ashleigh Brook fears her options are limited by the lack of inclusivity and understanding of athletes with autism.
The Brisbane mum said her daughter “lives and dies” for her weekly gymnastics, cheerleading and dance classes.
“Ava wakes up in the morning [at] like 7am, and it is ‘what gym classes do I have today?'” Ms Brook said.
After approaching local sport clubs to take her daughter to the next level in sport, Ms Brook was advised to send her to disability-only groups.
“It is great that they have a division for these athletes, but again, [it’s] not inclusive,” she said.
“[It’s] very like putting them in their own bubble.”
Ava’s mum Ashleigh Brook says there needs to be more inclusive clubs for children with disability.(ABC News: Mark Leonardi)
With Ava eager to compete with her peers, Ms Brook is unsure she can find an inclusive club next season.
“It is kind of one of those situations where I am questioning is there going to be somewhere,” Ms Brook said.
Sporting events for students of all abilities
Charlotte Kanowski with her medal after she won the Queensland School Sports triathlon’s multi-class autism without an intellectual disability category.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)
Fourteen-year-old Charlotte Kanowski is an accomplished triathlon, marathon and aquathon athlete.
She was also the first and only student to compete in Queensland School Sports triathlon’s multi-class autism without an intellectual disability category.
“I was proud of myself when I got the medal and finished the race,” Charlotte said.
Charlotte Kanowski competing in the Noosa triathlon.(Supplied)
Multi-class events allow students with disabilities to participate in an inclusive environment.
The events are currently offered in triathlon, cross country, swimming and track and field events.
The Department of Education said this year for the first time, students with autism can also compete in multi-class events in the Queensland School Sport State Swimming Championships and State Triathlon.
Charlotte’s mum Jessica Kanowski said creating inclusive sport environments is about implementing “reasonable adjustments”.
“I think having that multi-class does provide an opportunity for them to have a go, but in a comfortable setting,” she said.
“Ultimately, you would want it to be fully inclusive and all the kids going together and having a go.
“We need to be inclusive and allow access to all of our children so that they can reach their dreams.”
The Brisbane mum said she had been fortunate in finding inclusive sports for her daughter, but it had not come without its challenges.
“It can be tricky to find an instructor who is educated and knows what reasonable adjustments to put in place,” she said.
Charlotte Kanowski with her parents and little sister – who all support her during her competitions.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)
Ms Kanowski said it was important for coaches to understand all children on the spectrum have different “sensory profiles.”
“It is a spectrum for that reason, they are all different,” she said.
“When [Charlotte] does have a moment or may have a meltdown, that it is normal for her.
“That’s her emotions bubbling over and that is how she expresses them, and it is part of being autistic.”
Seeing her daughter shine in competitions, fills Ms Kanowski with pride.
“Makes me feel like she is out there giving it a go, and I’m really proud of her,” she said.
Sporting clubs ‘fearful of the unknown’
The Special Olympics’ Queensland coordinator Kim Lawley said many sports clubs were “fearful of the unknown” around athletes with autism.
“Once you get them out on a track or a field or a court, they are an athlete, and they want to participate and train,” she said.
“It’s just breaking down those barriers and those fears of the unknown.”
She said many athletes with disabilities struggle to be accepted into sporting groups, including her own brother.
“There was no opportunity for my brother to play sport, so we made that happen for him [at the Special Olympics],” Ms Lawley said.
Special Olympics’ Kim Lawley says many athletes with autism struggle to be accepted into sporting groups.(ABC News: Sarah Richards)
She said the Special Olympics has helped create inclusive sporting opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities and autism, with her brother going on to play basketball and golf nationally.
“It is about education of coaches, it is inclusion, and it’s just reminding coaches anywhere in Australia, in the world that they are athletes,” she said.
National athlete leadership coordinator for Special Olympics Australia, Susie Bennett-Yeo, said she hoped one day athletes with intellectual disabilities and autism could be accepted and welcomed by any sports team.
“I would love to just see some of the athletes I know, just to be able to go along to their local basketball competition and say, ‘I’d like to play basketball’ and they go, ‘that’s great’,” she said .
‘The next national stars’ falling through the cracks
Australian Sports Commission spokesperson said it believed everyone should be able to participate in sport.
“It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of,” a spokesperson said.
Ms Brook is still hoping there will be more sports opportunities for athletes like her daughter.
“These children have a future, and we shouldn’t put them in a box and sports really opens the door for that,” she said.
Ms Brook said athletes with autism, provided with the right support, could be “the next national stars.”
“I think the industry forgets that what makes them different can also be an incredible strength,” she said.
“If they are not going to support it, then how many potential elite athletes are going to fall through the cracks.”
Weekend PC Game Deals is where the hottest gaming deals from all over the internet are gathered into one place, every week, for your consumption. So kick back, relax, and hold on to your wallets.
Horror fans are in for a feast as Humble and Capcom brought forward the Resident Evil Decades of Horror bundle this week.
The bundle begins with copies of Resident Evil, Resident Evil Revelations and Revelations 2 Episode 1 in the $1 tier. If you go for the $10 tier it puts up Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Resident Evil 0, and Revelations 2 Deluxe in addition to what’s in the previous rung.
The bundle throws five more horror items at you in the third and final tier costing $30, which has Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Resident Evil 4and a 50% off coupon for Resident Evil Village.
At the same time, if you’re more about tactical combat games, Humble’s other gaming bundle of this week may be the way to go. It all titles like Sniper Elite 4, Call of Arms, Verdunand four more games for $15.
Epic Games Store brought a freebie for casual game fans this week with a copy of Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 being offered, replacing the unrailed giveaway from last week.
The cooking and management title has you taking over a food truck in a post-apocalyptic setting. A hectic campaign with hundreds of levels and co-op support is available here, with a separate “Chill” mode to slow down the pace for a more relaxed ingredient assembling experience.
the Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 giveaway is available to claim through Thursday, August 18. Coming up next is not a game, but a premium pack for the new free-to-play battle royale rumbleverse.
big deals
Since there seems to be no free events happening this weekend, we go straight to the big deals section. The hand-picked list this time has been populated by discounts for games featuring the Caped Crusader, THQ Nordic publisher deals, and much more:
DRM-free Goodness
Your dose of DRM-free deals arrives from the GOG store, filled with games that offer a good challenge and others:
Keep in mind that availability and pricing for some deals may vary depending on the region you’re in
And that’s it for our pick of this weekend’s PC game deals everyone, and hopefully, some of you have enough self-restraint not to break the bank adding new games to your ever-growing backlogs. Of course, there are an enormous number of other deals ready and waiting if you comb through the interwebs hard enough, so keep your eyes open for those, and have a great weekend.
Neowin may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Australia’s first prime minister, Edmund ‘Toby’ Barton, was many things: A leader, a visionary and as one of his obituaries summed up, “a great Australian.”
And, according to author Matt Murphy, he was also “an outright drunk.”
“If you look at our early parliaments — drunkenness was just accepted.”
And Barton is far from an exception. Since colonial times, Australia has been a country soaked in booze, as drinking has been both a national pastime and a source of untold harm and tragedy.
But is it finally starting to change?
colonial roots
When the First Fleet set off from England 235 years ago, its cargo was indicative of the kind of country Australia would become.
The first governor of the NSW colony, Arthur Phillip, insisted on bringing two years’ worth of carefully rationed food for the new settlement, in case conditions were inhospitable for agriculture.
He also took along four years’ worth of rum.
“The marines, who came to escort the First Fleet, insisted and insisted and finally got their way — to have four years’ worth of rum on board … [But] it didn’t last close to four years,” says Mr Murphy, who wrote the book ‘Rum: A Distilled History of Colonial Australia’.
It’s hard to overstate how important booze was in the first few decades of the colony.
“Alcohol was a currency. If you wanted something done, you had to pay for it. How were they paying for it? With booze,” Mr Murphy says.
“There’s lots of records of people buying and selling things for rum. For example, buying land in [the Sydney suburb of] Pyrmont for rum or selling your wife for rum.”
The NSW Corps, or the permanent regiment of the British Army, became known as the Rum Corps because they controlled the access to alcohol.
As the colony grew, rum was made locally and imported. But this wasn’t the kind of rum we know today.
“rum [became] a generic term … People were making ‘rum’ from potatoes and making ‘rum’ out of peaches. There was hooch, backyard rubbish. People died on the spot drinking some of this, they went blind. It was pretty nasty stuff,” Mr Murphy says.
“[But] people would need rum to start their day, like people need their coffee today.”
Alcohol and drunkenness became firmly entrenched in the lives of colonial Australians, which has had an impact to this day.(Supplied: The State Library of NSW)
During these early years of the colony, grog was also introduced to First Nations people, which had incredibly destructive effects.
As the 19th century progressed, demand for rum dropped, but people kept turning to other varieties of alcohol.
The social, economic and health tolls of this much alcohol across Australian society prompted various governments to try and curb drinking habits.
But this came with mixed results.
The six o’clock swill
Starting in 1916, states adopted rules where bars had to close at 6pm.
“It partly came about because of the temperance movement, because they were wanting to cut down on alcohol consumption,” says Richard Midford, an adjunct professor at Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute and a clinical psychologist.
“But it came into place during the First World War, in a major part, because people felt that the homefront shouldn’t be having a good time while the boys were away fighting in France.”
Photographer Max Dupain captured the ‘six o’clock swill’ in 1940s Australia.(Supplied: The State Library of NSW)
But the ‘six o’clock swill’, as it became known, had an unintended consequence — a culture of extremely heavy drinking developed, where workers would drink as much as they could between clocking off at 5pm and the 6pm bar closures.
It was not pretty. Bars would lay sawdust on the floor to soak up patrons’ urine and vomit, while many were refitted with tiled walls and floors (a feature which remains today) to make cleaning easier.
“It lasted from the time of the First World War right through, in some states, to the 1960s,” Professor Midford says.
Patrons at the Northern Club Hotel in Sydney toast the introduction of 10pm closing in 1955.(Supplied: The State Library of NSW)
In 1965, an unlikely invention was introduced to try to reduce drinking—the wine cask.
“The wine cask was invented to preserve wine, not to drink it more quickly,” Mr Murphy says.
“When you take the cork out of wine, it immediately starts to oxidise, it immediately starts to go off. And so the average person would rather drink it than tipping it down the sink tomorrow.
“[Cask wine] doesn’t rust.”
But, he says, “it quickly became just a convenient thing to stick under your arm and take to a party.”
Booze and politics
Alcohol and politics has long been a noxious mix in this country.
Alcohol really doesn’t provide ‘good health’.(Supplied: The State Library of NSW)
According to Mr Murphy, the fact that Australia’s first prime minister was “an outright drunk” isn’t even the most outrageous example. Not even close.
“John Norton was elected in a [NSW] by-election in 1898. When he entered parliament, he was drunk every day,” Mr Murphy says.
“Really, I mean disgustingly drunk, apparently. To such a point that about two months later, he downed his dacks and pissed on the parliamentary carpet.”
Mr Murphy also points to then-governor general John Kerr’s drunken speech at the 1977 Melbourne Cup, which he calls “disgusting”.
An inebriated Kerr rambled on in front of the racetrack audience, noting “life is wonderful for all of us,” before presenting the cup.
loading
“[Bob Hawke] said himself that his most endearing attribute to all Australians was his world record for drinking a yard glass,” Mr Murphy adds.
Hawke entered the Guinness Book for World Records in 1954 for finishing a yard of ale in 11 seconds while he was studying at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. But he gave up drinking when he went into parliament and stayed off the grog when he was prime minister.
Mr Murphy says the attitudes of politicians have had a major influence on our drinking culture over the generations.
But recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about how this is actually playing out in Canberra.
“The stuff that’s come out of parliament … is another example of a boozy workplace culture [without] restrictions put in place,” says Nicole Lee, an adjunct professor at Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute and CEO of drug and alcohol consultancy 360 Edge.
She says parliament and other workplaces need to become spaces where “we do think about women; and people from culturally diverse backgrounds; and people who don’t want to drink; and people who don’t want to be around people who are drunk at work”.
Part of the culture
Experts say the centuries of heavy drinking have meant booze is now closely interwoven with Australian culture.
“We’ve got that sense that if you go anywhere in Australia, socially, that there’ll be alcohol there and you’re expected to drink it,” Professor Lee says.
Professor Midford adds: “There’s a very strong culture of going out and deliberately getting drunk. If you have that sort of culture, the sorts of harms that are going to occur, in terms of violence and sexual predation, are going to be much higher “.
Today, there’s a patchwork of drinking habits across demographics.
“There is some indication that people in middle age are actually drinking more — and a lot of that is driven by women drinking more,” Professor Lee says.
Binge drinking continues to be a problem in Australia.(Getty Images: Brook Mitchell)
People in the country drink more than people in urban areas.
“The further you go away from a major city, the higher the drinking levels and the higher the risky drinking,” Professor Lee says.
And there are different drinking habits among Indigenous Australians, who often get lumped into one group.
“Fewer First Nations people drink, compared to the general community, but those that do drink tend to drink at higher levels,” Professor Lee says.
“Factors of colonisation, of the stolen generations, of trauma — all of those things are linked to higher alcohol consumption.”
On the decline
Yet there are cracks appearing in our close relationship with booze.
We’ve recently seen the rise of the ‘sober curious’, as Dry July has become increasingly popular, along with zero and low-strength alcohol products.
Non-alcoholic wines can now be found in supermarkets around Australia.(ABC RN: Nick Baker)
As perceptions around alcohol are slowly starting to shift, overall drinking rates are starting to go down in Australia — thanks to one particular demographic.
“[The fact that] drinking rates are going down is nearly entirely driven by young people,” Professor Lee says.
“People in their 20s are still the heaviest drinking group, but fewer of them are drinking. Those that do drink are drinking less [than previous generations] and they’re starting later… It’s a really big shift.”
So what’s behind this shift among young people? Experts say it’s thanks to a mix of education, awareness and different priorities.
“There’s a lot more talking about [alcohol consumption]. It’s a lot more visible when there’s problems — those problems are more often reported on,” Professor Lee says.
“[Young people] are being healthier, they’re probably more conscious of their appearance — alcohol is really the only drug that makes you fat by just taking it … Also I feel like young people are much more ambitious than my generation.”
Or, as Professor Midford puts it: “Young people are much more savvy, I think, about the effects of alcohol than those 20 or 30 years ago.”
RN in your inbox
Get more stories that go beyond the news cycle with our weekly newsletter.
Leaker momomo_us discovers first offers for AMD 600-series motherboards.
It appears that some Italian retailers have now begun listing AMD’s X670 motherboards. Therefore, these are the very first offers for AMD’s next-gen AM5 platform soon coming to consumers.
Two of the MSI X670 motherboard series have shown up on at least three different websites, all using the same imagery, suggesting the source (distributor) is likely the same. However the pricing varies depending on the retailer.
MSI X670 motherboards, Source: Aedgaming
The cheaper Pro X670-P model is now listed for 374 to 426 EUR which includes 22% Italian VAT. Without the tax and after converting this to US Dollar, we are looking at 316 to 360 USD.
A bit more expensive MPG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi featuring more capable Extreme variant of the X670 chipset is now listed for 562 to 640 EUR. That’s 475 to 540 USD without VAT.
MSI X670 Series pricing at Italian retailers
MSI X670 Offers
WITH +22% VAT
W/O VAT
EUROS TO USD (W/O VAT)
MPG X670E Carbon WiFi #1
562.19 Euros
460.81 Euros
$474.64 USD
MPG X670E Carbon WiFi #2
625.50 Euros
512.70 Euros
$528.09 USD
MPG X670E Carbon WiFi #3
640.15 Euros
524.71 Euros
$540.45 USD
PRO X670-P WiFi #1
374.35 Euros
306.84 euros
$316.05 USD
PRO X670-P WiFi #2
416.50 Euros
341.39 Euros
$351.64 USD
PRO X670-P WiFi #3
426.27 Euros
349.40 Euros
$359.88 USD
MSI X670 motherboards, Source: @harukaze5719
Both motherboards are equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and 2.5G LAN networking, also offering PCIe Gen5 storage support. The X670E Carbon will also support Gen5 graphics cards and has more advanced power delivery (18+2 phase 90A vs 14+2 80A on the PRO).
The MPG Carbon isn’t the flagship MSI though. MSI is also working on MEG Ace and Godlike series which have even more powerful power design (22+2+1 phase), faster Ethernet (up to 10GbE) and even have onboard information display (Godlike). The pricing for the MEG series has not been leaked yet though.
Paul Green’s brother Rick has spoken about the devastating impact of the NRL icon’s tragic death. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
NRL icon Paul Green’s family have made their first public statement since the 49-year-old’s tragic deathwhich has left the rugby league world in shock.
Green was found dead at his home in Brisbane last week, with the cause of death later, sadly, revealed to be that he took his own life.
BRUTAL: NRL referee’s astonishing admission about grand final error
SAD: Devastating link between Paul Green and Andrew Symonds tragedies
A wave of tributes to the former North Queensland Cowboys and QLD Maroons coach came in the wake of Green’s death, as his brother Rick told the Sunday Mail the family had planned a public funeral.
A farewell for Green is planned for either August 23 or August 30, with the final date to be confirmed soon, while venue will be the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls’ home ground of Kougari Oval.
Green won a premiership for the club as both player and coach, a fitting nod to his similar feats at NRL level.
speaking to the Sunday MailRick admitted the circumstances of Green’s death had been a shock to the family.
“Everyone is feeling overwhelmed,” Rick said.
“There’s certainly a lot of stories that we’re sharing about our times with Paul but as we reflect on those good times, there’s a great sadness at his passing.
“It’s still very raw and difficult to process.”
Tributes have flowed from all corners, from Cowboys coach Todd Payten to newsreader Peter Overtonas the NRL world grapples with the highly respected mentor’s death.
Green goes down as a great of the NRL, a two-time Rothman Medal winner as well as a premiership coach with the 2015 Cowboys, the first grand final win in team history.
The Green family had earlier issued a statement after his passing.
“Today we are devastated,” the statement began.
“We have lost a devoted husband, loving father and wonderful brother and son. We cannot find the words that would come close to expressing our feeling, however we would like to extend our thanks to those who have reached out to us with their love and support.
“Paul was loved by so many and we know that this news will generate immense interest, however at this time we ask for privacy.
“Our family is still trying to understand this tragedy and we request space and time as we come to terms with this loss. Thank you.”
Cowboys offer gutsy NRL effort against Roosters after Paul Green tragedy
In simple terms, North Queensland were beaten 32-18 by the Sydney Roosters on Saturday.
The Cowboys were gutsy. They twice fought back from double-figure margins but were ultimately out-muscled and outplayed.
With it, North Queensland’s shot at a maiden minor premiership is almost certainly gone.
Penrith now hold a six-point lead with three rounds to go, with a significant for-and-against advantage meaning they will surely finish first.
Coach Todd Payten was also unhappy over three refereeing calls, including one where Matt Lodge held Griffin Neame back in a scrum and Roosters hooker Sam Verrills scored.
Payten was insistent it didn’t cost his side the match, but against a club like the Roosters it didn’t help.
But after the two days North Queensland has endured following the death of former coach Paul Green, that all paled into insignificance.
Ten members of North Queensland’s team played under Green two years ago.
And bona fide Cowboy stars such as Valentine Holmes represented Queensland in the State of Origin arena when Green was in charge last year.
Flags flew at half-mast at the SCG, while the Cowboys were visibly moved during the minute’s silence before play.
The North Queensland Cowboys huddled together for a minute of silence to honor past coach Paul Green, who died aged 49. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“There’s just no real words to express what has happened … and how it has affected a lot of people in the rugby league community and families,” co-captain Jason Taumalolo said.
“I can’t imagine what (Green’s wife) Amanda and the kids are going through.
“Everyone should have someone to talk to regardless of how big or small a problem is. No-one should have to carry that sort of pressure around with them.”
Taumalolo said that message had been discussed among Cowboys players, with the NRL also providing welfare assistance.
“I’d like to think we are a tight-knit group and we are able to talk to each other, whenever we go through a tough time or something really difficult,” he said.
“I think everyone copes with loss and grief differently. I’m not sure about any of the other boys but everyone is affected differently.
“What has happened has really shocked and rattled most of us. It’s going to take some time to get over it.”
Playing on Saturday was never in question for the Cowboys but management is unsure how to treat the next few days.
The squad will return to Townsville on Sunday and play on Friday, but some days off remain an option ahead of another emotional week.
With APA
click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
Through the power of friendship, let’s beat this dude’s ass! (Screenshot: Nintendo/Monolith Soft)
Image: Nintendo/Monolith Soft
