A crime scene photographer documents the scene at Truman Street and Grand Avenue in Albuquerque after a Muslim man was killed late Friday night. (Liam DeBonis/Albuquerque Journal)
Another Muslim man has been shot to death — the fourth to be killed in a period of nine months and the third in the past two weeks.
The latest shooting happened late Friday night, just before midnight. An Albuquerque Police Department Spokesman said officers were called to the area near San Mateo and Copper NE for a shooting. When they arrived they found a man dead.
Investigators announced on Thursday that they believe there is a strong possibility that the men were targeted because of their race and religion.
Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, was killed on Nov. 7 behind the halal market he and his brother owned. Aftab Hussein, 41, was killed on July 26 in his apartment complex parking lot on Rhode Island NE, near Wyoming and Copper. Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, was killed on Aug. 1 less than a block from his apartment in a neighborhood south of the University of New Mexico.
Saturday afternoon, APD officials held a news conference alongside leaders from the US Attorney’s Office, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the city of Albuquerque. They urged people to come forward and report any suspicious activity.
Deputy Chief Josh Brown said the department has consulted with the Muslim community and is increasing patrols in certain areas and establishing command posts. Multiple units throughout the department are working on the case.
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Australian share market investors are set to benefit from putting their money into mining companies that specialize in the extraction of a key material needed for electric car batteries.
Australia’s lithium exports in the year to June surged by 737 per cent to $2.632billion. Exports of this mineral multiplied by eight times from $314million when the June quarter of 2022 was compared with the June quarter of 2021, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
Australia is also the world’s biggest exporter of lithium – accounting for 46 per cent of the world’s supply in 2020.
Like Australia, the US, UK, the European Union, Japan and South Korea are aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in a bid to address climate change.
Australian share market investors are set to benefit by putting their money into mining companies that specialize in the extraction of a key material needed for electric car batteries (pictured are Tesla charging stations)
Labor’s plan to reduce carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 on Thursday passed the House of Representatives and Greens leader Adam Bandt has vowed his party will pass the legislation in the Senate.
This means demand is set to arise for lithium, a key component of electric vehicle and solar batteries that will be needed as Australia and much of the developed world reduces their reliance on petrol cars and coal-fired power stations.
Lithium is also a key component in mobile phones, laptops and cameras.
Exports of lithium concentrate, the powered material used to power batteries, in June hit a record-high $1.163billion, a massive 1,189 per cent increase compared with June 2021.
The value of these exports has multiplied almost 13 times from just $90million a year earlier.
Saxo Capital market strategist Jessica Amir said electric vehicle makers would increasingly need lithium, with Australian and American government subsidies set to turbocharge demand
Saxo Capital market strategist Jessica Amir said electric vehicle makers would increasingly need lithium, with Australian and American government subsidies set to turbocharge demand.
‘The means that they are going to continue to produce electric vehicles and the key components of electric vehicles, many of those are sourced in Australia,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It just means that a baseline of support has been put under the lithium sector.
‘The focus is now reset on the lack of supply and rising demand.’
Western Australia has accounted for more than 99 per cent of Australian lithium exports, every month since January 2021, with the state already having a near monopoly on Australia’s iron ore exports.
Demand is set to arise for lithium, a key component of electric vehicle and solar batteries that will be needed as Australia and much of the developed world reduces their reliance on petrol cars and coal-fired power stations. Lithium is also a key component in mobile phones (stock image, pictured), laptops and cameras
Pilbara Minerals, Australia’s biggest lithium miner, in 2019 signed a deal with Chinese car maker Great Wall Motor to supply spodumene concentrate, a key mineral for electric vehicles.
Australia’s lithium miners
Pilbara Minerals: Australia’s biggest lithium miner owns all of the Pilgangoora Project and Operation, 120km from Port Hedland
goldcopper: A $4billion merger with Galaxy Resources in April created the world’s fifth largest lithium chemicals producer. It is now known as Allkem
Lake Resources: One of the world’s lowest-cost producers of lithium chemical producers
This Perth-based company owns all of the Pilgangoora Project and Operation, 120km from Port Hedland.
‘This is our biggest, by far, lithium exporter in Australia,’ Ms Amir said.
Its share price has soared from just 15.84 cents in March 2020 to peak at $3.20 in January 2022, before falling back to $2.29 in June and rising to its present level of $2.77.
But Ms Amir said it would be at least another year before Pilbara Minerals saw a meaningful rise in its share price, with investors holding off as the Reserve Bank kept raising interest rates.
‘Unlike other non-profitable lithium companies, Pilbara Minerals does have a robust balance sheet,’ she said.
‘The market thinking it is that it will potentially record revenue this year.
‘The market thinking is its revenue will likely double in 2023.’
Orocobre in April last year became the world’s fifth biggest lithium chemicals producer through a merger with Galaxy Resources.
This merger was officially rebranded in November 2021 as Allkem, with the Brisbane-based company mainly mining lithium in Argentina.
Exports of lithium concentrate, the powered material used to power batteries, in June hit a record-high $1.163billion, a massive 1,189 per cent increase compared with June 2021. The value of these exports has multiplied almost 13 times from just $90million a year earlier
Allkem’s share price has climbed from $2.03 in May 2020 to $14 in May, before slipping back to $11.55 on Friday, with historical Australian Securities Exchange data covering the price when the company was known as Orocobre.
‘Not only have they seen their balance sheet strengthen after buying Galaxy, but the lithium province in Argentina is still pumping out the highest grade of lithium than anywhere else in the world,’ Ms Amir said.
Lake Resources is another player, selling itself as one of the world’s lowest-cost producers of lithium chemical products.
The Sydney-based company also extracts much of its lithium from Argentina.
Its share price has risen from just seven cents in December 2020 to $2.31 as of April this year, before diving down to 61 cents in July and recovering to 92 cents as of August.
The resignation of former Lake Resources managing director Steve Promnitz in June had put pressure on the share price.
Ms Amir said Allkem and Lake Resources, despite being listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, were more focused on Argentina, which meant they were able to better capitalize on Tesla now making electric vehicles in Texas, at its Gigafactory plant.
Tesla also announced this week they would produce their own fuel cells.
‘It just means that Telsa is going to continue to see how they can get cheap access to lithium,’ Ms Amir said.
The word’s biggest carbon emitters are less ambitious with China vowing for a net zero by 2060 target while India has a 2070 deadline.
Allkem and Lake Resources, despite being listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, were more focused on Argentina, which meant they were able to better capitalize on Tesla now making electric vehicles in Texas, at its Gigafactory plant (pictured is Tesla chief executive Elon Musk)
After a year of battling China’s politically-motivated trade sanctions, Australia has hoped on another trade horizon with exports to India more than doubling in the year to June, rising by 108 per cent.
Australia now has a $16.7billion annual trade surplus with India, up from $16.7billion a year earlier.
CommSec chief economist Craig James noted Australia’s exports to India are worth more than the combined exports of both the US and the UK.
But coal, a fossil fuel linked to climate change, is a key export to India.
Australia’s exports of iron ore to China, so they can make steel, underpinned the 54th successive monthly trade surplus in June.
In that month, Australia had a $17.67billion trade surplus.
During the 2021-22 financial year, Australia had a record $136.4billion annual trade surplus, up from $90billion a year earlier.
Ollie Hoare has come from the clouds in the final stages to claim Commonwealth Games gold in the 1500m.
Hoare blitzed the field in the home straight as he stormed past Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot in the last 10 meters to cross the line in a games record time of 3:30.13 – edging the Kenyan by .09 of a second.
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The Aussie stalked Cheruiyot, the world champion and defending Commonwealth Games champion, as they came around the final bend and turned on the gas at the perfect moment.
“Hoare lifting here, lifting with a big run,” Bruce McAvaney said.
“He’s coming with a mighty run, the Aussie’s a chance. Cheruiyot goes up … here comes Ollie Hoare with a flashing run I reckon he’s going to get there.”
“And it is!” Tamsyn Lewis-Manou shouted as Hoare crossed the line.
“It’s an extraordinary moment in Australian sport. It’s one of those that we will etch in the history books forever and how lucky we are to have been here and for you to have watched it,” McAvaney said as Hoare slumped over in disbelief on the ground. “The last 100m is the stuff of legends.”
“Take your hat off, that was just brilliant and a new Games record,” Lewis-Manou said.
“He has just beat a sensational field. I have waited until the exit route, got out and that finish was brilliant.”
“He takes down two world champions in the home stretch, it’s just magical. It’s what you dream about,” McAvaney added.
Hoare, 25, spoke about the gold medal moment after completing a lap of victory around the stadium.
“That last lap I just wanted to stay relaxed and I knew that my time would come. It’s hard to believe when you have guys there that are absolute class. But I was able to get out and I just had the kicker at the end and it was spectacular,” Hoare said.
Hoare got emotional during the interview as he dedicated the run to his late grandfather.
“I’d like to dedicate that race to my pop he was a life member at Southern Districts athletics club and he was a World War 2 veteran, Sargaent Fred Hoare.
“He passed away just after the World Champs and it was a very difficult time for me because of how bad I’d just raced and to hear that news of a guy who would have a stopwatch at every race when I was growing up going through the sport, to not have him there to watch was tough but I’d like to dedicate that race to my pop because he is the reason why my family loves this sport and the reason why I am here today.
“So Pop, I know you’re watching. I’ll have a glass of red for ya mate. That was a good one.”
Australian viewers couldn’t believe what they’d just witnessed with Hoare’s run one we’ll remember for years and years.
The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph wrote: “Here comes Ollie Hoare with a flashing run. Bloody hell. Some kind of guts to run down two world champions. Just wow.”
Former Boomers coach Brendan Joyce wrote: “Wow Australia we have a new champion to be proud of! What a run in the 1500! Ollie Hoare you were incredible!”
ABC journalist Peter Gunders wrote: “Ollie Hoare! What a race. My heart is racing, we nearly lost our voices cheering, and I think we just woke up the whole street.”
Former AFL star Kane Cornes wrote: “World class run, how tough is he. Bruce is a genius.”
GPs are choosing to phase out bulk-billing payment methods and are concerned vulnerable Australians will be left without access to affordable basic health care.
“Over the past few decades the government hasn’t been really paying much attention to general practice,” Sydney Dr. Brad McKay told Today.
GP Brad McKay is warning of the end of bulk-billing. (9News)
“Our wages for general practitioners haven’t been escalating, or increasing for a long time, our wages were frozen for many many years under Medicare as well, so this gap has developed.”
McKay said GPs are sick of handling the gap and being paid “at half the wage” they should be.
“We’ve been asking for support for many, many decades and it’s really got to breaking point at the moment,” McKay said.
With the average out-of-pocket expense for GPs having risen by 60 per cent in the last decade, hundreds of clinics across the nation are struggling to make ends meet.
The Medicare Benefits Schedule rebate for a standard consultation recently rose by 65 cents to $39.75.
The current Medicare Benefits Schedule rebate for a standard consult is $39.75 (iStock)
More and more GPs are advising their patients they can no longer provide bulk billing as a service.
“It’s very, very hard to find a bulk billing doctor these days and it’s going to get harder,” said McKay.
The result, McKay says, is more people ending up in hospital.
“People don’t see the doctor and they get worse and they end up in the emergency department,” he said.
“So it costs the government a lot more when that happens. It’s like $1000 for you to go to the emergency department.”
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A shortage of GPs is adding to the stress, with many choosing to leave the profession.
“Lots of GPs aren’t coming in from medical students, they’re not deciding to do general practice,” McKay said.
“We’re getting really thin on the ground as well.”
In May, the Albanese government announced a $970m investment in primary health care to boost GP practices.
The policy includes a $750m “Strengthening Medicare” fund to roll out from 2023-24 and a $220m grants program for upgrades in local practices.
Protesters gather in downtown Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, March 13, 2021, to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of Breonna Taylor in a botched raid by Louisville police officers. (Xavier Burrell/The New York Times)
On the day before police officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, a detective tried to persuade her to judge that a former boyfriend of Taylor could be using her home to stash money and drugs.
The detective, Joshua Jaynes, said the former boyfriend had been having packages sent to Taylor’s apartment, and he even claimed to have proof: a postal inspector who had confirmed the shipments. Jaynes outlined all this in an affidavit and asked a judge for a no-knock warrant so that officers could barge into Taylor’s home late at night before drug dealers had a chance to flush evidence or flee. The judge signed off on the warrant.
But this week, federal prosecutors said Jaynes had lied. It was never clear whether the former boyfriend was receiving packages at Taylor’s home from her. And Jaynes, the prosecutors said, had never confirmed as much with any postal inspector. As outrage over Taylor’s death grew, prosecutors said in new criminal charges filed in federal court, Jaynes met with another detective in his garage and agreed on a story to tell the FBI and their own colleagues to cover up the false and misleading statements police had made to justify the raid.
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Amid protests over Taylor’s killing, much of the attention has focused on whether the two officers who shot her would be charged. But the Justice Department turned most of its attention on the officers who obtained the search warrant, highlighting the problems that can occur when searches are authorized by judges based on police facts may have exaggerated or even concocted.
“It happens far more often than people think,” said Joseph C. Patituce, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor in Ohio. “We are talking about a document that allows police to come into the homes of people, oftentimes minorities, at all times of night and day.”
Taylor is far from the first person to die in a law enforcement operation authorized on what prosecutors said were police misstatements.
In Houston, prosecutors accused a police officer of falsely claiming that an informant had purchased heroin from a home in order to obtain a search warrant in 2019; officers killed two people who lived there during a shootout when they tried to execute the warrant, and only after that did the police chief at the time, Art Acevedo, say there were “material untruths or lies” in an affidavit for the warrant that led to the raid. The officer pleaded not guilty, and the case is still pending.
In Atlanta, police officers barged into a home and fatally shot a 92-year-old woman, Kathryn Johnston, in 2006 after an officer lied in a search warrant affidavit about an informant buying drugs from her home.
And in Baltimore, a federal judge sentenced a detective to 2 1/2 years in prison last month after prosecutors said he had lied in a search warrant affidavit about finding drugs in a man’s truck in order to justify a search of the man’s motel room.
Judges often rely solely on the sworn narrative of police officers who apply for warrants, meaning police can carry out potentially dangerous searches targeting innocent people before their affidavits are ever challenged.
The Supreme Court has ruled that when police knowingly or recklessly include false statements in search of warrant affidavits in cases in which there would otherwise be insufficient cause, any evidence recovered cannot be admitted in court. False statements often come to light if arrests are made, as defense lawyers challenge search warrants in court.
A number of deficient affidavits may never be closely scrutinized, legal analysts say, because defendants have agreed to plead guilty for other reasons.
In Louisville, Thomas Clay, a lawyer connected to the Breonna Taylor case, knows the issue from both sides.
Clay and a colleague, David Ward, once represented Susan Jean King, an amputee with one leg and a slight build who was accused of fatally shooting a former boyfriend at her home and then throwing his body into a river.
“This was his theory,” Ward said of the detective who took on the investigation as a cold case some eight years after the killing. “It was physically impossible for her to commit the homicide, drag her body out of her home and into her nonexistent car, and then take this large, 189-pound man and toss her body over a bridge and into the Kentucky River. ”
King’s lawyers claimed that the detective falsely implied in at least one of the search warrant affidavits that a .22-caliber bullet found in the floor of King’s home was one of the rounds that killed the man.
But it had already been established that the man died of .22-caliber bullets that lodged in his head without exiting, King’s lawyers noted, and they argued that the detective’s assertion was implausible. A judge agreed, saying that the detective had omitted exculpatory evidence from his search warrant affidavits of him.
Nonetheless, King entered an Alford plea to second-degree manslaughter — in which she pleaded guilty while maintaining her innocence — and was serving more than five years in prison when a man admitted the killing. She was ultimately exonerated.
In 2020, the state agreed to pay King a $750,000 settlement for malicious prosecution. Through his lawyer from him at the time, the detective, who had retired from the force by then, denied any wrongdoing.
Now, Clay is representing Jaynes, the detective accused of lying to obtain the search warrant for Taylor’s home.
“Search warrants are always fair game to be scrutinized, and they should be scrutinized,” Clay said, though he declined to discuss Jaynes’ case.
Jaynes pleaded not guilty to the federal charges Thursday and has said that he was relying in part on information from another officer when he prepared the affidavit.
Officers who provide false information under oath when preparing search warrant affidavits may take shortcuts, Clay said, because they believe they already know the outcome of the case but do not yet have enough evidence to support the warrant.
“The most extreme example is when they are just dishonest, even though they are under oath,” Clay said.
Ed Davis, a former Boston police commissioner, said the consequences of lying on a search warrant could be severe.
“It’s tragic when you see police falsify information to obtain a search warrant, and it is also dumb,” Davis said. “Every one of those search warrants can turn into a disaster.”
In Taylor’s case, the prosecutors said that another detective, Kelly Goodlett, whom the department moved to fire Thursday, had also added misleading information to the affidavit, saying that Taylor’s former boyfriend had recently used her address as his “current home address.” Prosecutors charged Goodlett with conspiring with Jaynes to falsify the warrant.
Jaynes has admitted that he did not personally verify the information about the packages with a postal inspector. He has said he was told by a sergeant about the packages and believed that it was enough to back up his claims in the affidavit.
“I had no reason to lie in this case,” he told a police board in Louisville that was considering his firing last year.
In the federal indictment against Jaynes, however, prosecutors charged that this claim, too, was false, and that the sergeant had actually told Jaynes twice that he did not know about any packages being sent to Taylor’s home for her former boyfriend.
The judge who signed off on the warrant for Taylor’s apartment, Judge Mary Shaw, declined to comment through an assistant Friday, noting that she could be called to testify in the criminal case against the officers. Shaw is up for reelection in November, and The Louisville Courier Journal reported that she was the only one of 17 incumbent Jefferson Circuit Court judges to face a challenger for her seat.
Fans of the popular series Schitt’s Creek now have the opportunity to live out their own rural dreams, as the small Victorian town of Coopers Creek enters the property market.
Mason White McDougall has listed the beautiful country town up for sale, offering buyers the chance to be the largest of their own town and live just like the Rose family in Schitt’s Creek.
Coopers Creek is located about 130km from Melbourne in the Gippsland region. The sale comprises 21 lots, each raging in size from 660sq m to 12,000sq m.
Settled in the 1800s during the Victorian Gold rush, Coopers Creek was once home to 250 people.
The town, spanning 4½ hectares on the Thomson River, is said to sell for a reasonable $2.5-3m, a small price to pay to call the whole place your own.
Buyers can settle comfortably in the beautiful two-bedroom home and take in the views of their own town from the veranda.
The warm and historical Coopers Creek pub is equipped with a pool room, dining area, stage, cozy fireplaces and commercial kitchen to keep its new owners entertained.
Nature and adventure lovers will thrive in the wide open space, with plenty of opportunities for bushwalking, four-wheel driving, kayaking, fishing and much more.
“If you have ever wanted to own your own town or be the mayor of your own domain, this is the place for you,” Mason White director Ian Mason said.
“Coopers Creek offers endless opportunities including a break from city life and a change of scenery in one of Victoria’s most pristine natural environments.
“Like the Rose family, Coopers Creek could be a life-changing move for the right buyer,” Mr Mason said.
For more information, or express interest, visit www.cooperscreek.com.au.
Where is Heartbreak High’s Drazic now? Callan Mulvey finds huge success in Hollywood after playing bad boy in the teen soap and is married to a VERY glamorous teacher
By Ali Daher For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
Netflix has announced that the reboot of the beloved Aussie series Heartbreak High will drop on the streaming giant’s platform on September 14.
And with a new series on the horizon, many fans of the original show are wondering what happened to some of its most memorable stars.
Bogdan Drazic, played by actor Callan Mulvey, was arguably the biggest character to come from the show after it moved from Channel 10 to ABC in 1997.
Where is he now? Callan Mulvey has come a long way since playing Drazic on Heartbreak High (pictured in 1998)
While so many viewers will always remember Callan as the troubled bad boy he played on the ’90s soap, the actor has gone on to have huge success in Hollywood.
Before that he played another bad boy, Johnny Cooper, on Home and Away in 2007, and then appeared on four seasons of Channel 10’s police drama Rush from 2008 to 2011.
Callan then packed up and moved to Hollywood, where he landed roles in films like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Avengers: Endgame.
The 47-year-old has forged a successful career in Hollywood and appeared in multiple superhero movies (pictured in 2016)
From there, he appeared in a string of superhero movies, including 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In 2019, I have played double agent Jack Rollins in Avengers: Endgame.
In May this year, Callan was seen on the set of Last King of the Cross, a TV mini series based on the life of Sydney underworld king John Ibrahim.
Action hero: Callan then packed up and moved to Hollywood, where he landed roles in films like Zero Dark Thirty and 300: Rise of an Empire (pictured)
In 2019, I played double agent Jack Rollins in Avengers: Endgame (pictured)
Netflix announced that its Heartbreak High reboot would air on September 14.
A flashy new trailer featuring a line-up of gay and non-binary characters gives fans a taste of the show’s 21st century makeover.
The show is the first major locally produced drama series from Netflix since the pandemic.
In May this year, Callan was photographed on the set of Last King of the Cross, a TV mini series based on the life of Sydney underworld king John Ibrahim. Pictured left with Lincoln Younes
In the preview, characters are seen partying, doing drag and being chased by police.
They will navigate sex, romance and violence as they come of age.
The trailer finishes with one character looking out into the schoolyard saying, ‘honey we’re home.’
Netflix announced that its Heartbreak High reboot would air on September 14 (the original cast is pictured in 1994)
Outside of his career, Callan has been happily married to musician Rachel Thomas since 2010.
The couple met in 2002 when Callan relocated to Byron Bay to focus on his own budding music career.
Rachel works as a music teacher and has a son, Charlie, from a previous relationship.
Callan has been happily married to musician Rachel Thomas since 2010. Pictured together in 2014
Cross-code rivals are reportedly preparing a lucrative bid for Broncos gun Payne Haas.
Meanwhile, a former Eels flyer is set for an NRL return.
Read below for the latest Transfer Whispers!
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CROSS-CODE RIVALS EYEING HAAS MOVE
Broncos star Payne Haas has reportedly received lucrative offers to make a cross-code switch to play rugby union in Europe.
The 22-year-old’s future in Red Hill has remained a topic of discussion following his shock release request handed to the Broncos in May.
Haas is currently contracted until the end of 2024 and was seeking a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if team performance targets weren’t met – a move which was knocked back by the Broncos.
Contract negotiations were halted until the end of the 2022 season, but now according to the SMH, European rugby clubs could table seven figure deals, with many already making their interest clear if the young gun becomes available.
Interested union coaches have reportedly liked Haas to legendary English lock Billy Vunipola who has 64 Test caps for his nation.
As it stands, Haas will reportedly earn $750,000 this season, $800,000 in 2024 and $850,000 the following year.
On the open market, the young gun could command up to $1 million a season, being arguably the best prop in the game currently.
According to reports, Haas hasn’t requested a release after learning of interest from cross-code rivals.
Sharks hold off Dragons in tight derby | 02:51
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FRENCH’S NRL RETURN
The Newcastle Knights are reportedly in hot pursuit of former Eels flyer Bevan French who is currently plying his trade in the Super League.
The 26-year-old made headlines after scoring a record seven tries during Wigan’s 60-0 win against Hull FC last month.
Now, the Knights are closing in on signing French who are seeking a return to Australia, according to The Daily Telegraph.
French is off-contract at the end of the 2022 season and could fill Adam O’Brien’s backline spots with both Tex Hoy and Edrick Lee leaving the club.
Reports suggest if French is able to make a seamless return to the NRL, the Knights could consider shifting marquee player Kalyn Ponga into the halves.
During French’s first NRL stint he recorded 35 tries in only 47 first grade appearances and came desperately close to an Australian return this year after meetings with Eels and Bulldogs powerbrokers.
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He has turned the first couple of weeks of parliament into a masterclass in political tactics. The teal program has been subsumed by Labor and, using kindness, Labor is transforming the teals from mavericks into minions.
The first involvement of the teals in policy is a case in point. When the climate bill passed the lower house this week, the teals were left with a minor supporting role. Curtin MP Kate Chaney got to add that it is “urgent”, Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel threw in that it is to be a floor not a ceiling, and Warringah MP Zali Steggall said something about listening to the science.
Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen graciously acknowledged their “sensitive suggestions”. In history, the teals will not own this bill. Even now, they are a footnote in media reports of Labor’s success. If Labor continues to take this approach, it is only a matter of time before this year’s crop of teals, professionals with interesting alternate careers, begin to regret their life choices. For most of them, entering politics represented a cut in pay and autonomy in exchange for the prospect of making a difference. But what difference is going to be left to them?
Former director of neurology at Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital Monique Ryan, now a member for Kooyong, demonstrated the come-down this week. From bossing a team that saves children’s lives, she’s been reduced to Karen-ing in parliament about the need to wear masks.
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She was allowed barely a moment to bask in this dim glory. Health Minister Mark Butler leapt to his feet from him and, smooth as Savlon, stole the show. “She actually is one of a large number of doctors and health professionals in the parliament who will add enormous quality and depth to our health policy,” Butler said, subtly reminding the public that Labor also counts a number within its ranks.
And, never missing a moment to bring the focus back to the things Labor can do that teals cannot, he added that, “We have extended support to the state hospital system. We have expanded access to fourth-dose vaccines and antiviral treatment.”
The teals are left with the scraps. Former GP Sophie Scamps (who keeps up appearances like Hyacinth Bucket, by insisting her name de ella is pronounced “Scomps”) might welcome the salary as doctors’ practices struggle to remain solvent. But Allegra Spender, who said in her first speech that women like her are “done waiting” and that “we are taking what is ours” will find that what is now hers is nothing more than the opportunity to commute from her waterfront Sydney home to the Canberra biodome on a Dash 8 plane . To be fair to Spender, she has flagged a number of substantial ideas that go beyond the gazumped teal playbook.
North Sydney MP Kylea Tink’s great contribution to the national stage so far has been to propose a name change for her electorate. Unfortunately, the Indigenous tribe she wants to name it after was not the only tribe living in the expanse of her electorate de ella, as a local mayor (the level of government usually concerned with place names) pointed out.
Kylea, whose name derives from the Indigenous word for a boomerang that doesn’t come back, was left looking like a very blunt stick. Is effeminated the right term for women robbed of their power? Because that is the result of the new kinder, gentler politics, as delivered by a prime minister who is surely a prince among men.
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Women’s basketball in Russia used to offer an offseason dream for WNBA players — first-class treatment, million-dollar contracts, elite competition.
But as the WNBA and US government plead for the release of Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner — who was sentenced Thursday to nine years in a Russian prison after being convicted of drug possession and smuggling — the prospect of returning to Russia became a non-starter for her former teammates in Chicago.
Griner played under Sky coach James Wade for two seasons in Russia and won EuroLeague and Russian Cup titles with Sky stars Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Emma Meesseman.
[ [Don’t miss:] Brittney Griner’s prison sentence hits close to home for the Chicago Sky: ‘This is our friend, our teammate’ ]
All three Sky players made an exodus when Russia invaded Ukraine in March, cutting short their season with UMMC Ekaterinburg. They returned to the US as the war shifted the political axis in the country.
Now, Griner’s former teammates and coaches — who describe her as a “gentle giant,” caring friend and quietly powerful force in women’s basketball — feel haunted by her absence as the Sky near the end of the WNBA regular season.
“It’s always at the top of your mind when you get up and when you go to sleep,” Wade said Friday before the Sky’s 93-83 victory against the Washington Mystics at Wintrust Arena. “This has been one of the darkest clouds we’ve had over the league that I can remember.”
Chicago Sky coach James Wade talks with players in the final minutes of the fourth quarter against the Washington Mystics on Friday at Wintrust Arena. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Like every other game this season, Friday’s win was blanketed by the grief and anger brought on by Griner’s trial. Sky players wore shirts and hoodies bearing a portrait of Griner. Mystics players enacted a media blackout after the game, and Alysha Clark made a brief statement calling for Griner’s release of her and decrying Russia’s use of her as a “political pawn.”
For Sky players and coaches who carved out a life in Russia during offseasons, Griner’s ordeal paints a stark contrast to the treatment they received in the country before the invasion of Ukraine.
Wade noted that it’s easy to pass off the Griner verdict as the norm in the Russian legal system. But this isn’t part of the status quo for basketball players and coaches who frequent the Russian Premier League — especially in Yekaterinburg.
UMMC Ekaterinburg is the definition of a super team, compiling stacked rosters unencumbered by the salary cap to win 10 Russian championships and five EuroLeague titles in the last decade.
The team also can afford to shelter players from aspects of Russian life, allowing them to soak in the support of a rabid fan base without facing many realities of the country’s politics.
Quigley and Vandersloot both signed with teams in Russia the same year they married in the US, living without consequence for four seasons as a couple despite strict Russian laws against “LGBT propaganda.” In an Instagram post ahead of Thursday’s verdict, Vandersloot described Yekaterinburg as a “second home” for her and Quigley before the onset of the Ukrainian war.
While Russia battled cultural wars over human rights issues and free speech, players enjoyed a safe environment throughout the Premier League season.
“You always know Russian politics are different, but we lived a normal life there outside of politics,” Meesseman said. “We have (a) good relationship with the fans and they really took care of us. But at the same time, you just know that you can’t really talk about politics. It doesn’t really even happen. In America, everybody talks about politics, but over there it’s more difficult.”
WNBA star Brittney Griner awaits the verdict standing in a cage in a courtroom in Khimki just outside Moscow on Thursday. She was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of drug possession and smuggling. (EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/AP)
Griner’s prosecution shattered the illusion of safety — and it could slam the door on an era of women’s basketball in Russia.
The EuroLeague in June suspended all Russian clubs, effectively closing off UMMC and other teams from their highest tier of competition.
Lucrative Russian contracts provided an attractive — and often necessary — financial supplement for star WNBA players. Griner reportedly signed a $1 million annual contract to play for UMMC, far eclipsing her three-year, $664,544 deal with the Mercury. But now, players throughout the WNBA, including the Sky’s top stars, aren’t risking a return.
Vandersloot signed a new contract with Sopron Basket in Hungary earlier this year. Quigley has yet to sign a new contract but refuses to return to Russia. Meesseman already planned to move to another team after her contract expired with UMMC. Now, the center knows she’ll never again play in the Russian league.
It was a necessary decision but one that saddens Meesseman and other former UMMC players.
“This is not the only image of Russia,” Meesseman said. “It’s one of the images, it’s one of the big images, it’s probably one of the only messages people in the US see. But we know behind the scenes. We know the people. … I can only hope it’s going to (open up) again for our players but also for Russian fans because they deserve it.”
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