The Alpine Formula One team have entered a very public dispute with Oscar Piastri, their prospective replacement for Fernando Alonso next season. The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that Piastri would replace Alonso, only for the Australian driver to then issue his own statement denying he would be driving for Alpine as the row now heads into the hands of the lawyers.
The two-time world champion Alonso caught Alpine entirely unawares when he made an unexpected announcement on Monday saying he was leaving to join Aston Martin, which the French team admitted had taken them completely by surprise. Right up until the Sunday of the Hungarian Grand Prix Alonso had assured them he was close to agreeing to a new deal.
After the Spaniard made his decision to join Aston Martin clear, Alpine acted swiftly to assert that they would exercise their contract with the 21-year-old Piastri who is a reserve driver for the team. On Tuesday they said he would join them in 2023.
The statement, however, notably did not include any comment from the Australian who is understood to have been in discussions to join McLaren. When Piastri, in Australia, woke up several hours later he promptly denied any attempt to race for Alpine, posting on twitter: “I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Alpine’s principal, Otmar Szafnauer, insisted Piastri had a commitment to his team. “I do know he does have contractual obligations to us and we do to him. We have been honoring those obligations all year,” he said. However I have conceded that communication between the team and Piastri had already broken down. “He’s Oscar and his camp are ‘considering their options’, whatever that means,” I added.
With Alonso having been expected to remain at Alpine next year it is understood Piastri and his manager, the former driver Mark Webber, had been working on a deal for him to replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren next year.
Piastri is an enormous talent and has been part of the Alpine driver academy since 2020. He won the F3 and F2 titles in 2020 and 2021 and this year has been reserve driver for both Alpine and McLaren. The latter have yet to make any comment on any deal with Piastri.
The smell hits Kayshun Murray when his chainsaw is almost through the trunk.
Standing in a helmet and steel-capped boots in the West Australian desert, the young ranger inhales a fragrance judged to be among the world’s best.
“You can actually smell all the beauty in it,” he said.
The scent of the sacred sandalwood tree has wafted over Yilka country, more than 1,000 kilometers north-east of Perth, for millennia.
It has long been coveted by international perfume houses and incense makers from New York to Beijing.
Western Australia has harvested the trees and distilled their valuable oil to help meet that demand since 1845.
But Mr Murray and other Yilka traditional owners were only granted a seat at that table a year ago when they received a license to harvest wild sandalwood on their country.
They are determined to retain that right into the future.
Push to ban wild harvest
Calls have been made to ban the harvest of wild sandalwood amid fears it is being pushed towards the brink of extinction.
A law that determines how much can be taken will be reviewed before the end of 2025.
The government will call for public comments about a management program in the coming months.
HM has wanted to see sandalwood harvested on Yilka country for decades.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
The driving force behind the Yilka sandalwood operation, known as HM for cultural reasons, said he understood those concerns.
But the Yilka Talintji Aboriginal Corporation chairperson said Aboriginal people should have the opportunity to benefit from industry on their land — as the WA government had for years.
Figures from WA’s Forest Products Commission (FPC) show that total revenue from wild sandalwood is expected to exceed $21 million, excluding costs, in the past financial year.
Yilka secured native title to the Cosmo Newberry reserve in 2017.
That meant, after receiving its harvesting license, it could profit from harvesting the wild tree.
HM said all earnings were invested back into the land after paying rangers’ wages and buying new equipment.
“That way, you don’t have to depend on government,” he said.
Sandalwood is worth up to $25,000 a tonne.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
‘Regeneration is happening’
HM said his organization hired an external consultant who said a 100-tonne annual wild harvest would be sustainable on Yilka country.
But he said Yilka Heritage and Land Care rangers would instead harvest 60 tonnes, 20 of which would be dead wood.
He said rangers harvested “every second legal tree” from pre-determined lots.
He said they would not return to that lot for 45 years — the time it took for trees to grow.
HM said 20 seeds were thrown down to replace every felled tree.
WA’s Forest Products Commission has attributed the decline of wild sandalwood to the disappearance of small marsupials that buried and dispersed seeds, overgrazing, and reduced winter rainfall rather than harvesting.
It believes regeneration work could help turn things around.
Plant equipment has been customized to pull sandalwood trees.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
HM said the junior ranger program — made up of school-aged children from Cosmo Newberry — helped with regeneration by measuring, photographing, and recording the coordinates of pulled and planted trees.
“So when we go for our next license we can prove to the government that all this regeneration is happening from where we pulled last year,” HM said.
social sustainability
The harvested sandalwood is taken to Dutjanh Sandalwood Oil’s distillery in Kalgoorlie where oil is extracted and sold to the international fragrance market.
Distillery chief executive Guy Vincent, who recently returned from the World Perfumery Congress in Miami, said a combination of cultural stewardship and scientific expertise was key to ensuring the wild sandalwood industry was sustainable.
A ranger holds a small bottle of sandalwood oil from Yilka country.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
Mr Vincent also said Dutjanh, who was half-owned by Aboriginal Australians and invested about 30 per cent of earnings back into communities, and Yilka had clear commitments towards social sustainability.
But he said the industry needed to do more in that space.
“Purchasing the wood through groups like Yilka is economically and socially sustainable because we have our benefit sharing,” Mr Vincent said.
“[But] we’re a very rare case in the industry.”
Ranger Jessica Sullivan with a sandalwood tree on Yilka country.(Supplied: Bridie Hardy)
The WA government recently appointed an Aboriginal Sandalwood Advisory Group to help increase First Nations’ involvement in the industry.
It said it increased the wild sandalwood quota available for Aboriginal people seeking a license last year while reducing the FPC’s quota.
It also said social sustainability was among the criteria that wild harvest sandalwood quantities would be reviewed again by 2026.
‘You can walk in freedom’
Ranger Lyall Westlake said he felt at peace on country.
Lyall Westlake says he loves working on country.(ABC NewsEmily Smith)
“The land is really perfect,” he said, standing under rain clouds on the Great Central Road.
“You can smell the breeze. Smell the wind.”
He said it was different from in town where there were more cars and people.
“You don’t know who is coming and going,” he said.
“But here you can walk in freedom.”
Fellow ranger Gwenetta Westlake said she loved working with her younger sibling, Chelsea.
Gwenetta and Chelsea Westlake love their work as rangers.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
“She always chases me, wherever I go because she’s my baby sister,” she said.
The Cosmo Newberry residents are among the 45 rangers HM has on the books to manage the sandalwood operation, as well as cool burns and care for cultural sites.
Rangers conduct cool burns on Yilka country.(ABC News: Madison Snow)
HM said the work provided alternative jobs to the local mining industry and was a better fit culturally for many of those involved.
He said a well-managed industry could pave the road to a better future for many residents.
“Looking after country is the most important thing for us,” he said.
Few primary days will be as consequential as the Aug. 2 elections this year.
That’s because Tuesday includes two critical swing states — Arizona and Michigan — in the next presidential race, which have also been ground zero for former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Arizona is one of a handful of Senate races considered a “toss-up” this fall, with Republicans needing to flip just one seat to seize the majority next year. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will be a formidable incumbent, having already raised $52.5 million as his would-be GOP opponents are engaged in a bitter primary fight.
In Michigan, likewise, the governor’s race is also one of the more closely watched contests where Republicans are itching to boot Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer, who was a champion of many COVID-19 restrictions, out of office.
Voters will have some critical contests and choices to make, including the Missouri primaries for Senate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, and the first test of a statewide abortion referendum in Kansas.
Race roundup:Abortion, Democratic infighting and a whole lot of Donald Trump
Polls close in Missouri, Kansas, and Michigan – some of them anyway.
The first poll closings of the night have taken place in Missouri, Kansas, and Michigan, though there are caveats with the last two.
Because of time zones, some polling places in Kansas and Michigan will remain open until 9 pm, eastern.
Still, vote counting is beginning on this busy primary night.
–David Jackson
Michigan GOP cancels watch party after ‘several death threats’ this week
The Michigan Republican Party canceled its election night watch party after receiving “several death threats” this week, according to Michigan GOP Deputy Chief of Staff Gustavo Portela.
Threats escalated earlier Tuesday when the party’s building received threats from a bystander who verbally assaulted a female staffer and indicated “he was planning on shooting up the building and burning it down,” Portela said in a statement.
“Our party won’t be deterred, and we will continue to work tirelessly for Republican policies despite ongoing threats,” the statement said. “No type of violence against women should ever be tolerated.”
– Candy Woodall
Trump wars come to Arizona
The Grand Canyon State will be a centerpiece on Tuesday for another round of the GOP primary tug-of-war between Trump and other Republican rivals.
At the gubernatorial level, Kari Lake, a former TV journalist backed by Trump, is going up against Karrin Taylor Robson, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, who has been endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence and incumbent Gov. Doug Duey.
More than likely the winner of the Republican contest will face Democrat Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state who was thrust into the national spotlight for resisting false assertions about the 2020 election.
Also on the ballot for Arizona Republican//s// is a field of seven vying to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who is trying to keep the seat he just won in 2020.
Among those running are Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, businessman Jim Lamon and Blake Masters, who is backed by Trump and tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
Masters earned Trump’s support by embracing the former president’s lies about the last presidential race and has recently cast doubt on the legitimacy of the midterm elections.
— Phillip M. Bailey
‘They want to damage me’:Trump campaigns as victim at Arizona rally
Step by step:Untangling Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s complex network of interests
Arizona’s Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified before the Jan. 6 committee about harassment he received for refusing to help former President Donald Trump overturn his state’s election results, faces Trump-backed David Farnsworth on Tuesday for his seat in Arizona state’s 25th district.
“I’ve got a former president running against me. I’m not running against David Farnsworth,” Bowers told Insider in July. “I’m running against Donald Trump. It’s his name that’s propping up Dave Farnsworth.”
Bowers told the Jan. 6 committee in June that after Trump advertisements urged supporters to contact lawmakers to pressure them to overturn their election results, he received more than 20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails and texts. The pressure campaign ultimately resulted in weekly protests outside Bowers’ home, including one where there was an armed man.
Bowers’ primary is another test of Trump’s influence in the Grand Canyon State.
– She reads
Democrats face uphill climb in Kansas
Incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly surprised many political observers when she upset Republican Kris Kobach in the 2018 governor’s race.
But four years later the GOP is betting it’s harder to be a red state Democrat now.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is endorsed by Trump, is expected to seize the Republican nomination. The former president won the Sunflower State by 14 points in 2020 and by 20 points in 2016.
There is also anxiety about Rep. Sharice Davids, the only Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation. Her seat de ella was significantly changed by the Republican-controlled state legislature during redistricting, and attempts to overturn those changes failed in court.
Davids, a former mixed martial artists, held what had been considered a safe seat, but after the maps were redrawn it is rated as one of the 26 Democratic “toss-up” races by The Cook Political Report.
— Phillip M. Bailey
First post-Roe referendum
Voters in Kansas will decide whether their state Constitution protects the right to have an abortion, which makes it the first statewide amendment up for a vote since the Supreme Court knocked down Roe v. Wade this summer.
If the so-called Value Them Both amendment passes, the state legislature could install new abortion restrictions or prohibit the procedure entirely.
But if voters reject the amendment, it would uphold a state Supreme Court decision in 2019 that ruled bodily autonomy in Kansas included a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.
— Phillip M. Bailey
Poll: More than half disapprove of state abortion bans without exceptions
More:Kansas governor vetoes measures to tighten election laws
Ohio hosts second primary after redistricting fight
Ohio is in the unusual position on Tuesday of hosting its second primary of 2022 after a prolonged fight over its congressional and state legislative maps.
After nominating statewide candidates and voting in primaries for Congress in May, Ohio today voters are casting ballots in primary races for the state legislature and party committees. Ohio has 33 members in its state Senate and 99 in the House.
Among the candidates on the ballot in Ohio on Tuesday is Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the landmark US Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage. Obergefell is running unopposed in a Democratic primary for a seat in the Ohio House, according to the Associated Press.
In Michigan, election clerks see threats, flood of FOIA requests
Tina Barton was shocked the first time she received a death threat over the phone a few days after the 2020 election.
As the city clerk in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Barton was responsible for ensuring the election there ran smoothly and securely, a job she thought she did well. But that did n’t stop conspiracy theorists — emboldened by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud — from calling Barton and making death threats for what they falsely believed was her role in rigging the election.
Since Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, election clerks in Michigan have faced an onslaught of Freedom of Information Act requests, the influx of new election workers possibly armed with political agendas, and an increased need for more security funding.
Taken together, the election officials say, the lingering effects of the 2020 election make running elections this year harder than ever.
— Andrew Marquardt and Isabel Miller, Medill News Service
Michigan GOP candidate deflects question on ‘stolen election’
LANSING, Mich. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon would not say during a national TV appearance Sunday whether she thought the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
It was a shift from the position she took during a candidate debate in May.
In what could be a sign of an early pivot to a general election campaign, Dixon, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” instead shifted the conversation to what she described as legitimate concerns about the way the election was conducted and her support for strict voter ID requirements and other proposed changes to state election law.
The apparent pivot in Dixon’s position away from the “big lie” promoted by former President Donald Trump came less than 48 hours after Trump endorsed Dixon, on Friday night, in Tuesday’s five-candidate GOP primary.
— Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
GOP rollercoaster to face Whitmer
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is one of the top targets for Republicans in 2022, but it’s been a bumpy ride for the state GOP during their primary season.
Six Republicans are lined up to challenge Whitmer, including businessman Kevin Rinke, who has poured millions of his own money into the race.
But along the way the Republican primary has been filled with controversy.
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, once thought of as the GOP frontrunner, was removed from the ballot for forging signatures on his nominating petition. He is now on the ballot as a write-in candidate.
Last month Republican Ryan Kelley was arrested by the FBI on charges connected to the Jan. 6 riot. He has pleaded not guilty, and will be on the ballot Tuesday.
— Phillip M. Bailey
Election deniers for secretary of state
In two important states — Michigan and Arizona — there are candidates who’ve cast doubt about the last presidential race running to be in charge of overseeing the next.
Mark Finchem is an Arizona legislator who has long promoted Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. He is considered a favorite in the Republican primary for secretary of state.
In Michigan, Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson was thrust into the national spotlight after receiving death threats for resisting attempts to subvert the election.
But she could face Republican Kristina Karamo, a Trump-backed contender who has cast doubt on the 2020 election results.
Finchem and Karamo are part of a Trump-backed coalition of secretaries of state candidates running in key swing states who have spread the former president’s election lies.
In Nevada, for instance, Jim Marchant, who said the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump, easily won a seven-way Republican primary for secretary of state.
— Phillip M. Bailey
Races to watch in Missouri
Sen. Roy Blunt is retiring after 12 years in the Senate, and a crowded field is vying for his seat.
Nearly two dozen Republicans have entered the race, though former Gov. Eric Greitens, Attorney General Eric Schmitt and US Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long garnered the most name recognition. Eleven Democrats are hoping to flip the seat blue, including frontrunners veteran Lucas Kunce, beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine and entrepeneur Spencer Toder.
Another eight Republicans and three Democrats are running for US Rep. Billy Long’s seat in Missouri’s 7th district.
– She reads; Galen Bacharier, Springfield News-Leader
More: At least 9 midterm candidates face misconduct or abuse allegations. Will voters care?
When do the polls close?
Missouri and Michigan close their polls first on Tuesday at 8 pm ET.
Kansas state law says that the polls there must be open until at least 8 pm ET, though polling locations may remain open until 9 pm ET.
Arizona’s polls close at 10 pm ET, and Washington state’s close at 11 pm ET.
RIYADH: Digital platforms have changed people’s lives across every area from work to play, and travel is no exception. Online and social media have changed how people discover destinations and deals, how they book their travel, and even how they share their travel experiences.
In Saudi Arabia, for instance, residents start dreaming about traveling 10 weeks before their journey, with video and digital platforms inspiring 50 percent of their choice of destination, according to Fahad Almaghrabi, head of business partnerships at Global Business Solutions for TikTok in Saudi Arabia .
More than 70 percent of people look at TikTok for discovering travel ideas, while 64 percent book a trip after getting inspired by TikTok content, he added.
Arab News spoke to Almaghrabi to learn more about the role the short-form video platform plays in travel.
Tell us more about travelers today and how they have changed in the last decade
Over the past two decades, digital platforms have transformed how we live our lives, permeating every sphere of activity, and shaping how we interact with each other and the world around us.
This generation of “always-in market” travelers — dreaming, considering, or booking a getaway throughout the year — have also developed a penchant for a real and authentic travel experience, and that’s why they love going to their community for trustworthy travel inspiration.
Today’s intrepid travelers are just as keen to share their compelling stories and authentic visuals of journeys on entertainment platforms like TikTok, rounding off a creative cycle that in turn inspires countless others.
A study by Amp Agency found that 84 percent of millennials and 73 percent of non-millennials today were highly likely to plan a trip based on someone else’s vacation photos or videos or social media status updates.
How does this affect the way tourism destinations market themselves?
These authentic vignettes have re-ignited the demand for travel and significantly altered how destinations are being marketed globally, with travel and tourism marketers increasingly leveraging the opportunity presented by this new breed of digital platforms.
What role does TikTok play in this space?
This is a journey in which TikTok has taken the global lead as a disruptive platform with undeniable potential and momentum — and the Gulf and Middle East markets are no exception.
But TikTok’s success in becoming the platform of choice for travelers and in shaping digital travel and tourism trends across the industry is not happening.
Travel and tourism is a key segment of interest for a global and expansive hyper-engaged community of more than 1.8 billion users that straddles all markets and is growing at an astounding rate. This provides the perfect backdrop for TikTok to emerge as a platform where the community is primed not only to consume, but also to express themselves and tell their stories through authentic, visual, and geo-tagged content that is at once enticing and liberating.
This is enabled by easy-to-use editing tools, native content on the platform, and creators that fuel dynamic content.
This powerful combination of the medium and the message amplifies TikTok’s power as a creative platform and enables it to be the internet’s repertoire of travel & tourism inspiration.
TikTok is that intimate, accessible, and inspirational window through which travelers take a trip before deciding if it’s worth it — the trip before the trip.
Can you give us some examples of how TikTok has influenced travel decisions?
While TikTok continues to induce FOMO in would-be travelers with content highlighting some of the world’s most beautiful and established destinations, there are also plenty of examples of TikTok’s effectiveness in driving a surge of interest to hitherto unknown destinations, which led to a dramatic rise. in tourist footfalls overnight.
At least 83 percent of Saudi residents have either gone or plan to go on an international trip in the next six months with Egypt, UAE, and Turkey being the top short-haul and France and Germany being the top long-haul destinations.
More significantly, 74 percent of users were found to look for travel discoveries on TikTok and 73 percent were found to have impulse purchased their trip in a short span of time.
What does this mean for brands?
With such lucrative figures at their disposal, brands can natively integrate into major travel conversations and leverage the community to speak with them, about them, and for them.
In essence, this represents a paradigm shift in the typical acquisition process for travel and tourism operators to stand out within an increasingly saturated ecosystem and collapse the sales funnel to move travelers directly from the “inspiration” phase to the “booking” phase.
Whether it’s the assortment of clever hacks, unadulterated advice, safety tips or the sheer visual appeal of short-format videos, the power of TikTok in shaping and inspiring the Kingdom’s travel trends is an opportunity that could become a model for authentic and organic tourism in the years to eat.
Can you share some examples of how TikTok has increased the visibility of a tourist destination?
In a year of restricted travel, the UAE launched the “World’s Coolest Winter” campaign to highlight all the amazing sights and activities the Emirates has to offer.
INSERT WORLD’S COOLEST WINTER IMAGE
For the campaign to realize its full potential on TikTok, the ‘7’ was created, using one of TikTok’s recognizable hand gestures that looks like the number 7 in Arabic and symbolizes the seven emirates at the same time. The ‘7’ became a visual prompt that rallied residents to share their favorite hidden gems through a branded hashtag challenge.
The UAE’s top 20 creators kicked it off, including @khalidandsalama, @_m7md, @azlife.ae, @bayan.dxb, and @dxbxd – and the rest of the nation’s TikTokers soon followed.
The campaign took on a life of its own with 8,700 user-generated videos in just six days, creating a library of the UAE’s best-hidden spots and secrets available for all to explore.
The ‘7’ sign became a symbol of UAE pride, and the campaign delivered remarkable results, with a 25 percent jump in brand awareness, 85 percent increase in ad recognition, 89 percent boost in ad likeability, and over 70 million views. The campaign successfully got an entire nation smiling and moving at a time they needed it most.
Further west, TikTok was also used by Switzerland Tourism, the national marketing organization, to hype up the incredible country.
INSERT SWITZERLAND TOURISM IMAGE
Switzerland Tourism spent the first six months of its business account building its following entirely organically, focusing on a test-and-learn strategy, to thoroughly understand how TikTok works.
As their established community responded well to its hashtags, #INeedSwitzerland, and #inLOVEwithSWITZERLAND, ads were a natural next step because paid campaigns would mean it could directly target a different demographic to learn more about them.
Doubling down on its popular hashtag #INeedSwitzerland, Switzerland Tourism ran its first ever TopView ad showing a three-way split screen of dramatic scenery and nature. Spurred on by this campaign’s success, it then ran three more seasonal TopView campaigns: A summer experience tips ad, a summer in the city ad, and a funny autumn-themed ad.
In just 12 months, Switzerland Tourism has driven huge momentum on TikTok, with over 700,000 likes across all its posts and a whopping 35.5 million hashtag mentions. Most of this was organic, with some videos going viral without so much as a penny behind them.
Its TopView campaigns have achieved average engagement rates of 20 percent, which is remarkably high and shows the power of a brand putting out brilliant content on TikTok.
Rugby league boss Peter V’landys has accused the New South Wales Premier of using “human tragedy” to renege on a handshake agreement to revamp suburban stadiums.
Key points:
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says he must prioritize disaster funding over stadium grants
However, rugby league boss Peter V’landys has accused Mr Perrottet of making excuses for backing out their deal
Mr V’landys claims the deal included hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade stadiums in Manly, Cronulla and Leichhardt
V’landys is threatening to move the NRL Grand Final from Sydney as a result, saying the sport had been “strung along” by the state government for three years.
He says Premier Dominic Perrottet this year promised to upgrade local grounds across the city as part of a deal to keep the game’s showpiece in the Harbor City until 2042.
“We shook hands. We looked each other in the eyes and we did a deal,” V’landys told Nine radio this morning.
“He said, ‘You don’t need to have it in the budget, I can do it outside the budget’. And he reneged.”
V’landys claims the deal included hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade aging stadiums in Manly, Cronulla and Leichhardt.
Mr Perrottet says circumstances have changed and his top priority is supporting people impacted by the state’s recent flood crises.
“Sydney will always be the home of rugby league,” Mr Perrottet said, and it would be on V’landys to justify to supporters any plan to move the competition decider.
Peter V’landys and Dominic Perrotte met to discuss the policy in April.(abcnews)
“The NSW government remains committed to upgrading suburban stadiums, however, following recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is appropriate that further investment in stadia is staged,” he said.
“The government has just received the Floods Inquiry Report, which will likely require a significant cost to the taxpayer, and I note right now there are still 1,366 people without a home in NSW due to flooding.
“It should come as no surprise that my top priority is, therefore, supporting those devastated by the major floods across NSW.”
Mr Perrottet said the government had spent and committed $1.8 billion on sporting infrastructure for rugby league clubs, including centers of excellence and three new stadiums.
“The new state of the art Allianz Stadium will open next month, Parramatta has a new, modern stadium and there is a commitment to build a new Penrith stadium so that the Western City has a world-class sporting venue,” he said.
“Sydney will always be the home of rugby league and, if Peter V’landys wants to take the Grand Final away from his home, then he can explain that to the fans.”
However V’landys hit back, accusing Mr Perrottet of making excuses for backing out of the deal.
“I used other excuses back then [in negotiations] to reduce the amount he was going to spend on these community assets,” he said.
“They’ve left it right until two weeks before we have to sell tickets to the grand finale.
“To use human tragedy to spin themselves out of it is unheralded in my eyes.”
The rugby league supreme says the sport’s administration could now seek to revive scrapped plans to redevelop Stadium Australia at Homebush for $800 million.
Those plans were shelved, with the money to be spent on the suburban grounds policy instead.
“It’s a legally binding agreement that we had with the state government,” V’landys said.
He said disagreed that the game should fund stadium upgrades, arguing suburban infrastructure was a “community asset” that could inspire kids to play the game.
V’landys said the proposals for Manly and Cronulla, “combined”, weren’t as much as the $300 million commitment to building a new stadium in Penrith.
Yesterday, the Sports Minister and Penrith MP, Stuart Ayres, said that building a new stadium in his electorate fit with the government’s three cities plan for Sydney.
Mr Ayres this morning resigned as a minister after weeks of pressure linked to former deputy premier John Barilaro’s appointment to a lucrative trade position based in New York.
West Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis backed V’landys’ stance, saying the club would be “bitterly disappointed” if the agreement to revamp Leichhardt Oval was dumped.
“Leichhardt was supposed to get looked after and we’ve been putting together a compelling argument for a new stadium as well,” he said.
“The stadium policy from Peter V’Landys is absolutely the right one.”
New South Wales Trade Minister Stuart Ayres has resigned from the ministry after an inquiry “raised concerns” about his conduct in the appointment of John Barilaro to a lucrative US trade role.
Mr Ayres has been the deputy leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, and also served as the investment, tourism, sport and Western Sydney minister.
Premier Dominic Perrottet revealed that Mr Ayres had offered his resignation, but that he continues to deny any wrongdoing.
The resignation comes after Mr Perrottet ordered a review into the recruitment of former deputy premier, Mr Barilaro, to the key New York-based role of US senior trade and investment commissioner.
“Late last night, Minister Stuart Ayres informed me he would resign from his ministerial positions and as deputy leader of the NSW parliamentary Liberal Party,” Mr Perrottet said.
“His intention to resign follows a briefing I received from the Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter on a section of the draft Graham Head report relevant to Mr Ayres.
“I subsequently discussed the issues raised in that briefing with Mr Ayres.
“Mr Head’s draft findings raised a concern about whether Mr Ayres had complied with the Ministerial Code of Conduct.”
There has been intense scrutiny over the conduct of Stuart Ayres (right) in the appointment of John Barilaro (centre) to the US trade job.(Supplied)
Mr Ayres’s conduct in the process — which ended in the appointment of Mr Barilaro to the lucrative US trade role — has been under increasing scrutiny in recent days.
Documents released to a parliamentary inquiry investigating the appointment appeared to contradict public statements Mr Ayres made about the recruitment process.
He maintained the process was completed at arm’s length from him, and that he had done nothing wrong.
On Monday, Mr Ayres admitted to sending a job ad for the position to Mr Barilaro and later said he would have “discouraged” his former cabinet colleague from applying if he had his time again.
Mr Perrottet today said Mr Ayres denies any wrongdoing, but there was “no doubt” the findings in Mr Head’s draft report raised questions “in relation to whether or not there has been a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct”.
Mr Ayres is expected to stay on in parliament, the Premier said.
“When I spoke to him last night, he told me his intention was to remain as the Member for Penrith.”
Stuart Ayres has resigned as a minister in the NSW government.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
In a statement, Mr Ayres accepted Mr Head’s review “creates a question” about whether he breached the code of conduct but said: “In my view, no such breach has occurred.”
“However, I agree it is important that this matter is investigated appropriately and support the Premier’s decision to do so,” he said.
“I have always applied the highest levels of integrity in my conduct as a minister.
“To maintain the integrity of the cabinet, I have decided to resign as a minister to allow the investigation to be completed.
“Accordingly, I will also be resigning as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.”
Mr Perrottet said the issues raised by the draft report “go directly to the engagement of Minister Ayres with the Department secretary”, Amy Brown, during the recruitment process.
Stuart Ayres says Investment NSW boss Amy Brown (pictured) was wholly responsible for Mr Barilaro’s recruitment.(AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
He said there was no evidence that Mr Ayres had “lied” about his conduct.
Mr Perrottet defended his handling of the matter, which has dragged on for several days, saying he acted as soon as information came to light.
“What I will not do is make decisions based on media pressure or political pressure,” he said.
“I’ll make decisions, as I’ve always done, in relation to what I believe is right.”
Ms Brown, the Investment NSW chief executive, is today due to give evidence again at the parliamentary inquiry into the matter.
Mr Perrottet said he was unaware of what Ms Brown would say, and that — as far as he was concerned — he acted as soon as he received information.
“I have said from the outset the upper house inquiry will do its work,” he said.
“My job was to implement an independent review and that’s exactly what I have done.”
Fighting back tears and finally given the chance to confront conspiracy theorist Alex Jonesthe parents of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting described being put through a “living hell” of death threats, harassment and ongoing trauma over the last decade caused by Jones using his media platforms to push claims that it was all a hoax.
The parents led a day of charged testimony that included the judge scolding the bombastic Jones for not being truthful with some of what he said under oath.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was killed at Sandy Hook, took the witness stand Tuesday on the final day of testimony in the two-week defamation damages trial against Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems. They are seeking at least $150 million in damages.
In a gripping exchange, Lewis spoke directly to Jones, who was sitting about 10 feet away. Earlier that day, Jones was on his broadcast program telling his audience that Heslin is “slow” and being manipulated by bad people.
“I am a mother first and foremost and I know you are a father. My son existed,” Lewis said to Jones. “I am not deep state… I know you know that… And yet you’re going to leave this courthouse and say it again on your show.”
Alex Jones walks into the courtroom in front of Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of 6-year-old Sand Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, US July 28, 2022.
BRIANA SANCHEZ/POOL
At one point, Lewis asked Jones: “Do you think I’m an actor?”
“No, I don’t think you’re an actor,” Jones responded before the judge admonished him to be quiet until called to testify.
Lewis continued trying to impress on Jones that the Sandy Hook shooting and trauma affected in the decade since then was real.
“It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this — that we have to implore you, to punish you — to get you to stop lying,” Lewis said. “I am so glad this day is here. I’m actually relieved. And grateful… that I got to say all this to you.”
Jones visibly shook his head several times while Scarlett Lewis was addressing him.
Heslin and Lewis are among several Sandy Hook families who have filed several lawsuits alleging that Sandy Hook hoax claims pushed by Jones have led to years of abuse by Jones and his followers.
Heslin and Lewis both said they fear for their lives and have been confronted by strangers at home and on the street. Heslin said his home and car had been shot at. The jury heard a death threat sent via telephone message to another Sandy Hook family.
“I can’t even describe the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones,” Heslin said.
Scarlett Lewis also described threatening emails that seemed to have uncovered deep details of her personal life.
“It’s fear for your life,” Scarlett Lewis said. “You don’t know what they were going to do.”
Heslin said he didn’t know if the Sandy Hook hoax conspiracy theory originated with Jones, but it was Jones who “lit the match and started the fire” with an online platform and broadcast that reached millions worldwide.
“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” Heslin said. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was.”
Jones skipped Heslin’s morning testimony while he was on his show—a move Heslin dismissed as “cowardly”—but arrived in the courtroom for part of Scarlett Lewis’ testimony. He was accompanied by several private security guards.
“Today is very important to me and it’s been a long time coming… to face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the honor and legacy of my son,” Heslin said when Jones wasn’t there.
Heslin told the jury about holding his son with a bullet hole through his head, even describing the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key segment of the case is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that said Heslin did not hold his son.
The jury was shown a school picture of a smiling Jesse taken two weeks before he was killed. The parents didn’t receive the photo until after the shooting. They described how Jesse was known for telling classmates to “run!” which likely saved lives.
An apology from Jones wouldn’t be good enough, the parents said.
“Alex started this fight,” Heslin said, “and I’ll finish this fight.”
In 2017, Heslin went on television, he told CBS News, to directly address the Sandy Hook deniers. “I lost my son. I buried my son. I held my son with a bullet hole through his head,” he said.
After which, the harassment only got worse, Heslin said.
“I’ve had many death threats,” Heslin told CBS News in 2018. “People say, ‘You should be the ones with a bullet hole in your head.'”
Jones later took the stand himself, initially being combative with the judge who had asked him to answer his own attorney’s question. Jones testified he had long wanted to apologize to the plaintiffs.
“I never intentionally tried to hurt you. I never said your name until this came to court,” Jones said. “The internet had questions, I had questions.”
Later, the judge sent the jury out of the room and strongly scolded Jones for telling the jury he complied with pretrial evidence gathering even though he didn’t, and that he is bankrupt, which has not been determined. Plaintiff’s attorneys were furious about Jones mentioning he is bankrupt, which they worry will taint a jury decision about damages.
“This is not your show,” Judge Maya Guerra Gamble told Jones. “Your beliefs do not make something true. You are under oath.”
Last September, Guerra admonished Jones in her default judgment over his failure to turn over documents requested by the Sandy Hook families. A court in Connecticut issued a similar default judgment against Jones for the same reasons in a separate lawsuit brought by other Sandy Hook parents.
Heslin and Lewis suffer from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that comes from constant trauma, similar to that endured by soldiers in war zones or child abuse victims, a forensic psychologist who studied their cases and met with them testified Monday.
Jones has portrayed the lawsuit against him as an attack on his First Amendment rights.
At stake in the trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury will then consider whether Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.
The trial is just one of several Jones faces.
Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.
Jones has already tried to protect Free Speech Systems financially. The company filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. Sandy Hook families have separately sued Jones over his financial claims from him, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family from him through shell entities.
A look back: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Popular photo sharing social media company Pinterest has introduced a new creative application Shuffles on Apple App Store.
Shuffles app is created by Pinterest’s TwoTwenty incubator, which experiments with new apps and features and one of them includes Pinterest TV, a live curated series of shows hosted by different creators all through the week.
Now, with the new Shuffles app, people will be able to develop creative photo artworks and even visual cards.
The Shuffles app will offer editing tools to enhance a photo and also create a fun collage of objects.
As said in the description, Shuffles allows the camera viewfinder to cut individual objects within the frame and put them on an editing board, and create a beautiful collage. This can be used to visualize adding new articles in a living room or the bedroom.
Pinterest’s Shuffles app on Apple App Store (screen-grab)
The app also offers the option to add layers, rotate, resize objects into collages, and add animations, and special effects.
As of now, Pinterest’s new Shuffles app is available on an invite-only basis on the Apple App Store in select global regions.
Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
Kate McDonald thought she’d just be making up the numbers in the women’s beam finale.
And injured Tyson Bull wasn’t even supposed to be competing in the men’s horizontal bar final.
But both have pulled off exceptional performances to win gold and silver medals respectively on the final day of artistic gymnastics competition in Birmingham.
McDonald usurps Godwin for gold
Australia’s Kate McDonald saved her best for last in the women’s balance beam final.(Reuters)
McDonald hadn’t performed as well as she’d hoped in her main event, the uneven bars.
So she had low expectations for her final event, the beam.
The 22-year-old was the penultimate competitor, with her teammate, Georgia Godwin in the gold medal position.
McDonald was flawless and when her score came up, 13,466, she was absolutely floored.
The final gymnast, Canada’s Emma Spence, couldn’t beat the score, so McDonald claimed gold, and Godwin silver.
“I definitely was not expecting a score like that. And then I looked at my score and I was shocked that I was in first place,” McDonald said.
Godwin, who’s the team captain in Birmingham, was ecstatic to see McDonald overtake her.
“It’s just amazing, she put up the performance of a lifetime when it counted so she deserves the gold,” Godwin said.
McDonald admitted she put herself under too much pressure in the uneven bars, where she finished seventh.
That helped her let loose on the beam.
“I just I had nothing to lose, I was like I’m just going to enjoy myself. And there’s ice cream at the end so there is a no-lose situation,” she said.
Four tubs of salted caramel ice cream are now waiting as her reward.
Godwin’s glorious Games
Georgia Godwin (left) and Kate McDonald (centre) enjoyed a successful Commonwealth Games campaign.(Reuters: Stoyan Nenov )
While Emma McKeon will leave Birmingham as Australia’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete of all time, Godwin might be the breakout star.
With the silver on the beam, the 24-year-old has finished these Games with five medals, including two gold.
She now has eight Commonwealth medals, joining Allana Slater as Australia’s most decorated women’s artistic gymnast.
“I hope it shows that Australia can get on the podium,” Godwin said.
“For a little bit it was like Australia, we’re lagging behind. But no, we’re doing some good stuff, we’ve got some incredible athletes on the team who are very new to the senior scene.
“So give them a couple of years and they’re gonna shine, watch out.”
And after last year’s independent review into the sport which found the sport had enabled a culture of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, there’s optimism the sport is moving in the right direction.
“I think it’s the team culture, everyone wants it for the team,” Godwin added.
“And that’s really helped us boost as a country.”
Bull takes advantage of ‘selfless act’
Australia’s Tyson Bull was in pain after landing his horizontal bar routine.(AAP: Darren England)
There was no greater evidence of that than in the men’s horizontal bar final, as Bull won a silver medal, in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte no less.
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Australia’s Jesse Moore was supposed to compete, but a shoulder injury saw him withdraw from the event.
His teammate, Clay Mason Stephens was the next best qualifier in line to join the final.
However, just as that famous moment when Craig Stevens stepped aside for Ian Thorpe ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympics, Mason Stephens sacrificed his own spot for Bull, who was Australia’s best chance of a medal in the event.
And the 29-year-old took advantage of his reprieve.
“I don’t know how to feel quite feel right now, up until last night my mind was completely off the final high bar,” he said.
“There was no wrong decision, if I decided to take that spot, there are no hard feelings.
Clay Stephens [has] the biggest heart in the world, just such a selfless act for him to forfeit that spot give me a chance on my pet event.”
Bull’s silver is even more extraordinary considering three weeks ago he seriously injured his ankle after a bad fall, and he couldn’t stick the landing in qualifying.
“It’s the first landing I’ve been able to do after a routine in maybe almost a month now,” he said.
“But coming into today there’s no chance I was making the same mistake twice and I was gonna put it on my feet no matter how much it hurt.”
Bull was on track to win gold, until the final competitor, Cyprus’ Ilias Georgiou snatched the win.
There were also two bronze medals for the Australian team, James Bacueti in the vault, and Emily Whitehead in the floor routine.
It was particularly satisfying for Whitehead, who says she’s had a difficult build up to the Games, which included the death of her grandfather.
“It’s been a pretty rough Games so just to even hit that routine was just pretty emotional for me,” she said.
“I tried to keep as positive as possible through these Games, but it’s gotten harder as each day’s gone on but to end up like that is pretty special.”
The Australian gymnastics team won nine medals overall.
But Lowe acknowledges the path to achieving the balance between getting inflation down and keeping the economy on an even keel is “clouded in uncertainty” – not least because of global developments.
Markets – globally and in Australia – have recently taken the view, for example, that slowing growth means less need for central banks to raise rates as high or as long as expected in June. Sharemarkets have been lifting again in response. Yet, there are contradictions and risks in every morsel of evidence that inflationary pressures will recede as supply chains recover and interest rates start to bite.
The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy and food prices is just the most brutal model of unexpected shocks that have disrupted the supply of goods and services indefinitely.
From continued COVID-19 lockdowns in China, to floods in northern NSW, to the resilience of the US, the Australian economy is regularly buffeted by the unexpected or the uncontestable.
The RBA can really only target the level of short-term demand in the domestic economy, boosting or suppressing it via the pulley of interest rates.
Just how hard to pull the cord in either direction is less obvious – particularly when it has to cycle along in unofficial tandem with the government’s fiscal speed.
Home owners face budget squeeze
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is more cautious than a prime minister who was criticized for saying the RBA needs to be careful it doesn’t overreach.
Even though Chalmers has announced a review of the bank, he stresses the independence of a Reserve Bank “doing its job”. His own job, he says, is “not to take potshots” at the governor but to do what he can to get the economy growing faster without adding to those inflationary pressures.
That is easy enough for a new treasurer to say, much harder to achieve.
Chalmers is certainly talking tough, including on the need to end the halving of the fuel excise on schedule next month. But his commitment to him to substantial cuts in a budget he describes as “heaving with $1 trillion of Liberal party debt” is much vaguer, while some of the most significant drivers of inflation are far less predictable, let alone controllable by any Australian government .
Delivering on repeated exhortations about the importance of boosting Australia’s flagging productivity has also long remained elusive – with any improvement under Labor’s “economic plan” requiring years at best to show promised results.
Interest rate policy is more immediate – and punitive. The accumulated increase over four months mean those with a mortgage of $500,000 over 25 years must find almost an extra $500 a month.
The squeeze is more than double that for many recent buyers in Sydney and Melbourne who stretched themselves to take out million-dollar-plus mortgages as house prices soared in the last few years. What could possibly go wrong?
Traditional community concerns about Australia’s unaffordable housing, especially for first home buyers, have already switched direction again. Over the three months to June, average dwelling prices dropped by 4.7 per cent in Sydney and 3.2 per cent in Melbourne. Lending for housing reduced by 4.4 per cent in June.
The falls so far are probably only a modest down payment on the prospect of much steeper declines ahead – with all the flow-on effects of the reverse wealth effect on consumer confidence and spending overall.
As befits a phlegmatic central banker, Lowe insists the board is committed to doing what is necessary to ensure inflation in Australia returns to target over time.
The human response is considerably less formulaic than central bank forecasts. Lowe says a key source of uncertainty continues to be the behavior of household spending.
He points to the pressure of higher inflation and higher interest rates on household budgets, with consumer confidence falling along with housing prices in some markets after large increases in recent years.
But he argues that people finding jobs and obtaining more hours of work is working in the other direction, while many households have built up large financial buffers. The banks are also anticipating a lift in wages growth as companies compete for staff in a tight market.
“The board will be paying close attention to how these various factors balance out,” he said.
