Health News at Your Fingertips

Nasa launches a rocket from Central Australia for the first time in 27 years

Nasa has successfully launched a rocket from the Northern Territory – the first commercial space launch in Australia’s history, AAP reports.

Troublesome winds caused the countdown to be aborted several times before the first of three scheduled rockets launched at about half past midnight (ACST) on Monday from the Arnhem Space Centre on the Dhupuma Plateau, near Nhulunbuy.

It is the space agency’s first launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US and will help scientists study how a star’s light can influence a planet’s habitability.

The rocket is carrying an X-ray quantum calorimeter, which will allow University of Michigan scientists to measure interstellar X-rays with precision and provide new data on the structure and evolution of the cosmos.

About 75 Nasa personnel were in Arnhem Land for the launch, the agency’s first in Australia in 27 years.

Nasa last launched from Australia in 1995, when its rockets lifted off from the Royal Australian Air Force Woomera range complex in South Australia.

Nasa will launch another two rockets from the space centre on 4 and 12 July.

Still cold in Tassie:

Oyster and kelp farmers join calls to future-proof NSW south coast’s blue economy

During the 2019 black summer bushfires, oyster farmer Kevin McAsh’s leases along the Clyde River on the New South Wales south coast were badly charred. Afterwards, floods washed debris upstream into the Batemans Bay estuaries:

The elders said they’ve never seen anything like it. All the ground cover was destroyed.

The soil was absolutely scorched. Now there’s nothing left to hold it. Mangroves with their feet in water were cindered.

Although it will be years before the mangroves McAsh is replanting can restabilise the riverbank, he is grateful for ongoing work by scientists monitoring the water quality.

Oyster leases can generate $40,000 a hectare in an industry the state government calls the most viable aquaculture sector in NSW.

Yet with scientists estimating that Australia’s east coast estuaries are warming four times faster than anywhere else in the world, McAsh has joined the call to future-proof the region’s blue economy.

Read the full story from Elizabeth Walton here:

Why are teachers leaving Australian schools?

Why does a teacher shortage occur?

Gabbie Stroud, teacher and author, says it’s because our education system is operating “under a business model which treats students and parents as customers, and teachers as expendable workers expected to function as told, rather than as autonomous professionals tasked with the unique and complex responsibility of guiding young people’s learning.”

Stroud spoke to numerous teachers leaving the profession amid Australia’s teacher shortage, who say their skills are “not respected or valued”, the expectations were destroying them, and the lack of trust and compounding stress made their jobs untenable.

Read the full story here:

Albanese says Roe vs Wade decision in the US is ‘a setback for women’

Daniel Hurst

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says the US supreme court’s decision to overturn abortion rights “is a setback for women and their right to control their own bodies and their lives”.

Albanese had spoken to reporters about the decision before flying out of Australia last night. But his comments to the ABC’s AM program this morning were slightly stronger in describing the implications of the US supreme court’s decision:

Well, people are entitled to their own views, but not to impose their views on women for whom this is a deeply personal decision. That is, in my view, one for an individual woman to make based upon their own circumstances, including the health implications.

This decision has caused enormous distress. And it is a setback for women and their right to control their own bodies and their lives in the United States. It is a good thing that in Australia, this is not a matter for partisan political debate.

Disruption is ‘essential in cutting through climate denial’, activists say

More on the climate protests happening in Sydney today: AAP are reporting that about 50 masked protesters marched north down Kent Street towards the harbour after moving through the city, beginning at Elizabeth Street, between Park and Bathurst streets.

Blockade Australia protests have previously shut down Port Botany, the Harbour Bridge and Spit bridge.

The Transport Management Centre says the Sydney Harbour Tunnel is closed at the tunnel entrance in North Sydney, after a protester parked a car, blocking access.

Blockade Australia livestreamed a video of the young woman in her car blocking the tunnel, claiming she was from the northern NSW town of Lismore, which was subject to extreme and repeated flooding earlier this year, and is still recovering.

All traffic is being diverted via the Sydney Harbour Bridge and traffic is backed up for several kilometres.

Blockade Australia said they would continue to cause disruptions in the days ahead:

Disruption to the infrastructure of Australia’s project of exploitation is essential in cutting through the climate denial that this system survives off.

Earlier this year, the NSW government arrested climate crisis activists blocking traffic and access to ports. Protesters now face a maximum penalty of two years’ jail and $22,000 fines for disrupting traffic or preventing access on roads.

The roads and crimes legislation amendment bill, passed earlier this year, created new offences targeting activists who block access to major facilities including ports and railways.

Daniel Hurst

Albanese to have discussions about Ukraine at Nato summit

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is not speculating about what further assistance Australia may offer Ukraine – but says he will have discussions with Australia’s friends at the Nato summit in Madrid this week.

He told the ABC’s AM program it was significant that Australia, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand were invited:

This is an important time in international politics. We have Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; this brutal invasion is against the rule of law – it’s an attack on the sovereignty of the people of Ukraine. It’s important that democratic nations stand side by side with the government and people of Ukraine.

Asked to describe the implications for Australia if President Vladimir Putin prevails in Ukraine, Albanese said:

Well, the implications are not just for Australia, but for all of those who cherish democracy, who cherish the rule of law, and who cherish the rights of nations to be sovereign, are extreme. We know that there is an alliance that has been reached as well between Russia and China.

There are implications for our region, given the strategic competition that is in our region, which is why this Nato summit comes at such a critical time and why I look forward to the discussions that I’ll have both in the formal proceedings at the Nato summit, but also in the bilateral meetings I’ll have with our democratic friends, including Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson, but also Justin Trudeau and other democratic leaders.

Lane asked about Afghanistan – which last week suffered an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people and left many people homeless amid a broader humanitarian crisis – and whether the government’s announcement of an extra $1m in aid was enough.

Albanese replied:

Well, we’ve provided support that we see as being appropriate. And we certainly feel for the people of Afghanistan who are going through this difficult time at the same time as, of course, with the change that has occurred in regimes there has caused further hardship.

There were 6,862 new cases recorded in the state over the 24 hour reporting period, with 55 people in intensive care.

The state has recorded 6,305 new cases in the last 24 hours. There were 26 people in intensive care and 10 on ventilators.

Climate activists have blocked the Harbour Tunnel in Sydney among other streets in the city centre as part of a “week of resistance” against climate inaction.

The activists, from group Blockade Australia, moved from Hyde Park at 8am this morning across the CBD towards the harbour and have reportedly blocked multiple roads.

Last week, activists from the group said they wanted to “blockade the streets of Australia’s most important political and economic centre and cause disruption that cannot be ignored”.

The NSW parliament passed controversial anti-protest laws in April widely understood as intended to stymie climate protest.

Seven Blockade Australia activists were charged a week ago after an extraordinary incident in the Colo Valley involving undercover police officers.

Daniel Hurst

Albanese responds to crossbench backlash

Returning to that interview with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on the ABC’s AM program:

ABC’s Sabra Lane asked him about criticism of the cuts to crossbenchers’ staff allocations. Asked whether the move was dismissive and arrogant, Albanese said:

Well, what is not fair is the idea that Zali Steggall’s electorate should have double the representation in terms of staff of electorates in the same region. And the fact is that the eight staff that were allocated to the crossbench is more than senior frontbenchers had in opposition.

Up until 2017 the crossbenchers had one additional staffer for House of Representatives staff members. This is something that was increased to three in 2017 and then was further increased in 2019 at the same time as there were changes in the composition of the parliament with some defections from the Liberal party.

Despite the current backlash, Albanese sought to emphasise his interest in constructive relationship with the crossbench:

I’ve had discussions with crossbenchers. I’ve rung all of them after the election and I have rung everyone back who wanted to discuss these issues. There are some misconceptions there.