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Outrage as Paralympian gets disqualified for "unfair" reason

Elena Congost, had just finished the T12/B2 run in third place, but was disqualified and had the bronze medal taken from her, for this one simple move. The 36-year-old was running in the vision-impaired category with guide Mia Carol Bruguera. When her guide faltered with a cramp in the final metres before the finish line, Congost instinctively helped him from falling over and let go of the rope that binds them together. This is not allowed within Paralympic rules as all runners must be connected to their guide via a tether. As a result, Japan’s Misato Michishita was elevated to the bronze medal after finishing fourth. In a heartbreaking interview after the race, a devastated Congost said: “It’s unfair, surreal.” “The next athlete was three minutes behind me. It was just a reflex action that any human being would have done – holding on to someone who is falling.” “But that doesn’t mean that there is any kind of benefit or help. In fact, it is clear that I stop dead. “I can’t find any explanation for this. It’s sad because, in addition, I had just been without a scholarship. And I’m not going to get one now. They will leave me out of everything again when I have shown everything I can do. “I have not been disqualified for cheating, but for being a person, for helping someone.” In a separate interview with Spanish outlet Marca, she said that despite being disqualified, she is proud of her actions. “I would like everyone to know that I have not been disqualified for cheating, but rather I have been disqualified for being a person and for an instinct that comes to you when someone is falling and is to help or support them,” she said. “I’m devastated, to be honest, because I had the medal. I’m super proud of everything I’ve done and in the end they disqualify me because 10 metres from the finish line I let go of the rope for a second because a person next to me fell face first to the ground and I grabbed the rope again and we crossed the finish line. “The next athlete is three minutes away from me, so it was a reflex action of any human being to hold on to a person who is falling next to you.” Fans around the world were outraged at the disqualification verdict and have called for officials to overturn it. “Shame on you. Give the medal back to Elena Congost,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Where is the Olympic spirit? Elena Congost was disqualified after running 42km and helping her guide not to fall to the ground. She has lost the bronze medal and her sports scholarship. Disgusting," another wrote. "Give the medal to Elena Congost. This decision ruins the paralympics. How can you be called inclusive if you can’t help a person from falling?” a third added. Image: X

Caring

Major banks hand over millions in refunds over unfair fees

Four major Australian banks are set to cough up close to $30 million in refunds to low-income customers after the Federal corporate watchdog revealed a pattern in high fees. A new report from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, as well as mid-tier Bendigo and Adelaide Bank kept at least two million low-income customers in high-fee accounts. Many of these low-income earners rely on Centrelink payments, and were unfairly slapped with unreasonably high fees. The report followed an ASIC review which focused on improving financial outcomes for First Nations customers by addressing avoidable bank fees. “We focused in this project on the banks who were most likely to have First Nations consumers on low incomes trapped in high-fee accounts,” ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland said. ASIC said the four banks have committed to moving more than 200,000 customers into low-fee accounts, saving them about $10.7 million a year, with the financial institutions also committed to refunding over $28m in fees to these customers over the next 12 to 18 months. This includes $24.6 million to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and apprentices receiving ABSTUDY payments, and customers in areas with significant First Nations populations. “At any time ASIC, and the community, expects that the banks will treat their customers fairly,” Mr Kirkland said. “But that’s particularly important for people on low incomes and for people who are struggling to make ends meet, the last thing they need is to have the very little income that they have being eaten away in unnecessary bank fees.” Mr Kirkland added that the implications of ASIC’s latest review applied to all banks across the country. “We’re expecting all of them to read the report and make improvements to their practices to stop other people being trapped in high-fee accounts that they can’t afford,” Mr Kirkland said. Image credits: Shutterstock

Money & Banking

Judge finds Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins and dismisses Network 10 defamation case. How did it play out?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-clift-715691">Brendan Clift</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Bruce Lehrmann has lost his defamation suit against Channel Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson after the media defendants proved, on the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. After a trial lasting around a month, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee – an experienced defamation judge – concluded that both Lehrmann and Higgins had credibility issues, but ultimately <a href="https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2024/2024fca0369">he was persuaded</a> that Lehrmann raped Higgins, as she’d alleged and he’d denied. <h2>Criminal trials by proxy</h2> Ordinarily, charges like rape would be resolved through the criminal courts, but Lehrmann’s criminal trial was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/jury-discharged-in-trial-of-bruce-lehrmann-brittany-higgins/101583486">aborted</a> in October 2022 after juror misconduct. The charges against him were soon <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/bruce-lehrmann-sexual-assault-charge-dropped-dpp-confirms/news-story/3f82dd388d2cfa38680f7d4f4ceb1c5e">dropped</a>, nominally over concerns for Higgins’ mental health. Higgins, however, foresaw civil proceedings and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/05/brittany-higgins-volunteered-to-be-defamation-trial-witness-as-she-would-not-let-rapist-become-a-millionaire-ntwnfb">offered to testify</a> should they arise. That they did, as Lehrmann, free from the burden of any proven crime, sued several media outlets for defamation over their reporting into the allegations (<a href="https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-transcripts/online-files/lehrmann">the ABC</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/06/abc-agrees-to-pay-bruce-lehrmann-150000-to-settle-defamation-claim-court-documents-reveal">News Corp</a> both settled out of court). <iframe class="flourish-embed-iframe" style="width: 100%; height: 550px;" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17195035/embed" width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe> <div style="width: 100%!; margin-top: 4px!important; text-align: right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/17195035/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/17195035" target="_top"><img src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg" alt="Made with Flourish" /></a></div> Like Ben Roberts-Smith’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/dismissed-legal-experts-explain-the-judgment-in-the-ben-roberts-smith-defamation-case-191503">recent defamation suit</a> against the former Fairfax papers, this became another case of civil proceedings testing grave allegations in the absence of a criminal law outcome. The form of proceedings made for some key differences with the aborted criminal trial. In criminal cases, prosecutors are ethically bound to act with moderation in pursuing a conviction, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, while defendants have the right to silence. By contrast, this trial featured detailed accounts from both sides as each sought to convince, in essence, that their contentions were likely to be correct. Also like the Roberts-Smith case, live streaming of the trial generated very high levels of public engagement. Today’s stream reached audiences of more than 45,000 people. It gave us the chance to assess who and what we believe, and to scrutinise the parties’ claims and the media’s reporting. The Federal Court doesn’t have juries, but we, the public, acted as a de facto panel of peers. We saw accusations and denials, revealing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-23/bruce-lehrmann-defamation-trial-network-ten-lisa-wilkinson-ends/103260752">cross-examination</a> of the protagonists, witness testimony from colleagues, CCTV footage from nightclubs to Parliament House complete with lip-reading, expert testimony on alcohol consumption and consent, and lawyers constructing timelines which supported or poked holes in competing versions of events. The complexity of high-stakes legal proceedings was on display, with Justice Lee issuing many interim decisions on questions of procedure and evidence. Whenever transparency was at stake, it won. The preference for full disclosure led to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/apr/02/bruce-lehrmann-defamation-trial-network-10-fresh-evidence-bid-lisa-wilkinson-brittany-higgins-delay-ntwnfb">case being re-opened</a> at the eleventh hour to call former Channel 7 producer Taylor Auerbach as a witness, providing a denouement that the judge called “sordid”, but which had little relevance to the final result. <h2>An argument over the truth</h2> Lehrmann had the burden of proving that the defendants published matter harmful to his reputation. That matter was Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins on Channel Ten’s The Project in which the allegations were made. A statement is only defamatory if it’s untrue, but in Australian law, the publisher bears the burden of proving truth, should they opt for that defence. And more serious allegations usually require more compelling proof, as the law views them as inherently more unlikely. This can be onerous for a defamation defendant, but it also involves risk for the plaintiff, should the defendant embark on an odyssey of truth-telling yet more damaging to the plaintiff’s image. That happened to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65717684">Ben Roberts-Smith</a> and it happened to Lehrmann here. On the other hand, if the media hasn’t done their homework, as in <a href="https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1223">Heston Russell’s case</a> against the ABC (also presided over by Justice Lee), the complainant can be vindicated. This case was a manifestation of Lehrmann’s professed desire to “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/26/how-bruce-lehrmanns-media-interviews-cost-him-his-anonymity-in-toowoomba-case">light some fires</a>”. Few players in this extended saga have emerged without scars, and here he burned his own fingers, badly. As Justice Lee put it, Lehrmann, “having escaped the lion’s den [of criminal prosecution], made the mistake of coming back to get his hat”. <h2>How was the case decided?</h2> Lehrmann denied having sex with Higgins, whereas Higgins alleged there had been non-consensual sex. The defamatory nature of the publication centred on the claim of rape, so that was what the media defendants sought to prove. This left open the curious possibility that consensual sex might have taken place: if so, Lehrmann would have brought his case on a false premise (there had been no sex), but the media would have failed to defend it (by not proving a lack of consent), resulting in a Lehrmann win. That awkward scenario did not arise. The court found sex did in fact take place, Higgins in her heavily-inebriated and barely-conscious state did not give consent, and Lehrmann was so intent on his gratification that he ignored the requirement of consent. Justice Lee found Lehrmann to be a persistent, self-interested liar, whereas Higgin’s credibility issues were of lesser degree, some symptomatic of a person piecing together a part-remembered trauma. The judge drew strongly on the evidence of certain neutral parties who could testify to incidents or words spoken in close proximity to the events. <h2>Defamation laws favour the aggrieved</h2> Australian defamation law has historically favoured plaintiffs and, despite recent <a href="https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/civil/defamation/2021-law-reform/">rebalancing attempts</a>, it remains a favoured legal weapon for those with the resources to use it. This includes our political class, who sue their critics for defamation with unhealthy frequency for a democracy. In the United States, public figures don’t have it so easy: to win they must prove their critics were lying. In Australia, the media sometimes succeeds in proving truth, but contesting defamation proceedings comes at great financial cost and takes an emotional toll on the journalists involved. Nor can a true claim always be proven to a court’s satisfaction, given the rules of evidence and the fact that sources may be reluctant to testify or protected by a reporter’s guarantee of confidentiality. But this case demonstrates that publishers with an appetite for the legal fight can come out on top.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225891/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-clift-715691">Brendan Clift</a>, Lecturer of law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/judge-finds-bruce-lehrmann-raped-brittany-higgins-and-dismisses-network-10-defamation-case-how-did-it-play-out-225891">original article</a>.

Legal

"Unfair" parking fines could soon be a thing of the past

In recent years, road users in one Australian state have found themselves at the receiving end of unwelcome surprises in their mailboxes. An experimental parking fine process, initiated with the aim of streamlining administrative procedures, has instead garnered significant backlash from unsuspecting motorists. However, relief seems to be on the horizon as the New South Wales Government steps in to rectify the situation. The issue revolves around the introduction of ticketless parking fines, a system that was implemented with the intention of simplifying the issuance of penalties for parking violations. Under this scheme, parking officers could send details of fines directly to Revenue NSW, which would then dispatch infringement notices either by post or through the Service NSW app. However, what was meant to be a simple and streamlined modernisation effort has led to a surge in revenue from fines and a subsequent erosion of trust in the system. Concerns about the fairness and transparency of ticketless fines have been mounting, prompting action from the NSW government. Reports indicate that Finance Minister Courtney Houssos has written to all 128 local councils in the state, urging them to halt further adoption of the ticketless parking fine system. Instead, councils have been instructed to revert to traditional ticketing methods and ensure that drivers are promptly made aware of fines at the time of the offence. The move comes in response to a range of issues highlighted by critics of the ticketless system. One major concern is the lack of immediate notification, which diminishes the deterrent effect of fines and makes it difficult for motorists to contest them effectively. Without receiving timely notification, drivers may struggle to gather evidence or address issues such as inadequate signage, hidden signs, or other circumstances that could warrant a review of the fine. Organisations like the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) have been vocal opponents of the ticketless scheme, labelling it as "unfair" and criticising its impact on transparency. According to NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury, the system reduces the ability of drivers to contest fines, thereby undermining their rights and contributing to a loss of community trust in the administration of fines. The NSW government's intervention signals a recognition of these concerns and a commitment to restoring confidence in the fines system. By prioritising immediate notification for drivers, authorities aim to address the shortcomings of the ticketless parking fine process. The decision to reverse the experimental system comes amid staggering revenue figures, with nearly $140 million generated from ticketless fines in 2023 alone. While the financial gains may be substantial, they come at the expense of public trust and fairness, prompting a much-needed course correction. As Minister Houssos asserts, providing immediate notification to drivers is not only the right thing to do but also a crucial step towards rebuilding community trust. By ensuring that drivers are promptly informed of fines and have the opportunity to contest them, authorities can strike a balance between effective enforcement and procedural fairness in managing parking violations. As road users await the reinstatement of traditional ticketing methods, they can take solace in the prospect of a fairer and more transparent fines system in the future. Images: City of Sydney

Legal

Women and low-income earners miss out in a superannuation system most Australians think is unfair

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/antonia-settle-1019551">Antonia Settle</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Most Australians think the superannuation system is unfair, with only one in three agreeing the retirement savings scheme is fair for most Australians, according to a survey conducted for the University of Melbourne. In fact, only about half of those <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/research-insights/search/result?paper=4630688">surveyed</a> agreed superannuation works well for them. These results contradict a conventional view based on earlier studies and held by academics and many in the personal finance sector, that Australians give little thought to superannuation. A 2013 survey found Australians have <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.285049750322819">poor knowledge</a> of how the superannuation system works, while another study in 2022 highlighted <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/4382057/HILDA_Statistical_Report_2022.pdf">low financial literacy</a> in general. Australians also showed <a href="https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/projects/retirement-planning-saving-attitudes_0_0.pdf">little interest in superannuation</a>, according to a 2020 Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet survey, with few Australians showing interest in reading their superannuation statements, choosing their fund or making voluntary contributions. With Australian households seen as uninformed and uninterested, their opinions tend to be left out of the public debate. We hear much about the gender pension gap, for example, but little about what women actually think about superannuation. Similarly, the distribution of tax advantage in superannuation is hotly debated by economists but survey data tends to refrain from asking households what they think about equity in the superannuation system. The University of Melbourne survey of 1,003 Australians was undertaken by Roy Morgan Research in April. Its results show women and low-income households are widely seen as disadvantaged in the superannuation system. In fact, only one in five Australians see the superannuation system as well suited to the needs of women and of low-income households, while 70% believe super favours wealthy households. <iframe id="5VX3K" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5VX3K/1/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> This suggests although Australians may show little interest in the management of their super accounts and may report they find the system confusing or even <a href="https://www.professionalplanner.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Attitudes-to-Super-Report-May-2016.pdf">boring</a>, they are surprisingly aware of how superannuation is distributed. <h2>Women, singles and low-income earners miss out</h2> The federal government’s 2020 <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2020-100554">Retirement Income Review</a> documents these gaps. Renters, women, uncoupled households and those on low-incomes fare poorly in the retirement income system. With little super to supplement the public pension, these groups are vastly over-represented in elderly poverty statistics, which are among the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/d76e4fad-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/d76e4fad-en">highest in the OECD</a>. Mirroring the gaps in the superannuation system reported by the review, the University of Melbourne survey shows that it is outright homeowners and those who are married who believe the superannuation system works well. Concerns the system works poorly for women and low-income households are strongest among women and low-income households. Only one in three renters believe the superannuation system meets their needs. <iframe id="N9GO6" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/N9GO6/1/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> This suggests individuals’ concerns about fairness in the superannuation system are driven by their own experiences of disadvantage, regardless of financial literacy. This is consistent with my own <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2023.2195159">research</a> into household attitudes to superannuation, which showed some resentment among women who were well aware their male partners had substantially higher superannuation balances than them. This all matters for policymakers. <h2>Why public perceptions are important</h2> In the short term, these results suggest public support for making super fairer is likely to be stronger than previously thought. Recent government changes to tax concessions on large balances, for example, could have gone much further without losing support from the 70% of households that think the system favours the wealthy. But it matters for the longer term too. Public perceptions of fairness, effectiveness and efficiency are crucial to policy sustainability. This is well established in the academic literature from <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/spol.12683">B Ebbinghaus</a>, 2021 and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1911-3838.12171">H Chung et al.</a>, and accepted by the Retirement Income Review. The review assessed the public’s confidence in the system to both “deliver an adequate retirement income for them(selves) and (to) generate adequate outcomes across society”. As the review makes clear, the system must avoid a loss of public confidence from perceptions of unfairness. Yet perceptions of unfairness are exactly what the University of Melbourne results suggest. This would have been clearer to policymakers if they asked earlier.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207633/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/antonia-settle-1019551">Antonia Settle</a>, Academic (McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-and-low-income-earners-miss-out-in-a-superannuation-system-most-australians-think-is-unfair-207633">original article</a>.

Retirement Income

"Unfair and unbearable": Jock Zonfrillo's widow shares emotional family milestone

Jock Zonfrillo's widow has shared another first for their grieving family, as she told of Jock's "unbearable" absence at their child's birthday party. Lauren Fried, Jock's wife who now runs his Instagram account, posted a series of photos from her daughter Isla's first birthday without her "Papa". Lauren reflected on the emotional day, and the reality of her late husband not being there with their family. In a lengthy caption, she wrote, "We had Isla’s first birthday party without her Papa." <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx6RTwCvnIP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx6RTwCvnIP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jock Zonfrillo (posts by Loz) (@zonfrillo)</a> </div> </blockquote> She went on to explain what previous birthdays were like before Jock's sudden passing, writing, "Jock would have been up all night the day before, the first one out of bed in the morning. Menu planning for weeks." "Then I would have fallen asleep on Jock’s chest after the party, talking through how it went, if Isla had a good time, did people eat and drink enough, would she remember any of it." Lauren then explained how this year's party looked to their grieving family, explaining, "This year I did a BBQ and the rest of the food was outsourced to my sister and Mark. [Ava Zonfrillo] blew up the balloons. Uber delivered the cake. I cried as I dressed the kids. I fell asleep without Jock." She went on to share how bittersweet the day was, saying, "For Jock to miss these days seems unfair and unbearable, and another of the firsts we are pushing through as a family." Despite their grief, Lauren said their family is slowly starting to heal. "Our little ones are finding joy again, they are being the happy and cheeky children they always were, and I’m grateful that life keeps dragging us forward day by day." Commenters shared their support for the family, with one writing, “Firsts are the hardest, it’s like losing them all over again 😔. Keep being strong for you, your family and the gorgeous children you had with Jock.” Jock Zonfrillo was <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/shattered-hearts-culinary-world-mourns-tragic-death-of-jock-zonfrillo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found dead</a> in a hotel room in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton on April 30th after police were called for a welfare check. Image credits: Instagram

Family & Pets

“A little bit unfair”: Hard-working tradies blast age pension increase

A group of tired tradies have rallied against the “unfair” decision to increase the age of eligibility for the age pension. The tradesmen, all in their 60s, simply said their bodies “can’t handle” working in manual labour until they’re 70, which may be in their future if the eligibility age continues to rise. The age to qualify for the pension was raised from 66 years and six months to 67 on July 1st with the move impacting any Australian born after December 31st, 1956. Experts predict the age could rise even further to 70 by the year 2050 with the news sparking backlash among hardworking Aussies. One man, a concreter in his mid-60s named Steve, said working the manual labour job was already taking a toll on his body and that the new retirement age was “unfair” on those working physically demanding jobs. “Now I'm starting to feel it more in my knees, I've got arthritis in my hands, I've had two back surgeries,” he told <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/australian-tradies-outraged-over-decision-to-raise-pension-age-to-67/5b5c6dda-c995-44ad-bb29-98c625e9d276" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Current Affair</a>. “It does seem a little bit unfair that you have to work all your life.” Peter, who cuts down trees in the Gold Coast for a living, compared the raising of the pension age to the harsh realities of his job. “It's just like climbing a tree,” he said. “The injuries are just climbing all the time, it's getting harder, worse, sorer all the time.” He described what was happening as “very scary”. “Unfortunately I thought 65 would be a nice time to retire and get on a pension but now we are talking 67,” he said. “Is it going to go up to 68, 69, 70?” Macquarie University Professor Hanlin Shang believes the pension age will need to rise to 70 or government spending will spiral out of control. He and other researchers estimate that the retirement age will rise to 68 by 2030, 69 in 2036 and 70 by 2050. “As Australians live longer than before, it presents a challenge to the government to fund retirees through a pension scheme,” Professor Shang said. Despite these challenges, Peter said politicians don't understand the burden that working physical jobs has on older bodies. “It would be nice to be a politician sitting on a nice comfortable chair all day in an air conditioned room or office,” he said. “They need to come out and see what it's like to do some physical work. That would make them change their mind in trying to stretch this pension out to 67, 68, 69, 70.” Image credits: A Current Affair

Retirement Income

"Just one snowfall away": Aussie ski resorts dismiss doom and gloom warnings

Australian ski resorts have dismissed warnings about the possibility of a below-average snowfall this season as they prepare for opening weekend. Meteorologists have warned that if a number of climate factors combine this winter, the 2023 snow season could be one of the worst in decades. Although images have shown poor snow coverage at NSW and Victoria’s biggest ski resorts, staff have rejected concerns the season won’t pick up. Michael Fearnside, operations director at Perisher Ski Resort, the largest in the southern hemisphere, told news.com.au it is “certainly not doom and gloom” for the industry. According to Fearnside, only time will tell. “This is my 38th winter working in the snow industry and some of our best seasons have begun with low snowfall at the start,” Fearnside said. “Our business is weather dependent but we’re always just one snowfall away, it’s no different to a farmer waiting for the weather to break.” Similar to other resorts, Fearnside added Perisher had made significant investments in snow-making and as a result, they haven’t had to rely on snowfall, with snow guns ready to be deployed “as soon as the conditions are right”. “Our snow-making covers 53.4 hectares across the resort and sets us apart for having the most reliable ski and board experience all season long,” “It’s certainly not doom and gloom, we’ve seen this before and we’re just waiting for the weather pattern to settle down.” Snowy Mountains ski resort Thredbo will need to rely on its own snow-making, despite it and Perisher being the first to see snow in April. Meanwhile, in Victoria’s Alps, the Mount Buller Alpine Resort has been steadily producing a mass amount of snow since the beginning of May and has a network of 341 snow-making guns ready to “kick into action” when necessary. Resort spokeswoman Rhylla Morgan said it is “all hands on deck” to finalise preparations. “In recent seasons there have been bumper early snowfalls and we’ve been spoiled with plenty of natural snow from the beginning,” she said. “And as much as we love to see snowfall at any time, we are taking comfort in the fact that early snow doesn’t translate to a better snow season.” Morgan noted two of the best snow seasons on record at Mt Buller, 1956 and 1958, “had no snow for the season start in June”. “But we’ll leave the forecasting to the professionals and, like all snow enthusiasts, we’ll be watching the forecast closely and hoping for the best.” Victorian resorts, Mt Buller, Mt Hotham and Falls Creek are hoping to repeat the record-breaking 2022 snow season, the first full return after the Covid lockdowns. Mt Hotham’s general manager of operations Len Dobell said the mountaintop resort had its “best season on record” in 2022. Falls Creek Alpine Resort head of marketing Andrew Eckersley said the resort had “more than 500,000 visitation days” in 2022, and was already expecting similar numbers of bookings in 2023. “Last year there was massive pent-up demand from people not being able to ski as much as they want over the last few years in,” Eckersley said. “The fact there’s not a huge amount of difference shows there’s still the appetite to visit the snow.” Although those numbers could be attributed to earlier snowfalls leading to an earlier season opening, Eckersley said he was hopeful the cold front ahead would bring some snow. Sky News Australia meteorologist Alison Osbourne confirmed that despite there being a cold front shifting across the alpine regions, it is not guaranteed to bring snow. “The best weather systems for good snowfall have the most precipitation after a cool change, so it's cold enough for heavy snow,” she said. “This is the opposite, heavy rain is coming before the cold weather does. The freezing level is far too high. “This rain is very likely to wash away the existing cover and while it remains warm, windy, and wet, conditions for snow-making are unfavourable.” Cooler westerly winds are expected to push over the Alps on June 16, lowering the freezing level in time for the June 10 snow season opening, but not enough for significant snowfall. “The silver lining is that snow-making conditions improve for the rest of the weekend.” Image credit: Getty

Travel Trouble

Nick Kyrgios’ assault charge dismissed after guilty plea

World no. 20 tennis player Nick Kyrgios faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday and dodged a conviction despite a guilty plea. Nick issued a guilty plea to common assault during an argument with his ex-girlfriend, Chiara Passari, over two years ago in 2021. Initially, he and his lawyers argued that the charge should be dropped due to his mental health. This was withdrawn when it was revealed to the court that he was not suffering from a “significant depressive illness” at the time. As Nick’s lawyer - Michael Kukulies-Smith - put it, there was "a relationship between the mental health and the offending - even though he no longer suffers it to the same extent today." It was then that Nick pleaded guilty to the charge of common assault. Although Magistrate Beth Campbell rejected the dismissal on mental health grounds, she ultimately dismissed the case, believing that a conviction was not warranted. The court was informed that Magistrate Campbell would be dealing with Nick’s case in the same manner that she would approach that of any other individual with the same charges, and that Nick’s status as a notable Australian figure would not come into play. “I am dealing with you in the same way I would deal with any young man in this court,” she said, “you are a young man who happens to hit a tennis ball particularly well." Although Magistrate Campbell agreed that Chiara Passari was clearly distressed over the 2021 assault, she went on to say that it appeared to be an isolated incident, and an “impulsive and unfortunate response” on Nick’s part. She noted that he was a “young man trying to extricate himself from a heightened emotional situation.” Michael Kukulies-Smith requested that a conviction not be recorded as Nick had been quick to display remorse for what he had done. Magistrate Beth Campbell went on to dismiss the charge later in the hearing, allowing that no conviction would be recorded. Nick issued a brief statement to reporters on his way out of the court, thanking the court and confessing that he was “sincerely sorry”. “I was not in a good place when this took place,” he said, “and I reacted to a difficult situation in a way I deeply regret. “Mental health is tough. Life can seem overwhelming. But I’ve found that getting help and working on myself has helped me to feel better and to be better.” Images: Getty

Legal

Meghan Markle hits back at unfair nickname

Meghan Markle has hit back at her nickname, which she says is “really a codeword for the B-word”. In her latest podcast episode To ‘B’ or not to ‘B’?, the Duchess of Sussex said her nickname “Duchess Difficult” is a way of gaslighting women. “What these people are implying when they use that very charged word, is that this woman: ‘Oh, she’s difficult’,” she said in the episode on Archetypes. “Which is really just a euphemism or is probably not even a euphemism. It’s really a codeword for the B-word.” Meghan was given the nickname back in 2018 when she was accused of displaying “dictator” style behaviour towards her staff members - which led to one of them quitting. “My friend said to me, there’s a certain point when you come to terms with the fact that not everyone is going to like you,” Meghan continued. “The goal can’t be for everyone to like you, but the goal can be for them to respect you.” Meghan has also been called the “Princess of Montecito” because of her bizarre requests when it comes to booking restaurants. “If she’s going into Beverly Hills or West Hollywood for lunch or dinner, she’ll generally call ahead and request a table that is completely secluded,” a source told the UK’s Closer magazine. The source alleges that Meghan’s favourite restaurants aren’t well known but when she goes to high-end places, she ensures the place is perfect for her arrival. “But, generally speaking, these days she likes higher-end hangouts like Cecconi’s, Sunset Tower, Sugarfish or Lucky’s steakhouse in Montecito, which was recommended by Oprah,” the magazine reported. “It’s become their favourite, and they’re waited on hand and foot.” Image: Getty

Beauty & Style

Shoo! PM's "dismissive gesture" causes chaos

Anthony Albanese has come under fire after being accused of making a rude gesture towards Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley while in parliament. The Prime Minister has allegedly taken to “shooing away” Liberal MPs in the last fortnight during Question Time, but his "disrespectful" gesture on Thursday left Ms Ley asking how seriously he took his pledge to treat women with respect at work. “Anthony Albanese has talked a really big game about making parliament a more respectful, fit-for-purpose workplace,” she told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/anthony-albanese-accused-of-rude-gesture-aimed-at-deputy-liberal-leader-sussan-ley/news-story/c1bbc6eb7afc268720e09e8839f9cbe5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a>. “I don‘t mind the rough and tumble of politics, but I do mind the hypocrisy that he displayed in Question Time today." “If Anthony Albanese wants to be rude to a woman and dismissively wave her away when she’s trying to speak in parliament, that’s a choice for him, but it’s completely out of step with the values of a modern workplace in this country.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Was this gesture disrespectful? The Opposition called on the speaker to ask the PM to apologize for appearing to 'shoo away' Sussan Ley at the dispatch box. The speaker said there was nothing to withdraw <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auspol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SBSNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/l99mIecS6K">pic.twitter.com/l99mIecS6K</a> — Naveen Razik (@naveenjrazik) <a href="https://twitter.com/naveenjrazik/status/1555062039122284546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2022</a></blockquote> The gesture, which was not full captured on cameras in the House of Reps, parked uproar and interjections when he made it. <div id="story-primary"> “The PM made a dismissive gesture towards the Deputy Leader of the Opposition,” Manager of Opposition Business Paul Fletcher told the House. The Speaker of the House claimed he did not see the gesture in question, but called on Albanese to apologise if he had done something disrespectful. The Liberal Party has been targeting the Prime Minister in Question Time over CFMEU donations, accusing members of the union of verbally abusing women in the workplace. “Why does the Prime Minister keep dismissing this issue when the welfare of 150,000 women working in the construction sector is at stake?” he was asked on Thursday. Albanese responded, “As I have said repeatedly, behaviour such as that, which she has described, is completely unacceptable.” Image credits: Getty Images </div>

Legal

"She didn't add any smiley faces!" Woman fired for not using emojis

A Queensland woman has won an unfair dismissal case, after the ex-wife of the business owner demanded she was fired immediately over sending a text message that didn’t include any smiley face emojis. According to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), Phoebe Wang who was overseeing her ex-husband’s Sens and Goya cafes on the Gold Coast had smashed her phone on the counter, jumped up and down while screaming “Kristen Gordon must be fired” immediately after receiving messages from her about a staffing issue. Ms Gordon had been employed by the business for about 14 months and was a casual working full-time hours. Part of her job included rostering staff and time sheets. Her colleague, who was there at the time of the incident, told the FWC she asked to see the messages to understand why Ms Wang was so angry however, she found the messages to be normal. Allegedly, Ms Wang said that Ms Gordon was arguing with her because there were no emojis included. Ms Gordon told the FWC that she had been told Ms Wang repeatedly stated she “didn’t add any smiley faces! There are no emotions!”. Ms Gordon went on to say she was unaware her “completely reasonable text message” had caused so much upset. The next day after working a full shift, Ms Gordon was told by a manager they were forced to dismiss her. Fair Work Commissioner Chris Simpson concluded that Ms Gordon was dismissed at this point, despite any attempts for it to appear otherwise. Commissioner Simpson ordered Sens Catering Group Pty Ltd to pay Ms Gordon $5357.80, plus 9.5% superannuation. Image: Getty

Legal

Australia’s temporary visa system is unfair, expensive, impractical and inconsistent. Here’s how the new government could fix it

The election of the Albanese Labor government brings an opportunity to end one of the most detrimental elements of Australian refugee law and policy in the past decade: the use of temporary visas. Temporary protection has been the only option available for asylum seekers who arrived by boat a decade ago and were recognised as refugees. Known as the “legacy caseload”, these people are caught in a system of law and policy that keeps them in a state of perpetual limbo. As the new government committed to end temporary protection, we have <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/news/new-kaldor-centre-policy-brief-proposes-reforms-australia%E2%80%99s-temporary-protection-system">just published a policy brief</a> with the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law outlining how this could be achieved. Our report sets out practical reforms that can be implemented relatively simply, within existing legislative provisions and with only minimal changes to policy and regulations. The 17 recommendations were produced in consultation with refugees and asylum seekers living on temporary protection visas and bridging visas. We also consulted civil society, including former and current temporary protection visa holders and legal groups working with refugees. The impact of temporary protection and the fast-track system on refugees and asylum seekers has left many <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/inm.12325">depressed and suicidal</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/29/the-new-government-gives-me-hope-that-the-cruel-limbo-of-temporary-protection-visas-might-end">Expectations</a> from those living on temporary visas and the wider refugee advocates are high and there is significant apprehension about the transition. The new government understands it will need to approach reforms carefully. Our recommendations are accompanied by a trauma-informed strategy to help reduce mental distress, deterioration and retraumatisation of asylum seekers, while also increasing community engagement. <h2>The current system is damaging</h2> Australia’s temporary protection system is <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/news/new-kaldor-centre-policy-brief-proposes-reforms-australia%E2%80%99s-temporary-protection-system">unfair, expensive, impractical and inconsistent</a> with our international human rights obligations. In 2014, the Coalition government reintroduced a Howard-era three-year Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) and a five-year Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) for the more than 30,000 people who arrived by boat between August 13 2012 and January 1 2014. However, unlike the earlier Howard policy, the temporary visas this time provided no realistic prospect of applying for permanent protection. The number of people in this “legacy caseload” as <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/uma-legacy-caseload-may-2022.pdf">of May 2022</a> is 31,256. They come from many countries. The largest number are from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The majority – around 19,500 people – have been found to be refugees and have been granted TPV and SHEV. The 10,000 who have been refused a visa were assessed through a “fast-track” process that has <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-biloela-tamil-family-deportation-case-highlights-the-failures-of-our-refugee-system-123685">been neither fair nor fast</a>. People who have been refused have been living in the Australian community for ten years or more while awaiting the outcome of appeals. Some (<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-biloela-family-are-going-home-but-what-will-labor-do-with-thousands-of-other-asylum-seekers-in-limbo-in-australia-183621">such as the Nadeselingham family</a>) are working or have had children in Australia. There are also many asylum seekers from Afghanistan who have been refused visas but who cannot return due to the reemergence of the Taliban in August 2021. In other words, some of those refused visas may well be refugees or have other ties to the Australian community. However, the current legal system does not allow them to apply for other visas without going through cumbersome, expensive appeals and ministerial intervention processes. People who hold TPVs and SHEVs are allowed to work but not to reunite with family or travel freely overseas. Others live on precarious short-term bridging visas, some without the right to work. Many are without access to income support. In either situation, the uncertainty is damaging people’s mental health and well-being. <h2>Key recommendations</h2> The focus of the policy brief was to set out reforms either within the current legislative and policy framework, or with minimal changes. This means changes can occur within a relatively short time frame. Key recommendations include: <ul> <li> refugees on TPVs and SHEVs should be moved onto permanent visas known as Resolution of Status visas. People who have not yet been assessed or who have previously been refused protection should also be able to apply for a permanent visa that does not require another assessment of their protection claims </li> <li> restrictions on travel for TPV and SHEV holders should be removed, pending the grant of a permanent visa and includes specific recommendations in relation to travel documents. Travel is essential for re-establishing links to separated family </li> <li> family reunion, particularly partners and children, should be prioritised. Granting people permanent visas allows them to begin the process of family reunion through the family or humanitarian programs </li> <li> the government should establish a specialised team in the Department of Home Affairs to work closely with migration agents, lawyers and refugee communities. This group could identify other options for allowing reunification of close relatives and children who, under current law, may not fall within the definition of “member of a family unit”. Families have been separated for at least 10 years; many left children at home who have now reached ages where they will no longer be considered dependent. </li> </ul> In 2014, the new minister for immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs Andrew Giles <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansardr/a275472e-b699-46e7-ac29-bcf2fb8ee942/0018/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">said, "</a>Labor has a longstanding policy of opposing TPVs, for good reason. They do not provide a sustainable solution for refugees. The uncertainty exacerbates real mental health issues and denies people the capacity to live full lives. As well as significant international law concerns with these provisions, they put people in limbo. There is no deterrence value here, even if you accept that to be a valid policy objective – they only place vulnerable people in a place of uncertainty." He now has significant power to put those words into action. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-temporary-visa-system-is-unfair-expensive-impractical-and-inconsistent-heres-how-the-new-government-could-fix-it-185870" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

“It’s stupid”: Kochie blasts unfair blood donation rule

Sunrise co-host David “Kochie” Koch has <a style="background: transparent;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline" href="https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/sunrise-presenter-david-kochie-koch-takes-aim-at-stupid-blood-donation-rule-c-5521999" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dubbed</a> a blood donation rule as “stupid”, revealing he is one of the thousands prevented from rolling up their sleeves as a result.The Channel 7 presenter shared that he was one of the many people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 who aren’t allowed to give blood in Australia due to fears of mad cow disease.“I’ve never been able to give blood since working and living in the UK in the ‘90s,” Kochie said on Tuesday’s episode.“It was a long time ago. It’s stupid.”Kochie added that even his children are affected because they lived overseas.His comments come after a news story about the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, which is considering lifting the ban due to severe shortages in blood banks.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A ban on people who lived in the UK during the mad cow epidemic from giving blood in Australia could soon be lifted due to a major donor shortage. <a href="https://t.co/LF4dStY3N2">pic.twitter.com/LF4dStY3N2</a>— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunriseon7/status/1488241425162838016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2022</a></blockquote>The organisation has called for more people to donate after many people cancelled or didn’t attend their bookings due to the Omicron wave of COVID-19.According to the charity’s website, Lifeblood currently doesn’t accept donations from anyone who lived in the UK - including England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Island, the Isle of Man, and both the Channel and Falkland Islands - for six months or more between January 1 1980 and December 31 1996.During this period, the UK experienced one of the highest numbers of a variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (or ‘mad cow disease’) called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). It was thought that people contracted this disease by eating products from cows infected with the ‘mad cow disease’.“A small number of people also contracted vCJD through blood transfusions, which is why we can’t take blood donations from anyone who has received a transfusion in the UK since 1980,” the website <a style="background: transparent;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline" href="https://www.lifeblood.com.au/blood/eligibility/donating-after-travelling/UK" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reads</a>.“We have recently prepared a submission proposing a change to this. Our submission is currently being reviewed, and we look forward to having more to say soon.”<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/koch-0.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="338" />David ‘Kochie’ Koch has called out a rule that prevents him from donating blood to the Red Cross. Image: @sunriseon7 (Twitter)With about 4500 planned donations falling through each day, Lifeblood executive director of donor services Cath Stone said now was the time to review the rule restricting donations.“The peak of (mad cow cases) we saw in 2000. We haven’t seen any cases since 2010,” she told Sunrise.“That is why now is the opportune time for us to review that based on the latest evidence. We are looking forward to the outcomes of that submission.”Image: @sunriseon7 (Twitter)

News

“Today was your last day”: Lisa Wilkinson reveals brutal dismissal

After suddenly disappearing from the Channel Nine breakfast show Today in 2017, viewers around Australia were shocked at Lisa Wilkinson's quiet exit. Now, Lisa has revealed exactly what happened the day she was axed in an <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lisa-wilkinson-finally-reveals-the-truth-about-leaving-today-and-her-last-show-with-karl-stefanovic/news-story/ef89081ecb766cac59cae0ba2909351a" target="_blank">exclusive extract</a> from her tell-all memoir called It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This. After sitting alongside co-host Karl Stefanovic for more than a decade and appearing to be close friends, Lisa discussed how Karl treated her with an unusual “disregard” on what ultimately became her final day on-air. Hours later, she was sacked over the phone while shopping at Woolworths. In her book, Lisa writes of her awkward final on-air encounter with Karl Stefanovic, as she says he ignored her for a week in the lead-up to her brutal axing. The tension between the hosts came after he ditched her 25th wedding anniversary celebration and vow renewal with a last-minute text cancellation. “Karl and his new partner Jas had been invited but dropped out just two days before via a text to Pete saying that they were extending an overseas trip and wouldn’t be attending,” she wrote, adding how strange it was he hadn’t contacted her with apologies nor congratulations. “In the 10 days since, Karl hadn’t contacted me, his co-host of almost eleven years, at all. No phone message, no text, no apology, not even a simple congrats,” she wrote. “Just complete silence.” She added, “In all the years we’d sat next to each other, even though there were the occasional frustrations on both sides, upsets were rare." “But on this particular morning, I was upset. With limited numbers, there were two precious spots at the wedding we could so easily have filled with dear friends, but Karl’s late text meant those seats had gone empty.” Lisa wrote that as their first show after the wedding began, Karl arrived at his desk just in time to appear live on air, leaving no room for small talk and disappeared at his earliest chance. “Not a mention. Not a ‘how was the holiday?’ And certainly no ‘Sorry about that no-show at the wedding’. Not … anything,” she wrote. “What I felt in that instant was hard to put into words. More than anything, I felt just a little bit pathetic. What was this thing Karl and I had between us?" “I’d presumed that along with our work relationship, there was a friendship as well. I must have been wrong.” As Karl finally congratulated Lisa on her vow renewal while the cameras were rolling, Lisa said she felt taken aback by his unusual actions. Despite being hurt by the situation, Wilkinson said she took a deep breath and said: “Yeah, I did Karl, but why would anybody care about that when it’s news time? Good morning.” After that comment, she said: “Karl knew I had cut him dead, something I had never done on or off air before.” “For the next two hours, I exchanged not a single word with Karl outside of what was scripted – because for the first time, I just didn’t trust myself to ‘play nice’,” she wrote. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Lisa Wilkinson (@lisa_wilkinson)</a> </div> </blockquote> In the wake of these extracts being published, on Monday morning's edition of Today, Karl Stefanovic took the day off. His absence wasn't acknowledged by the hosts, as he was replaced for the day by Today Extra host David Campbell. Lisa's autobiography, It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This, will be released on November 3rd. Image credits: Getty Images / Instagram @lisa_wilkinson

Books

Samantha Armytage claims unfair treatment

Samantha Armytage has said not having children or being married has affected the way she gets treated at work, claiming women can often feel “trodden” on. The Sunrise TV host revealed to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Flifestyle%2Fstellar%2Fsam-armytage-losing-your-mother-changes-you%2Fnews-story%2F562b19d8bd014c56cec6fe739716ad24&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium" target="_blank">Stellar Magazine</a> that she believed her bosses gave her more work simply because she was unmarried and didn’t have kids. "Bosses don't ask as much of you if you're a wife or mother," she said. "I've never shied away from hard work, but there was an expectation that Sam would do it because she's got nothing else going on. “[Sometimes I'd think] 'Well, actually, I'd get something else going on if you didn't make me do this'," she added. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLz8B-0r8bn/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLz8B-0r8bn/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Stellar (@stellarmag)</a> </div> </blockquote> Samantha married husband Richard Lavender on New Years Eve of 2020. The pair started dating in April 2019 and announced their engagement in June 2020. The TV host went on to say that women can often feel "trodden" on by showing "common female traits". "It’s a very masculine world so women go into their masculine when they’re in these environments and if you show any common female traits such as vulnerability, emotion or empathy you get trodden on. But I’ve just gone out and done my thing," she said. Sam recently went on to admit to the Kyle and Jackie O Show that she had thought about retirement and giving up her big city life for a quiet one in the Southern Highlands. "I get the feeling, Sam, that you're going to give this up next contract or something. Do you ever see yourself doing that?" Jackie 'O' Henderson asked. "Oh yeah, I think down the track I could, easily," Sam said. Sam and Richard managed to plan their wedding in just a mere three days. "We did it, we got it done, it was a little bit stressful for me but Rich was very relaxed," Sam said after returning to work earlier this year. "It was dad, my dad, we were all sitting around, at Christmas time as you do, having a champagne and beer on the verandah, and dad said because of Covid and everyone's in lockdown…dad said ‘just do it, for god’s sake, just do it,’ so we did it!” “It was nice, there was 12 of us there, we organised it in three days and it was fun.”

Peter FitzSimmons and Stan Grant's falling out over “unfair” chapter

Peter FitzSimons and his former mate, Stan Grant, have had a major fall out over his portrayal of the Wallabies player turned author and his wife Lisa Wilkinson in a new book. Grant contributed to The Australian’s serialised murder mystery, Oh Matilda : Who Bloody Killed Her? – and mentioned “Fitzy and Lisa’s Australia Day barbecue at their grand house overlooking Sydney Harbour”. What unfolded was an unflattering description of FitzSimons and his wife, which in result reignited a deep-seated rift between the pair. The former friends publicly fell out in April of 2020 over a disagreement about Captain James Cook’s legacy, and traded barbs in the pages of The Sydney Morning Herald. In an opinion piece at the time, Grant, who is a Wiradjuri man, accused FitzSimons of making Cook “the prototypical Aussie good bloke”. He added that his description of the explorer as being far from “an enthusiastic imperialist” was “ludicrous”. However, FiitzSimons defended his work and said that it had been meticulously researched by his team over the course of four years. Grant’s Oh Matilda chapter set their relationship on fire again, with reports claiming it resulted in a terse text message exchange and “the complete collapse of their relationship”. FitzSimons’ and Wilkinson’s annual Australia Day party has been renowned as one of Sydney’s most prestigious socialite events of the year and was also the backdrop of Grant’s piece of fiction. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEI28dl5PB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEI28dl5PB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Lisa Wilkinson (@lisa_wilkinson)</a> </div> </blockquote> “It’s like one of those ‘end of year cartoons’ you see in the newspapers: every time you turn around, you bump into somebody more famous than the last person,” one former guest told The Australian today. In Grant’s piece of work, he described one of the characters as “what a woke leftie love-in that was”. “Journos, actors, writers, a couple of ex-Wallabies (well it was the north shore), a few washed up politicians, even a couple of Liberals (small 1 of course) and a former managing director of the ABC for good measure,” the chapter reads. “Everyone there voted yes for same-sex marriage – the year before last, they’d all tearily applauded their first gay married couple guests – they hated the Catholic Church and had cried when Kevin Rudd said sorry.” When referring to FitzSimons and Wilkinson, jet said they “adored Indigenous culture. There were dot paintings on the wall, a photo with their arms around Cathy Freeman at Sydney Olympic Stadium and a framed copy of Paul Keating’s Redfern Statement signed by the last great Australian Prime Minister himself.” Things “did get a bit weird” for the novel’s character, Indigenous woman Matilda Meadows, “when Fitzy excitedly gave her a copy of his latest book, a biography of Captain Cook”. “Apparently Cookie was actually not a bad bloke once you got past his order to open fire on the blacks at Botany Bay,” the character said. Woke Grant told the paper he was trying to “be a bit silly and have a crack about race, political correctness, left-lovey society”, it may have just hit a little too close to home for FitzSimons. “It’s always been Chatham House (rules) – nobody takes photos or tweets or hashtags; it’s private hospitality, and I think what’s put Pete out is he invited Stan into his home, and three years later got sideswiped,” the former party guest said. The Australian has reported that FitzSimons felt Grant’s words were unfair. He was also reportedly concerned that many of the details – like him owning a framed copy of the Redfern Speech or a picture of himself with Cathy Freeman – were completely untrue. But Grant has maintained the chapter was obviously and clearly fictional, telling The Sydney Morning Herald: “I mock myself as much as anyone else in it”. The 57-year-old told friends “there are more important things to worry about in the world” than FitzSimons’ reaction to the piece. “People who can’t laugh at themselves aren’t one of them,” he also said.

Books

“Unfair and greedy”: Furious Woolies customer lashes out at shopper

A Woolies shopper has lashed out at a customer, after describing her as a “hoarder” for her “enormous” grocery shop at a grocery store in Victoria. The disgruntled customer took to the Woolies Facebook page on Sunday to write they were “disappointed” and “angry” when a woman spent about $1200 at a store in Highett, in Melbourne’s southeast. “Her items included about 15 trays of mince. So, so selfish,” the customer said. The shopper was able to buy these items just before the supermarket reinstated purchase limits in the state. The post was joined alongside by an image of the grocery belt that included several packets of mince, eggs and other groceries. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837401/woolies-masked-singer-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/81545298162343ca86c1824df8a27187" /> “I was the only person who challenged her. Manager was ‘not in yet’,” the customer went on to say. The upset shopper urged Woolworths to “stand up to these disgusting individuals” and went on to describe the customer as “unfair and greedy”. The post bought in a number of comments - many of which did not agree with the original poster’s opinion. “How does this affect you?” one person wrote. “I’m concerned for others who do miss out due to selfish hoarders,” the original poster responded. Another commented: “I think it’s sad that there are ‘disgusting individuals’ who think it’s their job to ‘challenge’ and criticise complete strangers on their grocery purchases while knowing nothing about their situation.” Several other commenters agreed and suggested that perhaps the woman doing the large grocery shop may have a fair explanation for buying so many groceries. “She may shop for a daycare centre or group home,” one said. “I thought the same thing, that person could be getting things for elderly neighbours, could also be for a small business, or they may have a huge family – who knows,” another added. The original poster replied to followers and said she felt there should have been a purchase limit on the items but people continued to reply and said there were a number of reasons for someone to make such a large purchase. “Some people shop for one month at time and live a long way from a Woolworths,” a person suggested. “This is a normal shop in my mum’s household, I dare you to say something to her,” another wrote. People with large families responded and defended the “enormous” shop. “I have eight kids plus myself and hubby, and we shop fortnightly. I know people are going to judge and comment, this is the reason why most people like myself have anxiety attacks because of the judgement we get for shopping for larger families,” a woman said. Another woman took to the comments to defend big bulk purchasing, and urged the original poster not to make assumptions. “My work provides meals for people with disabilities and more often than not our shop looks like this,” she said. “I get your assumption and do understand your frustration as it has made it hard for us to continue our service. But we must alway remember an assumption is just that,” she said. Yahoo News Australia has contacted Woolworths for comment.

Food & Wine

Outrage over neighbour’s “unfair” letter to family working from home

A mother in Victoria has vented her frustrations after receiving an anonymous note from her neighbours complaining about the noise that her children make in the backyard. The woman shared the note in a private Facebook group, which led to hundreds of people saying that the letter was “passive aggressive” and “unfair”. “As if life isn’t hard enough at the moment with work and home schooling,” the mother wrote. “But now I can’t let my kids in the back yard because they will make noise.” The letter was addressed to “residents at this address” and was signed by “your neighbours”. “Due to the current climate of COVID-19, I and a few other family members have been working from home,” the note reads. “This involves multiple phone calls, Zoom meetings and corresponding with colleagues in the day.” “We (myself and other neighbours) have found it difficult to be able to conduct our workday as per usual, due to the screaming and noise that your children make in the yard throughout the course of the day,” the letter said. “I know that it is great for children to be outside, and we praise you for the time that yours do spend outside, but it is extremely difficult when my colleagues on the other side of the screen are asking me to mute my microphone as they can hear your children in the background. “There is no need for the screaming to be so loud.” <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7835767/note-from-neighbours.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9791766bcce542db820f4c26bf71ae2a" /> The mother quickly clarified in the post that her children get 15 minutes outside for recess and half a hour for lunch when they learn from home. The letter asks if the noise can be avoided between the hours of nine to five so that the neighbours can “continue to be productive”. “We are all living together in this space and it is best if it works for all of us.” <div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> Not many people were sympathetic to the neighbours who wrote the letter. “Our kids can’t be held prisoners in their own homes more than they already are,” one woman said, pointing out the sun has usually set by 5 pm and most kids aren’t out of bed by 9am. “That is very unfair of them!” another person wrote. “If they are asking you to understand their current situation, then they should understand yours! I'd write back telling them to refrain from having conferences during recess and lunch time.” One woman wrote: “Full passive aggressive bulls**t excuse for communication”. “So sorry you’ve had to deal with this. Regardless of what you do, it must be so uncomfortable knowing that there is someone out there who would write this.” One woman explained that she was in a similar situation to the neighbours who wrote the note, saying that she can hear children “houses away” screaming. “Sorry, but it’s annoying,” she said. “I agree, it’s great that kids are outside, and I understand noise, but screaming continually is just not necessary.” Another woman added: “You can let you kids in the backyard, just teach them some common courtesy and keep the noise down”. Photo credits: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/mum-outraged-by-complaint-letter-from-neighbours-042500619.html" target="_blank">Yahoo! News</a> </div> </div> </div>

Home & Garden

Will a Section 10 Dismissal affect my ability to travel?

Have you ever thought about the consequences that a criminal record could have on any future overseas trips you were planning on taking? Imagine being restricted on which countries you could visit next time you go on a holiday. Getting a criminal record has obvious consequences – the potential impact on your job and future job prospects may be foreseeable but you might not have considered whether it could also affect your ability to travel overseas. A criminal conviction can make this a real possibility – or at least mean that travelling becomes very difficult. Fortunately, if you are charged with a crime that may result in a criminal conviction, there are ways to avoid this. If you plead guilty, you can apply for your case to be dealt with under a <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/criminal/penalties/nsw/section-10-dismissal/">section 10 dismissal</a> of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act. Under a section 10 dismissal, (a special provision that allows the court discretion to dismiss the charges) you can avoid getting a criminal conviction at all, meaning your travelling ability will not be hindered. So, what effects could a potential criminal record have on your ability to travel? This will largely depend on the country you wish to travel to, and what the offence was. The United States, for example, is very strict when it comes to granting entry to people with a conviction. Australians wanting to travel to America with a criminal record are advised by the Embassy of the United States in Australia to apply for a visa well before you plan on travelling. The outcome of a visa application is uncertain before you have an interview, where your eligibility will be determined. If you are found ineligible, it is possible to get a waiver, but this is time consuming (it can take around five months for approval) and success is not guaranteed. Whether or not an application for a waiver is successful or not will depend on the nature and severity of the offence and how recently it occurred. This does not include minor traffic violations like speeding, and if you have a drink driving conviction, generally you do not need to apply for a visa as long as you are otherwise eligible. Some criminal offences will make you ineligible to immigrate to the US. But again, remember that avoiding a criminal conviction can eliminate the hassle and restrictions on travel. The uncertain, expensive and time-consuming process can be avoided. With a section 10 dismissal, travel to other countries may not be affected at all. Successfully getting a section 10 dismissal is possible if the court believes that it would reduce the likelihood of the person convicted committing further offences and allows the person to keep their good name. Things that the court takes into account include factors such your character, age, health, mental condition, the nature of your offence and any extenuating factors that were present at the time you committed the offence. An extenuating factor is something out of the ordinary that can partly explain why someone committed an offence. While section 10 dismissals are available for all charges, it is much more likely to be awarded for less serious cases. However, this does not automatically mean that more serious ones cannot be dealt with under a section 10 dismissal if there are very good reasons for doing so. If you need to travel for work, obtaining a section 10 dismissal may be an essential part of the case you want argued before a magistrate. A good lawyer will be able to present your case in the strongest way to ensure best possible chances of you end up criminal record-free. A section 10 dismissal may be your ticket to travel, literally! Written by Ugur Nedim. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/will-a-section-10-dismissal-affect-my-ability-to-travel/">Sydney Criminal Lawyers.</a>

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Will a Section 10 Dismissal affect my ability to travel?

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