MHLoppy2

• In short: Police have arrested and fined 72 climate activists [$385 each] for staging a protest in the middle of a Melbourne CBD intersection.
• Demonstrators from the group Extinction Rebellion say they have tried less-invasive forms of protest to make governments listen to their concerns, but they have not been heard.
• What's next? The group is planning further disruptive action for March next year.

It was the fourth consecutive day of action by Extinction Rebellion demonstrators, culminating in a rally outside Flinders Street Station at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets.

The protesters are calling on the federal government to reduce carbon emissions. Many who attended the rally came prepared to be arrested, saying their actions were a last resort.

While a new [Senate] inquiry looks set to examine [Coles and Woolworths'] profit margins, New Zealand offers a lesson in just how difficult it is to disrupt a duopoly. [They have] no Aldi or IGA, and the duopoly there has also faced allegations of price gouging.

The New Zealand competition watchdog has already held a market study into why food costs so much in Aotearoa and established a grocery commissioner to help implement its recommendations.

But 18 months down the line, Kiwis are still reporting their grocery bill as a major financial concern — for the first time, some families are struggling with the cost of putting food on the table.

Based on this experience, advocacy group Consumer NZ said an inquiry could be helpful to establish the facts around whether or not supermarket giants were making more than what was fair.

But they warned the process was slow, and ultimately if it did not lead to bold changes, the business of selling food to Australians was likely to continue being a very closed, and expensive, shop.

• Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest is attending the COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates.
• He says energy bosses should have their heads "put up on spikes" for not committing to phase out fossil fuels.
• It comes as some companies, including the national oil company of the UAE, defy calls for a wind-down of fossil fuel use.

Quote with context:

And he took particular aim at the oil and gas bosses who were dismissing the calls, describing them as "selfish beyond belief".

He said their actions were jeopardising the lives of millions of people in overwhelmingly poor countries who were at risk of "lethal humidity", or an inability to cool themselves down. "If you can't cool yourself you're actually an oven burning around 100 watts all the time," Dr Forrest said.

"If you can [sic] get rid of that heat energy, you cook.

"And when these deaths occur — and they're occurring now, but when they occur at much larger-scale — I want these so-called people who are very smart to be held to account.

"It's their heads which should be put up on spikes because they wilfully ignored and they didn't care."

Having responded to stronger-than-expected quarterly inflation figures by lifting the cash rate to 4.35 per cent in November, the RBA has used softer-than-expected monthly inflation data as an excuse to sit tight in December.

But RBA governor Michele Bullock noted that those October inflation figures covered mainly goods and few services, which are currently the main area of concern for the central bank, leaving it waiting for additional data.

"The limited information received on the domestic economy since the November meeting has been broadly in line with expectations," Ms Bullock observed in her post-meeting statement.

With no meeting scheduled for January, borrowers should be safe from further rate rises until at least February.

(title changed from "Australians have endured the largest decline in spending power for four decades, so the RBA has decided to give them a break")

[Roads] are getting worse because we’re not spending enough to maintain them.

Three-quarters of our roads are managed by local councils.

Every year, those councils spend A$1 billion less on maintenance than is needed to keep those roads in their current condition – let alone improve them.

New Grattan Institute research finds the typical regional area has a funding shortfall of more 40%. In remote areas, it’s more than 75%.

One reason for this underspend is that untied federal government grants to local councils haven’t kept pace with soaring costs.

[...]

Tight budgets make it tempting to delay maintenance.

But delaying will only end up costing more in the long run, leaving taxpayers paying more to fix more badly damaged roads.

• Mike Pezzullo was a central architect and inaugural boss of the Home Affairs Department.
• He has been stood down on full pay pending an inquiry into his conduct.
• Changes to secretary pay and conditions mean Mr Pezzullo might not receive a termination payment.

One of the most powerful figures in the public service has been sacked after leaked conversations revealed the depths of his attempts to influence the government on policy and the shape of government.

Mike Pezzullo, the head of the Home Affairs Department, was considered one of the most influential figures in the machinery of government even before alleged private conversations with a Liberal powerbroker exposed he had seemingly spent years using a political backchannel to influence prime ministers and undermine others.

[...]

The inquiry found Mr Pezzullo had broken the public service code of conduct on at least 14 occasions. The breaches included:

• Using his duty, power, status or authority to seek to gain a benefit or advantage for himself
• Engaged in gossip and disrespectful critique of ministers and public servants
• Failed to maintain confidentiality of sensitive government information
• Failed to act apolitically in his employment
• Failed to disclose a conflict of interest

A multi-layered strategy of vaccines, masks, safe indoor air, testing and treatment will help us navigate this COVID wave.

No one cared who I was until I put on the mask

--person trying to reduce the number of people dying

“I often wonder: where did I go wrong?” [Australian researcher] Graeme Pearman says. “Why didn’t people respond? Is that my responsibility?”

When Guardian Australia meets him at his home on the outskirts of Melbourne, the veteran climate scientist is frustrated.

“If you go through the whole process and the rigour of conducting science, [you think] at the end of the day surely people will understand what you’re saying – they will incorporate those risks into what they do,” he says.

“Well, it doesn’t work that way.

“The reality is that for a period of nearly two decades, Australia went backwards [on climate action]. From a personal perspective, yes, it’s frustrating.”

Precursor: If I was feeling hopeless about the climate, what of the scientists? So I asked them

Pixiv source (has same res, but less compressed image, and no extra denoising added)

Pixiv source (has slightly higher res, and less compressed image)

You own the Vtuber, now get the mug! (idk)

Pixiv source (same res / same quality)