I’m not seeing much to be optimistic about - and I’m usually bullish on Australia.

The future looks pretty bleak sadly.
- productivity stagnant and no signs of any uplift due to AI. Indeed the AI impact on white collar workers in Australia so far appears to be seeing their jobs go to India or the Phillipines
- essentially a bi partisan acknowledgement of immigration coming down in future years, which has been one of our primary sources of growth
- a generational housing market correction that, whilst being fantastic for first home buyers, kills incumbents and dampens sentiment through negative wealth effect
- a bad and worsening fiscal policy outlook. Fed labor are clearly spending too much but haven’t come to the table with any suggestions on how they’ll rein it in.

We’ve still got a world class mining industry but that is obviously exposed to commodity prices

Where is the upside I am missing here?

The Israeli military has ruled out releasing the audio of the drone strike that killed Zomi Frankcom, rejecting a key demand of the aid worker’s family and the Albanese government as they seek accountability for her death.

Israeli ambassador Hillel Newman called for Australians to accept the legitimacy of Israel’s investigation into the fatal 2024 drone strike and “move on”, prompting Foreign Minister Penny Wong to accuse the envoy of insulting Frankcom’s family.

Wong is considering the government’s response to the Israeli military advocate-general’s decision not to charge the officers involved in Frankcom’s killing amid calls from legal experts and members of parliament for an MH-17-style joint international investigation into the matter.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to face voters on October 27, Israel is preparing for a new round of Australian sanctions against extremist settlers and settler organisations in the West Bank, where violence has been surging in recent months.

After previously saying he would check with authorities in Israel whether the audio of the drone strike could be released, Newman said the military had told him it would not be possible.

“The audio is of very low quality. I checked. It won’t change the case in any way,” Newman told reporters during a briefing at the Israeli embassy in Canberra.

“They are not sharing the audio, as far as I understand, because there might be intelligence issues that are connected to the audio.”

The Frankcom family have been eager to hear the audio because they believe it could provide important insights into the state of mind of the officers involved when they authorised the deadly strike against a convoy of World Central Kitchen workers.

Newman said it was the Israeli Defence Forces’ decision not to release the track.

“I haven’t heard the audio, I don’t know what’s on the audio,” he said.

Newman said investigators from the office of Israel’s military advocate-general had spent two years examining the drone strike and had access to all relevant material before deciding not to pursue criminal charges.

“We must accept that and move on,” he said.

“Of course it was a tragic situation, but these things do happen during a war situation, especially if [aid organisations] don’t update Israel about all the circumstances.”

Wong replied: “It is insulting to suggest Zomi’s family should simply accept what has happened and move on.

“Australia has consistently demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths of Zomi and her colleagues.

“Zomi’s family deserves answers, and transparency is essential to accountability.”

Wong said the government “will not stop pressing for justice for Zomi and her World Central Kitchen colleagues” and will “continue to engage closely with the Frankcom family on further action”.

Newman said he was “very sorry for the family”, adding he had offered to meet Frankcom’s relatives to express his sorrow for her death.

He repeated his suggestion that the Frankcom family could apply to receive compensation from the Israeli government and said Israel was ready to provide Australian officials more “clarification and dialogue” on the military advocate-general’s findings.

Independent MP Zali Steggall, who has advocated for the Frankcom family in parliament, said: “The IDF decided to strike a clearly marked humanitarian convoy – not once, but three times.

“Release of the drone audio may help to establish motive and identify who is responsible for this tragic and unlawful killing of seven aid workers.

“Israel’s lack of transparency only suggests it has something to hide.”

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told this masthead last month that the decision not to charge the officers involved was “absolutely obnoxious and unacceptable and unbelievable” as he backed calls for an independent international probe.

The Frankcom family called for the Australian government to “seek full disclosure of the evidence underlying Israel’s decision, including the relevant visual and audio drone footage” when the decision not to prosecute the officers involved was announced in August.

Wong flagged last month that the government was preparing a new round of sanctions after Australia declined to join the United Kingdom, France and Canada in imposing a sweeping ban on commercial activity with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Applauding Australia for not joining the other countries, Newman said he had been in contact with the government and expected it to impose “pinpointed sanctions” against specific individuals and organisations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament on Thursday that the government was “pursuing further targeted measures in co-ordination with international partners to deter illegal settlements and settler violence” in the West Bank.

“Australia is not pursuing a blanket–style import ban. We have concerns about the implementation of a blanket ban and unintended consequences for Palestinians and other entities,” he said.

He added he was concerned such a ban could set back, rather than advance, a two-state solution.

Kos samaras latest article. What is everyone's thoughts

"The first politician who has an honest conversation with Australians about the world they actually live in will win. Not the best slogan or the biggest promise. The truth.

The truth is this. The 30 years after the war were never normal. One wage bought a house, raised a family and funded a retirement. That happened in a few dozen countries, once, for about three decades. Growth per person ran at 3.8 per cent a year, after nearly 40 years it’s now at 1 per cent. Seven workers for every retiree. The West had the world's factories almost to itself and cheap oil. Every one of those conditions is gone and no government can bring them back. Some are actually accelerating the decline of prosperity in the west, like Trump. Yes, a note to some of you Trump fans, please stay away from any job that requires economic skills.

The new world has now become the old world. It has more in common with 1930 than with anything in the last 40 years. Slow growth. An ageing country. A fair share that has to be chosen on purpose rather than delivered by the tide.

In 1930, a workers wage was mostly consumed by basic material needs, food, fuel and a roof over one’s head. Hello 2026.

Which brings me to immigration.

Blaming migrants for the end of the boom is the laziest, most empty-headed response available to Australian politics. It requires no thought, no plan and no courage. There is no migration cut that makes a house cost three times a wage again. A smaller intake does not restore seven workers for every retiree. It drives the ratio towards two, faster. It makes the problem worse while pretending to solve it. Anyone selling it is not offering an answer. They are offering a scapegoat so they never have to explain the arithmetic because explaining it and actually working towards a solution means one thing - empowering employees.

Link below."

A Launceston primary school is under fire from the premier after parents were left outraged following its decision to ditch its ‘Christmas on the Hill’ concert in favour of what it described as a more culturally appropriate event.

Trevallyn Primary School has renamed its annual end of year Christmas event to ‘Holiday on the Hill’ in an effort to showcase the “strong sense of community” among students “from a range of cultural and religious backgrounds”.

As part of the changes, parents say the school has moved away from traditional Christmas carols towards contemporary pop songs and the school’s “Secret Santa” has been renamed “Holiday Gifting”.

One of those parents, who asked not to be named, told Pulse his daughters were “shattered that they couldn’t do Christmas carols at the end of year”.

The parent said while he supported inclusion, it “should not come at the expense of our own cultural traditions and celebrations”.

In an email to the school, the parent said it is “important to recognise that families can hold different belief systems while still participating respectfully in one another’s celebrations”.

“Our concern is that, in an effort to be increasingly inclusive, the school may actually be moving towards removing or minimising aspects of our own cultural heritage,” the parent’s email read.

“We worry that this approach risks alienating families who value these longstanding traditions and who want their children to feel connected to the cultural practices that have been part of Australian community life for generations.”

However Acting Principal Jane Hudson was quick to hit back, saying the change was made to ensure “every child can participate fully”.

“We have students and families from a range of cultural and religious backgrounds and some students are unable to take part in performances or rehearsals that are centred purely around Christmas themes,” she wrote in her response to the parent.

“While different forms of music play an important part of the event, the focus is not on moving away from any tradition, but rather on showcasing our students, their growth and the strong sense of community that exists within our school.”

Concerns among parents were quick to reach the highest level of the state government.

In a letter seen by Pulse, Jeremy Rockliff wrote to Department of Education, Children and Young People secretary Ginna Webster to slam the school’s decision.

He said Christmas “is an important part of Australian culture and our way of life”.

“I do not support schools removing reference to Christmas in end of year celebrations or removing carols,” Rockliff wrote.

“We recognise some students and families have other traditions, however that is not a reason to abandon our own traditions.”

“We expect our schools to acknowledge and celebrate Christmas, as they have always done.”

He asked Webster to speak to the school to make sure its practices “align with expectations of the broader school community”.

The parent who spoke to Pulse described the premier’s letter as “brilliant”.

“I hope they recognise that they’ve made the wrong decision,” they said.

“I think majority of people would agree that we need to be inclusive to everyone … but don’t come here and change our traditions.”

In a statement to Pulse, the education department refused to say whether the change would be reversed, but said “Christmas-themed items” would still be performed at the event by classes that choose to do so.

“Following feedback at the end of the 2025 event, the school is wanting to ensure that all students and families feel included,” a DECYP spokesperson said.

“Christmas carols will remain part of this event, with some classes choosing to perform Christmas-themed items.”

“Santa Claus will also be attending, consistent with previous years.”

The department said the school’s parent association had been “actively involved in and consulted on the event”.

I’m genuinely curious how people reconcile the Bible being treated as a symbol of truth, morality and justice with some of the things actually written in it.
And I’m not talking about obscure interpretations. These are actual biblical passages:

Leviticus 25:44–46 – Permits buying slaves from foreign nations, treating them as property and passing them down to your children.

Exodus 21:7–11 – Establishes rules for a father selling his daughter as a female servant.

Numbers 31:17–18 – Moses orders the killing of male children and women who have slept with men, while sparing the virgin girls.

Deuteronomy 21:10–14 – Provides rules for taking a female war captive as a wife.

1 Samuel 15:3 – God commands the Israelites to kill the Amalekites, including men, women, children, infants and livestock.

Deuteronomy 22:28–29 – Describes a man being required to marry a virgin after seizing and having sex with her, with the interpretation of the circumstances disputed.

Deuteronomy 25:11–12 – Commands cutting off a woman’s hand for grabbing a man’s genitals during a fight.

Exodus 21:20–21 – Provides different penalties for beating a slave depending on whether the slave dies immediately or survives.

Deuteronomy 13:6–10 – Commands putting even your own family members to death for encouraging worship of other gods.

Judges 19:22–29 – A concubine is handed over to a mob, sexually abused throughout the night and subsequently dismembered. This is a horrific event described in the Bible, rather than a command from God.

2 Samuel 5:13 – David takes additional wives and concubines.

Deuteronomy 21:18–21 – Provides for the stoning of a persistently rebellious son following a legal process.

That’s slavery, ownership of women, sexual violence, killing children, religious executions and concubinage, all appearing in a book that millions regard as a source of divine morality.
I
If we can recognise these things as morally unacceptable today, aren’t we using our modern human values to judge the morality of the Bible rather than getting our morality from it?

Why should a book containing these passages retain such symbolic authority in a modern, secular justice system?.

The Greens created and maintained a secret dossier that catalogued allegations against Senator Jordon Steele-John and set out ways to shut down media coverage and monitor members who raised concerns on social media.
The crisis communications strategy obtained by this masthead reveals that as far back as 2016, before Steele-John was parachuted into the Senate in 2017, the party was managing complaints. The document reveals that one senior Greens official quit her role because Steele-John was reinstated as the WA branch’s volunteer co-ordinator, even though two women had lodged complaints alleging Steele-John had made inappropriate remarks while working with them.

The 47-page dossier, stored on a Google Drive folder accessible to Western Australian Greens and national Greens staff for close to a decade, was first drafted in 2016 and has been updated in the years since. It sets out ways to shut down media coverage of allegations about Steele-John, while also instructing taxpayer-funded Greens staff to monitor social media discussions and take screenshots of comments posted by party members.
This masthead has confirmed with four former Greens staffers that the dossier was real and that it was used by the WA Greens and the national leader’s office to manage stories about Steele-John.

Steele-John on Thursday took leave from the Greens party room after leader David Shoebridge received a letter from seven active Greens members demanding an independent investigation into allegations from party members that the WA senator made multiple inappropriate comments to women over the past decade.

The senator referred the matter to the WA Greens for an independent investigation, while rejecting the allegations.
“I utterly reject this characterisation of me, which tries to assert I am someone I am not,” Steele-John said in a statement provided to this masthead.

“These claims are made without specifics, any allegation of this nature is extremely serious and must be treated accordingly. If someone has made an allegation, I am prepared to address it.”

On Friday morning, Shoebridge confirmed Steele-John would take a leave of absence from parliament during the investigation.

The resignation
In an email sent to WA Greens members on July 29, 2017, Sarah Nielsen-Harvey – then a party co-convener – announced that she was resigning after less than a year in the job, saying she wanted to focus on her university studies. Co-conveners are administrators who oversee the party’s governance and provide day-to-day management and co-ordination.

The letter contained an oblique reference to turmoil inside the WA branch: “There are also a few things that over this year that have manifested in behaviour and culture that I cannot in good conscience continue being involved with right now”.

Five days later on August 3, the independent website True Crime News Weekly published a story about allegations made against Steele-John by two volunteers, whose names this masthead has chosen not to publish. The story alleged that Steele-John, who was not yet a senator, had been accused of making inappropriate comments by “at least two young female members of the Greens in Western Australia”.

Eventually, the two women decided not to pursue the complaint and, as the crisis communications dossier makes clear, a form of words was agreed: the two women had had a “dispute of an interpersonal nature” with Steele-John but had decided to leave it there.

The real reason she resigned
However, the dossier includes a follow-up email sent on August 17, 2017 to senior party office bearers, including former state Greens leader Elizabeth “Giz” Watson and co-convener Grahame Bowland, in which Nielsen-Harvey made clear the real reason she had quit the party.

“I would just like to clear up a few things after receiving accusations that I am ‘about to wreck the good reputation of the Greens’. I am incredibly hurt by this and it is an unfair allegation,” she began. “I could have included my concerns of … allegations in my resignation email. I did not.”

She then detailed contact with journalists, including at Junkee, True Crime News Weeklyand The Australian, about her resignation and the allegations against Steele-John, but states that she had not assisted any of the journalists.

“I would like to know where along this journey, since this time last year, it is me ruining the good reputation of the Greens,” Nielsen-Harvey wrote.

“I am not the one allegations were levelled at. I am not the one who, after being made aware of the allegations, decided to still dismiss member involvement in choosing their senator, despite the very real risk that these allegations could very well come up and jeopardise retaining our Senate spot on this rotation. I am not the one who has chased down and tipped off journalists.

“I am not the one trying to silence members into not talking about this at all. The bullying that has happened since Jordon’s decision to accept the role has astounded me. Never have I felt unsafe to go to a Greens meeting or office. Thanks.”

In a separate post to a private Facebook group on August 4, Nielsen-Harvey wrote that she was “disgusted” by the Greens’ decision to re-employ Steele-John as volunteers co-ordinator in the lead up to the 2017 WA state election, when the party was aware of the allegations against him.
Nielsen-Harvey remains a member of the Greens, but holds no administrative or elected positions.

Watson, a former leader of the party in state parliament and now a co-convenor of the WA Greens with Simone Collins, said on Thursday the branch was supporting the commission of an independent inquiry into Steele-John.

In November 2017, Steele-John was parachuted into the federal Senate when former WA Senator Scott Ludlam was disqualified because he held dual citizenship. Steele-John has since made a name for himself as the party’s chief spokesman on the NDIS and mental health. He has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and has advocated for disability rights throughout his nine-year tenure in the Senate.

Monitoring Greens members
But the dossier contains more than the complaints of one former party co-convener.

It contains more than a dozen screenshots from a private Young Greens Facebook group, and from X, in which party members and supporters discuss the allegations made by the two women against Steele-John and the party’s handling of them.

Then state convenor Sophie Greer, who helped deal with the initial complaint from the two women, was required to “reach out to them” – Greens members – if they had posted something negative about the newly minted senator and to take screenshots when people discussed the allegations.

Greer is now Steele-John’s chief of staff and is a frontrunner to win the No.1 spot on the party’s Senate ticket ahead of the next election.

Sophie Greer, chief of staff to Jordon Steele-John
Under headings including “what is to be shared on background”, “potential initiators of media story”, “complaint received by the party” and “external management plan if story printed”, the dossier sets out how the party should kill the story.

Steele-John was to “undergo training with Will [Kelly, a senior media adviser for Greens leaders Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt, Larissa Waters and now David Shoebridge] in case he was asked about the allegations.”
Kelly and Steele-John were instructed to “ensure RDN [then leader Richard Di Natale] are [sic] provided with information”.

It adds that “Sophie [Greer] & Tim [Oliver] to keep an eye on Australian Young Greens discussion group”.
Former Greens leaders (left to right): Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt and Larissa Waters, as well as current leader David Shoebridge (pictured right).

Di Natale was contacted for comment, and subsequent former leaders Bandt and Waters. Steele-John, Shoebridge, Bowland, Watson, Nielsen-Harvey, Greer, Oliver and Kelly have also been contacted for comment.
A statement provided by Shoebridge’s office on Friday says: “This is not a document made by, used by, or seen by the Leader’s Office. The office is committed to having the matters comprehensively investigated with a fair, independent and timely process.

“Everyone deserves a safe workplace, and all complaints should be considered in a fair and robust process.”
In a statement from the WA Greens, current co-conveners Watson and Collins confirmed the authenticity of the leaked crisis communications manual.

“The Greens WA responded to allegations about Jordon Steele-John in 2016. The allegations were not substantiated and the named persons have never lodged a formal complaint,” they said.

“Reference has been made to an internal document that has been provided to the media. This document outlines the management of communications about this matter.”
The pair said that Greens WA support the commission of an independent inquiry and that they had no further comment.

The dossier provides “pivot responses” for Steele-John if he was asked about the allegations made against him in the True Crime News Weekly article. He was to issue the following statement: “The Greens take allegations like those in that article very seriously and the Party has never received a complaint of the nature outlined on that blog. I’d suggest you talk to The Party for more on that one”, and afterwards, alert Greer and Oliver.

Other scenarios are also war-gamed – such as Steele-John being asked about “Greens and Women”, “Young Greens not supporting Jordon” and Nielsen-Harvey’s decision to quit, with a stock response instructing journalists to seek more information from the WA head office of the party.

When a journalist calls
Page after page of screenshots show inquiries from at least five media outlets over the next three years following the story in True Crime News Weekly.

The journalists were provided with the stock responses set out in the crisis communications dossier, including that “the allegations were investigated by The Greens (WA). As The Greens (WA) had not received a complaint ... they were only able to identify the individuals concerned as media outlets had their names.”

“The individuals identified had previously spoken to a Party Co-convenor for advice on handling a [sic] interpersonal conflict between themselves and Jordon Steele-John. This was of an interpersonal nature ... Jordon has not behaved improperly.”

Who might leak?
In the section titled “potential initiators of media story”, senior party officials are assessed on the likelihood that they could assist journalists pursuing the story.
Nicole Harvey and Grahame Bowland, both former state co-conveners, were considered “unlikely” to assist in a story about Steele-John. “Nicole is unwilling to break the confidentiality of her conversation with the women,” the dossier states.

It goes on to say that “Grahame has a friendly relationship with one of the two women, and wouldn’t put them in a harmful situation. He also does not know details of what the two women brought to the Party”.

But former co-convener Nielsen-Harvey is listed as a potential risk to the party’s reputation because “Sarah has already written on AYG [Australian Young Greens] Discussion Group, personal Facebook page & spoken to journalists, none of these have landed articles”.

It goes on to state “Sarah is still a member of The Greens (WA) – Sophie [Greer] or Chilla [Bulbeck, another party official] to attempt to call SNH” and warns “Do not put anything in writing to SNH in first instance”.

What Shoebridge knew
At a snap press conference on Thursday after this masthead revealed the letter, Shoebridge said he was not previously aware of the allegations reported by this masthead against Steele-John.

“No, I received the correspondence in my capacity as leader of the Australian Greens, and I’ve dealt with it with … urgency,” he said.

Asked in the press conference about the NSW Young Greens raising claims against Steele-John in 2018, Shoebridge said he had not known about this.
“I was in a different parliament,” he said. “I do not recall having any involvement at all in that, and I don’t think people would expect an upper-house MP in a state ­parliament to have any role in that.”

The Greens have previously faced questions about the transparency of their complaints handling.

Former leader Adam Bandt was briefed in 2021 on a series of scathing assessments of his party’s culture, leading him to order compulsory workplace training for all parliamentarians in the party, but his office still failed to stop a subsequent alleged culture of bullying in the office of then-Greens senator Dorinda Cox.

This was revealed by this masthead in 2024, after 20 staff left Cox’s office in just three years and several lodged formal complaints alleging a hostile culture.
Cox defected to Labor last year.

In 2021, Victorian Indigenous Aunty Geraldine Atkinson sought a formal apology from then-Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe over what she characterised as “a tirade of abuse” and later said she received no acknowledgment from Bandt.

In 2023, Thorpe quit the Greens, claiming she had been bullied and undermined by several of her party room colleagues and had lodged a written complaint about her treatment with Bandt and the parliament’s workplace misconduct support service

The NAB Monthly Business Survey for September shows business confidence dropped four points, placing it among the weakest readings in the survey’s history outside the GFC and the Covid period.

An Australian tourist has gone viral after comparing the cost of filling up a petrol tank in Iran versus back home.

Globe trotter Pav Jayawardena frequently posts videos of his wild travel adventures to Instagram, recently journeying across large expanses of the Middle East — including Afghanistan and Syria.

During his latest journey of discovery to Iran, the 22-year old student from Melbourne documented his stop at a local service station in a city in south-central Iran, where he revealed the shocking cost at the bowser.

“Petrol in Iran is cheaper than water,” the Victorian local began, showing how a litre of fuel cost just 1500 Toman, which is roughly 1.5 Australian cents.

The video captioned “Aussies cover your eyes and ears” uploaded to his social media on Thursday, has since been watched by more than two million people.

He continued: “It’s crazy. One Australian dollar gets you 121 litres of petrol. That is incredible.

“Petrol is basically free. Taxis don’t run on meter but based on how much time the ride takes.”

Meanwhile back home the price of filling up could not be more different.

The average price of petrol in Western Australia was $2.48 per litre on Friday, slightly above the national average of $2.45 according to FuelRadar.

South Australia had the lowest state average with $2.42, while the Northern Territory had the highest, with an eyewatering $2.70 per litre.

Other Western nations are also feeling the pinch with people in the UK shelling out upwards of $2.80 to $3.20 per litre.

Even in the US, where petrol has always been historically cheap, motorists are paying roughly $1.40 to $1.80 per litre, depending on the state – an increase of 40 per cent from this time last year.

His video has stirred outrage online, with hundreds commenting on how much they are having to fork out to fill up, with one person writing: “My Wallet is crying.”

“Just spent a crisp 100 Australian on 35 litres,” one person lamented, with another adding: “And yet we are getting robbed everywhere else.”

A third commented: “Australia could never.”

Unfortunately, the outlook for Australians does not look promising, with the price of fuel set to continue to go up amid warnings that the global shortage of fuel could worsen in the coming months.

Experts have previously warned that Australia would be “top of the list” of nations that would be worst hit by major shortages due to having the lowest oil stocks in the OECD.

My interest has always been in emerging technology, particularly advanced 3D printing, and how it can create better possibilities and improve people's everyday lives.

Hey everyone!
I’m an aged care worker (PCA and nursing student) and I’m researching the system failures in aged care process for families. I’m trying to find out what’s a pain to deal with when trying to get your loved one the extra support they need.

Answer whichever questions you like, even just one or two.
1. Who were you helping (parent, partner, sibling, yourself) and roughly when did you start?

1. What was the single hardest or most frustrating moment? What happened?

2. How long did each step take: first contact, assessment, approval, getting services started? Where did you wait the longest?

3. Who did you turn to for help (government call-line, family, GP, hospital social worker, care finder, advocate, paid adviser, etc)? What was useful and what wasn’t?

4. Did you pay anyone or anything to help (adviser, case manager, lawyer, accountant, service fees)? What for, and roughly how much?

5. Is there a point where you wished someone could just take over? What would you have handed over?

6. If a service had existed to handle that, what would it have needed to do for you to trust it? What would have made you say no?

7. Anything you want to share that I haven’t asked?

TLDR : Exploring the experiences of people accessing myaged care services? Did they wish someone else could do it for them? If yes, was something helpful they would recommend others?

‘Fake meetings’: Special Minister of State's office finds no evidence of Anika Wells meeting amid birthday party travel scandal | News24

Breaking news: water is wet.

Just came across this. If you’re missing teeth, in VIC and want to Make Australia Great Again, check it out.

The stunning 2km Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk in Sydney’s east has again been transformed into a giant sculpture park. This year’s Sculpture by the Sea marks 30 years since the first exhibition in 1997. It has grown to become known as the world’s largest free outdoor sculpture exhibition. Here’s a look back at some favourite pieces

The theft of a cherished church bell from a South Australian regional township has been condemned by the local mayor, who says his community has been deprived of an irreplaceable "time capsule" from its past.

The brass bell was stolen from outside St Peters Anglican Church at Mallala some time this month, and is among a growing list of objects of historical and sentimental value that are believed to have been targeted by metal thieves across the state.

Recent thefts of plaques from two sites in suburban Adelaide — the Burnside District Fallen Soldiers' Memorial at Rose Park and The Gums Reserve War Memorial Garden at Tranmere — prompted a strong rebuke from the state government this week.

The thefts have led to calls from local councils for a crackdown on the black market for stolen metal.

Police are investigating the theft of the Mallala bell, which was on a stand outside the church's door and is believed to have been stolen between the afternoon of Friday, October 2 and the following Thursday evening.

Adelaide Plains Mayor Mark Wasley expressed support for stronger regulation of scrap metal sales and told 891 ABC Adelaide the bell was "pretty well irreplaceable".

"Things like this [bell] are part of the fabric of our communities and we've had memorials that have gone missing or actually been stolen over the period of time, but these memorials are like a living time capsule," he said.

"A plaque that you can see has been prised off a wall — the people who receive them, they must know."

Mr Wasley said it was "very disappointing" to learn of the bell's disappearance, saying its weight meant more than one person may have been involved in its theft.

"It's just unbelievable that someone would think to go there and remove it," he said.

He urged whoever had taken it to just "leave it on the doorstep at the church — we would be more than happy with that".

"For generations, the bell has marked important occasions including church services, weddings, funerals and community gatherings, making its loss deeply felt by parishioners and residents alike."

Mr Wasley said that, when he was a teenage member of the St Peters congregation, he had the duty of ringing the bell, which is estimated to be more than a century old.

Burnside Mayor Anne Monceaux this week described the loss of the plaques at the Rose Park memorial as "devastating" for the community.

"This is of course a month off of Remembrance Day where we do have a ceremony at this location to remember the fallen from World War I."

Councillor Lilian Henschke said while a small number of the items had been recovered, staff had since conducted a check on the number of missing plaques across the council area.

"Staff quickly found that there were 27 plaques missing through the whole City of Burnside, and nine of those — the most plaques stolen — were from this area, this avenue of honour, this very significant war memorial," she said.

"I'm calling for an audit of all of those scrap yards that don't have a licence."

In August, the bust of South Australian suffragist Mary Lee was taken from its plinth along North Terrace in Adelaide's CBD.

The SA government has introduced laws for a crackdown on the sale of stolen metal, through the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2025.

The Act is not expected to come into effect until 2028 — but Attorney-General Kyam Maher told ABC Radio this week the government was looking to accelerate the introduction of the laws targeting "idiots who would steal plaques [and] things commemorating others' sacrifice and achievement".

"We've seen this in different forms recently, with busts cut down on North Terrace — so if it can be sped up we would certainly look to do that," he said.

Harry De Ruiter from Daws Road Recycling supported calls for an audit of unlicensed yards, and said his family's business worked closely with police in cases of suspected theft.

"Something like a plaque would absolutely ring alarm bells on our end," he said.

"They're a new type of thing that they're stealing — a lot of builders nowadays have cameras up on sites, and alarms and stuff like that, so I guess these people have turned to the high value of brass at the moment.

Mr De Ruiter said care needed to be taken to ensure crackdowns did not discourage legitimate recycling.

"We support it on the high-value items like brass and catalytic converters and copper and the most stolen type of items," he said.

"But our fear is that if it expands out from that into other forms of scrap metal, it might deter people from bringing in their garden shed or their old fence."

Don't believe any tips that hit your inbox promising the lowdown on how to ace this week's news quiz. You can't trust them.

And yet there's no time to lose. As question one reveals, time itself is literally running out. 

Let's begin.

An acting icon best known for his small roles across a range of some of the most iconic films and TV shows ever produced in Australia has died aged 74.

Gary Waddell died earlier this week after a short battle with dementia. Waddell’s career on Australian film and TV spanned nearly 50 years and included parts in iconic shows like Blue Heelers, Home and Away, A Country Practice and Rake.

He also appeared in films including Charlie’s Country and Chopper.

Family, friends and former colleagues have sung the praises of the “hilarious, beautiful, charming” and “naughty” Victorian, who first appeared on Australian screens as the leading man of edgy 1975 drama Pure Sh*t, in which he played a heroin addict.

Singer-songwriter Lo Carmen said Waddell was a “one-of-a-kind, heart-of-f**king-gold dude”.

“He used to turn up at our place with little cars and books and old cool toys and gifts for our son Dutch, just because he was full of love,” Carmen said.

“We’d stand around talking about books and films and food and nothing and everything and laughing our heads off for the next two hours.

“You’d be in tears of laughter. I don’t know why on earth he wasn’t cast in everything.”

Waddell’s talent managers said he “passed away peacefully” after living with dementia “over the last few years”.

“Gary was one of a kind, a true artist in every sense of the word, and his body of Australian work was so utterly impressive,” they wrote on Facebook.

“The SJM team send their love to Gary’s family at this time. Thanks for everything Gary, you will be missed. We’ve hat a lot of fun over the years.”

Waddell most recently appeared in the 2022 film The Survival of Kindness.