Shocking, appalling — there’s no other way to describe the destruction of Evan Fallenberg’s Arabesque Arts and Residency Center in the Old City of Acre (Akko). The Ottoman-era building that Fallenberg and his son, Micha, spent three years restoring as a retreat and boutique hotel was smashed and ransacked during recent riots in mixed Arab-Jewish cities. Fallenberg has no doubt that Arabesque was targeted, like other Akko businesses such as the Uri Buri restaurant and Efendi Hotel, because it is owned by Jews. But he harbors no resentment and has no desire to react in any way other than to rebuild…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — A study that claims a big shortfall in efforts to return 450 gigalitres of water to the Murray for environmental flows is filled with inaccuracies, Federal Resources and Water Minister Keith Pitt says. Prepared by The Australia Institute and Conservation Southern Australia, the study says the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is on track to return just 13 percent of the required water by its 2024 deadline. It says water recovered through on-farm and off-farm measures has returned just 2.1 gigalitres so far at a cost of $68.1 million ($52.57 million). And it claimed many of the off-farm projects proposed under…
HOMEBUSH, Australia — Thousands of people have had their say on an Indigenous voice to the Australian federal government. Senior public servant Ray Griggs claims their recommendations will go to the government in the middle of the year. “With close to 3000 submissions and over 1000 survey responses, this is one of the most comprehensive consultations undertaken in the Indigenous portfolio in recent years,” Griggs said in a Senate committee on May 28. More than 9400 people have contributed to 115 public consultation sessions at 67 places around the country — half of which were in remote Australia. There were also almost 120…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Victoria’s latest lockdown is expected to leave businesses a further AU$1 billion ($772 million) in the red, with industry groups and the opposition demanding immediate state government support. Business, tourism and event groups are clamoring for compensation, as Victoria prepares to enter its fourth lockdown in 15 months. The seven-day shutdown, to begin from just before midnight on May 27, will mean the closure of all non-essential retail across the state. Gyms, hairdressers, community facilities and entertainment venues will once again shut their doors, while some retail stores can operate under ‘click and collect’ rules. With the winding back…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian capital Canberra is resisting widespread calls to financially back Victorian workers affected by a snap coronavirus lockdown. There are hundreds of thousands of hospitality staff affected by the week-long restrictions who no longer have access to JobKeeper payments. The nation’s peak hospitality body is calling for temporary, targeted assistance for workers and businesses forced to close in Victoria. Australian Hotels Association boss Stephen Ferguson said almost 230,000 workers across more than 26,000 businesses had been left with no income and nowhere to turn for help. “We understand the public health orders are put in place to make…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Unvaccinated aged care residents and staff in Victoria will be allowed to receive coronavirus jabs without a two-week gap from flu shots. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has given the green light for nursing homes that have not received Covid-19 jabs to ignore the recommended space. Professor Kelly said the two-week gap was designed to help determine which vaccine any adverse side effects originated from. “There’s no other sort of safety element or difficulty with mixing,” he told reporters in Canberra on May 27. He said the gap would remain in place for all Australians except facilities in…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Dawn is breaking on Victoria’s fourth Covid-19 lockdown and authorities are urging people to get vaccinated to ensure this is their last. Victoria’s seven-day, statewide shutdown kicked in just before midnight on May 27 in a bid to contain Melbourne’s 26-case City of Whittlesea outbreak. People are now only able to leave home for five reasons — to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise, work or study if they are unable to from home, and to get vaccinated. To allow more Victorians to get the jab, those aged 40 to 49 are now…
CANBERRA, Australia — Most Australians back a levy for an aged care system that few have confidence in, despite the Morrison government’s AU$17.7 billion ($13.6 billion) package to fix the system in the budget. A study of more than 3200 people by the Australian National University (ANU) found more than four-in-five (85.4 percent) back a levy to improve the aged care system. The royal commission into aged care — which was scathing of conditions in the sector — had recommended a levy, but the government has ruled this out. A third of those in favor of a levy believe all taxpayers should pay this. Australian National University’s…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Jacinda Ardern‘s government will come under increasing pressure to muscle up to China as relations with the superpower return to the fore. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is sure to push the issue with New Zealand’s leader when he visits Queenstown for talks with Ardern on the weekend. Dissent was revealed in Wellington, with Members of Parliament across the political spectrum dissatisfied with the government strong-arming a debate on Chinese human rights abuses. This month, Labor used its majority in parliament to water down a proposed debate on whether atrocities committed against Uighurs in Xinjiang constituted genocide.…
BRISBANE, Australia — Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says there’s no place you would want to play State of Origin other than in Queensland, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s hosting rights in doubt. Victoria is on day one of a seven-day lockdown due to a Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne, which has swelled to 30 locally acquired cases. The lockdown has put in doubt the Melbourne Cricket Ground‘s ability to host thousands of Origin I fan on June 9, with little certainty about social distancing and capacity restrictions. D’Ath says Queensland is ready and able to host the opener and the state government…