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Jordyn Beazley

State Library Victoria staff accuse management of ‘censorship and discrimination’ over pro-Palestine authors controversy

Staff at State Library Victoria have claimed senior management sent a message of “censorship and discrimination” to three authors when it postponed a series of writing events at the library “seemingly because of the authors’ support for Palestine”.

Last week, the library suddenly pulled from its program free annual writing bootcamps for teenagers, claiming it had concerns over “child and cultural safety”. The workshops covered fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and poetry.

The award-winning poet Omar Sakr, who regularly posts pro-Palestine messages on social media, had his contract for the event terminated, with the new agreement stating it was due to “circumstances which were not apparent at the time of entering into the contract”.

In a letter sent to the library’s board, seen by Guardian Australia, staff claimed the “political” decision by senior management had damaged the library’s reputation and commitment to diversity.

Read the full story here:

Daniel Hurst

Cabinet papers from Iraq war period show Howard government saw access to Middle East oil as key national interest

Secret cabinet documents from the Iraq war period show the Howard government viewed “continued access by the developed world to Middle East oil reserves” as one of Australia’s key national interests.

The newly released papers also show the government planned to reduce troop levels just months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, but worried this would squander “the benefits” Australia’s high-profile involvement had brought to the alliance.

The then government’s public justification for joining the US-led “coalition of the willing” in 2003 was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, although these were never found.

Critics of the war have always claimed other factors, such as Iraq’s plentiful oil supplies, must also have been at play.

A new tranche of 2003 cabinet papers published by the National Archives of Australia on Thursday do not contain any so-called smoking guns, but reveal the inner workings of the alliance between the US and Australia.

A cabinet submission from the then defence minister, Robert Hill, in mid-October 2003 said Australia had “a range of enduring national interests in the Middle East”.

You can read more on these documents here:

Catie McLeod

In world first, NSW to ban ‘cruel’ near-drowning and smoke experiments on animals

Research experiments that force animals to inhale smoke or swim until they nearly drown are set to be outlawed in New South Wales.

Legislation to ban forced swim tests and forced smoke inhalation experiments passed the state’s parliament on Thursday, Animal Justice party MP Emma Hurst said.

Hurst – who introduced the legislation as a private member’s bill – said NSW was the first jurisdiction in the world to ban these experiments.

In a statement, Hurst said:

A parliamentary inquiry in 2022 recommended these cruel animal experiments were banned, and finally they will be.

Animals are being near-drowned and are dying from asphyxiation in these cruel tests that the [National Health and Medical Research Council] have said cannot be justified.

Ged Kearney, federal assistant minister for health, has said the Australian government should reinstate its funding for UNRWA, the UN agency tasked with providing aid in Gaza, where half a million Palestinian people are on the brink of famine and under constant bombardment from the Israeli military.

Kearney was asked on ABC TV’s Afternoon Briefing about when it would be possible to reinstate that funding, which was withdrawn by the federal government earlier this year after allegations against 12 of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff were investigated.

Kearney said:

I do get a lot of people come to me saying that they were distressed that the funding was ceased and advocating for that to be reinstated. In my role as an advocate for my constituency, I do believe that the funding should be reinstated.

UNRWA is a very important aid organisation in the area. They have been there a long time, they’re well embedded on the ground and understand the situation very well. It is very distressing for everybody seeing what’s happening in Gaza right now.

… I think we should reinstate the funding as soon as possible. I think UNRWA are an important organisation. There’s nobody else that can do the work that they do in the area. I think, generally speaking, we need to make sure that aid is going into the country – that needs to be a priority.

Catie McLeod

Waste industry ‘broadly’ supportive of new regulations, NSW environment minister says

The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, says the waste industry is supportive of “most” of the new regulations for the sector being proposed by the government.

The government expects its legislation to grant the Environment Protection Authority greater powers and double the penalties for the most serious environmental crimes to pass parliament.

Speaking to reporters earlier this afternoon, Sharpe said:

Industry likes most of the changes … we have spoken to them and they are broadly supportive of it.

The real issue here is that people that are doing the right thing are extremely frustrated by those that are doing the wrong thing.

Under the new laws, set up in the wake of Sydney’s asbestos crisis, NSW will provide a “framework” to establish a new waste accreditation scheme to target contamination.

Sharpe said the government would work with industry to separate contaminants at the source and drive out people who were doing the wrong thing.

She said:

We’re really trying to make sure is that people … don’t turn up to a tip site and have their load rejected because it’s contaminated and then shop around elsewhere to try and find someone else who will take it or – even worse – then go and basically dump it illegally.

Read more about this issue here:

Adeshola Ore

Car parking requirements for Victorian apartments under review in effort to reduce costs

Victoria could scrap car parking requirements for new apartment blocks near public transport hubs in a bid to reduce the cost of residential developments and ease traffic congestion.

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The state’s transport department completed a discussion paper late last year that considered reforms to car parking and bicycle facilities. The proposals, first reported by the Age, include removing minimum car parking in areas a short walking distance from public transport.

The paper, which has been sent to some councils for feedback, estimates that a car parking space in a residential development could add up to $50,000 to the cost of an apartment.

It proposed a policy aligned to a new rating system for an area’s “public transport accessibility level” (Ptal) – based on walking distance to a route – and removing or refining minimum car parking.

Read the full story here:

Emily Wind

Thanks for joining me on the blog today, Stephanie Convery will be here to guide you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care.