The Garran Primary School students who helped name two cranes supporting the Canberra Hospital Expansion.
A group of Garran Primary School students have celebrated the official naming of the two electric tower cranes at work on the Canberra Hospital Expansion’s new Critical Services Building.
Following a public vote on 12 name submissions made by the Garran Primary School students, the winning names are 'Lightning McCrane' and 'Cranosaurus’.
These cranes play an important role moving heavy or bulky materials such as steel, concrete, machines and other items on the construction site.
The Garran Primary School Principal Jenny Priest says the ACT Government partnership has been thoroughly enjoyed by students.
“This has been a fun and educational initiative for our students,” Ms Priest said.
“It’s been a great opportunity to learn about construction and the critical healthcare services being built just next door to our school.
“We’ve also been able to publicly recognise the students for their creativity in coming up with two perfect names for the cranes that overlook our facilities.”
It’s not the first time Garran Primary School students have contributed to the Canberra Hospital Expansion project.
Budding artists from last year’s year 1 class currently have their artwork featured on fences around the project site.
Image: one of the artworks featured on the fences surrounding the Canberra Hospital Expansion construction site.
The artwork showcases student interpretations of what caring for their health means and how the hospital’s new Critical Services Building will help the community when completed in 2024.
This is the first time the annual conference is being held in the region, which Mayor, Cr Kim O’Keeffe said was an exciting opportunity for Greater Shepparton.
“The ALGWA Vic Conference is a great way for women in local government to expand their networks and knowledge, and partake in professional development,” she said.
“The conference begins on Sunday evening with sunset drinks at the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) where guests will have the opportunity to network. On Monday, attendees will hear from a range of informative and inspiring speakers across various fields.
“The conference will conclude with a gala dinner on Monday night at Riverlinks Eastbank, where Dr Tasneem Chopra OAM will deliver a keynote address.”
This year’s conference theme is Emerging Creatively. At a time when the world continues to face challenges, opportunities exist to explore new ideas, take risks and see successful and influential leaders emerge creatively in the community.
“We are looking forward to hosting the 2022 conference and are excited to host a range of visitors to the region,” Cr O’Keeffe said.
“We hope everyone enjoys their stay in Greater Shepparton and gets to experience the many great offerings which make our region thrive.”
The Australian Local Government Women Association Vic (ALGWA Vic) 2022 State Conference is happening this Sunday 5 and Monday 6 June 2022.
OTWAYS farmers have rallied in opposition to a new site for Falls Festival, which is yet to receive planning approval despite releasing tickets for sale.
Impacts on cattle at neighbouring farms and a culturally-significant site nearby the proposed festival location are key concerns for Colac Otway Shire councillors, who have asked for more information before deciding on the permit.
But organisers insist the event would deliver a net benefit for the surrounding area, including for local businesses and community groups.
Objectors and supporters presented to Colac Otway Shire councillors last week at a submissions hearing.
Falls is planning to move to a property at Murroon, between Forrest and Birregurra, from this summer after waving goodbye to its traditional Lorne home.
The shire’s consultation process received just one letter of support and 22 objections, most of which were from owners of directly-impacted farms.
“We’ve heard all about the businesses that are going to benefit from this. But my business is farming,” Gerangamete farmer Chris Roberts said in his submission.
“How is this going to affect us, and what are we going to get out of this festival going forward? I don’t know.”
Farmers expressed concerns that noise and light from shows could disturb their livestock, especially pregnant cattle and their newborns during calving season, causing death, injury or weight loss ahead of the region’s largest annual cattle sale that is usually in early January.
Other common concerns included traffic impacts on narrow rural roads and potential biosecurity risks from stray rubbish.
But the proposal found support from its nearest town, Birregurra.
Birregurra Football Netball Club president Mick Paddick said helpers could rake in tens of thousands of dollars of much-needed funds for club infrastructure upgrades.
Meanwhile, Birregurra General Store owner Steve D’Acunto also backed the festival, and suggested forming a committee to fairly distribute the estimated $25,000 contribution from organisers to the local community.
Jessica Ducrou, from applicant Ash Sounds, predicted a quarter of the festival’s economic output, or $5 million, would benefit local businesses through staff costs, goods and services, food and accommodation.
Ms Ducrou also defended the organiser’s record in delivering major events in farmland areas, including Falls’ former iteration at Lorne and Splendour in the Grass near Byron Bay.
The council voted to receive more information on noise impacts to cattle and investigate whether a cultural heritage management plan through Registered Aboriginal Party Eastern Maar was required before deciding on the permit at a future planning meeting.
“Hopefully this will allow the council to provide answers to these issues,” Cr Stephen Hart said.
Falls organisers started ticket sales for its Victorian site, dubbed “Pennyroyal Plains”, earlier this month for a December 29 start.
The application is for a five-year permit to host its four-day New Year’s festival, which would start at 25,000 patrons before ramping up to 35,000 in coming years – about double its Lorne capacity.
Falls announced its intention to shift its Victorian home in November last year after a tumultuous period; the festival shifted to Mount Duneed in 2015-16 and cancelled on day one in 2019-20 due to bushfire risk, while the 2021-22 event also failed to go ahead because of COVID-19.
Supplementary budget will fund support for small businesses and self-employed people impacted by pandemic restrictions.
South Korea’s National Assembly approved a 62 trillion won ($49.5bn) supplementary budget on Sunday aimed at supporting businesses hit by pandemic-related restrictions.
The additional spending comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to compensate 5.5 million owners of small businesses for pandemic losses shortly before taking office on May 10.
The extra budget also comes as the country is due to hold local elections on June 1, when South Koreans will vote for mayors and provincial governors.
The ministry said in a statement that it would not issue any bonds to fund the budget but instead would use tax revenue from existing spending plans.
South Korea in April lifted almost all pandemic restrictions, including a curfew for bars restaurants and cafes, as part of the country’s move towards living with the coronavirus.
Publications such as The Greek Herald, TheAustralianJewish News,Australian Chinese Daily and Time Out will receive funding from search giant Google after negotiating a commercial deal with Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation.
Minderoo, with approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, was negotiating on behalf of 24 Australian independent publishers to obtain funding for use of their news content in search. The amount of money was not disclosed, but the not-for-profit said it will be used for a range of “content” and “digital transformation” initiatives.
Twiggy Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation has helped a bunch of small publishers strike commercial agreements with Google.Credit:Trevor Collens
Emma McDonald, senior policy advisor at Minderoo’s frontier technology initiative, said the deals would protect local journalism. “This deal has been negotiated in good faith over the past six months, culminating in a landmark agreement for independent journalism,” McDonald said.
“These publishers are working hard to produce important public interest journalism, including in rural and outer urban areas, and with multicultural and LGBTQI+ communities.”
Publications to receive the funding in addition to Time Out and The Greek Herald including the Naracoorte Community News, Star Observer, Primer Magazine, Australian Property Journal and City Hub.
The new deal brings Google’s total local commercial deals to more than 60, which it says accounts for more than 180 local media outlets. Google’s deals were struck after the introduction of landmark news media bargaining laws which, if implemented, would force Google and Facebook to pay eligible large and small news publishers to display articles in the search engine and “newsfeed”. The new laws don’t actually apply to either Google or Meta because they are not “designated”. Treasury is currently assessing the effectiveness of these laws and working out whether more needs to be done to ensure news outlets are remunerated for their journalism.
Google – which has struck deals with Nine Entertainment Co (owner of this masthead), News Corp Australia, publisher of The Australian, The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph as well as smaller outlets – has not faced the same scrutiny as Meta.
Facebook has not struck a long-term commercial deal with the publishers represented by Minderoo or negotiated with the organisation, but five publications did receive grants from the Australian News Fund.
Sims said this deal was significant for local communities and reflected well on Google.
“It seems to me now that Google has done a deal with just about 100 per cent of the people who qualify,” he said. “That stands in stark contrast to Facebook, who stopped doing deals a long time ago and inexplicably didn’t do a deal with SBS or The Conversation. The contrast is extremely stark.”
"When it comes to the issue of whether Facebook should be designated, that contrast has just got a lot larger, which would be a worry for Facebook. One player has played by the rules and the other clearly has not."
The Minderoo Foundation is one of several organisations negotiating with the tech giants on behalf of outlets. Country Press Australia, representing 70 local newspapers, collectively bargained to receive a deal from Google.
New Zealand’s News Publishers’ Association, which represents the interests of 28 local news outlets, hired former Nine executives Chris Janz and David Eisman in a bid to receive an annual fee of at least NZ$40 million ($36.3 million) from the two tech giants.
Zoe Samios is a media and telecommunications reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.
Publications such as The Greek Herald, TheAustralianJewish News,Australian Chinese Daily and Time Out will receive funding from search giant Google after negotiating a commercial deal with Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation.
Minderoo, with approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, was negotiating on behalf of 24 Australian independent publishers to obtain funding for use of their news content in search. The amount of money was not disclosed, but the not-for-profit said it will be used for a range of “content” and “digital transformation” initiatives.
Twiggy Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation has helped a bunch of small publishers strike commercial agreements with Google.Credit:Trevor Collens
Emma McDonald, senior policy advisor at Minderoo’s frontier technology initiative, said the deals would protect local journalism. “This deal has been negotiated in good faith over the past six months, culminating in a landmark agreement for independent journalism,” McDonald said.
“These publishers are working hard to produce important public interest journalism, including in rural and outer urban areas, and with multicultural and LGBTQI+ communities.”
Publications to receive the funding in addition to Time Out and The Greek Herald including the Naracoorte Community News, Star Observer, Primer Magazine, Australian Property Journal and City Hub.
The new deal brings Google’s total local commercial deals to more than 60, which it says accounts for more than 180 local media outlets. Google’s deals were struck after the introduction of landmark news media bargaining laws which, if implemented, would force Google and Facebook to pay eligible large and small news publishers to display articles in the search engine and “newsfeed”. The new laws don’t actually apply to either Google or Meta because they are not “designated”. Treasury is currently assessing the effectiveness of these laws and working out whether more needs to be done to ensure news outlets are remunerated for their journalism.
Google – which has struck deals with Nine Entertainment Co (owner of this masthead), News Corp Australia, publisher of The Australian, The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph as well as smaller outlets – has not faced the same scrutiny as Meta.
Facebook has not struck a long-term commercial deal with the publishers represented by Minderoo or negotiated with the organisation, but five publications did receive grants from the Australian News Fund.
Sims said this deal was significant for local communities and reflected well on Google.
“It seems to me now that Google has done a deal with just about 100 per cent of the people who qualify,” he said. “That stands in stark contrast to Facebook, who stopped doing deals a long time ago and inexplicably didn’t do a deal with SBS or The Conversation. The contrast is extremely stark.”
"When it comes to the issue of whether Facebook should be designated, that contrast has just got a lot larger, which would be a worry for Facebook. One player has played by the rules and the other clearly has not."
The Minderoo Foundation is one of several organisations negotiating with the tech giants on behalf of outlets. Country Press Australia, representing 70 local newspapers, collectively bargained to receive a deal from Google.
New Zealand’s News Publishers’ Association, which represents the interests of 28 local news outlets, hired former Nine executives Chris Janz and David Eisman in a bid to receive an annual fee of at least NZ$40 million ($36.3 million) from the two tech giants.
Zoe Samios is a media and telecommunications reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.
More and more companies are offering their employees the option to “work from anywhere,” whether in their home office, in another state, or even halfway around the globe. A growing group of remote professionals are taking the “anywhere” in work-from-anywhere to new lengths. These “digital nomads” leverage their remote jobs to allow them to live in tourist hotspots or tropical destinations for months at a time. Others engage in months-long “work-cations,” combining periods of working and tourism. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries — especially those with significant tourism sectors suffering from reductions in global travel — began offering specific visas to these digital nomads. It’s abundantly clear that digital nomads, and remote workers in general, can be a boon to any economy— spending money, facilitating collaboration and spurring innovation — a win-win for both the digital nomads and the economies where they choose to live and work.
Work-from-anywhere, where workers enjoy the flexibility to live in a geography of their choice, is here to stay, and countries around the world are in a race to attract the growing class of international remote workers known as “digital nomads.” Portugal, for example, now offers a two-year renewable residence visa for workers who can prove that they have a remote job for the length of their stay. Other countries that offer a form of digital nomad visas include Australia, Czech Republic, UAE, Estonia, Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, Italy, Spain and Brazil, among many others. (See the below chart for details). These visas typically require proof of income and remote employment, travel insurance, and intent to depart. In summary, digital nomads invest their time and money in the local economy, without taking local jobs, and build bridges with local knowledge workers — a win-win for both remote workers and local communities.
More and more companies are offering their employees the option to “work from anywhere,” whether in their home office, in another state, or even halfway around the globe. Some companies, like Zapier, GitLab, and Doist, have embraced an all-remote model, doing away with offices entirely. Others, like Twitter and Shopify, are keeping their physical offices but using a “remote-first” mindset. Still others are exploring hybrid-remote models, whether that means allowing certain roles to work remotely, or (as Google announced in 2021) allowing annual periods of work-from-anywhere.
A growing group of remote professionals are taking the “anywhere” in work-from-anywhere to new lengths. These “digital nomads” leverage their remote jobs to allow them to live in tourist hotspots or tropical destinations for months at a time. Others engage in months-long “work-cations,” combining periods of working and tourism.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries — especially those with significant tourism sectors suffering from reductions in global travel — began offering specific visas to these digital nomads. Digital nomads can now choose from a range of tropical destinations (Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador), island getaways (St. Lucia, Barbados, the Seychelles), and winter escapes (Estonia, Iceland, Norway). Other countries expanded their existing short-term work visas to account for those working remotely, including several European Union members and many Southeast Asian countries. The visa programs generally cost around $1,000 and exempt visa holders from local income tax for their six-month to two-year stay. They also have income and employment requirements, ensuring that these visa holders can support themselves without taking local jobs.
Digital nomad visas accrue many benefits to countries and local communities. Firstly, these visas act as a temporary fix for immigration policy woes and visa delays around the world. Many knowledge workers are currently unable to work around the world, especially in countries such as the United States, due to immigration policy logjam or extended visa processing backlogs. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, knowledge workers faced long wait times for visas, rising rejection rates, and great uncertainty. The pandemic compounded these issues, adding travel restrictions from Covid-19 hotspots, embassy closures overseas, and even longer processing times for all visa types to the list of challenges. A digital nomad visa provides short-term access to countries around the world, and typically last six to 12 months for remote workers. The geographic mobility of digital nomads could spur business travel in the short to medium term, giving the airline industry a much-needed demand boost.
Secondly and importantly, digital nomads could act as catalysts for knowledge and resource flows between regions, benefitting themselves, their organizations, and their host countries. My longstanding research on geographic mobility and innovation has shown that short-term travel and even short periods of co-location with geographically distant colleagues can help workers access information and resources that can help grow new ideas and projects, which benefits both the mobile worker and their organizations. My research with former doctoral student Do Yoon Kim also showed that skilled migrants bring to their host communities unique knowledge from the cultural context of their home country. Also, local inventors engage in “knowledge recombination” by combining their existing knowledge to knowledge transferred by migrants. In subsequent research with Dany Bahar and Hillel Rapoport, we showed that migrant inventors not only “import” knowledge from home countries, which translates into more patenting; the migrant inventors actually boost patenting in the same technologies their home countries specialize in. As a result, a country is likely to have migrants as inventors of the first-ever bulk of patents in any new technology.
Finally, digital nomads might play a key role in fostering entrepreneurship and the creation of technology clusters around the world. Foreign entrepreneurs congregating in a shared space for even a few months can spur new connections and new enterprises, as I saw in my work with Start-Up Chile, a government-sponsored incubator program that has invited more than 280 start-ups to spend time in Chile since its founding in 2012.
In summary, it is clear that digital nomads, and remote workers in general, can be a boon to any economy — spending money, facilitating collaboration and spurring innovation. However, the United States has not announced a digital nomad program. Countries around the world are competing for remote talent. It is time, for the U.S. to get on board — or risk being left behind.
After fighting to remain open, the century-old Australian-owned Alvey Reels is set to shut its doors due to cost pressures and the lack of supplies needed to manufacture their handmade fishing reels.
Mr Athans said due to supply chain issues brought on by COVID and the lack of manufacturing in Australia, it was too difficult to remain open.
"It's tough for the whole angling community and it's a really difficult decision," he said.
"After 2018, through innovation and new product lines there was a recovery but the impacts of COVID have been extremely difficult to overcome along with drastic cost increases.
He said specific materials were needed for the reels to be handmade in their factory at Carole Park, west of Brisbane.
"From our perspective, manufacturing is so difficult in Australia, and it needs to come back to automation, which is something we couldn't do with Alvey, it's a completely handmade product," Mr Athans said.
"Here in Australia, we need to not be relying on overseas components and materials.
Six weeks left for brand
The company considered a number of options to stay viable, including moving operations overseas.
"Alvey is Alvey and if it's not made here in Australia with trusted values that we know the product has, then it's not our product and it would've been difficult to do it any other way," Mr Athans said.
"One of the values of our reels is the reliability and durability of the reels."
Bruce and Glenn Alvey stand together at their fishing reel factory in Ipswich. Charles Alvey began producing fishing reels in 1920.(ABC News: Melanie Vujkovic)
The company plans to continue manufacturing for the next six weeks.
"If we have raw materials, we might be able to keep some staff on until we exhaust those materials, but I can't see it being past the 30th of June," Mr Athans said.
'It's sad to see where they're heading'
Labor Senator for Queensland Murray Watt said the newly elected Labor government would "revitalise" manufacturing to help businesses like Alvey Reels.
"The Liberals talked a big game on manufacturing but were never there when local firms needed them," he said.
"We'll set up the National Reconstruction Fund to support projects that create well-paid, secure jobs, drive regional development and invest in our sovereign capability.
"We want to see more jobs in more industries and help local manufacturing firms survive and grow.
A range of Alvey reels from across the century on display in the company's manufacturing facility at Carole Park.(ABC News: Melanie Vujkovic)
"By rebuilding manufacturing, we can protect Australian firms from future supply chain interruptions like those Alvey and other firms have experienced."
Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the state Labor government was looking at initiatives to become more competitive and encourage local manufacturing.
"Since COVID that's what I've been hearing about getting our produce overseas and materials back into the country as well," he said.
"My father handed his wooden Alvey reel to me showing its longevity and I own two fibreglass reels myself – it's sad to see where they're heading."
An artist’s impression of a 737 MAX in Bonza livery.
Budget start-up carrier Bonza is on the lookout for “local legends” at each of its 17 initial destinations, offering up free tickets on its first ever flights to Melbourne.
The airline said it will crown one “Bonza Local Legend” at each of its destinations, who will win a free trip on its first Melbourne flight for themselves and three friends.
To enter the competition, participants need to upload a 30-second video to Facebook or Instagram, to tell other Aussies why they should come visit their location on their next holiday.
According to Bonza, the campaign hopes to increase support for inbound tourism across its initial network of 17 destinations and 27 routes.
Bonza destinations include Albury, Avalon, Bundaberg, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Tamworth, Toowoomba Wellcamp, Townsville and the Whitsunday Coast.
After securing a ticket on the inaugural Bonza flight to Melbourne, the airline will continue to work with its chosen local legends to “help put their hometown firmly on the map”, as well as taste-test Bonza’s all-Australian menu, try out Bonza’s incoming uniforms, and help choose other community members to be on the first flight.
Bonza’s chief commercial officer Carly Povey said: “We’re an airline for the many and not the few. That’s why we’re calling on locals to share their travel tips and in turn, help fellow Aussies explore their own backyard.
PROMOTED CONTENT
“If you’re a legend, larrikin, personality about town – come forward. We’re looking for big hearts, welcoming arms and people who aren’t shy to give it a go and promote their slice of Allstralia.
“We are about creating new markets for Australia’s domestic tourism industry with a particular focus on regional locations,” she added.
“We’re an airline for teachers, tradies, kids and carers and we want to reflect that in the way we spotlight the many incredible destinations on our route map.”
The airline confirmed that it now has a date set for the delivery of its first 737 MAX jet – a key step in its Air Operator Certificate application process – in the coming months, however this date is “slightly later than first expected”, hence the delay in its intended launch.
Penned by Povey, the letter informs travellers that they “shouldn’t wait” for Bonza’s launch in order to “lock in [their] essential July and August travel plans”.
“Whilst we can’t wait to save you the long car ride or the need to holiday at home, we’d rather be upfront,” she said.
After unveiling its plans to the world in October 2021, Bonza had initially been aiming to launch in Q2 of 2022. Speaking with the Australian Aviation podcast, CEO Tim Jordan later said this goal had been pushed back slightly to “mid-year”, as the airline continued to navigate the AOC process with CASA.
“I know you’re keen to grab your cozzies and gather your rellies all for less than a tank of fuel. So, it’s only fair to give you an update on how we’re tracking. After all, you can’t be called Bonza and not be fair dinkum …” Povey wrote.
“We’re getting closer to take-off, which means we’re getting clearer on potential start dates. Having this locked in is key to going on sale with our first wave of flights.
“If we have more positive news to share sooner, we will,” she added.
Jim Beam has partnered with Muse globally and Flight Facilities, Client Liaison and The Veronicas locally, in a campaign that celebrates the power of live music.
The world’s #1 bourbon this week announces the global launch of Welcome Sessions 2022, a 360-degree music campaign designed to celebrate the unrivalled power of live music and the sense of community music brings to artists and fans.
The program will be brought to life with a global headline partnership with renowned rock band Muse, local Australian gigs, an exclusive content series, and a first-ever global Welcome Sessions live concert at Jim Beam’s Kentucky Distillery.
Global Muse Partnership
Jim Beam will be spotlighting the reunion of fan communities with their favourite artists, through a headline partnership with internationally renowned rock band Muse. This exciting collaboration will include live experiences throughout Muse’s European festival tour, which began in their hometown of Exeter, UK and will culminate in the first-ever intimate Welcome Session live performance in Jim Beam’s very own backyard in Clermont, Kentucky. It also features a branded documentary series capturing untold stories of the band’s career alongside its community of fans.
Matt Bellamy, Muse’s lead vocalist and guitarist said, “Having a sense of community unites all of us. Our band emerged thanks to the music teachers who taught us to play, the studio that gave us our first break, and the live performances at The Cavern Club all those years ago. Without the ongoing support of our community, we wouldn’t be here today. After nearly four years away, it’s brilliant to partner with Jim Beam to celebrate our shared love of music through Welcome Sessions.”
Local Live Sessions
Jim Beam Australia brings to life Welcome Sessions 2022 with afternoon gigs by Flight Facilities (DJ set) in Sydney, Client Liaison (DJ set) in Brisbane and The Veronicas in Melbourne. These acts will perform in intimate venues with limited capacity, creating a unique chance for music lovers to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s hottest acts.
Trent Chapman, marketing director at Beam Suntory Australia and New Zealand said: “As the first family of bourbon, Jim Beam’s history and heritage has been going strong since 1795. We’re excited to bring to life the latest evolution of Welcome Sessions with this line-up of intimate free gigs for music lovers featuring incredible Aussie talent who share the spirit of Welcome Sessions.”
Ahead of their global album tour, Flight Facilities will welcome Sydneysiders to the long weekend with an electrifying DJ set at The Rooftop Sydney on Saturday, 11 June. The boys will be followed by indie-pop duo Morgan Monte and
Harvey Miller of Client Liaison, with their signature infectious blend of ’80s disco-pop and Aussie nostalgia set to get the afternoon crew going with a DJ set for the books at Buffalo Bar, Brisbane on Saturday, 16 July. Rounding out these Aussie gigs will be identical twin sisters Jessica Louise Origliasso and Lisa Marie Origliasso, better known as pop duo The Veronicas, who will take the stage at The Hop Bar in the prime location of Federation Square, Melbourne on Saturday, 20 August.
For acts of this calibre, the gigs will be incredibly intimate, with a limited number of double passes up for grabs at each session. Fans can enter the competition to snag a double pass to one of the three gigs, which include a refreshing Jim Beam to kick off an afternoon of good music and great company.
In 2021 and 2022, Oxfam and partner organizations and networks in Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Pacific and West Africa convened 10 online learning events related to local humanitarian leadership (LHL). In all, 450 people from 30 countries attended, of whom 60% represented local and national NGOs and 40% represented international organizations. The goals were to improve and share a collective understanding of the issues surrounding local leadership among learning participants, to get a snapshot of where LHL is now, to improve and expand networks, and to put forward a global agenda to speed and improve the process of localization.
PROGRESS ON LHL
Participants, especially local actors, reported some good news: there is a growing commitment to supporting locally led humanitarian action, and new calls for international actors to deliver on the LHL commitments and promises they made at the World Humanitarian Summit of 2016. The local leadership agenda has advanced significantly in some countries—including Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, and the Philippines—where bigger and better grants are being transferred to local actors, and NGOs are increasingly able to participate in joint planning and decision-making. Some NGOs around the world are reporting more opportunities for multiyear funding. Some donors are providing direct funding for local and national actors. INGOs are developing new partner-led models and ways of working. INGOs and NGOs are carrying out joint assessments. Local and national organizations are creating and strengthening their networks and federations. Global South leaders are better represented in the current Grand Bargain Facilitation Group, with a Sherpa2 coming from Indonesia. Local emergency response funds are enabling resources to reach local and national actors quickly and directly. There is growing involvement of youth in humanitarian action and some participation of the private sector. Increasingly, capacity trainings are addressing the needs of the NGOs, as defined by the NGOs themselves. And as the system shifts to local leadership, some INGOs are understanding that they, too, need training in order to better understand their roles in the transition.
PERSISTENT CHALLENGES
Nonetheless, the challenges have proven stubborn:
INGOs continue to capture the lion’s share of donations that pass through their hands, and they frequently fail to provide, or share, indirect cost recovery (ICR), the overhead expenses that both INGOs and NGOs require to keep their organizations functioning.
The response coordination mechanisms built around international actors still fail to embrace local and national NGOs: meetings are not conducted in or translated into local languages, outputs from the meetings often fail to reach local actors in a timely way, and narrow views about who qualifies as a legitimate humanitarian actor mean that women and the organizations they lead are drastically underrepresented in cluster meetings and on Humanitarian Country Teams. More broadly, many organizations that participate in humanitarian response and other activities—including women’s rights organizations,3 labor unions, student unions, and faith-based organizations—are currently excluded from the system and thus lack resources and influence.
Short-term funding cycles and a project-based approach to grant making, particularly in the absence of appropriate ICR, keep local and national organizations off balance, always wondering if they will survive another year.
INGOs that act as intermediaries between donors and local and national organizations put too much emphasis on ensuring donor compliance and too little on building strong partnerships with local actors and involving them in project design and decision making.
It is increasingly difficult for NGOs to achieve donor compliance with the current systems of accountability, which involve lengthy reports and frequent monitoring visits. In the face of concerns about terrorism and corruption, requirements are becoming stricter and burdensome for local actors.
Although local and national NGOs play an enormous role in humanitarian activities, the majority of their INGO partners still fail to reflect that in their public communications.
Donors and their international intermediaries often fail to understand the pressures and constraints that local and national organizations face and lack the flexibility that would enable NGOs to adapt to real-life conditions on the ground.
In many countries, civil society is under siege from autocratic governments. This can translate into difficulties registering as an NGO and severe constraints on the flow of international funds to local and national actors.
INGOs routinely engage in practices that are unfair and harmful to NGOs— for example, capturing exchange-rate gains but forcing partners to absorb losses, offering letters of agreement that only the international partner has the right to terminate, refusing to allow NGOs to treat project staff wages as project costs.
In some countries, central governments are shifting humanitarian responsibilities and functions to municipalities and villages. Though this could potentially strengthen local leadership, it is often carried out without a parallel effort to build on the capacity of the more local government bodies.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Participants made recommendations to improve and accelerate the localization process and to boost local humanitarian leadership:
International actors should adopt policies requiring them to defer to local leadership.
International actors should provide direct and flexible funding to local and national NGOs.
International actors need to recognize the full spectrum of local and national actors that take part in humanitarian work, including those whose mission is not primarily humanitarian.
Response coordination bodies should be inclusive and both welcoming and accommodating toward more local and less traditional humanitarian actors.
Funding policies and practices that leave effective local and national NGOs in a chronic struggle to survive should be challenged and replaced.
International actors should examine all their policies in relation to partners through the lenses of fairness and equality.
International actors should shift the emphasis on compliance to a focus on trust and should support downward and horizontal accountability, not simply upward accountability to their donors.
Central governments should ensure that local governments are equipped to manage humanitarian disasters.
Local and national actors would benefit from increased access to training materials and research reports.
All actors should support development of strong networks to strengthen humanitarian response.
All actors should support local efforts to handle small crises that have the potential to become catastrophes.
All actors should work to protect civil society space.
FEEDBACK FOR OXFAM
Oxfam requested feedback on its own policies and partnerships.
On the positive side, participating local actors told us:
Oxfam invests in building the capacity of partners through extensive trainings, coaching, and mentoring and provides small project grants for institutional capacity strengthening;
Oxfam is flexible with partners in relation to contracts, amendments, and work plans; and
Oxfam advocates on behalf of LHL with UN agencies, INGOs, donors, and governments and acts as a connector and broker on LHL issues.
On the negative side, they said:
the percentage of humanitarian funding that Oxfam transfers to partners should be higher; currently, it varies widely from country to country;
A significant number of Oxfam offices require monthly financial reports from partners before the release of the next tranche of funding, which can result in payment delays;
Oxfam’s support for partner overhead expenses is limited; and
where Oxfam continues to implement cash programming directly, partners feel it indicates a lack of trust in local NGOs.
Suggestions for improvement include:
extend funding opportunities to a wider array of NGOs;
explore and test new ways to fund local and national actors and support their leadership, especially women’s organizations, in humanitarian responses;
broker direct relationships between partners and donors; and
provide training—including coaching and secondment—not only to help strengthen partners’ humanitarian capacity but also to help partners become stronger organizations.
Overall, the LHL learning series showed an improvement in the state of local humanitarian leadership, largely as a result of the actions of local actors, who have become more vocal, more organized, and more sustained in their calls for the humanitarian system to be locally led. Most of these efforts are happening at subnational to national levels; the next stage is to connect these pockets of local movement to each other for a truly powerful force for change. And this is where above-country structures such as INGOs, UN agencies, and other international stakeholders like Oxfam can provide support and complementarity: by offering technical resources, knowledge management, visibility, funding, and a brokering role.
The State of Local Humanitarian Leadership: A learning report on a series of LHL online convenings held in Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Pacific, and West Africa - World - ReliefWeb Read More
An artist’s impression of a 737 MAX in Bonza livery.
Budget start-up carrier Bonza is on the lookout for “local legends” at each of its 17 initial destinations, offering up free tickets on its first ever flights to Melbourne.
The airline said it will crown one “Bonza Local Legend” at each of its destinations, who will win a free trip on its first Melbourne flight for themselves and three friends.
To enter the competition, participants need to upload a 30-second video to Facebook or Instagram, to tell other Aussies why they should come visit their location on their next holiday.
According to Bonza, the campaign hopes to increase support for inbound tourism across its initial network of 17 destinations and 27 routes.
Bonza destinations include Albury, Avalon, Bundaberg, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Tamworth, Toowoomba Wellcamp, Townsville and the Whitsunday Coast.
After securing a ticket on the inaugural Bonza flight to Melbourne, the airline will continue to work with its chosen local legends to “help put their hometown firmly on the map”, as well as taste-test Bonza’s all-Australian menu, try out Bonza’s incoming uniforms, and help choose other community members to be on the first flight.
Bonza’s chief commercial officer Carly Povey said: “We’re an airline for the many and not the few. That’s why we’re calling on locals to share their travel tips and in turn, help fellow Aussies explore their own backyard.
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“If you’re a legend, larrikin, personality about town – come forward. We’re looking for big hearts, welcoming arms and people who aren’t shy to give it a go and promote their slice of Allstralia.
“We are about creating new markets for Australia’s domestic tourism industry with a particular focus on regional locations,” she added.
“We’re an airline for teachers, tradies, kids and carers and we want to reflect that in the way we spotlight the many incredible destinations on our route map.”
The airline confirmed that it now has a date set for the delivery of its first 737 MAX jet – a key step in its Air Operator Certificate application process – in the coming months, however this date is “slightly later than first expected”, hence the delay in its intended launch.
Penned by Povey, the letter informs travellers that they “shouldn’t wait” for Bonza’s launch in order to “lock in [their] essential July and August travel plans”.
“Whilst we can’t wait to save you the long car ride or the need to holiday at home, we’d rather be upfront,” she said.
After unveiling its plans to the world in October 2021, Bonza had initially been aiming to launch in Q2 of 2022. Speaking with the Australian Aviation podcast, CEO Tim Jordan later said this goal had been pushed back slightly to “mid-year”, as the airline continued to navigate the AOC process with CASA.
“I know you’re keen to grab your cozzies and gather your rellies all for less than a tank of fuel. So, it’s only fair to give you an update on how we’re tracking. After all, you can’t be called Bonza and not be fair dinkum …” Povey wrote.
“We’re getting closer to take-off, which means we’re getting clearer on potential start dates. Having this locked in is key to going on sale with our first wave of flights.
“If we have more positive news to share sooner, we will,” she added.
This Friday night's derby against the Brisbane Broncos will be extraordinarily special for five Indigenous players who have been named in the Gold Coast Titans squad for Indigenous Round.
Proud Bundjalung man Brian Kelly has been named to return in the centres for the injured Phil Sami, whilst a standout performance for Burleigh last weekend sees Jaimin Jolliffe promoted to the top 17 in place of Herman Ese'ese.
David Fifita has been included in the reserves and will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of kick-off on Friday night.
Alongside Kelly and Fifita, other Indigenous representatives Jayden Campbell, Corey Thompson and Alofiana Khan-Pereira have also been named in the 24-man squad to face off in the Macca's local derby.
Take a tour around the Scenic Rim region these school holidays to enjoy a sprawling festival for foodies of all ages.
An hour’s drive from Brisbane and the Gold Coast is the Scenic Rim region – home to breathtaking landscapes, six national parks and the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforest. It’s also the home of some great food, which the region will be celebrating from Saturday June 25 to Sunday July 3, with Scenic Rim Eat Local Week.
There are plenty of kid friendly offerings, with a range of workshops including a mini frog hotel class at Jasmine Urban Farm and a kids cheese-making workshop with Towri Sheep Cheeses.
If long lunches, degustations and dinners are more your speed, don’t miss the Paddock Feast at Hazelwood Estate; the Longest Lunch at O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards (complete with two hours of bottomless drinks); an Italian-style feast at The Overflow Estate 1895; or Cedar Creek Lodges’ annual Christmas in July banquet, celebrating a whole range of Scenic Rim produce, wine and spirits. Also, be sure to check out Boonah’s hottest new restaurant, Blume, between June 28 and July 1, for a series of lunches hosted by some of the state’s finest chefs including Matt Blackwell from GOMA and Phil Merchant from Essa.
Lastly, on Saturday July 2, don’t miss the Winter Harvest Festival – Eat Local Week’s signature event – serving up the Scenic Rim on a platter. Meet the farmers, taste the food and buy their produce.
After writing three successful novels for adults, local author Sarah Armstrong could have been forgiven for staying on the same course with her fourth offering.
Instead, the Mullumbimby resident chose the path less travelled and delved into the world of children’s fiction.
Local author Sarah Armstrong with a copy of her newly released children’s book ‘Big Magic’. Image Jeff Dawson
The result was Big Magic – a tale about an 11-year-old girl’s attempt to harness her full magical powers to find her mother who has disappeared.
‘When I grew up, we didn’t have a TV or anything and I read a lot – probably a book a day,’ Ms Armstrong says.
‘I felt a joy and an immersion that I kind of lost when I graduated to adult fiction.
‘So I thought “the next book I write I want it to be a kid’s book – I want it to be part of that world, that joy.’
As well as being an exciting, page-turning tale, Big Magic explores themes of family, matrilineal magic and parallel universes.
And it’s set in a town that local readers may find strikingly familiar.
‘The town it’s set in is called Malimba, but it’s really Mullumbimby,’ ms Armstrong says.
The landscape and the nature, it just hit me so hard when I moved here, it changed me.’
‘All of my books are pretty much set here.’
When she’s not writing books, Ms Armstrong also traches others to do so – running numerous workshops, many of them connected to the Byron Writer’s Festival.
‘My number one teaching tool for writers is free writing,’ she says.
‘Writing without stopping or planning anything, and without allowing that inner writing critic to come in. It’s a great way to loosen up and see what ideas emerge.’
‘I do a few local workshops, so if you’re interested, check out my website.’
And if you’re interested in getting a copy of Big Magic you can find one at The Book Room in Byron Bay or Lennox Head.
Local governments play an essential role in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and building resilience. At the UNDRR’s 2022 Global Platform in Bali, local leaders from across the globe joined a productive discussion on important issues around disaster resilience at local level.
Participants discussed how the Sendai Framework supports local governments in making progress against the Sustainable Development Goals: poverty (SDG 1), health and wellbeing (SDG 3), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), and climate action (SDG 13).
UNDRR’s Making Cities Resilient (MCR2030) initiative – a global network of local governments which currently covers more than 360 million people – is a catalyst for local action to implement the Sendai framework.
Local leaders from MCR2030 Resilience Hubs – local administrations recognised for showing leadership in DRR and resilience initiatives – in the UK, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and South Korea joined a panel discussion on how they have used partnerships and peer-to-peer support to strengthen disaster resilience.
“All this learning and collaboration has only been possible due to the incredible generosity of the MCR2030 cities,” Greater Manchester Chief Resilience Officer Kathy Oldham said.
“Being a Resilience Hub offers one an opportunity to collaborate on the most pressing challenges of our times.”
A series of IGNITE presentations explored aspects of locally led DRR: strengthening national-local coordination on disaster resilience (Seyedmasoud Hosseini, mayor of Hamedan City, Iran); accessing finance (Mr Fakri Karim, team leader of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)-Smart Green ASEAN City Programme); and partnerships between local administrations and the private sector. (Ms Kazuko Kori, mayor of Sendai City, Japan). Speakers emphasised the importance of learning from past experiences and sharing insights.
"As a local government we believe that retrospection is of great significance, and we aim to accelerate the promotion of the Sendai Framework in these outcomes in the lead up to 2030,” Ms Kori said.
“As one of the participating cities of MCR2030, we will proceed with sharing our efforts and learning from other regions’ initiatives."
Time and resource investments
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of UNDRR Ms. Mami Mizutori stressed that local governments need to invest time and resources in order to understand the risks their cities face so that they can take the necessary action to build resilience.
“This is why UNDRR, along with our partners, launched Making Cities Resilient 2030,” she said.
Mutual support is a central pillar of MCR2030, and Ms Mizutori urged the forum participants to encourage other local leaders to follow their example, to encourage their national governments to prioritize urban resilience programmes, to work with private sector partners to devolop technical services, and to advocate for greater financial investment in DRR and resilience.
“Please also note that UNDRR’s online Disaster Resilience Scorecard is now available to help in these efforts,” she reminded the forum.
Ms Mizutori acknowledged the Indonesian hosts, and local leadership in Bali, for their commitment to disaster risk reduction.
“I would like to congratulate the province of Bali and all its local municipalities for taking a big step to accelerate strengthening disaster resilience in your province. Signing up to MCR2030 is a testament to your commitment, readiness and determination to embark on and continue this journey over the long term,” she said.
“Under the Governor’s leadership and with the support from the national level of BNPB and MCR2030 partners, we believe Bali province will set an inspiring example to other municipalities in Asia Pacific and the wider world.”
One thousand cities – celebrating Pangsha, Bangladesh
The Forum also provided an opportunity for MCR2030 to celebrate its 1,000th member – the Bangladeshi municipality of Pangsha – and Ms. Mizutori congratulated local leadership on their commitment, as well the country as a whole for embracing DRR at national and local levels.
“Bangladesh is the country with the largest number of local governments who have signed up to MCR2030,” she said.
“The support of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh has been vital to this achievement, and I would like to sincerely thank you for your support. As a result, of this sign up MCR2030 reached the milestone of 1,000 local governments who have joined our global collaboration. “
A thousand ways local leaders are standing up to disaster risks: Urban resilience leaders think globally and act locally at Bali forum - World - ReliefWeb Read More
Image: one of the artworks featured on the fences surrounding the Canberra Hospital Expansion construction site.
