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Olympic champion inducted to Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson and surfing legend Mick Fanning have joined the most elite group of Australian sportspeople, after being inducted to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF). Pearson is one of only nine Australian women to win an Olympic track and field gold medal, winning her first gold in London 2012. She won a silver medal in 2008 for the 100m hurdles, and has World Championship success in 2011 and 2017. She is also the first Australian to be named World Athlete of the year, and won the SAHOF’s “The Don” Award twice. Pearson said it was “surreal” to be included in such esteemed company, including the likes of Cathy Freeman, her childhood hero. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in. It’s so surreal. It feels like it just happens to people you see on TV,” she said. “I still feel like I’m watching the Sydney Olympics and watching Cathy Freeman run. When Steve Hooker won gold in Beijing I was sitting on the sidelines. “Even though I won silver, I was thinking, this is really cool. I’m watching this person, this athlete, just doing amazing things. It’s a bizarre feeling that I’m one of those people now.” Surfing legend Mick Fanning, who is already a member of the World Surfers’ Hall of Fame and Australian Surfing Hall of Fame and said he was pretty “flabbergasted” to be elevated into the SAHOF. “Australia produces so many incredible sporting stars and to be honoured as one of those, among the greats, I’m pretty flabbergasted, to be honest,” he said. “It’s not something that we ever look for when we’re doing our sport, but to be acknowledged later in life is very special and I’m very honoured to be able to share it with people who have supported me. “I wasn’t the most talented person, I wasn’t the most gifted, I didn’t have the most money or anything like that, but I just gave it my all.’’ Fanning enters as a three-time world champion for surfing. Motorsport great Mark Skaife, former Kookaburras’ captain Mark Knowles, lawn bowls trailblazer Karen Murphy and dual-sport Paralympics champion Liesl Tesch are some of the other 2024 inductees. Image: Colorsport/ Shutterstock Editorial

Body

"One of the greatest men": Tarzan star dies at age 86

Tarzan star Ron Ely has died at the age of 86. The news of his passing was confirmed in an emotional statement by his daughter Kirsten, who wrote, “The world has lost one of the greatest men it has ever known – and I have lost my dad." “My father was someone that people called a hero. He was an actor, writer, coach, mentor, family man and leader. He created a powerful wave of positive influence wherever he went. The impact he had on others is something that I have never witnessed in any other person – there was something truly magical about him. This is how the world knew him.” “I knew him as my dad – and what a heaven sent honour that has been. To me, he hung the moon.” “My father’s life story was one of relentless perseverance, unending dedication to his family and friends, courage to do what was right, and willing sacrifice to facilitate the dreams of those he loved,” Kirsten continued. “It was also a story of joy and love – something everyone close to him had the privilege of experiencing. Once you knew my father’s love, the world grew to be a brighter and more meaningful place.” “I am doing my best to walk this path of loss with the strength and grace that I know he would want for me,” she added. “My greatest comfort is knowing that my dad is with my momma and my brother. It is also my greatest sadness because I miss them all so much that it’s etched into my soul. I will proudly carry all of my favourite pieces of them – lovingly cemented into my heart – until we all meet again.” Ely first one to fame in the 1960s with his role as Tarzan in the NBC TV series, which ran from 1966 to 1968. He later returned for Universal’s Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze in 1975, and took on guest roles on some of TV’s biggest shows, including Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Superboy. Ely is survived by his daughters, Kirstin and Kaitland. In 2019, his son, Cameron, was shot and killed by Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies after allegedly stabbing his mother, Ely’s wife, to death. Image credits: Matthew Rettenmund / Banner/Kobal / Shutterstock Editorial

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Aussie drivers warned over commonly ignored road rule

Aussie drivers are being reminded to follow simple road rules and etiquette when driving on a highway, with one often ignored rule costing drivers hundreds. Police are fining drivers caught driving in the right lane on a highway without overtaking anyone. A Victorian man was fined $198 and two demerit points over the weekend "after travelling 3km in the right-hand lane and passing no one,” Senior Sergeant Aaron Riches told the Geelong Advertiser. Penalties also apply in other states and territories, including NSW where the penalty can be as much as $410. Victoria Police told Yahoo News Australia that this wasn't part of a crackdown, as they are always monitoring roads to ensure drivers are following the road rules. "Police are out and about every day, making sure people are following the road rules. Road safety is a priority for police, and we will continue to focus our efforts on ensuring those using the roads are safe," a spokesperson said. According to VicRoads, when travelling on a multi-lane road with a speed limit of over 80km/h, drivers must keep out of the right lane unless they are overtaking, turning right or if all lanes are congested. In NSW a P-plater was caught "disobeying" this rule and copped a $410 fine. Sydney lawyer Avinash Singh of Astor Legal said some drivers get of easy, with penalties actually reaching $2,200. "On a road where there is a speed limit of more than 80km/h, you must not drive in the right lane, unless you're overtaking," he said. Although unlikely, "you can incur a fine of up to $2,200 for disobeying this rule," he added. NSW Police also reminded drivers in August against ignoring "keep left signs unless overtaking" as travelling in the right lane has resulted in "an increase in collisions involving drivers overtaking other vehicles". Images: NSW Police Highway Patrol

Travel Trouble

Legendary broadcaster dies at age 87

Legendary broadcaster and journalist Colin Chapman has passed away at the age of 87. After years of suffering from poor health, Chapman - who was known for his work in the media and as an author - died over the weekend. Chapman’s career spanned three continents and saw him as a print reporter as well a TV presenter, working for BBC TV, as well as having stints at the Sunday Times, Financial Times and Observer. He said previously, “There will not be many journalists who have been both writers and executives in the print media, and also on-camera performers and senior managers in radio and television.” He also enjoyed stints at the New York Times, Washington Post and ABC, where he was a founding producer of the network’s The World Today. Most recently, Chapman was the editor-at-large for the Australian Outlook, where his work included columns on elections around the world this year. During his renowned career, Chapman was not only an expert political analyst but also a revered foreign correspondent, including covering terror attacks in Hong Kong in the 1960s and international conflicts in Africa and the Suez region. He spent three periods in Australia - the last in 2004 - and was granted citizenship. Image credits: Facebook

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Australia’s fertility rate has reached a record low. What might that mean for the economy?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-boymal-392960">Jonathan Boymal</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ashton-de-silva-3066">Ashton De Silva</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sarah-sinclair-385470">Sarah Sinclair</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Australia’s fertility rate has fallen to a new <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/births-australia/latest-release">record low</a> of 1.5 babies per woman. That’s well below the “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7834459/#:%7E:text=PIP%3A%20Replacement%20level%20fertility%20is,of%202.1%20children%20per%20woman.">replacement rate</a>” of 2.1 needed to sustain a country’s population. On face value, it might not seem like a big deal. But we can’t afford to ignore this issue. The health of an economy is deeply intertwined with the size and structure of its population. Australians simply aren’t having as many babies as they used to, raising some serious questions about how we can maintain our country’s workforce, sustain economic growth and fund important services. So what’s going on with fertility rates here and around the world, and what might it mean for the future of our economy? What can we do about it? <h2>Are lower birth rates always a problem?</h2> Falling fertility rates can actually have some <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2007/MR1274.pdf">short-term benefits</a>. Having fewer dependent young people in an economy can increase workforce participation, as well as boost savings and wealth. Smaller populations can also benefit from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537112000620.">increased investment</a> per person in education and health. But the picture gets more complex in the long term, and less rosy. An ageing population can strain pensions, health care and social services. This can hinder economic growth, unless it’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21302431/">offset by increased productivity</a>. Other scholars have <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/end-economic-growth-unintended-consequences-declining-population">warned</a> that a falling population could stifle innovation, with fewer young people meaning fewer breakthrough ideas. <h2>A global phenomenon</h2> The trend towards women having fewer children is not unique to Australia. The global fertility rate has dropped over the past couple of decades, from 2.7 babies per woman in 2000 to <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/WLD/world/fertility-rate">2.4 in 2023</a>. However, the distribution is not evenly spread. In 2021, 29% of the world’s babies were born in sub-Saharan Africa. This is projected to <a href="https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/newsroom/news-releases/lancet-dramatic-declines-global-fertility-rates-set-transform">rise to 54% by 2100</a>. There’s also a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/psp.2720">regional-urban divide</a>. Childbearing is often delayed in urban areas and late fertility is more common in cities. In Australia, we see <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/births-australia/latest-release#data-downloads">higher fertility rates</a> in inner and outer regional areas than in metro areas. This could be because of more affordable housing and a better work-life balance. But it raises questions about whether people are moving out of cities to start families, or if something intrinsic about living in the regions promotes higher birth rates. <iframe id="U1wEx" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/U1wEx/1/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <h2>Fewer workers, more pressure on services</h2> Changes to the makeup of a population can be just as important as changes to its size. With fewer babies being born and increased life expectancy, the proportion of older Australians who have left the workforce will keep rising. One way of tracking this is with a metric called the old-age dependency ratio – the number of people aged 65 and over per 100 working-age individuals. In Australia, this ratio is currently about 27%. But according to the latest <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/2023-intergenerational-report">Intergenerational Report</a>, it’s expected to rise to 38% by 2063. An ageing population means greater demand for medical services and aged care. As the working-age population shrinks, the tax base that funds these services will also decline. Unless this is offset by technological advances or policy innovations, it can mean higher taxes, longer working lives, or the government providing fewer public services in general. <h2>What about housing?</h2> It’s tempting to think a falling birth rate might be good news for Australia’s stubborn housing crisis. The issues are linked – rising real estate prices have made it difficult for many young people to afford homes, with a significant number of people in their 20s <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/more-australian-adult-children-are-living-with-their-parents-longer">still living with their parents</a>. This can mean delaying starting a family and reducing the number of children they have. At the same time, if fertility rates stay low, demand for large family homes may decrease, impacting one of Australia’s most significant economic sectors and sources of household wealth. <h2>Can governments turn the tide?</h2> Governments worldwide, including Australia, have long experimented with policies that encourage families to have more children. Examples include paid parental leave, childcare subsidies and financial incentives, such as Australia’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-baby-bonus-boost-looks-like-across-ten-years-81563">baby bonus</a>”. Many of these efforts have had only limited success. One reason is the rising average age at which women have their first child. In many developed countries, including Australia, the average age for first-time mothers has surpassed <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/contents/overview-and-demographics/maternal-age">30</a>. As women delay childbirth, they become less likely to have multiple children, further contributing to declining birth rates. Encouraging women to start a family earlier could be one policy lever, but it must be balanced with women’s growing workforce participation and career goals. Research has previously highlighted the factors influencing fertility decisions, including levels of paternal involvement and workplace flexibility. Countries that offer part-time work or maternity leave without career penalties have seen a <a href="https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/mdo738/research/Doepke_Hannusch_Kindermann_Tertilt_Handbook_23.pdf">stabilisation or slight increases</a> in fertility rates. <h2>The way forward</h2> Historically, one of the ways Australia has countered its low birth rate is through immigration. Bringing in a lot of people – especially skilled people of working age – can help offset the effects of a low fertility rate. However, relying on immigration alone is not a long-term solution. The global fertility slump means that the pool of young, <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2020/03/can-immigration-solve-the-demographic-dilemma-peri">educated workers from other countries</a> is shrinking, too. This makes it harder for Australia to attract the talent it needs to sustain economic growth. Australia’s record-low fertility rate presents both challenges and opportunities. On one hand, the shrinking number of young people will place a strain on public services, innovation and the labour market. On the other hand, advances in technology, particularly in artificial intelligence and robotics, may help ease the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0164070420302020">challenges of an ageing population</a>. That’s the optimistic scenario. AI and other tech-driven productivity gains could reduce the need for large workforces. And robotics could assist in aged care, lessening the impact of this demographic shift.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/241577/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-boymal-392960">Jonathan Boymal</a>, Associate Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ashton-de-silva-3066">Ashton De Silva</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sarah-sinclair-385470">Sarah Sinclair</a>, Senior Lecturer in Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-fertility-rate-has-reached-a-record-low-what-might-that-mean-for-the-economy-241577">original article</a>. </div>

Money & Banking

Man decides to end his own life after waiting for at-home care

A terminally ill man has made the heartbreaking decision to end his life after waiting 10-month for end of life care. Cyril Tooze, an 86-year-old from South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, was approved for a Level 4 Home Care Package in January. The package - which is the highest available care for individuals with high-level needs under the federal government’s MyAgedCare scheme - would give Mr Tooze up to $59,594 annually for daily assistance with physical, medical and social tasks. But almost one year on from the approval, his funds and support have yet to be delivered. It’s understood his family, who live interstate, contacted the government to enquire about receiving an urgent reassessment, and were told he could be waiting another three to six months. Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie told reporters that his family were also told a reassessment “could delay it even longer”. While waiting for his vital funds, Mr Tooze - who suffers from terminal heart and lung conditions and regularly requires morphine for pain relief - has worsened and has been hospitalised after suffering a fall at home. Tired of waiting for help to arrive, Tooze has started the process of ending his life through South Australia’s voluntary assisted dying scheme. “There is no hope ... I don’t want to live my life laying in a bed waiting for something to happen,” he told <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/terminally-ill-mans-heartbreaking-decision-to-end-his-life-after-10-month-wait-for-home-care-in-australia-c-16471785" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a>. “You can’t live like that, that’s unfair, we don’t deserve that in such a country as Australia.” Following the media coverage of his case, Tooze was contacted by the Aged Care Department, who said the package could temporarily be made available. Sharkie said Tooze’s situation was “shameful”, saying, “What devastates me is that Mr Tooze feels voluntary assisted dying is the only course available to him, and that is because we as a nation have failed him." “I would say, if Mr Tooze had that package in a timely manner, as he should have, he would probably be sitting at home now, making himself a cup of tea.” Anglicare Australia’s <a href="https://www.anglicare.asn.au/2024/09/20/life-on-the-wait-list-report-shows-older-australians-are-going-without-support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline">Life on the Wait List report</a> revealed that as of May 2024, 68,109 Australians had been approved for a Home Care Package but were facing wait times of up to 15 months to access it. Image credits: 7News

Caring

Readers response: How do you handle changes in energy levels as you age?

As we get older, our levels of energy, ability and agility can slowly start to decrease, making us change our day-to-day lifestyles. We asked our readers how they handle these changes, and the response was overwhelming. Here's what they said. Margo Courtney - Eat clean and healthy and your body will reward you with heaps of energy and vitality. I have a very big green smoothie most days as one of my 2 meals, along with 2 litres of water a day, and I don't even need much sleep. Ron Stubbs - Up at 8am, can’t be late for my walk in the sun, and feeling great. Don’t need afternoon snooze then. I’m 77. Kristeen Bon - I don’t handle them. I flop on the couch most afternoons for a quick five minute interior eye check! Sylvia Brice - I have an autoimmune disease so my levels of energy are way down. I do what l can in small bursts and rest when l need to. Luckily l read and craft so can always do them. It's very hard to adapt but that's life and l am so much better for off than younger people with my disease. Think positive. Judie Fisher - Do chores in small stretches, and have regular breaks. Diane Green - Adjust. I do what I can, and what I can't just has to wait. Raymond Richards - As they told us at the heart clinic, if you have something you HAVE to do - do it first. Janis St George - Listen to your body - rest awhile when you need to. Kaylene Samuels - Have a SCAN..... Seniors Compulsory Afternoon Nap. Image credits: Shutterstock

Body

Should King Charles apologise for the genocide of First Nations people when he visits Australia?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebe-taylor-1379975">Rebe Taylor</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/greg-lehman-18970">Greg Lehman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Australia from Friday <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/from-bbqs-to-the-csiro-king-charles-and-queen-camilla-s-australian-itinerary-revealed-20240910-p5k9gb.html">on a five-day tour</a> of Canberra and Sydney. The king will be the second ruling British monarch to visit Australia, after <a href="https://theconversation.com/16-visits-over-57-years-reflecting-on-queen-elizabeth-iis-long-relationship-with-australia-170945">Queen Elizabeth II’s 16 visits over 57 years</a>. These visits showcase Australians’ evolving relationship with the monarchy and our colonial past. <h2>Changing attitudes</h2> An estimated <a href="https://theconversation.com/16-visits-over-57-years-reflecting-on-queen-elizabeth-iis-long-relationship-with-australia-170945">75% of Australians</a> greeted Elizabeth on her first tour in 1954, at events that celebrated Australia’s growth as a prosperous nation. Historical milestones remained central to the queen’s subsequent visits. In 1970, she attended the re-enactment of Captain Cook’s arrival at Botany Bay. This included depictions of shooting at First Nations actors. The queen’s 1986 visit included <a href="https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/student-research-portal/learning-resource-themes/government-and-democracy/prime-ministers-and-politicians/queen-elizabeth-ii-signs-proclamation-australia-act-cth-1986">signing the Australia Act</a> that severed Britain’s formal powers over Australia. Her 1988 visit coincided with the Australian bicentenary of <a href="https://www.royal.uk/queen-marks-australias-bicentenary">the arrival of the First Fleet</a> carrying convicts and officials from Britain. But by this time, many Australians had lost their royal fervour. Her final tour, in 2011, came 12 years after Australia had attempted <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/referendums/1999_referendum_reports_statistics/1999.htm">to become a republic</a> by referendum. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886">The queen’s death in 2022</a> not only reignited questions over the future of the monarchy in Australia, it instigated a public discussion over the monarchy’s role in imperial colonialism. <h2>Genocide in Australia?</h2> On the eve of <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9789/#:%7E:text=The%20Coronation%20of%20Their%20Majesties,Coronation%20in%20nearly%2070%20years.">Charles’ coronation in 2023</a>, Indigenous leaders from 12 settler states including Australia and New Zealand cosigned <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/indigenous-people-around-the-world-have-sent-kin/rbfzwoyav">a letter calling on the new monarch</a> to apologise for the genocides that British colonisation brought to their territories. Australia was settled in the name of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Did that settlement result in genocide? Recent research led by Ben Kiernan for <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/series/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/445A52F1E949DCB6CA8FC6BD09F04DE0">The Cambridge World History of Genocide</a> has investigated this question using the 1948 <a href="https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-1&chapter=4">United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide</a> as a framework. The convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. The term “genocide” itself is modern; coined <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/general-editors-introduction-to-the-series/986A5AFB44203A21265FF31C96C0DE3B">by Raphael Lemkin in 1944</a>. The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/genocide-in-van-diemens-land-tasmania-18031871/ED82A107B2C76801551EB3F51CA6179D">colonisation of Tasmania</a> by the British provided Lemkin with one of the clearest examples. The prosecution of crimes before 1951 is not permissible under the convention, but it provides a definitional framework to evaluate past events as constituent acts of genocide. The Cambridge World History of Genocide <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/E60C05ADB875E63EE57B5D41EC4BA485">Volume II</a> and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/24002BE3CC6F69B96F0C21356E6D9282">Volume III</a> demonstrate how settlers and government agents committed acts of genocide against First Nations Australians from the beginning of settlement to the late 20th centuries. All parts of Australia are considered. Acts conforming to the convention’s clauses include killing, forcibly removing children and inflicting destructive conditions. Australian historian Lyndall Ryan’s chapter, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/frontier-massacres-in-australia-17881928/D1B285AF2125CA9586DBB1AFAF0CF70E">Frontier Massacres in Australia</a>, draws on her research for a <a href="https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php">Massacre Map</a> showing how British troops and settlers committed more than 290 massacres across Australia between 1794 and 1928. These massacres killed more than 7,500 Aboriginal people. Ryan found the massacres were not sporadic and isolated – they were planned and sanctioned killings, integral to the aims of the Australian colonial project. Rebe Taylor’s <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/genocide-in-van-diemens-land-tasmania-18031871/ED82A107B2C76801551EB3F51CA6179D">chapter on genocide in Tasmania</a> details a pattern of government-sanctioned mass killings in a colony where an estimated 6,000 Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) people were reduced to about 120 by 1835. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/genocide-in-northern-australia-18241928/69106AF545B4C98486752DBA88575E05">Raymond Evans</a> shows how as colonisation moved northward in Australia, massacres increased in size. Evans documents killings that persisted into the 1940s, postdating <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/genocide-in-northern-australia-18241928/69106AF545B4C98486752DBA88575E05">the 1928 Coniston massacre</a> widely regarded as the last frontier slaughter. These findings are underscored by <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/very-british-genocide/78EB24782843ABFA05965F5E4C7562CA">Tony Barta’s insight</a> that colonists’ destructive actions constitute a record of genocidal intent “more powerful than any documented plot to destroy a people”. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/australias-stolen-generations-19142021/9219A470B4665A643DC99CC5BBE699D0">Research by Anna Haebich</a> documents the taking of Indigenous children during the 19th century. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/australias-stolen-generations-19142021/9219A470B4665A643DC99CC5BBE699D0">Joanna Cruikshank and Crystal Mckinnon</a> explain how these state-sanctioned removals in the 20th century were intended to eliminate First Nations people from Australia’s national life. The 1997 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/projects/bringing-them-home-report-1997">Bringing Them Home</a> report, commissioned by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, <a href="https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/1997/95.html">concluded</a> the “Australian practice of Indigenous child removal involved […] genocide as defined by international law”. <h2>A significant moment of resistance</h2> The colonial governor of Tasmania began to exile Palawa people from their land in 1829. More than 200 survivors of the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/tasmanias-black-war-a-tragic-case-of-lest-we-remember-25663">Black War</a>” were removed to Flinders Island and subjected to life-threateningly harsh conditions. High death rates were caused by ill-treatment, disease and insufficient care. In 1846, the Palawa <a href="https://indigenousrights.net.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/395794/f85.pdf">petitioned Queen Victoria</a> to honour the agreement made when they were removed: that in exchange for temporarily leaving their country, they would regain their freedom. In this bold petition, Tasmanian Aboriginal people initiated a historic appeal to the British monarchy. Aware of Queen Victoria’s sovereign authority across the vast British Empire, this action marked a significant moment in their continued resistance to genocide. <h2>An acknowledgement of wrongs</h2> British sovereignty over Australia was imposed without <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-34.html">the required consent</a> of its First Nations. The result has been continued dispossession and suffering. Despite the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/the-role-of-the-monarchy#:%7E:text=Monarchy%20is%20the%20oldest%20form,resides%20with%20an%20elected%20Parliament">Crown’s deferral of power</a> to its parliament, the call for an apology from the king has immense symbolic importance. It is rooted in the desire for acknowledgement of wrongs. These include genocide and the continuing destructive effects of colonisation across Australia.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/239092/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebe-taylor-1379975">Rebe Taylor</a>, Associate Professor of History, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/greg-lehman-18970">Greg Lehman</a>, Professorial Fellow, Indigenous Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-king-charles-apologise-for-the-genocide-of-first-nations-people-when-he-visits-australia-239092">original article</a>. </div>

International Travel

How do we save ageing Australians from the heat? Greening our cities is a good start

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/claudia-baldwin-248780">Claudia Baldwin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-byrne-6066">Jason Byrne</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tony-matthews-234160">Tony Matthews</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Heatwaves have killed more Australians than <a href="https://ama.com.au/ausmed/heatwave-health-warning">road accidents</a>, fires, floods and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901114000999">all other natural disasters combined</a>. Although <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-heatwaves-our-cold-houses-are-much-more-likely-to-kill-us-83030">recent research</a> shows extreme cold is a worry in some parts of Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/2018-19-was-australias-hottest-summer-on-record-with-a-warm-autumn-likely-too-112616">our hottest summer on record</a> points to more heat-related deaths to come. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stubborn-high-pressure-system-behind-australias-record-heatwaves-110442">record heatwaves</a> have highlighted the damaging effects of heat stress. Understandably, it’s becoming a major <a href="https://ama.com.au/ausmed/heatwaves-nation%E2%80%99s-deadliest-natural-disaster-0">public health challenge</a>. The risk of extreme heat events and the adverse impacts on older people has been extensively <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/64/9/753.short">discussed in research</a>. Remarkably, very little attention has been paid to the role of urban greenery in reducing heat stress for seniors. Older people are particularly at risk of heat stress. Pre-existing medical conditions and limited mobility increase their vulnerability. <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/182/10/1053.short">Deaths of older people increase</a> during extreme heat events. The physical features of urban areas shape the capacity of older adults to engage in many activities when it’s hot. These include vegetation volume and coverage, <a href="https://theconversation.com/building-cool-cities-for-a-hot-future-57489">thermal design</a>, and the extent of shading in public areas and walkways. Increasing urban greenery may offer a way to improve older people’s comfort and social experience. <h2>Ageing adds urgency to greening</h2> It is expected <a href="http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/ageing/">20% of the global population</a> will be older than 60 by 2050. The figure for Australia <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyTopic/2CA2134677EF9D03CA257C2E0017283B?OpenDocument">is even higher</a>, at 23%. This means that by 2050 around one in four Australians will be more vulnerable to extreme heat. <figure class="align-right zoomable"></figure> Climate change may make the problem worse by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379708006867">fuelling even more extreme heat</a> events. Planning our urban centres to meet the needs of a <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/older-people/older-australia-at-a-glance/contents/demographics-of-older-australians">rapidly ageing population</a> is a matter of urgency. Urban greening to reduce their vulnerability to heat stress should be central to this agenda. It can also improve people’s quality of life, reduce <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829208001172">social isolation and loneliness</a>, and ease the burden on health systems. An important task is matching the design of communities with the needs of an ageing population. Where older adults live and the quality of their local areas strongly influence their lived experiences. Yet <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0885412217704649">recent research</a> found the experiences of seniors were often not accounted for in research on neighbourhood design. <h2>What about aged care?</h2> People face choices about where they live as they age. The common choices are to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-australians-to-have-the-choice-of-growing-old-at-home-here-is-what-needs-to-change-91488">age in place</a>” or to move into aged care. Ageing in place includes living in one’s own home or <a href="https://theconversation.com/co-housing-works-well-for-older-people-once-they-get-past-the-image-problem-79907">co-habiting with relatives or friends</a>. Around 90% of Australian seniors <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/housing-decisions-older-australians/housing-decisions-older-australians.pdf">choose this option</a>, with the remainder opting for aged-care facilities. If one in ten Australian seniors live in aged-care facilities, it is clear these should be designed to minimise heat stress. This isn’t just good for residents; it may also benefit operators by lowering health-care and electricity costs. While these facilities are purpose-built for older people, many in Australia were built well over a decade ago, when heat stress was not such a large concern. Many more facilities are being built now and will be into the future. Yet it is uncertain whether they are being actively designed to reduce the impacts of heat. <h2>What has our research found?</h2> We recently conducted a focus group to investigate this issue. Participants were senior managers from four large corporate providers of aged care in Australia. We investigated if and how providers try to minimise heat stress through design. We also sought to understand the rationales used to support these design approaches. Several participants reported on refurbishments that they expect will have cooling effects. Cited design approaches included green roofs and walls, as well as sensory gardens. Other expected benefits included reducing anxiety and improving the mental health of residents. The fact that single design interventions could produce multiple benefits improved the potential for corporate buy-in. Participants expected that increasing green space and green cover would give their facilities a competitive advantage by attracting more clients and providing a better working environment for staff. Participants also reported on challenges of including greening in their projects. For example, the benefits of trees were weighed against concerns about roots disrupting footpaths and becoming trip hazards. Species selection was another concern, with fears that inappropriate plants could die and undermine support for greening programs. Our research suggests that more can be done to make cities hospitable for older people, especially during extreme heat. Urban greening is a start. Encouraging aged-care providers to adopt green infrastructure will have benefits. But we should also consider reforms to planning systems and urban design to better protect older people who choose to age in place.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112613/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/claudia-baldwin-248780">Claudia Baldwin</a>, Associate Professor, Urban Design and Town Planning, Sustainability Research Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-byrne-6066">Jason Byrne</a>, Professor of Human Geography and Planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tony-matthews-234160">Tony Matthews</a>, Senior Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-save-ageing-australians-from-the-heat-greening-our-cities-is-a-good-start-112613">original article</a>. </div>

Domestic Travel

Charles III will be the first king of Australia to visit our shores. He could also be the last

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jess-carniel-99739">Jess Carniel</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s upcoming visit to Australia is significant for several reasons. It is Charles’ first visit since ascending to the throne – as well as the first time a British male head of state has visited Australia. Some observers are also wondering whether it might be one of the last royal tours, as debates about Australia potentially <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/13/republican-debate-flares-ahead-of-king-charles-first-visit-to-australia-as-monarch">becoming a republic</a> are reignited. As the monarchy tries to “modernise” alongside growing support for republicanism, this visit will be one to watch. <h2>The curse of the Antipodes?</h2> As Prince of Wales, Charles had a long and successful track record of royal tours to Australia, having visited 16 times. The visits included a term attending <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-64113876">Geelong Grammar School</a> in 1966, as well as the <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/g33926226/princess-diana-prince-charles-australia-royal-tour-1983-photos/">1983 tour</a> with Princess Diana that saw Australians caught up in Di-mania – and Charles reportedly <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-29/princess-diana-princess-charles-australia-1983-the-crown/12914130">gripped by jealousy</a>. But Charles’ royal predecessors weren’t as lucky in their trips down under. His own grandfather, King George VI, <a href="https://collectionswa.net.au/items/202bce46-f056-413e-bc74-ddf4d2f8e999#:%7E:text=Planning%20for%20this%20royal%20visit,after%20her%20father's%20untimely%20death.">planned to visit</a> Australia in the late 1940s with Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, but the tour was postponed due to his poor health. While he had previously visited as the <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2053#:%7E:text=They%20had%20two%20daughters%2C%20Elizabeth,Canberra%20on%209%20May%201927.">Duke of York</a>, George VI never made it here as king. The very first royal visit to Australia – Prince Alfred’s <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/first-royal-visit">1867 tour</a> – had all appearance of being cursed. One of his crew members drowned during the first stop in South Australia. Several more people died in a major fire accident and a Catholic-Protestant skirmish in Melbourne. Most memorably – certainly for Alfred – was <a href="https://theconversation.com/royal-visits-to-australia-can-be-disaster-magnets-in-the-first-one-the-prince-barely-made-it-out-alive-233103">an assassination attempt</a> on the prince in Sydney. This, interestingly, is an experience King Charles has also had. During Charles’ 1994 visit, student protester David Kang fired blanks from a starter pistol in protest of Australia’s treatment of Cambodian refugees. The then Prince of Wales wasn’t harmed and Kang went on to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/he-shot-at-a-prince-now-hes-a-barrister-20050206-gdkmyp.html">become a barrister</a>. For non-British royals, however, Sydney has been a lucky location. King Frederick X’s decidedly modern romance <a href="https://www.womensweekly.com.au/royals/princess-mary/crown-princess-mary-crown-prince-frederik-love-story/">with Tasmania-born Queen Mary</a> famously began when they met at a bar during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. <h2>Prince or king – does it matter?</h2> This will be Charles’ seventeenth visit to Australia, but his first as reigning monarch. This means he is visiting not on behalf of the head of state, but as the head of state. The royal couple’s planned <a href="https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-09-10/the-king-and-queen-will-visit-australia-and-samoa">Australian engagements</a> are as strategic as they are symbolic. They reflect carefully curated and ostensibly “non-political” issues such as environmental sustainability, cancer research and family violence. The visit also includes a meeting with Indigenous representatives. Notably, it is the first royal tour <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/royal-walkabout-shelved-due-to-cultural-sensitivities-20240911-p5k9n1.html">to not use the term “walkabout”</a> to describe public meet-and-greets, as this term had been criticised as cultural appropriation. It seems Charles’ modernised monarchy is seeking to distance itself from overtly colonial language – as much as a foreign monarchy can, anyway. The king has yet to respond to Indigenous leaders <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-king-charles-apologise-for-the-genocide-of-first-nations-people-when-he-visits-australia-239092">calling for an apology</a> for British colonisers’ genocides of First Nations peoples. Although the Australian media has focused on the stops in Canberra and Sydney, the main purpose of the tour is for the king to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting <a href="https://samoachogm2024.ws/">in Samoa</a> between October 21 and 26. It is the first time the meeting will be hosted by a Pacific Island state. The talks are an important opportunity for the king to highlight issues such as climate change, to which small island states in the Pacific <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/pacific-climate-change-info">are particularly vulnerable</a>. <h2>Are people happy about the visit?</h2> All six state premiers have declined their invitations to meet the king at his welcome reception in Canberra, citing other commitments. Their excuses might be genuine in some cases. For example, Queensland Premier Steven Miles is in the last few weeks of an election campaign. However, critics from the monarchist camp have viewed the move as <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/king-charles-iii-snubbed-australia-state-leaders-visit-insult-uk/">a political response</a> to debates over whether Australia should remain a constitutional monarchy with the king as its head of state. A <a href="https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/46044-one-year-king-charles-reign-where-do-australian-at">YouGov Australia poll</a> published on the first anniversary of Charles’s ascension showed Australians are divided on republicanism. While 32% want to become a republic “as soon as possible”, 35% preferred to remain a constitutional monarchy and 12% wanted to become a republic after the king’s death. The remaining respondents didn’t know. Notably, the poll found republican sentiment had increased since Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022. The Albanese government established an assistant minister for the republic upon entering office in 2022 (although the portfolio was abolished with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/29/albaneses-new-lineup-signposts-labors-areas-of-greatest-weakness-and-effectively-concede-he-made-mistakes">this year’s reshuffle</a>). Upon taking the role, assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/01/minister-republic-twilight-queen-reign-good-opportunity-next-for-australia">suggested</a> the “twilight of [Queen Elizabeth’s] reign” presented “a good opportunity for a serious discussion about what comes next for Australia”. Charles doesn’t seem to be taking all this too personally. In a letter responding to the Australian Republican Movement in March this year, his private secretary said the king <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/13/republican-debate-flares-ahead-of-king-charles-first-visit-to-australia-as-monarch">viewed this</a> as “a matter for the Australian public to decide”. The royal tour and the meeting in Samoa will be important opportunities for the monarchy to connect with Australia and other Commonwealth nations. By presenting itself as a modern institution engaged with contemporary issues such as climate change, the monarchy will also have to engage with the possibility of new political identities for its former colonies.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/241345/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jess-carniel-99739">Jess Carniel</a>, Associate professor in Humanities, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-iii-will-be-the-first-king-of-australia-to-visit-our-shores-he-could-also-be-the-last-241345">original article</a>. </div>

Travel Trouble

One Direction star passes away aged 31

Former One Direction star Liam Payne has reportedly been found dead outside a hotel in Buenos Aires, in Argentina, according to local newspaper La Nacion. The 31-year-old is believed to have fallen from the third floor of a hotel at around 5pm local time the newspaper said, citing emergency services. According to La Nacion the local police station was called by the hotel manager who reported "an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol". It is reported that Payne fell from around 13 or 14 metres and suffered "very serious injuries incompatible with life." Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system SAME (El Sistema de Atención Médica de Emergencias), told local TV that Payne had fallen into a courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood. “At 17.11, a SAME team arrived and confirmed the man’s death. We later learned that he was a singer in a musical group. “Unfortunately, he had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death. There was no possibility of resuscitation.” Payne was one of the founding members of One Direction, one of the most loved boy bands of the past decade. He auditioned first as a solo act for the UK reality series The X Factor in 2008, before being eliminated. In 2010 he auditioned again and was grouped with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik by the judges to form One Direction. Image: SplashNews.com/ Shutterstock Editorial

Caring

Eight simple changes to our neighbourhoods can help us age well

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jerome-n-rachele-251972">Jerome N Rachele</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-f-sallis-407885">James F Sallis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-san-diego-1314">University of California, San Diego</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/venurs-loh-118864">Venurs Loh</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Where we live can play a big part in ageing well, largely because of the links between physical activity and wellbeing. <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/2181/AHURI_Final_Report_No214_Downsizing-amongst-older-Australians.pdf">Research shows</a> that two-thirds of Australians prefer to age in place. That is, we want to live independently in our homes for as long as we can. Our neighbourhoods and their design can then improve or hinder our ability to get out of the house and be physically active. The rapid ageing of Australia’s population only adds to the importance of neighbourhood design. In 2016, 15% of Australians were aged 65 or older. That proportion is <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-statistics/population-groups/older-people/overview">projected to double</a> by 2056. These trends present several <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-statistics/population-groups/older-people/reports">social and economic challenges</a>, particularly for the health sector. Designing neighbourhoods in ways that promote physical activity can help overcome these challenges. <h2>Eight simple steps</h2> The following is a short list of <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-017-0471-5">evidence-based steps</a> local and state governments can take to assist older people to be physically active. These involve minor but effective changes to neighbourhood design. Improve footpaths: Research indicates that older people have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-older-people-get-osteoporosis-and-have-falls-68145">higher risk of falls</a>. Ensuring footpaths are level and crack-free, and free from obstructions, will encourage walking among older people – especially those with a disability. Connected pedestrian networks: Introducing footpaths at the end of no-through-roads and across long street blocks reduces walking distances to destinations. This makes walking a more viable option. Slowing traffic in high-pedestrian areas: Slowing traffic <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/publications/Safe-Speed-Evidence-Report.pdf">improves safety</a> by reducing the risk of a collision. It also reduces the risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28557669">death and serious injury</a> in the event of a collision. Age-friendly street crossings: Installing longer pedestrian crossing light sequences gives older pedestrians <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/41/5/690/47318/Most-older-pedestrians-are-unable-to-cross-the">more time to cross</a>, and installing refuge islands means those who walk more slowly can cross the street in two stages. Disabled access at public transport: Although a form of motorised transport, public transport users undertake more incidental physical activity compared with car users. This is because they walk between transit stops and their origins and destinations. Improving disabled access helps make public transport a viable option for more older people. Places to rest: <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1054">Providing rest spots</a> such as benches enables older people to break up their walk and rest when needed. Planting trees: Planting trees <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614004109?via%3Dihub">creates more pleasant scenery</a> to enjoy on a walk. It also provides shade on hot days. Improving safety: Ensuring that streets are well-lit and reducing graffiti and signs of decay are likely to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24552845">improve perceptions of safety</a> among older people. <h2>Why physical activity matters</h2> Physical function – the ability to undertake everyday activities such as walking, bathing and climbing stairs – often declines as people age. The reason for this is that ageing is often accompanied by a reduction in muscle strength, flexibility and cardiorespiratory reserves. Regular physical activity can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14552936">prevent or slow the decline</a> in physical function, even among those with existing health conditions. Middle-to-older aged adults can reduce their risk of physical function decline <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-7-38">by 30%</a> with regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes per week). This includes recreational physical activity, like walking the dog, or incidental physical activity, such as walking to the shops or to visit friends. By making minor changes as outlined above, the health and longevity of our elderly population can be extended. Such changes will help our elderly age well in place. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jerome-n-rachele-251972">Jerome N Rachele</a>, Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology, Institute for Health and Ageing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-f-sallis-407885">James F Sallis</a>, Professorial Fellow, Institute for Health and Ageing, Australian Catholic University, and Emeritus Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-san-diego-1314">University of California, San Diego</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/venurs-loh-118864">Venurs Loh</a>, PhD Candidate, Institute for Health and Ageing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-simple-changes-to-our-neighbourhoods-can-help-us-age-well-83962">original article</a>. </div>

Travel Tips

George Negus dies at age 82

George Negus has died at the age of 82 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's. The news of the veteran broadcaster's death was announced by his family in an emotional statement, as they shared that Negus "passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones" and thanked Australian healthcare workers for supporting him "in the best possible way" during his final moments. "Despite the challenges diseases like Alzheimer's inflict on families, we still shared beautiful times, laughter and happiness together in recent times." "We also learnt a lot." Negus began his journalistic career writing for The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. Throughout his stellar media career, he also worked as attorney-general Lionel Murphy's press secretary during the Whitlam government-era, and presented Nine's 60 Minutes from 1979 until 1986. He also hosted the first episode of Foreign Correspondent on ABC in 1992, and went on to became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015, recognised for his significant service to the media, conservation and the environment. He is survived by his wife Kirsty and sons Ned and Serge. Image credits: Getty Images

Caring

Mother and son reunited after rigid aged care rules divided them

An elderly woman and her disabled son are celebrating after they successfully beat a bureaucratic blockage that threatened to <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/family-pets/red-tape-threatens-to-remove-a-man-with-down-s-syndrome-from-his-elderly-mother" target="_blank" rel="noopener">split</a> them up for good. Anne Deans, 81, and her 56-year-old son, Mark, who suffers from Down's syndrome, were hoping to live together in Anne's aged care facility, but the pair were met with countless hurdles when trying to get Mark a room of his own. Now, Mark's sister Sharon shared the happy news that the mother and son are to be reunited. "We're very happy today. We've got a great result," Sharon told <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/melbourne-mum-and-son-living-with-downs-syndrome-reunited-in-aged-care-facility/ff023844-be2d-4ab8-be95-75bf91f17b4a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Current Affair</a>. "I'm so grateful that people understood and they listened. That's all I ever wanted through this whole thing, was someone to listen." The problems began when authorities originally refused Mark's request to move into Anne's aged care facility, with federal government policy saying that aged care is "not appropriate for people under 65". But Mark's relatives argued that given the life expectancy of people living with Down's syndrome is 60 years, an exception should be made. A new assessment was done and Mark has been granted a place at the same nursing home as his mother, as Mark's other sister Michelle said, "We got what we wanted. Everything worked out perfectly, the way it's supposed to." After Anne received the exciting news, she said, "I'm feeling great. He's staying with Mum!" Sharon and Michelle hope that their experience will assist other families with unique circumstances. "My advice is to keep pushing," Sharon said. "Only you know your family and you have to be their voice. "There's a lot of difference out there and a lot of people who are individuals [and] they need to be looked at individually." Image credits: A Current Affair

Legal

Lessons for the next pandemic: where did Australia go right and wrong in responding to COVID?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-esterman-1022994">Adrian Esterman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/guzyal-hill-575966">Guzyal Hill</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-m-caudwell-1258935">Kim M Caudwell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-toole-18259">Michael Toole</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/burnet-institute-992">Burnet Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-mcgloughlin-1246135">Steven McGloughlin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tari-turner-7922">Tari Turner</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> With COVID still classified as <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19">an ongoing pandemic</a>, it’s difficult to contemplate the next one. But we <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-pathogen-might-spark-the-next-pandemic-how-scientists-are-preparing-for-disease-x-223193">need to be prepared</a>. We’ve seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-seeing-more-pandemics-our-impact-on-the-planet-has-a-lot-to-do-with-it-226827">several pandemics</a> in recent decades and it’s fair to expect we’ll see more. For the final part in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-next-pandemic-160343">series of articles</a> on the next pandemic, we’ve asked a range of experts what Australia got right and wrong it its response to COVID. Here they share their thoughts on the country’s COVID response – and what we can learn for the next pandemic. <hr /> <h2>Quarantine</h2> The federal government mandated 14 days of quarantine for all international arrivals between March 2020 and November 2021. During that period, <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/national-review-of-quarantine.pdf">452,550 people</a> passed through the system. The states and Northern Territory were given <a href="https://quarantineinquiry.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/covid-19-hotel-quarantine-inquiry-final-report-0">just 48 hours</a> to set up their quarantine systems. The states chose hotel quarantine, while the Northern Territory repurposed an old miner’s camp, <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/darwins-howard-springs-facility-a-model-for-building-national-resilience/">Howard Springs</a>, which had individual cabins with outdoor verandas. The ACT had very few international arrivals, while Tasmania only had hotel quarantine for domestic travellers. During the first 15 months of the program, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja2.51240">at least 22 breaches</a> occurred in five states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia). An inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/covid-victorias-devastating-hotel-quarantine-killed-almost-800-people-110450178.html">found</a> the lack of warning and planning to set up the complex system resulted in breaches that caused Victoria’s second COVID wave of 2020, leading to almost 800 deaths. A <a href="https://www.cnet.com/science/features/how-the-delta-variant-breached-australias-covid-fortress/">breach at Sydney airport</a> led to the introduction of the Delta variant into Australia. In the next pandemic, mistakes from COVID need to be avoided. They included failure to protect hotel residents and staff from airborne transmission through ventilation and mask usage. Protocols need to be consistent across the country, such as the type of security staff used, N95 masks for staff and testing frequency. These protocols need to be included in a national pandemic preparedness plan, which is frequently reviewed and tested through simulations. This did not occur with the pre-COVID preparedness plan. Dedicated quarantine centres like Howard Springs already exist in Victoria and Queensland. Ideally, they should be constructed in every jurisdiction. Michael Toole <hr /> <h2>Treatments</h2> Scientists had to move quickly after COVID was discovered to find effective treatments. Many COVID treatments involved repurposing existing drugs designed for other viruses. For example, the HIV drug ritonavir is a key element of <a href="https://theconversation.com/pfizers-pill-is-the-latest-covid-treatment-to-show-promise-here-are-some-more-171589">the antiviral Paxlovid</a>, while remdesivir was originally developed <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-who-has-advised-against-the-use-of-two-antibody-therapies-against-covid-heres-what-that-means-190787">to treat hepatitis C</a>. At the outset of the pandemic, there was a lot of uncertainty about COVID treatment among Australian health professionals. To keep up with the rapidly developing science, the <a href="https://www.monash.edu/medicine/partnerships/our-partnerships/projects/national-clinical-evidence-taskforce">National Clinical Evidence Taskforce</a> was established in March 2020. We were involved in its COVID response with more than 250 clinicians, consumers and researchers. Unusually for evidence-based guidelines, which are often updated only every five years or so, the taskforce’s guidelines were designed to be “living” – updated as new research became available. In April 2020 we released the first guidelines for care of people with COVID, and over the next three years <a href="https://app.magicapp.org/#/guideline/7252">these were updated</a> more than 100 times. While health-care professionals always had access to up-to-date guidance on COVID treatments, this same information was not as accessible for the public. This may partly explain why many people turned to <a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-trying-ivermectin-for-covid-heres-what-can-happen-with-this-controversial-drug-167178">unproven treatments</a>. The taskforce’s benefits could have been increased with funding to help the community understand COVID treatments. COVID drugs faced other obstacles too. For example, changes to the virus itself meant some treatments <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-centaurus-to-xbb-your-handy-guide-to-the-latest-covid-subvariants-and-why-some-are-more-worrying-than-others-192945">became less effective</a> as new variants emerged. Meanwhile, provision of antiviral treatments <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/How-we-analysed-COVID-antiviral-uptake-Grattan-Institute.pdf">has not been equitable</a> across the country. COVID drugs have had important, though not game-changing, impacts. Ultimately, effective vaccines played a much greater role in shifting the course of the pandemic. But we might not be so fortunate next time. In any future pandemic it will be crucial to have a clear pathway for rapid, reliable methods to develop and evaluate new treatments, disseminate that research to clinicians, policymakers and the public, and ensure all Australians can access the treatments they need. Steven McGloughlin and Tari Turner, Monash University <hr /> <h2>Vaccine rollout</h2> COVID vaccines were developed <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-sciences-greatest-achievements-how-the-rapid-development-of-covid-vaccines-prepares-us-for-future-pandemics-228787">in record time</a>, but rolling them out quickly and seamlessly proved to be a challenge. In Australia, there were several missteps along the way. First, there was poor preparation and execution. Detailed <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/auditor-general-highlights-vaccine-rollout-failures">planning was not finalised</a> until after the rollout had begun. Then the federal government had <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-australias-covid-vaccine-rollout-has-been-bungled-158225">overly ambitious targets</a>. For example, the goal of vaccinating four million people by the end of March 2021 fell drastically short, with less than one-fifth of that number actually vaccinated by that time. There were also <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-australias-covid-vaccine-rollout-has-been-bungled-158225">supply issues</a>, with the European Union blocking some deliveries to Australia. Unfortunately, the government was heavily reliant on <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/auditor-general-highlights-vaccine-rollout-failures">the AstraZeneca vaccine</a>, which was found, in rare cases, to lead to <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/covid-19-vaccines/advice-for-providers/clinical-guidance/tts">blood clots</a> in younger people. Despite all this, Australia ultimately achieved high vaccination rates. By the end of December 2021, <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/12/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-update-31-december-2021.pdf">more than 94%</a> of the population aged 16 and over had received at least one dose. This was a significant public health achievement and saved <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299844">thousands of lives</a>. But over the past couple of years, Australia’s initially strong vaccine uptake has been waning. The <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-03/atagi-statement-on-the-administration-of-covid-19-vaccines-in-2024.pdf">Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation</a> recommends booster doses for vulnerable groups annually or twice annually. However, only 30% of people aged <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-09/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-update-13-september-2024.pdf">75 and over</a> (for whom a booster is recommended every six months) have had a booster dose in the past six months. There are several lessons to be learned from the COVID vaccine rollout for any future pandemic, though it’s not entirely clear whether they are being heeded. For example, several manufacturers have developed <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-covid-vaccines-may-be-coming-to-australia-heres-what-to-know-about-the-jn-1-shots-237652">updated COVID vaccines</a> based on the JN.1 subvariant. But <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/why-australia-could-miss-out-on-modernas-new-covid-19-vaccine/n5n0iruv1">reports indicate</a> the government will only be purchasing the Pfizer JN.1 booster. This doesn’t seem like the best approach to shore up vaccine supply. Adrian Esterman, University of South Australia <hr /> <h2>Mode of transmission</h2> Nearly five years since SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) first emerged, we now know <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted">airborne transmission</a> plays a far greater role than we originally thought. In contrast, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted via surfaces is <a href="https://theconversation.com/catching-covid-from-surfaces-is-very-unlikely-so-perhaps-we-can-ease-up-on-the-disinfecting-155359">likely to be low</a>, and perhaps effectively non-existent in many situations. Early in the pandemic, the role contaminated surfaces and inanimate objects played in COVID transmission was overestimated. The main reason we got this wrong, at least initially, was that in the absence of any direct experience with SARS-CoV-2, we extrapolated what we believed to be true for other respiratory viruses. This was understandable, but it proved to be inadequate for predicting how SARS-CoV-2 would behave. One of the main consequences of overestimating the role of surface transmission was that it resulted in a lot of unnecessary anxiety and the adoption of what can only be viewed in retrospect as <a href="https://theconversation.com/catching-covid-from-surfaces-is-very-unlikely-so-perhaps-we-can-ease-up-on-the-disinfecting-155359">over-the-top cleaning practices</a>. Remember the teams of people who walked the streets wiping down traffic light poles? How about the concern over reusable coffee cups? Considerable resources that could have been better invested elsewhere were directed towards disinfecting surfaces. This also potentially distracted our focus from other preventive measures that were likely to have been more effective, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-masks-reduce-the-risk-of-spreading-covid-despite-a-review-saying-they-dont-198992">wearing masks</a>. The focus on surface transmission was amplified by a number of studies published early in the pandemic that documented the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7121658/">survival of SARS-CoV-2</a> for long periods on surfaces. However, these were conducted in the lab with little similarity to real-world conditions. In particular, the amounts of virus placed on surfaces were greater than what people would likely encounter outside the lab. This inflated viral survival times and therefore the perception of risk. The emphasis on surface transmission early in the pandemic ultimately proved to be a miscalculation. It highlights the challenges in understanding how a new virus spreads. Hassan Vally, Deakin University <hr /> <h2>National unity</h2> Initially, Commonwealth, state and territory leaders were relatively united in their response to the COVID pandemic. The establishment of the National Cabinet in <a href="https://federation.gov.au/national-cabinet">March 2020</a> indicated a commitment to consensus-based public health policy. Meanwhile, different jurisdictions came together to deliver a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/financial-difficulties-and-disasters/covid-19/jobkeeper-payment">range of measures</a> aimed at supporting businesses and workers affected by COVID restrictions. But as the pandemic continued, tensions gave way to deeper ideological fractures between jurisdictions <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-024-05834-9">and individuals</a>. The issues of <a href="https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/article/covid-19-vaccine-mandates-a-coercive-but-justified-public-health-necessity">vaccine mandates</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-30/wa-premier-mark-mcgowan-reopening-date-decision/100788876">border closures</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00048674211031489">lockdowns</a> all created fragmentation between governments, and among experts. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/19/daniel-andrews-lashes-josh-frydenberg-over-attack-on-victorias-covid-strategy">blame game began</a> between and within jurisdictions. For example, the politicisation of <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/govt-playing-cruise-ship-blame-game-labor/49ad3491-2187-4991-a3a0-1c61145bc2cb">quarantine regulations on cruise ships</a> revealed disunity. School closures, on which the Commonwealth and state and territory governments <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-made-the-wrong-decisions-covid-era-mass-school-closures-condemned-20240214-p5f521.html">took different positions</a>, also generated controversy. These and other instances of polarisation undermined the intent of the newly established <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-the-covid-crisis-easing-is-the-national-cabinet-still-fit-for-purpose-202145">National Cabinet</a>. The COVID pandemic showed us that <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4859497">disunity across the country</a> threatens the collective work needed for an effective response in <a href="https://ir.law.fsu.edu/jtlp/vol30/iss1/3/">the face of emergencies</a>. The <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/domestic-policy/commonwealth-government-covid-19-response-inquiry">COVID response inquiry</a>, due to release its results soon, will hopefully help us work toward <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-3292-2">national uniform legislation</a> that may benefit Australia in the event of <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-3292-2_10">any future pandemics</a>. This doesn’t necessarily mean identical legislation across the country – this won’t always be appropriate. But a cohesive, long-term approach is crucial to ensure the best outcomes for the Australian federation in its entirety. Guzyal Hill and Kim M Caudwell, Charles Darwin University <hr /> This article is part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-next-pandemic-160343">series on the next pandemic</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/239819/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-esterman-1022994">Adrian Esterman</a>, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/guzyal-hill-575966">Guzyal Hill</a>, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts and Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-m-caudwell-1258935">Kim M Caudwell</a>, Senior Lecturer - Psychology | Chair, Researchers in Behavioural Addictions, Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-toole-18259">Michael Toole</a>, Associate Principal Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/burnet-institute-992">Burnet Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-mcgloughlin-1246135">Steven McGloughlin</a>, Director, Intensive Care Unit, Alfred Health; Professor, Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tari-turner-7922">Tari Turner</a>, Director, Evidence and Methods, National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce; Associate Professor (Research), Cochrane Australia, School of Population Health and Preventive Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-for-the-next-pandemic-where-did-australia-go-right-and-wrong-in-responding-to-covid-239819">original article</a>. </div>

Legal

Cyclist and AusPost worker caught in wild brawl

An altercation between an Australia Post worker and a cyclist has gone viral on social media, with an investigation underway. The video captured by Gold Coast resident Codey Lamos showed the cyclist attacking the postie's van. "I don't want to fight, go away," the driver can be heard saying, as he tries to get into his van, the cyclist pushes the door squishing the driver. After realising he won't be left alone, the driver jumps out and begins throwing punches at the cyclist, while also throwing a small object at him. They then punch at each other for a few seconds, exchanging a few words before the driver hopped back into his van. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBBICoSpsmS/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBBICoSpsmS/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by 7NEWS Queensland (@7newsqueensland)</a> </div> </blockquote> "Australia Post is aware of an incident involving a subcontractor delivery driver, which has also been reported to Police," a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia on Saturday. "As the footage only shows part of the incident, Australia Post will conduct a full investigation into the matter, however the behaviour shown in the video is not what Australia Post expects of its people." Lamos believed the fight was triggered after the postie reportedly cut the cyclist off and something had been thrown at his face, telling the Daily Mail that the cyclist "followed the postman into complex and that's what I captured." The video gained nearly a million views the day after it was posted on TikTok, with many describing the scene as "embarrassing". However, a few others defended the postie, with one saying: "No stop. This is my postman. He is the kindest person." "I know the postie came out on top but I still feel bad for him. No one should be treated like this at work," another added. “Postie tossed between losing his job or losing his patience,” a third wrote. One person wrote of the cyclist: “I can’t take captain spandex seriously.” Images: TikTok

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Why hurricanes like Milton in the US and cyclones in Australia are becoming more intense and harder to predict

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-dowdy-119002">Andrew Dowdy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/liz-ritchie-tyo-1509061">Liz Ritchie-Tyo</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/savin-chand-1351050">Savin Chand</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/federation-university-australia-780">Federation University Australia</a> Tropical cyclones, known as hurricanes and typhoons in other parts of the world, have caused huge damage in many places recently. The United States has just been hit by <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start">Hurricane Milton</a>, within two weeks of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hurricane-helene-became-a-deadly-disaster-across-six-states-240522">Hurricane Helene</a>. Climate change <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-key-driver-of-catastrophic-impacts-of-hurricane-helene-that-devastated-both-coastal-and-inland-communities/">likely made their impacts worse</a>. In Australia, the tropical cyclone season (November to April) is approaching. The Bureau of Meteorology this week released its <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/cyclones/australia/">long-range forecast</a> for this season. It predicts an average number of tropical cyclones, 11, are likely to form in the region. Four are expected to cross the Australian coast. However, the risk of severe cyclones is higher than average. So what does an average number actually mean in our rapidly changing climate? And why is there a higher risk of intense cyclones? The bureau’s forecast is consistent with scientific evidence suggesting climate change is likely to result in fewer but more severe tropical cyclones. They are now more likely to bring stronger winds and <a href="https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/28/1251/2024/hess-28-1251-2024.pdf">more intense rain and flooding</a>. <h2>Climate change is making prediction harder</h2> Our knowledge of tropical cyclones and climate change is based on multiple lines of evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0189.1">globally</a> and for the Australian region. This work includes our studies based on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01388-4">observations</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-018-4497-4">modelling</a>. The bureau’s seasonal outlook in recent years has assumed an average of 11 tropical cyclones occurring in our region (covering an area of the southern tropics between longitudes 90°E and 160°E). It’s based on the average value for all years back to 1969. However, for the past couple of decades the annual average is below nine tropical cyclones. In earlier decades, it was over 12. This long-term downward trend adds to the challenge of seasonal predictions. The most recent above-average season (assuming an average of 11) was almost 20 years ago, in the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/tropical-cyclone-knowledge-centre/history/climatology/">2005–06 summer with 12 tropical cyclones</a>. Since then, any prediction of above-average tropical cyclone seasons has not eventuated. <h2>El Niño and La Niña influences may be changing too</h2> Historical observations suggest more tropical cyclones tend to occur near Australia during La Niña events. This is a result of warm, moist water and air near Australia, compared with El Niño events. The shifting between El Niño and La Niña states in the Pacific region is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Such events can be predicted with a useful degree of accuracy several months ahead in some cases. For example, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has <a href="https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf">forecast</a>: <blockquote> La Niña is favored to emerge in September–November (71% chance) and is expected to persist through January–March 2025. </blockquote> Based on that, one might expect a higher-than-average number of tropical cyclones for the Australian region. However, the <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/asl2.502">ENSO influence on tropical cyclones has weakened</a> in our region. It’s another factor that’s making long-range predictions harder. The <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/outlook/">bureau’s ENSO outlook</a> is somewhat closer to neutral ENSO conditions, based on its modelling, compared to NOAA’s leaning more toward La Niña. The bureau says: <blockquote> Should La Niña form in the coming months, it is forecast to be relatively weak and short-lived. </blockquote> The bureau’s prediction of an average number of tropical cyclones this season is broadly consistent with its prediction of close-to-average ENSO conditions. <h2>So what does this all mean for this cyclone season?</h2> If we end up getting an average Australian season for the current climate, this might actually mean fewer tropical cyclones than the historical average. The number might be closer to eight or nine rather than 11 or 12. (Higher or lower values than this range are still possible.) However, those that do occur could have an increased chance of being <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/tropical-cyclone-knowledge-centre/understanding/categories/">category 4 or 5 tropical cyclones</a>. These have stronger winds, with gusts typically exceeding 225km per hour, and are more likely to cause severe floods and coastal damage. If we end up getting more than the recent average of eight to nine tropical cyclones, which could happen if NOAA predictions of La Niña conditions eventuate, that increases the risk of impacts. However, there is one partially good news story from climate change relating to this, if the influence of La Niña is less than it used to be on increasing tropical cyclone activity. Another factor is that the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/ocean/sst/#/anom/global/weekly/20241006">world’s oceans are much warmer than usual</a>. Warm ocean water is one of several factors that provide the energy needed for a tropical cyclone to form. Many ocean heat <a href="https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/?dm_id=world2">records have been set</a> recently. This means we have been in “uncharted waters” from a temperature perspective. It adds further uncertainty if relying on what occurred in the past when making predictions for the current climate. <h2>Up-to-date evidence is vital as climate changes</h2> The science makes it clear we need to plan for tropical cyclone impacts in a different way from what might have worked in the past. This includes being prepared for potentially fewer tropical cyclones overall, but with those that do occur being more likely to cause more damage. This means there are higher risks of damaging winds, flooding and coastal erosion. Seasonal prediction guidance can be part of improved planning. There’s also a need for enhanced design standards and other climate change adaptation activities. All can be updated regularly to stay consistent with the best available scientific knowledge. Increased preparedness is more important than ever to help reduce the potential for disasters caused by tropical cyclones in the current and future climate. <hr /> The authors acknowledge the contribution of CSIRO researcher <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hamish-ramsay-19549">Hamish Ramsay</a> during the writing of this article.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/241000/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-dowdy-119002">Andrew Dowdy</a>, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/liz-ritchie-tyo-1509061">Liz Ritchie-Tyo</a>, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/savin-chand-1351050">Savin Chand</a>, Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/federation-university-australia-780">Federation University Australia</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-hurricanes-like-milton-in-the-us-and-cyclones-in-australia-are-becoming-more-intense-and-harder-to-predict-241000">original article</a>. </div>

Travel Trouble

Getting antivirals for COVID too often depends on where you live and how wealthy you are

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-breadon-1348098">Peter Breadon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> Medical experts <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/treatments/eligibility">recommend</a> antivirals for people aged 70 and older who get COVID, and for other groups at risk of severe illness and hospitalisation from COVID. But many older Australians have missed out on antivirals after getting sick with COVID. It is yet another way the health system is failing the most vulnerable. <h2>Who missed out?</h2> We <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/How-we-analysed-COVID-antiviral-uptake-Grattan-Institute.pdf">analysed</a> COVID antiviral uptake between March 2022 and September 2023. We found some groups were more likely to miss out on antivirals including Indigenous people, people from disadvantaged areas, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Some of the differences will be due to different rates of infection. But across this 18-month period, many older Australians were infected at least once, and rates of infection were higher in some disadvantaged communities. <h2>How stark are the differences?</h2> Compared to the national average, Indigenous Australians were nearly 25% less likely to get antivirals, older people living in disadvantaged areas were 20% less likely to get them, and people with a culturally or linguistically diverse background were 13% less likely to get a script. People in remote areas were 37% less likely to get antivirals than people living in major cities. People in outer regional areas were 25% less likely. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/620627/original/file-20240920-20-yc7sq5.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Dispensing rates by group. Grattan Institute</figcaption></figure> Even within the same city, the differences are stark. In Sydney, people older than 70 in the affluent eastern suburbs (including Vaucluse, Point Piper and Bondi) were nearly twice as likely to have had an antiviral as those in Fairfield, in Sydney’s south-west. Older people in leafy inner-eastern Melbourne (including Canterbury, Hawthorn and Kew) were 1.8 times more likely to have had an antiviral as those in Brimbank (which includes Sunshine) in the city’s west. <h2>Why are people missing out?</h2> COVID antivirals should be taken when symptoms first appear. While awareness of COVID antivirals is generally strong, people often <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40121-024-01003-3">don’t realise</a> they would benefit from the medication. They <a href="https://www.phrp.com.au/?p=43363">wait</a> until symptoms get worse and it is too late. Frequent GP visits make a big difference. Our analysis found people 70 and older who see a GP more frequently were much more likely to be dispensed a COVID antiviral. Regular visits give an opportunity for preventive care and patient education. For example, GPs can provide high-risk patients with “COVID treatment plans” as a reminder to get tested and seek treatment as soon as they are unwell. Difficulty seeing a GP could help explain low antiviral use in rural areas. Compared to people in major cities, people in small rural towns have about 35% <a href="https://hwd.health.gov.au/resources/data/gp-primarycare.html">fewer</a> GPs, see their GP about half as often, and are 30% more likely to <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-services/patient-experiences/latest-release">report</a> waiting too long for an appointment. Just like for <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/A-fair-shot-How-to-close-the-vaccination-gap-Grattan-Institute-Report.pdf">vaccination</a>, a GP’s focus on antivirals probably matters, as does providing care that is accessible to people from different cultural backgrounds. <h2>Care should go those who need it</h2> Since the period we looked at, evidence has emerged that raises <a href="https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/FmjFC91ZVBSmBpXpZSEh9CqMtQx?domain=nejm.org">doubts</a> about how effective antivirals are, particularly for people at lower risk of severe illness. That means getting vaccinated is more important than getting antivirals. But all Australians who are eligible for antivirals should have the same chance of getting them. These drugs have cost more than A$1.7 billion, with the vast majority of that money coming from the federal government. While dispensing rates have fallen, more than <a href="http://medicarestatistics.humanservices.gov.au/statistics/do.jsp?_PROGRAM=%2Fstatistics%2Fpbs_item_standard_report&itemlst=%2712910L%27%2C%2712996B%27&ITEMCNT=2&LIST=12910L%2C12996B&VAR=SERVICES&RPT_FMT=6&start_dt=202201&end_dt=202408">30,000</a> packs of COVID antivirals were dispensed in August, costing about $35 million. Such a huge investment shouldn’t be leaving so many people behind. Getting treatment shouldn’t depend on your income, cultural background or where you live. Instead, care should go to those who need it the most. People born overseas have been <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19-mortality-australia-deaths-registered-until-31-january-2024#deaths-due-to-covid-19-country-of-birth">40% more likely</a> to die from COVID than those born here. Indigenous Australians have been <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19-mortality-australia-deaths-registered-until-31-january-2024#covid-19-mortality-among-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people">60% more likely</a> to die from COVID than non-Indigenous people. And the most disadvantaged people have been <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19-mortality-australia-deaths-registered-until-31-january-2024#deaths-due-to-covid-19-socio-economic-status-seifa-">2.8 times</a> more likely to die from COVID than those in the wealthiest areas. All those at-risk groups have been more likely to miss out on antivirals. It’s not just a problem with antivirals. The same groups are also disproportionately missing out on COVID <a>vaccination</a>, compounding their risk of severe illness. The pattern is repeated for other important preventive health care, such as <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/54a38a6a-9e3c-4f58-b2f6-cdef977a7d60/aihw-can-155_15sept.pdf?v=20230915162104&inline=true">cancer</a> <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/27f32443-5206-4189-8775-0c1f55a26bc4/aihw-can-160.pdf?v=20240617095924&inline=true">screening</a>. <h2>A 3-step plan to meet patients’ needs</h2> The federal government should do three things to close these gaps in preventive care. First, the government should make Primary Health Networks (PHNs) responsible for reducing them. PHNs, the regional bodies responsible for improving primary care, should share data with GPs and step in to boost uptake in communities that are missing out. Second, the government should extend its <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/mymedicare">MyMedicare</a> reforms. MyMedicare gives general practices flexible funding to care for patients who live in residential aged care or who visit hospital frequently. That approach should be <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/a-new-medicare-strengthening-general-practice/">expanded</a> to all patients, with more funding for poorer and sicker patients. That will give GP clinics time to advise patients about preventive health, including COVID vaccines and antivirals, before they get sick. Third, team-based pharmacist prescribing should be introduced. Then pharmacists could quickly dispense antivirals for patients if they have a prior agreement with the patient’s GP. It’s an approach that would also <a href="https://theconversation.com/pharmacists-should-be-able-to-work-with-gps-to-prescribe-medicines-for-long-term-conditions-212359">work</a> for medications for chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. COVID antivirals, unlike vaccines, have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-wave-whats-the-latest-on-antiviral-drugs-and-who-is-eligible-in-australia-218423">keeping up</a> with new variants without the need for updates. If a new and more harmful variant emerges, or when a new pandemic hits, governments should have these systems in place to make sure everyone who needs treatment can get it fast. In the meantime, fairer access to care will help close the big and persistent <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0cbc6c45-b97a-44f7-ad1f-2517a1f0378c/hiamhbrfhsu.pdf?v=20230605184558&inline=true">gaps</a> in health between different groups of Australians. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-breadon-1348098">Peter Breadon</a>, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-antivirals-for-covid-too-often-depends-on-where-you-live-and-how-wealthy-you-are-239497">original article</a>. </div>

Caring

New calls for Boomers to end housing crisis

New research has called for Boomers to rent out their spare bedrooms in a bid to address the country's housing crisis. According to research from the Queensland University of Technology, there are more than 13 million spare bedrooms across the country, meaning 76 per cent of Aussie households have spare rooms. The report has called for older Australians to rent out their spare rooms to provide “short-term relief to both the rental and the cost of living crisis”. “If new housing stock is years away, then shifting the focus to existing housing may provide some short-term solutions,” the report states. The report also found that more than six million homes have one or two spare bedrooms, while one million homes have three or more spare bedrooms. They also encouraged the government to incentivise older Australians to open up their spare rooms to renters, to provide them some financial relief during the cost of living crisis. Currently, the Government hopes to build 1.2 million homes, but have welcomed further ideas to help relieve the cost of living crisis. “Meeting this ambitious target will certainly be a challenge and it won’t happen overnight, but it’s a challenge we have to meet in order to make housing more affordable," a government spokesman said. However, the Queensland University of Technology noted that the demand for housing is set to outstrip supply in Australia until at least 2029, based on the government's State of the Housing System report. “The housing crisis is a complex matter and new housing supply is years away, despite billions of dollars of government commitments,” the report states. “Millions of empty bedrooms exist and yet many older homeowners live in poverty rather than risk losing their pension or paying taxes by renting out a spare bedroom.” The report acknowledged that there may be barriers like concerns for elder abuse that may deter people from renting out their homes, "however, under the right circumstances, with appropriate support and education, such ‘house sharing’ arrangements could alleviate some of the current housing and cost of living issues." “There is an urgent need for further research to be undertaken to explore opportunities to incentivise, educate, support, and protect older Australians to open their homes and unlock existing housing stock for immediate use by those in need.” These findings follow PropTrack’s latest Housing Affordability Report that stated housing affordability in Australia has deteriorated to its “worst level on record” amid high mortgage rates and increasing home prices. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

World’s longest treasure hunt ends as Golden Owl finally unearthed in France

After more than three decades of mystery and intrigue, the world’s longest-running treasure hunt has come to a thrilling conclusion with the discovery of the elusive Golden Owl. Valued at approximately $240,000, the treasure had captivated the imaginations of thousands since it was first buried in France in the early 1990s. The hunt began with the publication of the now-famous book, On the Trail of the Golden Owl, written by communications expert Régis Hauser under the pseudonym “Max Valentin” and illustrated by artist Michel Becker. The 1993 book challenged readers to solve a series of intricate riddles and clues, which, when deciphered, would reveal the owl’s secret location. Despite years of painstaking attempts to crack the mystery, the Golden Owl remained hidden for decades, surviving even its creator. Hauser passed away in 2009, leaving the prize still buried. Michel Becker, who took over the management of the hunt, delivered the long-awaited news on October 3 via an online announcement that sparked a frenzy among treasure hunters: “A potential winning solution is currently being verified.” Two hours later, he confirmed: “Don’t go digging! We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night.” The treasure hunt’s <a href="https://goldenowlhunt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website was also updated with the announcement</a>, bringing an end to a search that has been both thrilling and, for some, overwhelming. The obsession and madness behind the search For over 30 years, the Golden Owl hunt transcended being just a hobby for many treasure hunters and became an all-consuming obsession. While some enjoyed it as a leisurely pursuit, others were driven to extreme lengths – financially, emotionally and mentally. The search for the owl has been linked to personal crises, including financial ruin and broken marriages. At least one individual reportedly ended up in an asylum due to their fixation on solving the hunt’s riddles. The toll wasn’t limited to individuals. Searchers caused considerable disruption across France, digging unauthorised holes in public and private lands. In one eastern French village, the local mayor was forced to plead with hunters to stop digging around its chapel, while in other cases, searchers brought power tools to banks and even considered destroying structures in the hopes of unearthing the treasure. The Golden Owl’s elusive clues On the Trail of the Golden Owl contained a complex series of 11 riddles, each paired with a painting by Becker. The riddles, combined with maps, colours and hidden details, challenged readers to work out the owl’s hidden location. Before his death, Hauser revealed three crucial elements to solving the puzzle: The use of maps: Hunters needed to work with maps to narrow down the search area and use a specific map to pinpoint the final zone. A “mega trick”: This was the key to using the sequence of riddles to locate the final area where the owl was hidden. A final hidden riddle: Once in the final zone, hunters had to uncover one last riddle to lead them to the exact spot of the treasure. Joyous celebration among treasure hunters The treasure-hunting community was overjoyed when the news broke, with many expressing their disbelief and excitement. “Finally – liberated!” exclaimed one fan on the hunt’s Discord forum. Another added, “I didn’t think I’d live to see the day.” As of now, the exact location of the owl’s discovery and the identity of the finder remain undisclosed. However, Becker hinted at the complexity involved in concluding this monumental hunt. “Tons of emotions to manage for all those who are responsible for managing the end of this episode and complex logistics to put in place,” he said in a statement on October 6. For now, the Golden Owl, a treasure that has held a generation of sleuths in its grasp, has been unearthed. Yet, the fascination with its story will undoubtedly linger for years to come. Images/Illustrations: Michel Becker

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