Do you think that might be heritage lichen?

What the absolute fuck? 20 months? I genuinely do believe rehabilitation can be possible for some pedophiles as opposed to just punishment, but this guy has zero remorse and for the degree of his offending...

I remember how big this was for a while - only for this bit of news to be buried with a short article. Surely the scale of infestation (resulting in the change in approach) is going to have significant impacts to pollinator-dependent agriculture?

I'm wary of how diluted "affordable housing" means. Bypassing Council, VCAT and third party appeals are very tasty prizes for developers and I'm sure plenty would manipulate the definition of "affordable housing" to get a ticket to far less planning oversight, especially with the low bar of entry at 50 million. More housing is desperately needed, and NIMBY pushback has definitely been an issue, but I really hope the homes will actually be affordable, and that the Vic government planners will enforce good quality design, not boundary to boundary grossness with no setbacks or green space.

Many people predicted this would happen...

What do you think? As a migrant myself I have to confess I'm not that on board with expecting aged parents to be part of the package when migrating over, even my own aunts and uncles who are currently going through the process via their own children.

However, it is cruel of the Australian government to keep providing "hope" and taking people's application fees when they have understandably little intention of increasing the aged migrant intake. I think they should cut the crap and stop offering these visas if reducing aged migrant intake is their intention. Just keep on the long term visit visas for parents, whack on a mandatory private health insurance clause if needed.

Cooking on gas is the one environmentally damaging thing I don't want to give up, I'll admit...