@matildagirl, We stand with you, holding you all in love.
Archie Moore has spent several months drawing his family tree back 65,000 years on the walls of the Australian Pavilion for the Venice Beinnale for which he won the Golden Lion.
With this year’s theme of “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere,” Moore won the award for his artwork, kith and kin, at the Australia Pavilion.
Moore said he felt “honoured” to be rewarded for his work. “As the water flows through the canals of Venice to the lagoon, then to the Adriatic Sea, it then travels to the oceans and to the rest of the world – enveloping the continent of Australia – connecting us all here on Earth. Aboriginal kinship systems include all living things from the environment in a larger network of relatedness, the land itself can be a mentor or a parent to a child. We are all one and share a responsibility of care to all living things now and into the future.”
Regards to all
Matildagirl
@matildagirl Fascinating story, thanks for sharing! BTW, I read a few days ago that the baby girl that got stabbed in the mall massacre is in stable condition and expected to survive. My heart went out to her and her family after her mother died trying to save her. Grateful that she survived and to all those physicians and nurses that took care of her!
@kathleen yes that is good news and apparently a go fund me request has raised over $430,000 for her.
The government is looking into strengthening our knife laws and getting together with the state governments to have the same laws Australia wide. So will see what happens there.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/australia/rallies-across-australia-against-gendered-violence
A dozen rallies will be held in major cities and regional towns on Sunday as part of a series of national events calling for a break in the cycle of violence that has claimed the lives of at least 26 women so far in 2024, according to Destroy the Joint.
These rallies are against domestic violence and the Prime Minister will be joining the March in Canberra with the Government Minister for Women Katy Gallagher.
Last year it averaged 1 women a week being killed in DV so far this year it averaging 1 in 4 days but that includes the women killed in the Bondi Junction stabbing recently.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
Speaking of homelessness and domestic violence.
In the stabbing incident in the Shopping Centre we had recently the main victims were women which seemed targeted and helped highlight domestic violence here as the number of women killed from domestic violence was rising from 1 a week to 1 every 4 days, there were protests around the country for the Government to act. Homelessness is also rising, we have a rental crisis here, not enough places to rent and landlords being human are raising rents because they can.
So the Albanese government will put an extra $1bn towards crisis accommodation for women and children leaving domestic violence, as part of a multi-billion-dollar housing and homelessness package agreed at national cabinet on Friday.
We already have guaranteed paid leave for people due to domestic violence of 10 days. The government is now also giving $5,000 leaving violence payment.
Homelessness
The commonwealth will double its funding for homelessness under the $9.3bn national agreement, while the states will get another $1bn to help speed up construction on infrastructure to support new housing.
Here is hoping it really does help.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
@matildagirl Your government is quickly responsive! That's great!
@matildagirl I'm glad your government is being responsive, although I'm sure that more efforts and money will be needed in the future. In the US, we have a mostly non-profit and non-governmental funded network of domestic shelters in many local communities. Many of them are very good, and they get a lot of their monies from individuals and private organizations. Some of them in smaller communities struggle for survival. Please keep us posted on how it's working.
It helps that at the moment we have a Federal Labor government and most states as well. Labor governments over the years have given us things like universal healthcare, superannuation, disability insurance scheme, leave entitlements etc. and so on.
The funds are mainly to help people leave abusive relationships but there is a great need to reeducate men in behavioural changes. Violent men not only kill women but also other men.
I don’t know enough about domestic violence having never experienced it or thankfully knowing anyone who has. We also have the non government agencies, shelters, hotlines to call etc here as well.
Possibly the rise in D V has been due to cost of living increases, inflation and housing shortages which to its credit the government is trying to help with, but I think possibly is a world wide problem at the moment.
The new generations coming through may have different attitudes which will help break the cycles. Abused young people become the abusers and if help is provided early enough it could change that trajectory. Who knows, I don’t know enough to speak with an authority. It would be good though.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
@matildagirl I'm a huge supporter of universal healthcare in the US, most recently referred to as Medicare for All. I worked on the business side of heath care management all my career, and I can say with confidence that most the inequities and lack of healthcare access in our current US healthcare system can be addressed if we have a broader population participating in the same efficient program that is now just for our seniors.
@kathleen nothing has caused me more frustration in my life (and we have great insurance!) than the inequities and horror stories of the American healthcare system in its current form. I have been so privileged my entire life to have had good insurance. It wasn’t until my first year of teaching (22 years ago) that I truly had my eyes opened to how bad it can be for so many. I get sick, I see a doctor, I pay a small copay, I pick up my prescription, and I take some time off to recover. My students? Not so much. It’s a system rife for an overhaul and I’m fearful we won’t see it in our lifetime.
@matildagirl a thank you nod for the opportunity to note that many abusers are also former victims, though not all victims become abusers.
Sometimes I think of our beautiful earth as the "fighting planet" - from individual to multinational levels many problems are attempted to be solved this way, violent fighting sports and activities serve as entertainment, and very large amounts of money that could be used so well elsewhere go to fighting and the fighting industries. Maybe if we looked at the long reach of history we would see that we are actually advancing in this regard?
@dannyboy If we can get past this next election with Biden as the winner, I think that the time for Medicare for All (or whatever it is eventually called) will be ripe. It was discussed in many of the democratic debates leading up to Biden's win in 2020, and there was surprising voter support on both sides. I'm more hopeful that it may be either attached to or driven by women's healthcare rights.
Violent protests have erupted in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific, with at least six people killed and many others injured after lawmakers in Paris approved a constitutional amendment to allow recent arrivals to the territory to vote in provincial elections.
The amendment, which some local leaders fear will dilute the vote of the Indigenous Kanak people, is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long tussle over France’s role in the islands, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will travel to New Caledonia where the Pacific territory has seen a week of deadly riots sparked by electoral changes imposed by the government in Paris.
Approximately 3,000 tourists are thought to be marooned in New Caledonia, according to Agence France-Presse, including more than 300 Australians and nearly 250 New Zealanders.
Australia and New Zealand have sent Military aircraft to evacuate their citizens.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the flights were an important step and ensuring Australians were safe amid the violent riots.
“The wellbeing of Australians in New Caledonia is a priority,” Mr Albanese said on X.
Australians stranded in New Caledonia have now touched down on home soil after being rescued by the Defence Force as violent protests continue in the South Pacific.
Trouble in Paradise.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
Yay finally Sydney's new multi-billion-dollar metro line is up and running. It travels under the harbour and through the centre of the city, the business centre, the normal train runs across the harbour bridge into the city. Part of it had been open but that just went from Tallawong to Chatswood but now connects across the city to the Inner West. There is another section still to be finished which goes further west. They are driverless and fast. We have joined the modern world.
"Finally having a transport line that's fully wheelchair accessible at every station, level access boarding ... is going to be a huge game-changer," another commuter and disability advocate told ABC News.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
Well in theory Australia and the Southern Hemisphere are in winter, but it’s kind of warm. So if the temperatures are in the high thirties in some parts now what’s going to happen in Summer.
Not looking forward to that at all
Regards to all
Matildagirl
Hi,
We are having changes to our Aged Care system which I am going to have to get my head around because I am heading in that direction. We are heading towards more care at home as people seem to prefer that rather than into aged care facilities. They are trying to save money as well because us baby boomers are all lining up to access care over the next decade or so and there is a lot of us ready to blow the budget so we will need to pay more for help like showering etc and it will be means tested but any clinical care will be paid by the government. They are also going to give a payment of $25,000 to help with palliative care in the last 3 months of life to be at home. Both parties are in agreement so it will pass in Parliament.
They have found most people would rather die at home surrounded by their own things but unfortunately most end up dying in hospital because of the care they need.
Was wondering what the system would be elsewhere and is being at home better? I hadn’t really thought about it before, not sure what I would prefer. Have seen family members dying from cancer and the pain etc for months and that doesn’t appeal. We do have assisted dying here which is an option I guess. Fingers crossed it’s quick and easy rather than long and hard and a long long long way away. I like my life.
I guess dying is going to happen to everyone, no get out of jail free card, so no point in worrying about it. It just is.
Regards to all
Was wondering what the system would be elsewhere and is being at home better? I hadn’t really thought about it before, not sure what I would prefer.
Unfortunately, our fragmented US health care system is tied to what makes both providers and private insurance the most money. So many of us here believe in and want national health care, and so we remain eager to hear your progress. Medicare, our healthcare system for 65+ is also fragmented and the benefits for in-home care aren't robust. If in-home care were widely available here and encouraged home care workers with good pay, it would save Medicare a ton of government funding. As it is, we're still pushing people into nursing homes and continuous care facilities who really don't need that level of intensive care.
I'm hoping that if Harris is our new President she'll prioritize heath care, but the fact that she no longer supports Medicare for All, a program that would otherwise evolve into a national health system, suggests that it will be another decade at least until we get there. Glad to know Australia is headed in the right direction re: its aging population.
@kathleen I guess the other side of the coin would be that not everyone has family or friends able to be there during that time and being at home could be very lonely waiting for that carer to turn up that day to shower you or the cleaner coming in. I think both systems need to be available, having people and noise around could be a better option now thinking about it than being home alone for most of the time. There aren’t many inter generational homes any more with babies to grandmas all under the same roof. So many people live alone these day.
best wishes
Matildagirl
...the fact that she no longer supports Medicare for All, a program that would otherwise evolve into a national health system, suggests that it will be another decade at least until we get there. Glad to know Australia is headed in the right direction re: its aging population.
If you remember in 2008, Mr. Obama was against same-sex marriage (because he had to get elected). Then in 2012, he said his position had "evolved" (because he still had to get re-elected). Not long after he was re-elected, he was all for it. I expect to see the same kind of "evolvement" with Ms. Harris on this issue, though depending on how Congress settles out this year, the timeline may be moved up a bit, I think.