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The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Kildare put four past Sligo to clinch place in Tailteann Cup quarter-finals
Tailteann Cup results Kildare 4-19 Sligo 1-24 Leitrim 3-9 Tipperary 0-10 Antrim 1-22 London 0-14 Fermanagh 0-25 Wexford 1-17 Carlow 1-15 Longford 1-20 FOUR-STAR KILDARE held off a late Sligo revival to clinch top spot in Group 1 and book their place in the Tailteann Cup quarter-finals. Goals from Daniel Flynn (2), James McGrath and Alex Beirne had the Lilywhites leading by 11 points inside the final quarter at Dr Hyde Park. Advertisement But a string of two-pointers saw Sligo reel Kildare in and cut the gap to just four points before they ran out of time. Tony McEntee's side finish as group runners-up and go into the draw for the preliminary quarter-finals, which takes place on Sunday evening at 6.15pm. In Group 1′s other game, 1-1 apiece from Jack Flynn and Tom Prior helped Leitrim to a 3-9 to 0-10 win over Tipperary, but it wasn't enough to extend their summer as they finish with the worst record of the third-placed teams. In Group 3, Antrim booked their place in the preliminary quarter-finals with a 1-22 to 0-14 win over London in Newry, substitute Niall Burns scoring the game's only goal late on. Fermanagh are straight through to the last eight as Group 4 winners thanks to a 0-25 to 1-17 victory against Wexford in Sunday's curtain-raiser at Croke Park, Conor Love starring with an individual 0-9, eight from play. Related Reads Ruthless Donegal put Cavan to the sword in 19-point win Roscommon-Meath draw rollercoaster contest, Down edge Louth Paddy Durcan returns to inspire Mayo to a victory that keeps their dreams alive Wexford finish as group runners-up, while Carlow also progress in third place despite their 1-20 to 1-15 defeat to eliminated Longford. Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Sky News AU
19-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Good luck Australia': Transport Workers' Union threatens ambush of country's transport
LNP Senator James McGrath claims the Transport Workers' Union threatening to shut down Australian transport could be 'really damaging'. 'It's the entree of what's going to happen over the next three or six years,' Mr McGrath told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'All these union thugs want to get their pay back for the money and resources they poured into the Labor Party. 'Productivity in Australia is going to go backwards. 'We are going to have industrial mayhem from now onwards.'
ABC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Sussan Ley's narrow win suggests the Liberals' leadership games are far from over
As the Liberal Party entered its post-election conclave on Tuesday, James McGrath issued a cri du coeur to colleagues. It was time, said the Queensland LNP senator and factional powerbroker, to "stop playing games". The Liberal Party is "not the toy section of Big W". Which is just as well. The well-known retailer's web listings of "toys for big kids & adults" reveals that one of its top sellers is The UNO "Show 'em No Mercy" edition. "Our most brutal UNO game yet!", says Big W of the popular card game, with "new rules that will have players stacking, swapping and drawing more cards than ever before!" The closeness of Sussan Ley's win over Angus Taylor — 29 votes to 25 — suggests the games are far from over. Three of Ley's votes are outgoing senators who leave the party room on July 1 when the new Senate begins. That makes her a notional one-vote winner of the leadership ballot. Just like Tony Abbott in 2009 over Malcolm Turnbull, or Mark Latham against Kim Beazley in 2003. The former went on to victory, the latter into abject failure. Whatever her political fate, Ley faces the mammoth job of unifying the party, rebuilding its structures and refreshing policy offerings. All while maintaining a marriage with the National Party as it drifts further to the right and away from near-term action on climate change. She will have little time to reflect on becoming the first woman to lead the Liberal Party, an important achievement and statement of determination for change in a party accused of losing touch with female voters. There's no question she is deeply motivated to succeed and avoid the "glass cliff" — that precarious perch so many women find themselves on after breaking the "glass ceiling". In seeing off a spirited challenge from Taylor, Ley has already sought to distance herself from the failure of Peter Dutton, declaring there must be a "fresh approach". All new leaders say such things, but her words reinforced the central message of her pitch to colleagues; that she seeks to represent a break from the past and a desire to re-engage with the Liberal party's lost constituencies. Unlike Taylor's embrace of the party's conservative wing, Ley was backed by progressives. But her pitch also conveniently air-brushes away her role as Dutton's deputy and co-author of an agenda rejected by voters on May 3. Nowhere is that more obvious than on climate and energy policy and the nation's legislated commitment to reach "net zero" emissions by 2050. Monday's Matt Canavan challenge to David Littleproud suggests the National Party is in a mood to renegotiate its 2021 agreement with former prime minister Scott Morrison to support the mid-century target. Speaking to reporters after the vote, Ley pointedly left open whether the Liberal Party would also go through a rethink. "There are different views about how we appropriately reduce emissions," she said, before noting risks posed by renewables to energy stability and Australian sovereign manufacturing. "No policies have been adopted or walked away from at this stage," she said, effectively avoiding questions on whether she would dump her new deputy Ted O'Brien's nuclear energy policy. "We have to have the right energy policy for the country," she said. "We have to start from the position of affordable, reliable base load power and remember that our competitive advantage in manufacturing in this country has always been built on energy." Live results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continues One of Ley's moderate backers, NSW Senator Andrew Bragg, agreed that net zero should be reviewed to ensure it "doesn't make people's lives harder". "It's imminently sensible that you look at all the policies," Bragg told ABC Afternoon Briefing "We want to be mindful of the impact on power prices. You've got to do this in a way that's sensible because you don't want to export industry and jobs." "That policy, alongside others, will be reviewed." Nuclear power is another bugbear for the Liberals as they begin a debate on whether to ditch the signature Dutton and Littleproud policy. WA Liberal MP Melissa Price said nuclear power was not a factor for voters in her electorate. "They know that from an energy security perspective we're in trouble," she told the ABC. "More wind and solar is not going to cut it. [We] need an honest conversation." Ley is not the first new leader starting a difficult role with a rival in the wings. Taylor has not yet appeared before any media to explain his motivations or role in Dutton's defeat. But it would be deluded of Ley to imagine he will now walk away from the top prize. In a written statement after the party room vote, Taylor said the election result showed the Coalition has work to do. "We must do better and we must unify," he said, without expressly committing himself to working with Ley. Ley has vowed there will be no "captain's calls" on her watch, which is another thing new leaders say. The self-described teenage English migrant, former bush pilot, shearer's hand and farmer's wife has an opportunity to build on more than two decades in parliament and make the Liberal party competitive again. Even if the odds are against her. As McGrath noted in his "letter to my party", in the "black hole of opposition we do not have much but we do have time". "We should use the coming years to work on the rebuild," he said. After all, "before things get worse, they can always get worse".
ABC News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Labor, Greens and the Coalition are carving up the spoils in a Bonfire of the Vanities
First there is the savage contest during the election campaign. Then there is the elation and despair at the outcome, and the assertion of what voters were telling us about our country in the result. Finally, there is the just plain venal, as political parties turn inward to carve up the spoils, which turn the elation into a Bonfire of the Vanities. A week of fairly widespread astonishment at the comprehensiveness of Labor's two-party-preferred win last Saturday turned deeply sour on Thursday as the realpolitik of factional politics — firstly in the party's NSW and Victorian Right — played out for all of us to see, uninhibited by any attempts at intervention by a prime minister who has the enhanced authority to at least urge caution, or even stop it. On the conservative side of politics, even as the ongoing count defied Senator James McGrath's exhortations to wait for the pre-polls, and Labor's seat count increased, rather than decreased, the Sky News echo chamber proved itself completely uncomprehending of its apparent lack of influence on the election result. It urged the Coalition parties to move even further to the right. Thus encouraged, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor seemed to be teetering on a dangerous personal and party precipice where the weight of their political tin ears could send them hurtling, separately or together, into even greater political oblivion. Like the Coalition, the Greens lost their leader, Adam Bandt on Saturday night. The Greens Bonfire of the Vanities delusion was that it was everyone else's fault. As for the independents, the bonfire was not quite burning so fiercely. But the loss of Zoe Daniel in Goldstein, and Monique Ryan's perilous position in Kooyong as the week ends, should give some cause to consider how, and whether, resources of a disparate group of campaigns can be directed to maintain the movement's gains, rather than simply run 35 candidates across the country. The prime minister told the first meeting of the new much expanded Labor Caucus on Friday that "we don't seek power for its own sake". "Not to decide who is in what part of the building. We seek power in order to deliver for the people who need Labor to be in government. And to develop a better nation. That is our objective, each and every day." The sentiment is a fine one, and pragmatically, it is governments that voters think have become more interested in themselves than the interests of voters that get turfed out. Which is why the spectre of dividing up the spoils within the Caucus always sits rather uncomfortably with the fine sentiment. Politics is a brutal business. But the removal of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Industry Minister Ed Husic looked particularly tawdry. The most senior Jewish MP and the first Muslim MP in the federal parliament fell victim to factional wrangling. Its particularly tough on the still young Husic who has always shown the rest of the Parliament the sort of grace and dignity with which the unspeakable events in the Middle East should be dealt, without provoking community divisions but speaking firmly to the injustices, when most of his colleagues in the Caucus seemed incapable of doing so. Husic is your classic thorn in the side of the cabinet, both on Middle East politics and in his own portfolio. That's not a bad thing if you are doing it in an intelligent way which Husic did. Former prime minister Paul Keating was no stranger to factional warfare in his day, and not always a friend of industry policy either. But he observed on Thursday night that: "The factional displacement of industry and technology minister, Ed Husic, from the Albanese cabinet represents an appalling denial of Husic's diligence and application in bringing the core and emerging technologies of the digital age to the centre of Australian public policy. "More than that, as the cabinet's sole Muslim member, Husic's expulsion from the ministry proffers contempt for the measured and centrist support provided by the broader Muslim community to the Labor Party at the general election. "And for what? To keep up some notional proportional count between factions and elements of the Right of the party between states, in this case between representatives of New South Wales and Victoria." Husic exasperated many in the cabinet by his positions, even as other portfolio ministers were able to easily win bids for more funding, and as the Future Made in Australia policy was increasingly compromised by random add-ons of projects (albeit some from Husic). The Labor caucus, and the cabinet, showed immense discipline in the government's first term. But behind the scenes, there were plenty of ministers — not Husic — who expressed their deep anger and frustration with the way the inner sanctum worked; that some animals within the PM's immediate circle were more equal than others. Want even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025 federal election coverage Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on ABC iview and ABC Listen The internal authority Anthony Albanese gains from Labor's huge win must now be used to sort out much more difficult problems with less money to spend and some really hard decisions ahead: from funding increased defence budget pressures to reworking an expiring (and outrageous) GST deal for Western Australia, and generally having to confront the idea that governments can no longer just give people money but will have to construct trade-offs of wins and losses. He is already marked down by many voters for the treatment of Tanya Plibersek and if he wishes to be seen as a true prime minister of the centre, he needs to be perceived as a prime minister who is not vindictive. Albanese has argued that the election result is an endorsement of his position at the centre. It is certainly, as one figure said this week, an endorsement of the view that "Australians don't like crazy", from either side. But the result is not an enthusiastic embrace of a positive mandate of the sort Gough Whitlam or Bob Hawke enjoyed, and it would be dangerous for the government to think that it was. Voters judged the Coalition was not ready for government, marking it down savagely for its lack of policies and the resulting policy indecision. They did not like the politics of Peter Dutton either. As one Coalition source said this week, Dutton was ultimately a default leader: a leader they went to in the absence of viable alternatives. And now, the source observed, the leadership "choice" is actually a reflection of the lack of leaders in both the Coalition parties. That is, Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley, too, would be default leaders, particularly Taylor, given many of his colleagues hold him responsible for the lack of economic policies on offer to voters at a time when the Coalition insisted it was a cost of living election, and responsible for insane decision to argue for higher income taxes. David Littleproud is the default leader of the Nationals. He might be challenged. But there is no really obvious alternative candidate. Speculation that Taylor might run on a joint ticket with Price raises a whole series of other issues. Price is a popular figure with the Coalition's base but her defection to the Liberal Party room from the Nationals is likely to exacerbate tensions both within the Liberal Party and between the Coalition partners. It should not have been unexpected. The original plan when she was coming into parliament, backed by the Northern Territory CLP, was for her to be in the Liberal Party room. But machinations surrounding the woman she replaced meant she was forced to stay with the Nats. Price's popularity with the base, and the sense of the Coalition largely being in the wilderness, conjures up memories of the conditions in which Bronwyn Bishop rose to prominence as a potential leadership candidate in the mid 1990s. Keating famously described Bishop at the time as reminding of one of the backyard fireworks that many of us remember from those times, a Catherine Wheel. "We used to nail them to the fence and they'd take off, spreadeagle the kids, burn the dog, run up a tree, and then fizzle out going round in circles', he said. A figure like Price who is so unafraid of venting strong opinions to an adoring party base could well jump the nail on the fence too in the next three is certainly a wild card that will be endlessly reported. Her comments about "Making Australia Great Again" — and her assertion that she didn't even realise she had said it — cast a shadow on her judgement, in the eyes of many colleagues. The Greens, too, must reassess, having been relegated back to being a party of the Senate. Holding the balance of power, yes, but failing to capitalise on the discontent with the government on core issues like the environment. The Greens say their vote has not diminished and has actually gone up in the Senate. Adam Bandt, in conceding defeat said the Greens "got the highest vote in Melbourne, but One Nation and Liberal preferences will get Labor over the line". This overlooks the brutal truth that there was a 4.6 per cent swing against Bandt on the primary vote as well as an 8.76 per cent two-party-preferred swing. How all the dynamics play out in the make up of the Parliament is still to be seen. The government doesn't have to worry about losing its majority in the House. Yes, it will have to deal with the Greens in the Senate but it is unlikely to feel as "wedged" between the right and the left as it did in the last parliament. The Greens will have reason to consider how they deal with the message from the electorate about wanting to stay in the centre. There is much to do. And hopefully everyone who has been elected can retain a muscle memory of the goodwill that seemed to be abroad on election night. Laura Tingle is 7.30's political editor.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Construction begins at Pontoosuc Lake Park
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The city of Pittsfield has announced that Pontoosuc Lake Park will be undergoing construction efforts starting Monday. West Springfield DPW to begin Kings Highway valve project City contractor Western EarthWorks will be leading the construction, which will primarily occur on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Weekend work is not anticipated at this time. While some parts of the park will be inaccessible to visitors, parking areas and the boat ramp will stay open throughout the project. Signage will be placed around the park's work zones to ensure safety. For more information, contact James McGrath, Open Space and Natural Resources Program Manager of the Pittsfield Department of Community Development at jmcgrath@ WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
