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ABC News
5 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Questacon's new hands-on exhibition brings back classics from decades past
A school trip to the nation's capital isn't complete without a visit to Questacon. The National Science and Technology Centre on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin has been helping young people engage with science, technology and innovation through interactive exhibits for the past 37 years. With some 500,000 people visiting the national institution each year, there's a lot of memories to be made. Questacon director Jo White has some fond recollections of her own. "It's a very beautiful memory of our two sons coming here. I think we had to go put [extra] money in the parking meter to extend our stay, they just loved it," she said. Ms White credits the Awesome Earth exhibition with inspiring her youngest son's career in science. That nostalgia is what Questacon is hoping to evoke with its latest exhibition, featuring a new take on some old favourites from the past three decades. ZAP! CLANK! POW! uses a colourful comic book theme to link 17 interactive displays centred around electricity, machines and motion. Kids can get hands-on with the displays, including by creating flying machines and lifting their own body weight with pulleys. "It's a bit like a gallery arcade … lots of interactive exhibits, there's beautiful colour and a lovely story, which feels very much like a cartoon script," Ms White said. "I'm hearing there's some lovely dad jokes generally part of it as well." Senior exhibition designer Ella Cameron said the comic book design already appeared to be a hit. "We have actually found during the visitor testing phase that people actually stop and engage a bit longer with the graphic panel," she said. "So people are more likely to take away not just the experience, but read the background behind whatever they're interacting with." She said the entire exhibition had been designed and manufactured in Canberra, at the Ian Potter Foundation Technology Learning Centre. "Where we can, we [design and] build things in-house ... and outsource when we need specialist skills," she said. The new exhibit has been in development for two years, with the project involving a team of about 20 scientists, writers, designers, engineers, welders and joiners. "Even once we have the idea, there is an infinite number of ways that it can look and also an infinite number of ways visitors can interact with it," Ms Cameron said. "We want to make sure that the design is intuitive and safe and also that it is fun." Last year the Australian government department responsible for Questacon was charged after a child's hands allegedly caught fire at the science centre, leaving them with serious injuries. Ms Cameron said safety was always a large part of the design process. "People often engage in things in a way that you wouldn't necessarily assume. You've got to think through all the different scenarios to make sure it is safe," she said. Composed of entirely modular displays, the exhibition is designed to be packed up and showcased in different locations. It will be on show in Canberra until February before travelling around Australia. "We really want to reach as many as we can across Australia with science and technology, and exhibitions like this make it accessible," Ms White said. "It might be the moment that sparks their curiosity in a career in STEM, or at least an interest in science and technology into the future."
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Youth mobility scheme shouldn't only benefit ‘middle class kids'
A youth mobility scheme with the European Union must benefit all young people, not just 'middle class kids on their gap year', a Labour MP has said. Sir Keir Starmer had told the Commons the newly-agreed 'youth experience scheme' will allow young British people to travel and work in Europe. Prior to the announcement of the deal, the Government faced pressure from its backbench MPs to agree a scheme with Brussels which would benefit those under 30. In the Commons, Jo White urged the Prime Minister to ensure all young people could benefit from the experiences of living abroad. Meanwhile, Conservative former minister Esther McVey argued the scheme was 'a bitter betrayal of British youth', as she called for a cap on the numbers, to specifically protect 'white working class boys'. The Prime Minister faced further criticism from the Tories with Conservative former minister Mark Francois arguing dynamic alignment is 'the most pernicious part of this deal'. In a statement on the UK-EU summit, the Prime Minister said the Government should be 'proud' to give young people the opportunity of a 'controlled youth experience scheme'. 'It delivers for our young people, because we are now on a path towards a controlled youth experience scheme with firm caps on numbers and visa controls. A relationship we have with so many countries around the world, some actually even set up by the party opposite,' he added. Ms White, MP for Bassetlaw, said: 'What I want to know is how young people in my area will benefit from it, opening up to experiences and opportunities that they would have never otherwise dreamed of? 'This is a scheme that must not just benefit middle class kids on their gap year.' Sir Keir replied: 'I completely agree with her wholeheartedly, this has to benefit all of our young people, and we'll make sure that it does, whether that's work or travel or study, because it is a really important opportunity for young people that we would want to provide to them and to help them then to take advantage of.' Earlier in the session, Ms McVey, MP for Tatton, said: 'With youth unemployment higher in Europe, in countries like France, Spain, Portugal and Sweden, I can see why the EU pushed for a youth mobility scheme to help get their youth unemployment figures down. 'So can the Prime Minister tell the House what impact assessment he has done on his youth scheme for youth unemployment for young Brits, particularly white working class boys who suffer the most, and can he tell the House today the cap he has put on numbers for people coming into the UK? If he can't, this is a bitter betrayal of British youth.' Sir Keir replied: 'This provides young people in the United Kingdom the opportunity to work, to study and to travel in Europe. It is going to be a capped scheme of limited duration and with visas, something, again, everybody said we couldn't negotiate. We have negotiated.' Green Party MP Ellie Chown (Herefordshire) accused the Prime Minister of being 'timid' on the youth mobility scheme. In his response, he said: 'What we have now negotiated is a scheme that does not cross our red lines, but it's good for young people, both here and in Europe.' Elsewhere in the session, Mr Francois, Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, claimed the UK will become an 'automatic rule-taker' as a result of the deal with the EU. He said: 'The most pernicious part of this deal is dynamic alignment, by which we become an automatic rule-taker from the European Union. 'Labour have been briefing journalists we have an opt-out from that. I've read the document in detail – we don't – and besides, the ECJ (European Court of Justice) is the ultimate arbiter in a dispute. It is so the EU will always win. 'Why, Prime Minister, when the British people voted peacefully and democratically to leave the European Union, have you surrendered that right and made us a rule-taker to the EU once again?' Sir Keir said he had 'forgotten about some of the nonsense that's spouted' and added: 'On the question of how the rules are made – they will go through a parliamentary process in this House.' Labour backbenchers shouted 'shut up' as Mr Francois said 'subject to the ECJ' from his seat. The Prime Minister continued: 'Every trade deal has an arbitration clause to deal with the settlement of disputes. All trade deals have that, including all the trade deals that they have negotiated. 'On the question of the ECJ, if there's an issue of European law that needs to be referred by the independent arbitrators to the court, they then give a ruling on the interpretation, it passes back to the arbitrators to make the final decision.' Sir Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex, said the Prime Minister is 'giving up control over our laws and restoring payments to the European Union. He will pay a bitter political price for this betrayal'. Sir Keir replied: 'We were told it was impossible to negotiate a better deal with the EU with those red lines, we've just done it. We have also shown that we are outside the EU because, he will appreciate, that having a deal with India and the US is inconsistent with membership of the EU. 'There could be no better evidence that we're not going back into the EU, nor are these negotiations on that basis.'
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Keir Starmer pressured by his own MPs to ‘stop pussyfooting around'
Britain's prime minister, Keir Starmer , is resisting pressure from within his own party to backtrack on harsh policies such as winter fuel cuts for pensioners, amid disquiet in the Labour Party following its disastrous performance in local elections in England last week. A caucus of Labour MPs representing the so-called Red Wall seats in England's north and midlands, where Labour was hammered last week by Nigel Farag e's Reform UK , called on the prime minister to change course to see off the threat. 'Our voters told us loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations,' said the caucus, which includes more than 40 MPs in areas being targeted by Reform. They criticised Mr Starmer's post-elections promise to go even 'further and faster' with planned reforms, as they urged him to 'break the disconnect' between working-class northern towns and Westminster. 'Labour cannot afford to lose the Red Wall again,' said the MPs, many of whom are new to Westminster, having only won their seats back from the Conservatives who made sweeping gains in the area in 2019. 'Act now before it's too late.' READ MORE Jo White, the Labour Red Wall caucus chair who represents Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, also warned the prime minister at the weekend to stop 'pussyfooting around'. Restlessness among his backbenchers followed comments from senior Labour figures, both inside and outside Mr Starmer's cabinet, who have heaped pressure on to the prime minister in the first real Labour grumblings over his leadership since he led them back to power last July. [ VE Day: Britain takes a break from its troubles to celebrate 80th anniversary Opens in new window ] Eluned Morgan, the Labour first minister of Wales, where the party is battling to prevent being squeezed out of power next year, said she was 'losing patience' with Mr Starmer's government. Labour is currently polling third in Wales, behind nationalist group Plaid Cymru and Reform, in advance of next May's Senedd election. She said the winter fuel cut comes up 'time and again' in Wales. Meanwhile, Wes Streeting, the health secretary who is seen as a future leadership challenger, acknowledged that the UK government's decision to means test the winter fuel payments for pensioners has angered working-class voters and played a role in the party's poor performance last week, when it lost two-thirds of the council seats it defended. 'We have got the message,' said Mr Streeting. Former frontbencher Louise Haigh, who was sacked as transport secretary last year by Mr Starmer, also broke cover to criticise the party's strategy in recent days. In a surprise turn in the House of Commons on Wednesday, even the opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the prime minister for not listening to his own party over the fuel cuts. 'His mayor in Doncaster says it's wrong. His first minister in Wales says it's wrong. Even his own MPs are saying it's wrong. Will he at least listen to his own party and change course?' said Ms Badenoch to Mr Starmer at prime minister's questions (PMQs). The prime minister doubled down, however, and retreated to his mantra that the Tories had left his government with a £22 billion 'black hole' in Britain's finances, which he had to fill. 'No other party is prepared to say how they would put the finances straight,' he said. 'The only black hole is the one the prime minister is digging,' said Ms Badenoch. In further evidence of the Labour government's unwillingness to give Reform an excuse to bash it over immigration, a spokesman for the prime minister evaded questions from Westminster journalists after PMQs over how many more people from India might move to Britain as a result of a trade deal struck in recent days.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Act now to win back Red Wall voters, Labour MPs say
A group of around 45 Labour MPs have called on the government to "act now" to win back voters in northern England and the Midlands. The Labour Red Wall Group, which represents areas which have traditionally supported the party, said it was not "weak" to respond to issues raised by the public, including concern over axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. Calls to rethink the move and other policies including cuts to disability benefits have been growing after a disastrous set of local election results for Labour last week. On Tuesday the government insisted it would not reverse the winter fuel cuts and it would not be "blown off course" by the "disappointing" results. Labour lost two-thirds of the seats it was defending in council elections across England, as well as a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby. Reform UK overturned a majority of nearly 15,000 to take the Cheshire seat by just six votes. In areas like Durham and Doncaster, Labour lost seats to Reform, allowing Nigel Farage's party to take control of the council. On the left, the party also shed votes to the Greens. However, Reform, which also seized control of eight councils from the Conservatives, was the big winner of the night and the results have intensified calls for the government to focus on the threat from the party. In a statement the Red Wall Group, led by Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, said that in the results "our voters told us loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They said Sir Keir Starmer's response that he would "go further and faster" in delivering his plans had "fallen on deaf ears". "Responding to the issues raised by our constituents, including on winter fuel, isn't weak it takes us to a position of strength," the statement added. "[The prime minister] must now break the disconnect between Westminster and the Red Wall areas." The group also called for the government to "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy" to ensure post-industrial towns "get the investment we desperately need". "Labour cannot afford to lose the Red Wall again as it reopens the route to a future of opposition and an existential crisis. Without Red Wall constituencies we are not the Labour Party," they said. "The government has to act now before it's too late." Responding to the local election results over the weekend, Sir Keir said he shared the "fury" felt by voters turning away from the major parties. The PM insisted he would "go further and faster" in delivering Labour's promises to improve public services, as well as tackle immigration and cost-of-living pressures. [BBC] Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
AsiaOne
07-05-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
UK may restrict students from countries most likely to claim asylum, World News
LONDON — The British government may restrict visa applications from students living in countries that are considered most likely to claim asylum in a move designed to bring down annual net migration, a government official said. The move comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party was punished in local elections in England last week by voters angry over issues, including illegal immigration. The government is expected next week to publish a policy document, known as a white paper, which will set out how the government plans to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 people in the year to June last year. "Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system," the Home Office said in a statement. High levels of legal migration have long dominated Britain's political conversation and were one of the major drivers for the Brexit referendum in 2016. Out of the 108,000 people who claimed asylum in Britain last year, 16,000 had student visas, government data shows. The government does not provide a breakdown of the nationalities of those who had student visas, who went on to claim asylum. But the government said people from Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka were the most likely to claim asylum in Britain after arriving on a work, student, or a visitor visa. In the aftermath of the party's poor local election results last week, some Labour members of parliament urged the government to do more to take a more decisive approach on issues such as bringing down net migration. Jo White, who represents a group of lawmakers in previously Labour heartlands known as the "Red Wall", said the government should stop "pussyfooting around".
