Latest news with #Sydney-based
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sad detail about Slater and Smith as Melbourne Storm severe Queensland ties
Some of the Melbourne Storm's most iconic players have come through their historic Queensland Cup pathway, including champions like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk. But the NRL club is severing it's traditional ties to Queensland in favour of a more stream-lined 'reserve grade' team in the NSW Cup. The Sunshine Coast Falcons and Brisbane Tigers (formerly known as Easts) have been feeder teams for the Storm for the past 27 years. But in a bombshell decision, the revealed this week that the long and successful partnership will be ended after this year. Starting next season, the club will have a Melbourne Storm team playing in the NSW Cup - the tier below the NRL in NSW. Unlike in the Queensland Cup, teams that play in the NSW Cup predominantly have the same name as their NRL equivalents. The current North Sydney Bears team that plays in the NSW Cup is also a feeder club for the Storm. But that will have to change when the Perth Bears enter the NRL competition in 2027. According to the Courier Mail report, the move is designed around stream-lining the Storm's reserve grade squad and keeping their fringe first-graders in the Melbourne colours. This "builds the continuity that many of their Sydney-based rivals enjoy with their NSW Cup teams," the report states. The Storm released a statement on Friday confirming the move, while promising to maintain their affiliation with Queensland through other means. 'There is no doubt our partnership with the Falcons and East has helped us find some of the best talent to have ever pulled on a Storm jersey,' said the Storm's director of football Frank Ponissi. 'However, like all clubs, we are always looking at ways to improve our pathways, particularly with the expansion of the NRL and NRLW in the coming years. While we might be exploring new opportunities to develop and expand our male and female programs, our commitment to south-east Queensland will be maintained whether through our existing recruitment programs or new partnership opportunities with the Falcons or Easts.' The move is an extraordinary one considering the rich history of Queenslanders making their mark with the Melbourne Storm. Smith, Slater, Cronk and Greg Inglis all played for Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup, which is actually in Brisbane Broncos territory. But they signed with the Storm when the club started moving into Queensland territory in the early 2000s. Former Storm coach Mark Murray said in 2017: 'The Broncos had Queensland to themselves for so long, so our focus was pretty narrow up there, and our strike rate ended up being pretty good as a result.' Current players Harry Grant, Trent Loiero and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui all came through the Sunshine Coast Falcons, as did the NSW-born Ryan Papenhuyzen. And Cameron Munster played for the Brisbane Tigers before making his NRL debut. RELATED: Blow for Billy Slater with Queensland player banned from Origin Trainer at centre of Origin incident unmasked as NRL great's brother The historic ties to the Queensland Cup is the main reason the majority of Melbourne Storm players represent the Maroons at Origin level. Whether or not that trend continues remains to be seen. The move away from Queensland will seemingly open the door for the Dolphins to recruit more talent through the Sunshine Coast pathway, while the Tigers will likely become a feeder for the Broncos. Make sense when you think about it. Falcons would be a logical feeder club to the Dolphins, and the Tigers as a feeder to Broncos. — behind_th_8ball (@behind_th_8ball) May 29, 2025 Wow. Big change — clayton johns (@5Nouseforaname) May 29, 2025 Terrible — nolesfan2011 (@nolesfan2011) May 30, 2025
Sydney Morning Herald
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney-based artist wins $100,000 prize with work drawing on Queer Archives
Sydney-based artist Jack Ball has won the lucrative Ramsay Art Prize with a work made from collage photographs assembled with rope, wax sculptures, stained-glass, copper pipe and sprinkled with charcoal and garden dirt. Ball's installation Heavy Grit was selected from 22 finalists and more than 500 entries, a record for the $100,000 art prize which offers the same cash pool as the long-running Archibald Prize for portraiture. The winning abstract work is part photography, part soft-form sculpture, and was inspired from a collection of scrapbooks held in the Australian Queer Archives at Darlinghurst. The journals contain newspaper clippings referencing transgender lives between the 1950s and 1970s. Judges were impressed with the work's 'restless, kinetic quality' and its 'experimental processes and sophisticated creative resolve'. The $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize is one of the nation's richest for young Australian contemporary artists aged under 40 years for a single work they have completed in the last 12 months. It is awarded every two years to diverse works of any medium. Loading Perth-born Ball pinned and layered printed, irregularly shaped images to the wall, framed them behind amber-stained glass, as well as slung them over suspended ropes and copper pipe anchored by sand-filled purple anchors. The work first appeared as a centrepiece of their solo show at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) in late 2024. Ball doesn't literally show the pages but mixes the shapes and page edges from the journals and newspaper clippings with other more personal images to create what the gallery describes as 'a vivid interplay between the past and the present'. Ball has previously said the slippery meaning of the abstract work compares with their own personal experience of gender identity.
The Age
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Sydney-based artist wins $100,000 prize with work drawing on Queer Archives
Sydney-based artist Jack Ball has won the lucrative Ramsay Art Prize with a work made from collage photographs assembled with rope, wax sculptures, stained-glass, copper pipe and sprinkled with charcoal and garden dirt. Ball's installation Heavy Grit was selected from 22 finalists and more than 500 entries, a record for the $100,000 art prize which offers the same cash pool as the long-running Archibald Prize for portraiture. The winning abstract work is part photography, part soft-form sculpture, and was inspired from a collection of scrapbooks held in the Australian Queer Archives at Darlinghurst. The journals contain newspaper clippings referencing transgender lives between the 1950s and 1970s. Judges were impressed with the work's 'restless, kinetic quality' and its 'experimental processes and sophisticated creative resolve'. The $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize is one of the nation's richest for young Australian contemporary artists aged under 40 years for a single work they have completed in the last 12 months. It is awarded every two years to diverse works of any medium. Loading Perth-born Ball pinned and layered printed, irregularly shaped images to the wall, framed them behind amber-stained glass, as well as slung them over suspended ropes and copper pipe anchored by sand-filled purple anchors. The work first appeared as a centrepiece of their solo show at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) in late 2024. Ball doesn't literally show the pages but mixes the shapes and page edges from the journals and newspaper clippings with other more personal images to create what the gallery describes as 'a vivid interplay between the past and the present'. Ball has previously said the slippery meaning of the abstract work compares with their own personal experience of gender identity.
The Advertiser
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'What's net zero?': swindle, saviour, licence to pollute - or not good enough?
You're not alone. And arguments around the dinner table are entirely justified. "Net zero" is presented as a fait accompli, but who has taken the time to explain it? What does it mean for you and me at home, today? And what does it mean for our children and grandchildren? Net zero does not mean no greenhouse gas emissions. The key is in the word "net". The term refers to balancing the emissions produced with those removed from the atmosphere. In Australia, that is now enshrined in law. In September 2022, federal parliament signed off on the Climate Change Bill which locked in a target of a 43 per cent greenhouse gas emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2030 - and net zero by 2050. But even our community and environmental leaders are divided on what "net zero" really means for our society. On the latest estimates, we're likely to get close to our 2030 target. "We call it net zero because it's a combination of reductions in emissions and there's some room in there for offsets - hence the 'net' - although the role of offsets is somewhat contentious and debated," Institute for Sustainable Futures research director David Roche said. "But the primary thing is reducing emissions to eventually get to zero emissions by 2050." The Nationals, now divided on net zero after a spectacular Coalition split following a disastrous election result in 2025, supported it in 2021. Individual households may not realise it, but Australia is already doing its bit in some respects. The country has the highest per capita take up of rooftop solar in the world. "In terms of the electricity system, most of the heavy lifting is being done by solar and wind," Mr Roche said. "By 2030 we'll have done most of the job of decarbonising our electricity system." With the newly re-elected Labor government following through on its household battery election commitment, the level of rooftop solar is likely to rise. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, Australia has pledged to meet the binding global agreement to limit the increase in global average temperatures to "well below" 2°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. "We'll get there by switching to low- and zero-emissions energy and technologies to reduce emissions as much as possible, while boosting carbon storage in trees, land, oceans and human-made products," Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said of net zero. More hopefully, the Paris agreement aims to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels", though the national science agency, the CSIRO, reports Australia has, on average, warmed by 1.5°C since national records began in 1910. What do those temperature increases mean? Well, more heatwaves, cyclones like Alfred in March 2025, extreme rain, record floods, intense bushfires, and storm surges. Which is why GPs like Dr Kim Loo are worried. "Current decisions at a government level are going to corrode the health of our community," the western Sydney-based Doctors for the Environment member said. "Net zero, it gives polluters the freedom to pollute as long they have offsets." About 90 per cent of the world's carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, like coal, gas, petrol and and oil. Most of Australia's emissions can be traced back to energy production. Transport, agriculture, and industrial processes are next. Though a small country by population, Australia ranks 14th globally in terms of emissions, responsible for about 435 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the year September 2024. This is why many environmentalists and climate action advocates are concerned about the federal government signing off on the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia until 2070. Three coal mines were granted extensions in September 2024. "I think if we're talking about mining of coal for electricity generation, it's less about the mining - it's actually more about the building of the coal-fired power stations," Institute for Sustainable Futures' David Roche said. "We haven't been investing in new coal-fired power stations in recent years, and there's very good reasons why we haven't. "They're expensive to build. The future of them is pretty limited and so it's just not economic to build more coal-fired power stations." The major things you need to know about are: As part of the transition to a renewable, net zero economy, renewable energy zones are being developed in regional areas around the country. And large scale batteries are being built to store power when it's needed. The first three months of 2025 was the second best on record for big batteries, according to the Clean Energy Council. But people like Coalition backbencher Barnaby Joyce, along with Nationals colleague Matt Canavan, are not convinced. "Net zero is the licence for the greatest swindle of modern time," Mr Joyce told ACM, the publisher of this masthead. "The secret deals in capacity investment schemes in which foreign multinationals and billionaires are guaranteed by the taxpayer a return on their intermittent power investment, even if it does not provide electricity to cover their desired return." The Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black and head of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tania Constable, were invited to comment for this story but did not respond in time for publication. Got something to say? Post a comment or email the journalist at You're not alone. And arguments around the dinner table are entirely justified. "Net zero" is presented as a fait accompli, but who has taken the time to explain it? What does it mean for you and me at home, today? And what does it mean for our children and grandchildren? Net zero does not mean no greenhouse gas emissions. The key is in the word "net". The term refers to balancing the emissions produced with those removed from the atmosphere. In Australia, that is now enshrined in law. In September 2022, federal parliament signed off on the Climate Change Bill which locked in a target of a 43 per cent greenhouse gas emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2030 - and net zero by 2050. But even our community and environmental leaders are divided on what "net zero" really means for our society. On the latest estimates, we're likely to get close to our 2030 target. "We call it net zero because it's a combination of reductions in emissions and there's some room in there for offsets - hence the 'net' - although the role of offsets is somewhat contentious and debated," Institute for Sustainable Futures research director David Roche said. "But the primary thing is reducing emissions to eventually get to zero emissions by 2050." The Nationals, now divided on net zero after a spectacular Coalition split following a disastrous election result in 2025, supported it in 2021. Individual households may not realise it, but Australia is already doing its bit in some respects. The country has the highest per capita take up of rooftop solar in the world. "In terms of the electricity system, most of the heavy lifting is being done by solar and wind," Mr Roche said. "By 2030 we'll have done most of the job of decarbonising our electricity system." With the newly re-elected Labor government following through on its household battery election commitment, the level of rooftop solar is likely to rise. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, Australia has pledged to meet the binding global agreement to limit the increase in global average temperatures to "well below" 2°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. "We'll get there by switching to low- and zero-emissions energy and technologies to reduce emissions as much as possible, while boosting carbon storage in trees, land, oceans and human-made products," Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said of net zero. More hopefully, the Paris agreement aims to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels", though the national science agency, the CSIRO, reports Australia has, on average, warmed by 1.5°C since national records began in 1910. What do those temperature increases mean? Well, more heatwaves, cyclones like Alfred in March 2025, extreme rain, record floods, intense bushfires, and storm surges. Which is why GPs like Dr Kim Loo are worried. "Current decisions at a government level are going to corrode the health of our community," the western Sydney-based Doctors for the Environment member said. "Net zero, it gives polluters the freedom to pollute as long they have offsets." About 90 per cent of the world's carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, like coal, gas, petrol and and oil. Most of Australia's emissions can be traced back to energy production. Transport, agriculture, and industrial processes are next. Though a small country by population, Australia ranks 14th globally in terms of emissions, responsible for about 435 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the year September 2024. This is why many environmentalists and climate action advocates are concerned about the federal government signing off on the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia until 2070. Three coal mines were granted extensions in September 2024. "I think if we're talking about mining of coal for electricity generation, it's less about the mining - it's actually more about the building of the coal-fired power stations," Institute for Sustainable Futures' David Roche said. "We haven't been investing in new coal-fired power stations in recent years, and there's very good reasons why we haven't. "They're expensive to build. The future of them is pretty limited and so it's just not economic to build more coal-fired power stations." The major things you need to know about are: As part of the transition to a renewable, net zero economy, renewable energy zones are being developed in regional areas around the country. And large scale batteries are being built to store power when it's needed. The first three months of 2025 was the second best on record for big batteries, according to the Clean Energy Council. But people like Coalition backbencher Barnaby Joyce, along with Nationals colleague Matt Canavan, are not convinced. "Net zero is the licence for the greatest swindle of modern time," Mr Joyce told ACM, the publisher of this masthead. "The secret deals in capacity investment schemes in which foreign multinationals and billionaires are guaranteed by the taxpayer a return on their intermittent power investment, even if it does not provide electricity to cover their desired return." The Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black and head of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tania Constable, were invited to comment for this story but did not respond in time for publication. Got something to say? Post a comment or email the journalist at You're not alone. And arguments around the dinner table are entirely justified. "Net zero" is presented as a fait accompli, but who has taken the time to explain it? What does it mean for you and me at home, today? And what does it mean for our children and grandchildren? Net zero does not mean no greenhouse gas emissions. The key is in the word "net". The term refers to balancing the emissions produced with those removed from the atmosphere. In Australia, that is now enshrined in law. In September 2022, federal parliament signed off on the Climate Change Bill which locked in a target of a 43 per cent greenhouse gas emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2030 - and net zero by 2050. But even our community and environmental leaders are divided on what "net zero" really means for our society. On the latest estimates, we're likely to get close to our 2030 target. "We call it net zero because it's a combination of reductions in emissions and there's some room in there for offsets - hence the 'net' - although the role of offsets is somewhat contentious and debated," Institute for Sustainable Futures research director David Roche said. "But the primary thing is reducing emissions to eventually get to zero emissions by 2050." The Nationals, now divided on net zero after a spectacular Coalition split following a disastrous election result in 2025, supported it in 2021. Individual households may not realise it, but Australia is already doing its bit in some respects. The country has the highest per capita take up of rooftop solar in the world. "In terms of the electricity system, most of the heavy lifting is being done by solar and wind," Mr Roche said. "By 2030 we'll have done most of the job of decarbonising our electricity system." With the newly re-elected Labor government following through on its household battery election commitment, the level of rooftop solar is likely to rise. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, Australia has pledged to meet the binding global agreement to limit the increase in global average temperatures to "well below" 2°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. "We'll get there by switching to low- and zero-emissions energy and technologies to reduce emissions as much as possible, while boosting carbon storage in trees, land, oceans and human-made products," Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said of net zero. More hopefully, the Paris agreement aims to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels", though the national science agency, the CSIRO, reports Australia has, on average, warmed by 1.5°C since national records began in 1910. What do those temperature increases mean? Well, more heatwaves, cyclones like Alfred in March 2025, extreme rain, record floods, intense bushfires, and storm surges. Which is why GPs like Dr Kim Loo are worried. "Current decisions at a government level are going to corrode the health of our community," the western Sydney-based Doctors for the Environment member said. "Net zero, it gives polluters the freedom to pollute as long they have offsets." About 90 per cent of the world's carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, like coal, gas, petrol and and oil. Most of Australia's emissions can be traced back to energy production. Transport, agriculture, and industrial processes are next. Though a small country by population, Australia ranks 14th globally in terms of emissions, responsible for about 435 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the year September 2024. This is why many environmentalists and climate action advocates are concerned about the federal government signing off on the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia until 2070. Three coal mines were granted extensions in September 2024. "I think if we're talking about mining of coal for electricity generation, it's less about the mining - it's actually more about the building of the coal-fired power stations," Institute for Sustainable Futures' David Roche said. "We haven't been investing in new coal-fired power stations in recent years, and there's very good reasons why we haven't. "They're expensive to build. The future of them is pretty limited and so it's just not economic to build more coal-fired power stations." The major things you need to know about are: As part of the transition to a renewable, net zero economy, renewable energy zones are being developed in regional areas around the country. And large scale batteries are being built to store power when it's needed. The first three months of 2025 was the second best on record for big batteries, according to the Clean Energy Council. But people like Coalition backbencher Barnaby Joyce, along with Nationals colleague Matt Canavan, are not convinced. "Net zero is the licence for the greatest swindle of modern time," Mr Joyce told ACM, the publisher of this masthead. "The secret deals in capacity investment schemes in which foreign multinationals and billionaires are guaranteed by the taxpayer a return on their intermittent power investment, even if it does not provide electricity to cover their desired return." The Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black and head of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tania Constable, were invited to comment for this story but did not respond in time for publication. Got something to say? Post a comment or email the journalist at You're not alone. And arguments around the dinner table are entirely justified. "Net zero" is presented as a fait accompli, but who has taken the time to explain it? What does it mean for you and me at home, today? And what does it mean for our children and grandchildren? Net zero does not mean no greenhouse gas emissions. The key is in the word "net". The term refers to balancing the emissions produced with those removed from the atmosphere. In Australia, that is now enshrined in law. In September 2022, federal parliament signed off on the Climate Change Bill which locked in a target of a 43 per cent greenhouse gas emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2030 - and net zero by 2050. But even our community and environmental leaders are divided on what "net zero" really means for our society. On the latest estimates, we're likely to get close to our 2030 target. "We call it net zero because it's a combination of reductions in emissions and there's some room in there for offsets - hence the 'net' - although the role of offsets is somewhat contentious and debated," Institute for Sustainable Futures research director David Roche said. "But the primary thing is reducing emissions to eventually get to zero emissions by 2050." The Nationals, now divided on net zero after a spectacular Coalition split following a disastrous election result in 2025, supported it in 2021. Individual households may not realise it, but Australia is already doing its bit in some respects. The country has the highest per capita take up of rooftop solar in the world. "In terms of the electricity system, most of the heavy lifting is being done by solar and wind," Mr Roche said. "By 2030 we'll have done most of the job of decarbonising our electricity system." With the newly re-elected Labor government following through on its household battery election commitment, the level of rooftop solar is likely to rise. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, Australia has pledged to meet the binding global agreement to limit the increase in global average temperatures to "well below" 2°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. "We'll get there by switching to low- and zero-emissions energy and technologies to reduce emissions as much as possible, while boosting carbon storage in trees, land, oceans and human-made products," Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said of net zero. More hopefully, the Paris agreement aims to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels", though the national science agency, the CSIRO, reports Australia has, on average, warmed by 1.5°C since national records began in 1910. What do those temperature increases mean? Well, more heatwaves, cyclones like Alfred in March 2025, extreme rain, record floods, intense bushfires, and storm surges. Which is why GPs like Dr Kim Loo are worried. "Current decisions at a government level are going to corrode the health of our community," the western Sydney-based Doctors for the Environment member said. "Net zero, it gives polluters the freedom to pollute as long they have offsets." About 90 per cent of the world's carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, like coal, gas, petrol and and oil. Most of Australia's emissions can be traced back to energy production. Transport, agriculture, and industrial processes are next. Though a small country by population, Australia ranks 14th globally in terms of emissions, responsible for about 435 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the year September 2024. This is why many environmentalists and climate action advocates are concerned about the federal government signing off on the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia until 2070. Three coal mines were granted extensions in September 2024. "I think if we're talking about mining of coal for electricity generation, it's less about the mining - it's actually more about the building of the coal-fired power stations," Institute for Sustainable Futures' David Roche said. "We haven't been investing in new coal-fired power stations in recent years, and there's very good reasons why we haven't. "They're expensive to build. The future of them is pretty limited and so it's just not economic to build more coal-fired power stations." The major things you need to know about are: As part of the transition to a renewable, net zero economy, renewable energy zones are being developed in regional areas around the country. And large scale batteries are being built to store power when it's needed. The first three months of 2025 was the second best on record for big batteries, according to the Clean Energy Council. But people like Coalition backbencher Barnaby Joyce, along with Nationals colleague Matt Canavan, are not convinced. "Net zero is the licence for the greatest swindle of modern time," Mr Joyce told ACM, the publisher of this masthead. "The secret deals in capacity investment schemes in which foreign multinationals and billionaires are guaranteed by the taxpayer a return on their intermittent power investment, even if it does not provide electricity to cover their desired return." The Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black and head of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tania Constable, were invited to comment for this story but did not respond in time for publication. Got something to say? Post a comment or email the journalist at
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Sydney hotelier Oscars goes to Adelaide for $80m venues deal
Mario and Bill Gravanis' Sydney-based hospitality company Oscars Group is expanding into South Australia for the first time with the purchase of three hotels in Adelaide for about $80 million. Fresh from their purchase of Sydney's Luna Park at the end of last year for more than $50 million, the Gravanis brothers have now established a substantial foothold in the Adelaide market, acquiring the Lakes Resort Hotel, Bridgeway Hotel and Maid & Magpie Hotel.
