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Check your rates: Couple's warning after being overcharged for more than a decade

A disgruntled couple from the NSW south coast town of Kiama have slammed their local council after discovering they have been overcharged by around $8,000 for a rubbish bin they weren’t even using. The couple, Kim and Geoff Oppert reached out to A Current Affair to warn other ratepayers to carefully check the fine print on their bills. The pair had made the decision to downsize their red-lid general waste bin after their daughter moved out of the family home, which ideally would have lowered their rates. Due to a mistake on their bills - clouded by legal jargon - the couple were paying twice as much for their red-lid garbage bin. This meant Kiama Council had been charging them for TWO bins for the past 12 years. "Look at your rates notice and check you're paying for just one bin," Mr Oppert told A Current Affair. "Over 12 years we paid $16,000 in garbage waste disposal and it really should have been half that," he said. "Our rate notice doesn't clearly say how many bins we have. It's bureaucratic speak no one could understand." When the couple finally realised the mistake they went straight to the council. "But they would only give us a refund for two years and quoted some tax act as the reason why," Mr Oppert explained. "It is so unfair and just not right," Mrs Oppert added. "It was their mistake not ours, and they admitted it.” Mr Oppert seeks to warn all Australians paying a council for a bin service, "Check your rates notice and make sure you're not getting ripped off.” Kiama Council were made aware of the situation and gave a partial refund to the couple. "When this matter was brought to our attention, Kiama Council acted quickly to rectify the situation, in accordance with the law, as outlined below.”, a Kiama Municipal Council spokesperson said in a statement. “We refunded the amounts of $805.72 for 2021-22 and $818.61 for 2022-23. The couple have not received a full refund due to tax laws. "The Office of Local Government has advised that, where charges go back more than 1 year, the Recovery of Imposts Tax Act 1963 applies as follows", the spokesperson continued. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/03/BINS-PIC.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> "In addition, Kiama Council is now working on an audit of all our urban and residential waste services to ensure our charges are correct. "Council reminds all ratepayers to check their bills and if anything is unclear, please get in touch with us to discuss, we are always happy to help." Image credit: A Current Affair/Kiama Municipal Council

Real Estate

If these things are in your freezer, toss them out

Out of space in your freezer? Make room by ditching these items that are no longer any good to you. Smelly ice cubes There’s nothing refreshing about taking a big gulp of ice water and tasting the garlic you put in the freezer last week. Once ice cubes have taken on the scents around them, they’ll never get rid of them. Toss those and start fresh. If this is a problem you have found yourself facing, it might be time to invest in ice cube trays with lids – they can help preserve the ice cubes’ freshness and keep them odour-free. Forgotten freezer meals Look at you with your freezer full of healthy freezer meals! It’s great to plan ahead but don’t get overambitious with your meal prep. Prepared freezer meals should be eaten within three months. Try a first-in, first-out approach, and keep track of your freezer’s contents using labels. Stale coffee beans Storing ground coffee in the freezer can preserve freshness but be mindful of how long those beans have been sitting in there. Coffee beans absorb moisture, as well as the various tastes and smells around them, so make sure to use them within three months. Freezer-burned veggies How long has that bag of frozen mixed veggies been sitting in the back of your freezer? If it survived your last move, it’s time to toss it. Frozen veggies can be kept in the freezer for about three months – or shorter, if freezer burn has crept in. Thawed meat We love keeping a supply of chicken freezer meals on hand for busy weeknights. Once meat like chicken begins to thaw, though, it starts to grow bacteria. If your freezer isn’t functioning at the optimal freezer temperature, the meat inside can start to thaw without anyone the wiser, which can be unsafe. Freezer-burned meat Most commonly, though, it’s freezer burn you should fear. Given enough time, it will render your meat dry and tasteless. If you notice small ice crystals in the packaging, or can’t remember how long the meat has even been in the freezer, it’s time for it to go. Tightly sealing your meat before freezing it is a good way to ward off freezer burn. Old deli meat Deli meat is one of those items that is very convenient to have on hand, but which spoils quickly. The good news is that you can definitely freeze deli meat. Even with proper preparation, however, it can only last up to two months in the freezer. After that, even if it remains safe to eat, it won’t taste very good. Just as with other meats, deli meat should be tightly sealed and wrapped before it’s frozen. Pastries with creamy filling Once you’ve gone to the trouble of making a heavenly cheese danish from scratch, the last thing you want to do is throw away the leftovers. But pastries and other treats with cheese or creamy filling don’t keep well in the freezer; in fact, many of the foods that cannot be frozen are dairy products. Toss those cheese danishes after a month (or just eat them to avoid this problem altogether). Unrecognisable leftovers We love finding creative ways to repurpose leftovers; they just won’t last in the freezer forever. Most leftover dishes will keep for two to six months in the freezer. If they’ve been sitting for a while and you can’t remember what the food was in the first place, pitch it and start over. Old ice cream Most of us don’t have the problem of ice cream lasting too long in our homes but if you happen to have more self-control, you may find yourself in this predicament. If your tub of ice cream is older than three to four months, it’s time for it to go. So grab a bowl and a spoon before time is up! If you have a new large tub, try dividing it up and storing it in individual serving containers to help preserve that fresh flavour. Freezer-burned bread If you have more fresh bread than you know what to do with, and don’t want it to go stale before you have a chance to enjoy it, then popping it in the freezer is a great idea. But bread only lasts in the freezer for about six months. After that, freezer burn will likely have ravaged its good taste and texture. If you find a loaf in the back of the freezer that’s been there for who knows how long, then it needs to go. To keep it fresh as long as possible, make sure to wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, and then in a layer of foil or freezer paper. Pro tip: slice your bread before freezing, so you only ever have to remove what you need. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/home-tips/if-these-things-are-in-your-freezer-toss-them-out?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Home Hints & Tips

Handy tip to keep birds out of your bin

We all know that birds and other wildlife can wreak havoc on bin day by sorting through our garbage bins. But a woman has discovered a handy trick to stop this from happening. The woman posted her trick to the Cleaning and Organising Inspiration Australia <a rel="noopener" href="https://honey.nine.com.au/social-media" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook </a>group, saying she'd seen the method on one of her neighbour's rubbish bins. "On my walk today whilst in lockdown I came across one of the smartest tricks I've seen in a while," she posted. Her post showed a photo of a red garbage bin with two water bottles cable-tied to its handles. The woman added: "The reason for this is to keep birds out of your bins so they don't create mess. Thought it may be helpful to someone who may be having this problem.” The woman’s post received over 1600 reactions, with hundreds sharing their appreciation for the simple trick in the comments. "So clever!!!" one person wrote. "This is genius; I'm sick of the birds getting in and rubbish flying everywhere. Thanks," another person praised. Birds are the main culprits It seems that birds - particularly cockatoos – are the main culprits for picking through garbage bins on bin day. However, a woman shared evidence it can be other wildlife also doing some sifting and sorting: The woman posted: "We have this problem too except found out at night time it wasn't birds!!” While some people aren’t so worried about wildlife going through their bins quite a few others noted the handy trick could be useful against the natural elements. "Great idea for windy days to keep the lid down too," one person added. "Also would stop your bin blowing over," another poster wrote. Image: Facebook

Home & Garden

Foreign ship convicted of dumping garbage on Great Barrier Reef

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> A foreign shipping company and the chief officer of one of its vessels have been convicted for dumping food scraps on the World-Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. The Liberian bulk carrier Iron Gate dumped the equivalent of 120-litres of a garbage bin filled with food waste into the reef in 2018. The chief officer approved the discharge of garbage between Brisbane and Gladstone. Fines against both parties totalled $6,600 and were persecuted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). “Australians and tourists alike visit Lady Elliot Island to swim with manta rays and turtles – not blended food waste from merchant ships,” ASMA general manager of operations Allan Schwartz said. “We take a zero-tolerance approach to pollution from shipping and that is why, after detecting this breach during a routine inspection of Iron Gate in 2018, we detained the ship and later charged the chief officer and company, Kairasu Shipping S.A.” He said the conviction would impact the company's reputation. “Dumping garbage into the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef isn’t something you want on your professional record,” he said. “These convictions should serve as a reminder to other industry operators that in Australia, we make sure polluters pay.” </div> </div> </div>

Travel Trouble

We’ll need more JobKeeper: Why even the best case for jobs isn’t good

When it comes to the outlook for employment, there’s good news and bad news. To begin with the good news: with a bit of luck, the next few months will see the fastest expansion of employment in Australia’s history. The bad news? Well, there’s virtually no chance it will be enough to get employment to where it was in March, before the COVID-19 shutdown. In fact, even on a best-case scenario it’s likely by the end of September we will only be back to the worst points of the 1980s and 1990s recessions. The best-case scenario Other Bureau of Statistics data suggests that between mid-March and mid-April employment fell <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EEze6-rwkdcKgJ0iLWD7PfmWoMz8ob6Q/view">1.3 to 1.6 million</a>. <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/prime-minister-scott-morrison-hopes-850-000-back-at-work-by-july-20200508-p54r12">Treasury</a> estimates that the planned reopening of the economy will result in a bounceback of 850,000 jobs. Suppose that a decrease of 1.3 million turns out to be the trough and recovery is uninterrupted. Employment at the end of September would then be 440,000 below where it was in March, 3.4% lower. The turnaround would be a considerable achievement. But even if it happens, we will have only recovered to around the worst points of the 1980s and 1990s recessions, where employment decreased by about 4 per cent. Employment won’t recover fully in this best-case scenario because some parts of the economy will still be shut down (including international travel) and COVID-19 will continue to cause many consumers to spend less than usual. That best case is unlikely There are several reasons to worry about whether the best-case can be achieved. First, job gains from reopening businesses are likely to be offset by losses in employment in other industries suffering from reduced consumer demand and business investment. While cafes and restaurants may start up again, Bureau of Statistics data shows that employment has <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6160.0.55.001Main%20Features5Week%20ending%202%20May%202020?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6160.0.55.001&issue=Week%20ending%202%20May%202020&num=&">begun to decline</a> in large industries such as construction and professional service. Second, the effects of reopening may not be all we expect. Labour hoarding – where businesses retain more workers than needed during an economic downturn - might mean that reopening doesn’t translate into as many new jobs as expected. This is likely to be particularly acute given that JobKeeper has effectively paid employers to subsidise labour. Third, impacts from longer-run structural changes in the economy might begin to cause employment losses, especially as JobKeeper is partially unwound. So what are we to do? Even under the best-case scenario employment will be substantially lower than before COVID-19 well into the future. And we can’t presume the best-case will happen. A compelling case exists for substantial ongoing economic stimulus post-September 2020. The labour market will not have fully recovered by then. To remove stimulus would only set back recovery. The question therefore should not be: is stimulus needed, but rather, what size and type of stimulus is needed. Continuing JobKeeper beyond September 2020 could have an important role in providing income security to affected workers and macroeconomic stimulus. It is a known policy, it operates effectively, and it appears to have community support. Replacing it with an alternative type of stimulus could risk harming confidence and the recovery. We can’t simply end JobKeeper An extra (and considerable) advantage of continuing JobKeeper is allowing time for a staged transition away from it. Stopping it will inevitably push up unemployment. A staged transition would spread out that adjustment rather than creating a shock in September. A transition from JobKeeper could be done via stepped decreases in the size of payment or progressively restricting eligibility as industries or businesses recover. The transition could begin at the end of September, or earlier if it is judged that employment is likely to have already recovered substantially before then. An objection to retaining JobKeeper is that it is preventing adjustment in the labour market, and disrupting the normal process of businesses starting up and failing. There are two responses. First, the question is not about whether JobKeeper should be permanent, but about the timing of its removal. Whenever it is (or starts to be) removed, labour mobility will return and any firms on life support will disappear. Having this happen via a staged transition is better than having it happen all at once. Second, the potential economic losses from unemployment in a depressed economy swamp the potential losses from having inefficient firms operating for longer. Our number one priority has to be maintaining and restoring employment. Written by Jeff Borland. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-even-the-best-case-for-jobs-isnt-good-well-need-more-jobkeeper-139648">The Conversation.</a>

Travel Tips

Garbage truck driver to remain behind bars after killing pedestrian in hit-and-run

A 21-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a reversing garbage truck before his body was allegedly moved aside and left at the alleyway. George Yuhan Lin was seen on CCTV footage looking at his phone while walking along Central Street in Sydney’s CBD around 1.30am on Wednesday when a garbage truck hit him from behind. Police allege the driver, 51-year-old Tuiniua Fine, was seen putting on gloves and moving Lin’s body out from under the vehicle before driving off and continuing his garbage run. Fine was arrested at Kings Cross <a rel="noopener" href="https://7news.com.au/news/nsw/man-killed-in-alleged-hit-and-run-in-sydney-cbd-identified-as-accused-faces-court-c-695984" target="_blank">later that morning</a>, with police seizing the truck. The Lakemba man faced Central Local Court on Thursday after being charged with several offences including manslaughter, failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing death, dangerous driving causing death, and improperly interfering with a corpse or human remains. “We managed to get some CCTV which actually shows us quite clearly what happened,” said NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy. “And when those allegations become clear, the public we think will be quite appalled at the behaviour we’re going to allege.” Fine did not apply for bail and will <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/garbage-truck-driver-to-remain-behind-bars-over-sydney-hit-and-run-20200213-p540hz.html">remain behind bars</a> until the case is back in court in April.

Legal

Garbage truck driver received shock of his life when he discovered two kids sleeping in the bin

A garbage truck driver was not expecting to find two sleeping children when he looked inside a bin he was about to empty. Dave Pyne, who has been on the job for 16 years, said it was his “sixth sense” that made him check the recycling bin before discarding the contents in the back of his truck. The 65-year-old, from Holywell in North Wales, told local media he “couldn’t believe” what he saw. “Inside were two young kids sleeping, a boy and a girl,” he said. According to Pyne, the children looked close to nine or 10 years old before explaining that he woke them up and they were so petrified that they ran away. “I reported it to social services, but I never heard anything back,” he said. “Sometimes we find blankets and belongings or fresh food wrappers. I encourage everyone I work with to always check the bin. “You would never forgive yourself if you didn’t and there was a person inside.” He said if thrown inside the garbage truck, the person would be crushed by a blade.

Family & Pets

Whales and dolphins found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for the first time

Scientific research doesn’t usually mean being strapped in a harness by the open paratroop doors of a Vietnam-war-era Hercules plane. But that’s the situation I found myself in several years ago, the result of which has just been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">published</a> in the journal Marine Biodiversity. As part of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlIXcq2ijZQ">Ocean Cleanup’s Aerial Expedition</a>, I was coordinating a visual survey team assessing the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. When the aircraft’s doors opened in front of me over the Pacific Ocean for the first time, my heart jumped into my throat. Not because I was looking 400m straight down to the wild sea below as it passed at 260km per hour, but because of what I saw. This was one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, and the amount of floating plastic nets, ropes, containers and who-knows-what below was mind-boggling. However, it wasn’t just debris down there. For the first time, we found proof of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">whales and dolphins in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a>, which means it’s highly likely they are eating or getting tangled in the huge amount of plastic in the area. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is said to be the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. It is located between Hawaii and California, where huge ocean currents meet to form the North Pacific subtropical gyre. An estimated <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5864935/">80,000 tonnes of plastic</a> are floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Our overall project was overseen and led by The Ocean Cleanup’s founder Boyan Slat and then-chief scientist Julia Reisser. We conducted two visual survey flights, each taking an entire day to travel from San Francisco’s Moffett Airfield, survey for around two hours, and travel home. Along with our visual observations, the aircraft was fitted with a range of sensors, including a short-wave infrared imager, a Lidar system (which uses the pulse from lasers to map objects on land or at sea), and a high-resolution camera. Both visual and technical surveys found whales and dolphins, including sperm and beaked whales and their young calves. This is the first direct evidence of whales and dolphins in the heart of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296602/original/file-20191011-188797-8wu2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296602/original/file-20191011-188797-8wu2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Mating green turtles in a sea of plastics. photo by Chandra P. Salgado Kent, Author provided Plastics in the ocean are a growing problem for marine life. Many species can mistake plastics for food, consume them accidentally along with their prey or simply eat fish that have themselves eaten plastic. Both beaked and sperm whales have been recently found with heavy plastic loads in their stomachs. In the Philippines, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47608949">dying beaked whale</a> was found with 40kg of plastic in its stomach, and in Indonesia, a dead <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/s/sperm-whale/">sperm whale</a> washed ashore with 115 drinking cups, 25 plastic bags, plastic bottles, two flip-flops, and more than 1,000 pieces of string in its stomach. The danger of ghost nets The most common debris we were able to identify by eye was discarded or lost fishing nets, often called “ghost nets”. Ghost nets can drift in the ocean for years, trapping animals and causing injuries, starvation and death. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297849/original/file-20191021-56220-k3ttsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297849/original/file-20191021-56220-k3ttsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Crew sorts plastic debris collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on a voyage in July 2019. EPA/THE OCEAN CLEANUP Whales and dolphins are often found snared in debris. Earlier this year, a young sperm whale almost died after spending three years <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/digit-sperm-whale-saved-from-rope-entanglement-ghost-net-fishing-gear-off-dominica/">tangled in a rope from a fishing net</a>. During our observation we saw young calves with their mothers. Calves are especially vulnerable to becoming trapped. With the wide range of ocean plastics in the garbage patch, it is highly likely animals in the area ingest and become tangled in it. It’s believed the amount of plastics in the ocean could <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43477233">triple</a> over the next decade. It is clear the problem of plastic pollution has no political or geographic boundaries. While plastics enter the sea from populated areas, global currents transport them across oceans. Plastics can kill animals, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718346072?via%3Dihub%22%22">promote disease</a>, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322703874_Plastic_waste_associated_with_disease_on_coral_reefs">harm the environment, our food sources and people</a>. The most devastating effects fall on communities in poverty. New research shows the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22939-w">rapidly growing</a>, posing a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0">greater threat to wildlife</a>. It reinforces the global movement to reduce, recycle and remove plastics from the environment. But to really tackle this problem we need creative solutions at every level of society, from communities to industries to governments and international organisations. To take one possibility, what if we invested in fast-growing, sustainably cultivated bamboo to replace millions of single-use plastics? It could be produced by the very countries most affected by this crisis: poorer and developing nations. It is only one of many opportunities to dramatically reduce plastic waste, improve the health of our environments and people, and to help communities most susceptible to plastic pollution.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122538/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chandra-salgado-kent-679930">Chandra Salgado Kent</a>, Associate Professor, School of Science, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whales-and-dolphins-found-in-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-for-the-first-time-122538">original article</a>.

Travel Trouble

"Absolute garbage": Barnaby Joyce snaps at voter after being grilled at pub

Barnaby Joyce was thrown off in the final seconds of a Sky News Pub Test in Tamworth on Tuesday night, angrily snapping at a voter for asking the surprise question. The pub test had five of the candidates running in the seat of New England asked unknown questions by voters in the pub. The forum went for an hour, with the Nationals MP sailing through the questions until the voter had a question specifically for Joyce. “Gardesil vaccine prevents cancer of the cervix. On the 27th of January 2006, Barnaby Joyce opposed the free provision of Gardesil vaccine. He was quoted as saying, ‘Don’t put something out that gives a 12-year-old daughter of mine the license to be promiscuous’. Does Mr Joyce still hold this view?” came the question. Joyce perked up, as he had appeared bored throughout the night, to fire back a reply. “That article was one of the most atrocious, misquotings of me,” he quickly retorted. “My father’s a vet, my mother’s a physio. I had to deal for years after that reporter put that out. (It’s) absolute garbage. Of course I support something that’s going to save people’s lives. “You don’t understand. Just because you read it, doesn’t mean I said it.” This was one of many replies from Joyce that brought cheers to the room. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Should farmers be charged for rainwater?<a href="https://twitter.com/Barnaby_Joyce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Barnaby_Joyce</a>: The big thing farmers worry about is this socialist move that private assets they've paid for become owned by the govt and Labor is the most socialist govt we will ever have. MORE: <a href="https://t.co/ykweMevBOK">https://t.co/ykweMevBOK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PMlive?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PMlive</a> <a href="https://t.co/pYvvcQEDMI">pic.twitter.com/pYvvcQEDMI</a> — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1125735657345654791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">7 May 2019</a></blockquote> The comments mentioned by the voter from Joyce were made during a 2006 debate about the breakthrough cervical cancer vaccine. Joyce expressed fears that it would encourage young women to be promiscuous. “There might be an overwhelming backlash from people saying ‘don’t you dare put something out there that gives my 12-year-old daughter a license to be promiscuous’,” he said. The question at the pub test came as a surprise, as many of the questions during the hour-long forum focused on water supply, small businesses and the live export trade. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> How will you protect small businesses?<a href="https://twitter.com/adamblakester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@adamblakester</a>: Small and medium business is the engine room of our economy. There's this spaghetti junction of regulation. We think we have three layers of govt, but there are more with regulatory bodies. MORE: <a href="https://t.co/ykweMevBOK">https://t.co/ykweMevBOK</a> <a href="https://t.co/KGC8k6ntYM">pic.twitter.com/KGC8k6ntYM</a> — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1125733993784066049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">7 May 2019</a></blockquote> Other candidates on the panel included independent Adam Blakester, Labor’s Yvonne Langenberg, Clive-Palmer backed Cindy Ann Duncan and the Greens Tony Lonergan. Joyce was the only person to repeatedly get cheers and rounds of applause for his answers as he promised to build more dams and truck in water for the drought-ravaged region of Tamworth. Host Paul Murray invited voters to ask questions to the candidates as a part of his “Our Town” series. “What is it about politics in New England that seems to be so passionate ... so particularly aggressive?” Murray asked. “It’s particularly special to this part of Australia.”

News

Muffin Break manager admits to retrieving expired food out of a garbage bin

A Brisbane Muffin Break manager has admitted to taking expired ham out of a garbage bin after employees claimed she warned them against wasting expensive food products. The Westfield Chermside Muffin Break store manager has found herself at the centre of the growing scandal after a staff member revealed her text message to the media. The message, which was sent to the workers, read: “We have so many conversations about these expired products … the price of shaved ham are $10.25 ... I took them out from the bin still trying to use it, but should I always doing this? is it right thing to do? Of coarse [sic] not! “There are lots of stuff has been wasted like this way, However this shop really can’t afford this waste anymore.” In the same text message, the store manager also suggested that employees who failed to comply to her rules would be given fewer work hours. “I have received few good resumes ... if new girls are doing better than you, they are going to take over your shifts,” the message read. “It felt so unfair to us all,” an employee told the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/muffin-break-manager-pulls-outofdate-meat-from-bin-to-serve-to-customers/news-story/7b421b2f4dd6fbfb362cc48dca0ce6ab" target="_blank">Courier Mail</a>. “People tend to follow [the manager]’s order quite intensely because she’s very bossy and everything has to happen as she says. “I don’t want anyone to lose their job, but I’d rather someone lose their job and customers be safe than a customer gets ill.” The manager told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/brisbane-news-muffin-break-expired-ham-staff-text-messages/889ce08f-dcda-4af0-b3ff-8afdf8c00b39" target="_blank">9News</a> that she never intended to serve the disposed ham to customers. “Because I need to take a picture. That’s the reason,” she said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> Muffin Break is in damage control, after a manager at the Westfield Chermside store reprimanded workers because she had to retrieve ham passed its best-before date, from the bin. <a href="https://twitter.com/RMorrison9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RMorrison9</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9News</a> <a href="https://t.co/KIOsR4On4Z">pic.twitter.com/KIOsR4On4Z</a> — Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) <a href="https://twitter.com/9NewsQueensland/status/1115533982005846016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2019</a></blockquote> A spokesperson for Muffin Break’s parent company FoodCo said an investigation had been launched into the Chermside store case. “Muffin Break is committed to the highest standards of food safety and workplace health and safety, and we do not condone these alleged practices. “We are still investigating the matter, however our initial findings indicate that the ham was not used in any products for sale. We will continue our investigations and take appropriate actions based on the final findings.” In February, the food franchise company also drew strong criticisms after its general manager complained that young people were no longer willing to work for free to gain experience. “There’s just nobody walking in my door asking for an internship, work experience or unpaid work, nobody,” Natalie Brennan told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/world-reacts-to-claims-made-by-muffin-break-general-manager-about-gen-ys-inflated-view/news-story/1a434cd546e890a6d6248528f0ef7017" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>. “I’m generalising, but it definitely feels like this generation of 20-somethings has to be rewarded even if it’s the most mundane, boring thing, they want to be rewarded for doing their job constantly.” Brennan issued an apology for her statement following a widespread backlash around the world. “The recent article does not reflect my values or those of Foodco,” she said in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/MuffinBreak/posts/2308315932533211" target="_blank">a statement</a>. “I don’t expect anyone to work unpaid and Foodco Group policy is, and has always been, that all employees including interns – employed either directly or through our brands – are paid according to relevant awards. “The unpaid work I referred to was supervised programs run through schools, TAFEs or universities, which provide valuable gained experience to people before they enter the workforce full-time. I want to apologise for any misunderstanding or upset caused by my comments.”

Money & Banking

Garbage man saves 25,000 books and creates a library

What do you do with a book you no longer want? Give it to a friend? Sell it? Donate it? Well, for many people, the easiest option is simply to toss it into the bin. Sadly, this means countless perfectly good books are being unnecessarily discarded rather than being put to good use and given to those who need them most. That’s exactly what José Alberto Gutiérrez from Bogota, Colombia is trying to fix. For the past 17 years, the 55-year-old garbage man has been saving books from going into landfill. His collection began with a copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and has since exploded to a staggering 25,000 books, which take up the entire ground floor of his home. Naturally, such a vast number of books didn’t go unnoticed by his neighbours. Visitors began to stop by and asked to borrow a book or two for their kids and soon enough, Gutiérrez had a full-blown library on his hands. Dubbed “La Fuerza de las Palabras” (“The Strength of Words”), the community library now delivers books, organises pickups, organises events and donates books to disadvantaged children. “I grew up, here and I can tell you it got me a Ph.D. in marginalisation and poverty. Kids here don’t have a place to study; instead, they have to start working early,” he told <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/05/bogota-bibliophile-trash-collector-rescues-books-170522084707682.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>. For Gutiérrez, the whole aim is to break that cycle of poverty. “The whole value of what we do lies in helping kids start reading.” The project has been so successful, in fact, that plans have been made to build a real, brick-and-mortar building to house the extensive collection. “Lots of people mocked me,” he recalled. “They would laugh when they found out about my project. But now 20 years later, they are amazed. My dream is to exchange my garbage truck for a truck full of books, and travel the country.” Image credit: Fernando Vergara/AP.

Books

3-year-old meets her hero garbage man

Most 3-year-olds turn to superheroes, princesses and even their parents for inspiration, but a little girl in the US has a slightly more unconventional personal hero – the local garbage man. Brooklyn Andracke’s fascination began when the garbage man, Delvar Dopson began beeping his horn and waving every time he passed her house, where she waited at the window. Brooklyn and her mother started a new daily ritual, going outside to watch her hero drive past. However, on April 7 (which also happened to be her birthday), Brooklyn decided to show her appreciation by offering Dopson one of her cupcakes. “She was literally starstruck,” Brooklyn’s mother told the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/little-girl-cupcake-garbage-man_us_5719c563e4b0d0042da8ce94?section=australia" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>, and it seems her hero was too, left speechless by his young admirer’s act of kindness. A week later, Dopson gave Brooklyn a belated birthday present: a Frozen toy set. Watch the video above, you’ll just love the duo’s unlikely friendship. Source: Inside Edition Related links: <a href="/news/news/2016/04/mother-discovers-going-to-be-grandma-video/">Mum discovers she’s going to be a Grandma</a> <a href="/news/news/2016/04/two-year-olds-goodbye-to-grandma/">2-year-old’s adorable farewell to his grandma</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/04/a-letter-to-by-new-granddaughter/">A letter to my baby granddaughter I’ve yet to meet</a>

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