Farmer finds human orthopedic plate in crocodile's stomach - Stuff.co.nz

An Australian farmer who found an orthopedic plate inside a crocodile's stomach said on Thursday he had been told the surgical device was from a human and had been contacted by relatives of missing persons anxious for clues.

Koorana Crocodile Farm owner John Lever found the plate inside a 4.7-metre croc called MJ during an autopsy in June at his business near Rockhampton in Queensland state.

He initially wasn't sure if the unusual find had been part of an animal or human. But he said since making photos of the plate public, he had been told it was a type used in human surgery.

Lever estimated that MJ was between 50 and 70 years old when he died. MJ could have eaten the bone that the plate had been attached to by six screws 50 years ago, he said.

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All remnants of human tissue attached to the plate had been long digested before MJ died several months after losing a fight with another croc.

Lever is continuing to make inquiries in the hope of discovering what decade the type of plate was used and perhaps who it had belonged to.

KOORANA CROCODILE FARM/FACEBOOK

Koorana Crocodile Farm owner John Lever estimated that MJ was between 50 and 70 years old when he died.

"I wouldn't call it an investigation, we're making inquiries because we're fascinated by this whole thing," Lever said. "Obviously this crocodile has chomped on something and that plate has been left in its stomach complete with screws."

Lever bought MJ from a farmer six years ago. Sometime earlier, MJ had been trapped in the wild. Crocodiles are protected in Australia and are only trapped if they are a threat to humans.

KOORANA CROCODILE FARM/FACEBOOK

Koorana Crocodile Farm owner John Lever found the human orthopedic plate inside a crocodile called MJ.

"We've had a couple of people get in touch with us about their relatives that have gone missing in the northern Queensland area and they're anxious to find out - there's been nothing heard of these people, they've just disappeared," Lever said. "We'll certainly keep these people informed of any new news that we can get."

The last fatal crocodile attack in Australia was in 2017, when a 79-year-old dementia patient was killed after wandering from a nursing home at Port Douglas in Queensland.

Crocodile population has exploded across the country's tropical north since the 1970s. Because saltwater crocodiles can live up to 70 years and grow throughout their lives - reaching up to 7m in length - the proportion of large crocodiles is also rising.

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2019-08-01 06:11:00Z
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Australia's Two Leading Blockchain Advocate Groups Announce Merger - CoinDesk

Two groups seeking to promote blockchain technology in the Asia-Pacific have officially merged.

Announced July 22, the Australian Digital Currency Association (ADCA) and Blockchain Australia (BA) signed documentation that will see the two groups formally combine efforts under the BA logo and brand.

ADCA is the industry’s leading network for businesses seeking to implement blockchain solutions while BA is the industry body that represents domestic organizations participating in the crypto asset economy.

The announcement, as well as the unveiling of the group’s new logo, took place at the Annual APAC Blockchain Conference in Sydney.

Further, the news was presented by the assistant minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, the Hon. Senator Jane Hume, demonstrating government support for the merger and future developments from the Australian blockchain community.

“I’m absolutely delighted to see that ADCA and BA have decided to merge, having a consistent and united voice advocating for the responsible adoption of blockchain technology,” Hume told attendees. “We need to recognize the potential for Australian blockchain businesses to tap into the demand that’s deriving from Asia’s growing middle class.”

The official merger was hosted by the Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) and witnessed by directors and members from both organizations.

Nick Giurietto, CEO and managing director of BA, told CoinDesk:

“Bringing the two organizations together will allow the whole Australian blockchain community to speak more clearly and consistently to key stakeholders including governments and regulators and will strengthen the connections between all parts of the Australian blockchain ecosystem.”

“The merger of our two organizations creates a stronger and more united voice,” added Adam Poulton, director on the newly formed organization’s board.

Those involved in the new organization hope the merger will open pathways for greater opportunities and advancement in the APAC region.

Logo unveiling image via Annual APAC Blockchain Conference

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2019-08-01 04:15:00Z
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Chinese Nationalists Bring Threat of Violence to Australia Universities - The New York Times

BRISBANE, Australia — The Chinese nationalists disrupting pro-Hong Kong democracy rallies at the University of Queensland arrived 300 strong, with a speaker to blast China’s national anthem. They deferred to a leader in a pink shirt. And their tactics included violence.

One video from the scene shows a student from Hong Kong being grabbed by the throat. Another shows a philosophy student, Drew Pavlou, 20, shouting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Xi Jinping has got to go,” until a counterprotester throws his megaphone aside.

The altercations, which took place last Wednesday in the main square of a major Australian university, were broken up by the police, but experts believe it could be a dark omen of what is to come as the passions of Hong Kong protesters ripple to other countries.

A similar scuffle broke out on Tuesday at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, when three Chinese men were filmed shouting down students from Hong Kong at a rally and pushing a young woman to the ground.

For Australia in particular, the past week signals trouble after years of gliding along and growing rich off China’s growth. Australian universities have come to depend on Chinese donors, students and organizations that are often loyal to Beijing and intolerant of dissent.

More collisions with China’s muscular nationalism now seem likely. Racist chants and insults have been traded, along with punches. The Chinese Consulate in Brisbane praised the “spontaneous patriotic behavior” of the pro-China activists — leading the Australian defense minister to take the extraordinary step of warning foreign diplomats against attempts to suppress free speech.

Deconstructing what led to the clashes on Wednesday, through interviews, online messages and videos, reveals just how volatile, racially charged and violent any reckoning with China may become.

“It would certainly be nice if it didn’t escalate, but I remain quite concerned that the entire way this has been handled makes copycat attacks inevitable,” said Kevin Carrico, a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at Monash University in Melbourne. “It’s quite worrying.”

Drew Pavlou

New activists and new causes

The protest began with two students: Jack Yiu, 21, a quiet psychology major from Hong Kong, and Mr. Pavlou, a chatty grandson of Greek immigrants from Brisbane.

Both new to activism, they didn’t know each other until a few weeks ago.

Until recently, Mr. Yiu had led the university’s Hong Kong Student Association, holding benign activities like welcome dinners. Mr. Pavlou was known on campus for starting a popular Facebook group for intellectual debate.

But recent events involving China, they said, forced them to act. Mr. Yiu said he had friends in Hong Kong marching for democracy and against a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Mr. Pavlou said his own outrage was prompted by reading about Xinjiang, a region of China where the government has pushed minority Muslims into re-education camps.

“It’s cultural genocide,” Mr. Pavlou said.

Adding to his anger, he discovered his own university had cultivated close ties with Chinese officials. While the University of Queensland is one of several universities with a Confucius Institute — officially a program to promote Chinese language and culture — the vice chancellor, Peter Hoj, has made more of that relationship than his peers have.

The institute at the university plays a broader role, emphasizing collaboration with China in science, engineering and technology. Until late last year, Mr. Hoj was an unpaid consultant for the Confucius Institute headquarters. This month, he granted a visiting professorship to the Chinese consul general in Brisbane, Xu Jie, bringing a Communist Party official into university life at a time when the United States, Canada and several European countries have cut ties.

“It’s part of this China illiteracy, which is quite prevalent in Australia,” said Louisa Lim, a professor at the University of Melbourne and the author of “The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited.”

“In many cases,” she said, “the allure of Chinese investment and large numbers of Chinese students has been so overwhelming that educational institutions have just thrown their arms wide open without doing their due diligence.”

Image

The University of Queensland's vice chancellor, Peter Hoj, right, with Xu Jie, the Chinese consul general in Brisbane, Australia, in a photo released by the Chinese Consulate this month.CreditThe Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Brisbane

In a statement online, the University of Queensland said that the consul general would not be teaching and was one of 260 titleholders appointed in recent years.

But for Mr. Pavlou, who is majoring primarily in philosophy, his university’s warm welcome has legitimized a culture of disinformation and censorship. He said his anger crystallized after a student Facebook group, called StalkerSpace, filled up with pro-China statements around the 30th anniversary of the TiananmenSquare massacre in June.

“I saw all these people denying things that happened or stating the official government line on it, and like to me, that was really disgusting and horrifying,” Mr. Pavlou said.

A recent poll of Australians’ views on foreign affairs, by the Lowy Institute, found that many Australians were experiencing a similar shift: Only 32 percent of respondents said they trust China either “a great deal” or “somewhat” to act responsibly, a 20-point fall from 2018.

Mr. Pavlou said the recent protests in Hong Kong were an inspiration. He found Mr. Yiu through other activists, and they agreed to back-to-back rallies on July 24: The Hong Kong students would start at 10 a.m.; Mr. Pavlou and his group, broadening the focus to the university’s China ties, would start at noon.

Mr. Pavlou posted a notice of the event on Facebook. That’s when the trouble started.

Counterprotesters emerge

“Yo bro where u from? Australia?” said the Facebook message from an account with the name Frank Wang. “If so u better want to stay away from political problem.”

“Cancel the event,” the message continued. “If u keep doing this, uv gonna face millions of people on your opposite side.”

Other messages were more aggressive. Mixing Chinese and English, some people called Mr. Pavlou a white pig, using a pig emoji. One comment in Chinese said: “When will you die.”

Image

A threatening message that Drew Pavlou received on Facebook.CreditDrew Pavlou

Mr. Pavlou was drawn into trading insults with some of them. “It was out of fear and anger,” he said. “It was silly. I regret it.”

Nonetheless, he carried on. The first protest was uneventful. A wall filled up with sticky notes of support, mirroring those in Hong Kong. But by the time Mr. Pavlou and a few others started their protest, a crowd had gathered.

Several people there estimated that about 300 people — appearing to be a mix of Chinese students and nonstudents — appeared suddenly. Within minutes, someone had grabbed Mr. Pavlou’s megaphone, prompting him to jump up and push back.

Security guards intervened, but the leader of the counterprotesters demanded an apology on China’s behalf.

“We tried to talk to them,” Mr. Yiu said. “On the megaphone, I told them, we’re just fighting for Hong Kong democracy, not independence.”

By 2:15 p.m., it had grown tense. Mr. Pavlou, who had continued the protest inside the Confucius Institute’s offices, re-emerged to see 50 or so Hong Kong students surrounded.

Priya De, 22, a leader with the socialist group that connected Mr. Yiu and Mr. Pavlou, said she heard white Australians shouting “Go back to China” at the Chinese students, and “Deport them, deport them.”

A video shot by a Hong Kong student showed David Chui, 23, a business student from Hong Kong, being grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground.

Christy Leung, 21, another Hong Kong student, said a sign was torn from her hands and her clothing ripped. She and Mr. Chui went to the police to press charges. They were told there was nothing they could do.

“I don’t know how to be hopeful,” Ms. Leung said. “People told me to report it and I did, but it didn’t work.”

The aftermath

Mr. Pavlou’s group is planning another protest this week. The university said that it opened an investigation into the clash, and it issued a statement defending free speech but proposing that the demonstration be held in a more remote area of campus.

“It’s simply a way to starve the protest of visibility,” Mr. Pavlou said.

Some students would rather see it canceled. A half-dozen students from mainland China interviewed around campus on Tuesday called any demonstration against Chinese influence unnecessary and useless.

Some activists on the left, noting that the Hong Kong Student Association is not involved, said they worried that any protest led by Australians who were not from Hong Kong or mainland China would only contribute to anti-Chinese racism.

But for Mr. Pavlou, Mr. Yiu, and many others, there is no turning back. A group of Tibetan students has aligned with Mr. Pavlou’s group, calling for the university to shut down its Confucius Institute.

Mr. Yiu and his fellow Hong Kong students are planning more rallies, coordinating with groups all over Australia.

“People in Hong Kong are risking their lives,” Ms. Leung said. “The threats we faced last week are nothing compared to them. We have to stand up. With them.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/australia/hong-kong-china-queensland-protests.html

2019-07-30 12:02:33Z
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Australian officials who helped Chinese high rollers obtain visas face probe over money-laundering claims - The Washington Post

SYDNEY — Australia’s government said Tuesday it would investigate relations between consular officials and the country’s main casino operator, Crown Resorts, after media reports alleged that organized-crime gangs from China were laundering money through its casinos in Melbourne and Perth.

In recent days, articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age newspapers asserted that Crown, which is part-owned by tycoon James Packer, the ex-fiance of singer Mariah Carey, obtained assistance from Australian consular staff to facilitate the travel to Australia of people under investigation or being monitored by police and intelligence agencies.

The reports also said that a cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Ming Chai, holds an Australian passport and was aboard a private jet that was searched by Australian agents in 2016 on suspicion the aircraft was involved in money laundering.

Ming, a former police official who has not responded to the reports, was a valued client of Crown known as a VVIP, or Very, Very Important Person, according to confidential Crown documents cited by the newspapers.

The Washington Post has not been able to independently verify the reports, and Ming could not be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Christian Porter referred the allegations to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, a body that investigates corruption in federal law enforcement agencies, including the border-control force.

“It’s my view that there are sufficient concerns to warrant further investigations,” Porter told Parliament.

A former head of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg, told the papers in an article published Sunday that two senior government officials had lobbied him to make it easier for wealthy Chinese gamblers to enter Australia on private jets.

Crown said Tuesday it would assist with any investigation but rejected allegations of illegality.

“We believe these allegations are ill-informed and an attempt to smear the company,” it said in a statement.

The Department of Home Affairs, which oversees the Border Force, said it offers fast-track visa processing for “a number of large international organizations.”

The allegations are proving explosive in Australia, which is grappling with an influx of wealth from mainland China that has driven up property values, generated lucrative tax revenue and raised questions about the source of the financial windfalls.

Packer, who stepped down from the board of Crown in 2018, citing mental illness, is one of the country’s most famous business executives.

Two months ago, he sold 19.9 percent of Crown, leaving him with about 26 percent of the company, which reported profits of 559 million Australian dollars — about $380 million — in the year ended that June 30, 2018. Members of Crown’s high-stakes “VIP program” wagered 52 billion Australian dollars — about $36 billion — in the same period, according to corporate filings.

Packer’s lawyer has said that Packer has not held an executive position at the company since 2012 and had a passive interest in the company.

The Law Enforcement Integrity inquiry is likely to focus on whether federal officials did anything wrong in their relations with Crown. The casino operator is primarily regulated by state authorities, which have said they are monitoring the situation but have not taken any specific action.

From 2003 to 2016, Crown had an arrangement with the government to expedite the issuance of short-term visas for gamblers. Why the arrangement ended is unclear.

An independent, anti-gambling lawmaker, Andrew Wilkie, had unsuccessfully sought a broader inquiry into the company by a parliamentary committee.

“There is clearly a need for everyone in this place to understand we have a multi-jurisdictional issue, and Crown Casino is at the center of it,” Wilkie told Parliament on Tuesday.

Read more

Macao casinos rake in cash from Chinese who see gambling as an investment

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-07-30 07:15:24Z
CAIiEE8pIQmbJVBYj006lsONpl8qGAgEKg8IACoHCAowjtSUCjC30XQwn6G5AQ

Australia says U.S. plans to build military infrastructure - Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United States is planning to build additional military infrastructure in Australia once Congress gives approval to the U.S. Navy for $211.5 million, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks during a news conference at Australian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

The plans for a bigger U.S. footprint in Australia come at a time when the Western allies have become increasingly concerned by China’s efforts to expand its influence in the Pacific.

“The development of facilities will support the Force Posture Initiatives,” Payne told Sky News, referring to agreements reached in 2011 between the United States and Australia to enhance their defense relationship.

Those initiatives entail 2,500 U.S. Marines training in Australia each year, and regular joint training between the allies’ air forces.

Payne did not say what military infrastructure the United States aimed to build, but Australian media reported earlier this month that Washington had plans for a new port facility near Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory.

U.S. Marines deployed in an annual rotation for training are housed in an Australian base at Darwin.

“A port is the missing leg of the stool in U.S. military engagement with Australia,” said Euan Graham, director of the national security program, La Trobe University.

A U.S. embassy spokesman in Canberra declined to comment, and Australia’s Defense Department said it would expect concrete plans only when the proposal is approved by the U.S. Congress.

If the United States does build a port facility in Darwin it would be located near the Port of Darwin, which China’s Landbridge Group Co secured a 99-year lease over in 2015 - much to the annoyance of the United States.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated since the 2016 election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who ignited a trade war with China, while also increasing military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-07-30 06:29:00Z
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How Qantas Became The Australian Flag Carrier - Simple Flying

Founded in 1920, Qantas is one of the oldest airlines in the world. The red kangaroo on the tail and the cheery hello when you step aboard at Heathrow can lift the mood of even the most jaded Aussie. Like Pan Am, Singapore Airlines, and British Airways, the airline is a symbol of its home nation – the national flag carrier.

Predecessor to the 787-9 and the first Qantas aircraft, the Avro Dyack in 1921. Photo; Wikimedia Commons.

How did Qantas become the Australian flag carrier? There’s a pretty prosaic answer to that. It was nationalised by the Curtin Labor Government in 1947 and remained so until 1995 when it was privatised. Most Australians have always had a financial interest in Qantas, whether as a taxpayer or a shareholder.

But there is a more interesting backstory to why Qantas is a part of Australia’s psyche.

The founding of Qantas

The airline was founded in outback Queensland in the wake of World War I. At the time, aviation was in its infancy but Australians are never shy about jumping on board a trend and early aviation pioneers like Lawrence Hargrave and Charles Kingsford Smith were making significant contributions to the field from down under.

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The distances are vast in outback Queensland and the roads were, and still can be, dusty and frequently impassable. Back in 1920, it would take days to get between isolated towns. A couple of blokes, namely Paul McGuiness and Hudson Fysh, thought it would be a good idea to start an air taxi and charter service out of Winton, Queensland.

Possibly the bright idea came about after a Sunday afternoon sinking a few too many drinks.

They called the airline the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service (QANTAS).

Winton main street, early 20th century. Why wouldn’t you start up an airline there? Photo: aussie mob via Flickr.

If you are at all familiar with Winton, Queensland, even now, it’s not really the place to inspire confidence in a business venture.

But aviation was a novelty and they got some passengers. Then they got a mail run.

In 1922, they began their first scheduled passenger service – between Cloncurry and Charleville (both railhead towns – you can still take 20 odd hours to chug between Charleville and Brisbane on the Westlander should you so desire).

From these very humble and dusty origins, Qantas grew into what it is today.

National myth-making and Qantas

You’ve also got to appreciate that the average Australian likes to think of himself or herself as the kind of person who doesn’t mind a bit of dust between their toes and doing some hard yards out bush.

Of course, this is rubbish. Your average Aussie these days hates flies, likes pinot, uses gender-neutral language, definitely doesn’t go bush, and probably thinks Cloncurry is a kind of organic plum found at Harris Farm Markets.

I can say this because I am one. And this early Qantas backstory perfectly suits Australia’s taste for adventurous and dusty national myth-making. We’re good at it.

Qantas markets the myth

That was one hundred years ago. Credit to Qantas for surviving and prospering and taking the company from that dusty outback airstrip to airports around the world.

Australians are now a well-travelled bunch. You trip over them in London tube stations and they seem to have taken over every second coffee bar in New York. Good luck Chicago. But to get out of here, you’ve got to fly,  and for a long time, there was a significant cultural imperative to do a big trip overseas before getting married and settling down. Travelling is in the national DNA.

Qantas played a big part in that process. They were the airline you flew out on – often your first flight, certainly your first overseas flight. The airline facilitated that adventure and people of a certain age have long associated the Qantas with that first big adventure.

The old Qantas 747s took a lot of Australians off on their first big overseas trip. Photo: Phillip Capper via Flickr.

Then, six or twelve months later, when you were broke and busted out, the cheery Flight Attendant would be at the door of a Qantas jet to bring you back home.

Sometimes you’d even get the Peter Allen song prior to departure.

Finally

Qantas has succeeded as a national flag carrier not only because of ownership but because Australian’s have willingly adopted it into their national consciousness for a century. And Qantas has astutely utilised this.

Today, even when the airline does something supremely annoying, like cancelling a flight or Jetstar-tuting a route, most Australians will stick with the airline. It kind of annoys me, but then again I keep suggesting Qantas story ideas to Simple Flying so I am probably captured too.

And I’m flying them next week – three times.

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2019-07-29 03:17:39Z
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Australian Shayna Jack Tests Positive Days Before Start Of Gwangju - SwimSwam

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Just days prior the start of these FINA World Aquatics Championships, Aussie freestyle ace Shayna Jack announced her sudden withdrawal from the world’s biggest swimming competition outside of the Olympics.

As we reported on June 14th, Jack stated via her social media,”It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from world championships due to personal reasons.”

With the ambiguity arose questions and speculation, which have now been confirmed, as the 2017 World Championships medalist has tested positive for a banned substance.

Once again via Instagram, Jack reveals she has tested positive, but says, “I would never intentionally take a banned substance that would disrespect my sport and jeopardize my career.”

The St. Peters Western athlete further states, “Now there is an ongoing investigation and my team and I are doing everything we can to find out when ad how the substance has come into contact with my body.

The exact substance has yet to be revealed, but the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) says the drug test was conducted on June 26th. Jack is under provisional suspension while the investigation into the situation now begins.

According to the Swimming Australia statement, under the specific legislation governing Australia’s drug-testing regime, Swimming Australia is notified of any adverse test result as is WADA and FINA. Under the process, all details are required to remain confidential until ASADA has completed its investigations, the athlete is afforded due process and an outcome determined.

Swimming Australia CEO Leigh Russell states, “Swimming Australia is and always has been committed to a clean sport. We have consistently supported a zero-tolerance approach to doping and have been strong supporters of a rigorous and consistent approach to drug testing both here and overseas.

“Under our system, if a swimmer returns an adverse test, they are automatically given a provisional suspension and stopped from competing until such time as the ASADA process is complete and an outcome determined.

“As you would expect we are bitterly disappointed with allegations a swimmer has a prohibited substance in her system although it is important to point out that the matter is yet to be determined. We will continue to provide appropriate support for Shayna. We will also provide support for our team members who are still in Korea and our team and our organization will continue to reaffirm our zero-tolerance approach.”

This year’s World Championships has already seen two swimmers refuse to stand on the podium with China’s Sun Yang, the man who is seeking a public CAS hearing this Fall. One of the men refusing to acknowledge Sun in photographs was Mack Horton of Australia, who says the sport has no room for drug cheats, although now his countrymate is under the spotlight.

In terms of the International Swimming League (ISL), Jack had been named to the U.S.-based Cali Condors and her status there is now in potential jeopardy in light of this news. The league has been very vocal about zero-tolerance, a policy which has shut out the likes of past positive testers like the aforementioned Sun and Russia’s Yuliya Efimova, but has also denied non-positive testers like Thomas Fraser-Holmes.

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2019-07-27 10:36:15Z
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