Tag Archives: oceania

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Sea mines: the cheap, deadly Iranian weapon facing US Navy

The armada of US Navy vessels blockading Iranian ports also faces a hazardous mission that can help solve the global fuel crisis: clearing any sea mines the regime has laid.

Iran's navy had about 5000 sea mines before the conflict began, but strikes by the United States and Israel over past weeks has reduced its stocks to about 500. The Pentagon also says Iran has lost all of its mine-laying vessels. 

But experts warn Iran still has the ability to strike back in the Strait of Hormuz against warships, oil tankers and other vessels with what remains of its sea mine arsenal.

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Former Royal Australian Navy mine warfare specialist Andy Perry warned this month the relatively low-cost weapons are hard to detect and equally hazardous to destroy.

They come in various forms: Spiked, such as those used in World War II; Influence mines detonated by the static electricity from passing ships; Magnetic ones that react to changes in the "magnetic signature" of the water; Acoustic mines that react to noises by ships; Pressure mines that explode when water pressure changes.

Perry, writing for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, says mines are an ideal weapon for an outnumbered and outgunned combatant, such as Iran.

"They require little training or specialist support. They are easy to deploy: they can be placed in the water from civilian boats, small craft or submarines.

"And unlike many other naval weapons, they can be laid without direct combat interaction with an adversary, remaining dormant until activated by a passing vessel."

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While the mine clearance abilities of the US Navy and other western navies have improved to advanced levels, it remains a tough and potentially deadly task.

The conventional tactic is for naval ships to sweep an are of the sea for mines.

Once detected, mines moored to the sea floor have their cables cut, then when they float to the surface, or when they're destroyed.

Mines lurking at the bottom of the ocean can be detected by minesweeping ships using acoustic, electrical or magnetic signals before they're eliminated by a controlled explosion.

They can also be detected by sonar on underwater drones or lasers mounted on the drones or even on helicopters and then destroyed safely.

But the ever-present danger makes any mine clearing mission a lengthy one when caution comes first.

The task could be even tougher with reports the Iranian navy doesn't know the exact places around the Strait of Hormuz where it laid their mines.

It means the timeline to clear them can pull out from days to weeks to even months, a duration the global economy can ill afford.

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‘Brisket bandit’ caught on camera nabbing hundreds of dollars of top beef

EXCLUSIVE: A bizarre theft in Perth has been caught on camera, showing a man snatching an armful of premium beef worth hundreds of dollars.

The "brisket bandit" left the Southern River butcher furious and sparked a police investigation.

CCTV shows him tucking into a box of Shapes before the meat heist begins.

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"You can watch old mate just walking through, having a look, eating his crackers," Rump Shakers Southern River butcher John Bain told 9News.

He then jumps the counter and makes off with what Bain said was two briskets weighing about 15 kilograms.

"It just annoys me, he obviously didn't care about being caught I reckon," Bain said.

Bain posted about the theft on social media and was inundated with loyal customers trying to help.

"Smile you piece of shit your (sic) on camera," he wrote this morning.

"Anyone know this low life?

"It's going to be on every chat page I know and the police will have the footage this morning.

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"Hey at least be a smart criminal and not stop in clear view of the camera's (sic)."

Online sleuths have since been able to identify a potential suspect.

CCTV has been handed over to the police, who are investigating.

But in the meantime it's a costly loss the small business has to absorb. 

"The uncontrollable costs are just going through the roof at the moment – not just me, not just butchers, small business in general, and families as well, we're all feeling it," Bain said.

Charges are yet to be laid over the theft but Bain says he'll be beefing up security.

"Mate, go out and earn a dollar. Don't steal from us," he said.

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Uncovered ballots spark third vote count in SA seat won by One Nation

A South Australian One Nation candidate has questioned how new electoral laws impacted the electoral commission after uncounted votes thrust her seat of Narungga into a third vote count.

Chantelle Thomas claimed the Yorke Peninsula seat two weeks ago on a razor-thin margin of just 58 votes.

The March 21 vote was so close that a recount was called in the electorate to ensure there were no errors.

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One Nation SA Narungga candidate Chantelle Thomas.

But South Australia's Electoral Commission (ECSA) today ordered a second recount of the vote after 81 unopened ballot papers were found in the neighbouring district of Stuart.

The unopened batch of votes was collected from the Port Pirie early voting centre on Tuesday, Deputy Premier Kyam Maher said.

The commission said its acting commissioner Leah McLay contacted all candidates to notify them of the third count.

"Following the discovery of votes that have not been counted, I have secured the unopened ballot papers and have ordered a further count for the district of Narungga," McLay said.

"The Commission will support any independent external review into the 2026 State Election and South Australian First Nations Voice to Parliament Election."

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The recount will take place tomorrow, attended by scrutineers and McLay herself.

Thomas slammed news of the recount as "very disappointing for my community in Narungga".

"We're being forced to wait – again – to see who will be Narungga's representative in Parliament," she said.

"Let's be clear: this raises serious questions about the integrity of the South Australian election, whether the electoral commission was fully prepared for it, and how Labor's new electoral laws – passed with Liberal support – impacted on the electoral commission's preparations.

"Like everyone else, I'll have to wait for the count on Friday. Afterwards I'm sure there will be more to say about it."

An independent review into the election has been ordered by the government, Maher said.

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SA Liberal leader Ashton Hurn said uncounted ballots bring into question votes in other seats.

"Elections are incredibly complex things to undertake. There are thousands of employees, hundreds of polling booths and over a million votes to count," Maher said.

"We are now finalising terms of reference and in an addition to that an independent review of how the election was conducted and voters experience."

Narungga was the final lower house seat to be called in the election, granting Pauline Hanson's conservative party its fourth seat in Parliament.

Thomas defeated fellow Yorke Peninsula local and Liberal candidate Tania Stock to claim the seat.

The South Australian Liberal Party was reduced to five seats in the Labor Party's landslide victory on election night.

SA Liberal Party leader Ashton Hurn called the vote count bungle "hugely concerning" and said ECSA has "a lot of explaining to do".

"There's been a string of errors really from the Electoral Commission and I think we need to get to the bottom of how this was able to occur because that will mean into the future we can make sure that it doesn't happen again," she said.

"If a batch of votes can essentially vanish into thin air and then appear four weeks later, it does raise questions about other seats."

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Car swerves along road, trying to shake off woman clinging onto bonnet

Shocking video has emerged of a woman clinging to the bonnet of a moving car during an apparent road rage incident on the Gold Coast.

Natalie Alice Shaw, 22, was pulling into a car park in July when she claimed another woman was driving the wrong way and blocking her vehicle.

Security vision shows Shaw's red car eventually pulling into a drive-thru, where she was confronted by the woman, who tried to open her door.

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The unnamed woman left before marching back through the car park to the drive-thru exit.

"She comes and she's in front of my car and she goes, 'What are you going to do? Hit me?'," Shaw said in a self-filmed video.

"And I was like, 'Well, yeah if you're in my way, I'm gonna get you to move out of my way'."

The woman then jumped onto the bonnet of the car before Shaw proceeded to drive out of the car park and onto Olsen Avenue in Molendinar, a busy main road with a 60km/h speed limit.

"I'm like driving, trying to get her off … like swerving, trying to get her off," Shaw said.

The woman clung to the windscreen wipers, telling Shaw to "slow the f— down" before eventually falling off the side.

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Shaw was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

The ordeal was so strange, even Magistrate Sarah Thompson said "in 25 years of practice … I have never seen such bizarre behaviour".

"The behaviour of the complainant was erratic, it was dangerous, it placed you in danger, you also placed her in danger," Thompson said.

"It was a poor decision that you made in the circumstances, being confronted with what anyone objectively would see as a terrifying situation."

Shaw was disqualified from driving for six months.

A rising para-athlete, her dreams of competing at the LA Paralympics in 2028 could be in jeopardy.

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Ebike shop goes up in flames in Byron Bay

An ebike shop in the popular tourist town of Byron Bay has gone up in flames.

The fire is believed to have started about 1pm, with thick black smoke soon billowing from the shop on Byron Street.

Passersby quickly flocked to the scene to film the flames, with witnesses seeing many bikes burning inside.

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Several bikes were seen on fire.

The shop allows people to rent an ebike for a certain period of time.

Firefighters were confronted by challenging conditions as they tried to quell the blaze.

"Crews have reported possible lithium-ion batteries possibly exploding inside," Fire and Rescue NSW Acting Superintendent Andrew Bickle told the ABC.

It is not known if anyone was in the shop when the fire started.

Police told nine.com.au the fire was not believed to be suspicious, and that it may have been ignited by a lithium battery.

Investigations are ongoing.

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‘Undervalued’ NSW nurses, midwives awarded major pay deal

Nurses and midwives in New South Wales have been awarded a major "one-off" pay deal by the Industrial Relations Commission, which found the overwhelmingly female workforce had been undervalued due to gender reasons.

The deal sees a 16 per cent raise for registered nurses and midwives, an 18 per cent raise for enrolled nurses and a 28 per cent raise for assistants in nursing and midwifery over three years.

The commission, in a summary of its reasons, said "historically, the work value of feminised industries such as nursing has been undervalued".

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The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) held a protest outside NSW parliament

"The reasons are multifaceted, but a key reason is that they involve the exercise of caring or interpersonal skills that women were considered to have a natural capacity to perform which led to those skills not being expressly recognised, considered and valued," it said.

It also found wages had not kept up with inflation and the cost of living in recent years.

But it found any increase in pay would need to be "debt-funded" by the NSW government.

"For every one per cent increase in pay, the NSW government needs to fund an additional $74.5 million per year.

"These additional costs reduce the NSW government's capacity to do other things, including fund infrastructure and provide services."

It said those factors were relevant to the outcome but "not barriers to appropriate increases".

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) went to the commission with the NSW government last year after pay negotiations stalled.

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"Registered nurses and midwives are the backbone of this workforce."

General Secretary Michael Whaites said the decision was "historic" but didn't go far enough.

"Today's announcement gives a record-breaking pay deal for nurses and midwives in New South Wales. Yet for registered nurses and midwives it is not enough to fix the structural reform that we need in this state," Whaites said.

"Registered nurses and midwives are the backbone of this workforce.

"They are the majority of this workforce, and we had hoped for a better outcome for them.

"For enrolled nurses and assistants in nursing and midwifery, this is a great outcome.

"It recognises the undervaluation of the work that they do and gives them the recognition they rightly deserve."

But he said the decision had weighed the value of nurses and midwives against the state of the NSW economy.

"Throughout our campaign, we had politician after politician saying that they know nurses and midwives are worth more, we just can't afford it and yet, here again today we hear that registered nurses and midwives should be paid more, but we just can't afford it.

"This is an outcome that says that women's work has to remain undervalued because of the economy – that's an appalling position for us to be in in 2026.

"We will continue to campaign for our registered nurses and midwives to make sure they're valued for the work they do."

The Minns government said it welcomed the decision.

"Nurses and midwives are the beating heart of our health workforce and while we acknowledge this was a hard-fought dispute, we believe it is a fair outcome," Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said.

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Controversial post-Bondi protest restrictions struck down in court

Powers used to restrict protests in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre have been deemed by a court to have breached constitutional freedoms.

The controversial measures, which were rushed through NSW Parliament in December, allowed the police commissioner to make a declaration preventing residents from seeking authorisation for rallies in key areas of Sydney for up to three months after a terror attack.

This left protesters vulnerable to arrest for obstructing traffic or pedestrian movements if they marched through the streets.

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While the state government said the laws were necessary to maintain order and peace, activist organisations Palestine Action Group and Blak Caucus took them to court.

Chief Justice Andrew Bell on Thursday found the laws were an "impermissible burden" on various constitutional freedoms in a NSW Court of Appeal decision.

The declaration was imposed after two gunmen allegedly opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in mid-December, killing 15 people.

Its restrictions were not eased until February, about a week after police broke up a Town Hall protest opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog's trip to Australia.

The event was also policed under a major events declaration that gave authorities powers to clear the area at their determination.

Asked about the laws ahead of the court's decision, Premier Chris Minns continued to back them.

"I'm not saying there wasn't clashes, I'm not saying it wasn't difficult and I don't regret moving that legislation at all," he said.

"It's tricky when you're introducing changes to legislation like that because there's a necessary infringement on constitutional principles.

"But there are other constitutional principles: the right of individual citizens to go about living their life free of intimidation, persecution or violence."

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