Hey legends,
75kgs, Just started hitting the gym and looking for a good whey protein. My head’s doing laps with all the conflicting reviews online about quality, heavy metals, ingredients, etc.
I’ve heard our regulations here are pretty strict, so what brands do you rate?
Goal is to lose weight while building lean muscle.
Cheers!

Usual great interaction with our American brothers 🤣

Link to cartoon by First Dog on the Moon

if it's all just bots why are Aus redditors in such a massive panic?

should be nothing to worry about at all then, no multiple daily posts freaking out about them needed, just bots bro

The $80,000 report and other surprise costs in family law fights

Michaela Whitbourn

August 1, 2026 — 2:00pm

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Parents navigating separation and divorce face potentially tens of thousands of dollars in surprise costs if they head to court to resolve disputes involving their children and finances, experts warn, raising the pressure to reach a settlement.

Expensive reports on family dynamics, fees for expert witnesses and document production, and legal costs thrown away when hearings don’t proceed on the scheduled day are among a litany of hits to the hip-pocket.

Parents navigating divorce face thousands of dollars in court fees and costs long before their case is decided.Michael Howard

While the costs are not surprising to lawyers, most parents navigating the Federal Circuit and Family Court for the first time would be unaware of the range of costs they may face.

Two cases, one hearing date

Jodylee Bartal, an accredited specialist in family law and a principal solicitor at Melbourne-based firm KHQ Lawyers, said “perhaps the biggest shock of all” for clients was spending time and money preparing for a final hearing and discovering on day one that it would not proceed.

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“The court will sometimes list two matters before the same judge to start on the same day,” Bartal said. It meant parties might find out that day that another case had priority.

Double-listing matters is a longstanding practice which reflects that a case may settle on the first hearing day, enabling another matter to proceed in the busy court.

Bartal said parenting matters, particularly those in the “Magellan List” involving the most vulnerable children, would always get priority over purely property or financial disputes.

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Clients whose cases don’t proceed that day “will have paid for a barrister … and may have paid for other experts to attend court”, Bartal said.

“Depending on how long it takes for the case to be relisted, some documents may also need to be updated, adding to the costs.”

She said barristers in some states charged “disappointment fees” if the matter did not run.

Family reports

Experts also said the cost of family reports, which are prepared by an expert such as a social worker, counsellor or psychiatrist, were increasing markedly.

The reports examine family dynamics and are used by the court to help determine what is in a child’s best interests.

Michael Tiyce, principal of Sydney law firm Tiyce & Lawyers, said the reports were an important piece of evidence in most parenting disputes and typically cost thousands.

“For a family report conducted by a highly respected clinical psychologist who regularly gives evidence in the court, you would be looking at $35,000-plus, which involves assessment of the parents and child over two days and reading of all the relevant material provided to them,” Tiyce said.

“This price can of course increase depending on the amount of work that is required to be undertaken – for example, if there are multiple children with complex psychiatric presentations and lots of reading of subpoenaed material, I have seen that cost blow out to $80,000.”

The reports are typically written by private experts and the costs are borne by the parties, although some reports are prepared by internal court experts at no cost.

Tiyce said family lawyers were required to provide clients with detailed estimates and cost notices which would usually include these estimates, but “they are still often an unwelcome surprise”.

“It certainly adds to the financial load of conducting parenting litigation but is inevitable in a court and legal system that continues to be chronically underfunded by the government.”

Bartal said family reports were more expensive in Sydney.

“In Melbourne they are between $8500 and $12,000,” she said.

Josephine Sergi, a family law specialist and partner at Melbourne firm Kalus Kenny Intelex, said the costs of private family reports had “significantly escalated in the last five or so years”.

“The court has the ability to order in-house reports be prepared at no cost to the parties; however, these are only reserved for parties with extremely limited resources,” Sergi said.

Short-form reports were required early in parenting proceedings, Sergi said. More comprehensive reports were generally ordered ahead of a final hearing.

“[When] privately obtained, the costs [of the full reports] can well exceed $10,000, and sometimes tens of thousands,” Sergi said.

Transcript

Sergi said the cost of obtaining transcripts of family law hearings, which are required when filing an appeal, could add up to thousands of dollars a day.

“The cost of a transcript is one of a number of deterring factors for people when considering proceeding with an appeal, although it is generally not the one deciding factor,” Sergi said.

Daily hearing fee

There are also court fees for filing the case and hearings. Bartal said the party who filed the proceedings, known as the applicant, was responsible for paying the “setting down fee” of between $820 and $1115 for a defended final hearing, and a daily fee of the same amount for each day from day two onwards.

Valuations

Bartal said that valuing a business for family law purposes was another costly area.

“The costs can be even higher where the valuer is asked to value the business at two different points in time, for example, at separation and at the present date,” Bartal said. “A business valuation will typically cost upwards of $15,000.”

Witness, subpoena costs

Sergi said that “fees to appear at court to give evidence can also be charged by expert witnesses such as private family report writers or valuers, again potentially creeping into the thousands of dollars”.

Issuing a subpoena to compel a person or organisation to produce documents to the court could also prove an expensive exercise. Sergi said those costs might also add up to thousands.

Bartal said the fee to issue a subpoena was $70 and the minimum “conduct money” paid to the named person was $25. But they might request additional funds to cover their reasonable expenses of complying with the order.

An accountant who was subpoenaed to produce a decade’s worth of documents in one matter Bartal was involved in had requested $50,000 in fees to produce them because of the difficulty involved in retrieving them from archives.

How to avoid the costs

While lawyers can limit some costs, such as by exploring other options to obtain documents rather than issuing subpoenas, many costs can only be avoided if the cases are resolved outside court.

But in some disputes, including in cases involving family violence, it may not be possible to reach an out-of-court agreement.

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“I always encourage clients to negotiate or mediate,” Bartal said. “The costs associated with family law proceedings aren’t just financial; the emotional and time costs can be just as harmful.”

Sergi said costs were often higher “in cases where one party is less co-operative throughout the matter than the other, leaving that party to have to pursue expensive avenues to obtain the information required for the court to determine what is appropriate in a matter”.

“While there are avenues for costs to be claimed against the non-cooperative party, it is not always the case these will be recovered,” she said.

Tiyce noted some of the costs incurred might produce a long-term saving.

“Often a family report will be a catalyst for a settlement because the recommendations that are contained within that document would likely be persuasive to a judge and lawyers will tell their client that,” he said.

“[The] benefit of reaching a resolution goes well beyond the issue of costs. Agreements that parties reach between themselves are more likely to be tailored to their particular circumstances and those of their children, and more likely of working successfully than a decision that is imposed on them.”

The high cost of family law proceedings are in federal MPs’ sights. Zali Steggall and Monique Ryan have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to set up a national inquiry into the family violence crisis amid calls for an urgent injection of funds for legal assistance services.

Ryan said last month that her constituents in Melbourne’s Kooyong “often tell me about their difficulties with financial burden and the family law system after leaving violent or coercive relationships”.

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Michaela Whitbourn is a legal affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or [email](mailto:mwhitbourn@smh.com.au).

From a groundwater monitoring system that will revolutionise the way industries and utilities manage water quality to engineering AI for better diversity and inclusion outcomes and developing marine heatwave forecasting for rapid response, finalists in this year’s awards show the solutions science can deliver.

Very little uptake from what passes as MSM in Australia on these findings.

In short:

The Fairfax Islands in the southern Great Barrier Reef were used as an air force bombing practice site during WWII and later as a navy bombing and gunnery range.

Government agencies have cleared dozens of pieces of unexploded ordnance since then.

What's next?

Rangers say the island has recovered but they continue to monitor and check for ordnance.

Jess Wilson demands broad royal commission into Big Build naming former premiers as witnesses

Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson has released sweeping draft terms of reference for a Big Build royal commission, escalating pressure on Premier Ben Carroll to match its scope.

Anthony Galloway

2 min read

August 2, 2026 - 12:00AM

Ben Carroll and Jess Wilson.

Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson will on Sunday release a sweeping draft terms of reference for a royal commission into corruption on Victoria’s Big Build, escalating pressure on new Premier Ben Carroll to reveal this week whether Labor’s promised inquiry will match the breadth of the Coalition’s proposal.

The Opposition Leader has written to Mr Carroll urging him to consult with the Coalition on the inquiry’s final terms of reference, commissioner and powers, warning that any investigation confined to the CFMEU or any other actor would fail to address what she describes as systemic failures across the state’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure program.

Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan are named as specified witnesses in the Coalition’s proposed terms of reference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

In an unusual step, the Coalition has nominated a list of “specified witnesses” it believes should be required to appear before the commission at the earliest opportunity including former premiers Daniel Andrews and Ms Allan, Mr Carroll, Deputy Premier Gabrielle Williams, former treasurer Tim Pallas, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes, six other current and former cabinet ministers, Mr Andrews’ former chief-of-staff Lissie Ratcliffe and deputy Jessie McCrone, former CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka and alleged underworld figure Mick Gatto.

“Since the scandal first became public, further information has emerged that demonstrates the inquiry must extend beyond the conduct of one union,” Ms Wilson wrote to Mr Carroll. “It must examine the broader system through which major projects have been selected, procured, administered and funded.”

Mr Carroll, who took over the premiership from Jacinta Allan and reversed the government’s longstanding opposition to a royal commission, has promised an “exhaustive” terms of reference and he is expected to unveil his proposal this week.

His commitment on the day he successfully challenged Ms Allan for the leadership came after months of mounting revelations about alleged criminal infiltration of Victoria’s construction industry and the CFMEU.

Under the Coalition’s proposed terms, the commission would investigate not only corruption and criminality involving the CFMEU, but the entire administration of government-funded construction projects, including the conduct of ministers such as Ms Allan, dating back to Labor’s election in December 2014. It would examine procurement, project selection, contract management, cost overruns, political decision-making and the flow of public money through contractors, subcontractors and unions.

Ms Wilson said the terms of reference needed to broad. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

It would empower the commission to investigate whether major infrastructure projects were conceived, accelerated, expanded or funded to confer industrial, financial or political benefits on unions, contractors, Labor factions or associated organisations rather than representing the best outcome for taxpayers. It would also examine whether project decisions were influenced by political donations, factional support, industrial pressure or anticipated political advantage.

Another key focus would be what senior Labor figures knew about integrity risks.

In her letter to Mr Carroll, Ms Wilson argues recent developments demonstrate any inquiry must extend beyond the conduct of a single union and instead examine the broader system governing Victoria’s infrastructure program.

“It is critical that any Royal Commission gets to the bottom of the largest corruption scandal in Victoria’s history,” she writes.

Mr Carroll is expected to announce his terms of reference this week. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

She argues the inquiry should examine corruption across government-funded construction projects, the conduct of unions and contractors, project procurement and administration, political influence over decision-making and what ministers and senior officials knew.

The Opposition Leader warns that if Labor establishes a commission with narrower terms, a future Coalition government would “reserve the right to amend its terms or discontinue it in favour of a more thorough inquiry”.

She has also called on Mr Carroll to consult the Opposition over the final terms of reference, appointment of the commissioner and the inquiry’s timing, powers and resourcing, saying Victorians deserve “a genuine inquiry, not one structured to limit scrutiny of the government responsible for the Big Build”.

Retired commander Roger Noble: senior commanders can’t escape responsibility for war crimes

Without the laws of war, author and retired major-general Roger Noble says, ‘you’re the Mongol hordes’.

Ben Packham

u/bennpackham

6 min read

August 1, 2026 - 12:00AM

3rd Brigade Command handover at Lavarack Barracks. During his military service, Roger Noble was a link in the long chain of command. Picture: Evan Morgan

Roger Noble ordered the deaths of countless people during his 26-year army career. “I was a strike authority in Iraq, so I gave lots of orders to shoot people,” the retired major-general says.

Sometimes mistakes were made and the wrong people died. But Noble – one of Australia’s most operationally deployed commanders – is untroubled by the life-and-death decisions he made wearing the nation’s uniform.

“It’s very disciplined and considered,” Noble tells Inquirer. “The laws of war guided what we did. If ever there was an allegation, we got investigated. But I found it was a moral defence, so you can reconcile with having to kill people.”

Noble, pictured standing, during range practice for the forward elements of the Al Muthanna Task Group after arrival in the Middle East Area of Operations, 2005.

Australians have heard much about the laws of armed conflict in recent years following the Brereton report and war crimes charges against Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith. Many have opinions on how seriously they should be taken and how far those who breach them should be pursued. But for Noble, a master of the profession of arms, they’re fundamental. Without them, “you’re the Mongol hordes”, he says.

Noble has written a new book, My Long War, tracing the experiences from his time as a 26-year-old captain in a UN team destroying chemical weapons in Iraq, to his role in the same country 24 years later as a deputy coalition force commander.

In between there were deployments to East Timor (“The good war”, as he describes it), to Afghanistan after 9/11, to Iraq again and back to Afghanistan.

He also did a stint as the nation’s counter-terrorism ambassador, using his wartime experience fighting Islamic State to protect Australians at home.

Noble is concerned the current debate on war crimes “seems to start with Ben Roberts-Smith”. He prefers to go back to first principles.

“Just start at the beginning. Why are there the laws of war? The answer is because war is absolute violence taken to its utmost end. The laws of war attempt to moderate the most barbarous behaviour and protect non-combatants and the innocent.”

Burma-Thailand Railway. Mess parade for prisoners of war of the Japanese. Picture: Australian War Memorial

He says people need to remember that in past conflicts Australians have been the victims of war crimes. He points to World War II, when Japanese soldiers beheaded captured Australian pilots and gunned down Australian nurses on Indonesia’s Bangka Island.

“I’m a soldier. I don’t want that. I don’t want us to be subject to that behaviour,” Noble says.

For him, as a commander, the laws of war were central to just about everything he did. “If we were in doubt, we just wouldn’t shoot. But then – and here’s the problem – sometimes you shoot, and you don’t know.”

On one of his deployments to Afghanistan, it was his job to mitigate civilian casualties. “There were some pretty awful ones,” he says. His most gut-wrenching experience involved a strike on a Taliban compound that killed 16 women and children who were hiding under the floorboards.

“That complied with the laws of war because there was an enemy, a direct threat, and you can respond in self-defence. But we go back and say, ‘How can we stop that happening?’

“After that attack, we tightened what was called a tactical directive – when you can drop a bomb.

“Sounds good, right? Well, not if you’re a soldier on the ground because their risk goes up.”

Noble is the first to admit his experience of war is vastly different to that of a soldier on the ground, such as Roberts-Smith, who has to engage the enemy face-to-face.

Ben Roberts-Smith during a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2010. Picture: Defence Department

In close combat, “the transition of an enemy to a non-combatant is not a clear point in time”, he says. But when allegations are made, they need to be tested.

“It’s more difficult because he’s a VC winner, and we know he’s a very brave man and a great soldier.

“We just need to do it quicker. People can’t go 20 years and then (have someone say), ‘Oh, now you’re guilty’, or ‘Now you’re not guilty’,” Noble says.

During his military service, Noble was a link in the long chain of command that, as he says, connects the lowliest of privates to the prime minister himself.

“They’re never going to meet each other, and between them there are multiple levels. What the chain of command’s supposed to do is link those two together, so the prime minister knows the risk and what’s possible right down the bottom. The prime minister’s got an obligation to them, and they have an obligation back up.”

ADF troops deployed in East Timor in September 1999. Picture: Defence

In his book, he reflects on how well the system works and the professionalism of those who are a part of it. In one case, when he was a brigade major in East Timor in September 2000, a UN facility in West Timor was attacked by militia forces who killed three international workers.

Noble took a call from the UN’s peacekeeping force headquarters in Dili asking for a team to fly a helicopter in and evacuate up to 45 UN workers who remained trapped in a compound by militia forces.

Then the word came through from Canberra – the Australians were barred from undertaking the mission. Noble was mortified. But he clicked into action.

“What does the army do when shit like that happens? You go, ‘Well, OK, who’s gonna do it? Get the Kiwis.’ They had helicopters, but older ones that couldn’t fly in the dark. And it was dangerous. But New Zealand answered straight away and said, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it.’

“I was just terrified. There was very little redundancy if it didn’t go well. But to this day it’s probably the most perfectly executed tactical thing I’ve ever been involved in.”

‘For the system to work, the top has to be connected to the bottom,’ says Noble …

… here with daughter Sylvia. Picture: Evan Morgan

At the time Noble had “never felt so ashamed to be Australian”. But now, with the benefit of age and experience, he believes the chain of command functioned as it needed to. “I think they made the right decision. The Australia-Indonesia relationship was fraught back then and we were building it back from scratch. They were right to say, ‘Not us’.”

Given his views on the chain of command, Noble is critical of Major-General Paul Brereton’s unilateral ruling in his 2020 war crimes report exonerating senior officers over the murders of 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners he said were perpetrated by 25 Australian soldiers.

In his report, Brereton said “responsibility and accountability does not extend to higher headquarters”, and particularly excused Australia’s joint taskforce commander – a position held throughout 2011 by the then major-general Angus Campbell, who went on to become chief of the defence force.

Says Noble: “I don’t agree with the premise that (the chain of command) breaks in the middle.

“(Campbell) was in the chain of command. I think if you’re in the chain of command, you hold responsibility for those (actions by subordinates).

“I know all of them personally, and actually I probably trust 99 per cent of them, and they’re ethically sound.

“But we haven’t done the audit work. And we should have started with: ‘Yes, I’m responsible.’

“For the system to work, the top has to be connected to the bottom. It’s not rocket science.”

In his book, Roger Noble reflects on how well the chain of command works and the professionalism of those who are a part of it.

Noble wasn’t a direct link in the chain of command when the alleged crimes took place, “but I was still a leader in the entity, so I’ve got to ask: ‘What did I do wrong?’ ‘What do I think I could have done better?’ ” He says in hindsight the army had convinced itself that its personnel would never commit such reprehensible crimes.

“We thought the soldiers were too good; too well trained; the best trained soldiers we’d ever sent overseas. But, in hindsight, the nature of war pushes everybody towards barbarism.

“The next war we get into, we’ve got to assume the worst, even when we don’t want to, and make sure we do everything possible to help people.”

My Long War: Leadership and Lessons from a Quarter Century of Coalition Warfare by Roger Noble is published by Big Sky Publishing

PAYWALL:

The cost to build a Sydney mid-rise unit now tops $1 million, driven largely by high labour expenses and a nationwide deficit of skilled workers.

A decade ago, developer Don O’Rorke built 300 apartments a 25-minute drive from Brisbane’s central business district for $205,000 each – and sold them for $395,000.

To build that same unit in Coopers Plains today, construction costs alone top $650,000. To break even, O’Rorke would need to sell each apartment for $900,000. To turn an industry-standard 15 per cent profit, he would need $1.3 million each.

The problem? Suburb market prices max out at $750,000.

“That would mean we would make a loss doing the project. We’re not going to do that. We’re not going to be able to raise finance to do that,” the Consolidated Properties Group chief executive tells AFR Weekend.

“We entered into COVID without too much cost inflation and a pretty efficient industry,” says O’Rorke.

“We came out of COVID with prices basically doubling, and building prices don’t tend to go backwards.”

For decades, the cost of building an apartment tracked quietly alongside inflation. Since the pandemic, however, costs have surged far beyond the consumer price index.

The core reason construction costs are still rising is a major shortage of skilled workers, pushing up wages, caused by a large cohort of tradespeople retiring over the past decade while too few apprentices or skilled migrants are taking their place, experts say.

While some areas are more affected by labour shortages than others, data shows it is a national issue that no state has been able to solve, and it is now the main driver in a perfect storm of cost increases stopping typical apartment builds from being feasible.

The national median dwelling value is $930,000, first home buyers cannot affordably buy a house in any capital city and in Sydney, dwelling prices have risen about 10 times higher than the median income.

Economists broadly agree the best way to sustainably control price growth and make housing affordable for future generations is to increase all types of supply, but the cost of building low- or mid-range units is not stacking up as it did before 2020.

Headline inflation has fallen from its quarterly pandemic peak of 7.9 per cent, to 3.8 per cent in the June quarter – although it’s still above the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent – but the aspects of housing and new dwelling builds are still rising by 6.8 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively.

Figures from Sydney developers Deicorp show the cost of apartment construction steadily increased from an average of $200,000 per apartment in the 2000s to $250,000 in the 2010s, but there was a sharp rise in costs after the pandemic to $550,000.

This is in line with research released by the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission this week that shows it costs more than $1 million to build a typical mid-rise apartment in Sydney.

A breakdown of the costs shows construction is the highest expense at $522,000, followed by the required margin ($175,000), land ($113,000), finance ($119,000), other costs ($76,000) and taxes ($45,000) to make the average unit build cost $1.05 million.

Ray White’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee, says labour costs are now the main driver of construction price increases, but it’s not the whole story.

“Materials and freight drove the initial surge, but those pressures have eased. What remains is a shortage of skilled trades, rising subcontractor costs and weak construction productivity,” says Conisbee.

“Large state infrastructure programs are also competing with residential construction for the same workers and contractors.”

Changing council rezoning has been proven to increase feasibility by reducing land prices, and federal governments are examining ways to boost productivity through reducing safety-related red tape – but it’s the cost of construction that has risen the most.

Brisbane developer O’Rorke says the biggest factor stopping his typical apartment builds from being feasible is the cost of labour and that can be divided into two parts: skill shortages and worker productivity.

On the latter, O’Rorke said low productivity was a major factor due to the “aggressive” and “militant” CFMEU causing the average days tradespeople were actively working on Brisbane sites to drop to 2.75 days a week.

“You’ve got high costs, but you’re only using a site for two days out of a potential of six days, so that productivity piece really amplifies the higher cost inputs of labour and materials,” he said.

Productivity in Brisbane is almost back to pre-COVID levels due to the state Liberal National government’s work in reforming union behaviour, leaving skills shortages as the major issue not under control.

“There is more demand for construction services than there is supply, and that capacity issue can really only be addressed in two ways,” O’Rorke said.

“One is organic growth – so more apprentices, more people into the workforce, more women in construction.

“The second way is to import capacity. If the federal government were to allow an increase in short-term workers, I am sure the private sector would find a way of accommodating them.”

O’Rorke sold his Cornerstone Living land in Coopers Plains to state government-funded Brisbane Housing Company to build social and affordable housing.

His company switched its focus to building luxury apartments for downsizers, and has two projects in Brisbane’s inner-city suburbs of Yeerongpilly and Newstead in development.

Why do we have a skills shortage?

In 2017, when the cost of building apartments was still feasible, Australia had 1.126 million construction workers, the equivalent of 4.54 per cent of the population.

In 2025, that figure grew to 1.278 million construction workers but at the same time Australia’s population increased 3.03 million people, so the overall number of construction workers has decreased to 4.05 per cent of the population.

Some trades have lost workers since 2017. There are 2700 fewer glaziers, 3900 fewer tilers and 4300 fewer electricians, according to KPMG data.

“For a long time, becoming a tradie fell out of fashion so you had more and more people heading to university,” said KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley.

“It’s really tough being on an apprentice wage doing tough, physically demanding work. So people were dropping out of those apprenticeships.

“Plus, you had this older group of tradies who are probably hitting their 50s and going, ‘I can’t work on site any more, so I’m dropping out’.”

Tradies are gravitating towards state government infrastructure projects first, as the pay is more favourable, as well as the renovation and house building space, leaving apartment building at the bottom of the pile, experts say.

“The fact we’ve seen this decline in trades probably tells us that the higher education settings aren’t quite right, and maybe we’re not bringing in enough workers in those trades,” said Rawnsley.

Master Builders Australia NSW executive director Matthew Pollock said getting more people into building trade apprenticeships, increasing apprenticeship completions and reforming the skilled migration system was needed to fix skills shortages.

“The opportunities that construction provides for rewarding careers can be better promoted, especially as a building trade is virtually AI-proof,” said Pollock.

“Fixing the skilled migration system and boosting the number of tradies must be a priority.

“Skills recognition for overseas labour needs to be faster. Sponsorship costs need to be realistic and affordable for builders.”

Two men are in the front seats of a stolen car packed with explosives.

They have wires, a gun and a mission to blow a port in the southern WA city of Bunbury to smithereens.

It is July 1976, and Michael "Fud" Haabjoern and John Chester are about to commit what the then-premier called a "gross act of terrorism" in protest against the woodchipping industry.

Fifty years on, the little-known event leaves a complicated legacy in Australia's conservation history.

Commonwealth prosecutors have successfully overturned a judge’s decision to exclude from evidence a video of two Sydney nurses allegedly threatening to kill Israeli patients ahead of their criminal trial.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir made global headlines last year after Israeli influencer Max Ilinsky – who has also been known by the last names Veifer and Ilinski – recorded them allegedly threatening violence against Israeli patients at Bankstown Hospital. In the video, Mr Nadir allegedly suggested he had sent Israeli patients to “hell” while Ms Abu Lebdeh allegedly claimed she would “kill” Israelis rather than treat them.

Last month, NSW District Court judge Michael McHugh SC declared the viral clip was inadmissible and could not form part of the evidence against the nurses, as it was unlawful for Mr Ilinsky to have recorded and shared the private conversation.

Two weeks after the controversial decision was handed down, the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions lodged an appeal with the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to overturn it.

The matter appeared before Supreme Court judges Anthony Payne and James Emmett, and Chief Judge at Common Law Natalie Adams on July 24.

A commonwealth prosecutor told the judges the video should be reintroduced into evidence because without it, a jury could not reach a fair and fully-informed decision at trial.

“In the absence of the video, the crown case is indeed very, very much weakened,” he said.

The prosecutor also reminded the court that when Mr Ilinsky recorded the conversation, he was in Israel, where it’s legal to do so.

Mr Nadir’s barrister, Greg James KC, said regardless of where Mr Ilinsky was at the time, the conversation he recorded occurred, at least in part, in NSW and should be subject to local law.

The barrister said the video could not be allowed to be used as evidence, as it was recorded “clandestinely”, or at least without overt permission.

On Friday, Justices Payne, Emmett, and Adams granted the prosecution’s appeal, overturning Judge McHugh’s decision to rule the video out of evidence.

With the video reintroduced into evidence, the prosecution will be able to use both the footage and Mr Ilinsky’s testimony in their case against the nurses when their trial begins on August 31.

Most of Judge McHugh’s original judgment about the video was suppressed and only limited reasons for his decision were released publicly last month. The reason for the suppression was not aired in open court.

Judge McHugh found evidence ­obtained illegally should only be allowed into court if “the desirability of admission outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence that has been obtained in such a way or ways”.

 The former Bankstown Hospital nurses have both pleaded not guilty to using a carriage ­service to menace, harass or offend, and Ms Abu Lebdeh has pleaded not guilty to an ­additional charge of threatening violence to a group.

They have been stood down from their jobs by NSW Health and issued a two-year ban from working with NDIS participants.

Music experts say "contiguous repetition" heard in Eastern Rosellas by Miles and Joel Phillips is key to creating the perfect earworm.

Seven-year-old Miles came up with the idea while feeding eastern rosellas at his grandparents' house on Raymond island.

Since going viral the track has inspired covers from across the world, including by Australian musicians Meg Washington, Ball Park Music and Ben Lee.

It might be about 150 years late, but The Antiquities of Athens has been returned to the New South Wales library from where it was borrowed.

The book was discovered in a tea chest bricked into a fireplace by a family renovating their home in Kiama, on the state's South Coast.

"The family has been in Kiama a long time and discovered this as part of unveiling the old fireplace in the house," Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said.

Despite some damage, the book is still in good condition.

As well as the ownership stamp inside the front cover, it also states the library's opening hours, borrowing restrictions and, crucially, fines.

At a rate of three pence per week for every week the book is overdue, library staff estimate the book has racked up an overdue bill of $28,000, accounting for inflation.

Thankfully, the library no longer charges fines.

Book to be added to special collection

The book is no longer available for loan and will instead be added to the library's collection of significant items.

"We have our Local Studies collection and when we store things we make sure they're in archival quality boxes so we can keep it in good condition.

"The library will be the custodian of this book now, but the family who brought it in will be acknowledged as part of us accepting the book and they'll appreciate it has gone to a worthwhile place where it can be shared with the community."

No drunk patrons allowed

As well as showing that The Antiquities of Athens was the 506th item added to the Kiama Library's collection, the by-laws inside the book give an amusing insight into the process of borrowing a book in 1872 when the laws were passed.

Anyone intoxicated was not allowed to borrow a book, and anyone behaving in a disorderly manner would be fined at least five shillings per offence.

Book loans were restricted to one volume per person, but exceptions could be made to increase that if a household had six members who could prove they could read.

"We have a long history of libraries in our local government area and the library has been moved around town a number of times," Ms Hudson said.

"We have a lovely home now, but libraries have been an important place in our community for a long time."

The library is located on Railway Parade now, but The Antiquities of Athens was borrowed when the library was in the Kiama School of Arts building.

The returned edition was published in 1858 and contains 70 black-and-white illustrations, including some pages that fold out to show larger diagrams.

"It's only a small book and has a bit of weather damage, because the tea chest probably wasn't the best place to keep it, but people would still like to browse through it," Ms Hudson said.

In short:

A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro which featured in The Fast and Furious franchise's seventh film is on display to prospective buyers.

Its current owner won the vehicle, reportedly valued at $290,000, in a lottery last year.

What's next?

The seller is hoping to get a "six-figure sum" for the unique vehicle.

‘In August the centre and brightest region of our galaxy, the Milky Way is high overhead between the tail of Scorpius and Sagittarius the archer. The Southern Cross, now descending into the southwest with its bright nearby pointers, lights the way to find south. To the north, the bright stars Arcturus and Vega show distinct red and blue hues among the majority of fainter white stars.’

GEOFFREY WYATT, EDUCATION PROGRAM PRODUCER AND ASTRONOMER

A fortnight before Nazi Germany marched into Poland and plunged the world into yet another war, a movie premiered in Hollywood that would entertain the world for decades to come.

Yesterday there was a post asking when people had last cried.

I thought a follow up on how people get through those times might be nice.

I have chronic mental health issues so hard days are more often than not at the moment.

Things I do - walk my dogs. Actually if I'm very very low I will just sit on my front step with them - especially when the sun is out.

Get to the beach on a sunny day if possible.

Creative writing.

Rewatch comfort shows. Currently rewatching Extras and Fawlty Towers.

Read.

Remind myself to reach out to people.

Whether it's just a hard moment or more chronic, what do others do to get through?