
Murujuga World Heritage status won't derail North West Shelf project decision
UNESCO granted the World Heritage status overnight on Saturday after intense lobbying from the Commonwealth and WA governments, along with traditional owners from the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, to overturn a draft decision not to list the site.
Senator Watt described the decision as a 'really special moment not only for traditional owners who have been working towards it for more than two decades, but for Australians more broadly.'
However, the minister said the listing would not affect any development application decisions that had already happened or were underway.
He gave preliminary approval in May to extend the life of the NWS plant out to 2068. The final decision is awaiting Woodside's response to conditions that are yet to be made public.
'When I made my proposed decision for the North West Shelf extension, I said that we would be applying strict conditions and preservation of the rock art was central to my decision when I made that a few weeks ago,' Senator Watt told ABC radio on Monday.
'But I guess this (World Heritage listing) is also a way of keeping future governments and future industry honest to make sure that it does have this extra layer of protection against any inappropriate development in the future, and that's a good thing.'
Some environmental campaigners and the Save Our Songlines group led by Raelene Cooper had opposed the heritage listing, instead seeking to have UNESCO stick to a draft recommendation that called for all development on the Burrup Peninsula to cease and existing industrial activity to be dismantled to protect the rock art.
Senator Watt said ultimately the committee was persuaded by WA research demonstrating the industrial activity in the area had not caused acid rain.
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Are you drowning in trend-driven kitchen gadgets you don't actually use?
If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone. New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek. Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret. Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets. Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar? Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use. Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped. What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent). To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen. 1. Ditch one-hit wonders They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go. 2. Back to basics You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle. 3. Six-month rule If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off. 4. Viral? Think twice Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife. 5. The re-buy rule Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo. If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone. New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek. Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret. Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets. Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar? Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use. Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped. What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent). To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen. 1. Ditch one-hit wonders They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go. 2. Back to basics You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle. 3. Six-month rule If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off. 4. Viral? Think twice Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife. 5. The re-buy rule Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo. If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone. New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek. Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret. Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets. Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar? Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use. Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped. What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent). To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen. 1. Ditch one-hit wonders They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go. 2. Back to basics You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle. 3. Six-month rule If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off. 4. Viral? Think twice Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife. 5. The re-buy rule Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo. If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone. New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek. Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret. Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets. Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar? Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use. Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped. What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent). To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen. 1. Ditch one-hit wonders They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go. 2. Back to basics You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle. 3. Six-month rule If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off. 4. Viral? Think twice Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife. 5. The re-buy rule Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo.

Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dan died six weeks after our wedding. I had no idea he was struggling
We all know we're going to lose our life partner one day. If you've ever pictured it, your brain has probably aged you as nonagenarians or centenarians, having enjoyed an extraordinary 60 to 70 years of laughter and love. To imagine anything less is too painful. Yet, according to the last census, many Australians experience this heartbreak at a time when peers are still raising families and building lives. The data shows 55,000 Australians under the age of 55 are widowed, 18,000 of them younger than 45. And of the 1 million-plus Australians who are widowed, eight out of 10 are female. The challenges of young widowhood include financial insecurity and social isolation. Researchers at Edith Cowan University found widows are also at a heightened risk of poor adjustment, with two-thirds of respondents surveyed reporting decreased functioning and high rates of psychological distress. What does it take to start over without your partner? Three women share their stories. 'My husband died six weeks after our wedding': Rebecca Adams, 45 'Daniel was the sort of person people fell in love with as soon as they met him. He was wickedly funny, but because he was also so kind, he always looked for the best in others. We met online in 2011, and when he proposed just shy of our one-year anniversary, I couldn't say yes fast enough. We were both in our early 30s and knew we'd each found 'our person'. We married in June 2013; Dan died of suicide just six weeks later. I didn't know how deeply Dan was struggling; he protected everyone who knew and loved him from that, so his death came as a huge shock. I was still going through the process of taking my marriage certificate around and changing my name on various documents. But very quickly I had to pivot to the process of carrying a death certificate and organising a funeral. The trauma and pain of losing Dan were all-consuming, and being 33, I honestly believed I'd lost my only shot at happiness and having children. When we think of widows, we tend to think of older women – I only knew one other widow at the time, and she was in her 90s, so I felt alone. It felt like everyone I knew was either getting married or having children, so they couldn't quite understand or support me in the way that I needed. When I found a Facebook group dedicated to connecting younger women who'd lost their partners, I realised how helpful it was for me to meet up with others who truly understood what I was going through. In 2016, I launched First Light Widowed Support, a peer-support model of care – whether it be catch-up programs, an online forum, speaking events or resources – to help others find hope, inspiration and understanding through their journey.

The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Dan died six weeks after our wedding. I had no idea he was struggling
We all know we're going to lose our life partner one day. If you've ever pictured it, your brain has probably aged you as nonagenarians or centenarians, having enjoyed an extraordinary 60 to 70 years of laughter and love. To imagine anything less is too painful. Yet, according to the last census, many Australians experience this heartbreak at a time when peers are still raising families and building lives. The data shows 55,000 Australians under the age of 55 are widowed, 18,000 of them younger than 45. And of the 1 million-plus Australians who are widowed, eight out of 10 are female. The challenges of young widowhood include financial insecurity and social isolation. Researchers at Edith Cowan University found widows are also at a heightened risk of poor adjustment, with two-thirds of respondents surveyed reporting decreased functioning and high rates of psychological distress. What does it take to start over without your partner? Three women share their stories. 'My husband died six weeks after our wedding': Rebecca Adams, 45 'Daniel was the sort of person people fell in love with as soon as they met him. He was wickedly funny, but because he was also so kind, he always looked for the best in others. We met online in 2011, and when he proposed just shy of our one-year anniversary, I couldn't say yes fast enough. We were both in our early 30s and knew we'd each found 'our person'. We married in June 2013; Dan died of suicide just six weeks later. I didn't know how deeply Dan was struggling; he protected everyone who knew and loved him from that, so his death came as a huge shock. I was still going through the process of taking my marriage certificate around and changing my name on various documents. But very quickly I had to pivot to the process of carrying a death certificate and organising a funeral. The trauma and pain of losing Dan were all-consuming, and being 33, I honestly believed I'd lost my only shot at happiness and having children. When we think of widows, we tend to think of older women – I only knew one other widow at the time, and she was in her 90s, so I felt alone. It felt like everyone I knew was either getting married or having children, so they couldn't quite understand or support me in the way that I needed. When I found a Facebook group dedicated to connecting younger women who'd lost their partners, I realised how helpful it was for me to meet up with others who truly understood what I was going through. In 2016, I launched First Light Widowed Support, a peer-support model of care – whether it be catch-up programs, an online forum, speaking events or resources – to help others find hope, inspiration and understanding through their journey.