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West Australian
a day ago
- General
- West Australian
First Arafura class offshore patrol vessel to be commissioned in Fremantle on Saturday
The first of six patrol boats set to protect Australian waters will be officially commissioned on Saturday in Fremantle, marking an important milestone for the fleet. NUSHIP Arafura will become HMAS Arafura on Saturday morning, with Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh and Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral Mark Hammond both in attendance. Arafura was built in South Australia's Osborne Shipyard but will call HMAS Stirling home for the foreseeable future before it eventually sets off to Australia's north, likely to Darwin or Cairns. As the first in its fleet, the ship is expected to largely participate in trials for the rest of 2025, which will include a trip to Sydney. It is expected to be put to full operations in early 2026 where it will help patrol Australia's maritime border. The ship can house up to 60 regular crew but will regularly only have around 45 crew on board and can store up to 35 days of food at a time. Commanding Officer Marc Beecroft will be heading the ship when it gets put to action. He gave a glowing review of the vessel. 'The quality and calibre of the Australians in Osborne (Shipyard) in Adelaide that built this ship and from what I've seen of those in Henderson is world leading,' he said. 'The facilities that have been developed in both locations are delivering a ship that is well exceeding my expectations as a naval officer of 20 years. 'I can't wait to get to sea on it and I think the people that built the ship, not just this one, but all of the operational patrol vessel should be proud of their efforts.' HMAS Arafura will be joined by NUSHIP Eyre — which has also been constructed in Adelaide — in the coming years. The final four boats in the fleet will be built in Perth. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the commissioning was a 'turning point'. 'The commissioning of HMAS Arafura marks an important milestone in the implementation of the Government's Surface Fleet Review,' he said. 'HMAS Arafura means that the Navy can continue to ensure the safety and security of our maritime borders.'
Metro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
The 90s and 2000s were the best time for video game creativity
A reader is frustrated that game publishers are only interested in following trends, rather than embracing the more experimental approach of earlier generations. I don't think many gamers understand that video games change in accordance with our culture, just like many industries do. Games were afforded the autonomy to express themselves however they pleased 20+ years ago and although we're still seeing games that are expressive, many now seem tame and risk averse. Trend chasing and attempting to fit cohesively into our culture makes developers and publishers money if they do it correctly, but when they don't pull it off, the developers of those games tend to close down. Meanwhile, the publisher who likely gave those developers the blueprints to make their failed games get away with it – again, likely because they chase the money and can leverage developers to make as much money as they deem satisfactory. The games industry, to me, is marching in lockstep with all the other giant industries, such as Hollywood film-making, the music industry, and the television industry; they're catching what trends are popular and they follow it in the hopes they can get rich, and then they'll repeat the formula because what we want is secondary in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, many of us decide not to think about this because we've got great games to play, or other media to interact with. I'm a 90s and early 00s child, and I think many agree that back then we had it really good, regardless of nostalgia. Games such as Conker's Bad Fur Day turned up to show us what sheer lunacy looks like and in my opinion that's partly what I want games to be: irreverent and hilarious fun. 2008's Saints Row 2 captured this as well, by allowing players to spray excrement onto suburban houses while driving around in a septic tank. If not humour, then I'd love my games to make me really care about what's going on. Games like The Getaway in 2002 has you play as Mark Hammond, and right at the start your wife is murdered and your son is kidnapped – and you spend the game walking through metaphoric fires to save your son. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. 2013's Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch is another game I love for its story because protagonist Oliver is so endearing, and the story is about his quest to save his mum. These kinds of stories don't seem to happen anymore and thus it's really hard to care about what's going on in them, I feel. Somewhere along the line video game expression became restricted. I blame the start of the eighth generation (the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) for this change of direction. If you go back and play an assortment of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games you should feel how accessible and focused on enjoyment they were. When the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One came about the landscape altered and now it was about huge open worlds, pristine graphics, and continued exploitation of gamers with loot boxes, microtransactions, and pay-to-win schemes. The truly great games these days tend to do things really differently and we celebrate them for it. Last year's Astro Bot is one of the greatest PlayStation games ever made because although it is a nostalgia-fuelled platformer, it reminds us what makes video games such a beautiful hobby. I don't want games like Astro Bot to become flickers and rarities in the grand scheme of modern gaming, I'd rather they were the norm rather than the exception. More Trending Video game expression is very important, and I think we should break the barriers of our culture in order to find a new horizon for video games. There are so many great experiences, as there always have been, but I believe games should be free of the shackles that often bind them. We should see the best of what this industry has to offer without compromise, because otherwise it seems like it's circling the drain – and when that happens is becomes boring. By reader James Davie The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: Unrivalled success has ruined PS5 and the PlayStation brand - Reader's Feature MORE: Playing Gex again is a reminder of a simpler time for gaming - Reader's Feature MORE: Video games are great for my mental and physical wellbeing - Reader's Feature
Business Journals
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Wauwatosa incentivizes ADUs with $25K forgivable loans
By submitting your information you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and User Agreement . The city adopted language in its zoning code in 2019 to allow for accessory dwelling units, but only two have since been constructed. Here's why Wauwatosa wants to change that. AT A GLANCE Wauwatosa is offering $25,000 forgivable loans to incentivize accessory dwelling units. The city aims to expand its housing stock without changing neighborhood character. Dozens of residents have shown interest. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events Wauwatosa property owners willing to tackle a home addition could offset their costs with a $25,000 forgivable loan as the city aims to boost its number of accessory dwelling units. Mark Hammond, Wauwatosa's development director, said the city is incentivizing ADU construction to expand housing options. Discussing the concept April 23 during the inaugural State of the City address, Hammond said Wauwatosa has funds earmarked for four residents to pay for utility connection costs to city mains and streets when building a unit. "In a fully developed city like Wauwatosa, ADUs are a great way to add to our housing stock without changing our neighborhood's character," Hammond said. ADUs are usually built as a separate structure to an existing property and include a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, Hammond said. In Wauwatosa, their size is limited to 900 square feet. Although ADUs are built on a smaller scale, Hammond said they can be expensive, so the city hopes the $25,000 will "make it attractive enough financially for folks to build them." The city adopted language in its zoning code in 2019 to allow for ADUs, but only two have since been constructed, according to Eva Ennamorato, communications manager for Wauwatosa. RELATED The four forgivable loans would be paid for with $100,000 the city has remaining from its American Rescue Plan Act funds, a federal pandemic relief measure. Hammond said the money must be fully disbursed by the end of 2026. Once that has been allocated, there are no other plans to incentivize residents to consider ADUs, he said. The subsidy is meant to act as a catalyst. "We think that if we get some built, we'll learn as a city. Our local builders will learn. Our homeowners will learn, but then we'll also have these ADUs in the neighborhood. People can drive by them. People can walk by them. So we think it's worth it to put some money forward to help bridge the gap there," he said. Since launching the incentive publicly in January, city staff has met with 70 residents interested in the possibility of an ADU, but they have not applied, Hammond said. He said those conversations with homeowners are helping the city better recognize limitations for residents who might be interested in building ADUs. That information could be incorporated into the ordinance when Wauwatosa considers zoning changes this year to potentially address their needs. Milwaukee-area single-family home builders Home starts, local, 2023 Rank Prior Rank Business name 1 1 Harbor Homes 2 3 Kaerek Homes Inc. 3 4 Stepping Stone Homes Inc. View this list
AllAfrica
28-02-2025
- Politics
- AllAfrica
China's live-fire flex shows Australia is no naval match
Over the past few days, the Australian media has been dominated by the activities of the Chinese navy's Task Group 107 as it has progressed south along the Australian coast and conducted a series of live-fire exercises. Much of the discussion has been rather breathless in nature, with accusations of 'gunboat diplomacy' being bandied around. The live-fire exercises have also dominated the Australian political debate. Amid all the accusations, the fact that these exercises are routine and entirely legal has gotten lost. The Australian government was correct to lodge a complaint with its Chinese counterpart when one of these exercises disrupted civilian aviation. But the overall response has been an extraordinary overreaction. There is no indication the Chinese vessels undertook any surface-to-air exercises, and it remains unclear whether the initial firings involved medium-caliber weapons or smaller arms. Either way, the facts suggest the disruption from the Chinese vessels was caused by inexperience or poor procedure, rather than some more nefarious purpose. This is not to suggest the People's Liberation Army-Navy's (PLA-N) deployment is unimportant, but as happens all too often, the Australian public debate is missing the wood for the trees. While a number of retired naval officers have publicly played down the significance of the live-fire exercises, these voices have generally been drowned out by the politicization of the issue. This highlights the failure of the Department of Defence to communicate effectively to the public. In other countries, including the United States, senior officers are given far more leeway to make public statements in matters within their purview. Had Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the chief of navy, or Vice Admiral Justin Jones, the chief of Joint Operations, been empowered to explain how live-fire exercises are routine and are commonly carried out by Australian warships on deployment in our region, we may have avoided this unhelpful stoush. Maritime muscle The real significance of the activities of Task Group 107 is the way it has revealed the very different trajectories of the PLA-N and its Royal Australian Navy counterpart. The task group is made up of a Type 055 Renhai-class cruiser, a Type 054A Jiangkai II frigate and a Type 903 Fuchi-class replenishment ship. This is a powerful force that symbolizes the rapid development of the Chinese navy. The Renhai-class cruisers are acknowledged to be some of the most capable surface combatants currently in operation. They are 13,000 tonnes in size and are armed with 112 vertical-launch system (VLS) missile tubes. The Australian navy's premier surface warship, the Hobart-class destroyer, is just 7,000 tonnes and has 48 VLS missile cells. These are very crude metrics, but it would be foolhardy to assume Chinese technology is dramatically inferior to that of Australia or its allies. Similarly, China's Type 054A frigates are comparable to the general-purpose frigates that Australia is currently trying to acquire. Since 2020, China has commissioned eight Type 055 cruisers, adding to a fleet of more than 30 Type 52C and Type 52D destroyers and an even greater number of Type 054A frigates. This build-up vastly exceeds that of any other navy globally. Chinese shipyards are churning out the same combat power of the entire Royal Australian Navy every couple of years. Until recently, we have seen remarkably little of this naval capability in our region. A PLA-N task force operated off the northeast coast of Australia in 2022. Last year, a similar force was in the South Pacific. Most analysts expect to see more Chinese vessels in Australia's region over the coming years. One significant limitation on Chinese overseas deployments has been the PLA-N's small force of replenishment ships, which resupply naval vessels at sea. As the PLA-N's capabilities continue to grow and priorities shift, this appears to be changing. A recent US Department of Defence report noted that China was expected to build further replenishment ships 'to support its expanding long-duration combatant ship deployments.' Struggling to keep pace In response to the Chinese build-up, Australia is investing heavily to rebuild its navy. However, this process has been slow and beset by problems. Indeed, this week, the Defence Department revealed that the selection of the design for the new Australian frigate has been postponed into 2026. This leaves the navy with a limited fleet of just 10 surface combatants, the majority of which are small and ageing Anzac-class frigates. The arrival of the Chinese task group also sheds an unfavorable light on other recent decisions. The cuts to the Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel program make sense from some perspectives. But these ships would have provided additional options to persistently shadow foreign warships in Australian areas of interest. Similarly, the growing need of Australian ships to escort Chinese vessels in our region will place an increasing strain on Australian replenishment capability. At present, both of Australia's resupply ships are out of service. Additional capacity was also cut from the recent defence budget. The activities of the Chinese task force are not some aggressive move of gunboat diplomacy in our region. In many ways, this sensationalist messaging has distracted from a much bigger issue. The presence of Chinese naval ships in our region is going to be a fact of life. And due to failures from both sides of politics over the past 15 years, Australia's navy is ill-equipped to meet that challenge. Richard Dunley is senior lecturer in history and maritime strategy, UNSW Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
