Fiji and Australia share a love of sport. It brings us together like nothing else can – we share sporting history and heroes, enjoy our rivalry on the field, and celebrate our successes off it. That is why sport is such an important part of our renewed and elevated Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership. Recognising the strength of this connection, the Australian Government is partnering with the Australian Rugby League Commission to invest in a ten-year program to deepen our engagement with the Pacific through rugby league. This includes support for a PNG franchise to join the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). The package will deliver funding for grassroots, school, talent and elite pathways in Fiji, using sport to complement our development programs, and improve education, health and gender equity outcomes. There will be a strong focus on girls and women’s rugby league across Fiji and the Pacific, cultivating elite players pathways for girls and women to play at the highest levels. Building on the recent success of the Pacific Championships, co-hosted in Suva, the partnership will continue to support regular elite competition in Fiji and the Pacific. It was fantastic to see the passion and energy of Fijian rugby league fans who attended the consecutive double-headers, to support the Fiji Bati and Bulikula. This new program will provide even more opportunities for boys, girls, men and women in Fiji to reach the highest level in the game. This will complement our existing support for Fiji’s elite pathways through the Kaiviti Silktails’ participation in the NSW Jersey Flegg competition, and support for emerging women players and coaches to participate in the Rise Rookie Academy program. This sports-based program reflects Australia’s unique identity and connections with our Pacific family. In fact, approximately 50 per cent of current NRL and NRLW players have Pasifika heritage. Sport also plays an important role in important life lessons and building strong communities. Sport keeps kids in school; it teaches them teamwork, cooperation, strategy and discipline. It creates opportunities and builds aspiration. One of the greatest achievements from the Australian Government’s existing investments in rugby league in the Pacific is the increased participation of schoolboys and schoolgirls, including young Fijians, at international events. It is wonderful to see the passion and skill of the younger generation. Australia’s new investment will further support pathways to develop talent and promote Pasifika representation at the elite level. The Pacific Rugby League Partnership builds upon 25 years of Australian sports investment to help transform lives and strengthen links with our Pacific family, including: • PacificAus Sports – developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes, including the Fijian and Fijiana Drua, to compete in elite competitions; facilitating access to high performance training in Australia, including ahead of the year’s Olympics; and investing in increased presence of Australian elite teams and athletes in the Pacific. • Team Up – helping address barriers preventing women, girls and people with disabilities from accessing beneficial sport programs. The new partnership will be designed and delivered in partnership with the Australian Rugby League Commission and our Pacific partners to achieve impacts on and off the sporting field, including in economic development, education, social cohesion, gender equality, and health. This is an exciting new chapter of our shared sporting history. I am excited to join our Fijian Vuvale to see rugby league in Fiji go from strength to strength, from schools and community competitions to the international stage. Vinaka vakalevu.Trump brings back government by social media
In the pulsating race for the Premier League title this season, it is clear that Manchester City is one of the frontrunners leading the charge. With four teams battling it out for the coveted trophy, the stakes are higher than ever as each match brings thrilling moments and unexpected twists.
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In memory of Liu Dameili, may her tragic passing serve as a catalyst for positive change and a renewed commitment to ensuring the well-being of all individuals who seek cosmetic enhancements. Let us honor her memory by advocating for greater accountability, transparency, and patient safety in the cosmetic surgery industry, so that no one else has to suffer a similar fate.
NoneDr Charlotte Proudman, who specialises in family law, had faced a Bar Standards Board (BSB) disciplinary tribunal over a 14-part Twitter thread criticising a judge’s ruling over a domestic abuse case, saying it echoed a “boys’ club”. However, the five charges against the 36-year-old were dropped on Thursday. In an interview with The Times, Dr Proudman described the position of Mark Neale, the board’s director-general, as “untenable” and said its chairwoman, Kathryn Stone, should also stand down. “They need a change, not just in those two individuals, though, because, of course, it seeps down to the rest of the organisation,” she said. She told the paper she “genuinely” wanted to work with the Bar Standards Board in helping them to understand how misogyny and sexism have impacted women at the bar. However, she said that “under the current leadership, it’s just not going to be possible”. The charges alleged Dr Proudman had “failed to act with integrity” in posting the tweets, that they amounted to professional misconduct, were “misleading” and “inaccurately reflected the findings of the judge” in the case. The women’s rights campaigner was also accused of behaving in a way “which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public placed in her and in the profession”, and that she “knowingly or recklessly misled or attempted to mislead the public” by making the posts. But panel chairman Nicholas Ainley found her tweets are protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right of freedom of expression. He said her tweets did not “gravely damage” the judiciary, which would “put them outside” of Article 10 protection, even if they “might not have been pleasant for any judge to read” or even “hurtful”. “We take the view that the judiciary of England and Wales is far more robust than that,” he said. The panel also concluded that some of the tweets were only inaccurate “to a minor degree” and not to the extent necessary for a charge of a lack of integrity. Speaking after the hearing, Dr Proudman told the PA news agency: “This ruling is a victory for women’s rights and a right to freedom of speech. “The prosecution against me brought by my regulatory body, the Bar Standards Board, should never have happened and I said that from day one. “I criticised a domestic abuse judgment. Everyone should have the right to do that, whether you’re a barrister or not. Our justice system, which I strongly believe in, is robust enough to withstand criticism from me.” She believes her tweets help “foster confidence” in the justice system, adding: “Only that way can we go about building change and a better treatment for all victims, women and children and men who are affected by domestic abuse.” Explaining that the BSB appears to have spent almost £40,000 “of barristers’ money” on instructing counsel in her case, she added: “I think it’s shameful that they’re using our money to pay for, in my view, malicious, vexatious prosecutions which I have no doubt was a personal attack against me as a woman and as a feminist, as an outspoken critic and advocate for women’s rights.” Dr Proudman called for “systemic change” within the board. “They don’t understand gender, they don’t understand diversity, I don’t think they’ve ever heard of the concept misogyny and certainly not institutional misogyny,” she said. “Until they recognise the deeply rooted, entrenched issue of bullying, harassment, sexism at the bar, for which I have suffered relentlessly... and own up to it I don’t think we’re going to see any change and I have no confidence in them.” She told of how male barristers have called her insulting names on social media and made derogatory comments about her. In the posts on April 6 2022, Dr Proudman referenced a case in which her client alleged she had been subjected to coercive and controlling behaviour by her husband, a part-time judge, meaning she had been “unable to freely enter” the couple’s “post-nuptial” financial agreement. Commenting on the ruling by Family Court judge Sir Jonathan Cohen, Dr Proudman wrote: “I represented Amanda Traharne. “She said she was coerced into signing a post-nuptial agreement by her husband (who is a part-time judge). I lost the case. “I do not accept the Judge’s reasoning. I will never accept the minimisation of domestic abuse.” She continued: “Demeaning the significance of domestic abuse has the affect of silencing victims and rendering perpetrators invisible. “This judgement has echoes of (t)he ‘boys club’ which still exists among men in powerful positions.” In the thread, Dr Proudman wrote that the judge had described the relationship of the couple as “tempestuous”, which she argued was a “trivialisation” of domestic abuse. “Tempestuous? Lose his temper? Isn’t this the trivialisation of domestic abuse & gendered language. This is not normal married life,” she wrote.
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