Podcasts about Western Australia

This is part five of a ten-part podcast series documenting the European Industrial Hemp Association's 23rd Annual Conference in Poznan, Poland, at the Institute of Fiber Plants and Medicinal Medicine, June 10-12. Colin Steddy is a grassroots farmer from Western Australia who got into hemp in 2005 after selling his farm following two droughts and a divorce. He's a no-till advocate, a carbon thinker and someone who speaks from the heart about soil biology and systems thinking. "Everything affects something else. So you gotta understand when you make one decision what around it gets affected because it's not a single thing that makes things work," Steddy said. Steddy grew up on a sheep farm south of Perth, learned to shear, and spent decades in cropping and controlled traffic farming. He's been knocked down three times by deals worth five million dollars or more that fell through — each time he picked himself up. At 42, he lost his farm and had to start over. Hemp gave him that second chance. What draws Steddy to the Poznań conference isn't theory. It's reality. "They're not talking about s*** and they're not talking about the warm and fuzzies, they're talking about the things that happen and the obstacles they're faced," he said. He points to a Ukrainian hemp processor whose buildings were bombed, who lost power for three months, but kept moving forward. Real people doing real things — not scientists studying irrelevant data. On carbon credits, Steddy is clear: they're icing on the cake, not the foundation. Carbon credit schemes are political and can disappear overnight. The real work is building soil organic matter through farming practices you should be doing anyway. His advice to farmers: find a partner who covers baseline costs and shares credit returns. Get your baseline established early, before you start your regenerative journey, so you capture the financial benefit. And remember biochar isn't just a home for soil biology — it's a condominium. But you have to stock it with food: minerals, nutrients and plants. Everything affects something else. Learn More Hemp Inside https://hempinside.com.au The Hemp Corporation http://thehempcorp.com.au iHemp NSW https://ihempnsw.org.au Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants (IWNIRZ) https://iwnirz.pl Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants (IWNIRZ) iwnirz.pl European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) eiha.org/ EIHA Conference eiha-conference.org/ Thanks to Our Sponsors Condor Seed condorseed.com HEMI — The Hemp Education and Marketing Initiative thegoodnessofhemp.org Bish Enterprises — FiberCut Hemp Harvesting bishenterprise.com/fibercut 1937 International 1937international.com

Western Australian police have agreed to review how officers handled their interactions with Virginia Giuffre before her death by suicide in April 2025. Giuffre's brother, Sky Roberts, and sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, wrote to both police and the state coroner asking for scrutiny of the response to a domestic violence dispute involving Giuffre and a former partner. Police commissioner Col Blanch confirmed during a parliamentary hearing that the family's letter had been received and that a review was underway, while saying he did not yet know the details of the police response and wanted the review to establish what happened.The family says they are not challenging the official circumstances of Giuffre's death, but they want answers about whether police failed to properly follow up after she reportedly went to a police station more than once. Amanda Roberts questioned where those reports are and why further action did not appear to continue, while Sky Roberts framed the push as part of a broader demand to examine systemic failures around domestic and family violence. Family violence experts and advocates have also backed the request for an inquest, arguing that Giuffre's case could expose wider failures in how authorities respond to victims before tragedy strikesto contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Western Australian police to review response to Virginia Giuffre domestic violence dispute | Jeffrey Epstein | The Guardian

Having wiped out millions of birds worldwide and devastated wildlife populations around the globe, Australia has watched as the H5N1 strain of bird flu crept ever closer. And now it's here, on the last continent to be hit. Birds have been discovered on beaches in Western Australia and tested positive for the virus. Reged Ahmad speaks to Graham Readfearn about how governments and wildlife experts alike are anxiously waiting to see if this is just the beginning

2026-06-23_Jovan Cvetkoski by CurtinFM 100.1 in Perth, Western Australia

2026-06-23_Jodie Perram by CurtinFM 100.1 in Perth, Western Australia

A second bird has now tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Western Australia. Professor Jemma Geoghegan, an evolutionary virologist at Otago University spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Authorities have confirmed that a second sick bird found on a remote beach in Western Australia has tested positive for a deadly strain of bird flu.

The Australian government has confirmed the country's first case of H5 bird flu, after the virus was detected in a migratory bird that died in Esperance, Western Australia. - Kinumpirma ng pamahalaan ng Australia ang kauna-unahang kaso ng H5 bird flu sa bansa, matapos matukoy ang virus sa isang migratory bird na namatay sa Esperance, Western Australia.

State agriculture minister Jackie Jarvis says Western Australia is still in a surveillance and monitoring phase for the deadly strain of bird flu, not at an outbreak stage.

Tuesday Headlines: UK PM Sir Keir Starmer resigns Vance says Iran will allow nuclear inspectors Aussie support for multiculturalism plunges in historic survey shift Rare warning from Five Eyes urges leaders to ‘act now’ on powerful new AI models Messi breaks World Cup goal-scoring record Deep Dive:For years, Australia managed to avoid a strain of bird flu that has devastated wildlife populations and agricultural industries across much of the world. That changed over the weekend, after authorities confirmed an infected migratory bird was discovered with H5N1 in Western Australia. In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Professor Paul Griffin, Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health, about what we know about the virus, the risks it poses to both humans and animals, and why authorities are urging us to roll up our sleeves for this year’s flu shot to help reduce its impact. Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia has recorded its first mainland case of the H5 avian influenza (bird flu) strain after it was detected in a wild migratory seabird in Western Australia. While authorities say the risk to the public remains low, the discovery has raised concerns about its potential impact on wildlife. In this podcast, we look at what the detection means for Australia and the steps being taken to contain the virus.

Happy Monday! We kick off the week with some concerning local news as bird flu officially hits Western Australia, having been detected in a seabird down in Esperance. Back in the studio, Rove McManus fills in and immediately causes chaos, heavily questioning Nat's life choices after catching her eating leftover curry for breakfast. We also dive into the hilarious world of childish adult habits after rock icon Keith Richards announced he has officially quit smoking because he now finds it "childish."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthea Hodgson - Author *The Palace of Lost Virtue* In 1898, Marigold Harrington arrives on the goldfields of Western Australia with conviction in her heart. The daughter of a prospector and a proud member of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union, she dreams of rescuing women the gold rush has forgotten, those trapped in the shadows of brothels and bars. Across town, Pansy Arlington presides over the Palace of Pleasure, her own small empire built from ruin. When Marigold arrives at her door, offering God’s forgiveness, Pansy surprises her with unexpected kindness. The two women spark an unlikely friendship, but in a rough, lawless town built on greed and desire, their bond will be tested by betrayal, violence and a crime that will echo through the years. Inspired by true events and the real women of the gold rush, The Palace of Lost Virtue dares to rewrite history books, giving voice to the lives of the formidable women who lived and died in the goldfields. By the bestselling author of The War Nurses, this is a lively and colourful tale about loyalty, forgiveness and freedom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Come and Trial My New Living with Nature Collective for Free at: https://www.skool.com/adambarralet Discover the profound wisdom of the asteroid Pallas Athena in your birth chart! In this episode of the Fellowship in Essential Oils, Adam Barralet and clinical aromatherapist Elizabeth Ashley (The Secret Healer) dive deep into the mythology, astrology, and holistic health connections of this powerful feminine archetype.Unlike the raw warrior energy of Mars, Pallas Athena represents the master tactician—ruling boundary defense, strategic diplomacy, and intellectual courage. We explore how she shows up during retrogrades, her placement on the birth chart, and her fascinating role in medical astrology.From her mythical, fully-armored birth from the skull of Zeus (could she be the ruler of migraines?) to her clinical connection to the immune and endocannabinoid systems, we break down how to work with her energy using targeted botanicals. Learn why the Salvias (Spanish Sage vs. Clary Sage), Manuka, Thyme, and Copaiba are the ultimate aromatic allies for mental clarity, resilience, and emotional strategy.If you enjoyed this deep dive into asteroid astrology and plant energetics, make sure to LIKE, COMMENT your Pallas Athena placement below, and SUBSCRIBE for more magical ways to work with your essential oils!ABOUT ADAM BARRALET Adam Barralet has been observing and living in tune with nature since childhood. Growing up amongst the bushland and wildlife of the hills in Western Australia and residing in various locations around the world has presented Adam with diverse opportunities to access extensive and eclectic teachings about the secrets of Mother Earth. He has used essential oils for over 30 years and teams his experiences with his background in human biology, chemistry, psychology, health sciences and massage.He has now established himself as an international author, presenter, educator and Wellness Advocate, adept at working with essential oils, along with crystals, animal guides, tarot, astrology and mythology. CONNECT WITH ADAM HERE: https://linktr.ee/adambarralet ABOUT ELIZABETH ASHLEYElizabeth Ashley has over 20 books on sale on Amazon under her pen name The Secret Healer. The UK Director of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and an overseas speaker for The International Federation of Aromatherapists, Elizabeth's work focuses on understanding the very earliest energetic relationships between certain plants and the human world, right up the modern-day scientific evidence of healing botanicals.A practicing Melissa priestess, a plant and bee shamaness as well as a bee guardian, she has the unique perspective of having one foot in our three-dimensional scientific reality with the other dancing in the spiritual realms.CONNECT WITH LIZ HERE: https://linktr.ee/thesecrethealer

NewsWest invites programme contributions. You can send yours as email attachments to newswest@vk6.net by noon on Fridays - our editorial policy is that items should be about Amateur Radio, and relating to, or of interest to, radio amateurs in Western Australia. Originating in Perth, Western Australia, NewsWest is produced by WA Amateur Radio News for listeners on-air, online and on-demand. Whichever way you're listening, whether you're a licensed radio amateur or not, experienced or just a beginner, old or young, thanks for being here and thanks for joining us. Web: http://vk6.net Email: newswest@vk6.net Folge direkt herunterladen

SUBSCRIBER BONUS TASTER: 27 wines - 18 top tasters - an epic blind tasting featuring just one grape: Chardonnay. From all around the world - Grand Cru Burgundy to vintage champagne via Western Australia, Sonoma County and even Japan.Who would be the big winners? And, more importantly, why?!That's what we're getting into in this intriguing subscriber-only bonus episode on The Greatest Chardonnay Showdown blind tasting at the London Wine Fair 2026. We were both privileged to be part of the stellar judging panel - so what were our considered thoughts, did we agree with the overall results...and did we even agree with each other?!Seasoned listeners may already have an instinct where this one is heading...suffice it to say there are opinions aplenty, some consensus but also a fair amount of healthy disagreement. Ultimately, hopefully, it all makes for an informative and thought-provoking episode about one of our (and the world's) favourite grape varieties.NB: This is a short taster of the full episode, which is available exclusively for Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. Use this link to find out more or subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS. Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find details from this episode, including photos and the full wine list, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S7 E30: The Greatest Chardonnay ShowdownInstagram: @susieandpeter

The Federal Government has confirmed that a suspected case of the H5 bird flu strain has been detected in Western Australia.

Some of our truck drivers and the PGA believe a proposed new truck-trailer set up will not fix the problem of truck roll-overs.

Authorities investigate a suspected bird flu case in Western Australia; a ceasefire agreed to in Lebanon as talks in Switzerland are put on pause; and ithe Socceroos face the US in their World Cup campaign.

La vice premier del Western Australia e ministra dello sport Rita Saffioti ci ha presentato l'iniziativa che porterà a Perth quattro squadre italiane: Juventus, Milan, Inter e Palermo.Seguici su Facebook e Instagram o abbonati ai nostri podcast cliccando qui.

Cycling is an integral part of everyday life in many countries, while in Australia it is not yet used as a daily means of transport on a wider scale. “People on Bicycles” is committed to teaching people of all ages how to cycle safely and confidently and thus promote a sustainable cycling culture. An interview with founder and managing director Christina Neubauer discusses the idea behind the organization, her personal motivation and the significance of the moment when people really learn to ride a bicycle for the first time. - Radfahren ist in vielen Ländern ein fester Bestandteil des Alltags, während es in Australien vielerorts noch nicht selbstverständlich als tägliches Verkehrsmittel genutzt wird. Die Initiative „People on Bicycles“ setzt sich dafür ein, Menschen jeden Alters das sichere und selbstbewusste Radfahren näherzubringen und so eine nachhaltige Radkultur zu fördern. Im Gespräch mit Gründerin und Geschäftsführerin Christina Neubauer geht es um die Idee hinter der Organisation, ihre persönliche Motivation und die Bedeutung des Moments, in dem Menschen erstmals wirklich Fahrradfahren lernen.

A crop and livestock producer in the Great Southern, with a passion for filmmaking, says it's incredible how many farming skills carry across to the set of a movie or television series.

In May 2021, keen yachtsman Glenn Anderson is sailing up the coast of Western Australia with his 11-year-old daughter, Ruby. As they near the halfway point of their adventure, conditions turn brutally rough. And when their yacht is struck by a freak wave, father and daughter will be sent tumbling into the seething, danger-filled waters of the Indian Ocean. But falling overboard is just the beginning. With their vessel disappearing in the storm, Glenn will find himself in a terrible position as a captain... and an even worse one as a father... A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Joe Viner | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound Supervisor: Matt Peaty | Sound design by Jacob Booth | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you'd like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at support@noiser.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 12 :  Goodbye Talk & Meditation - 10th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

The largest, deepest and oldest whale graveyard has been found off the coast of Western Australia: teeming with life. Jonathan Webb takes a deep dive with environment reporter, Peter de Kruijff, into the science behind whale falls and their importance to underwater ecosystems.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Peter de Kruijff, environment reporterFurther information:World's biggest whale graveyard found in Indian Ocean off AustraliaA 5.3-million-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina ZoneThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Come and Trial My New Living with Nature Collective for Free at: https://www.skool.com/adambarraletWhat does it truly take to make a long-term relationship thrive? Today, we are diving deep into the asteroid belt to explore Juno, the ultimate archetype of commitment, boundaries, and divine timing.While Venus brings the initial spark of romance, Juno governs the deep soul contracts of marriage, partnership, and the legal bonds we make with others—and ourselves. In this episode, Adam Barralet and Elizabeth Ashley ("The Secret Healer") break down the fascinating mythology of the Roman goddess Juno, how her placement in your birth chart reveals your core relationship needs, and what a Juno retrograde really tests.We also explore the intricate world of medical astrology, looking at how Juno rules the physical mechanics of reproduction and the thyroid. If you've ever felt the physical stress of unexpressed dissatisfaction or boundary issues in a relationship, Juno has a profound lesson for you.

A federal court restores the 5% safe harbor for wind tax credits, Norway’s parliament pauses the 35 billion krone Utsira Nord floating wind program, and the crew digs into Australia’s battery boom and the looming blade technician shortage. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Uptime324 Matthew Stead: [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy podcast, brought to you by StrikeTape. Protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit StrikeTape.com. And now, your hosts Allen Hall: Welcome to this edition of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. I’m Allen Hall here with Matthew Stead, Rosemary Barnes, and Yolanda Padron. And our week starts off in the courtroom. And if you’ve been watching the news lately, there’s a pretty substantial IRS case involving large-scale wind and solar having to do with the, uh, production tax credit and, uh, investment tax credit at the same time on the safe harbor, 5% safe harbor rule. Uh, a federal judge handed the wind industry and solar industry a pretty substantial legal win that could reshape how the [00:01:00] projects qualify for tax credits. So a judge up in, uh, the District of Columbia vacated IRS Notice 2025-42. So if you remember that, uh, from a- about a year or so ago, uh, f- it found that the, that notice was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The notice, which was issued following a July 2025 executive order, had eliminated the 5% safe harbor for wind projects, uh, a provision developers have relied on since about 2013 to establish construction start dates without breaking ground. The court found the IRS failed to justify removing it, ignored industry comments, which I had read, and I agree with that, and gave no reason for treating wind differently f- than other clean energy technologies. So That his executive order came down and said, “Hey, we don’t like wind. [00:02:00] IRS, write a rule and make it hard for wind to get installed in the United States.” And so they dutifully did it, but a court is throwing it out. This has some pretty significant implications because if you hadn’t broken ground before this ruling, I think the– what was happening was be- if you hadn’t broken ground by July 4th, your project wouldn’t qualify for some tax credits. But now, if you have 5% safe harbor, you still are in the game, at least for now. Now, Wanda, that’s gonna make a big difference to asset managers and developers, won’t it?  Yolanda Padron: Yeah, it’s really exciting. I think it opens up the, the playing field for, for some of these projects that might be a little bit behind schedule. Um, of course, a lot of teams had to change their plans and their pipeline when, um, you know, the big, beautiful bill passed and, I mean, it’s– of course, it adds a little bit of additional volatility, right, to, to wind and, and solar in the US, but it’s exciting to see at least things for, [00:03:00] for those of us that are in the wind and solar side, the, it’s a little, little bit of, of hope there. Allen Hall: And Matthew, uh, even in terms of opening up o-o-operations and, uh, getting contracts signed, this should make a big difference in sort of opening the floodgates a little bit. Although there is a short timeframe. We’re, we’re recording on, what, what is today? June 10th. So you have, in theory, less than 30 days before the July 4th deadline, but hopefully this stays. You think there’s a chance this just gets completely, uh, wiped out, the executive order and the IRS notice and- It’s back to what we remember for the, for the last, ooh, 12, 13 years?  Matthew Stead: Uh, yeah. I’m, I’m, I’m hopeful, and I, I agree with Yolanda. I think you, you said it really well. Um, I think this is a, a glimmer of hope in, um, a sometimes gloomy, um, environment. So I think that’s great. In terms of going back to where it was, um, I mean, I guess my observation has been that, [00:04:00] you know, things in the US were a bit, um, distorted. You know, distorted through the, the PTC, um, and the whole repowering thing after 10 years is quite a distortion. So I think, um, you’re not necessarily going back to the good old days, um, might be the way, what will happen. Allen Hall: I think there is a lot of people actively trying to dig holes at the moment, and I, I’m sure they’re gonna continue to do that. Yolanda, do you th- you think anybody’s gonna stop and kinda say, “Oh, we have the 5% rule. We’re, we’re good”? Do you think, or you think they’re gonna still go ahead and really start construction and then just keep things continually moving on site? Yolanda Padron: I don’t think they, they can really stop, right? Because you, you don’t know if, if anything strange happens. A lot of people didn’t think the, a lot of the provisions in the big beautiful bill were gonna, were gonna see the light of day, and they did. Um, but it does, I really hope it brings at least a little bit of breathing room for some people. I know it’s, it must be… I mean, I have some friends in development, and they’re, they’re q- a little [00:05:00] bit stressed right now just with everything going on. Um, so, so I really hope for them at least they, you know, if, if they’re a little bit behind schedule, then it, it’ll be, it’ll still be fine.  Allen Hall: Delamination and bondline failures in blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. CIC-NDT are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their nondestructive test technology penetrates deep into blade materials to find voids and cracks traditional inspections completely miss. CIC-NDT maps every critical defect, delivers actionable reports, and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cicndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions[00:06:00] Norway’s Storting has voted to pause the 35 billion Norwegian krone support program for floating offshore wind at Utsira Nord. The Conservative Party secured a parliamentary majority for the external quality assurance review, a socioeconomic analysis, and a technology development assessment, all before the Storting will authorize any commitments. Equinor and Vårgrønn, along with EDF and Deepwind Offshore, each hold allocated 500-megawatt areas and were preparing to compete for that subsidy. Equinor says the project will continue for now. I think everybody is saying that at the moment. But, uh, Equinor cannot rule out consequences as framework uncertainty compounds in the already challenging nature of floating offshore wind development. So Utsira Nord is a massive project. So it’s, it’s about three and a half billion US dollars [00:07:00] to go do this. We had Mads Furuseth and Anders Naslund about a year or so ago, maybe a little bit longer, talking about the project and how big it was and how important it was that Norway did this for floating offshore wind. But with this, uh, recent change in the parliament of Norway, it does seem like they’re slowly going to try to kill it by putting in a number of, uh, reviews, which is how bureaucracies tend to kill things. Is put it under six, seven, eight reviews, different committees. They all take time to get together. They have to put out a report. It could be two, three years from now. At that point, the world has completely changed, and everybody’s moved on. Does that seem like the outcome here at the moment?  Matthew Stead: Yes.  Allen Hall: In my mind, there’s really two big areas for floating offshore, which UK, right? That there, there’s some massive projects there, Green Volt being one of them, and then there was Sue & Nord. So between the two, I feel like the, the UK one was going to [00:08:00] happen. The question whether the world was gonna move towards floating offshore wind was gonna happen up in Norway. If Norway decided to do it and could get it developed, and it has the capability to do it because, because they have that skill set, uh, right there in Norway. If they could do it in Norway, everybody in the world would learn from it and figure out how to do it. Does this really set back floating offshore wind globally?  Matthew Stead: Yeah. I mean, going back to what I said before, and I, I’ll defer to Rosie on this as well, but, um, when I was at, at Blades Europe, um, one of the, one of my long-term contacts, um, y- was in floating wind, um, and had, um, left the industry. He basically said i- in his view that the offshore wind industry was slowly, um, in decline or slowly dying. Um, so I’m just wondering if this is just evolution of viability of offshore wind.  Rosemary Barnes: Is offshore wind in decline? I think if you look globally, it’s, it’s not in decline. I, I haven’t looked in, in depth at the figures just based on what, you know, [00:09:00] headlines I’ve seen and podcasts I’ve heard, but I think that globally it’s still on the rise. It’s just that- It’s only in Europe that things are really moving with speed, right? Like, people were expecting heaps of growth in the US and now no- nobody expects that. Floating offshore wind, it’s… I th- I still think it’s too early to say. There are plenty of countries that don’t have any good energy options besides, um, floating offshore wind, like Japan. What their energy transition looks like is gonna depend a lot on their culture and what people think, ’cause, like, if you go through, like, the engineering solutions that Japan could have, the ones that make the most sense from an engineering point of view are not popular at all, are not politically viable. Like, Japan could easily have a subsea cable connecting it with, um, with China, for example, or Korea, but I don’t think anybody, anybody thinks that that will ever happen because, you know, politically it’s, it’s very far from being possible. What else could they have? Geothermal. They’ve got heaps of [00:10:00]geothermal resources, like really good traditional geothermal resources, but my understanding is that it’s super unpopular because their onsen, um, community doesn’t want it. Uh, my understanding is that they’re worried that if you put geothermal, um, if you exploit geothermal resources, then the onsens will not be hot anymore, and again, my limited research understanding is that it’s not true. It’s different resources. The two aren’t connected in any way. Um, and yeah, there’s actually a community geothermal, um, facility near Fukushima. I’m trying really hard to get over there, but I’m, I’ve got a roadblock at the moment because, uh, n- no one there speaks English, so I need to find somebody to, to come with me and, you know, I’ll have one, one day to try and get there on the fast train and back to Tokyo in, in a single day. So it’s, it’s a bit of a stretch, but I’m gonna try. But anyway, so yeah, what have we… We’ve ruled out, like, subsea cables, ruled out geothermal. Floating wind is good.  Allen Hall: Well, speaking of Fukushima, [00:11:00] there’s been a more recent push in Japan to start up some of the nuclear facilities. So after the tsunami, was that 2012, 2014 when that happened? It was a while ago. Uh, when the tsunami happened and h- had that, uh, nuclear accident, they, they s- shut down all the nuclear facilities in Japan, but it does seem like they’re trying to restart some of them And, and maybe it’s just the demand for energy and, and they’re trying to weigh that off with offshore wind or floating offshore wind. At what point, you know, which one do you choose? It has to be driven by cost and availability.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. And so Fukushima, I just looked it up, it was 2011. Um, and yeah, so I mean, I think it is very fair that they had a reaction to that and they wanted to put the handbrake on nuclear at that time, or they did more than put the handbrake on, they did like a handbrake turn. Allen Hall: They shut it down.  Rosemary Barnes: So, and it, you know, it’s gradually ramping up. I think that their target for nuclear now is to, to regain, um, 20% of their electricity from [00:12:00] nuclear by 2040, something like that. It was 30% prior to that incident. Um, so that will be part of it, but it’s not, um, it’s not all of it. And then even if you think of, uh, okay, so forget climate change, just, you know, we want, Japan just wants energy and they don’t care about climate change, you know, ’cause that, that, that could be true. What are their ch- choices for that? They import a whole bunch of… They, they import nearly all their energy. Everything that’s not nuclear basically is, is imported. Um, coal, but a lot of LNG, and, you know, that is not exactly an appealing prospect at the moment either. It’s not secure. Prices are very volatile. We’ve had, like, two fossil fuel shocks in the last, what, like four years or something like that, and how many more, how many more are we g- are we going to have? You know, like energy security is important, totally separate from climate change issues. So I don’t think we need to rely on Japan, like, you know, [00:13:00] steadfastly staying the course because their, their existing o- opportunities are not, are not great for fossil fuels either. Allen Hall: I don’t know what country’s gonna stay the course right now, really. Maybe the UK?  Rosemary Barnes: Oh, I think it’s- Countries that have other reasons for going to renewables are the ones that are gonna stay the, stay the course. Um, and there are plenty of examples of countries where it just, it is by far the easiest, cheapest, fastest option to get more electricity. Um, you know, like all of Africa, for example, is, is facing that as a, uh, a better development path than trying to build big, um, fossil fuel power plants. But even that, you know, like in India, they’re making a huge transition, Pakistan, not to mention Australia, where now batteries are having more of an impact on electricity prices than gas is. So our electricity prices now finally are dropping, um, this year for the first time because of how many batteries have come on and are now, you [00:14:00]know… Like they’ve just flattened. The evening price peak used to be on average about, like, I think $400 or something dollars a megawatt hour, and now it’s like 100. In one year we had that, we had that change, yeah, just from the amount of batteries that have come on in the last year or two.  Allen Hall: Why does that make such a big difference in the price of electricity, the battery aspect?  Rosemary Barnes: Because, so the way that Australia… Australia’s electricity market is pretty similar to Texas, so if you understand that, then you can probably understand Australia’s. But, you know, at any five-minute interval, people, like, they know how much demand there’s going to be, and then people are bidding in how much they would supply electricity for in that five minutes, in real time as well. It’s not like day ahead or anything like that in Australia. The, like, last one they need is what everybody gets paid. So, like, solar power is gonna bid in at, like, you know, practically zero, um, or maybe negative prices actually if they’ve got power purchase agreements in place. And then, you know, wind a little bit more, and then coal, uh, you know, a, a bit [00:15:00] more than that, and then gas, the open cycle gas turbines, the peakers, they’re very expensive. They’re bidding in at 400, $400 a megawatt hour. If there’s enough batteries that that gas doesn’t need to bid in, then all of a sudden we don’t have the gas price that everybody has to pay. We have the battery price that everyone has to pay, and that is very, very cheap and will become cheaper as there’s more of them in the, in the system. So it’s like a threshold event. You, you know, um, even if you’re using only a tiny bit of gas, if you need any gas at all, even like, you know, one megawatt of gas, everybody gets paid the gas price. If you just get a little bit more battery in and you don’t need it anymore, bam, the price just falls. So that’s what we… We’ve passed that threshold now.  Allen Hall: Isn’t that where the UK is trying to get, is to get past that threshold where renewables are that last addition to the grid and kick off peaker plants and some expensive other- fuel sources. That’s I, I [00:16:00] think where everybody’s gone because they have the same system where the, the last one in is what sets the price for everybody. Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. The UK’s a little bit different because one, they’re connected to Europe, and two, they’ve got nuclear, so they do have that kind of base load.  Allen Hall: Let’s go down the rabbit hole just for a second. So if the peaker plants don’t come on, that means that the battery electricity supplying the grid is pretty low in price. It seems like they are losing money on their investment in the battery That they were hoping the price would be higher. Because if the peaker plants are still going on, that would be a $400 price and they’re gonna come in at, like, 350, so that would make sense. It, it helps pay off the battery investment. But if they’re dropping the price down from 400 to 100, it would seem like the battery investment may not be a, a wise decision.  Rosemary Barnes: For sure they’re making less money, but it was– they were making crazy profits for the first little, the first few, few years of, you know, grid-scale batteries. And even [00:17:00] home batteries, people were making a l- a lot of money off that, and it was crazy. Like, I’m on some, um, some Reddit subreddits about, uh, you know, people with home batteries and-  Allen Hall: Slash battery?  Rosemary Barnes: Matt probably is too. Matt’s a Beta G enthusiast, so I’m sure that he is just as excited as me. But anyway, so on one of these subreddits, you know, people used to talk about, “Oh, I made 100 bucks last night,” um, or, or whatever, you know, just a household. And now all the posts are complaining about there’s been no price spikes all year. You know, I thought that I was gonna make heaps of money off my battery, but people are really change- changing how they think of it. And now it’s like… And l- like I want– used to want to do this. I don’t have solar panels yet ’cause we need a new roof, and I’ve been waiting a few years to, one, live in a house that I own, and then two, get a freaking new roof. Um, and I thought I’m gonna just, like, cover it in solar panels, get a huge battery, and I’m gonna be an energy trader in my free time and make heaps of money, and now that is [00:18:00] not the strategy anymore. The strategy is to just reduce your bills to the m- the minimum that you can. Um, that’s basically, that’s basically it. So you are right that some of this arbitrage is, um, the opportunity’s over, and that it will be less, um, exciting for, uh, opportunity for people to put more, more batteries in.  Matthew Stead: Just to add to that, through the middle of the day quite often there’s, uh, negative pricing. So if you’ve got a battery, you’re being paid to charge through the middle of the day. So that actually takes away some of the pain from having a lower, a lower price, um, during the peak.  Rosemary Barnes: But the thing about negative prices is that you need coal power plants for them to be… Like, the only reason we have such pervasive negative prices is not because solar plants have PPAs that are, you know, make it worthwhile for them to generate even when the price is slightly negative. The real thing is that coal power plants don’t want to turn down below, I don’t know, yeah, like 20, 30% during the middle of the day. They have to be on if they want to make money in the evening, and that means that they bid in at, like, [00:19:00] negative 50, um, so that people– so that they can stay running. And that’s where the bulk of our negative prices come from. So As coal power plants close, those negative prices will go away. Um, and when they close, we should get some better evening price spikes again. So, you know, like nothing ever stays the same for long, which is why it is such a fascinating hobby to have, being interested in the electricity market, because it’s never the same from one year to another. You’ll never understand it, ’cause it’s never, it never stays the same long enough to really get your head around it.  Allen Hall: You need other hobbies. You really do.  Matthew Stead: A friend of mine works in trading, and, uh, he said, “As long as there’s volatility, there will be progress.” So much like what Rosie was saying is the more volatile it is, the more opportunity there is for people to come in, um, and change it. Allen Hall: I just don’t know how the battery thing plays out once that threshold is reached. When you have more batteries on the system and you knock down the price that [00:20:00] much, I think battery sales, industrial batteries really slow down because they’re all looking for that quick ROI And they’re not gonna get it. Rosemary Barnes: You have to wait for all of the coal to close before you would find out what’s the right amount of batteries to have in the, in the grid.  Allen Hall: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That, I totally agree there, yeah.  Yolanda Padron: You’d still get, like in extreme weather events and stuff, you’d still get a big price spike, right, for all these batteries. Allen Hall: Back to Matt’s point, more volatility.  Rosemary Barnes: If you want the market to respond, you need to give enough incentive to invest in assets so you’ll have enough when it’s needed. And because it’s really infrequent, then it has to be a super high price to, um, bring on enough investment. And will this system… The system has worked absolutely, you know, pretty well in Aus- Australia at least. Will it continue into the future with more variable prices and renewables? I, I don’t know, and the government is starting to do some things like, uh, you know, like a lot of [00:21:00] electricity markets have, um, not just energy markets but also capacity markets where you will pay a battery or a gas plant something to be on standby basically, um, so that if there is, um, if there’s a shortfall then they, then they have to respond. So in Western Australia they have that, but across the east of Australia th- they currently do not, do not have that. It’s energy only.  Allen Hall: Really? How do you not have capacity payments?  Rosemary Barnes: The majority of their profits are made in just a few hours a year when there are those price spikes, so that’s, that’s h- part of their business case. Allen Hall: I mean, there, there is arbitrage happening on the electricity grid. That’s not the best place to be arbitraging things because you will have players that won’t provide electricity just to drive up the price.  Rosemary Barnes: Uh, and it happens in Australia too, but, um, you know, because batteries are such a distributed resource, it, it will become harder and harder to do that when, you know, the, um, the ownership of these batteries is, you know, households as well as, um, yeah, as well as [00:22:00] big companies. Matthew Stead: So offshore wind, I was talking to an OEM a, a little while ago and, uh, talking about blade repairs for offshore wind, you know, floating, floating wind. Um, so specifically floating wind. The OEM was extremely concerned about floating wind, um, because it makes it very, very, very hard to change blades. So the story was that if you’ve got an offshore floating platform, you’re basically gonna have to tow the wind turbine back to port to change a, a blade. Rosemary Barnes: They see that as a, as a pro, not a con though. Yeah. That, that’s because it’s very hard to… Like, it’s not only floating offshore wind where it’s very hard to remove a, a blade out at sea, like fixed bottom offshore wind, that’s incredibly expensive to remove a blade. So floating is like, well, you can just tow it back to shore and then you can do it all in the port. I, I, you’re looking skeptical, Matt, and I’m also skeptical about how it actually plays out. I know that, um, what was it? The, [00:23:00] the one- An EOL project off the coast of Scotland. I can’t remember what it’s called now. Like what, the first big one, the big wind farm, a floating offshore wind farm  Allen Hall: HiWind Scotland  Rosemary Barnes: They had a, a problem. I don’t know if it was a serial issue or also, like it’s the first big wind farm, and there might have been like some operating condition they weren’t aware of that caused some problems. They had to tow back everything to port, and they stayed there for months and months. So like maybe, maybe close to a year or over a year, I’m not sure. It was a really long time. And so, um, yeah. But then, you know, like what’s the alternative? If that had happened out at sea, it would’ve been more expensive. If, it still would’ve been shut down, not doing anything, and you would’ve had like helicopters out there every single day bringing teams and, um, you know, huge vessels with cranes and yeah. So like it’s, maintenance at sea is never good.  Allen Hall: But the whole point of the HiWind project was to get some of these problems figured out, and one of them was just towing it back to port and [00:24:00] doing major repairs or component exchanges make sense. I think it’s a, it’s a lesson well learned, and we’ve moved on. I guess the question is, does offshore, floating offshore in particular, have much of a future if Norway’s not willing to do it?  Matthew Stead: I think it’s a good comparison with, um, data centers in space.  Rosemary Barnes: You know where else they’re planning to put data centers? Not just space and offshore, also like, um, underwater ones, like on the deep ocean floor, um, on the moon somewhat. Like there’s an actual company that is apparently developing a, a data center on the moon  Allen Hall: As wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it, difficult. That’s why the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high-quality content you need. Don’t [00:25:00] miss out. Visit peswind.com today. Well, in this quarter’s PES Wind magazine, there are a number of great articles, and if you haven’t downloaded your copy, you should do that at peswind.com. There’s a good article from Global Blade Services USA, and it’s talking about the technician problem and how it’s not gonna, it solve itself, obviously. But Global Blade Service is putting some numbers to it. And Rosemary, this is really directed at you. Blades represent roughly 20% of the total, total turbine capital cost and are the leading driver of unplanned downtime.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, 40% of O&M.  Allen Hall: Right, and 75% of all blade repairs are already handled outside OEM warranty. That number seems really high, but maybe after the warranty expires?  Rosemary Barnes: Do you say 30% of, of repairs are repaired under warranty? That’s, uh, unexpectedly high from my point of view. [00:26:00] But, you know, how would I know? No one’s getting in touch with me if, you know, they’ve got a problem with their blades and it just got fixed under warranty. Then they’re not paying a consultant to come sort it out. I only, I’m, I’m only there when the warranty is nearly up or it’s already over.  Allen Hall: So they, they’re saying that the, the ratio’s even gonna grow more towards out of warranty repairs. But the problem is having technicians. And the deeper problem is developing all those technicians in time as that need grows. Uh, reaching full structural repair competency takes a rope access technician eight to 10 years. A basket technician is five to seven, and a factory technician is four to five years, meaning the workforce, uh, the industry needs for the next decade has to start training now. I, I think we’re seeing this in full force. I- the issue is keeping good people in the industry as it fluctuates up and [00:27:00] down all the time and is very seasonal. Because there are really good rope technicians out there who know what they are doing, and it does take a, a minimum of three years to be competent. And then to be that lead person, it takes four or five solid. And to be, uh, the, the relied-upon person, especially for some of the more complicated repairs, it’s gonna be six, seven, eight years before you’re there. It’s just an exposure thing. Are we in a technician crisis?  Rosemary Barnes: Crisis is maybe a little bit inflammatory, but, uh, we’re in a technician challenge  Matthew Stead: But it’s a pretty, it’s a pretty basic topic, Allen, isn’t it? Like, um, you know, there’s more and more wind turbines, there have to be more and more technicians. It takes time to train. So, you know, it’s, it’s just, it’s pretty much basic maths and, um, you know, it’s like te- you know, tradies to build houses. Um, you know, unless you’ve got the tradies, you can’t build houses in a cheap way. Yolanda Padron: Part of the issue is that, you know, say there’s [00:28:00] 10 technicians that are available in the area, right? Then you … maybe they work under two different companies, and then one company goes bankrupt, so then they all work with the same company. Another company pops up, or someone gets kicked off site from the OEM side, and then a month later they’re back with the third party. And then it’s just really difficult to keep track of kind of who’s still there and who’s not, because some people have the certifications and maybe they’re not really, really great at what they do, or other people have a lot of training and a lot of experience, and it’s just difficult to track exactly, you know, where they are now. I know that the, the strategy here oftentimes is you’ll find one person that you like and you kind of follow him around, or follow them around whatever company they’re, they’re with at the moment, and then just use that company.  Matthew Stead: The other point I was going to make is that there’s also the seasonality, isn’t there? So you know, if you’ve got a great, a great technician, when it’s cold, they can’t earn cash from [00:29:00] repairing blades.  Rosemary Barnes: Aren’t they hired as, like, seasonal workers in America and they just don’t get paid for part of the year? That’s not how it’s done here. I mean, I guess we don’t have the climate where you have to, like, totally shut down, so they’re not, like, sitting around getting paid for nothing. But, like, that’s a really unim- unappealing feature of the of the, um, field, isn’t it? If you’re deciding what you wanna, what kinda job you wanna do, you want one where you can get paid for 12 months out of the year, not just, I don’t know, like eight or whatever it is.  Matthew Stead: I know there’s been a lot of discussion between, like, Australian US repair companies of, like, shipping technicians down here during the Northern Hemisphere winter and vice versa, and it gives, you know, chance of exploring the world. But, you know, if you’ve got kids and family, you’re not gonna necessarily wanna do that either.  Rosemary Barnes: It’s such a tiring job, though. I don’t… Like, there’s, um, I think it’s fine if people do it for, like, a hard 10 years and then, um, yeah, move on to… Because you obviously learn a lot as a technician, so y- you know, like, there’s a lot of office jobs that you would be really good at [00:30:00] because you had that physical experience. But yeah, like, I, I do think that there’s heaps of young people that are traveling the world being wind turbine technicians.  Yolanda Padron: At least in Texas, I know a lot of rural areas where they don’t necessarily have a lot of opportunities to get higher education, and so going to be a technician is a good route for them to then go into a larger part of the industry, um, to, to kinda get a head start there. Um, and they get a lot of really valuable skills, and oftentimes, like you said, Rosie, they’ll, they’ll get picked up by, um, by the owners or the OEMs or someone, um, because of their experience there. But it, but it is quite a bit of, of hard work and, and physical, physical labor. I climbed one tower and I was sore for two weeks, so really, really not my cup of tea. Rosemary Barnes: I’m always, like, so excited to, to be climbing towers ’cause I only do it, like, you know, sometimes no times in a year, sometimes twice a year. Um, yeah, so, like, I’m really excited to go climb, and it’s really cool the first day, and then the second day it’s like, “Oh, this harness is [00:31:00] so heavy. Am I really putting this on again? Oh my God.” Yeah, so it’s, uh, it’s ob- obviously you get used to it if you, um, if you do climb a lot. The last, uh, last site that I was at, a lot of the technicians were just climbing the ladders so that they wouldn’t have to, you know, go to the gym afterwards. So there’s a lift there, but they use the ladder because then they get their cardio for the day. So, you know, they’ve obviously got some surplus energy.  Allen Hall: I think it is kind of a myth outside the US, uh, uh, seasonal workers, uh, at least in Europe, I haven’t seen a lot of seasonal workers. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, of course. But in the United States, there’s a lot of seasonal workers from construction and all kinds of other industries. People figure it out And it, it’s a lot more common than I think y- being an engineer you think it is, but there are a lot of seasonal workers. So being a, a wind technician is not a bad job.  Rosemary Barnes: I guess they’re just getting [00:32:00] paid extra for the time that they’re working and they just know they’re used to budgeting to cover the few months off. Allen Hall: They have a winter job. They’ll, they have employment. They already have it lined up where when it gets cold outside, they have someplace else to go. Back into construction for a few months. They’re maybe driving a truck or doing other things that, that bring in income. They have it pretty well figured out. When– At least the technicians I’ve talked to seem to have a, a plan about it, and they’re not sitting by the television for six months. That’s not what’s happening. It, that there’s a lot of employment opportunities here in the States, and so they, they’re pretty nimble. So if you haven’t read this article or a number of our other great articles in PES Wind, you should go to peswind.com right now and download a copy today. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. [00:33:00] For Yolanda, Rosemary, and Matthew, I’m Allen Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy podcast.

Bravo apples from Western Australia arrived in China over the weekend.

Two small, remote islands off the Kimberley coast are going to be turned into sea and air hubs for offshore oil and gas, marine industries, security, defence and fuel storage.

Jeremy Zakis reports on a massive mouse plague in Western Australia that has gained international media attention. This surge in prey has triggered a secondary brown snake epidemic, as venomous snakes enter homes seeking food and shelter. Consequently, exterminators are facing an exceptionally busy year currently.1889

Jeremy Zakis reports on a massive mouse plague in Western Australia that has gained international media attention. This surge in prey has triggered a secondary brown snake epidemic, as venomous snakes enter homes seeking food and shelter. Consequently, exterminators are facing an exceptionally busy year currently.1873

We all know Edith Cowan – first woman elected to an Australian parliament – graces out $50 note. But did you know she was shaped by a traumatic childhood?In 1876, her father, the prominent colonial settler and explorer Kenneth Brown, shot her stepmother dead. This was a crime that shocked Western Australia – and one whose elements are all too common 150 years later.In Part One of this new miniseries, we look at the forces that shaped Kenneth, from Frontier War violence to his tilt at the Melbourne Cup.If you're in danger from domestic violence, call Triple 0.National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling ServiceTel: 1 800 737 732https://1800respect.org.au LifelineTel: 131 114https://www.lifeline.org.au/Aidan Kelly's research is here:https://freopedia.org/Kenneth_BrownSupport Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes.Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.comCheck out my books!They'll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murder Squad:https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.htmlHanging Ned Kelly:https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.htmlAustralia's Sweetheart:https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mining giant Rio Tinto says it will soon halt its hay production in northern WA, leaving pastoralists scrambling to find an alternative supplier.

Interview with Alex Walker, Director & CEO of East Star Resources PLCOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/east-star-resources-lseest-endeavour-xinhai-deals-transform-2026-outlook-8740Recording date: 9th June 2026East Star Resources (LSE:EST) is a London-listed mining company with a focused strategy: identify, advance, and partner world-class copper and gold assets in Kazakhstan, one of the world's most mineral-rich but systematically underexplored countries. The company has moved well beyond its origins as a conventional junior explorer. It now holds two major joint ventures — one with Xinhai Mining on its Verkhuba copper deposit, and one with Endeavour Mining across two Kazakh gold belts alongside a portfolio of 100%-owned projects led by the Rulikha copper deposit.The core investment proposition rests on a simple structural advantage: East Star has secured the funding, operational capability, and technical resources of two large, credible mining companies to advance its assets, whilst retaining material economic interests without bearing the associated capital costs. At Verkhuba, Xinhai is funding the project through to production in exchange for 70% of the asset. East Star keeps 30%, free-carried. With a mining licence application targeted for submission this year, construction planned for end-2027, and first cash flow anticipated by end-2028, Verkhuba represents a defined, near-term pathway to copper production cash flow for East Star shareholders without a single further dilutive equity raise required on their part.The Endeavour Mining joint venture operates on a different but equally compelling logic. Endeavour is committing up to $25 million across two exploration programmes in the Stepnogorsk and Karaganda regions, targeting a minimum 2-million-ounce gold discovery. East Star is free-carried at 20% through to prefeasibility. The company's CEO, Alex Walker, has been explicit about the scale of potential value: a 20% interest in a major gold deposit developed by a FTSE 100 operator could be worth, in his assessment, a billion dollars for East Star's share alone. That outcome is speculative and dependent on exploration success but the structure means East Star reaches the point of knowledge without paying for it.Underpinning both JVs is a proprietary competitive advantage that is difficult to replicate. East Star's geological database combined with years of in-country relationship-building with local authorities, communities, and regional officials, gives the company an informational and operational edge in a jurisdiction where most international explorers are only beginning to establish a presence. Walker describes Kazakhstan in terms that evoke Western Australia a generation ago: a province of extraordinary endowment, with the majority of its mineral belts still available for systematic modern exploration.Beyond the JVs, the 100%-owned pipeline including Rulikha at 23 million tonnes and 2.4% copper equivalent, alongside Rulikha North, Telescope, Picket, and Snowy, all provide additional optionality. Each asset carries independent discovery and JV potential, creating multiple pathways to value creation that are not dependent on any single outcome.For investors seeking exposure to copper and gold in a structure that limits dilution risk, provides near-term production catalysts, and offers meaningful upside from major-company-funded exploration, East Star Resources warrants serious consideration.View East Star Resources' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/east-star-resourcesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Internal documents reveal government officials are privately warning about the risks of a growing reliance on Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink. 

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 10 :  Guided Meditation – 9th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 11 :  Q & A - 9th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 9 :  Morning Talk - 9th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 8 :    Q & A – 8th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 1 :  –  Introduction – 5th June 26. See the full retreat on here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 2 :   –  Morning Talk - 6th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here.  Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 3 :   Q & A -  6th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 4 :  - Morning Talk - 7th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 5 : Q & A - 7th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 6 :  Morning Talk – 8th June 26. See the full retreat on here. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

5 Day Meditation Retreat with  Ayya Karunika at Jhana Grove Retreat Centre in Serpentine, Western Australia, from 5th June - 10th June 2026. Track 7 :   Guided Meditation - 8th June 26. See the full retreat on bswa.org here.  Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available from: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia www.bswa.org

Interview with Dr. Mike Jones, MD of Impact Minerals Ltd.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/impact-minerals-asxipt-pitch-perfect-october-2025-8328Recording date: 8th June 2026Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) is undergoing a deliberate and material transformation. What began as a junior mining explorer is becoming, under the direction of Managing Director Dr. Mike Jones, a specialty chemicals and material science company with a credible path to producing high-purity alumina which is  a critical input for battery separators, artificial sapphire, advanced ceramics, and semiconductor components.The company's commercial strategy rests on two interconnected assets. The first is a 50% stake in Alluminous, which holds a patented solvent extraction process for producing HPA from widely available chemical feedstock. That intellectual property is now protected across the United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia, jurisdictions that management views as the primary commercialisation markets. The second is the Lake Hope clay project in Western Australia, where a Pre-Feasibility Study has been completed and work toward a Definitive Feasibility Study is underway.What has sharpened investor attention recently is a process engineering breakthrough at the Alluminous pilot plant. By modifying the orientation of impellers in the solvent extraction stage, the team achieved up to ten times the originally designed throughput. Dr. Jones has stated that this discovery could allow the company to reach production capacity comparable to its listed peers for under AU$10 million in capital — against the AU$200 million-plus spent by those peers to reach similar output levels. The scoping study for a 2,000-tonne-per-annum commercial plant is expected to provide independent cost validation shortly, making it one of the most significant near-term catalysts for the stock.The competitive context is instructive. Alpha HPA carries a market capitalisation of approximately AU$650–700 million. Advanced Energy Minerals trades at approximately AU$250–300 million. Both began as resource companies and have re-rated substantially as they have moved toward production. Impact Minerals currently sits at a significant discount to both, at a stage where the technology has been proven in batch mode, IP is protected, and initial customer engagement — including 3kg sapphire-grade samples dispatched to European buyers — is underway.The market entry strategy is measured. Rather than chasing premium 5N pricing immediately, management has chosen to enter the higher-volume 3N advanced ceramics segment first, building commercial credibility before moving up what Dr. Jones calls the "pyramid of purity." This approach mirrors the path taken by peers and reduces the risk of prolonged customer qualification timelines.The company's byproduct streams add further resilience to the investment case. Potash which is almost entirely imported into Western Australia and aluminium chlorohydrate have both attracted early buyer interest and are the subject of a separate scoping study. A joint venture on these streams would allow Impact to advance its HPA programme without proportional increases in capital expenditure.The principal risks are clear and should be held alongside the opportunity. Back-end engineering challenges remain unresolved, the technology has not yet been demonstrated at scale, and the company is pre-revenue. However, with patent protection secured, a breakthrough in production efficiency, a clear commercialisation roadmap, and peers trading at valuations ten to twenty times higher, the risk-reward profile at current prices warrants serious investor attention.View Impact Minerals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/impact-mineralsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Elon Musk is on the verge of becoming a trillionaire. Right now Musk's wealth is currently around $825 billion US — more than double what it was a year earlier. Only 22 countries currently boast economies larger than Musk's net worth, but he's catching up. In the third episode of our series The Billionaire Age we investigate how Musk and his fellow billionaires are trying to take over the world. And if they succeed, what will this mean for the rest of us?Listen to more episodes in this series:Listen to Part One: How did we get here?Listen to Part Two: Disney heiress on the dangers of extreme wealthGuests in this episode:Ingrid Robeyns is a philosopher and economist. She is the chair in Ethics of Intuitions at Utrecht University, and the author of Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth.Lucas Chancel is an economist and the co-director of The World Inequality Lab. He's also a professor at the Paris School of Economics.Gabriel Zucman is an economist and the co-director of The World Inequality Lab. He's also a professor at the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley.Nitin Bharti is an economist and lecturer at the University of Western Australia. He is also the South and South-East Asia coordinator at the World Inequality Lab.Lars Osberg is an economics professor at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His latest book is The Scandalous Rise of Inequality in Canada.Abigail Disney is an American film producer, philanthropist and social activist. She is a member of Patriotic Millionaires which advocates for higher taxes on the wealthy.Paul Krugman is an economist and the winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.Tim Wu is a legal scholar and professor at Columbia Law School. He is also a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. His latest book is The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity.Nick Hanauer is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He co-authored the book, Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing The Lies and Half-Truths that Protect Profit, Power and Wealth in America, with Joan Walsh and Donald Cohen. He also hosts the podcast Pitchfork Economics.Guido Alfani is a professor of economic history at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. His latest book is As Gods Among Men: A History of the Rich in the West.

Preview for Later Today: Jeremy Zakis details Australia's winter weather, warning of a severe storm hitting Western Australia that will soon bring floods to the east. He explains how El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole create a "vacuum" effect, drawing Antarctic air in a unique "S-bend" pattern toward Sydney.1919 ANZAC DAY