Latest news with #WA-based
The Age
7 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Forrest calls for global fishing overhaul as Australia backs major treaties at UN summit
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has called for the United Nations to back a major overhaul of global fishing regulations and marine life protections following an international ocean summit last week. Australia's Environment Minister Murray Watt also attended the 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, and confirmed on Friday the federal government has joined 96 other nations in committing to end plastic pollution. Declaring 'the ocean is in freefall', Forrest made the comments following the summit on Saturday, saying his Minderoo Foundation will commit an additional $25 million towards implementing new marine protected areas and real-time vessel monitoring. 'We must lock in 30 per cent no-take marine protected areas by 2030 in every nation, in the high seas [international waters] and across at least 30 per cent of Antarctica – this must be the minimum, not the maximum – and it must be enforced, not just declared,' the WA-based magnate said in a statement. 'Thanks to science, enforcement is now possible. Satellites track vessels in real time. AI flags illegal behaviour. The excuses are gone.' Loading Forrest unveiled the foundation's Flourishing Oceans Commercial Fishing Act (FOCFA), a self-financing, enforcement-ready model for no-take MPAs and sustainable fisheries and said he would relaunch a Global Fishing Index in 2026. 'This flips enforcement incentives. Fishers, regulators, and even competitors are motivated to expose illegal actors. Governments reclaim lost revenue. Legal operators are protected. And the commercial risk of turning a blind eye rises – all the way up the supply chain,' he said of the proposed FOCFA. Minderoo has also partly funded a new documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough, about the devastation brought about by unregulated industrial fishing, which was released last month.
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Forrest calls for global fishing overhaul as Australia backs major treaties at UN summit
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has called for the United Nations to back a major overhaul of global fishing regulations and marine life protections following an international ocean summit last week. Australia's Environment Minister Murray Watt also attended the 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, and confirmed on Friday the federal government has joined 96 other nations in committing to end plastic pollution. Declaring 'the ocean is in freefall', Forrest made the comments following the summit on Saturday, saying his Minderoo Foundation will commit an additional $25 million towards implementing new marine protected areas and real-time vessel monitoring. 'We must lock in 30 per cent no-take marine protected areas by 2030 in every nation, in the high seas [international waters] and across at least 30 per cent of Antarctica – this must be the minimum, not the maximum – and it must be enforced, not just declared,' the WA-based magnate said in a statement. 'Thanks to science, enforcement is now possible. Satellites track vessels in real time. AI flags illegal behaviour. The excuses are gone.' Loading Forrest unveiled the foundation's Flourishing Oceans Commercial Fishing Act (FOCFA), a self-financing, enforcement-ready model for no-take MPAs and sustainable fisheries and said he would relaunch a Global Fishing Index in 2026. 'This flips enforcement incentives. Fishers, regulators, and even competitors are motivated to expose illegal actors. Governments reclaim lost revenue. Legal operators are protected. And the commercial risk of turning a blind eye rises – all the way up the supply chain,' he said of the proposed FOCFA. Minderoo has also partly funded a new documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough, about the devastation brought about by unregulated industrial fishing, which was released last month.
West Australian
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Coming to ABC: Comedy Legend Dawn French to star in Sean Tan's animated series about growing up in Perth
Comedy legend Dawn French is set to star in the animated series based on Sean Tan's best-selling illustrated anthology, Tales From Outer Suburbia. The celebrated comedian and actress, best known for her starring role in classic 90s sitcom The Vicar of Dibley and for being one half of the iconic 'French and Saunders' comedy duo, will join the voice cast for the 10 x 22-minute series, currently in development and coming soon to ABC. Described as 'a uniquely Western Australian take on growing up in Perth', the 10-episode series will make its world premiere this week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. Created by Highly Spirited and Flying Bark Productions, the series was produced out of both Flying Bark in NSW and WA-based Siamese, with Tan, an Academy Award-winning writer/artist/filmmaker, overseeing the series as Creative Director. Based on Tan's memories of growing up in the northern suburbs of Perth, the story centres around 'almost 13 year-old' Klara and her six year-old brother Pim, who move to Outer Suburbia with their newly single mother, Lucy. 'The siblings' summer holiday turns into a series of unexpected and surreal adventures, with the family encountering weird and miraculous phenomena as they adapt to their new reality,' the release reads. Dawn French voices Klara and Pim's Grandma. 'Grandma is amazing. She's courageous and adventurous, she's quite chaotic, she's a bit bonkers,' French said. 'What drew me to the character, and the whole project, is it's quite possibly the strangest thing I've ever read! 'It's very surreal — you understand it on a visceral level but you also don't understand it, so you're drawn in to try and make sense of slightly surreal things. 'This is a series about big, big themes: themes of rejection, forgiveness, absence, loss, grief, judgment, friendships. 'I think it's absolutely crucial that we make good quality shows for children and for families because it's a shared experience when you watch something together.' 'Dawn brings a unique warmth, confidence and levity to a character that audiences really needed to trust during difficult moments, and I can't imagine a better performance,' Creative Director Shaun Tan said. 'She is the anchor of reassurance in a sea of animated weirdness, the hand you want to hold tight as the tide fills the room.' Alongside French, the series also stars Geraldine Hakewell (Lucy) and newcomers Brooklyn Davies (Klara) and Felix Oliver Vergés (Pim) as the family at the centre of the story — Austin and Love on the Spectrum's Michael Theo also lends his voice. Sreenwest Chief Executive Officer Rikki Lea Bestall said: 'Screenwest is beyond proud to support this quintessentially Western Australian take on growing up in the 'burbs of Perth — and what a coup to have Dawn French amongst the cast. 'Shaun Tan is an incredibly talented creative whose works resonate with young and old. 'We cannot wait to see this series on screen, and congratulate everyone involved for Tales From Outer Suburbia being selected to make its world premiere at Annecy.'
Perth Now
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Dawn French to star in animated series about Perth's ‘burbs'
Comedy legend Dawn French is set to star in the animated series based on Sean Tan's best-selling illustrated anthology, Tales From Outer Suburbia. The celebrated comedian and actress, best known for her starring role in classic 90s sitcom The Vicar of Dibley and for being one half of the iconic 'French and Saunders' comedy duo, will join the voice cast for the 10 x 22-minute series, currently in development and coming soon to ABC. Described as 'a uniquely Western Australian take on growing up in Perth', the 10-episode series will make its world premiere this week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. Created by Highly Spirited and Flying Bark Productions, the series was produced out of both Flying Bark in NSW and WA-based Siamese, with Tan, an Academy Award-winning writer/artist/filmmaker, overseeing the series as Creative Director. Based on Tan's memories of growing up in the northern suburbs of Perth, the story centres around 'almost 13 year-old' Klara and her six year-old brother Pim, who move to Outer Suburbia with their newly single mother, Lucy. Tales From Outer Suburbia is coming soon to ABC. Credit: Supplied 'The siblings' summer holiday turns into a series of unexpected and surreal adventures, with the family encountering weird and miraculous phenomena as they adapt to their new reality,' the release reads. Dawn French voices Klara and Pim's Grandma. 'Grandma is amazing. She's courageous and adventurous, she's quite chaotic, she's a bit bonkers,' French said. Dawn French stars as Grandma. Credit: Supplied 'What drew me to the character, and the whole project, is it's quite possibly the strangest thing I've ever read! 'It's very surreal — you understand it on a visceral level but you also don't understand it, so you're drawn in to try and make sense of slightly surreal things. 'This is a series about big, big themes: themes of rejection, forgiveness, absence, loss, grief, judgment, friendships. 'I think it's absolutely crucial that we make good quality shows for children and for families because it's a shared experience when you watch something together.' Tales From Outer Suburbia will debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France this week. Credit: Supplied 'Dawn brings a unique warmth, confidence and levity to a character that audiences really needed to trust during difficult moments, and I can't imagine a better performance,' Creative Director Shaun Tan said. 'She is the anchor of reassurance in a sea of animated weirdness, the hand you want to hold tight as the tide fills the room.' Alongside French, the series also stars Geraldine Hakewell (Lucy) and newcomers Brooklyn Davies (Klara) and Felix Oliver Vergés (Pim) as the family at the centre of the story — Austin and Love on the Spectrum's Michael Theo also lends his voice. Newcomers Brooklyn Davies and Felix Oliver Vergés star as the kids at the centre of the story. Credit: Supplied Sreenwest Chief Executive Officer Rikki Lea Bestall said: 'Screenwest is beyond proud to support this quintessentially Western Australian take on growing up in the 'burbs of Perth — and what a coup to have Dawn French amongst the cast. 'Shaun Tan is an incredibly talented creative whose works resonate with young and old. 'We cannot wait to see this series on screen, and congratulate everyone involved for Tales From Outer Suburbia being selected to make its world premiere at Annecy.'
West Australian
08-06-2025
- Health
- West Australian
King's Birthday Honours: Digital mental health pioneer Nick Titov becomes Member of the Order of Australia
WA-based digital mental health pioneer Nick Titov's goal is to become redundant in a bid to make all Australians mentally well. It was the early 2000s when the Macquarie University psychology professor realised there would never be enough mental health professionals in the country to see everybody face to face so he started running clinical trials, revealing online services could help just as well. He has since become a pioneer in the digital mental health landscape — creating Australia's first free telephone and online mental health clinic, Mindspot, in 2012. It's what has earned him the honour of becoming a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), in recognition of his 'significant service to digital mental health and wellness, and to tertiary education'. 'I feel this award really reflects the support I've had from my family and my dear colleagues and friends — it's really a big effort by lots and lots of people over many, many years,' he said. 'It's incredibly satisfying, personally and professionally, and I joke with my colleagues that I see my primary role as making myself redundant. 'If I can achieve that by supporting people to improve their mental health, then we know that the mental health of their family and their community is strengthened.' The MindSpot executive director said creating an online mental health platform had given people more choice and reduced barriers to access care. MindSpot offers free online treatment courses that target symptoms as well as teletherapy sessions to more than 30,000 people across Australia. 'There are geographical barriers but we know still today people sometimes feel stigma or even shame about reaching out to a health professional and if they can do that semi-anonymously online or via telephone it's much more accessible,' he said. 'The other group, of course, are the people who work shifts and they just can't during the day get out to see somebody. 'Services like mind spot aren't a panacea but really people need to have choice and I think we've been able to inspire a whole group of other services to evolve and develop as well, which is excellent.' His King's Honour also recognises his tertiary education efforts for filling a gap in mental health training. 'We established the Mindspot Academy and now we train about 25 students or interns each year from across the country,' he said. 'What we really want to be able to do is to ensure that the workforce of the future has a broad range of really practical skills so they can work online and face to face.' It's been almost 20 years since Professor Titov began researching digital mental health but he has no plans of stopping. Now, working to find out what preventative measures help keep people mentally healthy. He found people who do 'the big five' activities — positive thinking, meaningful activities that give a sense of accomplishment, having goals and plans to look forward to, healthy routines, and staying connected with people — three to four times a week are likely to have good mental health. 'The big area for me now is about supporting people to look after their own mental health as much as possible,' he said. 'What we've been doing over a number of clinical trials, with more than 25,000 people now, is finding that there are things people can do, and if they do them enough, their mental health can improve. 'I think we're starting to actually understand the triggers for good mental health but also poor mental health.'
