There will be no state funeral for Cardinal George Pell in either Victoria or New South Wales. The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said he “couldn’t think of anything that would be more distressing for victim-survivors than that”.
There was much anguish and torment in Pell’s home town of Ballarat where a mass was held at the local Catholic cathedral urging forgiveness.
Ballarat was not only the birthplace of Pell, but the scene where up to 14 priests are alleged to have sexually abused children and as many as 50 suicides are said to have been linked to the abuse.
“Forgiveness? Yeah, I get that, totally. But not when someone is refusing to apologise or show any reason for them to be forgiven,” said one survivor of child sexual abuse who attended today’s mass.
Top news
Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi outfit | The NSW premier apologised for wearing a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday, describing it as a “terrible mistake”. The revelations could jeopardise Perrottet’s election chances in March, with the Coalition seeking a fourth term in office. The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement that dressing as a Nazi was “not a joke” and “disrespects the millions of innocent civilians who were murdered during WWII”.
Thomas Sewell avoids jail time | Thomas Sewell – the 29-year-old neo-Nazi leader – has escaped jail time for a “brutal” attack on a Nine Network security guard in Melbourne in March 2021. Instead, he’s been hit with an 18-month community corrections order and 150 hours of community service.
Albanese calls for PNG team in the NRL | The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, became the first foreign leader to address the PNG parliament, where he called for a Pacific Islander NRL team based in Papua New Guinea. Albanese is on a two-day tour of the country to deepen ties across security, economics and trade and sport.
Australia criticised over human rights | The continued detention of children under 14 and draconian new anti-protest laws are harming Australia’s credibility to stand up for human rights in the region, Human Rights Watch has warned. Australia has faced increasing pressure over the past few years to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years, and NSW recently came under fire for jailing a climate protester.
Teen charged for lighting bushfires | A 16-year-old boy has been charged with deliberately lighting fires that led to two bushfires in NSW’s Murrumbidgee region last weekend. The boy was granted strict conditional bail to appear before a children’s court on 20 February.
Jeff Beck dies aged 78 | Often described as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Beck died after “suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis”, his representative said. Musicians began paying tribute shortly after the news broke, with Mick Jagger tweeting that “we have lost a wonderful man and one of the greatest guitar players in the world”.
Michael Flatley’s ‘aggressive’ cancer diagnosis | The Riverdance star, 64, revealed the diagnosis in an Instagram post. “Michael Flatley has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He has undergone surgery and is in the care of an excellent team of doctors.” His team said no further comment would be made and asked people for their prayers and well wishes.
Indigenous artefacts | A Māori tribe in New Zealand is calling for the return of treasured relics listed for sale by the auction house Sotheby’s. The auctioneer is in the process of selling a number of Māori artefacts obtained through colonisation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
What they said …
***
“The package as proposed allows further expansion of coal and gas, which is completely at odds with tackling the climate crisis.” – Mehreen Faruqi
The acting Greens leader signalled the party may push Labor to toughen its safeguard mechanism scheme, to prevent major polluters using accounting tricks or offsets to dodge deep emissions cuts.
The federal government’s proposed revamp of the policy contentiously allows big polluters to buy an unlimited number of “carbon credits” from companies that pollute less, which has raised eyebrows among climate action advocates.
In numbers
The huge loss is largely due to the drop in Tesla’s share price.
In pictures
Ahvaz, a mostly Arab city in Iran, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. It sits on the edge of what was once known as the Fertile Crescent, but a century of fossil fuel extraction has accelerated an ecological breakdown.
“Trees that had hung heavy with dates and citrus since the days of Mesopotamia now crumble to ash under the slightest touch, due to a dust-borne fungus.”
Before bed read
Jennifer Coolidge is experiencing a career renaissance at the age of 61, after taking home the Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a limited series for her role in The White Lotus. Coolidge has been on our screens for some time; Seinfeld fans may recognise a 32-year-old Coolidge who played Jerry’s masseuse girlfriend in season five.
The actor said her career flatlined in the late 00s before becoming the award-winning icon she is today, well beyond the age of what is conventionally considered “our prime”.
Perhaps the old adage rings true after all … the best years are yet to come.
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