What we learned, Sunday 8 February
And that’s a wrap on today’s blog, folks. Here are the highlights:
The big news story of the day was the Coalition getting back together, with the Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, and Nationals leader, David Littleproud, promising they’ll stick together in good times and in bad.
West Australians are bracing for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Mitchell, which has been upgraded to a category three.
Souped-up ebikes will be seized and destroyed under a crackdown in New South Wales.
NSW police and the Palestine Action Group are still working out the details of Monday’s protest against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit, and a legal challenge to police powers is in the offing.
GetUp has hired David Sharaz to tackle the “democratic threat” of conservative groups.
And Josh Taylor goes inside the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to find out why the party’s over.
See you back here tomorrow for all the latest from Canberra!
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Coalition compromise deal 'not a bad outcome': Jason Falinski
The ABC has asked former Liberal MP Jason Falinski about the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, watering down her initial plan to keep the rebel Nationals senators out of the shadow ministry for six months (they’ll now be back in March) in order to reunite the Coalition. He says the compromise they reached is “not a bad outcome”:
The important thing is not what has happened but what is going to happen, because I can’t say it enough. I mean, there are people who are really hurting in our community, and we do not have a government in either state or federal levels that is actually responding to that.
He also said he was surprised the deal was done:
To be honest, I thought the obstacles to the Coalition getting back together again were pretty high, and would have been difficult to surmount. So credit where credit’s due. Both Sussan and David have clearly worked very hard with a lot of internal stakeholders to get the band back together.
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How to re-enact Qantas’s historic ‘kangaroo route’ for under $10,000
Isabella Lee has hunted down a budget version of the “kangaroo route”, following the path of Qantas’s first fully operated air travel journey in 1947 from Sydney to London.
Why pay $50,000 when you can pay $10,000 for some hellish travel?!
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A ray of sunshine
This is lovely, from the Guardian’s New Zealand correspondent, Eva Corlett.
Before reading it, I didn’t know how much I wanted to pat a stingray, or as Bella called them, “big sea puppy pancakes”:
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Coalition back together – in pictures
Please enjoy some images from today’s Coalition press conference, in which the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, looks pretty chuffed:
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Planned challenge to protest rules
Here’s Benita Kolovos again, with all the details about the Palestine Action Group’s challenge to police powers, as they prepare to protest against tomorrow’s visit from the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog:
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Tropical Cyclone Mitchell approaches WA as category 3 storm
Severe Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is expected to maintain category 3 intensity as it barrels along the Pilbara coast, before making landfall between Exmouth and Onslow.
Located west of Karratha, the cyclone was about 30km offshore, with 120km/h winds near the centre and gusts up to 165km/h, on Sunday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said
The expectation is that it will maintain its category 3 intensity as it moves south-west today, parallel to the Pilbara coast.
EmergencyWA has issued cyclone emergency warnings stretching from Dampier to Onslow, urging residents to shelter indoors.
Wind gusts of 148km/h have been recorded at Barrow Island on Sunday morning, with more than 70mm of rain falling in Karratha since midnight.
Read more:
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Littleproud guarantees unity of Coalition
Asked if he can guarantee there will be “no further fractures”, Littleproud says “yes”.
He’s painting the hate speech vote as the only issue behind the split, while the journos in the room are rightly asking about a whole range of other ones that Coalition members have differing views on. Breaking party room solidarity would “have consequences”, he says.
And that, for now, is that.
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Ley confident of party room support
Back on the leadership speculation, Ley says she is “very confident of the overwhelming support” of the party and that they getting ready to announce migration policy details. They will be absolutely fine and united all the way, she says.
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One Nation a ‘party of protest’
The two leaders are being quizzed about how they’ll manage issues that have divided the party room in the past, including on the Voice and net zero. “The joint party room has primacy,” Ley says. And she’s not buying into any leadership speculation or whether the reunification will push people towards Angus Taylor as leader – speculation has been rife about a challenge to her leadership.
“With respect, they are your characterisations of a series of events and opinions,” she says.
And on the idea that One Nation could join the Coalition (the “three-ring circus” treasurer Jim Chalmers talked about this morning), Ley says:
One Nation is broadly a party of protest, very good at identifying problems … not so good at identifying what the solutions are.
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Nationals leader ‘comfortable’ Coalition together until next election
Littleproud fielded a question about how he can guarantee there won’t be another split.
He says:
I’m very comfortable, and we’ve said to one another, this is where we can look each other in the eye and say, ‘this is the team that will go to the next election’.
He said he wouldn’t be standing there if he didn’t trust Ley but that they took a “principled position”.
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Nationals were ‘crying’ over hate speech decision, Littleproud says
The caveat to the deal was that the three Nationals senators had to be reinstated, Littleproud says, defending their decision to vote against the hate speech bill because they weren’t given long enough to scrutinise it properly.
He said:
We don’t come to this place just to vote blindly; we come here because we believe in something.
And I’m proud of my party room. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I can tell you when we got to that decision, there were people in my party room crying because they knew the substantive nature of what we were voting on and what that could lead to.
But I would rather stand with the men and women of the National party who believe in something.
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Parties ‘better together’: Littleproud
Littleproud says the two parties are “better together”:
“It’s not the way we wanted to do it,” he says,
[But we can] say to the Australian people we’ve put in processes now to ensure that both parties know exactly that one can’t override the other, but in essence that there is one body that will determine that and that’s this room that the collective wisdom of the National party and the Liberal party will come together.
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Split not ‘about personalities’, Littleproud says
Neither party will be able to overturn the shadow cabinet’s decision under the new processes, Ley said.
Littleproud said the split was over a “substantive issue” to make sure there wasn’t an overreach on hate speech laws:
This isn’t about personalities. This was about principles … we tried to get to a position in a short period of time … we weren’t afforded a proper process.
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Split ‘difficult time’, Ley says
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, says the newly reunited Coalition will “hold this awful Albanese government to account”.
It’s been a “difficult time”, she says, but they are back together now. Ley is fronting a media conference with the Nationals leader, David Littleproud. She says:
Our plan is to fix the budget, to address the cost of living crisis, to bring down personal income tax rates, to deliver red tape and cost relief to our struggling small businesses, to prosecute the really important affordable energy plan that we both worked on last year.
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Nationals suspension to continue to end of month
One of the key parts of the reunion of the Liberal and National parties is the suspension of Nationals from the shadow ministry, which will continue until 1 March.
Three senators broke shadow cabinet solidarity to vote against the government’s hate speech laws, and were suspended from shadow cabinet. Ley’s decision to accept those senators’ resignations sparked the rift.
The leaders said internal processes will be strengthened, including signed agreements on shadow cabinet solidarity.
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Coalition is back together
We’ll bring you all the details on the Coalition reunification shortly – the two leaders are standing up within minutes for a joint press conference.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, have put out a joint media statement saying they have “reformed the Coalition”. They said:
The Coalition is the most enduring and successful partnership in Australian political history, where for generations we have delivered strong and stable government.
We acknowledge this has been a difficult period for millions of Coalition supporters, and many other Australians, who rely on our parties to scrutinise the government and provide national leadership.
The Coalition is back together and looking to the future, not the past. We are squarely focused on representing the Australian people and fighting for their needs, their hopes and their aspirations. They deserve no less, expect no less and will receive no less.
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Crackdown on illegal ebikes
Benita Kolovos has all the details for you on the announcement today that NSW police will have more power to seize ebikes that can go faster than 25km/h, and crush them:
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Ley and Littleproud expected to announce reunified Coalition shortly
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, are expected to announce a deal to reunite the Coalition at a press conference together in Canberra at 12.30pm.
You can read more about the brouhaha here:
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Government plan to “crush” illegal ebikes
Transport minister John Graham has spoken this morning about the NSW government’s plans to crush illegal ebikes.
He blasted “dangerous” behaviour on ebikes and outlined the government’s plans to detect “souped-up” ebikes, to seize them and to destroy them. He said:
We want people on bikes, but not doing it dangerously, doing it illegally.
Current laws have simply been too slow and too weak to be able to enforce this.
My colleague Benita Kolovos has more on this announcement:
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Herzog protesters to challenge police powers
The Palestine Action Group will tomorrow challenge the NSW premier, Chris Minns’ use of special powers ahead of their planned rally against the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog’s visit.
The group took to social media this morning to confirm it will urgently file proceedings in the NSW supreme court on Monday to challenge Minns’ decision to declare large parts of Sydney a “major event area”.
The declaration gives police powers to move people on where necessary, close specific locations, and issue directions to prevent disruption or risk to public safety. Anyone who fails to comply with police directions may face penalties, including fines of up to $5,500.
The group’s spokesperson, Josh Lees, said the powers were “effectively criminalising political expression and assembly” and would “shield a visiting head of state from public scrutiny and accountability”. He went on:
We are taking Chris Minns to court again. He has imposed sweeping search, exclusion and conduct restrictions across our city in an attempt to shut down dissent. These powers threaten the civil liberties of everyone in NSW.
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Apps promoting ‘safe’ tan plans targeting kids as young as four
This resurgence of tanning culture is so bewildering. Melissa Davey writes that smartphone apps offering “safe” and “healthy” tanning routines are being heavily promoted by influencers:
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More than 3,000 police to be deployed for Israeli president’s visit
Dunstan says more than 3,000 police will monitor the city over the next few days and that he does not expect a “showdown” between police and protesters.
People can expect clearways, barriers, road closures and more during the Israeli president’s visit, he said.
There can be no “mobile” protests, but people are allowed to meet in public, open spaces, under NSW laws. You can read all about protest laws here:
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NSW police urge Palestine protesters to change location
Paul Dunstan, the NSW police metropolitan region acting assistant commissioner, says the police are still negotiating with the Palestine Action Group about tomorrow’s protest against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit.
He said the group’s leader, Josh Lees, went to “great lengths” to say he wanted a “safe and peaceful protest”.
Police want them to move from town hall to Hyde Park because of “the possibility of overflow into public areas which could lead to conflict between police and protesters”.
Dunstan said there would be an “extremely large” police presence at the protest (organisers are expecting up to 5,000 people). He said:
We want a peaceful and safe protest. We want the protesters to be safe. We want the broader community to be safe.
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Coalition set to reunite
Dan Jervis-Bardy has all the latest for you on the messy Coalition on-again off-again saga. Nationals leader David Littleproud has said:
In the near future there is a Coalition.
Read all about it here:
Richard Marles says Herzog ‘exactly the right person’ to visit after Bondi terror attack
Circling back to the Israeli president’s impending arrival in Australia, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, was asked about Isaac Herzog’s visit during a Sky News interview earlier this morning.
Marles, who is also the defence minister, said the visit was “enormously significant” for the local Jewish community after the Bondi massacre and important for Australia’s relationship with Israel.
Marles said:
The president of Israel is exactly the right person to be coming here in the context of what has occurred at Bondi.
To have the head of state of Israel will be enormously significant for Australia’s Jewish community and that is the reason why this visit is happening. It will be, on its own terms, a visit that will be important for the bilateral relationship with Israel.
Marles confirmed that Herzog would not address the federal parliament but was scheduled to meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong.
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Thunderstorm warnings for the south-east
While WA is bunkering down waiting for Cyclone Mitchell, the Bureau of Meteorology warns of potentially severe thunderstorms in SA, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
And Adelaide has had its first rain since 21 December last year, with 1.8mm in the past 24 hours – although I can tell you there was a very strange event a few days ago where, from blue skies, it suddenly bucketed down in the CBD for about one minute, and the bureau app showed the tiniest rain band I’ve ever seen. Also, there was a solitary lightning strike. Strange.
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How the Mardi Gras party ended
Josh Taylor has taken a forensic (and colourful) look at the machinations behind the scenes at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which announced its “heartbreaking” decision to can the official after party last week:
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Endangered birds take flight
Seventeen tiny captive-bred Mallee emu-wrens have been released in the wild, Zoos SA says. It’s the first time the endangered bird – which weighs between four and six grams – has been bred and released.
Monarto Safari Park assistant curator Tom Hurley said:
We’ve gone from not even knowing if we could keep them alive in human care, to seeing them breed successfully, and now, watching them take flight back into the wild. It’s an incredibly proud moment.
These birds are tiny, but they represent a huge win for conservation. To now see them flitting through spinifex in the mallee is just magic.
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Heavy rain and severe flash flooding expected in WA
AAP reports that category three tropical Cyclone Mitchell could bring wind gusts of up to 205 km/h, and that residents from Whim Creek to Onslow have been told it is too late to leave, and to seek shelter indoors immediately.
On Saturday, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angus Hines said:
Damaging to destructive winds are expected to ramp up in the next 24 hours.
Those winds are strong enough to bring down big branches or entire trees, damage property, and lead to power outages.
An evacuation centre has been set up at Karratha Leisureplex, and one is being opened further south at the Onslow Multi Purpose Centre, AAP reports.
Authorities warn the central and west Pilbara coast faces the risk of flash flooding throughout the weekend, with the west Gascoyne region also expected to be affected by Monday.
Abnormally high tides will also present a serious flood risk for the Karratha region in the early hours of Sunday and towards Onslow Sunday afternoon.
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Herzog visit a slap in the face
Here’s some more on that upcoming visit from the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog – the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, invited him to Australia in the wake of the Bondi terror attack:
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Coalition, One Nation chatter a ‘three-ring circus’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, used the term “three-way”, but the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, (thankfully) went “three-ring” describing the palaver with the opposition(s).
I [don’t] think these endless cycles of bust-ups and patch-ups are fooling anybody. No amount of fake smiles for the cameras today can cover up for the fact that the right of politics in Australia is now a three-ring circus.
It’s a three-ring circus of petty, personal and internal rivalries, and I think anyone who thinks that this is the end of it is kidding themselves.
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Jim Chalmers acknowledges upcoming visit by Israeli president ‘contentious’
Thousands plan to march in protest when the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, visits Australia this week. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said he would be there to comfort Jewish Australians.
Look, I understand that this visit is contentious and it will invite a range of views, and some of those views will be strongly held. But this is about grieving with the families and loved ones of the souls that were thieved on Bondi beach. So I hope any protests that take place are peaceful and lawful when he’s here in Australia.
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We are cracking down on hate speech, treasurer says
Asked about anger that not enough has been done to tackle racism against First Nations people in the wake of the Invasion Day terror attack, Jim Chalmers says:
I think it’s a reminder that terrorism and hate speech takes a number of forms and the response from state and federal police and Asio to that outrageous act of terrorism in WA was swift, but we do understand that people are edgy and for good reason right now.
We have got a big agenda when it comes to cracking down on hate speech, cracking down on terrorism, but we know that the nature of that evolves over time and so will our response.
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Treasurer pressed on capital gains tax as data shows benefits flow to wealthiest
Insiders host David Speers is quizzing the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on capital gains tax – official figures show the top 1% of taxpayers will receive nearly 60% of the benefit this financial year. Chalmers said:
When we consider next steps in tax reform, obviously, issues around intergenerational equity are front and centre … I know that there are intergenerational issues in housing and in tax. We have got a big agenda to deal with those issues already.
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Super changes to be introduced this week
Jim Chalmers says he’ll introduce the super bill this week. He said:
I’m looking to introduce the better target superannuation concessions bill on Wednesday if I can, certainly this week, and that bill is all about making the superannuation system fairer from top to bottom.
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Treasurer drops some budget teasers
Chalmers has hinted at more tax reforms in the upcoming budget and says, generally, the economy is “performing relatively well”.
He said:
We’ve got stronger growth and lower unemployment than almost all of the major advanced economies. We’ve got lower debt and stronger jobs growth than all of them.
He’s outlined the three big challenges – productivity, global uncertainty and inflation.
He also said there’ll be a productivity package and a savings package in the budget.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Insiders
Who is to blame for inflation?
The eternal economic question. Jim Chalmers is being quizzed about it on Insiders, after the official cash rate was hiked on Tuesday. It’s not public demand, the treasurer says.
NB: Apologies, readers and treasurer, in my haste to bring you all things inflation I left out the “not” in the above sentence.
He says public demand is slowing and making a “negative contribution” to inflation, but private demand was up.
The Reserve Bank governor actually pointed out that public demand retreated quicker than they were anticipating.
The reason why we had inflation tick up higher than we’d like in the second half of the year was the acceleration in private demand, the end of the state-based energy rebates, some more persistent pressures in housing, and in other areas as well.
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Coalition to reunite
The Coalition is on the brink of a reunion with Sussan Ley poised to accept a deal from David Littleproud to rejoin the Nationals.
A senior Liberal source confirmed to Guardian Australia that the opposition leader would announce the peace deal on Sunday, reforming the Coalition less than three weeks after its second split in eight months.
The source said the Liberals and Nationals will agree to reunite immediately, but all of the former Nationals frontbenchers will be suspended from the shadow ministry until March.
The Liberals had proposed only banning the three Nationals senators who crossed the floor on Labor’s hate speech laws, but the country party’s MPs decided to cop the penalties collectively.
Littleproud and the Nationals deputy leader, Kevin Hogan, will still attend shadow cabinet and other senior leadership meetings while the suspensions are being served, even though neither will technically hold frontbench positions.
Ley and Littleproud held further talks on Saturday after the potential reunion appeared on the brink of collapse on Friday.
The Nationals had initially offered for their MPs to serve the short suspension but without immediately reforming the Coalition – a scenario the Liberals didn’t consider viable.
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Death, hospitalisations during NSW festival
A man has died and six people hospitalised after medical episodes at Sydney’s Dreamstate festival.
NSW police said an investigation was under way. In a statement, it said officers were patrolling the event, and at about 11.30 on Saturday night, a number of patrons “suffered medical episodes”:
A man – aged in his 40s – died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified.
Six other people were taken to hospital where one remains in a critical condition.
A crime scene has been established, and police commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
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The wild and wonderful people of Melbourne
If you fancy a little palate cleanser before we dive into Insiders and interest rates, please enjoy this gallery of Melbourne’s wild and wonderful people by Hussein Abdirahman Mohamud:
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Severe tropical Cyclone Mitchell set to hit WA
North-west Western Australia is bracing for severe tropical Cyclone Mitchell, which could make landfall this evening.
It has been upgraded to a category 2, and offshore islands have seen winds up to 169 km/h.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology:
Severe tropical Cyclone Mitchell is expected to maintain its strength, moving closer to Onslow during this afternoon. Damaging to locally destructive wind gusts remain likely, with heavy falls and high tides in the vicinity of the system.
At this stage, the Mitchell is forecast to remain over water as it tracks between Onslow and Exmouth, with possible landfall over the southern Exmouth Gulf coast on Sunday evening.
Illegal ebikes to be crushed
After a swarm of ebikes and emotorcycles caused peak-hour chaos in Sydney, the federal government declared them a menace.
Today, the NSW government said it will seize and crush illegal ebikes-slash-motorbikes.
In a statement, it says it “is determined to remove illegal electric motorbikes masquerading as ebikes from NSW roads and paths, and is giving NSW Police expanded powers to do so”. It will also look at ways to measure the bikes’ power output.
The transport minister, John Graham, said:
We’ve heard loud and clear the concern in the community about souped-up ebikes and the anti-social behaviour that seems to go hand in hand with them.
Riders and owners of illegal ebikes should now hear us loud and clear: If you are breaking the rules, and your bike does not meet the very clear specifications of a pedal-assisted ebike, expect it to be removed from your possession and crushed.
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Good morning, and welcome to your Sunday
The news is seriously newsing; we’re going to find out what’s going on with the de-coalesced Coalition, and treasurer Jim Chalmers is coming up on Insiders.
Also making news is the NSW government’s plan to seize and crush illegal ebikes, and Tropical Cyclone Mitchell has strengthened to a category three storm as it nears the Western Australia coast.
There are a bunch of great reads up on the site already, I’ll send out a few nudges during the morning – but let’s start with Zoe Daniel’s piece on the One Nation nightmare in the making:
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