HalfEarthMedic

In short: Internal documents from the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions show more than 100 trees were felled in a prescribed burn on WA's south coast last year.

The fire burned 99 per cent of the prescribed area and damaged close to 100 rare red tingle trees that do not grow anywhere else on the planet.

What's next? The Leeuwin group, a consortium of WA's top environmental scientists, has urged the government to amend its burn program to avoid another mass felling.

Before the last election, a bureaucrat in the office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet attempted to embed ministerial blindness into the conventions of our government.

2.6 Following the end of the caretaker period and once a new government is appointed, successive governments have accepted the convention that ministers do not seek access to documents recording the deliberations of ministers in previous governments.

One only has to think for about 20 milliseconds to realise how detrimental that advice would be.

Despite outcry from the opposition, about 57 per cent of seniors endorse the change, according to a survey of 3000 people aged 50 and older conducted by National Seniors Australia for the Super Members Council.

The results appear to track with broader public sentiment on Labor’s bill, Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert said.

A growing chorus is calling for Australia’s republic conversation to focus less on symbolism and more on empowering local communities through real structural reform, writes Kaijin Solo.