Libby Robin
@libbydeq.bsky.social
Writer, historian of ideas, Environment in museums
What Birdo is That? A Field Guide to Bird People 🦅
New book coming soon on Conservation and Care. 🌿
Environmental science
37%
Philosophy
11%
The maritime union says crew members of a luxury Carnival cruise ship allege they are being made to sleep in crowded rooms, lack access to free drinking water, and that some are earning as little as $2.50 an hour.
Maritime regulator investigating luxury cruise ship after exploitation claims
The maritime union says crew members of a luxury Carnival cruise ship allege they are being made to sleep in crowded rooms, lack access to free drinking water, and that some are earning as little as $2.50 an hour.
www.abc.net.au
Ban from Australian ports if their business model includes slavery. Ban from everywhere if possible - even better for 🌏. The Carnival is Over ...
Why Victoria is prone to 'some of the scariest fires' in the world
Some of the world's most destructive bushfires take place in the southern state. Its unique mix of fierce winds, high fuel loads and rugged terrain are to blame.
www.abc.net.au
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... The fire flume... gusty winds plus tall forests of oil ...now add climate change drought & global warming. This year grassland & woodland fires dominate the summer. @sjpyne.bsky.social
Reposted by Libby Robin
Maritime regulator investigating luxury cruise ship after exploitation claims
The maritime union says crew members of a luxury Carnival cruise ship allege they are being made to sleep in crowded rooms, lack access to free drinking water, and that some are earning as little as $2.50 an hour.
www.abc.net.au
The maritime union says crew members of a luxury Carnival cruise ship allege they are being made to sleep in crowded rooms, lack access to free drinking water, and that some are earning as little as $2.50 an hour.
No need for STEM to be at expense of culture & creativity - best knowledge includes all. Not "job ready vocation skills". Jobs change faster than Uni degrees, but critical thinking is always urgent ( esp when Morrison is preaching. ) Learn vocational skills at work at boss's expense, not at Uni
Australia in danger of becoming an ‘artless country’ as enrolments in creative courses collapse
Research suggests surging costs under Morrison government’s job-ready graduate scheme and axing of dozens of subjects largely to blame
www.theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... Note the common denominator in unis axing creative courses: Nous Consulting (and the like). This is punishing culture because it is important for critical thinking, & they don't want to be found out. No more BigCons in Aust unis, pls.
The 'cold-blooded' murder plot that rocked an affluent Brisbane suburb
The brutal killing of a high-flying hotelier in his Brisbane mansion led to decades of rumour, myth and speculation about what unfolded on that fateful night.
www.abc.net.au
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... Why is this news? Sorry 1953 sensations are not "local news"
If it is #AustralianStory fine ... but "news"??? Use the news app for news pls.
If it is #AustralianStory fine ... but "news"??? Use the news app for news pls.
Rules have all changed for US. Try getting someone outside US to post. You may need ghost sites.
Anywhere but Melbourne? • Peter Mares
Higher taxes and new tenancy laws are driving out investors, says the property industry. But state government decisions have made this the best capital for renters and first home buyers
inside.org.au
inside.org.au/anywhere-but... Here we see the value of moving beyond the Sydney-centric gaze of most of the 🇦🇺 financial media. Houses are where real people live (own or rent). Politicians with multiple investment properties hear the financial lobby not the citizens. #InsideStory knows the residents!
Australia makes landmark decision that 'prediction markets' like Polymarket are gambling
Prompted by Crikey's reporting, AMCA's investigation into a Trump-linked 'prediction market' company led to a landmark decision with dramatic ramifications for the gambling industry.
www.crikey.com.au
Australia makes landmark decision that ‘prediction markets’ like Polymarket are gambling www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/06/p...
Magic Beach by Alison Lester named Australia’s best children’s picture book
Lester’s 1990 classic about the wonders of nature wins Guardian Australia poll ahead of Possum Magic in second place
www.theguardian.com
Magic Beach by Alison Lester named Australia’s best children’s picture book www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f... Generations of readers like this "slow burner" and Lester's Magic Place.
Can a bird be an illegal immigrant? How the White Australia era influenced attitudes to the bulbul
South Australian authorities are again on the hunt for the elusive red-whiskered bulbul. Does the xenophobia of the past still influence our attitudes today?
theconversation.com
theconversation.com/can-a-bird-b... Lively piece about alien-anxiety here @austhistassoc.bsky.social #BirdsandPeople #organismsandus
Reposted by Libby Robin
Scoop: Australia's online gambling watchdog has ruled that using "prediction markets" like Polymarket is gambling.
It's a landmark decision that's at odds odds with the US where Polymarket has sidestepped gambling regulation by arguing it offers financial services
www.crikey.com.au/20...
It's a landmark decision that's at odds odds with the US where Polymarket has sidestepped gambling regulation by arguing it offers financial services
www.crikey.com.au/20...
Video trailer not available outside US? Not working in 🇦🇺
Albanese government to sell off $3bn worth of historic defence sites amid push to free up space for new homes
Richard Marles has decided to sell more than 60 properties, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
www.theguardian.com
Never give away public ownership in one go in a fire sale to unscrupulous developers. Keep a gov eye on housing outcomes as they develop thro' partnerships. Grattan report (Nov 2025) has excellent practical suggestions. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... @grattaninstitute.bsky.social
Albanese government to sell off $3bn worth of historic defence sites amid push to free up space for new homes
Richard Marles has decided to sell more than 60 properties, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
www.theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... Please think about holding on to some public ownership, and offering partnerships for new home builds that include heritage buildings in prominent places. Partnerships with heritage builders rather than huge vacant sites will maintain community cohesion better.
Antony Green: Which seats could One Nation actually win?
If, come the next federal election, One Nation is polling at 25%, it will be sweeping up seats all across rural and regional Australia.
www.crikey.com.au
www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/03/w... 8/10 of "most risk" are QLD. How about elsewhere? One Nation is look-at-me but a very uneven problem. Pol media always talks up Q/NSW (following Murdoch lead). What about a "3CP" 🇦🇺 analysis of Greens, Teals and Orange Independents? #ClimateActionNow
Show me the money: All the big political donations from the gambling industry
Political disclosures show a raft of donations from the gambling industry, including hundreds of thousands from a controversial billionaire.
www.crikey.com.au
The gambling industry is destroying our democracy. Could even destroy Big Parties. Voters want the Murphy report implemented. Now. Not "after the next election". Public money shd never be spent on crypto currencies that are all about avoiding public scrutiny www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/04/g...
Reposted by Libby Robin
Up to 100,000 fish found dead at Lake Menindee
Residents of a far west New South Wales community found tens of thousands of dead fish on the banks of Lake Menindee.
www.abc.net.au
Residents of a far west New South Wales community found tens of thousands of dead fish on the banks of Lake Menindee.
Residents burnt out of 'paradise' determined to rebuild
The Cochrane family has called the Otways home for more than four decades. Even after fires destroyed their property, they do not plan to move.
www.abc.net.au
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... 70% risk increase but still we can't stop digging a big (hot) hole. No more excuses. No more energy demands (esp AI data centres) All support for the people of Gellibrand with their rebuilding projects.
My brother wrote a beautiful tribute to our Dad who passed last week — Voy Ilic:
nickilicphysio.substack.com/p/a-life-bui...
nickilicphysio.substack.com/p/a-life-bui...
A Life Built in a Good-Enough System
A Life of Disability, Adversity, Laughter — and the Systems That Made It Possible
nickilicphysio.substack.com
@squigglyrick.bsky.social This is the best piece yet I have read on why 🇦🇺 can't afford not to fix NDIS and support for carers.
Condolences to the Ilic brothers. He was Some Dad!
Condolences to the Ilic brothers. He was Some Dad!
Reposted by Libby Robin
More updates and stats on Reykjavík's unwinter: last snow day was Dec 16. Zero snow in Jan, and last time that happened was in 1940.
Attached photo from mountain pass toward Þingvellirvatn; snow doesn't even cover full topography. Ski places closed nearby.
#northernlights #aurora
#iceland #weather
Attached photo from mountain pass toward Þingvellirvatn; snow doesn't even cover full topography. Ski places closed nearby.
#northernlights #aurora
#iceland #weather
Reposted by Libby Robin
A Life Built in a Good-Enough System
A Life of Disability, Adversity, Laughter — and the Systems That Made It Possible
nickilicphysio.substack.com
My brother wrote a beautiful tribute to our Dad who passed last week — Voy Ilic:
nickilicphysio.substack.com/p/a-life-bui...
nickilicphysio.substack.com/p/a-life-bui...
Sympathies tuyau. School French gave us Maigret (but I didn't smoke one) & fancy expressions comme "dans les petits souliers", but tenterhooks were no use at a cheap Calais hotel in darkest winter. "couverture" would have been useful... miming got us 1 baby cot blanket to share (& a free smirk).
Follow news. Not propaganda. Media could help by not reporting every brain fart... And we in "the rest of the world" are newsworthy too. If in doubt don't read it!
Boy swims four hours to shore to save family swept out to sea
A 13-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after swimming four hours through rough seas to get help for his mother and two siblings, who were swept out to sea on an inflatable paddleboard in WA's South ...
www.abc.net.au
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... Wow. What a swim. Cool heads all round saved 4 lives
Put it on airplane mode. That helps.
Victorian beach community battles global company's offshore turbines
A tiny coastal community in Victoria's east is battling an international wind energy giant that wants to build 60 to 70 turbines in the ocean 10 kilometres from shore.
www.abc.net.au
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... Ask the locals first. This plan has just flown in from London. Energy for faraway data centres elsewhere is not a good use of the planet. Smaller local renewable generation makes sense. Not wasting it on AI does too.
NB Thomas Fisher - ie Toronto not Sydney Fisher Library.
Reposted by Libby Robin
Nanna News 2 Feb 2026
Nannas had their first in-person meeting in 2026 on Friday 29 January and welcomed five new Nannas. The end of fossil fuels is near but not coming nearly fast enough to save us from prolonged heatw…
knittingnannas.org
Nannas will not stop working for an end to fossil fuel exports, and that means no new coal and gas. knittingnannas.org/2026/02/03/n...