Author | Lightnews

David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 1d

Sydney 2000 and the end of history www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2025/10/25/s... via @thesaturdaypaper.com.au
As ever, Stan Grant captures the current age so well.

Sydney 2000 and the end of history

I recently watched a television special marking the 25th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I felt not merely transported in time but taken to an entirely other universe. This was the final...

www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au

David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 3d

MetEye share.google/fGnmrSxPCHLU...
This is what "Meteye Victoria" gave on Google. Searching for just "Meteye" gave me the same result as you got, Andrew.

share.google

David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 3d

I eventually accessed #BOM #Meteye via a link to "Meteye Victoria" from Google. Seems a roundabout way to get to it. Are the Bureau making it difficult to access, so that they can claim no-one uses it, & then can shut it down?
Given how windy it is here, it must be awful on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Screenshot from the Meteye app from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, showing wind speeds (and rain radar) in central Victoria, Wednesday 22 October 2025.

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Reposted by David Neate

Erialc @erialc.bsky.social · 4d

This is a great story and also highlights the impact of NDIS restrictions on art and music activities. #art
#music #NDIS

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Gallery celebrates secret artist hidden in plain sight

A country Victorian art gallery has surprised local artist Hamish Elsmann with an exhibition of work he never knew it was keeping. The community response has changed his life.

www.abc.net.au

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 4d

The #ACL (and #FreedomForFaith) have the opportunity to provide a nuanced, #Christian perspective on the line that's crossed when a faith group becomes a cult. It's happened so many times through church history - and in other faiths. Sad that once again, their base position is one of fear-mongering.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 4d

Friends from NZ visited a few weeks ago, & Ian's camera caught what I couldn't - the spotted #pardalote building a nest in the end assembly of our retractable clothesline. Sharing this even though the #birds eventually chose somewhere else nearby to nest. Seen around since; into #AussieBirdCount.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 6d

2. Now imagine another scenario. Had I, as an individual, for some reason gone into the mangroves with chainsaw & herbicide & wreaked the same damage, I'd have been convicted, justifiably, for my vandalism. Industrial ecocide robs future generations of biodiversity, but gets away with it.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 6d

Dr Shaw, this is spot on. Six years ago I visited a boardwalk through ecologically crucial mangroves at St Kilda, north of #Adelaide, South Australia. Just in time! Shortly after, nearby saltworks released hypersaline water that killed the mangroves. As far as I know, there were no consequences. /2

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 6d

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
The Aussie #BirdCount starts tomorrow. Always fascinating to discover the #birds that turn up at our place. Thanks @Birdlifeoz.bsky.social for organising this great #CitizenScience project each year.

Bird-lovers help count species across Australia in annual bird count

A primary school teacher is getting her students involved in a volunteer-led bird count, to gather a snapshot of birds across the country.

www.abc.net.au

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 6d

The "Field Guide to the Birds of Australia" says the thornbill's #nest is "domed, of bark shreds, grass, spiders' web and egg sacs; low in undergrowth". Yep, I suppose that matches. Certainly not your stereotypical bird nest. 🪶

Illustration of the brown thornbill from Pizzey & Knight, Field Guide to the Birds of Australia

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 6d

Today I found what a brown thornbill nest looks like. Looked into the orchid & thought "oh, someone's nest has fallen in there". Picked it up & it started cheeping, & the parents rallied angrily. Put it back hurriedly & carefully! #Thornbills (Acanthiza pusilla) plentiful #birds here all year. 🪶

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Reposted by David Neate

Professor Euan Ritchie @euanritchie.bsky.social · 8d

Just so people know what a good *EPBC Act* should look like, before we seemingly get a terrible one from @australianlabor.bsky.social, we wrote this 👇.

Without a good EPBC Act, more of the wildlife and places we know and love will be destroyed, and ultimately, our future.

Keep fighting, people.

Professor Euan Ritchie @euanritchie.bsky.social · 15d

Australia's much loved wildlife and places sorely need greater care and legal protection.

Our latest for @aunz.theconversation.com.

theconversation.com/labor-is-clo... With good friends and colleagues, @drphilmccormack.bsky.social & @yungenchee.bsky.social.

Labor is close to a deal on environmental law reforms. There are troubling signs these will fall short

Labor is close to a deal on its environmental law reforms. Will they strong enough to protect nature?

theconversation.com

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 8d

Surely it's time to do away with the term "Environment Minister". It implies a duty of care that is gobsmackingly absent.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 9d

share.google/4BnoRKtpxRUz...
It was much the same for me. Then you hear the full piece and it just sweeps you away. Hope this link works.

Google Search

share.google

David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 10d

That opening sequence to #TheOnedinLine brought 20th century composer Aram #Khachaturian 's "Adagio of #Spartacus & Phrygia" to the world's attention. It's still inspiring & evocative music. And the series was pretty good too...

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 10d

A superb article from @science.org highlighting the wonders that await a scientist who patiently, carefully observes the little things most of us would miss. Fascinating connections still being made by Prof Suetsugu. 🧪

Ewamore, Quoth the Raven @ewacat.bsky.social · 10d

nerds freely nerding in their nerd field is really lovely www.science.org/content/arti...

These ‘ghost flowers’ thrive without photosynthesis. One scientist is learning how

Japanese botanist Kenji Suetsugu studies plants that steal carbon and nutrients from soil fungi

www.science.org

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Reposted by David Neate

Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 11d

The West is going to suffer terrible consequences from Israel's genocide.

New column 👇

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Be sure of this: many of the horrors the west allowed in Gaza will come closer to home | Owen Jones

History shows the crimes of empire were later mirrored on European soil. Dehumanisation and militarised terror both seem normalised now, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Neate

BirdLife Australia @birdlifeoz.bsky.social · 12d

Just ONE WEEK to go until the Aussie Bird Count kicks off! 🐦

From 20–26 Oct, Australians everywhere will spend 20 mins counting the birds!

One in six Aussie birds faces extinction – which means every bird counts!

👉 aussiebirdcount.org.au
#AussieBirdCount #BirdLifeAustralia #BirdLifeOz

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 13d

A superb example of the value of ongoing, regular water testing as part of a #CitizenScience program, in establishing links between monitoring water quality, calling out pollution and protecting biodiversity. #Landcare #platypus

Reposted by David Neate

The Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 15d

This is not just the appearance of conflict of interest, it is corruption of democracy pure and simple.

Gee, if only those First Nations people had thought of having a Voice to Parliament via a “Sports Club”.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 14d

The #Azaleas beside the Prime Ministers Avenue at #Ballarat #botanical gardens are looking their best right now. Gough Whitlam looking sanguine amidst the colour.

Azaleas in bloom, October, Ballarat Botanical Gardens.

One of the busts in the Prime Ministers Avenue, Ballarat Botanical Gardens - this is Gough Whitlam.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 15d

Still voting for Team #SpottedPardalote - with a couple setting up home on our back verandah, I have to be in their team for #AustralianBirdOfTheYear.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 15d

So that's how the Australian Parliament rewards a Senator with integrity and the guts to let us know how compromised things can be there. Pitiful. @davidpocock.bsky.social , thank you for all you do.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 16d

If only we could go back in time and say "No, please don't" to those who introduced the fox to Australia. Our quiet nights where once there would have been the energetic presence of little marsupials is their legacy. All so some faux land barons could have something easier to chase than kangaroos.

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David Neate @neatedavid.bsky.social · 16d

A full two months after our jonquils heralded the close of winter, their cousins the hoop petticoat daffodils (Narcissus bulbocodium) are brightening a grey mid-spring day. So "my heart with pleasure fills", etc.

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