As World Ocean Month begins coastal cleanups are being held around the Illawarra shoreline, with plastic still the greatest threat towards Australia’s marine pollution. The United Nations (UN) environmental report has revealed that plastic accounts for 85 per cent of marine litter and is expected to outweigh fish by 2050. Specialising in water quality research, Hugh Forehead said the increasing problem of plastic pollution was its inability to break down. “It does not go away, just breaks into ever-smaller particles, there are plastic fragments sized to look like food for everything from whales to plankton,” Mr Forehead said Mr Forehead said microplastics found…
Author: Bianca White
There has been a small handout to struggling young Australians in the 2023 federal budget, with an increase in the Youth Allowance. Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Tuesday that those on the Youth Allowance will receive an extra fortnightly payment of $40. “We have designed a budget that takes some of the sting out of cost-of-living pressures without blowing the budget, and without adding substantially to these inflationary pressures in the economy,” he said. “I think it’s important to increase the base rate of the Youth Allowance in the budget as people are under the pump.” The $40 works…