How do scientists estimate crowd sizes at public events – and why are they often disputed?, The Conversation

As we GrandmothersForRefugeesNSW get older and loose mobility, though never spirit, some of us managed to participate in this historic March for Humanity. It was cold, wet, and at times really hard, however as always we persevered……..

Last Sunday, tens of thousands marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of Gaza. But exactly how many people were there depends on whom you ask.

Police put it at about 90,000. Organisers claimed up to 300,000. Other reports and expert estimates landed somewhere in-between.

Why are these accounts so different and how hard is it, really, to estimate the size of a crowd?

https://theconversation.com/how-do-scientists-estimate-crowd-sizes-at-public-events-and-why-are-they-often-disputed-262695?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekender%20-%209th%20August%202025&utm_content=The%20Weekender%20-%209th%20August%202025+CID_dc9bf3f4639a81244082d3b9e6f24b5b&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=How%20do%20scientists%20estimate%20crowd%20sizes%20at%20public%20events%20%20and%20why%20are%20they%20often%20disputed

Australia's first migrant resource centre battled steelworks for jobs for women. By Sarah Moss, ABC News

Arriving in Australia in the 1980s, migrant women applying for work at the country's largest steelworks were rejected on the basis of their sex.

Their rejection sowed the seeds of one of the largest anti-discrimination cases in Australian history, paving the way for women to work for BHP at Port Kembla in New South Wales for the first time.   

Behind the landmark case was the Jobs for Women campaign, started by women who met at the newly formed migrant centre. 

Australia's first migrant resource centre battled steelworks for jobs for women. By Sarah Moss, ABC News

Albanese government has no knowledge of Trump administration threat to deport Iranian man to Australia. By Tony McIlroy, The Guardian

Labor has cast doubt on the possibility of the Trump administration transferring an Iranian-born man from US immigration detention to Australia, saying it has no knowledge of the case.

The US government is threatening to deport Reza Zavvar, a 52-year-old permanent resident who lives in Maryland, to either Australia or Romania – despite having no links to either country.

Zavvar is being held in detention near his home, despite previously holding a US immigration green card, due to a historical conviction for marijuana possession which dates back to the 1990s.

He arrived in the US at 12 years of age on a student visa, meaning he has lived in the US for four decades.

Albanese government has no knowledge of Trump administration threat to deport Iranian man to Australia. By Tony McIlroy, The Guardian

In Memoriam: Professor David Isaacs. From World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID)

He was a leader in education at the hospital and also through the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). He received the RACP John Sands Medal in 2015, and the Howard Williams Medal in 2023. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health from 2009-2021. Prof. Isaacs was a leader in paediatric clinical ethics and established and led the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical Ethics Service until his retirement in 2021. He was profoundly respected for his clinical work and advocacy in refugee and asylum seeker child health.

He established and led the Health Assessment for Refugee Kids (HARK) clinic in Sydney and was a leading voice in witnessing to the trauma imposed on children through immigration detention. After consulting on children being held in immigration detention in Nauru, he was prominent in the Kids off Nauru campaign.

In Memoriam: Professor David Isaacs. From World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID)

‘What choice have I got?’: Lana built a life in Australia after years on Nauru – but now faces returning to the Iran she fled to keep it. By Daisy Dumas, The Guardian

Lana, now 34, had fled family violence in Iran, risking her life to travel to Australia by boat from Indonesia in 2013. After her vessel was intercepted by Australian authorities, she was detained on Christmas Island then moved to an open detention centre on Nauru, where she stayed for almost four years. In 2017, married to Scott and four months pregnant, she was flown to Brisbane’s immigration detention centre for medical reasons, where she spent the remainder of her pregnancy.

The pair have a seven-year-old son and live in regional Queensland. Lana took her husband’s surname and now works, when her limited immigration status allows, in disability support.

But with no possibility of acquiring permanent residency while in Australia, Lana is about to take what may seem an unthinkable step – returning to Iran to wait up to two years while an offshore application is processed.

‘What choice have I got?’: Lana built a life in Australia after years on Nauru – but now faces returning to the Iran she fled to keep it. By Daisy Dumas, The Guardian

Asylum seekers on Nauru contract dengue as advocates call on Australia to take responsibility. By Nick Visser, The Guardian

At least nine asylum seekers on Nauru have contracted dengue fever amid an outbreak on the island, including one man who was medically evacuated to Australia for treatment and then returned this week, according to a legal aid group and an asylum seeker there…

..There are approximately 93 asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru, who mostly live in the community on a stipend of $230 a fortnight from the Australian government. They have been there between two and 22 months, and will never be settled in Australia under government policies. Those with refugee status currently have no resettlement options.

“Many of the men have pre-existing health conditions, which mean that the illness that they have with dengue is just compounding,” Abdel-Raouf said.

Asylum seekers on Nauru contract dengue as advocates call on Australia to take responsibility. By Nick Visser, The Guardian

Has high immigration fallen out of favour in Australia? By Gareth Hutchens, ABC News

If you've spent any time on social media in recent years, you would have seen people criticising Australia's high levels of immigration, for various reasons. 

But in recent months, we've seen some of the most severe criticisms of high immigration coming from people who work for the exact organisations that have been among the biggest supporters of high immigration for the past few decades.

Have the political winds suddenly shifted? It raises many interesting questions.

Has high immigration fallen out of favour in Australia? By Gareth Hutchens, ABC News

Palestinian-Australian MP says his people are always made to be ‘strangers in their own homes’. By Josh Butler, The Guardian

The newly elected MP Basem Abdo has told parliament in his first speech the government should make a “historic commitment” to international law, human rights and peace, saying Palestinians are always “made to be strangers in their own homes”.

Abdo, who is of Palestinian background, has spoken of his family’s journey from Kuwait to Jordan during the first Gulf war before settling in Australia, telling parliament of the “intergenerational dispossession” of Palestinians.

Coming soon after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, had told parliament of his distress at seeing images from Gaza, Abdo’s speech did not explicitly mention Israel’s military campaign in the occupied territory, but it carried unmistakeable references to the growing humanitarian crisis.

“International law matters. The international rules-based order matters,” Abdo said on Monday night.

“Human rights matter. The right to peace, justice and recognition matters. Deserving of an historic commitment.”

Palestinian-Australian MP says his people are always made to be ‘strangers in their own homes’. By Josh Butler, The Guardian

Bateteba left what once felt like ‘the safest place in the world’ to build a life in Australia. Thousands hope to follow. By James Norman, The Guardian

Bateteba Aselu describes her former life in Tuvalu as like living in the “safest place in the world” where the community looked out for each other, there was no homelessness and you rarely heard the sirens of police or ambulances.

But rising sea levels and extreme weather have created such an immediate existential threat to the tiny South Pacific island nation that when a new visa lottery to migrate to Australia closed last Friday, 8,750 people in 2,474 family groups – more than 80% of Tuvalu’s population of 11,000 residents – had applied for the world’s first “climate visas”.

Bateteba left what once felt like ‘the safest place in the world’ to build a life in Australia. Thousands hope to follow. By James Norman, The Guardian

Britain encouraged to look to Australia's 'tough' border policies. By Elias Clure and Adrian Wilson in Calais, and Syan Vallance in London, ABC News

For asylum seekers, reaching the UK puts them in a ferocious political storm.

Just before sunrise, about 50 people, including young children, hurry along a boardwalk towards the beach. People smugglers have arranged an inflatable dinghy that's moored about 20 metres offshore.

These refugees are trying to reach it before police spot them. Most in this group have made a long and dangerous journey from the African nations of South Sudan and Eritrea to France's northern coast.

The looming 30-kilometre water crossing to the United Kingdom they're trying to make is the final leg, but it's also the trickiest.

Britain encouraged to look to Australia's 'tough' border policies. By Elias Clure and Adrian Wilson in Calais, and Syan Vallance in London, ABC News

'Australia's worst policy': Refugees plead with government to resolve 13-year limbo. By Tys Occhiuzzi : SBS News

A group of refugees who say they've been living in limbo in Australia for 13 years have taken their fight for permanent residency to federal parliament in Canberra.
They are part of a group of more than 8,000 people who had their refugee protection claims rejected under a now-abolished visa system.
The delegation of four refugees from Sri Lanka and Iran are representing a group of thousands of people in Australia who've had visa claims rejected under a now-defunct system.

'Australia's worst policy': Refugees plead with government to resolve 13-year limbo. By Tys Occhiuzzi : SBS News

Israel has succeeded in starvation, and the global moral edifice has collapsed sharply, By Refaat Ibrahim, Pearls & Irritations

This hunger is not a natural consequence of war. It is a calculated tool within a military framework. Food is deliberately blocked. Water is cut off. Electricity is denied. Aid trucks are bombed. Bakeries are targeted. Those approaching aid convoys are shot at.

This famine is not a side effect. It is a direct objective, the quietest and deadliest of weapons.

Refaat Ibrahim is the editor and creator of The Resistant Palestinian Pens website, https://resistant.blog/ where you can find all his articles. He is a Palestinian writer living in Gaza, where he studied English Language and Literature at the Islamic University.

Israel has succeeded in starvation, and the global moral edifice has collapsed sharply, By Refaat Ibrahim, Pearls & Irritations

Ceasefire talks collapse – what does that mean for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza? By Mohammed Saber/AAP, The Conversation

The failure to reach a truce means there is no end in sight to the Israeli siege of Gaza which has devastated the territory for more than 21 months.

Amid mounting fears of mass starvation, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Gaza is in the grip of a “humanitarian catastrophe”. He is urging Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law:

Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.

According to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, more than 100 people – most of them children – have died of hunger. One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, with the number of cases rising every day.

Ceasefire talks collapse – what does that mean for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza? By Mohammed Saber/AAP, The Conversation