LAST WEEK THIS MORNING
Another RFK Jr Story that involves dead animals!
RFK Jr’s portfolio of bizarre animal carcass handling stories keeps growing longer and longer.
First we had a brain eating worm, then the consumption of a barbequed dog, the dumping of a dead cub in central park, a freezer full of roadkill, a pet Emu; and now, theft of a whale head.
Last week a 2012 interview with RFK Jr’s daughter, Kick Kennedy, resurfaced where she recounted a disturbing interaction between her father and a dead whale.
Ms Kennedy remembered her father chain-sawing the head off a dead beached whale and tying it to the roof of the car with a bungee-cord.
Wait! It gets worse.
In a 5-hour-long car ride which Kick Kennedy described as “the rankest thing on the planet”, they drove with plastic bags over their heads to stop the “whale juice” from getting onto them.
Brett Hartl, the national political director for the Centre for Biological Diversity Auction Fund wrote to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “There are good reasons why it is illegal for any person to collect or keep parts of any endangered species.”
“Most importantly, vital research opportunities are lost when individuals scavenge a wildlife carcass and interfere with the work of scientists,” Mr Hartl said.
“This is particularly true of marine mammals, which are some of the most difficult wildlife species in the world to study.”
In doing so, Mr. Kennedy clearly violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (1973).
Unfortunately for him, the Lacey Act 1900 also prohibits the transportation of illegally gathered wildlife, which he most certainly did.
Environmental groups are now calling for a federal investigation into the former Independent Presidential candidate.
Pacific Policing Plan
Pacific Island leaders met last week in Tonga at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and agreed upon a sweeping policing plan.
PIF is a collective of 18 Pacific Nations including Australia and New Zealand, excluding China and the US who are eager to gain influence in the region.
Under the new plan each pacific nation will have the opportunity to contribute to a new multinational policing unit which will provide rapid response to security challenges and disasters.
However, no pacific nation will be forced to accept assistance from another.
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said the plan demonstrates that the relationship between pacific nations is “closer than it’s ever been before.”
As part of the initiative, four policing training centres of excellence will be established with $400m in funding from Australia.
The agreement went ahead despite concerns the proposal was a part of a broader geopolitical initiative to exclude China.
When asked if the deal was intended to prevent reliance on China Albanese said western strategic interests played no role in the plans.
“This is about the Pacific family looking after Pacific security. This isn’t about any other country,” Mr Albanese said.
Vanuatu Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai, acknowledged the policing initiative was important but is concerned it may suggest intentions of excluding China.
Australia has previously voiced concerns about China's attempts to make security and policing agreements with Pacific Island nations.
LGBTQI+ questions in the census
Last week, the Labor government backflipped on a decision to exclude data on sexual orientation in the 2026 census after community outcry.
The backlash included criticisms from Labor backbenchers including Macnamara MP Josh Burns.
“I think that they go to making sure people are counted, and I think that they go to the work that we’re doing to ensure that we are collecting the best data possible to feed into government services as part of the census,” he said to ABC radio Melbourne.
Burns’ declaration was followed by public appeals from Labor’s Alicia Payne, Peter Khalil, Ged Kearney, Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Jerome Laxale.
Labour had initially committed to supporting census questions that gathered data on the LGBTQI+ community.
Prime Minister Albanese affirmed that he has been communicating with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, telling ABC Radio Melbourne that it was a “commonsense position” to include at least one question the community.
“My government has been focused on [cost of living]” Albanese said. “We haven’t sat down and gone through line by line, on what questions will be asked in the census in two years, in 2026.”
The ABS is responsible for the implementation of the census, which happens every five years.
They were advised by an expert LGBTQ+ committee on how to best approach asking people about sexuality and gender.
Associate professor at the University of Southern Queensland Dr Annette Bromdal told ABC News that information from various intersecting demographics can inform governments about the type of services and policies required, and where they are needed.
“So if you think about specifically those trans folk who are seeking gender-affirming healthcare, there’s not enough services or practitioners in the regional, remote or rural settings to serve them if they need gender-affirming medical healthcare.”
Final wording for the questions have not yet been released.
Asylum seeker dies in Melbourne
Tamil asylum seeker Mano Yogalingam died by self-immolation in Melbourne after protesting against Australian immigration policy.
Mano arrived by boat in 2013 as a 12-year-old boy, fleeing alleged military persecution in Sri Lanka.
After spending over a year in detention, he was granted a temporary visa.
Although he grew up in Melbourne, Mano lived with the constant uncertainty of a temporary visa for more than a decade.
Mano was a key organiser of the 49-day protest outside the Department of Home Affairs. He sought federal government intervention for the 7350 asylum seekers trapped in the Morrison government's flawed fast-track asylum process.
The fast-track system was implemented to process the backlog of asylum applications from people who arrived by boat in 2012 and 2013.
The system stripped applicants’ appeal rights and procedural fairness, later being overturned by the courts as unreasonable.
Those affected were given temporary bridging visas, leaving people like Yogalingam in limbo.
The current government abolished the system, allowing those affected to apply for permanent residency. However, the scheme’s rejections were upheld.
After keeping watch over fellow protestors on Sunday night, Mano left the camp on Monday morning.
On Tuesday evening, Yogalingam set himself on fire in a skate park.
He died in hospital the next day.
His friend Rathy Barthlote told The Conversation that “The psychological torment inflicted by the Australian government’s cruel and inhumane policies, compounded by personal challenges drove him to a point where he believed he had nothing left to live for,”
Like Yogalingam, Barthlote and her daughter have also been on a temporary bridging visa for 12 years.
She fears that her 15-year-old daughter, who wants to be a forensic scientist, won’t receive a Commonwealth-supported place at university.
Norwegian princess marries American self-styled shaman
On Saturday, Norway’s Princess Martha* Louise married “celebrity shaman” Durek Verrett in an extravagant three day celebration.
The princess, 52, met Mr Verrett in 2019 and in 2022, she forwent her royal duties to focus on the pair’s commercial ventures as a clairvoyant.
Martha Louise is the daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway. She is currently fourth-in-line to the throne.
The couple have made headlines before regarding their views on alternative medicine and Mr Verrett’s occupation as a “shaman to the stars”.
Previously, the princess faced criticism for claiming in a book that she could “speak with angels”.
So, what exactly is a “celebrity shaman”?
According to Macquarie Dictionary, a shaman is a medicine man and priest who works with the supernatural.
Okayyy…
Mr Verrett’s website claims that as a “sixth generation shaman”, his teachings have “impacted thousands.
Career highs include working with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Nina Dobrev.
Like Martha Louise, Mr Verrett has also faced controversy.
In 2020, his book Spirit Hacking was pulled due to its claim that childhood cancer is caused by unhappiness.
Alleged supernatural abilities aside, the couple have a contentious relationship with the Norwegian press, saying that much of their criticism comes from racism.
They have uninvited local media to the royal wedding and have broken protocol by selling exclusive media rights to Hello! Magazine and Netflix.
Netflix confirmed that they are creating a documentary that follows the couple’s love story.
The princess divorced her ex-husband author Ari Behn in 2017. He took his life in 2019.