Australian Politics
QIMR Berghofer scientists could have found the ‘masterswitch’ to kill cancer
As I have benefited greatly from immunotherapy, I am pleased to hear of another imunotherapy advance. Specific substances are needed to energize attacks on specific types of cell. Keytruda worked like a charm on my SCCs
Queensland medical researchers are on the brink of a staggering breakthrough that sees palpable tumours completely melting away, offering hope to sufferers of two of the deadliest types of cancers.
QIMR Berghofer scientists have potentially found the “masterswitch” that turns on the immune system to target disease in patients with triple-negative breast cancer and the most common form of bowel cancer, Micro Satellite Stable (MSS) bowel cancer.
The remarkable research findings could finally provide hope for a new, effective therapy but funding is desperately needed to progress the exciting preclinical results into clinical trials.
Associate Professor Michelle Wykes, group leader of Molecular Immunology at QIMR Berghofer, discovered the potential “masterswitch” that turns on a key type of immune cell called dendritic cells while researching immune responses to malaria.
Dendritic cells act like the generals of the immune system waking up other immune cells such as T cells and telling them what to attack and the weapons to use. However, cancer cells are very good at hiding from the immune system. In preclinical testing, the “masterswitch” antibodies make the cancers visible again, so the dendritic cells can go back to work and ‘organise’ the T cells to kill the cancer.
Associate Professor Wykes said further testing of the “masterswitch” antibodies on cancer patient blood samples produced similar results to the testing in preclinical lab work.
“We’re seeing palpable tumours that completely disappear and melt away. In our preclinical lab models, 80 per cent of both the triple negative breast cancers and colon cancers were cleared and hadn’t grown back after ten months. We’re seeing similar results from our tests on samples taken from patients with colon cancer,” she said.
“These patients urgently need help and I have something that I think could really help them, but we need funding to bring us together with a treatment. We’re appealing to the generosity of Australians this Christmas to help us advance this vital research and bring hope to patients and their loved ones,” Assoc Prof Wykes said.
Brisbane mum Justine Dillon was at peak physical fitness when she was diagnosed with highly aggressive stage four bowel cancer and given 18 months to live.
The researchers are working with clinicians at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital who collected samples from patients for the researchers to test in the laboratory.
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Palmer announces sale of Yabulu refinery
Clive Palmer has announced he has entered a share purchase agreement for the sale of the Yabulu Nickel and Cobalt Refinery in Townsville for an undisclosed sum to Zero Carbon Investek.
Mr Palmer is selling his joint venture shares in QNI Resources Pty Ltd and QNI Metals Pty Ltd to Zero Carbon Investek — a special purpose vehicle formed to undertake the acquisition, based in Switzerland.
Mr Palmer said the sale would bring enormous economic and environmental benefits to the people of North Queensland and wider Australia.
“I am happy to announce that this first-class asset has found enthusiastic and expert new owners in Zero Carbon Investek,’’ Mr Palmer said.
“I look forward to the Queensland government and all relevant authorities lending their full support to the new owners. This is a big win for the people of North Queensland providing jobs and economic benefits,’’ Mr Palmer said.
Yabulu operated for about 40 years before its operating company was placed in administration and then liquidation in 2016. About 800 people lost their jobs.
According to Mr Palmer’s statement, it is regarded as a world class, large-scale, globally significant nickel and cobalt refinery asset.
It previously represented a large part of the gross regional product of the North Queensland economy, contributing $1.37bn per year for Townsville and 3960 full-time equivalent jobs across Queensland, with more than half those jobs in and around Townsville.
The statement says the refinery was placed into a high-level of care and maintenance since 2016 and is now looking to restart.
“The Yabulu restart plan is designed to optimise refinery operations, including realising extensive tonnages of nickel and cobalt contained in the tailings storage facility. In September 2022 Yabulu secured a 30-year port access agreement with the Port of Townsville,” the statement says.
It says an 18-month restart plan positions Yabulu to rapidly become among the top 10 largest nickel assets in the world with a production capacity of 53,500 tonnes per annum of nickel and 3700 tonnes per annum of cobalt. Both are strategic and critical minerals playing a major role in industrial processes, global decarbonisation and electrification.
Nickel and cobalt are used for the production of electric vehicles, renewable power generation, battery manufacturing, energy storage, aerospace, defence and health.
According to the statement, Zero Carbon Investek is currently in advanced discussions with a number of globally significant strategic players who are seeking product offtake opportunities, alongside investment.
“Under Zero Carbon Investek, the refinery will directly employ about 800 staff, upon restart of operations, and many more during the construction period,” the statement says.
“To this end, in the longer-term, Zero Carbon Investek is hopeful that the site may unlock opportunities for new domestic industry, including battery or electric vehicle manufacturing.”
The Zero Carbon Investek syndicate is headed by Dr Richard Petty whose career spans more than 30 years in business and academia. He has served on more than 20 public and private company boards and has advised multinational companies and several governments on projects with an aggregate economic impact in the hundreds of billions of dollars. He previously served as a member of the Business20 and was a member of the B20 Financing Growth and Infrastructure Taskforce.
Dr Petty said the Yabulu refinery was positioned for an exciting future. He said Zero Carbon Investek would invest an additional US$800m ($1.19bn) in capital expenditure, post acquisition, further enhancing the facility including transitioning to net zero carbon through the replacement of coal and gas fired steam and power generation with solar, saving up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.
“Whilst the restart of the refinery is the key strategic priority, Zero Carbon Investek is also targeting the development of a large scale, 1.5Gw solar photovoltaic plant and battery storage facility at the refinery site to create new industry opportunities and sustainable environmental benefits,’’ Dr Petty said.
“Reducing the carbon intensity of operations through the development of solar PV is a key priority for Yabulu moving forward.
“The Yabulu large-scale solar project will be situated in the Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone and is set to become a main contributor to the Queensland Government’s new Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan which has a target of 70% renewable energy by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035, representing an $85bn investment into the energy system.
“Helping the Queensland Government to achieve such targets whilst boosting the economy and providing jobs is an important part of Zero Carbon Investek’s mission.”
In pursuit of this ambition, Zero Carbon Investek says it has successfully developed agreements with leading researchers at some of the world’s top universities, including Imperial College London and University of Cambridge, who are developing game-changing industry-leading solar technology capable of unparalleled solar power conversion efficiency of 41 per cent, at a small fraction of the cost.
The PV plant will employ more than 50 people and will generate surplus grid scale power, which can be sold locally or interstate.
An associated battery plant will employ more than 50 people and will also allow sales in other states for domestic, industrial and grid scale power generation.
“We look forward to working with the people of North Queensland and relevant authorities to fully realise the potential of this world class asset,’’ Dr Petty said.
The sale is conditional on regulatory approvals, including the Foreign Investment Review Board.
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No greenhouse gas limits for Victoria's coal-fired power plants as Supreme Court rejects challenge
Victoria's coal-fired power stations will not face new limits on how much greenhouse gas pollution they can emit, after the Supreme Court today rejected a challenge brought by an environmental group.
The plaintiff, Environment Victoria, argued the state's environmental regulator had failed to properly consider climate change law when reviewing the operating licences for the state's three coal-fired power stations.
Environment Victoria argued the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had an obligation to impose limits on the amount of greenhouse gas pollution the plants could emit.
Victoria's Climate Change Act 2017 requires people making certain decisions to consider the effects of climate change.
But in his written decision, Justice James Gorton said he rejected Environment Victoria's argument that the EPA had failed to do so.
He found that the EPA had considered climate change when it decided not to set a target.
Community expectations 'shattered'
Environment Victoria policy and advocacy manager Bronya Lipsi said the decision showed the state's climate laws needed to be fixed.
"I think it sends a message that the Climate Change Act in Victoria is not living up to community expectations," Ms Lipski said.
"We have an expectation that our climate laws will mitigate climate change and reduce carbon pollution."
She said the decision "shattered" community expectations and Environment Victoria would consider the judgement before making a decision about whether to appeal.
In a statement, the EPA thanked the court for its decision and said it was also considering its next steps.
"We have already taken steps to strengthen our processes and ensure climate change is demonstrably considered in all our regulatory decisions," a spokesperson said.
"Scrutiny from organisations like Environment Victoria can only make us better."
Energy Australia, which owned the Yallourn power station, said it welcomed the decision.
AGL, which owns the Loy Yang A plant, and Alinta, owner of Loy Yang B, did not respond.
Plants headed for early closure
Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said it would not have been possible to cheaply curb the station's greenhouse gas emissions if the court had ruled the other way.
He said Victoria's energy policy was already geared towards the early closure of the three coal-fired plants to address climate change.
"If you look at the Victorian government's most recent policy positions, before and after the most recent election, you will conclude that these power stations will all be shut down in about 10 years' time, maybe even earlier," Mr Wood said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-21/supreme-court-rules-on-victorian-coal-pollution/101796702
********************************************************‘Materially misleading’: ABC rebuked over Fox News investigation
An ABC report was one-sided! What a surprise!
The ABC has launched a scathing attack on Australia’s communications watchdog after it ruled the national broadcaster had misled viewers in a Four Corners investigation about cable TV network Fox News and its coverage of former US president Donald Trump.
A year-long investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the two-part program presented by Sarah Ferguson nearly breached standards of impartiality, and that key facts were omitted in a way that misled the audience. The ACMA said the program also included views that were expressed in “strident terms” and were “subjective”, but said the ABC Code of Practice did not apply to opinions.
While Fox News welcomed the ACMA’s findings, the ABC warned the ruling would have negative implications for public interest journalism.
In a statement responding to the ruling, the ABC said it had “serious concerns” about the decision, which could have “negative consequences for the future production of strong public interest journalism.”
It also said it was “deeply concerned” by ACMA’s “subjective characterisation” of the investigation and raised concerns this might affect its statutory role to review the ABC’s compliance with its code of practise.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the national broadcaster did not give viewers the opportunity to “make up their own mind”.
“Both audiences and participants are entitled to the full picture. In this case, by omitting information the ABC did not do justice to the story or provide all relevant facts to its audience,” O’Loughlin said.
“Current affairs programs such as Four Corners are not precluded from presenting a particular perspective ...but that needs to be balanced against requirements to gather and present information with due impartiality. The ACMA considers that ABC could have taken greater care in striking that balance in this program to avoid perceptions of partiality.”
The ACMA found two breaches of ABC’s Code of Practice, criticising the national broadcaster for “materially misleading” its audience by omitting relevant context about the appearance of two Fox News presenters at a campaign rally for Trump.
ACMA’s report also said the ABC had failed to include contextual material about the role of social media in inciting the Capitol riots on January 6, and had breached honest dealing requirements for the way it approached Fox News host Jeanine Pirro at her offices, and for failing to disclose the nature of her participation in the program.
But the ACMA agreed with the ABC on a range of other matters, including the accuracy of its reporting of Fox News’ ratings and a decision to broadcast statements that Fox News had supported Trump’s claims of election fraud. It said the ABC did not breach impartiality standards and did not unduly favour one perspective over another.
“The presenter asked probing questions during interviews but overall maintained a measured tone,” the report said.
The ABC said it stood by its journalism and disagreed with all three breaches. It said the findings would have negative consequences for the future public interest journalism, by putting pressure on content makers when selecting an editorial focus. The broadcast also took aim at the ACMA’s characterisation of the program, and whether this aligns with its role in reviewing compliance.
It argued it did not believe it was obliged editorially to include an assessment of the role of social media in the Capitol riots and the expectation it should feature a PR statement by Fox that did not answer questions related to the topic at hand.
ABC news director Justin Stevens said the ABC disagreed the program was not “impartial”.
“This was a comprehensive investigation analysing the role Fox News played in helping promulgate the ‘big lie’ – that the 2020 US Presidential election was stolen. It is as relevant now as it was when it was first broadcast,” Stevens said.
“It is important the public does not lose faith in the democratic process of free and fair elections and journalism like this plays a key part in that.”
A Fox News Media spokesperson said the company was pleased with the findings.
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
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