Does anyone want to help run the aussie flag on canvas this year (starting July 12th)? I have limted time right now and this year we are going to add aussie pixel art to the flag.

For people who want to make pixel art

Feel free to make or find some aussie pixel art and reply, note that the whole flag is 200x100 and the union jack and stars take up a lot of space so it shouldn't be massive.

Help wanted with adding the art to the flag

If someone could work on taking the art below and in the replies and placing them on the flag that would be great. If you want to, reply below so we don't duplicate work and have multiple people doing it. Ensure that the pixel art does not cover the stars or union jack.

Here is the base image for the flag: which is 200x100 pixels.

Resources

Here is last years template if you want to see it. I will make a new template this year with the pixel art and flag at 200px by 100px.

Current pixel art

Bluey and bingo pixel art: https://aussie.zone/post/11696592/10403326 and https://diycandy.com/bluey-perler-beads/ (see happy bluey and happy bingo)

Best guess gets to dance with me one day ...

Credit: First dog on the moon.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/jun/02/bad-news-the-communist-albanese-government-is-introducing-a-new-superannuation-tax-on-the-rich

In short

Consumer group Choice tested 20 sunscreens and found only four provided the SPF protection their label claimed.

The brands dispute the findings and say their own testing shows their sunscreens meet or exceed their SPF claims.

What's next?

Experts say Australians should still have confidence that sunscreens work even if some tests results show a lower SPF than what labels say.

Fun quote:

The worst performer was the most expensive — Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF50+ Mattifying Zinc Sunscreen, which costs $52 for 75 millilitres, and returned an SPF rating of four.

Mr de Silva said this result was so low the team commissioned a smaller additional test at a German lab to validate the results.

"Those tests found the product had an SPF of five … an almost identical result to our initial testing," he said.

A spokesperson for Ultra Violette said the company did an urgent SPF test of the sunscreen in April and it came back with an SPF of 61.7, confirming its original test results.

The company said it had not received a single substantiated claim of sunburn.

The company said it did not accept the Choice results as "even remotely accurate" and human error during testing was highly probable.

Mutual obligation is one of the last great shibboleths of Australian politics. Now the entire system is under scrutiny with potentially big implications for our welfare system.

SBS has had an "immense" impact since it all began in 1975. Fifty years on, it continues to hold a unique place in the Australian media landscape, with exciting plans to deliver even more distinctive content and storytelling to viewers and readers.

Aukus had a less than immaculate conception. It was conceived in secrecy and born in haste, a tribute to political opportunism and a travesty of disciplined planning. The enthusiasm of theatrical announcements notwithstanding, it was in trouble from the beginning. The US Navy had serious doubts about both the ability of US shipbuilders to deliver submarines in any workable timeframe and the ability of the Royal Australian Navy to integrate and operate them. That was not a question of trust but of capacity – on both sides.

And, of course, experienced and well-informed Australian defence planners rang the warning bells from the beginning.

Aunties been on the sauce again..

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3069921

Universities Australia - a body representing 39 universities in Australia - has called on the federal government to join Horizon Europe in a bid to strengthen the nation’s economic resilience and global competitiveness through enhanced international research collaboration.

Horizon Europe, a major European Union research and innovation program, offers substantial funding for global partnerships focused on tackling complex global challenges. Association with the program would have provided Australian researchers access to this multi-billion-dollar fund and enabled closer scientific cooperation with international peers.

Universities Australia Chief Executive Luke Sheehy said joining Horizon Europe would have sparked a cycle of innovation, strengthened partnerships, and driven economic growth.

...

“If we’re serious about building a prosperous and productive economy, then we need a seat at the table—especially in a shifting and increasingly complex global environment,” he said.

Mr Sheehy warned that rising geopolitical tensions risked disrupting existing research alliances, and that Australia needed to act to maintain its competitive edge.

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