Australia

Prince Harry attends Barack Obama Foundation Summit

Prince Harry, 33, was photographed sitting in the audience at the first Obama Foundation Summit on T..

Published

5 years ago

November 1, 2017

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Prince Harry, 33, was photographed sitting in the audience at the first Obama Foundation Summit on Tuesday in Chicago, Illinois
The British royal sat one row behind Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, who were all smiles as they took the stage at the two-day event
Prince Harry joined Mellody Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments and chair of After School Matters, on stage Tuesday evening
The two held a conversation about the ways young people can help drive community engagement
Earlier in the day, Prince Harry and Michelle surprised students at Hyde Park Academy, a high school located in Chicago's South Side

By Erica Tempesta For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:05 EDT, 31 October 2017 | Updated: 20:25 EDT, 31 October 2017

Prince Harry and Barack Obama have become fast friends, and he was one of the many high-profile guests at the former U.S. president's first Obama Foundation Summit on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old British royal was photographed sitting in the audience at the two-day event held at the Marriott Marquis McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, a few hours before he took the stage with Mellody Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments and chair of After School Matters.

Prince Harry sat one row behind Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, who were all smiles as they took the stage at the global summit aiming to cultivate a new generation of leaders.

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle took the stage at the first Obama Foundation Summit on Tuesday

Prince Harry, who is scheduled to speak at the summit on Tuesday evening, was photographed sitting in the audience

The British royal appeared on stage on Tuesday evening for the second session of the summit

Prince Harry was joined by Mellody Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments and chair of After School Matters

'Our goal is not to present some fixed theory of how change happens,' Obama said during the opening session.

'Our goal in this session is not to pump you with a whole bunch of power points, data and information or a blue print for how you can go back and do what you’re doing even better. In many ways, we want to learn from you,' he continued.

'In other words, this is a big brainstorming session, it's a big hackathon,' he said.

Obama looked dapper in a suit and a button-down shirt, which he wore sans tie, while Michelle was as stylish as ever in a cowl-neck blouse and plaid dress pants.

When the they weren't on stage, the Obamas were seen sitting in the audience, leaving some space between them to hold their papers.

Prince Harry also opted for a business casual look, sporting a blazer, trousers, and a button-down shirt that he left open at the collar.

The British royal sat one row behind the Obamas, and all three of them were listening intently during the event

The Obamas sat with some space between them to make room for their papers

Obama looked dapper in a suit and a button-down shirt, which he wore sans tie

Michelle was as stylish as ever in a cowl-neck blouse and plaid dress pants

He appeared to be fiddling with a pen that he was holding in his hands while he kept his eyes locked on the state in front of him.

Prince Harry later joined Hobson on stage to hold a conversation about the ways young people can help drive community engagement.

He addressed the roughly 500 young civic leaders and community activists chosen from 20,000 applicants from around the world, for what the Obama Foundation promises will be intensive workshops and opportunities to share ideas.

Prince Harry stated that the younger generation in the world has turned him into an optimist.

'We have to listen to the younger generation because they are the cure of some of the world's biggest problems,' he explained.

Although she didn't appear to be in attendance, Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle is a 2003 graduate of Northwestern University, which is near Chicago.

The gathering in the Obamas' hometown was organized by their eponymous foundation, which is also building the former president's library in the city where the former president got his political start.

Roughly 500 young civic leaders and community activists from around the world are attending the two-day event

Obama explained that the summit is meant to be a 'big brainstorming session'

The Obamas happily waved to the audience on the first day of the summit

Michelle took one last look at the audience before they walked off stage together

'The Obama Foundation's goal is to encourage and empower young people to create positive change in their communities,' David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said in a statement earlier this month.

Among the attendees highlighted by the foundation was Trisha Shetty of India, who started the organization SheSays to combat sexual abuse against women.

Other notable speakers include Matteo Renzi, the former Italian prime minister, and Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of the Chobani yogurt brand.

Chance the Rapper, a socially active hip-hop artist who was born and raised in Chicago, has helped organize the concert finale.

Prince Harry opted for a business casual look, sporting a blazer, trousers, and a button-down shirt that he left open at the collar

The British royal and the businesswoman discussed the way young people can help drive community engagement and development

'We have to listen to the younger generation because they are the cure of some of the world's biggest problems,' Harry said at the summit

Harry spoke animatedly while chatting with Hobson on stage

'I want to help inspire and empower young people to change their world,' the artist said in an email released by the foundation.

Chance the Rapper and Gloria Estefan will perform in a public concert to cap the event.

Earlier in the day, Prince Harry and Michelle made a surprise visit to speak with 20 students at Hyde Park Academy, a high school located across from the future site of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's South Side.

'The warm and wide-ranging conversation, lasting over an hour, covered how the Obama Presidential Center will showcase the South Side of Chicago for a global audience, the importance of young people staying inspired and hopeful, and the transformative power of students using their voices to change the world,' Caroline Adler Morales, the former first lady’s communications director, said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Prince Harry and Michelle made a surprise visit to Hyde Park Academy

The two were all smiles as they walked through the school's hallway into the library

Michelle and Harry met with 20 students at the school, and there was plenty of laughter during their chat

The group sat with their chairs in a circle as they took turns listening to each other

At one point, Michelle patted one of the student's on the back

Prince Harry and the Obamas are firm friends and have appeared in public together several times over the years.

Obama has thrown his support behind Harry's Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style event for injured servicemen and women.

Last month, Obama and Harry were seen enjoying a warm, lively chat as they took their seats courtside to watch wheelchair basketball at the Invictus Games, which took place in Toronto.

It later emerged that the former president had quizzed Harry about his girlfriend Meghan during their chat.

Obama enjoyed a hugely successful state visit to the UK in 2011, when he and his family stayed with the Queen, and last year he and his wife had dinner with William, Kate and Harry at Kensington Palace, where they met Prince George.

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Australia

Australia: Scott Morrison saga casts scrutiny on Queen’s representative

Published

7 months ago

August 27, 2022

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In the past fortnight, Australia has been gripped by revelations that former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to several additional ministries.

The move has been labelled a “power grab” by his successor as prime minister, and Mr Morrison has been scolded by many – even his own colleagues.

But the scandal has also dragged Australia’s governor-general into the fray – sparking one of the biggest controversies involving the Queen’s representative in Australia in 50 years.

So does Governor-General David Hurley have questions to answer, or is he just collateral damage?

‘Just paperwork’

Governors-general have fulfilled the practical duties as Australia’s head of state since the country’s 1901 federation.

Candidates for the role were initially chosen by the monarch but are now recommended by the Australian government.

The job is largely ceremonial – a governor-general in almost every circumstance must act on the advice of the government of the day. But conventions allow them the right to “encourage” and “warn” politicians.

Key duties include signing bills into law, issuing writs for elections, and swearing in ministers.

Mr Hurley has run into trouble on the latter. At Mr Morrison’s request, he swore the prime minister in as joint minister for health in March 2020, in case the existing minister became incapacitated by Covid.

Over the next 14 months, he also signed off Mr Morrison as an additional minister in the finance, treasury, home affairs and resources portfolios.

Mr Morrison already had ministerial powers, so Mr Hurley was basically just giving him authority over extra departments.

It’s a request the governor-general “would not have any kind of power to override or reject”, constitutional law professor Anne Twomey tells the BBC.

“This wasn’t even a meeting between the prime minister and the governor-general, it was just paperwork.”

But Mr Morrison’s appointments were not publicly announced, disclosed to the parliament, or even communicated to most of the ministers he was job-sharing with.

Australia’s solicitor-general found Mr Morrison’s actions were not illegal but had “fundamentally undermined” responsible government.

But the governor-general had done the right thing, the solicitor-general said in his advice this week.

It would have been “a clear breach” for him to refuse the prime minister, regardless of whether he knew the appointments would be kept secret, Stephen Donaghue said.

Critics push for investigation

Ultimately, Mr Hurley had to sign off on Mr Morrison’s requests, but critics say he could have counselled him against it and he could have publicised it himself.

But representatives for the governor-general say these types of appointments – giving ministers the right to administer other departments – are not unusual.

And it falls to the government of the day to decide if they should be announced to the public. They often opt not to.

Mr Hurley himself announcing the appointments would be unprecedented. He had “no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”, his spokesperson said.

Emeritus professor Jenny Hocking finds the suggestion Mr Hurley didn’t know the ministries had been kept secret “ridiculous”.

“The last of these bizarre, duplicated ministry appointments… were made more than a year after the first, so clearly by then the governor-general did know that they weren’t being made public,” she says.

“I don’t agree for a moment that the governor-general has a lot of things on his plate and might not have noticed.”

The historian says it’s one of the biggest controversies surrounding a governor-general since John Kerr caused a constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Prof Hocking famously fought for transparency around that matter – waging a lengthy and costly legal battle that culminated in the release of Mr Kerr’s correspondence with the Queen.

And she says the same transparency is needed here.

The Australian public need to know whether Mr Hurley counselled the prime minister against the moves, and why he didn’t disclose them

The government has already announced an inquiry into Mr Morrison’s actions, but she wants it to look at the governor-general and his office too.

“If the inquiry is to find out what happened in order to fix what happened, it would be extremely problematic to leave out a key part of that equation.”

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – Mr Morrison’s predecessor – has also voiced support for an inquiry.

“Something has gone seriously wrong at Government House,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“It is the passive compliance along the chain… that did undermine our constitution and our democracy… that troubles me the most. This is how tyranny gets under way.”

PM defends governor-general

Prof Twomey says the criticism of Mr Hurley is unfair – there’s was no “conspiracy” on his part to keep things secret.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for anyone to expect that he could have guessed that the prime minister was keeping things secret from his own ministers, for example.

“Nobody really thought that was a possibility until about two weeks ago.”

Even if he had taken the unprecedented step to publicise the appointments or to reject Mr Morrison’s request, he’d have been criticised, she says.

“There’d be even more people saying ‘how outrageous!'” she says. “The role of governor-general is awkward because people are going to attack you either way.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also defended Mr Hurley, saying he was just doing his job.

“I have no intention of undertaking any criticism of [him].”

A role fit for purpose?

Prof Hocking says it’s a timely moment to look at the role of the governor-general more broadly.

She points out it’s possible the Queen may have been informed about Mr Morrison’s extra ministries when Australia’s parliament and people were not.

“It does raise questions about whether this is fit for purpose, as we have for decades been a fully independent nation, but we still have… ‘the relics of colonialism’ alive and well.”

Momentum for a fresh referendum on an Australian republic has been growing and advocates have seized on the controversy.

“The idea that the Queen and her representative can be relied upon to uphold our system of government has been debunked once and for all,” the Australian Republic Movement’s Sandy Biar says.

“It’s time we had an Australian head of state, chosen by Australians and accountable to them to safeguard and uphold Australia’s constitution.”

But Prof Twomey says republicans are “clutching at straws” – under their proposals, the head of state would also have been bound to follow the prime minister’s advice.

“It wouldn’t result in any changes that would have made one iota of difference.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62683210

Australia

Australia election: PM Morrison’s security team in car crash in Tasmania

Published

12 months ago

April 16, 2022

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A car carrying the Australian prime minister’s security team has crashed in Tasmania during an election campaign visit.

Four police officers were taken to hospital with “non-life threatening injuries” after the car and another vehicle collided, authorities said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not in the car, but the accident prompted him to cancel the rest of his campaign events on Thursday.

The other driver involved was not hurt.

Tasmania Police said initial investigations suggested the second car had “collided with the rear of the police vehicle, while attempting to merge”. It caused the unmarked security vehicle to roll off the road.

The two Tasmania Police officers and two Australian Federal Police officers were conscious when taken to hospital for medical assessment, the prime minister’s office said.

“Family members of the officers have been contacted and are being kept informed of their condition,” a statement said.

“The PM is always extremely grateful for the protection provided by his security team and extends his best wishes for their recovery and to their families.”

Australians go to the polls on 21 May. Mr Morrison – prime minister since 2018 – is hoping to win his conservative coalition’s fourth term in office.

Polls suggest the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, is favoured to win. However, Mr Morrison defied similar polling to claim victory at the last election in 2019.

Mr Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition holds 76 seats in the House of Representatives – the minimum needed to retain power.

Political observers say the cost of living, climate change, trust in political leaders, and national security will be among key issues in the campaign.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has faced accusations of being a bully and once sabotaging a rival’s career by suggesting the man’s Lebanese heritage made him less electable. Mr Morrison has denied the allegations.

Mr Albanese stumbled into his own controversy this week when he failed to recall the nation’s unemployment or interest rates.

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61103987

Australia

Sydney airport warns delays could last weeks on third day of travel chaos

Published

12 months ago

April 9, 2022

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Long queues at Sydney airport’s domestic terminals have continued for a third day, with some passengers missing international connections, as the airport warns delays resulting from a surge in travellers and a shortfall in security staff could continue for weeks.

Chaotic scenes were reported in the departure halls as early as 4.30am on Saturday, with some frustrated travellers, many of whom heeded the pleas of airport chiefs to arrive at least two hours before their domestic flight was due to take off, claiming only one security line was operating.

While the queues that formed early on Saturday are understood to have cleared later in the morning, the airport apologised to affected travellers.

“Traffic numbers are picking up and the close contact rules are making it hard to fill shifts and staff the airport. We appreciate your patience,” Sydney airport said on its Twitter account.

A wave of families travelling as the term two school holidays begin this weekend, combined with close contact rules that are understood to be taking out about 20% of security shifts in any given day, are driving the problem.

Certis, the company that Sydney airport contracts for its security operations, is desperately trying to recruit personnel, while the airport has reallocated back office, IT and retail workers to the departure hall to comb queues so they can prioritise passengers at risk of missing their flight.

“We are working around the clock to resolve these issues and have teams in the terminals bringing passengers forward in order of priority,” a Sydney airport spokesperson said.

He added that the airport is “anticipating it will [be] busy right through the school holiday period and peak over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends, in some cases at 90% of pre-Covid passenger levels”.

“We’re deeply grateful to passengers for their ongoing patience and we’re sorry to everyone who has been inconvenienced,” the spokesperson said. “We would also like to thank passengers for getting to the airport early and treating staff and each other with kindness and respect.”

The Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was forced to clarify comments he made on Friday that passengers were “not match fit” and that those forgetting to remove laptops and aerosols from their bags at the security check contributing to the delays.

“Just to be clear, I’m not ‘blaming’ passengers,” Joyce said. “Of course it’s not their fault,” he said.

Qantas shed thousands of staff during the pandemic, and outsourced ground crews in a decision that was challenged in court.

On Saturday, Qantas also apologised to a Melbourne family left stranded in Sydney, after domestic flight delays caused them to miss an international trip.

Javiera Martinez, her partner Daniel Capurro and their three children were supposed to be flying to Chile on Friday to visit relatives they had not seen in three years.

But after their 8am Qantas flight from Melbourne was delayed by half an hour, baggage handling and airport transfer delays in Sydney meant they couldn’t make their 11.30am LATAM Airlines flight to Santiago.

Martinez said the airline’s procedures at the airport were chaotic.

“We think Qantas didn’t behave appropriately. I got berated by the person at the counter – they never apologised, they never assumed any responsibility at all,” she said. “It was a rude conversation. We have been mistreated badly I would say.”

The PCR tests they need to travel have now expired and they will have to take them again as they wait for seats on the next flight to Santiago from Sunday.

The airline has apologised and paid for a night’s accommodation in Sydney.

“We sincerely apologise that the family missed their connecting flight on another airline due to delays moving through Sydney airport on Friday,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

The family is among many affected by hold ups amid the busiest travel period in two years, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports warning passengers to arrive two hours before domestic flights.

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