ABC Everyday reporter Yasmin Jeffrey asked five people from different cultural backgrounds, who all grew up in Australia, to entertain the idea of an anti-racist Australia.

Koko, 29, says she has experienced racism as a Greek-Bajan woman in Australia.

She hopes that Australia will one day accept people of all cultures and backgrounds.

“We’re already so multicultural here, but we won’t be anti-racist until we embrace all cultures and backgrounds and end assimilation,” Koko tells ABC Everyday.

”An anti-racist future would mean not feeling like you have to choose, like you can be everything.”

She wonders what life would be like in an anti-racist world. 

“If I lived in an anti-racist world, I think I’d know myself more. I wouldn’t feel like I have to strive to live along the lines of the society that’s been embedded since we started school. I’d be able to embrace everything that makes me, me,” Koko says.

“And what would grow in the absence of [racism]? Would there be less homophobia and sexism and ableism too? What impact would it have on the environment if we listened to the people whose land we’re living on?”

Source: ABC Everyday

The hospitality sector in NSW is scrambling to reopen on Monday following the state’s easing of restrictions.

Jim Kritsotakis is the owner of waterfront restaurant Limani at Narrabeen and says his restaurant is facing a stark staff shortage. 

“The first Saturday we open I have 60 people booked, and I could have taken more,” he tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

“But I only have three kitchen staff and two waitstaff fully vaccinated, and unless I get more workers I will have to cancel bookings.”

Mr. Kritsotakis has taken extraordinary measures to fill his restaurant with fully-vaccinated bar, kitchen, and waitstaff.

“We have advertised twice and on Gumtree, it has cost us over $600,” he said, “and I only had one email back”.

The shortage could make or break Mr. Kritsotakis’ business. 

“We do lunch, dinner, and we have a cafe underneath… I already have 100 bookings for Christmas day, but it depends on how many staff I have at the time.”

The public health advice from the NSW Government says that “businesses will be responsible…to stop unvaccinated people entering premises”, which includes unvaccinated or half-vaccinated staff.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 80.3 percent of hospitality workers are aged 15-44, the same age bracket that was the second-last eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

“I know the government has to do the right thing,” said Mr. Kritsotakis, “but for me, one vaccination should be enough as long as they have their second one booked”.

Source: SMH

The state government remains under fire to act on promises to remove flammable cladding from some 239 high-risk apartment towers. 

Courtney Houssos, Shadow Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, says NSW is lagging behind Victoria to remove the cladding.

“At this rate, Victoria will have removed cladding from half of its buildings before NSW even begins,” she says.
 
NSW Labor says the Victorian government has helped 40 apartment buildings remove flammable cladding.
 
The NSW government’s two-year project to remove the cladding, originally scheduled to commence this year, has been put on hold until next year. 

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, whose office is overseeing Project Remediate, says the project was expected to begin as soon as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. 

“We estimate the project is between four and six weeks behind schedule. But we are on track to begin assessment and triage works in the coming months, and remediation works will commence straight after the traditional summer break in the trades industries,” he’s quoted in Sydney Morning Herald.

“COVID-19 has impacted the construction industry and how we can operate through lockdown.”

Houssos says a “badly designed building is not going to be fixed by a badly designed Government program”. 

She says concerned residents are consequently taking matters into their own hands.
 
“The NSW Government’s answer to dodgy developers is to allow defects to be repaired by unlicensed and unregulated contractors,” she says.
 
“The reputable tradies want to get the unlicensed cowboys out of the industry, which is in everyone’s interest.”

The project comes almost seven years after a fire in Melbourne’s Lacrosse apartment tower revealed the dangers of flammable cladding.

The Grenfell Tower blaze in London in 2017, which claimed the lives of 72 people, further weighted concerns worldwide.