P&O Cruises Australia earlier this week announced the next stage of its fleet transformation with Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter (ahead of schedule), arriving in the first half of 2021 in a sign of confidence in the rebound expected from the local shipping industry, according to the company.
Those ships are the current Princess Gold and Star.
Pacific Adventure will begin sailing from Sydney on April 30 next year and Pacific Encounter deliveries will take at least six months to ensure the local fleet is ready to drive a sailing revival at the right time, the company said.
Pacific Encounter is scheduled to call Brisbane home from 7 May 2021 – but additional voyages may be added earlier, depending on the cruise ship’s return time in Australia.
“The arrival of these highly anticipated ships, Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter, in the first half of next year is a step change in the fleet and a sign of confidence in the market,” said P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell.
“This investment in our fleet demonstrates that P&O Cruises Australia is ready to lead the industry in a revival when the government and public health authorities agree it is appropriate to start sailing again with current protocols.
“It is also a sign of respect to our many loyal guests as well as crews, fresh food suppliers, entertainers and musicians, shore tour operators and port logistics partners who wish to be part of the revival of Australia’s shipping sector over time. .
“These are challenging times for the entire community and, on our part, we have been working to use these operational breaks to accelerate our planned fleet refresh. Our paths to return to roaming may be unclear, but we want to give guests confidence in our future fleet and our commitment to Australia and New Zealand, ”said Myrmell.
Important point:
Pacific Adventure will call Sydney home. Her first voyage was a three-night Short Break scheduled for April 30, 2021.
Pacific Adventure was originally planned to debut in November this year, but was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Brisbane’s new international cruise terminal will be the new port of origin for Pacific Encounter. At this stage, his first voyage is scheduled to depart from Brisbane on 7 May 2021 and will be a short three night break. Additional shipping could be added earlier, the company said.
Pacific Explorer will be homeporting from Auckland, New Zealand from 6 February 2021 until its final voyage on 25 April 2021.
The company, citing COVID-19, also said that a water slide would be installed at a later date.
The prime minister said that the opposition should not be considered important.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday lashed out at the opposition and said that these people are exposing themselves in front of the people from day to day.
Speaking at a parliamentary party meeting in Islamabad on Friday, the prime minister lashed out at the opposition saying it is unemployed and they should not be seen as important.
“I have no problem with rallies and opposition movements and them [opposition] must hold demonstrations every day, “he said.
On that occasion, the members expressed concern over inflation and demanded that inflation be controlled, which the prime minister assured them that inflation would soon be brought under control.
Imran Khan said that the past rulers, who staged the protests, were responsible for the problems facing the country.
The National Assembly of PTI (MNA) members Muhammad Sana Ullah Khan Masti Khel in criticizing the team did not appear.
He said there were serious public concerns about gas and electricity, adding that it was increasingly difficult for people to pay their electricity and gas bills.
According to sources, several other members also agreed with Masti Khel’s views.
PM Imran while reassuring his members said that he knew all the problems faced by society and would immediately control inflation.
Participants will discuss policies to deal with anti-government movements from opposition parties.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday summoned an important session of Pakistani leaders Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to strategize against the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) protests against the government.
In detail, participants will discuss policies to deal with anti-government movements from opposition parties.
Consultations with members of the DPR coalition are also scheduled.
Previously, PTI had decided to give PDM protests a hard time by launching a campaign in Sindh under the supervision of Governor Imran Ismail and PTI leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi.
Teams of national and provincial assemblies were also formed in this regard.
ZURICH (Reuters) – There will be no snow but there will still be a backdrop of dramatic Swiss mountains as world elites gather for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) near the city of Lucerne next year.
Buergenstock, in central Switzerland, has been chosen to host the May meeting of world political and business leaders, above Davos, an Alpine skiing destination synonymous with the annual jamboree.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the WEF to move gatherings away from the resort that has hosted the famous event since the early 1970s, but is said to be aiming to return to Davos for its 2022 annual meeting.
The WEF is rescheduling its 2021 annual meeting to 18-21 May as a combination of live and remote digital events through a network of 400 hubs worldwide.
For Wall Street bankers and Silicon Valley investors who can do it firsthand, Buergenstock still offers luxury hotels, fine dining, and mountain activities – albeit on foot rather than skiing.
“The meeting will take place as long as all conditions are in place to ensure the health and safety of participants and the host community,” the WEF said in a statement.
The 2021 meeting will be held under the theme “The Great Reset” to plan a path to recovery from the pandemic “and to rebuild a more cohesive and sustainable society”.
Reporting by Michael Shields; Edited by Toby Chopra
The Socialist Equality Group (SEG), a supporter of New Zealand’s Fourth International Committee (ICFI), held a public webinar last Saturday to discuss the upcoming October 17 elections. The event was attended by an international audience including SEG supporters and readers World Socialist Website from New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
SEG member Matthew Carrington, who chaired the meeting, noted that the elections were held amid an unprecedented collapse of capitalism, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than a million people worldwide. Although the international media praised New Zealand under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s rule, the standard of living of the working class is collapsing, while the rich have been bailed out with tens of billions of dollars.
Speakers noted that the webinar took place one day after the relaunch of WSWS, during which ICFI seeks to raise the political awareness of a large number of workers and young people who are increasingly interested in socialism.
Full video of New Zealand meeting
The first speaker, SEG member John Braddock, described ICFI’s analysis of the pandemic as a “trigger event” in world history, which has exacerbated social crises around the world, sparked class struggle and the preparation of ruling elites for war and dictatorships.
The crisis centers on the United States, where President Donald Trump has threatened a coup if he loses the November election. “However these developments are ultimately in play,” explains Braddock, “the democratic crisis in Washington will move to the international stage. What’s happening in the US is the sharpest expression of what’s happening everywhere – New Zealand included. “
Contrary to media portrayals of New Zealand as a haven of peace and tranquility, New Zealand is an ally of the US and Ardern has deepened its integration into war preparations against China. Braddock pointed out that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government “is itself a product of US intervention after the 2017 elections.”
During protracted coalition talks, US ambassador Scott Brown publicly criticized the ruling National Party for failing to fully support Trump’s threat to “crush” North Korea. Afterward, the nationalist and anti-immigrant NZ First Party announced it would form a coalition with Labor, not the National Party, which received more votes. Labor and NZ First share the same anti-immigrant and anti-Chinese political orientation, while the National Party represents big business factions that are much more nervous about alienating New Zealand’s biggest trading partner, China.
Carolyn Kennett of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and the Committee on Public Education, spoke at the webinar on the struggles of growing workers internationally, including school and university staff.
Kennett explains that the government, whose only concern is big business profits, is recklessly reopening schools before it is safe to do so to force parents to return to their workplaces. In the US and other countries, he said, teachers “are developing not only their classroom lessons but also their will and wills in preparation for their possible death with COVID-19.”
He pointed to some of the struggles that have taken place in response to this assassination policy, including the occupation of 700 schools by secondary school students in Greece, which demands security precautions before schools reopen.
Kennett explains that the union bureaucracy at Australian universities cooperates fully with mass layoffs and cuts in wages. The same process is taking place in the UK, New Zealand and internationally.
ICFI, he said, “calls for the creation of an independent rank and file committee of trade unions to fight for a united national struggle against attacks on jobs, salaries and conditions, and to ensure the health, safety and welfare of workers.
“Such committees have been formed in cities in the United States, in Germany and Britain, and in Australia. Much has been formed by educators who are deeply concerned with reopening schools, but there are also a number of committees based in other factories and industries, such as the auto industry in the US and among bus drivers in London. “
In a final speech from the Socialist Equality Group Tom Peters reviewed the records of the far-right Ardern government and exposed its lies about reducing poverty and inequality. In the June quarter average income was 7.6 percent lower than a year earlier. Nearly 80,000 people have lost their jobs since March. One in four children live in poverty and demand for food banks is soaring.
The speaker described the heinous anti-immigrant actions taken in response to the pandemic and social crisis, including the threat of deportation and the prohibition of access to the welfare of migrant workers. Peters pointed out that one of the most brutal right-wing terrorist attacks in the world, last year’s mass shooting in Christchurch, was not discussed in the election campaign. This is because shooter Brenton Tarrant’s fascist ideology has been fueled by decades of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the demonization of Muslims and immigrants with which every major party in Australia and New Zealand is involved.
Peters concludes: “These elections will not solve any of the pressing problems facing the working people. We are in a period of revolutionary history. The alternatives are: the intensification of the present crisis – world wars, dictatorships, runaway pandemics and catastrophic climate change – or the revolutionary struggle to abolish capitalism and build international socialism. There is no reformist alternative. “
He urged those present to make a decision to join in the struggle to build the SEG into New Zealand’s part of the world Trotskyist movement.
The audience received a warm welcome from the meeting. One participant, an immigrant who is one of thousands waiting to find out if they will be allowed to stay in New Zealand, wrote on the NZ Migrants Facebook forum praising the webinar. He encourages people to read WSWS including Tom Peters’ articles “about immigrants and our troubles … People like him are our voices when no one wants to hear our pleas.”
The speech was followed by several questions, including about the militarization of the police under Ardern, the workers’ struggle against layoffs, and the strategies needed to prevent a world war.
In response to a question about whether the SEG would consider allying with any party that is in the struggle for socialism, Braddock replied: “The answer is simply no.” Every established party accepts that the working class must pay through austerity measures, he said. These include quasi-left organizations such as the International Socialist Organization, Socialist Aotearoa and others that have spent years promoting the Labor and Green Parties.
Cheryl Crisp, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), spoke at the end of the discussion. He stressed the need for New Zealand workers to “turn to international parties,” and to reject the nationalist “fantasy” of the Labor Party and trade unions that the country had escaped the worst effects of the crisis – a conception also being promoted in Australia. New Zealand workers, he said, have “more in common” with workers in other countries than do New Zealand capitalists and their political parties. On that basis he asked workers to join SEG and ICFI.
