hacklink hack forum hacklink film izle hacklink marsbahisizmir escortsahabetpornJojobet

News

Tag: Australias

  • Australia’s House of Representatives passes bill that would ban young children from social media

    Australia’s House of Representatives passes bill that would ban young children from social media

    MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law.

    The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

    The legislation passed 102 votes in favor to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced.

    Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system.

    “Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan told Parliament.

    Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties’ support all but guarantees the legislation will pass in the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats.

    Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents’ authority to decide what’s best for their children.

    Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer.

    Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would “make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media.”

    “The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it,” Daniel told Parliament.

    “There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that’s because no other country wants to do it,” she added.

    T he platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced.

    Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as “absolutely essential for the safety of our children.”

    “It’s not the only thing that we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but to provide some immediate support for our children and parents to be able to manage this, it’s a great step,” the 65-year-old online safety campaigner told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

    “And in my opinion, it’s the greatest time in our country’s history,” he added, referring to the pending legal reform.

    Source link

  • A social media ban for children younger than 16 is introduced in Australia’s Parliament

    A social media ban for children younger than 16 is introduced in Australia’s Parliament

    MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s communications minister introduced a world-first law into Parliament on Thursday that would ban children younger than 16 from social media, saying online safety was one of parents’ toughest challenges.

    Michelle Rowland said TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram were among the platforms that would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

    “This bill seeks to set a new normative value in society that accessing social media is not the defining feature of growing up in Australia,” Rowland told Parliament.

    “There is wide acknowledgement that something must be done in the immediate term to help prevent young teens and children from being exposed to streams of content unfiltered and infinite,” she added.

    The bill has wide political support. After it becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restriction.

    “For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14- to 17-years-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm as well as violent material. One quarter have been exposed to content promoting unsafe eating habits,” Rowland said.

    Government research found that “95% of Australian care-givers find online safety to be one of their toughest parenting challenges,” she said.

    Social media had a social responsibility and could do better in addressing harms on their platforms, she said.

    “This is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them, and letting parents know that we’re in their corner when it comes to supporting their children’s health and wellbeing,” Rowland said.

    Child welfare and internet experts have raised concerns about the ban, including isolating 14- and 15-year-olds from their already established online social networks.

    Rowland said there would not be age restrictions placed on messaging services, online games or platforms that substantially support the health and education of users.

    “We are not saying risks don’t exist on messaging apps or online gaming. While users can still be exposed to harmful content by other users, they do not face the same algorithmic curation of content and psychological manipulation to encourage near-endless engagement,” Rowland said.

    The government announced last week that a consortium led by British company Age Check Certification Scheme has been contracted to examine various technologies to estimate and verify ages.

    In addition to removing children under 16 from social media, Australia is also looking for ways to prevent children under 18 from accessing online pornography, a government statement said.

    Age Check Certification Scheme’s chief executive Tony Allen said Monday the technologies being considered included age estimation and age inference. Inference involves establishing a series of facts about individuals that point to them being at least a certain age.

    Rowland said the platforms would also face fines of up to AU$50 million ($33 million) if they misused personal information of users gained for age-assurance purposes.

    Information used for age assurances must be destroyed after serving that purpose unless the user consents to it being kept, she said.

    Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia, described the age limit as a “20th century response to 21st century challenges.”

    Source link

  • Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular and problematic

    Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular and problematic

    MELBOURNE, Australia — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult.

    The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

    The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.

    But a vocal assortment of experts in the fields of technology and child welfare have responded with alarm. More than 140 such experts signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

    Details of what is proposed and how it will be implemented are scant. More will be known when legislation is introduced into the Parliament next week.

    Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, laments that lawmakers imposing the ban lack the perspective on social media that young people have gained by growing up in the digital age.

    “With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Leo said.

    “It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content – young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV – and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” Leo added.

    Leo has been applauded for his work online. His home state Victoria nominated him for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.”

    One of the proposal’s supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children.

    Her 15-year-old daughter Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator.

    “Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Sonya Ryan said.

    “The result of that is we’re losing our kids. Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people,” she added.

    Sonya Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.

    She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16.

    “We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media.”

    A major concern for social media users of all ages is the legislation’s potential privacy implications.

    Age estimation technology has proved inaccurate, so digital identification appears to be the most likely option for assuring a user is at least 16.

    Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an office that describes itself as the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online, has suggested in planning documents adopting the role of authenticator. The government would hold the identity data and the platforms would discover through the commissioner whether a potential account holder was 16.

    Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, fears that the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data instead.

    The government has already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit.

    “The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing towards, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said.

    “They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added.

    The platforms will have a year once the legislation has become law to work out how the ban can be implemented.

    Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media.

    “What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked.

    Source link

  • When should kids start using social media? Australia’s government proposes age limit of 16

    When should kids start using social media? Australia’s government proposes age limit of 16

    MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.

    “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

    The legislation will be introduced in Parliament during its final two weeks in session this year, which begin on Nov. 18. The age limit would take effect 12 months after the law is passed, Albanese told reporters.

    The platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook would need to use that year to work out how to exclude Australian children younger than 16.

    “I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online,” Albanese said.

    Social media platforms would be penalized for breaching the age limit, but under-age children and their parents would not.

    “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” Albanese said.

    Antigone Davis, head of safety at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company would respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce.

    “However, what’s missing is a deeper discussion on how we implement protections, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place,” Davis said in a statement.

    She added that stronger tools in app stores and operating systems for parents to control what apps their children can use would be a “simple and effective solution.”

    X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. TikTok declined to comment.

    The Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia, described the age limit as a “20th Century response to 21st Century challenges.”

    “Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm,” DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.

    More than 140 Australian and international academics with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

    Jackie Hallan, a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut, opposed the ban. She said 73% of young people across Australia accessing mental health support did so through social media.

    “We’re uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are likely to circumvent a ban and our concern is that it really drives the behavior underground and then if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they’re worried about getting in trouble,” Hallan said.

    Child psychologist Philip Tam said a minimum age of 12 or 13 would have been more enforceable.

    “My real fear honestly is that the problem of social media will simply be driven underground,” Tam said.

    Australian National University lawyer Associate Prof. Faith Gordon feared separating children from there platforms could create pressures within families.

    Albanese said there would be exclusions and exemptions in circumstances such as a need to continue access to educational services.

    But parental consent would not entitle a child under 16 to access social media.

    Earlier this year, the government began a trial of age-restriciton technologies. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, the online watchdog that will police compliance, will use the results of that trial to provide platforms with guidance on what reasonable steps they can take.

    Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the year-long lead-in would ensure the age limit could be implemented in a “very practical way.”

    “There does need to be enhanced penalties to ensure compliance,” Rowland said.

    “Every company that operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences,” she added.

    Source link

  • Parents whose kids attend one of Australia’s most exclusive schools take drastic action after Aussie sporting legend was banned from speaking to students

    Parents whose kids attend one of Australia’s most exclusive schools take drastic action after Aussie sporting legend was banned from speaking to students

    • Prestigious Sydney Grammar School called off speech by star
    • LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday

    By James Cooney For Daily Mail Australia

    Published: | Updated:

    Parents of children attending Sydney Grammar School have found a way around the institution’s ban on former Socceroos captain Craig Foster giving a lecture to students.

    Foster was scheduled to give a guest lecture to students at Sydney Grammar, but the $45,000-a-year institution decided to can the football great turned human rights activist.

    Exactly why he was cancelled isn’t clear, but there is speculation the move was prompted by Foster’s strident criticism of Israel and his recent snubbing of an invitation to meet King Charles.

    ‘We are very mindful that our Ithaka Lecture series must also acknowledge and be respectful of the impact it may have on the wellbeing of members of our community,’ said headmaster Richard Malpass in an email to parents.

    ‘We believe it is not in the best interests of our community at this time for the lecture scheduled for 23 October to proceed.’

    But it seems Grammar students will get to hear from Foster after parents organised a room at the State Library for the lecture. 

    ‘In light of the cancellation of last week’s Sydney Grammar lecture, which was full, parents of the boys, particularly mothers, asked if I would still take the time to speak to their sons,’ Foster announced on social media.

    The event has proved very popular, with organisers having to double the capacity of the space and now offering a live-stream option to those who can’t attend in person.

    Craig Foster was recently blocked from giving a lecture to Sydney Grammar School students

    Craig Foster was recently blocked from giving a lecture to Sydney Grammar School students

    Parents of students from Sydney Grammar (pictured) organised another venue for Foster to give his talk to their sons

    Parents of students from Sydney Grammar (pictured) organised another venue for Foster to give his talk to their sons

    Foster made headlines in May when he stepped down as co-chair of the ARM along with Aussie Olympics great Nova Peris.

    Ms Peris said her decision to step down was due to her belief Mr Foster’s decision to write to Football Australia, the International Federation of Association Football and the West Asian Football Federation asking them asking them to suspend Israel from an upcoming FIFA conference ‘had created division’.

    The former Socceroos star published his letter online, which explained that the International Court of Justice had deemed Israel’s actions as ‘plausible genocide’.

    ‘Every member of the football community and your governing body, Football Australia has a duty of care to do everything possible to stop genocide wherever, and whenever it occurs,’ he said.

    But Ms Peris said his comments had created division within not only ARM but also across the country.

    Foster has made headlines for his strident criticism of Israel and his recent snubbing of an invitation to meet King Charles III

    Foster has made headlines for his strident criticism of Israel and his recent snubbing of an invitation to meet King Charles III

    Forster also made waves earlier in October for the way he turned down an opportunity to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla on their tour of Australia.

    The former co-chair of the Australian Republican Movement recently received an invite from NSW Premier Chris Minns and his wife Anna to attend a function where he would be ‘in the presence of’ the royal couple, who begin their journey down under on October 18.

    Foster took to X to reply: ‘Thanks Anna and @ChrisMinnsMP. But, no thanks. I look forward to being ‘in the presence of’ our first Aussie Head of State. When we put our big pants on, as a country.’

    Source link

  • One of Australia’s biggest sporting codes is hit by bombshell $30million lawsuit that could spell financial disaster

    One of Australia’s biggest sporting codes is hit by bombshell $30million lawsuit that could spell financial disaster

    • Club is fighting to rejoin competition after being axed 
    • Losing legal fight would be disastrous for governing body

    By Aap and James Cooney For Daily Mail Australia

    Published: | Updated:

    The Melbourne Rebels are seeking $30 million from Rugby Australia in a lawsuit launched after the club was dissolved by the governing body.

    In a claim filed to the Federal Court on Wednesday, the club is seeking a declaration that it can resume control of the Rebels so the team can continue to play in the Super Rugby competition.

    ‘The Rebels are a member of Rugby Australia and had a legal expectation that they would not only be treated fairly but that they would be treated equally to other members,’ the club said in a statement.

    ‘Amongst other things, the Rebels will assert that Rugby Australia has breached various sections of the Corporations Act.’

    The club is also seeking that the court order Rugby Australia to open its books for inspection to determine claims it failed funding responsibilities for the Rebels, including when players were representing the Wallabies.

    In the statement, the club said it believed there had been ‘unacceptable and unauthorised spending’ by Rugby Australia, including during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

    The Rebels claim Rugby Australia executives and directors continued to reassure it, and other teams, that a large private equity deal would provide a financial lifeline to the sport.

    ‘Rugby Australia did secure an $80 million loan facility, but they chose only to provide funding, indemnities or other financial support to the NSW Waratahs and subsequently the ACT Brumbies in preference to the Melbourne Rebels,’ the club said.

    The Melbourne Rebels have launched a $30 million lawsuit against Rugby Australia

    The Melbourne Rebels have launched a $30 million lawsuit against Rugby Australia

    The Melbourne Rebels were axed by Rugby Australia in May (RA CEO Phil Waugh)

    The Melbourne Rebels were axed by Rugby Australia in May (RA CEO Phil Waugh)

     The Rebels were axed by Rugby Australia in May after entering voluntary administration five months earlier with debts exceeding $23 million.

    ‘While this is undoubtedly a sad day for the Melbourne Rebels, the clarity that this decision provides for our players and staff is welcome,’ a statement from the Rebels said at the time.

    ‘The club will continue to work with RA and the Rugby Union Players Association [RUPA] regarding next steps for players and staff.’

    A consortium led by business heavyweight Leigh Clifford put forward a plan to fund the club until 2030 dependent on RA handing back the licence to them, with funding promises.

    The directors of the Rebels also want the team to continue playing in the Super Rugby Pacific competition

    The directors of the Rebels also want the team to continue playing in the Super Rugby Pacific competition

    But RA boss Phil Waugh said the identity of the consortium members had not been disclosed, their credentials were unable to be fully assessed and the lack of detail made available created an ‘unacceptable level of risk’ and the decision was made to shut the club down.

    Many players and staff have since joined other clubs.

    Rugby Australia has been contacted for comment.

    Source link

  • Sports Insider: Australia’s NRL is failing international rugby league

    Sports Insider: Australia’s NRL is failing international rugby league

    AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
    AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.

    Source link

  • Australia’s online dating industry adopts code of conduct to keep users safer

    Australia’s online dating industry adopts code of conduct to keep users safer

    MELBOURNE, Australia — A code of conduct will be enforced on the online dating industry to better protect Australian users after research found that three-in-four people suffer some form of sexual violence through the platforms, Australia’s government said on Tuesday.

    Bumble, Grindr and Match Group Inc., a Texas-based company that owns platforms including Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish, have agreed to the code that took effect on Tuesday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.

    The platforms, which account for 75% of the industry in Australia, have until April 1 to implement the changes before they are strictly enforced, Rowland said.

    The code requires the platforms’ systems to detect potential incidents of online-enabled harm and demands that the accounts of some offenders are terminated.

    Complaint and reporting mechanisms are to be made prominent and transparent. A new rating system will show users how well platforms are meeting their obligations under the code.

    The government called for a code of conduct last year after the Australian Institute of Criminology research found that three-in-four users of dating apps or websites had experienced some form of sexual violence through these platforms in the five years through 2021.

    “There needs to be a complaint-handling process. This is a pretty basic feature that Australians would have expected in the first place,” Rowland told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday.

    “If there are grounds to ban a particular individual from utilizing one of those platforms, if they’re banned on one platform, they’re blocked on all platforms,” she added.

    Bumble said it shared the government’s hope of eliminating gender-based violence and was grateful for the opportunity to work with the government and industry on what the platform described as a “world-first dating code of practice.”

    “We know that domestic and sexual violence is an enormous problem in Australia, and that women, members of LGBTQ+ communities, and First Nations are the most at risk,” a Bumble statement said.

    “Bumble puts women’s experiences at the center of our mission to create a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable, and safety has been central to our mission from day one,” Bumble added.

    The other platforms that signed up to the code did not immediately respond to request for comment on Tuesday. All helped design the code.

    Platforms that have not signed up include Happn, Coffee Meets Bagel and Feeld.

    The government expects the code will enable Australians to make better informed choices about which dating apps are best equipped to provide a safe dating experience.

    The government has also warned the online dating industry that it will legislate if the operators fail to keep Australians safe on their platforms.

    Source link

  • Former All Black Hosea Gear is living the Mediterranean lifestyle on Australia’s Sunshine Coast

    Former All Black Hosea Gear is living the Mediterranean lifestyle on Australia’s Sunshine Coast

    Hosea waves out to those who call his name as they enter, clearly enjoying this move to hospitality, but as for its success, he gives all that credit to Kate.

    Casita, meaning “little house” in Spanish, reflects Hosea Gear’s Mediterranean inspiration. Photo / Casita
    Casita, meaning “little house” in Spanish, reflects Hosea Gear’s Mediterranean inspiration. Photo / Casita

    A winning career

    Born and raised in Gisborne, Hosea played 14 tests for the All Blacks from 2008 to 2012 before he left to play for the Toulouse club in France.

    The couple always knew they’d one day return and settle in Australia, and after eight years, in 2020, they did just that.

    AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.

    “Kate’s from the central coast (north of Sydney), although her dad’s originally from Kaitaia, and we always wanted to move back and live by the beach,” says Hosea.

    “We initially looked at Sydney, but it’s so expensive, so we did a road trip from Sydney to Noosa and stopped at all the beach towns along the way … and we just searched until we found something, and we loved it here. It reminds me of home actually because of the small town and community.”

    A year later, Hosea took on a role as the head rugby coach at Sunshine Coast Grammar School, before he and Kate decided to buy an unassuming tiny brick shopfront and convert it into a sleek Mediterranean-styled wine bar, and they’ve never looked back.

    The wine bar’s interior design includes curved arches and limewashed walls, echoing Mediterranean architecture. Photo / Casita
    The wine bar’s interior design includes curved arches and limewashed walls, echoing Mediterranean architecture. Photo / Casita

    Rugby to wine

    Hosea says the decision to launch into hospitality came from wanting to bring a small part of the things they missed from their time on the French/Spanish border to their new hometown.

    “Over there, they have the right balance of life and work, and we wanted to bring back all the things we loved in the Mediterranean here. For me, it’s also nice to do something Kate really loves because it’s always been about my career.’

    Minutes later, Kate joins us. She’s been at the region’s premier annual food and drink festival, The Curated Plate. There are around 90 events running over 10 days, all championing local producers.

    The Curated Plate is the Sunshine Coast's premier annual food and drink festival, featuring around 90 events, including cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Hayden Quinn. Photo / Kirstie Bedford
    The Curated Plate is the Sunshine Coast’s premier annual food and drink festival, featuring around 90 events, including cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Hayden Quinn. Photo / Kirstie Bedford

    Think Mad Hatters Tea Party, where you sit on long tables under the lychee trees at family-owned Yanalla Farms in the Glass House Mountains drinking cocktails with lychees and eating sweet treats; and a gin-tasting at a century-old sugarcane farm where a new generation, Luke and Kylie Farrelly have launched Canefields Distillery as a way to continue the family legacy.

    Many of those participating in the festival are local, family-run producers and artisans, all following a dream, and their passion for food and wine is palpable – and it’s clear after a few minutes of talking to Kate, she’s in hospitality for the same reasons.

    “I love wine and loved our experience living in the Mediterranean and this is a combination of that. There is also no other wine bar here and we wanted to create a beautiful space near the beach for people to catch up.

    “It reflects us on holidays during our life in the Mediterranean and it reminds me of going to coastal towns in summer with the kids, and there was nothing like that here.”

    AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
    Casita is just 100m from Mooloolaba Beach. Photo / Visit Sunshine Coast
    Casita is just 100m from Mooloolaba Beach. Photo / Visit Sunshine Coast

    The concept

    To ensure they had an authentic menu, the couple brought in an Italian chef who created classic Mediterranean charcuterie plates, among other dishes. Think serrano sliders, caprese skewers, Mediterranean olives and smoked salmon crostini – all made from local and imported artisan products.

    It’s all matched with predominantly Mediterranean wines, but some Australian and New Zealand wines have made their way to the list.

    Before I leave, I tell them they must be proud of their success given how busy the bar is.

    “That’s what I love the most,” says Kate. “To be honest, it was scary going into a new industry, but it’s been fun, and everyone has been so supportive. The most rewarding thing is we’re learning every day. And my advice is if you’re ever going to do it, start small!”

    While they may have started small, they are already looking at expansion, and have bought the neighbouring property with plans to start a Mediterranean restaurant to complement the wine bar.

    As for the next generation taking over the bar and restaurant business, “All the kids are playing rugby,” says Hosea excitedly, so I guess it could go either way.

    AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
    Hosea Gear and his partner, Kate Yates, in their wine bar, Casita. Photo / Kirstie Bedford
    Hosea Gear and his partner, Kate Yates, in their wine bar, Casita. Photo / Kirstie Bedford

    Checklist

    Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland

    GETTING THERE

    Fly from Auckland to the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) non-stop with Air New Zealand, Qantas or Jetstar.

    Mooloolaba is roughly 5.5km from Maroochydore by car.

    DETAILS

    visitsunshinecoast.com

    instagram.com/casitawinebar



    Source link