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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Warlpa Thompson, Wiimpatja Aboriginal Owner of Mutawintji National Park, Indigenous Knowledge

Hidden among the red sandstone escarpments of Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales lives a rare lizard, long isolated in this arid landscape.

Known to Wiimpatja Aboriginal Owners as kungaka – “the hidden one” – we have now scientifically described it as a new species: Liopholis mutawintji.

For decades, this little lizard was thought to be an isolated population of a widespread skink. However, through a research collaboration between Wiimpatja and scientists we have confirmed it as a distinct species found nowhere else on Earth.

We have been monitoring them for 25 years. We believe there may be only be up to 20 individual kungaka remaining. It may be one of Australia’s rarest reptiles.

How we identified this new species

The kungaka was previously thought to be a highly isolated population of White’s skink (Liopholis whitii), a widespread species that lives in rocky habitats across south-eastern Australia.

But through analysing its genetics, and variations in body shape, we confirmed this skink is actually three distinct species. Two of these, the southern White’s skink (Liopholis whitii) and northern White’s skink (Liopholis compressicauda) occur across large areas of south-east Australia. The third – the kungaka – is restricted to Mutawintji National Park, about 500km from its closest relatives.

The kungaka represents an ancient lineage that likely originated during earlier, wetter periods in Australia’s history. As the continent dried, this skink persisted in humid rocky refuges. Today, it survives in a tiny, isolated pocket of sheltered gorge in Mutawintji, surrounded by a hot and dry expanse of saltbush and stony plains.

Wiimpatja have worked alongside ecologists and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to monitor the kungaka population since 2000, with surveys intensifying since 2019. Over that time, the outlook has become increasingly concerning. Fewer than 20 individuals have been counted since surveys in 2024, using pattern recognition methods from photographs. And there has been a decline in its range, the number of skinks observed and the habitat where it lives.

Goats, cats and foxes

One of the most significant threats to the kungaka is feral goats. These occur in large numbers in the region and damage the environment by overgrazing vegetation and trampling fragile rocky areas.

This damages the rocks kungaka rely on for shelter, and exposes them to predators and extreme temperatures. Goats are also a significant threat to Mutawintji’s endangered Wangarru, or yellow-footed rock-wallaby, as they compete for the same food and shelter. However, conservation work for Wangarru has been a major success story, with the population growing over the past decade.

Other threats are compounding the problem for the kungaka. Introduced predators such as cats and foxes may prey on them, while climate change is intensifying heat and drought across the region. The 2017–19 drought was the hottest and driest on record for far western NSW. For a species with such a small population, these pressures may be overwhelming.

Kungaka as family

From Warlpa Thompson: For Wiimpatja, the kungaka is inseparable from people, country and culture. Every animal and every plant have people attached to them. There would have been people whose meat, their blood, their family is the kungaka. And these people are now gone. But the lizards aren’t.

In some places the animal is gone out of the landscape, but the people are still there. Like the bilby mob that live in Wilcannia, or the dingo mob from Mutawintji. With the kungaka, we’ve got the reverse. The people are gone but the lizards are still here.

Our old people had to fight for the right to get their country back. Now we’ve got it, we’re looking at how do we bring things back. How do we bring culture back? How do we bring our animals back?

The numbers of Wangurru have boomed in the last ten years. Hopefully we can do the same with the kungaka. A big part of that is making sure that our young people are involved so they know what it means to look after country, and the plants and animals from our country.

It’s important our kids don’t just get the cultural knowledge from us, but they get the scientific knowledge and understanding, so they know everything that it is to talk for that animal, not just balanced with one side or the other.

The future of the kungaka

There is a shared responsibility to protect and conserve the kungaka. We need to control goats, cats and foxes, search for additional populations and monitor them long-term. Given the kungaka’s extremely small population size, actions such as captive breeding may be required.

Scientific description of the kungaka is just the first step. If fewer than 20 individuals remain, it stands on the brink of extinction. The survival of this unique lizard will depend on sustained, long-term collaborative partnerships.

From Warlpa Thompson: Whatever we do needs to be done on Country, and led by Wiimpatja. That knowledge has to be driven by us but we need help to look after this lizard. It’s in such a bad position that we’re going to need everyone working together, in a culturally grounded way.

Acknowledgements: scientific description and conservation of the kungaka has been a truly collaborative effort, made possible through the dedication and knowledge of many individuals. We acknowledge the important work and contributions of Gerry Swan, Lyndy Marshall, Keanu Garni Bates, Ray Hunter-McKeller, Nhalpa Thompson and Dane Trembath, whose involvement have been integral to this research and its outcomes.

– ref. Meet kungaka – ‘the hidden one’. This ancient lizard could be the rarest reptile in Australia – https://theconversation.com/meet-kungaka-the-hidden-one-this-ancient-lizard-could-be-the-rarest-reptile-in-australia-279561

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/meet-kungaka-the-hidden-one-this-ancient-lizard-could-be-the-rarest-reptile-in-australia-279561/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 14, 2026.

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Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-april-14-2026/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Professor of History, Australian Catholic University

When Pope Leo XIV condemned threats to destroy Iranian civilisation as “truly unacceptable” in April 2026, the backlash was immediate. US President Donald Trump unleashed a tirade against the pope on social media, accusing him of being “weak on crime”, “terrible for foreign policy”, and acting like a politician rather than a religious leader.

But the exchange that followed matters more than the accusation. Confronted with criticism from Trump, Leo did not retreat. He made his position explicit: he was not afraid to speak, because his task was to proclaim the gospel.

Leo said he had “no fear of the Trump administration”, and “I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing”.

That response clarifies the logic of his pontificate. Leo XIV is not trying to enter politics. He is defining the limits within which politics can operate.

Trump’s attack was heightened when he posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, which caused an outcry even among his supporters. He has since deleted the post.

God, not politics

Pope Leo’s opposition to the Iran war is not political in origin. It is moral and theological. It rests on a consistent claim: power must be judged, violence must be restrained, and invoking God to justify destruction is a distortion of both religion and public life.

From the beginning of his pontificate, Leo XIV has made this clear. Elected on May 8 2025, he used his first public address to call for dialogue, unity, and what he described as an “unarmed and disarming peace”. This was not positioning. It was a statement of purpose.

Since then, his interventions have followed a clear pattern. In 2025, as conflicts intensified in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, he called repeatedly for ceasefires, humanitarian protection, and renewed diplomacy. He avoided strategic language. Instead, he focused on human dignity and the moral cost of war.

The pattern continued into 2026. On March 8, as the Iran conflict escalated, he called for an end to bombing and urged that “weapons may fall silent” to allow dialogue. On April 11, at a prayer vigil in St Peter’s Basilica, he sharpened his language. He warned of a “delusion of omnipotence” driving war and declared: “Enough of war”.

These are not policy prescriptions. They do not tell governments how to conduct war. They ask whether such wars can be justified at all.

This distinction lies at the centre of the current dispute. Political leaders operate within frameworks of interest, security, and power. Leo XIV operates within a framework of moral judgement. When those frameworks collide, his interventions are labelled political.

Yet his response to Trump shows he does not accept that framing. He has insisted his role is not to compete with political authority, but to speak from the gospel, even when that provokes criticism.

This is not new, but it is unusually explicit. Leo is drawing a line between two forms of authority: one grounded in power, the other in moral responsibility. He does not claim to direct political outcomes. He claims the right, and the duty, to judge them.

Beyond war

The same logic shapes his interventions beyond war. On migration, he has framed the issue in terms of human dignity, questioning whether harsh treatment of migrants can be reconciled with a consistent ethic of life. On social questions, he has resisted partisan categories, insisting moral coherence matters more than political alignment.

His engagement with artificial intelligence follows the same pattern. In December 2025, he warned that technological development must serve the common good, not concentrate power in the hands of a few. The question, again, was not technical but ethical: what does it mean to respect human dignity in a changing world?

Across these issues, the method is consistent. Leo XIV begins with principles, not interests. He does not align with factions. He applies moral reasoning to contemporary problems, even when doing so invites political backlash.

This approach reflects his formation. Born in Chicago in 1955 and shaped by decades of pastoral work in Peru, he encountered the realities of violence, inequality, and political instability firsthand. Those experiences did not draw him into politics. They reinforced a conviction that power must be accountable to moral limits.

His intellectual work supports this view. In his 1987 doctoral thesis, he argued authority is not domination but service, grounded in a moral order rather than human will. That understanding carries into his papacy. When Leo XIV speaks, he does not seek to exercise power. He seeks to define its boundaries.

This is why his interventions provoke strong reactions. They do not remain abstract. They challenge real decisions, real policies, and real uses of force. They question the assumptions that underpin them.

In a political culture that often treats moral claims as secondary, this is disruptive. It exposes a tension that cannot easily be resolved: whether decisions about war, migration, or technology can be separated from questions of right and wrong.

Leo XIV’s answer is clear. They cannot.

His exchange with Trump brings that tension into focus. Trump’s criticism reflects a familiar expectation: that religious leaders should avoid direct engagement with political decisions. His response rejects that expectation. He does not present himself as a political actor. He presents himself as a moral voice that cannot be silent.

There is also a longer perspective at work. Political leaders operate within electoral cycles. Their decisions are shaped by immediate pressures. The papacy operates across generations. Its interventions are rarely decisive in the moment, but they shape how events are judged over time.

Leo XIV’s stance on the Iran war belongs to that longer horizon. It is not an attempt to determine outcomes. It is an attempt to set limits: on power, on violence, and on the use of religious language to justify either.

– ref. Pope Leo’s resolute response to Trump attack reveals a man of God, not politics – https://theconversation.com/pope-leos-resolute-response-to-trump-attack-reveals-a-man-of-god-not-politics-280469

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/pope-leos-resolute-response-to-trump-attack-reveals-a-man-of-god-not-politics-280469/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, The University of Melbourne

The recent military conflict in the Middle East triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices throughout March, with the federal government’s subsequent excise cut providing only partial relief.

To address the increased cost of travel, Victoria and Tasmania introduced free public transport.

Queensland already had a 50-cent flat fare in place.

Other states and territories have not implemented similar measures.

But the moves by Victoria and Tasmania created a natural comparison: there are similar fuel price pressures but different public transport pricing across Australian states.

We examined how car use and travel patterns have changed since early April across three Australian states. Here’s what we found.

An unprecedented situation

The effectiveness of free public transport lies not only in increasing patronage, but in how much of that increase comes from reduced car use.

Evidence from Australia and other countries shows more people use public transport when it’s free. But much of this increase does not come from drivers switching modes. It often reflects more frequent use by existing public transport users, or shifts from walking and cycling.

What had not been tested is how people respond under a sudden fuel price increase. This created a rare situation where past evidence offered limited guidance.

We therefore examined this empirically. We surveyed nearly 2,000 Australians across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland about a week after free public transport was introduced in Victoria. This allowed us to observe how travellers responded to rising fuel prices under different public transport pricing regimes.

How rising fuel prices changed travel

Our analysis shows car use has declined: across the three states, about 42% of respondents reported reducing their driving, with broadly similar patterns across states.

The shift to public transport, however, has not been uniform.

In Queensland, where fares were already heavily discounted, 21% reported shifting some commuting trips from car to public transport. This compares to about 24% in NSW and 26% in Victoria.

Free public transport in Victoria appears to have had some effect in shifting demand away from cars, but the difference compared to NSW – where fares remained unchanged – is modest rather than dramatic.

Non-work trips have been less responsive. On average, about 17% reported shifting some non-work trips to public transport, again with Victoria slightly higher at around 19%.

Other adjustments have also emerged. Around 16% reported working from home more often, while about 12% are now considering purchasing an electric vehicle.

The barriers beyond fare price

Given the high price of fuel and free public transport in Victoria, what has stopped people from embracing public transport more?

Access could be the key.

Across the sample, only about 49% reported they had good access to public transport, while the rest reported limited or none.

More than 30% reported public transport is not accessible to them within a reasonable walking distance (10-15 minutes). About 25% said it requires at least a short drive.

About 62% reported either they do not have a park-and-ride option (car parks at train stations) at the nearest station or stop, or that the parking is always full.

Another issue is the increase in travel time when using public transport, with about 70% saying their trip will be slower with public transport.

Access and travel time are only part of the story though. For many car users, familiarity with the public transport network also matters.

Planned disruptions – such as service replacements or altered routes – can make journeys more complex and less predictable.

For regular users, these may be manageable. But for those considering a mode shift, even small complications can act as a deterrent and negate the free fare policy. In that sense, disruptions are not conducive to encouraging new users at a time when incentives are in place.

Effective or just popular policy?

The patterns we observe suggest travellers are sensitive to cost.

Around four in ten people reported reducing their driving during the fuel price spike, indicating clear sensitivity to rising costs.

However, the relatively small difference between Victoria, where public transport was free, and NSW – where fares remained unchanged – suggests price is not the main constraint on mode shift. Access, travel time, service reliability and the ability to make specific trips appear to matter more.

This limits how effective fare-free policies can be in reducing car dependence. But effectiveness is only one dimension of policy. There is also public support.

Our results show free public transport is widely popular, with around 78% of respondents agreeing to varying degrees that it should be implemented during periods of high fuel prices – even if they are unlikely to use it themselves.

There is also recognition of shared responsibility: more than 70% agree reducing car use during such periods is a social responsibility, particularly to help ease demand for fuel.

But the broader reduction in car use appears to have been driven by fuel prices themselves, not fare policy. Victoria’s free public transport may have helped at the margins, but it did not produce a markedly different outcome from states that did not intervene.

This suggests that while fare relief is popular and can expand options, it is not, on its own, a decisive lever for reducing car dependence.

– ref. Victoria has made public transport free – NSW hasn’t. Has there been any difference in uptake? – https://theconversation.com/victoria-has-made-public-transport-free-nsw-hasnt-has-there-been-any-difference-in-uptake-280361

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/victoria-has-made-public-transport-free-nsw-hasnt-has-there-been-any-difference-in-uptake-280361/

COMMENTARY: By Lim Tean

This US naval blockade is meant to strangle the Iranian economy by preventing it from exporting oil — the economic lifeline of Iran. It will do nothing of the sort.

Please study the infographics below. Before the war started, Iran was furiously loading tankers with oil at 3 times the normal rate and sending them off to the Far East, with the ultimate destination being China.

China buys 90 percent of Iranian oil, with many of its private refineries — known colloquially as “tea pot” refineries — depending on Iranian crude.

There are presently at least 158 million barrels of Iranian oil sitting in some 96 tankers anchored near the Malaysian state of Johor. There, ship-to-ship transfers take place, before the shipments go off to their final destinations in China.

So this naval blockade will cost the Americans billions of dollars to maintain, but the only thing it will achieve is to make countries dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf such as Australia, Britain, Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh cry.

American voters will get mad at Trump for the surging prices at the pump and give the Republicans a shellacking in the mid-terms.

Iran rolling in cash
Iran will be rolling in cash from the sale of these 158 million barrels of oil already at sea and far away from any naval blockade, and the Iranians will be laughing at the stupidity of the Americans.

Isn’t this the classic illustration of the saying  “closing the stable door after the horse has bolted”?

Let us see how long Trump can afford to keep up with this charade.

You would think that American intelligence would have the wherewithal to better advise their President what a harebrained idea his naval blockade is.

Lim Tean is a Singaporean lawyer, politician and commentator. He is the founder of the political party People’s Voice and a co-founder of the political alliance People’s Alliance for Reform.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/why-trumps-naval-blockade-to-strangle-iran-is-a-joke/