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Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the daily This is

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Speaker 1: the Daily.

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Speaker 2: Ohs oh, now it makes sense.

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Speaker 3: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Friday,

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Speaker 3: the tenth of May.

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Speaker 2: I'm Zara, I'm Sam.

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Speaker 3: This week a Western Sydney council voted to remove material

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Speaker 3: about same sex parenting from its library.

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Speaker 2: Shells Cumberland Council in Sydney's West is copying a bit

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Speaker 2: of flat after voting to ban same sex parenting books

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Speaker 2: from its libraries. The site of a boy with two

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Speaker 2: dads on a book cover at a Cumberland City Council

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Speaker 2: library was too much for some.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's a serious issue about censorship.

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Speaker 3: The motion was led by a Cumberland City councilor who

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Speaker 3: claims he received multiple complaints about the local library book.

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Speaker 3: In the days following the announcement, the New South Wales

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Speaker 3: government threatened to reduce its funding for libraries in the

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Speaker 3: area amid calls to reverse the ban. On today's podcast,

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Speaker 3: we will dive into the headlines you've been seeing everywhere

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Speaker 3: about the book ban and explain the context and the

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Speaker 3: fallout of the decision. But first Sam, what's making headlines.

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Speaker 2: The Department of Health has introduced new national standards for

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Speaker 2: psychotropic medications. That's medications broadly defined as being capable of

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Speaker 2: affecting the mind, emotions, and behavior, like antidepressants, stimulants, and antipsychotics.

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Speaker 2: The Department's Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare reported

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Speaker 2: a sixty percent increase in prescriptions of psychotropics over the

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Speaker 2: past three decades. It's now launched a national standard aimed

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Speaker 2: at ensuring quote, responsible and appropriate use of psychotropic medicines.

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Speaker 2: The Commission said its guidelines quote highlight the importance of

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Speaker 2: non medication interventions. It warned against prescribing psychotropics as a

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Speaker 2: first step to address concerning behaviors.

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Speaker 3: China has accused Australia of spying after an incident over

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Speaker 3: the Yellow Sea involving an Australian helicopter and a Chinese

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Speaker 3: fighter jet. The federal government said the jet came dangerously

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Speaker 3: close to an Australian Navy helicopter. The Australian Navy has

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Speaker 3: now been accused of spying on China, after a Chinese

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Speaker 3: spokesperson initially said the incident happened over international waters. However,

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Speaker 3: the Chinese Ministry of Defense has now released a statement

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Speaker 3: accusing Australia of using its helicopter to spy on a

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Speaker 3: military training operation.

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Speaker 2: Vanuatu's national airline, Air Vanuatu, has canceled all international flights

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Speaker 2: after its chairman said the carrier's board of directors quote

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Speaker 2: no longer exists. Air Vanuatu operates services from Brisbane and Sydney.

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Speaker 2: In a post to ex Brisbane Airport said the airline

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Speaker 2: has canceled its upcoming services and warned passengers not to

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Speaker 2: come to the airport. The airline has gone into voluntary administration,

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Speaker 2: with an external accounting firm appointed to take over business operations.

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Speaker 2: That's all, according to local media reports. It comes after

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Speaker 2: budget Australian domestic airline Bonza also entered voluntary administration earlier

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Speaker 2: this month.

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Speaker 3: And the good news. An endangered native mouse species has

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Speaker 3: been reintroduced to an area it hasn't been seen in

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Speaker 3: in nearly fifty years after a successful breeding program at

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Speaker 3: Melbourne Zoo. Pooquila are considered extinct at seven of twelve

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Speaker 3: known locations throughout Victoria, with less than three thousand of

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Speaker 3: the rodents estimated to be left in the state. This week,

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Speaker 3: nearly thirty pookuila were released in a small fenced off

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Speaker 3: area Melbourne's southeast as part of efforts to boost population numbers.

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Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Nish and I'm the lead developer at the

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Speaker 1: Dally Odds. I'm responsible for developing all the tech that

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Speaker 1: we use, from the website to the newsletter in just

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Speaker 1: two seconds. You can help the daly Oods grow just

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Speaker 1: by clicking follow on Apple or Spotify. And if you

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Speaker 1: want to leave us a review that also helps a

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Speaker 1: lot too. Thank you and now back to the deep dive.

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Speaker 3: So this week, a Western Sydney council voted to remove

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Speaker 3: material about same sex parenting from its library shells. Now,

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Speaker 3: this is a story that has been everywhere this week

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Speaker 3: and it essentially came after a local counselor claimed he

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Speaker 3: had received multiple complaints about this specific library book that

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Speaker 3: is about same sex parenting, and in the end that

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Speaker 3: band ended up passing in a six ' five vote.

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Speaker 2: This feels like a really American conversation to be having.

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Speaker 2: It's weird to be talking about book bands in Australia.

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Speaker 2: Can we start by talking about the actual book that's

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Speaker 2: in question here?

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Speaker 3: Yes? So the children's book is called Same Sex Parents

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Speaker 3: by Holly Doohig. I went to look up the book

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Speaker 3: and found a blurb and also a bit of a

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Speaker 3: preview of the book. So I'll quote the blurb first

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Speaker 3: to give you a sense of what the book is

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Speaker 3: actually about. Says every family is different and unique. This

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Speaker 3: title explores what it's like having two mums or two dads,

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Speaker 3: offers answers to curious questions from peers, and shows how

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Speaker 3: all families love each other regardles of gender. I then

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Speaker 3: looked at the preview of the book online and the

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Speaker 3: page that's on the preview is about weddings. It set

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Speaker 3: out very much like a children's book. It is a

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Speaker 3: children's book. I think it's aimed between the ages of

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Speaker 3: five and seven years old. And on this page it

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Speaker 3: says my dad and daddy are husband's They got married

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Speaker 3: when I was five. I was the bridesmaid, and it

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Speaker 3: has a graphic of a young person and then the

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Speaker 3: two dads in it. A bit more about the author.

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Speaker 3: She's written other children's books. I found a couple of them.

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Speaker 3: They're about change in resilience. There are a lot about space,

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Speaker 3: every single space topic you could think of, and a

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Speaker 3: couple about animals as well.

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Speaker 2: And so the case being put forward by this local

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Speaker 2: counselor is that this book had complaints? Right?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? So, Cumberland City Councilor Steve Christus said that he

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Speaker 3: had received complaints from parents about this same sex Parents book.

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Speaker 3: I will just add though, that based on interviews, he

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Speaker 3: wasn't making clear how many complaints he'd actually received, so

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Speaker 3: we don't know that exact number. He then called for

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Speaker 3: a vote to strip Cumberland's eight libraries of same sex

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Speaker 3: parent books and materials. On the matter, he said, and

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Speaker 3: I'll quote him here, our kids shouldn't be exposed to

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Speaker 3: sexualized behavior through same sex parent books. He said that

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Speaker 3: the book goes against his community's religious beliefs and family values.

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Speaker 3: Do you think it's important to add here before we

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Speaker 3: go on that. The Cdney Morning Herald specifically asked him

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Speaker 3: if he had read the book. He said no, he said,

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Speaker 3: I have not. I've been very open about that. But

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Speaker 3: he is the one that led this call and the

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Speaker 3: motion for the books to be banned.

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Speaker 2: Right, so he's referenced they are the beliefs of his community.

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Speaker 2: He's on Cumberland City Council. Can you give me a

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Speaker 2: sense of the demographics in that council area for anyone

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Speaker 2: who's perhaps not in Sydney and doesn't know that area.

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Speaker 3: Yees. So Cumberland is the local city council for suburbs

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Speaker 3: including Granville and Regent's Park, so it's in Sydney's West.

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Speaker 3: Two thirds of the community speaks a language other than

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Speaker 3: English at home, with a total of sixty seven languages

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Speaker 3: spoken across Cumberland. In terms of the religious breakdown, and

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Speaker 3: I only mention this because he specifically said that this

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Speaker 3: book went against his community's religious beliefs. Forty percent of

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Speaker 3: the community identifies as Christian, so that's a clear majority.

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Speaker 3: Twenty two percent identifies as Muslim and ten percent are Hindu.

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Speaker 3: And to provide a bit more context to the council itself,

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Speaker 3: and I hadn't put two and two together. It's the

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Speaker 3: same council that banned drag queen storied time events at

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Speaker 3: libraries and halls earlier this year. And Christu was the

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Speaker 3: counselor who seconded that particular motion. So this isn't i'd say,

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Speaker 3: an unprecedented move by this council. They have had similar

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Speaker 3: discussions in the past.

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Speaker 2: So it went to a vote at the local council.

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Speaker 2: It ended up passing six ' five. We've talked about

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Speaker 2: those four arguments. What were people saying against.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so you're right. Five councilors voted against the ban,

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Speaker 3: and that included the council's mayor, so the person that

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Speaker 3: runs the council. But that doesn't really matter either way

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Speaker 3: because there still wasn't a majority. We have from Labor

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Speaker 3: councilor Diane Coleman, who was one of the people who

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Speaker 3: voted against the bank, and she likened the band to

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Speaker 3: old fashioned book burning. She said that it was problematic

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Speaker 3: on so many levels and that Cumberland City Council's motto

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Speaker 3: is welcome, belong to succeed, and that that means everyone

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Speaker 3: is welcome and everyone belongs. But she said the bands

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Speaker 3: like this indicate that perhaps that's not the case for everyone.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: She also called the act censorship. So that's kind of

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Speaker 3: the flavor of those who were opposing the book ban.

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Speaker 3: That sentiment was really reflected by the New South Wales government.

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Speaker 2: So it kind of escalated up the chain here, it did.

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Speaker 3: The New South Wales government got involved fairly soon after

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Speaker 3: the vote passed. We heard from a minister's office who

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Speaker 3: confirmed to TDA that the government is considering withdrawing financial

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Speaker 3: support for Cumberland's libraries. In the wake of this decision,

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Speaker 3: then New South Wales Premier Chris Mins was specifically asked

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Speaker 3: about it. Here's his response to a question about the ban.

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Speaker 3: I just think the whole thing's ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: I mean it's a library. You can choose to read

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Speaker 2: a book or not.

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Speaker 1: What a joke.

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Speaker 2: I mean he should trust his own citizens and after

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Speaker 2: walk into a library and read whatever the hell. So

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Speaker 2: this is clearly gone from a local council issue that

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Speaker 2: concerned eight libraries to a state government issue. Now have

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Speaker 2: we actually heard from the local community.

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Speaker 3: We have so Caroline Staples, who lives in the area.

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Speaker 3: She describes herself as a proud grandmother to a rainbow family.

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Speaker 3: She has launched a petition demanding that the council should

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Speaker 3: reverse the decision. She said, here in Western Sydney we

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Speaker 3: welcome people of different backgrounds, beliefs and cultures. She said

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Speaker 3: the council motion had made her fear for the safety

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Speaker 3: of the rainbow families in that community, and she said

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Speaker 3: that she's going to present the petition to the council

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Speaker 3: next week.

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Speaker 2: I just want to end with where we started, which

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Speaker 2: is that My first thought when going through this story

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Speaker 2: was how American it felt. Is this something that we

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Speaker 2: have seen in Australia before.

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Speaker 3: You're right, it does feel like this is something we've

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Speaker 3: imported from the US. I mean, I obviously know that

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Speaker 3: I've read a lot of stories about book banning in

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Speaker 3: the US, but I wanted to know if there was

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Speaker 3: any empirical evidence to back up my thinking that this

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Speaker 3: had become more regular in the US. And I found

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Speaker 3: an article in The Conversation that said that in the US,

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Speaker 3: attempts to censor books at public libraries increase by ninety

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Speaker 3: two percent from twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 3: So we're seeing exponential growth of this kind of concept

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Speaker 3: and idea and act in the US, but it's certainly

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Speaker 3: more unusual here in Australia. It'll be interesting to see

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Speaker 3: what happens next for Cumberland City Council. If they are

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Speaker 3: stripped of some of that funding to public libraries, will

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Speaker 3: that force their hand?

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Speaker 2: And public libraries aren't, of course flushed with funding to start.

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Speaker 3: With, no, so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

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Speaker 3: And I mean, I don't know that we're on the

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Speaker 3: same route as the US. I hope we're not, but

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Speaker 3: I think that, you know, we certainly import a lot

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Speaker 3: of these kind of cultural ideas from the US, so

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Speaker 3: definitely one to wait and watch and could set a

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Speaker 3: precedent in this country for what happens next.

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Speaker 2: Thanks so much for that, Azara, and thank you for

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Speaker 2: joining us on the Daily Ods this week. We always

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Speaker 2: appreciate the feedback that you give us and it's been

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Speaker 2: really interesting hearing your thoughts and all the episodes have

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Speaker 2: been doing this week. We'll be back again on Monday.

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Speaker 2: Until then, have a great weekend. My name is Lily

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Speaker 2: Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bungelung Calcoton woman from

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Speaker 2: Gadighl country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is

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Speaker 2: recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays

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Speaker 2: respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations.

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Speaker 2: We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries,

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Speaker 2: both past and present.